Volume 2 King of the Northwest Chapter 59 Xiao Xu
"I'm coming!"
July is the time when spring and summer meet and it is dry and rainy. Outside the old road of Tongguan, a horse team of more than a hundred people is galloping. The smoke they raised covers the sky and the sun, with a mighty power that can swallow mountains and rivers.
"Reporting to the commander, Deputy Commander Xu's cavalry is only half a mile away."
Adjutant Zhang Xuelian ran down quickly from the gate tower of Huayin County.
"Marshal, do you think we should play music now?"
Dai Jiliang nodded, and then a paragraph of "East Asia was civilized, China was the first, donated to the United States to catch up with Europe, the old country was rebuilt, the five-color flag was flying, the glory of the Republic of China, the beautiful mountains and rivers are shining, my compatriots, inspire civilization, and keep peace forever!"
The music started to sound.
"Whoa!"
Xu Shuzheng reined in his horse. He had already seen the welcoming team standing solemnly in the Huayin city gate. The leader was none other than Dai Jiliang, who was wearing the uniform of an army general.
He nodded in satisfaction and was about to dismount when suddenly the Draft of the National Anthem, with lyrics written by Shen En and music composed by Shen Pengnian, came into his ears.
His face suddenly turned ugly. This was the first draft of the national anthem prepared by the Nanjing Provisional Government in the first year of the Republic of China. Dai Jiliang played it at this time, and he couldn't help but think again and again about the intention.
"China stands majestically in the universe, covering the vast expanse of the universe. China has always been at the top of Kunlun Mountain, with vast lakes and continuous mountains. Its glory has been giving way to the heavens for billions of years!"
What is this? Xu Shuzheng was stunned for a moment. Suddenly, the tune from the other side changed. It was the Hongxian national anthem "China Stands Proudly in the Universe". Then the previous tune was performed by the hard-working military band members. He couldn't help but laugh at himself. It seemed that he was a little too sensitive.
"Zhixiang has met Senior Youzheng."
Although Xu Shuzheng is now also General Weiyuan of the Army, and is in charge of the training of the participating troops as the Deputy Minister of the Army, Dai Jiliang coldly calls him "senior". Considering the self-proclaimed title of "Xiao Xu" when he killed Lu before, the sarcasm is self-evident.
"I dare not. You Zheng is just a retired soldier. How can I dare to ask General Hanwu, the Army Commander-in-Chief and Governor of Shaanxi Province, to come and greet me personally?"
Xu Shuzheng was a person who would not tolerate any sand in his eyes. When Dai Jiliang got angry, he became even angrier and immediately fought back.
"Others may not care about seniority, but Zhixiang still understands some principles."
Dai Jiliang responded in a tepid manner.
This situation immediately frightened the people around. They were talking about Mars and Earth right away. How could they talk about it next? "Deputy Minister Xu is here to inspect the work of the Shaanxi Army on behalf of the Army Department. Please go ahead!"
Fortunately, Dai Jiliang stopped talking about this topic immediately.
With a wave of his hand, the Governor's Guards filed out, forming a ceremonial guard that was common in the future.
"Please ask the Deputy Minister to review it!"
"Everyone says that Shaanxi's military equipment is not good, I think that's an exaggeration!"
Xu Shuzheng slowly climbed down from his horse and glanced provocatively at Dai Jiliang's guards who were standing upright in front of him.
"The Mauser Type 98s are all better than the equipment of the participating armies. If I had known that Zhixiang was going to use scraps to appease the Prime Minister, I'm afraid the Prime Minister would have cursed at me."
"The participating troops can spend tens of millions to buy Japanese weapons. These new Mausers were left in Shaanxi by senior Chengwu."
Dai Jiliang kept talking about something that was irrelevant, and Xu Shuzheng's face suddenly became distorted. However, people around him didn't dare to interrupt a conversation of this level, and the atmosphere became tense for a while.
"Please ask the Deputy Minister to review it!"
"snort!"
Xu Shuzheng snorted coldly. With his arrogance, Dai Jiliang was the only one who could be so rude in front of him, except for a few people like Feng Zhang Zhicao.
But now he was in Shaanxi, Dai Jiliang's territory, so he had to endure it.
Accompanied by Dai Jiliang, he took a quick look through it, then looked back at Dai Jiliang who was casually answering questions.
"Zhixiang has trained his soldiers well, and they have great momentum!"
Dai Ji did not respond immediately to Xu Shuzheng's words.
He waved his hand again, and soon an officer stepped out and ran quickly to Dai Jiliang and Xu Shuzheng.
"Report to the Marshal, the guards are ready to go, and we request to proceed with the parade!"
Dai Jiliang ignored Xu Shuzheng's surprised look and nodded, so the officers returned to the line. The majestic "A Man Should Kill" sounded, and the goose-stepping that had shined at the opening ceremony of the Shaanxi Army Speed Training School was once again displayed in front of everyone.
"Zhixiang, how did you train your soldiers?"
The layman watches the excitement, while the expert watches the details. Xu Shuzheng was also an expert on military affairs, and his eyes popped out when he saw the uniform movements.
"It's just a trifle!"
As a unique skill of the PLA in the past, it is indeed awe-inspiring in this era.
"In one word, practice! Practice as hard as you can."
"practice?"
Xu Shuzheng rolled his eyes.
这种无声的威压，终于让他醒悟过来，对手已经不是当年那个小营长小团长了，手握数万重兵的戴季良的确已经有资格和自己平起平坐了。
As soon as he thought of this, his mentality changed.
"Not bad, not bad! Zhixiang, you've made great progress!"
"Thank you for the compliment, Senior!"
Dai Jiliang didn't know about Xu Shuzheng's change of heart. He was the first to receive the information when Xu Shuzheng's tone slowed down. So he smiled and said, "The city has prepared a banquet. Please come, senior!"
It is now the seventh year of the Republic of China, and the Anhui faction still has an advantageous position in China's political and military landscape. Dai Jiliang naturally does not want to break off completely now. On the one hand, Xu Shuzheng's mentality has changed, and on the other hand, he also wants to maintain unity within the faction, so naturally his words are not so aggressive.
Since both sides wanted to ease the situation, the subsequent conversation was relatively harmonious.
Soon, Xu Shuzheng received the signal sent by Dai Jiliang with satisfaction.
"Please tell the Prime Minister that the new Shaanxi MP will be going to Beijing soon."
According to the Congress's summons, the elected members of the new Congress should report to Beijing before August 1. But without Dai Jiliang's order, which member would dare to go north? "When the time comes, they will definitely vote for the old Juren."
The new Congress stands out, but it was formed mostly through unfair means: vote buying, falsifying the number of voters, designated voting, etc., and therefore has a very bad reputation in the public opinion circle.
So in order to whitewash it, Xu Shuzheng naturally hoped that as many members of parliament as possible would attend, so as to reflect his so-called legitimate Congress.
However, what was not in his favor was that the five provinces of Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan and Guangdong all opposed the new Congress, and the elections in Hunan and Hubei provinces could not be held normally due to the war. Therefore, the smooth arrival of the Shaanxi provincial legislators in Beijing was a gift of both size and size for Xu Shuzheng.
"By the way, the Army Department has obtained the license for the arms that Shaanxi ordered from Japan. Zhixiang, you can notify Japan to ship the goods."
Dai Jiliang smiled silently. He had been stuck with this for half a year and now he was throwing it out. Was this considered a return of favor? "Please ask the Deputy Minister to tell the Prime Minister that Zhixiang is not dissatisfied with the Central Government. In fact, most of our officers and soldiers are from General Lu's school. People's hearts are in favor of us! Please forgive me, Senior ."
This was naturally a direct explanation to Xu Shuzheng.
"But, Senior, what comes out is honest and natural, but what is held back is actually unpredictable!"
Dai Jiliang stabbed someone in the back.
"I can save myself the trouble."
Xu Shuzheng nodded. Dai Jiliang's directness and Feng's behavior really made him shudder.
However, Dai Jiliang's words were too obvious for his ulterior motives, so Xu Shuzheng would not respond to them.
He immediately changed the subject, "When will Zhixiang's brigade in Wuchang be able to move south?"
"Senior, don't you think the current situation is very dangerous? It might be better for the Shaanxi Army to stay in Wuchang rather than march south!"
Dai Jiliang's words were cryptic, but Xu Shuzheng understood immediately. His face suddenly darkened, "Senior, don't think this is just Zhixiang's speculation. Who is Wu Ziyu? Senior, we can't just suffer the loss without learning our lesson!"
Xu Shuzheng's fists were clenched so hard that they made a clattering sound.
Although he could hear that Dai Jiliang meant that the loss he had just suffered at the hands of the Third Division was designed by Wu Peifu, if this was true, Xu Shuzheng's face suddenly became ferocious.
"Zhixiang, I will return to Beijing immediately. What you said makes sense. I need to discuss this with the Prime Minister."
Xu Shuzheng left as soon as he said he would, and even Dai Jiliang's request for him to stay overnight in Huayin was rejected.
But it was fine this way. Looking at the dust rising again, Dai Jiliang touched his bald head and asked, "Have you delivered the gift to Xiao Xu?"
"Twenty boxes of opium are already hidden in the cavalry."
Sima responded thoughtfully.
"Also, Driski from Meihua has brought two people to ask to see you, Marshal. When do you think we can arrange it?"
"See you soon!"
Dai Jiliang thought about it.
"Do you know who it is?"
"He seems to be a Methodist pastor."
Obviously, the support that Dai Jiliang received from Catholicism in Shaanxi made the American church jealous. In order to infiltrate Shaanxi and even the entire Northwest, they mobilized the relationship between Meihua and Shaanxi. The other person should be the engineer who built the smokeless gunpowder factory.
"Great, you can make the arrangements once we get to Xi'an."
Dai Jiliang looked at the residual light in the sky.
"Also, find a way to get this news to the Central Territory Church. They've promised us something over half a year ago. If we don't give them a good beating, we don't know how long it will last!"
"Marshal, Director Chu has an urgent message!"
As the two were talking, Chu Gan's telegram arrived.
"I will be carrying 2,500 quick-firing rifles and will return to Shaanxi soon. Please make arrangements as soon as possible."
The situation was so bad, but it was not easy for him to get so many guns.
"Zhang Xuelian, you stay and greet Director Chu. Sima, let's go back to Xi'an overnight!"
