Volume 2 King of the Northwest Chapter 31: Consequences (Part 1)
"Mr. Hirono, from today on, the mining rights of the Yanzhang Oil Mine will be transferred."
Li Genyuan signed his name heavily on the contract for the transfer and extension of oil mine sovereignty on behalf of the provincial government and the Japanese Inao Trading Company to which Hirono belonged.
"Congratulations, congratulations on your success."
“Congratulations!”
After Li Genyuan signed the contract, Guangye couldn't wait to grab it in his hand.
"Please rest assured, the goods you want have already arrived in Suiyuan. As long as you arrange for someone to receive them..."
Before Guangye could finish his words, the door was pushed open with a bang, and Han Jun, with a pale face, walked in dazed.
"Director Han, what's this?"
"Get out! Get out!"
Han Wangchen, contrary to his usual elegance in front of the Japanese, was about to protest, but Li Genyuan saw that something was not right and waved at Guangye. The Japanese then retreated with resentful eyes.
“Brother Yinquan!”
Looking at Guangye's back, Han Wangchen spoke in a daze.
"Brother Wenyuan, Jing Wenyuan and Hu Liseng were assassinated . Brother Wenyuan was beheaded at the time, and Hu Liseng was seriously injured and unconscious. Dai Jiliang, Dai Jiliang took action."
Shocked, shocked again. The conference room was silent as everyone was stunned by the news.
"No, it wasn't Dai Jiliang who did it."
Li Genyuan is still sober.
"If they had fought, the Guards would have rushed in now. Besides, Dai Jiliang is now reviewing the troops. If he had really fought, fighting would have broken out in northern Shaanxi by now."
"No, it was him who did it. The murderer who killed Brother Wenyuan has gone south to seek refuge with Dai Jiliang, and is now being treated well by his brother-in-law. If he is not the murderer, who is it?"
Han Wangchen's lips trembled nervously.
"We can't wait any longer. We must stand up and expose Dai Jiliang's crimes and demand an explanation from Brother Wenyuan."
Han Jun was really sad. Dai Jiliang wanted to assassinate the great banner of the Shaanxi Democratic Party. How could he and Li Genyuan, these two thorns in his side, have a good ending in the future ? He shuddered.
"Let's mobilize the people of the entire city to take to the streets to demand a public trial for the murderer who assassinated Brother Wenyuan."
"I will go and invite Mr. Ziyi right away. Brother Wangchen, you go and find Mr. Shizhai."
This time, Li Genyuan finally made a decisive decision and agreed with Han Jun's proposal.
"We must also send a telegram to the whole country, asking comrades at home and abroad to jointly put pressure on Dai Jiliang!"
The city of Xi'an was in chaos, and northern Shaanxi was also in great confusion. Jing Wumu was murdered, Hu Jingyi was seriously injured and bedridden, while Shi Ziyi and Jiao Zijing were not in Shaanxi at the time, so northern Shaanxi was suddenly leaderless.
For this reason, Jing Xiu Yue from Yulin personally went south to Fu County. This small county once again welcomed a large group of militia leaders. However, unlike the anti-Dai demonstrations in Xi'an, everyone here pointed the finger at Guo Jian and Guo Fanggang.
"Mr. Guo, if you don't explain the matter clearly today, don't blame us brothers for being unrighteous ."
Fan Zhongxiu jumped to his feet and cursed Guo Jian, but there was nothing he could do about it because Guo Jian was the superior of Li Dongcai and Ren Shenwa. One was the deputy company commander under him, and the other was his personal groom. It was impossible not to be suspicious of such a combination.
"Fan Xingmin, what do you want me to say? I'll tell you, this is not my order."
Although his defense was weak, Guo Jian firmly denied that he had anything to do with the "stabbing well" case.
Nonsense, if I really admit it, not only will my team be taken over by others, but I will also be in trouble.
"If you don't believe me, you can do whatever you want. I'll accompany you."
"You ungrateful bastard!"
Fan Zhongxiu jumped up and punched him, and immediately the two men started fighting, and the situation got out of control for a while.
"Oh no!"
Someone rushed in from outside the door.
"The first battalion of the third regiment is heading towards Fu County."
These are Guo Jian’s basic troops. Needless to say, they are worried that something might happen to Guo Jian, so they plan to come and snatch him away.
"Stop it, both of you let go."
Jing Xiu Yue slammed the gun on the table. Seeing that the situation was not good, someone finally pulled Guo and Fan apart.
"Zhenjun, let me ask you a question. Do you dare to swear to heaven that you didn't ask someone to do this?"
"If you swear, you swear."
Guo Jian shook off his torn sleeves, took out a meat-cutting knife, and pressed it on the little finger of his left hand.
"In the name of the heavens and earth, I, Guo Jian, swear here that if I send people to harm Brother Wenyuan and Brother Liseng, I will do the same."
He gritted his teeth, raised his knife, and cut off the entire little finger.
Although his fingers were connected to his heart, Guo Jian still stood firm.
"I'll say it again. If I had given the order, I wouldn't have come to Fu County today. With the hundreds of brothers under my command, even if I didn't kill Brother Wenyuan, I would have to give him a regiment commander if he had surrendered to Dai Jiliang. If I killed Brother Wenyuan, would Dai Jiliang give me the brigade commander?"
"I think what Fang Gang said makes sense."
Although Cao Shiying and Guo Jian had many disagreements, this was after all the mistake made by his Third Regiment, and he, as the regiment leader and commander, had to bear some responsibility to a certain extent. If they didn't help each other at this time, would they have to wait for others to deal with Guo Jian before they would deal with themselves?
"Dai Jiliang only has three brigade commanders, all of whom are his trusted followers. How could he possibly find another one for Fang Gang? This must be because Li Dongcai was repeatedly scolded by Fang Gang and held a grudge, so he did it. He cut off Brother Wen Yuan's head in order to seek credit and reward in the south."
"I think what Junfu said makes sense."
Gao Jun also came out to smooth things over.
"Someone, come! Pack it for Deputy Commander Guo."
As he said this, he glared at Fan Zhongxiu, who walked out unwillingly. Soon the doctor from the county pharmacy came over.
"There are two key points now. First, we must work together to get Dai Jiliang to return Brother Wenyuan's head. Second, we must bring Li Dongcai back and sacrifice him alive in front of Brother Wenyuan's spirit."
Looking at Guo Jian, who turned pale after losing a lot of blood, Gao Jun slowly expressed his thoughts.
"Brother Fengwu is right!"
Cao Shiying also agreed with the suggestion of putting aside internal disputes and focusing their efforts on the outside world.
"We should reorganize our troops immediately, send a telegram to Dai Jiliang, and march to Yijun and Baishui. If Dai Jiliang doesn't give us an explanation, we will rebel."
"Yes, we rebelled!"
Fan Zhongxiu, who had just stepped into the room, heard the last sentence and agreed loudly.
"We will fight our way to Xi'an and kill Dai Jiliang to avenge Brother Wenyuan and Brother Liseng."
"What are you waiting for?"
As soon as Hu Liseng fell, Jing Xiuyue became the highest military commander in northern Shaanxi. Since everyone agreed to respond with force, he was of course willing to give this order.
"Fang Gang, I'm sorry for putting you in such a difficult position. You and Junfu's defense zone is in the southernmost part, so I'll leave the entire route to Yijun County to you."
This was both a borrowed knife to kill someone and also gave Guo Jian another chance to clear himself. Guo Jian, who knew this very well, naturally had no objection in front of everyone.
"I will go back and restrain the troops."
Guo Jian's intention was naturally to get out of Fu County first. Once out, the world would be broad and open. As for taking revenge for grievances and revenge, that would be a matter for the future. Let's just wait and see.
"Okay, everyone, go back and gather the brothers immediately. Today is February 22, the seventh year of the Republic of China. If Dai Jiliang doesn't give us a reply before March 15, we will march south and join forces at the gates of Xi'an."
As the saying goes, those who are in the right will have many supporters, while those who are in the wrong will have few. At this moment, the Shaanxi-Gansu militia feels that they will surely win the battle because of their desperate situation.
"Ze Gang, look at what you did!"
Dai Jiliang, who was at the center of the storm, finally returned to Xi'an. Old Yuan had ruined his reputation by assassinating someone. Although Song Cheng was eager to make a contribution, he messed things up in his haste, which put him in a passive position.
"You still want Deputy Director Guo to clean up your mess, really!"
Dai Jiliang was unable to continue speaking. There were a pile of newspapers in front of him, all of which were articles of condemnation.
Especially the one written by Yu Youren: "I cry for Jing Wumu, my patriotic enthusiasm is no less than Song Yufu (Song Jiaoren); who said Li Dongcai, he is clearly the murderer, Dai Jiliang!"
As soon as the elegiac couplet came out, public opinion across the country was full of criticism. The Beijing Congress also sent a special telegram of accountability. Even his own "Yongliang Times" had to mingle with the crowd and openly criticize and secretly help.
"Okay, okay, don't blame yourself too much. It's already happened. Remember the lesson and be more careful next time."
Dai Jiliang also agreed to disrupt the Shaanxi-North camp. The main responsibility lies with himself and he cannot blame the young and energetic Song Cheng too much.
"You'd better deal with this person who is in contact with Li Dongcai. How about this? Send him to Beijing first, and don't let him return to Xi'an for the time being."
"Yes, I'll do it right away!"
When Song Cheng heard that Dai Jiliang intended to expel him, he saluted and left.
"Marshal, I and Li Dongcai have explained everything clearly."
As soon as Song Cheng went out, the door on the other side opened and Guo Bingchang walked out.
"Everything is put on Ren Shenwa's head. He is an accomplice. Plus, he turned himself in. I think the Provincial High Court can sentence him to 30 years of hard labor."
"He won't bite out that Chang, will he?"
Dai Jiliang was still a little worried.
"Please rest assured, Marshal. The person sent by Section Chief Song is not named Chang at all, and he wore sunglasses and hid in the dark several times. Li Dongcai himself can't remember what the man looks like, and even his age and height are not accurate. Even if he bites out, we can have people refute it one by one."
Guo Sinan explained for his competitor with a sinister smile. Of course, he did this not because the relationship between the two organizations was very good, but just to show off in front of Dai Jiliang that he had abided by the Shaanxi Army's rule of 'when one side is in trouble, all sides will come to help'.
"Li Dongcai knows the rules. What he fears most is that we hand him over to the Democratic Party in the north. He is very cooperative. The Provincial Model Prison is the safest place for him. Besides, he can stay in there for three to five years, wait until everything is calm, and then change his name and go wherever he wants. This kid is a winner no matter how you look at it."
"Is that really the case?"
Dai Jiliang closed his eyes and thought for a long time before opening his eyes.
"Since he can't come up with an answer, let him just tell the truth."
Let him bite! Guo Sinan's eyes lit up and his thumb went up.
"Marshal, it's brilliant, it's really brilliant! If our people continue to fish in troubled waters, the water will become completely muddy."
"Okay, you go down first."
Dai Jiliang was very satisfied with Guo Bingchang's comprehension, so he waved his hand and Guo Sinan obediently retreated.
"Zhixiang, telegram from Shanghai!"
Wang Danping walked in with a grim look on his face. Although Shaanxi Fu Company had been handed over to Sima, the telegram from Gu Changqing in Shanghai passed directly through his hands.
"Well case?"
Dai Jiliang looked at the only three characters on the telegram and suddenly felt powerless. From these few short words, he could imagine Gu Changqing's disappointment and loss, so Dai Jiliang stood up.
"Brother-in-law, call me back and write three words, I didn't do it!"
In order to restore the brotherly relationship, Dai Jiliang had to tell a white lie, and he had already made a backup plan.
"By the way, brother-in-law, northern Shaanxi is asking for Jing Wumu's head back. Send someone to deliver it to them. Also."
Dai Jiliang selectively told Wang Danping part of the conversation he had just had with Guo Bingchang.
"If they want to expose the shady dealings, we can do the same. Let your reporters pursue these suspicious points relentlessly and make people in northern Shaanxi suspicious of each other."
"Zhixiang, don't worry, I know what to do."
Wang Danping's face relaxed. It was obvious that with this great article, she had passed the test of Dai Jiliang.
"Also, prepare the front page. If those two people in Xi'an City continue to pester us about this matter, we will disclose the matter of the Yanchang Oil Mine."
Dai Jiliang sneered and threw a stack of contract copies into Wang Danping's arms.
"This pond of water should be thoroughly muddied."
