Jiang Zhongzheng, commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army, met with Chen Zikun, commander-in-chief of the Jiangdong Army, at the Longhua Command.

Jiang Zhongzheng asked Chen Zikun to review the elite of the First Army of the Northern Expeditionary Army, which was different from the honor guard greeted at the gate of the railway station, but a whole group of people lined up on the colonel's field, the team was horizontal and vertical, the soldiers were thin and dark, and they stood like javelins.

A young officer ran forward, saluted neatly, and reported loudly: "The Independent Regiment of the First Army of the National Revolutionary Army has finished platoon, please review." ”

The two commanders-in-chief returned the salute immediately, Chen Zikun's eyes stopped on the face of the regiment commander, he knew this young officer, it was the old neighbor of the Willow Hutong Miscellaneous Courtyard in Beijing, who almost became a radical middle school student of his brother-in-law, stole his marriage money and wanted to go to the south to report to Huangpu Chen Guoer.

Guo'er was tanned, with a shallow scar on his face, but he was even more heroic, his expression was serious, he did not smile, and guided the two commanders-in-chief in front of him to review, Jiang Zhongzheng and Chen Zikun each rode a war horse and inspected the tiger of the independent regiment.

Chen Zikun observed the weapons and equipment of the Northern Expeditionary Army, and the First Army no longer used Russian-made Mosin Nagant rifles, but Hanyang-made 79-caliber rifles, which was a signal that Chiang Kai-shek gradually began to distance himself from the Russians and reduce his reliance on them.

In the end, it is the elite of the First Army, the proportion of heavy machine guns is very high, and the quality of the troops is also quite good, Chen Zikun is a person who knows the soldiers, and he made a comparison in his heart, if there is a conflict between the First Army and the Jiangdong Army, it is estimated that it can be drawn.

After the review, Chiang Kai-shek invited Chen Zikun to sit in the reception room, Chen Guoer accompanied him, and when he entered the room, he took off his hat, revealing his shaved blue scalp, and smiled: "Brother Kun, I haven't seen you for a few days." The authentic Beijing dialect makes Chen feel very familiar.

"Guo'er is also the head of the regiment now, young and promising, not bad." Chen Zikun patted Guo'er on the shoulder, and saw that the rank on his arm was lieutenant colonel, and he was a lieutenant colonel at the age of twenty-three or four, and his promotion speed was not much faster than his own.

Guo'er was a little shy, scratched her head and said, "Report to Commander-in-Chief Chen, my name is Chen Qilin now." ”

Chen Zikun laughed: "Okay, this name is good, who helped you come up with it?" ”

"It's the name that the Prime Minister gave me." Chen Qilin proudly straightened his waist.

Chiang Kai-shek said: "Qilin is the pride of our National Revolutionary Army, the elite of the second phase of Huangpu, he is the one who quelled the rebellion in Guangzhou, he is the one who crusades against Chen Jiongming, he is the one who fights Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang, Brother Kunwu, your little brother, is now a famous general." ”

Chen Qilin said: "President Xie praised, it is my honor to fight for the revolution. ”

Chen Zikun said: "My mother and your sister don't know how happy they are when they see you like this, but it's a pity that we can't go to Beijing for a while." ”

Chen Qilin said: "At least half a year, at most a year, the Northern Expeditionary Army will definitely be able to fight to Beijing." ”

Chiang Kai-shek smiled and said: "Kunwu, how do you look at the courage of my Northern Expedition athletes?" ”

Chen Zikun praised: "Ambitious. ”

……

The next day, Chiang Kai-shek invited Chen Zikun to a banquet in the French Concession, and the two of them led the guards directly into the concession.

The banquet was actually set up in the mansion of the tycoon Huang Jinrong, which made Chen Zikun a little uncomfortable, all the people present were the Shanghai Tang Youth Gang, Du Yuesheng, Zhang Xiaolin, and Li Yaoting all came, everyone was full of smiles and flattered each other, how could you have the strength to die when you were competing for opium interests.

Chiang Kai-shek had worshiped Huang Jinrong as an old man before, and Huang had also helped him a lot, this time it was also regarded as returning to his hometown with fine clothes, Boss Huang was radiant, wearing a new satin jacket, and an old face smiled into a chrysanthemum, and he was very polite to Chiang Kai-shek and Chen Zikun.

After some greetings, Li Yaoting glanced at Chen Zikun, and the two walked aside and chatted privately.

"Sanxin Company has the backing, and I'm afraid our opium tax will not be good in the future." Li Yaoting was worried and unwilling.

Chen Zikun said in his heart that this is indeed the case, the opium trade in Shanghai is a fragrant bait, everyone wants to take a bite, he has stationed troops in Shanghai all the year round, isn't this the picture, without this 200,000 per month, it will be difficult to feed 30,000 troops, Chiang Kai-shek wants to take away his own money, he must make compensation.

"There's going to be a way." Chen Zikun patted Li Yaoting's arm to comfort him, but he didn't know the bottom of his heart, now the Northern Expeditionary Army is powerful, ten points stronger than Sun Chuanfang back then, and the party army prides itself on being a revolutionary team, and the style of doing things is not clear, this matter seems to be very difficult to do.

Sure enough, at the banquet, Chiang Kai-shek mentioned the "misunderstanding" between Chen Zikun and Sanxin Company, and said that everyone should look at their own face and turn hostility into jade, of course, the opium business is strictly prohibited, and Chen Zikun made a perfunctory haha.

After the banquet, Chiang Kai-shek used Huang Jinrong's study to have a secret conversation with Chen Zikun.

"Kunwu, now the pattern of Shanghai is different, let's work together to do a new atmosphere, opium trading, for a while can not be banned, to step by step, your anti-smoking law enforcement corps is doing a very good job, but the foolish brother thinks that everything must be unified and put on the right track......" Chiang Kai-shek talked eloquently.

Chen Zikun was a little impatient and said, "Brother Zhongzheng, you and my brother have something to say. ”

Chiang Kai-shek said: "Kunwu is really temperamental, okay, then I'll say it directly, you give the foolish brother a face, don't take the money of Sanxin Company in the future." ”

Chen Zikun suddenly frowned: "That can't be done, my tens of thousands of brothers rely on this to feed, you know, Jiangdong's taxes are limited, and I can't be ruthless to scrape the ground, you cut off my money, didn't you push my brother to death." ”

Chiang Kai-shek laughed: "Kunwu, your thinking is still old, since you help me, I will not let you suffer, how much does Sanxin Company give you every month?" 200,000, I'll give you 1 million a month, how about it? ”

Million! Chen Zikun was stunned, he wondered if his ears had heard it wrong, one million per month or one million per year, the annual tax in Jiangdong Province was less than one million, and Chiang Kai-shek gave himself this number every month, it seems that this commander-in-chief Chiang is really wealthy.

"One million yuan a month, no arrears, ordnance and ammunition are calculated separately, 10,000 sets of military uniforms and 3,000 rifles will be allocated to you in advance, you can see that you are satisfied." Chiang Kai-shek was very satisfied with the shocking effect of his words on Chen Zikun, smiled and picked up the teacup, and proudly blew hot air.

Chen Zikun was alert for a while, the conditions thrown out by Chiang Kai-shek were too generous, how could there be a big meal in the world, could it be that he wanted to annex his own territory.

As if guessing Chen Zikun's thoughts, Chiang Kai-shek said in a thick Fenghua accent: "Don't worry, if the Northern Expeditionary Army does not enter Jiangdong, you will still be the commander-in-chief of your Jiangdong Army, and you only need to hang up an establishment." ”

Chen Zikun pondered for a moment and felt that this business was worth doing, but he was unwilling to give up his power in Shanghai, so he said: "My anti-smoking law enforcement corps has been stationed in Shanghai for a long time, and I hope to keep it." ”

Chiang Kai-shek said: "That's easy to do, keep the system, continue to garrison Wusong, and still obey your command." ”

Chen Zikun smiled at this time: "I don't know what Brother Zhongzheng is going to give me?" ”

"The Ninety-ninth Army of the National Revolutionary Army, what do you think?"

……

Chen Zikun issued a telegram in Shanghai, Jiangdong National Revolutionary Army entered the Northern Expeditionary Army, called the 99th Army of the National Revolutionary Army, under the jurisdiction of three divisions and one mixed brigade, Chen Zikun served as the commander, and the rank of general was still maintained, but this general was not a general of Beiyang, but a general of the Nationalist Government.

And his sworn brother Chen Tiaoyuan, who was good at being the grass on the wall, changed his banner a month ago and became the commander of the 37th Army of the National Revolutionary Army.

Shanghai continues to sing and dance, whether it is the foreigners in the concession or the ordinary people in Zhabei and South City, they have been accustomed to seeing the change of power in recent years, and the five-color flag has changed to the blue sky and white sun, and the days are still the same.

Chen Zikun came to Zhabei to visit his old friends, the Jingwu Club is his first choice, and now Ou Kaiyang is the owner of the museum, he made a separate secret report to Chen Zikun in front of Huo Yuanjia's spiritual seat about sneaking into Hong Kong to execute the retired British patrol leader who caused the May Day Massacre, Chen Zikun was very satisfied, patted Ouyang Kai on the shoulder and said: "The Jingwu Club will be handed over to you, and Chen Zhen's spirit will also be passed on by you." ”

There were bursts of shouts outside the window, it was the disciples practicing martial arts, and rows of young people in practice uniforms punching and kicking in the sun, which made people feel refreshed.

After inspecting the Jingwu Society, Chen Zikun came to the house of Xue Bin, the captain of the anti-smoking law enforcement corps, and now this bandit who is vertical and horizontal Yanzhao has become a loving father, and his daughter-in-law gave birth to a pair of twins for him, both of whom are male babies, and the home decoration is very luxurious, and the old lady also took it, looking at Xue Bin's gradually relaxed muscles and big-bellied body, how can there be the appearance of the black wind back then.

While he was sitting on the sofa talking about the downsizing of the Anti-Smoking Law Enforcement Corps, the announcer's soft voice came over the radio: "Commander-in-Chief Chiang announced to the press that he is willing to take responsibility for the xenophobic incident that occurred in Nanjing, thoroughly investigate and deal with it, and promise that the status of the concession will not be changed by any force or mass riot, and that the Nationalist Government will obtain international equality through peaceful consultations." All countries that treat China in a friendly manner are willing to cooperate with them......"

Xue Bin pouted and said: "What they say is better than what they sing, when they said that they would take back the concession and bring down the powers, in the end it was not cowardice." ”

Chen Zikun felt that his face was hot, he knew that Xue Bin was mocking Chiang Kai-shek, but he was not like this.

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