May 11, 12 p.m.

After visiting the Phoenix Mountain Arsenal and sending the news back to Nanjing, Dai Li, who was deeply shocked and a little depressed, politely declined Wu Ming's invitation to have dinner at the best restaurant in Maoliangwu Town, and took people to Maoliangwu Wharf in a gloomy manner, preparing to leave by boat.

Wu Ming hurriedly arrived and asked people to deliver instant noodles, ham sausages, compressed cakes, chocolates and other foods produced by Maoliangwu Food Factory, and then said to Dai Li with a smile that he was also going to Quzhou to do business, and everyone happened to be on the same boat.

Three hours later, the passenger ship down the river docked at Quzhou North Wharf, Wu Ming invited Dai Li to go ashore and meet the guests from Shanghai Beach, everyone drank and talked happily without getting drunk, but Dai Li, who was in a mess, did not mean to get off the boat, he told Wu Ming that he and his party would go directly to Hangzhou by boat, and then transfer back to Beijing there.

Wu Ming persuaded him to no avail, so he hurriedly asked someone to send a gift box to all the staff of the secret service, and apologized vigorously that the time was too hasty and unprepared, so he had to wronged everyone.

Dai Li's resignation had no choice but to accept it, and when the ship was far away from Quzhou North Wharf, the figures of Wu Ming and others on the wharf gradually blurred, and Dai Li's curiosity opened the gift box.

After the "gift" inside was clear, Dai Li couldn't help but shake his head and laugh dumbly, what he received was a cash check of 5,000 yuan, Dai Li asked others at random, according to their rank and position, the agents of the secret service got cash checks ranging from 2,000 yuan, 1,500 yuan, and 1,000 yuan respectively, and their cold faces, which were usually not smiling, were full of smiles, and they praised Wu Mingren and righteousness.

You must know that the fiat currency in this period was still quite valuable, and Dai Li, as the director, only received a salary of 68 yuan per month, which was equivalent to everyone's income for several years.

Dai Li, who knew the way to control the subordinates, did not ask everyone to hand over all the "bribes", but pretended not to know anything and went back to the cabin below to rest.

Speaking of Nanjing, a senior man of the Military Committee was very shocked after receiving Dai Li's telegram.

The New Second Division unwittingly built a large scale comparable to the Jinling Arsenal, which has a powerful annual production capacity of 1,200 imitation Czech light machine guns, 36,000 imitation Mauser rifles, 12,000 imitation Colt pistols, 2,000 imitation Thomson submachine guns, and 1,000 60 and 81 mortars.

As the commander of the main division of the Central Army, Wu Ming actually built such a large-scale arsenal behind the back of the central government and the Military Committee, what did he want?

Of particular importance was Dai Li's statement in the telegram about the tight fortification group built by the New Second Division in the mountains of eastern Jiangxi and western Zhejiang, and Dai Li's claim that with the defense of Maoliangwu and the surrounding area, there was no more than ten times the force to attack it, which caused even more concern among everyone.

For this reason, the Military Committee had to convene an emergency meeting.

As soon as the meeting began, He Yingqin, who had been qualified to preside over the meeting because Chiang Kai-shek was on sick leave, advocated that Wu Ming be arrested immediately, escorted to Nanjing, and handed over to the relevant departments for interrogation.

Feng Yuxiang, vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, vigorously objected, saying that it was not in accordance with the procedures to arrest people without investigating the matter clearly, and besides, if Wu Ming really ran the western part of Zhejiang into the water, as Dai Li said in the telegram, who would dare to lead a team to arrest people? At the same time, Wu Ming, as a commander with outstanding ability, if he is forced to oppose him, it will not be conducive to the overall situation of the current War of Resistance.

Lin Wei, director of the Quanxu Hall, strongly supported Wu Ming, saying that he did everything to build such a large arsenal, there must be a reason, with his understanding of Wu Ming for many years, there must be a hidden secret, just a letter to ask, no need to mobilize the public.

The meeting lasted for a long time, and the committee members attending the meeting as observers insisted on their own opinions, but no result was reached, so He Yingqin had no choice but to report the situation to Chiang Kai-shek and ask Chiang Kai-shek to make a decision.

Chiang Kai-shek, who was recuperating at his home in a cold season, was also secretly surprised when he heard the briefing, he never expected that he had just sent a telegram to Dai Li yesterday to apply for this amazing news today.

Because he was not sure whether Wu Ming was loyal or treacherous, and whether he had the heart to betray the party and the state, Chiang Kai-shek first called Yu Jishi, who led his troops from Hunan to the front line of defense fortifications in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, to inquire about Wu Ming's specific situation, and then recruited Chen Cheng, who was preparing for a summer training camp in Lushan.

On the morning of the 12th, Chen Cheng hurried back to Nanjing and immediately went to the Central Military Academy to meet Chiang Kai-shek.

In the study, Chiang Kai-shek motioned for Chen Cheng to sit on the sofa, and then sat down next to Chen Cheng with a cup of boiled water, and asked: "Cixiu, how much do you know about Wu Ming's arsenal at the Phoenix Mountain base?" ”

On the way back to Nanjing, Chen Cheng had already learned the truth of the matter from his colleagues and the chairman's attendants, and he never expected that Wu Ming would make such a big storm silently, so he had to truthfully report what he had learned:

"When I was in Quzhou, I followed the troops to the North Camp and Changshan Camp in Quzhou, and I didn't have time to go to Maoliangwu and Phoenix Mountain Training Base, and I never knew that there was a military factory of this scale in Ludao. However, Luo Youqing and Huang Wei once led their troops to train at the Phoenix Mountain base, but they did not mention this arsenal to me. ”

"After receiving the notice from the chairman, I quickly sorted out the letters I had with Wu Ming over the years, and found that he had introduced me to this arsenal called the Phoenix Mountain Base Repair Institute more than once in the letters, but I never expected the scale to be so large......

"By the way, three years ago, I helped introduce them on behalf of the Ordnance Industry Agency, and they officially approved their license to produce grenades and mortar shells, maybe at that time this arsenal was already beginning to take shape."

When Chiang Kai-shek heard that there were so many descendants who would prove it for Wu Ming, his heart was relieved, and he nodded:

"I asked Liangzhen, and he said that this arsenal was actually built from scratch by Wu Ming after the Beidaying Repair Institute in Quzhou was taken over by the central government, and it has only been three or four years. At first, the scale was not large, he went to inspect it, and it was no different from ordinary repair shops."

Chen Cheng was very surprised: "Speaking of which, the rapid expansion of the Phoenix Mountain Arsenal is only a matter of the past two years...... Is it necessary to summon Wu Ming to Nanjing to explain? ”

"Is that good? Will it trigger a fierce backlash from Wu Ming? ”

Chiang Kai-shek thought about it for a long time and still hesitated, and said after the most reluctant: "Yu Crisp is like this, Jingguo and his wife and children are very unsuitable for the humid and hot climate in the south of the Yangtze River after returning to China, and they have no intention of reading, and I left him "Analects", "Mencius", "Zeng Wenzheng's Official Letters", "Wang Yangming's Complete Works", "Sun Wenxue's Sayings" and other books, and now I haven't even finished reading half of them, so it's not okay to go on like this." ”

"I'm going to take advantage of the sick leave to go back to Fenghua's hometown, urge that unfilial son to study, and when I get better, I'll go to Quzhou to see Wu Ming and his arsenal......"

Chen Cheng's heart was relieved, and he said with a smile: "This couldn't be better." It is better to see it with your own eyes than to use false rumors by others. ”

Subsequently, Chiang Kai-shek explained to Chen Cheng in detail what happened after he left Nanjing. At present, Minister of Military Affairs He Yingqin is leading the reorganization of the Northeast Army, while Vice Minister Chen Cheng is specially responsible for preparing for the summer training in Lushan. Each period of summer training is based on half a month, and it is divided into three phases in July and August, and the trainees are the training class of the Central Political School, the directors of the departments of the central military organs, the chief of education of the military academies, and the commanders of the mechanized troops. Chiang Kai-shek was not very relieved, so he asked Chen Cheng to stay in Nanjing for half a month, and temporarily handed over the training to others.

After Chen Cheng left, Chiang Kai-shek thought about it and asked his attendants to call Dai Li, changing the location of his report to Fenghua Xikou.