For more than half a month, Chen Qiang almost got to know Nanjing's celebrities.

Just as Chen Qiang was about to return to Nanjing, Hao Gengsheng came to the door with a Foreign Ministry official.

"Chen Qiang, this is Director Zhou of the Personnel Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs." Hao Gengsheng opened his mouth to introduce.

"General Chen Jian, I have heard of a great name for a long time." Director Zhou said with a smile.

"Hello, Director Zhou, please take a seat." Chen Qiang beckoned the two to sit down.

After a few words of greeting, Chen Qiang asked, "Dare to ask Director Zhou to come to me, what is the so-called matter?" ”

"I heard that Jian Chen is planning to return to Tianjin?" Director Zhou asked rhetorically.

"Yes, the Olympics have been over for a long time, and there is no need for me to continue to stay in Nanjing, it's time to go back to Tianjin." Chen Qiang replied.

"General Chen, we hope you can stay in Nanjing." Director Zhou spoke.

"Is that what your Ministry of Foreign Affairs meant?" Chen Qiang asked subconsciously.

"It is a decision of the Executive Yuan and even higher, and our Ministry of Foreign Affairs is only implementing it." Director Zhou spoke.

"May I ask why you want me to stay in Nanjing?" Chen Qiang then asked.

"Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs usually has a lot of foreign affairs activities, and the governors of Nanjing often hold banquets to entertain foreign friends, and we hope that Chen Jian will be able to attend these activities." Director Zhou replied.

Chen Qiang suddenly understood that Nanjing wanted to use himself as a façade.

Many banquets, balls or ceremonies need to invite some celebrities as guests, so that both the organizer and the invited guests will feel more face. This is especially true for foreign affairs activities, when entertaining foreign dignitaries or other foreign guests, Nanjing also needs to find some celebrities to support the scene and improve their qualifications.

On the ground in Nanjing, ordinary celebrities, such as well-known entrepreneurs, well-known educators, well-known artists, etc., may be familiar to Chinese, but those foreign guests may not know each other, and the effect of calling to support the scene is not very good. But Chen Qiang is different, the name of the world's No. 1 athlete, foreigners know it, even if they have not seen Chen Qiang, they have heard of Chen Qiang's deeds.

It can be said that Chen Qiang is the only "international celebrity" that Nanjing can find, so Nanjing naturally hopes that Chen Qiang will stay in Nanjing, so that when inviting foreign guests, Chen Qiang can also be used to support the scene and make the Nanjing government appear more dignified.

Chen Qiang pondered for a few seconds, as if he was thinking about whether to agree. Director Zhou on the other side continued to persuade: "General Chen, you don't have to worry about treatment, in addition to salary and various subsidies, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also provided you with a place to live, and the furniture is readily available." I have brought your letter of appointment. ”

Director Zhou said, took out a letter of appointment from his bag, and handed it to Chen Qiang.

Chen Qiang opened it and saw that the general content above was that Chen Qiang was appointed as a special counselor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"What is the duty of this special counsellor?" Chen Qiang asked.

"Actually, there are no responsibilities, just some foreign affairs activities, you need to attend, and sometimes you may have to go to Shanghai on a business trip. Other than that, you have as much time as you want. Director Zhou said.

Chen Qiang understood what Director Zhou meant, this "Counselor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs" is a mascot, he makes an appearance when he has foreign affairs activities, eats and drinks with foreigners, and does what he likes to do the rest of the time.

"It turns out that when foreign guests come, they eat, drink and play together, and the relationship is 'three escorts'! But this job is not bad, there is food, drink and time, and people still cover it. This kind of easy work can only be enjoyed by civil servants. ”

Chen Qiang's mind was rapidly calculating the gains and losses.

From the meaning revealed by Director Zhou, this is the decision of Nanjing's high-level management, maybe it will also involve the big boss, if the big boss wants Chen Qiang to stay in Nanjing, then Chen Qiang will definitely not be able to refuse.

Moreover, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has even brought the appointment certificate, which clearly means that it is this job, and Chen Qiang has no choice at all, and he has to accept it if he wants to, and he has to accept it if he doesn't want to.

Chen Qiang thought about it again, maybe staying in Nanjing would also be a good choice.

The second half of 1936 was already halfway through, and the July Seven Incident was getting closer and closer, and after the July Seven Incident broke out, if Chen Qiang still stayed in Tianjin, there were only two choices, either to flee to the Tianjin Concession, or to move south with Nankai University.

If Chen Qiang stays in Tianjin, as Chen Qiang's identity as the "world's No. 1 athlete", he will definitely be arrested by the Japanese, and then let Chen Qiang cooperate with Japan to do some "Sino-Japanese goodwill" things, or even become an official in the puppet government. If he did enter a concentration camp, it was difficult to say whether he would be dead or alive.

If Chen Qiang escaped to the concession in Tianjin, he would only be able to enjoy four years of peace, and after the outbreak of the Pacific War, Japan would declare war on Britain and France, and then the Japanese army would take over the British and French concessions in Tianjin, and a large number of British and French expatriates would also be imprisoned in concentration camps.

As for the Italian concession in Tianjin, although it was not poisoned by the Japanese, considering Italy's cute nature in World War II, if Chen Qiang won the Italian concession, maybe the Italians would really sell Chen Qiang to the Japanese.

Chen Qiang didn't want to be a traitor, and he didn't want to die. If he followed Nankai University to the south, it would still be the result of retreating to the southwest.

During the Anti-Japanese War, Nankai University, Peking University and Tsinghua University first got to Changsan to form Changsha Provisional University, and later the Japanese army fought in Changsha, and the temporary university was moved to Kunming and renamed Southwest Associated University. Therefore, Chen Qiang will also retreat to Kunming with Nankai University.

During the Anti-Japanese War, Kunming was the rear area, when many factories and schools moved inward, a large amount of capital, equipment and talents flowed into Kunming, and bureaucratic capital set up and set up factories and enterprises in Kunming, which made Kunming's economy prosperous for a short time. And Kunming is like spring all year round, very suitable for living, if you go to Kunming to live for eight years, it is also a very good thing.

If Chen Qiang chooses to return to Tianjin, after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, he will follow Nankai University to Kunming, which is probably the best result.

But if Chen Qiang had stayed in Nanjing and served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at least at the beginning of the war, he would not have had to retreat from Tianjin in a hurry. By the end of November 1937, when the Nationalist Government would withdraw from Nanjing, the civil servants of the government would definitely have priority, and Chen Qiang would follow the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, first to Changsha and then to Chongqing. For the next eight years, Chen Qiang will also stay in Chongqing.

It is definitely much more convenient to evacuate with the government, at least there is no need to worry about logistics along the way. And when he arrives in Chongqing, he has a position, Chen Qiang can receive a salary, and he will not be hungry and have nothing to eat.

Although Chongqing will be bombed by the Japanese army during the Anti-Japanese War, government departments have air-raid shelters, and it should be no problem to hide in the air-raid shelters when the air raid sirens come.

Thinking of this, Chen Qiang made a decision, that is, to take over the appointment of this special counselor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

I only heard Chen Qiang open his mouth and say: "Thank you Director Zhou for your kindness, I don't know when I will report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?" ”

"You can do it at any time, but where to stay, you'll have to wait a week, we've got you an apartment, but it will take some time to sort it out." Director Zhou spoke.

After sending Director Zhou away, Chen Qiang began to ponder whether to take advantage of the present to buy a house in Chongqing first.

After all, if you have to stay in Chongqing for eight years, Chen Qiang can't rent a house all the time! What's more, during the Anti-Japanese War, the rent in Chongqing became more and more expensive, and in the end, the money to rent a house may be more expensive than buying a house now.

And it's only 1936, and the housing prices in Chongqing are still very cheap, if Chen Qiang has enough money, he can't wait to buy a few more houses in Chongqing, and after the government relocates to Chongqing, he will definitely earn several times.

……

In this way, Chen Qiang became a special counselor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and his main job on weekdays is to participate in various foreign affairs activities, accompany him to eat, drink and play.

Occasionally, Chen Qiang will go to Shanghai, after all, Shanghai is the first city in the Far East, and there are many foreigners, such as the ambassadors of Britain, the United States, France and other countries to China, and they also stay in the concession of Shanghai on weekdays, so Shanghai often holds important foreign affairs activities.

Two months passed in a flash.

On a tennis court somewhere in Nanjing, Chen Qiang was playing tennis against John Rabe.

Since I met John Rabe at the dinner party of Siemens, under Chen Qiang's deliberate friendship, I quickly became acquainted with Rabe.

If it was another ** party, Chen Qiang might not be too lazy to deal with it, but Rabe is different, in Chen Qiang's mind, John Rabe is a truly respectable person and a great person!

John Rabe was originally friendly to the Chinese, and Chen Qiang was personally awarded by the German Führer, Rabe also wanted to make friends with Chen Qiang, so the two soon became good friends.

On weekdays, the two of them will go to play tennis or go horseback riding in the horse farm when they have nothing to do. In Nanjing at that time, playing tennis and horseback riding were relatively elegant social sports, and they were also the most popular sports for foreigners.

In his previous life, Chen Qiang's tennis level was not bad, almost with a NTRP standard of 3.5 points.

NTRP stands for National Tennis Rating Program, which is a classification standard for tennis in the United States. The rating ranges from beginner to international, with a beginner playing tennis for the first time scoring at 0.5 and then increasing on a scale of 0.5 until the highest is 7.0. Tennis players who can achieve a rating of 7.0 belong to the international level, can participate in international competitions and use tournament bonuses as a source of income.

Based on the future development of Chinese tennis, the highest rating of amateur players is 4.5, and if they can reach 5.5, even if they can go to the provincial training team to play, if they can reach 6.0, they should be able to enter the national team.

In the United States, many high school students are able to achieve a rating of 6.0 due to the relatively high level of tennis.

In the thirties, the level of tennis was not so high, or the tennis of that era was still in a relatively primitive stage, and many techniques were not developed.

Before 1968, the era of tennis tournaments did not come, and from a modern point of view, tennis at that time could only be regarded as an amateur game, and even more casual than competitive. In the twenties and thirties, it was already good for those who competed at Wimbledon or the French Open to achieve a rating of 3.0.

Chen Qiang's NTRP score of 3.5 points, even if it is placed in China in the future, can be regarded as a good amateur player, enough to qualify for domestic amateur competitions. If it can rise to a rating of 4.0, it should be able to get a place in the domestic amateur competition.

Amateur players with a score of 3.5 have been able to control the landing point and force when serving and receiving, and can send or return topspin balls, and they already have relatively stable volley skills in front of the net. For an athlete in this rating class, the direction control of the medium speed ball is already good, but the depth and variation of the shot are not enough. Able to hit over-the-top balls steadily while running, and can begin to follow the ball to the net, play small balls, and bounce balls. The second shot can basically control the landing point.

This level, not to mention beating John Rabe, is more than enough to bully professional tennis players, even if you go to Wimbledon or French Open, you can get the first few rounds of promotion.

For more than half an hour, even if Chen Qiang deliberately let this John Rabe, Rabe was defeated and retreated, and he was not Chen Qiang's opponent at all.

"No, I'm so tired that I can't run! I need to take a break. Rabe put down his racket, then shook his head, and continued: "Chen, your tennis game is awesome, definitely at a professional level, next time you go to Europe, you can go to Wimbledon to play!" ”

The two were talking, but the waiter on the tennis court hurried over.

"Two gentlemen, martial law is outside!" The waiter spoke.

"Martial law!" Chen Qiang and Rabe were shocked at the same time.

Nanjing was the capital of the Republic of China, and if martial law appeared in the capital of a country, it must have happened extremely seriously at the national level.

Under normal circumstances, martial law is imposed on a country when it is faced with a foreign war, a major disaster, or an internal rebellion. Now the Japanese are still in the Northeast, and Nanjing has not suffered any disasters, so the only explanation is an internal rebellion.

Chen Qiang suddenly remembered something, so he immediately asked, "What is the number today?" ”

"December 13th." Rabe replied.

"Sure enough, it was the matter from Xi'an that came to Nanjing. That person was detained, and the city of Nanjing naturally had to be under martial law. Chen Qiang let out a long sigh.

"Chen, what do you seem to know?" Rabe looked at Chen Qiang and said.

"I think the civil war in our country is coming to an end!" Chen Qiang paused, and then said: "But another war related to the life and death of our entire nation is about to begin!" ”

Rabe nodded inexplicably, and then he spoke: "Chen, although I don't quite understand what you said, I can feel that chaos is coming, and I seem to have heard the footsteps of war. ”

"Your hunch is correct." Chen Qiang nodded, but did not reveal much information about the Xi'an incident.

Rabe continued: "Chen, although I don't know what will happen, but if you are in danger, you can come to my house for refuge, with my identity, the people of your country dare not do anything to me!" ”

"Yes, not only us Chinese, but even the Japanese dare not do anything to you." Chen Qiang secretly said in his heart that he knew that at this time next year, Rabe might be the only safe island in Nanjing.

……

With the outbreak of the Xi'an Incident, the situation in Nanjing became unprecedentedly tense, not to mention the martial law all day, and the work of many government departments also came to a standstill.

After all, the big bosses have been arrested, and maybe they will be executed, so how can the employees have the heart to work normally.

Nanjing's high-level leaders are also thinking about it and ready to move. It's like a company, if the chairman has an accident, several major shareholders will definitely have their own ghosts, and there are many people who want to seize power.

The big boss is the biggest backer of the pro-American faction, and the pro-American faction naturally hopes to rescue the big boss, so they actively campaign.

The pro-Japanese faction began to deploy to meet the troops in Xi'an, as if they were going to fight another civil war, and the safety of the big boss was in danger, and perhaps the death of the big boss was the best result for the pro-Japanese faction.

Local warlords are also divided. Shandong's Chairman Han's battle was a "wise feat"; Chairman Yan of Shanxi is "shocked"; Governor Li of Guangxi advocated an end to the civil war and unanimity with the outside world; Commander Ma in the northwest took advantage of this to show loyalty to the big boss.

Foreign media have unanimously criticized Xi'an's actions, such as the British "Times" saying that the incident was a "mutiny"; The Soviet newspaper's Pravda said it was helping Japan split China; France's "National Salvation Times" described the Xi'an incident as a "deeply deplorable event"; The US media was more direct, saying that this incident had made those who had interests in the Far East in Western countries feel uneasy.

For Western countries, they seem to be calling for peace, but in fact they only care about their own interests in China. A stable, cowardly, and groveling China is clearly more in the interests of the West. So of course they don't want a coup d'état, and it's better to let China maintain the status quo.

……

On December 24, Chen Qiang was invited to Rabe's home to attend Rabe's Christmas Eve dinner.

Due to martial law, the entire city of Nanjing was subject to curfew, and he could not go out after dark, so after dinner, Chen Qiang could not go back to his residence, so Chen Qiang simply slept in Rabe's house.

Early the next morning, Chen Qiang came to the restaurant to prepare breakfast.

"Merry Christmas, Chen!" Rabe said with a smile.

"Merry Christmas!" Chen Qiang responded.

"Chen, come and have breakfast, there are authentic German sausages, I think you will love it." Rabe beckoned Chen Qiang to the table.

In addition to hearty foods such as milk, bread, sausages, and butter, there are also several newspapers on the table.

Chen Qiang casually glanced at the front page of the newspaper, and couldn't help but have a ray of joy on his face.

On the front page of the newspaper there was such a large line: "Stop the civil war, unite against Japan"!

Chen Qiang knew that the matter in Xi'an had been resolved, and the anti-Japanese united front was about to be established.

From this day on, the Chinese nation will enter a new era.

It will be a time of suffering for the whole country, for the whole nation......

But it was an era of nirvana rebirth!

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