Huang and Zhang decided that Zhang Xueliang would leave the military world like this between pushing cups and changing lamps on the bank of the Qinhuai River.

Of course, the development in hindsight also proved that his decision was a good thing. Zhang Xueliang, who left the military circles, also held the post of member of the Central Military Commission, but he no longer asked about these things.

Soon after, Zhang Xueliang communicated with many local churches in Nanjing, obtained students from them, and opened the first "Xueliang Primary School" with free education in the city.

In the years to come, "Xueliang Primary School" and "Hope School" complement each other and blossom all over the land of China, filling the gap in China's primary education, and China seized the third scientific and technological revolution in the 60s and 70s of the 20th century and leapt to become a world power, which is inseparable from the popularization of these basic education. It is precisely because of this that Zhang Xueliang himself has gained an unprecedented reputation.

Of course, that's all for later.

At present, after Huang Ke approved Zhang Xueliang's school, he began to prepare for a meeting with Stilwell. Stilwell, who flew in from Burma, came this time with anger, because Sun Liren on the front line did not follow his advice, but insisted on fighting the Japanese army in Tonggu. Now, Sun Liren has begun to advance the two divisions of the expeditionary force to the Tonggu line.

Stilwell had no choice but to take the opportunity of coming to Nanjing to complain to Huang Ke, and by the way, he mentioned the matter of the Allied command during the war.

But that's not the main purpose of Stilwell's visit. This time he came to Nanjing to meet with Huang Ke, and he carried an important mission of the US Government.

In the days when he was preparing to meet Stilwell, Huang Ke had already instructed Zhao Tinghui to make secret contact with the Japanese.

He said, "If you can talk about everything, you can talk about it, if you can't talk about it, you will fight, and then talk about it after you have finished down." But in the end, it's just a talk. No two peoples are inherently opposed, and in the final analysis, there are still conflicting interests. ”

Zhao Tinghui nodded, "Don't worry, brother-in-law, I will definitely convey this meaning to the Japanese." ”

Huang Ke thought for a moment, and Zhao Tinghui realized that he had made a mistake: "No, it's the chairman." ”

Huang Ke waved his hand, "There is nothing in the title, you are not a government person, and naturally it is not better than according to the administrative title." Calling my brother-in-law is my brother-in-law, I was originally a brother-in-law. ”

Zhao Tinghui's heart was warm when he said this.

"Tinghui, it's Wang Maocai who is in contact with you this time, right?" Huang Ke asked this suddenly, and Zhao Tinghui felt a thrill in his heart.

He knew that Huang Ke hated Wang Maocai the most, and before the war between China and Japan started, Wang Maocai openly resisted the central government's censorship, and after surrendering to the enemy, all the secret defense plans on the front line of Songhu, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang were exposed, and how much effort was in vain.

What's more, Wang Maocai, Wang Jingwei and others set a very bad example for the Chinese people, and the phenomenon of large-scale surrender to the enemy and Japan during the defense of Nanjing cannot be said to have nothing to do with these two.

"Yes, it's Wang Maocai." Zhao Tinghui knew that he couldn't hide it. The intelligence network of the Reserve Cadre Department is all over the streets and alleys, and maybe he already knows about his dirty things.

"Well, that's the last bit of value for the Japanese." Huang Ke said contemptuously.

Zhao Tinghui didn't know what he meant, so he had to stop talking.

After going back, Zhao Tinghui sent a message to No. 76 through smuggling channels, explaining Huang Ke's attitude. For the warring parties, interests clearly come first. The Japanese side is obviously aware of this truth. After learning of Zhao Tinghui's confirmation of the information for negotiations, they also released their willingness to negotiate.

In order to show their sincerity, they also ordered the Japanese troops on the Kunshan front line to take the initiative to retreat more than ten miles. The Jixing Ministry of Culture, which was stationed on the front line in Kunshan, suspended the offensive.

In the sky, the Japanese side also promised to reduce aerial reconnaissance and bombing of Nanjing and other places during the period of negotiations. In response, the Chinese side has also reduced its bombing of places such as Shanghai.

Huang Ke told Minister of the Air Force Xu Shaozhou about the negotiations, and also asked him to take advantage of this gap to seize the time to repair the Air Force, because the intensive air war against Japan some time ago was almost unbearable for the Air Force.

Huang Ke told him: "It is still beneficial for both sides to cease fire, after all, the war is on our territory, and we are forced to bomb the Japanese-occupied areas, and it is inevitable that the people will sometimes be injured." Now there is a tacit understanding between the two sides, and in general, it is in my favor. ”

"My subordinates understand!" Xu Shaozhou immediately signed an order to reduce the number of bombings in Japanese-occupied areas, and the air force's bombing brigades also reduced their attacks on Japanese-occupied areas, and all units of the air force began to enter the wartime process of repair.

The date of the negotiations has not yet been determined, and the details are still being worked out. China and Japan transmitted information through Zhao Tinghui's smuggling channel.

In order to facilitate negotiations with the Japanese side, Huang Ke personally signed the document and set up a special contact group to be responsible for negotiations with Japan. Because there are five people in charge of the group, and because of this, this group is also called a "group of five".

The members of the group included Chen Liewen, Huang Ke's political secretary, Yang Yibing, director of the Reserve Cadres Division, Zhao Tinghui, who was in charge of specific negotiations, and 14 Tsai of the Central Security Department, and Chen Bui of the Central Propaganda Department.

These five people can be said to be Huang Ke's cronies, and the five of them are directly responsible for Huang Ke, and they are responsible according to their respective fields, so it can be said that they perform their own duties.

Huang Ke summoned the five of them to his office, and said with a serious expression: "Talking to the Japanese right now is for a better fight in the future, and I don't think I need to explain too much to you." However, the stakes are serious, and I should not come forward too much, and I have carte blanche to entrust a few of you to handle this matter. Don't leak the rumors, otherwise we will wear a traitor's hat. ”

After the meeting divided responsibilities, it was decided that Zhao Tinghui would still talk to the Japanese when interviewing them.

Zhao Tinghui has a special identity, firstly, he is Huang Ke's maternal brother, he is considered a cronie of the central government, and his status is high enough to call the shots in many things; Second, Zhao Tinghui did not have a temporary post in the government, and he had a bad record, even if something went wrong, it was convenient to get rid of the blame. Of course, everyone knows these points, and no one wants to say it.

However, it is precisely because of his previous bad deeds, coupled with the fact that this person has had many unreliable performances before, Huang Ke feels that he needs to send someone to keep an eye on him when negotiating.

In the selection of the person who accompanied Zhao Tinghui, Yang Yibing recommended his right-hand man - Dai Li.

Yang Yibing stated to Huang Ke that the main reasons for recommending Dai Li are as follows: first of all, Dai Li's loyalty is sufficient, and he is flexible and able to adapt to changes; secondly, he has been in charge of intelligence work with Japan for a long time and is familiar with the Japanese; Finally, and what Yang Yibing did not explain, Dai Li, when he went to Shanghai not long ago to investigate Huang Ke's flight attack, he privately met the lover of a movie star in Shanghai.

According to the discipline of the Reserve Cadre Division, going to the enemy-occupied area without permission and making contact with the enemy-occupied area can be punished as treason. However, Yang Yibing cherished his talents, and Dai Li privately sent a lot of precious gifts to Yang Yibing's wife, so Yang Yibing wanted to take advantage of this incident to pull him along.

Regarding the candidate recommended by Yang Yibing, Huang Ke agreed.

The work of the five-member team has begun to be completed, and the team has begun to rotate in secret. In order to ensure that secrets are not leaked, the five-person group does not exist nominally, and the meetings are held in a restaurant on the outskirts of Nanjing on weekdays, and the time is also chosen after work.

The five-member team did not use radio to communicate with the Japanese side, and completely relied on Zhao Tinghui's smuggling channel to communicate with the Japanese side through No. 76. Although this will cause information lag and a variety of inconveniences, it also reduces the possibility of leakage to a certain extent.

Everything was planned, and based on contacts with the Japanese side, the two sides decided to hold initial negotiations in five days. However, there was a big disagreement between the two sides on the place of the negotiations.

The Japanese side felt that the negotiations should take place in Shanghai. Not only hidden, but also conveniently accessible, which is beneficial for both parties. However, the Chinese side believes that it should not be carried out in the Japanese-occupied areas.

On this issue, both sides are stuck in the neck.

Jiangwan Road, the building of the Japanese Marine Corps, is now the headquarters of the East China Front of the Japanese Army. The office of the intelligence agency of the Ministry of War is located here, and Ouyang Hui, who is dressed in a calfskin flight suit, also works here.

This building became the last stronghold of the Japanese army during the Battle of Songhu, and the Songhu armed police force that attacked this place almost razed it to the ground with heavy artillery.

Wang Maocai doesn't have many opportunities to come to this building on weekdays. Although he was a high-ranking minister of the puppet government, he was nothing in the eyes of the Japanese, and he rarely came here except for a few important events and meetings such as the establishment of the puppet government and the formation of the War Ministry.

However, this period of time has become more frequent, because he has to report to Ouyang Hui every day on the negotiation work.

For this reason, Ouyang Hui specially got him a "special pass" to enter and exit here, and their drivers had to bow when they saw the Japanese military police, but now after hanging this pass, the Japanese soldiers have to salute when they see him.

This made Wang Maocai enjoy it very much.

Wang Maocai's Buick drove through the gate guarded by the Japanese military police and drove in without going through the security check. After getting out of the car, he ran upstairs alone.

Ouyang Hui is in the leftmost office on the tenth floor, this floor is the intelligence agency of the Japanese East China Front, don't look at these guys who eat people and don't spit out bones on weekdays, but the office floor is very warmly furnished.

The Japanese orderly cleaned the place spotlessly, there were pots of blooming flowers every few steps in the corridor, the windows of the rooms were bright and clean, and even the public toilets in the bathrooms were not stained. When Wang Maocai came here for the first time, he secretly cursed, "These devils are really fucking exquisite!" ”