Shuijing picked up the red phone, and it was Yang Shuoming, the Minister of Finance, himself.

"Can you come right over?" The kind words of the Minister of Finance came from the earpiece.

"You're looking for me?" Shuijing subconsciously asked.

"Yes." Yang Shuoming seemed to be laughing.

"Can you give me some clues first?" Mizui asked jokingly.

"Maybe I'm missing my old friend and want to see you right away. Hehe. Yang Shuoming said with a smile.

"Okay, I'll be right over." Suijing agreed, and put down the earpiece.

Mizui got up and put on his blouse, and told the female secretary that he was going to the chief and that she didn't have to wait for him. With that, he walked out of his office and down the hallway towards the elevator.

While waiting for the elevator, Mizui remembered that there had been a situation before: in the middle of an idle day, the red phone suddenly broke the silence and took him out of this world and into another world.

This time, I went to the chief to "miss my old friend", and maybe after the chief saw him, he would have another send-off banquet. Where will it go? What is it? North Korea? Or Soviet Russia? Wherever he goes, hehe. He shrugged his shoulders unconsciously.

Perhaps, there is no task, he just wants to talk to his elder friends.

Although Yang Shuoming is now in a high position, he never seems to have the idea that he is superior, as long as it is someone he knows, he maintains a peaceful and affectionate attitude.

For example, he and Jiang Xueying, codenamed "Yunxia", ......

Mizui took a deep breath and didn't think much about it.

The elevator stopped in front of him. "To the tenth floor," he said, walking inside.

The tenth floor is the highest floor of the building. Most of the room is occupied by the communications department. On the roof platform stand three huge antenna towers, under which is one of the most powerful radio transmitters in China.

In the foyer of the building, there is a striking bronze nameplate that indicates who is using the building. The disguised name "Renhe Radio Communication Testing Co., Ltd." conceals the true meaning of the three antenna towers on the roof platform. In addition, there are "Xinhua Export Company", "Bolong-DuPont United Co., Ltd.", "Huatian Science and Technology Comprehensive Development Company" and "Financial and Commercial Information Office (Ms. Lu Maolan, Distinguished Consultant of the Ministry of Finance)".

Miss Lo Mo Lan is indeed a person. At the Ministry of Finance, she is a person with a mysterious identity, and although she is nominally a foreign adviser to the Ministry of Finance, she seems to work for Yang Shuoming alone. There was no one in her small office right now. The ten-story building is usually silent.

After exiting the elevator, Mizui turned to the left and walked down the carpeted corridor towards the office of the Minister of Finance. The door of that office, like the others, was covered in crimson tweed.

Without knocking, he pushed open the crimson door and walked down the porch into the penultimate room.

Yang Shuoming's personal secretary, Mannie, was typing. She heard footsteps, looked up, saw that it was a well, and smiled faintly at him. The two of them get along well, and she knows that Mizui appreciates her maturity and beauty. Her job today is almost the same as that of Shuijing's own secretary, Ren Xue, except that her cheongsam is blue.

"New clothes, Mannie?"

She hid her laughter and said, "Ren Xue and I patronize the same store. The two of us drew a lottery to decide on the color, and finally I won the blue one with the peony pattern on my current body. At this time, someone coughed lightly, and the intelligence chief "Descending Dragon", who was about the same age as Mizuwell, walked out. There was a slight teasing smile on his pale, slightly tired face.

"Don't be idle, the chief is waiting for you. How about having lunch together after the event? ”

"Good! But you're in for a treat. ”

Mizui smiled and agreed, turned around and walked into the room next to the female secretary, and closed the door. Mannie glanced up at the Chief of Intelligence, who shook his head.

"It should be business, Mannie." "The chief doesn't call him on a whim." ”

Mannie nodded, and the "Descending Dragon" turned back to his office and went back to his work. When the well pushed the door into the house, Yang Shuoming was sitting at the large desk and lighting a pipe. He waved a lit match and smiled and gestured to the chair to the side. The well walked over and sat down.

Yang Shuoming didn't smoke, but he knew that the well smoked, so he handed the well-lit pipe, which took a deep breath, and then stared straight at Yang Shuoming through the smoke, waiting for his question. But Yang Shuoming didn't speak, he just put the matchbox on the red leather table in front of him and looked at it thoughtfully for a while.

"How's your rest for a while? Didn't you go out to have fun? After about half a minute, Yang Shuoming turned his head and asked.

"Thanks to you, it's not bad, I went to Zhangjiakou." Mizui replied, "I drove there alone, hehe." ”

"I can see that your skin is tanned by the sun and hasn't faded yet," Yang Shuoming's face showed a tacit look.

"It seems that our railway is building quite well, and we can finally get to the interior of Mongolia. Although I still have some criticisms, we can ignore them. ”

"That's right, I said that I am also building the railway." The well answered, and took another puff of his pipe.

The two of them were silent for a while, and Yang Shuoming stared intently at the pipe in Shuijing's hand. Outside the open window, there was a faint noise of vehicles driving back and forth in Yanjing City in the distance. A few beautiful pigeons flapped their wings and landed on the antique window lattice, and after a while they flapped their wings and flew away.

Shuijing tried his best to see some clues from Yang Shuoming's young but weathered face. He knew the face very well and was loyal to it. However, the pair of black-red eyes were calm, and the temples that would burst out whenever they were anxious and nervous were only slightly undulating, and there was no sign of it.

Shuijing sensed that Yang Shuoming seemed to have something unspeakable. He didn't know how he had come to such a conclusion, or where to start with that feeling. Mizui was a little anxious to help their true leader out of his current predicament, but he didn't know how to speak. He shifted his body and looked away from Yang Shuoming, looking at his hand and the fine pipe with a silver mouthpiece in his hand.

Yang Shuoming raised his eyes and cleared his throat.

"What are you doing right now? Is there anything special, 'Ice and Fire'? Yang Shuoming asked quietly.

"Fire and Ice". It's unusual to call a well that way. Because usually, when Yang Shuoming summoned him, he spoke first, not by name. Only when necessary, he uses his identity code name "Ice and Fire". Yang Shuoming called him "Ice and Fire" at this time, undoubtedly reminding him of his duty.

"It's just dealing with paperwork, doing routine work, and practicing shooting and martial arts lessons." Mizui replied earnestly, "Do you want me to do anything, General?" ”

The title of "general" is the special name of Yang Shuoming's old subordinates, although Yang Shuoming is now the Minister of Finance, but his military identity has not changed, although Yang Shuoming himself has deliberately downplayed his military identity on many occasions, but after the end of the second anti-Japanese war, he and Cai Yi, like Cai Yi, entered the general's mansion and had the title of "General Fenwei". Therefore, everyone is still used to calling him a general. For Yang Shuoming, this title has a different meaning of intimacy.

"Of course there is." Yang Shuoming smiled and paused, "Uh, do you remember Lu Jianzhang's story?" ”

"Of course I do." The name mentioned by Yang Shuoming made Shuijing feel a little strange, "This person is not small. The sudden assassination was a sensation that year. ”

"I know," Yang Shuoming said briefly, "tell me what you know about him." I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions on what happened to him and inform my decision. ”

Mizui stared out the window for a moment, trying to clear his thoughts. He knew that Yang Shuoming didn't like to listen to disorganized conversations, and he hated the other party's beating around the bush, humming haha. He likes to talk simply, in a single sentence, without room for ambiguity, which makes him sound brain-wrenching.

"Lu Jianzhang is Langzhai, a native of Mengcheng, Anhui Province, and graduated from Tianjin Beiyang Military Academy. In the twenty-first year of Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1895), he trained the new army with Yuan Xiangcheng, and successively served as the sentinel officer of the rear team of the third battalion of the right wing, the inspector of the pioneer officer of the supervision team, and the assistant leader of the first battalion of the left wing. In the twenty-ninth year of Guangxu (1903), he was promoted to the deputy envoy of the Military Science Department of the Military Training Department; In the thirty-first year (1905), he served as the commander of the Seventh Association of the Fourth Town of the Beiyang Army. Later, he was transferred to the general army of Caozhou Town, Shandong, the general army of Gaozhou Town, Guangdong, the general army of Beihai Town, Guangdong, and the commander of the Seventh Association of Gaozhou Town, Guangdong. In 1912, he served as the staff officer of the guard army of the Yuan Xiangcheng Presidential Palace, the commander of the reserve army on the right road, and later the commander of the guard army and the director of the Yanjing Military and Political Law Enforcement Division. ”

"In 1914, during the Bailang Rebellion, the Lu Department was organized into the Seventh Division of the Army, and Lu served as the division commander and the supervisor of the West Road Bandit Suppression. In the summer of the same year, he led his troops from Tongguan to Shaanxi to suppress Bai Lang. In 1915, he was promoted to a mighty general and supervised the military affairs of Shaanxi. Lu cut out the Shaanxi army in Shaanxi, and the personnel of the general's office and various organs mostly used Anhui nationality. In order to consolidate his rule in Shaanxi, he often searched for revolutionaries, and wherever his soldiers and horses went, he annihilated silver and plundered, doing everything; He also set up a record office in Xi'an, imposed a ban on smoking, raised taxes on a large scale, and wantonly extorted and looted the people of Shaanxi. In order to amass wealth, he sold 240,000 silver dollars to outsiders such precious cultural relics as the 'Sa Lu Zi' and the 'Fist Mao Snail' stone screen in the Tang Dynasty's 'Six Horses of Zhaoling'; in order to welcome Yuan Shikai's restoration of the imperial system, Lu looked for literati in Xi'an to write letters of persuasion, and asked people from various counties and provinces to pretend to be county representatives to sign them. After Yuan Xiangcheng became emperor, Lu was canonized as a first-class earl for his meritorious efforts in persuasion. ”

"Lu's actions in Shaanxi have aroused dissatisfaction and righteous indignation from all sides, and the people of Shaanxi have repeatedly erupted in expulsion campaigns. In June 1915, Lantian Tangfangling, He Dewu and others mobilized the people to besiege the county seat. At the beginning of 1916, the Shaanxi Kuomintang conspired to revolt, but failed due to leaks, and many innocents were involved. In March 1916, there was a Northwest Protector [***] incident. Lu Dawei panicked. appointed Chen Shufan, the former town guard of southern Shaanxi, as the town guard of northern Shaanxi and the commander of the Weibei bandit suppression to suppress it; At the same time, he ordered his eldest son, Major General Lu Chengwu, commander of the First Brigade of Beiyang, to lead the 'backbone regiment' to Fuping. Unexpectedly, Chen's subordinate Hu Jingyi rebelled in front of the battle, the 'backbone regiment' was wiped out, and Lu Chengwu himself was also captured. Chen Shufan then took the opportunity to announce the Shaanxi Reading Power. It is called the 'Fuping Mutiny'. ”

After the Fuping Mutiny, Lu Jianzhang became angry, killed innocents indiscriminately, and even frantically wanted to burn Xi'an City, but only gave up under the opposition and obstruction of many parties. Subsequently, Lu You's bloody ransack of Xi'an Model Prison resulted in the murder of more than 300 people, and many innocent people were slaughtered, creating an unprecedented bloody case. In order to replace Lu Jianzhang's position, Chen Shufan, who was known as 'Lu Tubo', threatened Lu Chengwu's life to force Lu Jianzhang to agree to give up his post as the overseer of Shaanxi, and recommended Chen Shufan to Yanjing Zhengaxe to replace him. In May 1916, when Lu Jianzhang left Shaanxi, Chen Shufan summoned officials from the provincial capital to see him off at the Baxian Nunnery in Xi'an. There are more than 500 carts in front of the Baxian Nunnery, all of which are loaded with the people's fat and ointment of the people of Shaanxi who are scavenged by Lu. According to statistics, its cash, antiques, tobacco, calligraphy and paintings, leather goods, and treasures are worth about 30 million taels of silver. Chen Shufan, who had already reaped the benefits, sent Lu Jianzhang out of Tongguan and handed it over to the Henan army to escort back to Yanjing. However, on the way back to Beijing, he was suddenly plundered by bandits, his family property was looted, his wife and children were killed, and more than 10 members of the army and the guards escaped by luck and were only spared. ”

"What do you think about this?" When Shuijing said this, Yang Shuoming suddenly interrupted him and asked.

This incident caused a sensation, and some newspapers analyzed that the Lu family had done too much evil in Shaanxi, and the soldiers and people in Shaanxi hated it to the core, so they took advantage of their departure to carry out a surprise attack; Some people also say that it was the guards who saw the intention of making money, that is, pretending to be gangsters to carry out looting. There are many explanations. "However, there are many bizarre things about this matter, and it is by no means as simple as the media say." ”

Yang Shuoming stared at the well, calmly listening to everything the well said.

"In terms of modus operandi alone, it seems that it was not committed by ordinary bandits and local soldiers." Shuijing expressed his opinion, "According to the investigation of the case, the Henan soldiers who escorted it were at a loss and did not know what was happening, and more than 100 people in Lu Zhi's personal guard were killed by most of the robbers. Looking at the provinces in the country, there is no such a strong force, unless ......"

"You're saying that this kind of thing can't be played by the people, right?" Yang Shuoming smiled and asked.

"Yes. The Lu family himself also knew the power of these people, and knew that he had picked up a life, so he considered himself unlucky for this matter and did not take any action. Shuijing didn't say the answer he wanted to say, but he could see from Yang Shuoming's eyes that Yang Shuoming already knew what he wanted to say.

"But what's even stranger is Lu's death." Shuijing continued, "After Lu arrived in Beijing, he could not take refuge, and after President Feng came to power, he appointed Lu as General Bingwei of the General's Mansion and a senior military adviser, and he became a member of the direct warlords. In 1918, Lu also instigated Feng Jishan and other generals to oppose Duan Qirui's use of troops to the south, which was hated by the Anhui family, and on June 14 of the same year, he was booby-trapped in the Zhongzhou Hall in Tianjin. ”

"I remember that the newspaper said at the time that it was Xu Youzheng's hand." Yang Shuoming said, "This matter is indeed a bit reckless to do again. ”

"Yes, Lu Jianzhang is Feng Jishan's old superior, and he is also related by marriage, and Lu Zeng vigorously promoted and cultivated Feng. Feng's original wife, Liu Dezhen, was a native of Hebei and a niece of Lu Nei, who married Feng in 1905. Therefore, Feng has always been obedient to Lu. When Lu Jianzhang arrived from Shanghai to Tianjin, and Feng was also in Tianjin, preparing to fight overseas, Feng's opposition to the use of troops to the south should be related to him, and before that, because of his resistance to Duan Qirui, the Anhui family had regarded him as a dangerous person, and wanted to get rid of him quickly. ”

At that time, the overseers of the northern provinces were meeting in Tianjin, so President Feng secretly instructed Lu Jianzhang's eldest son, Lu Chengwu, to call his father to Tianjin, in order to use Lu Jianzhang to persuade Cao Kun to return to his direct line and cooperate with Li Chun to restrain Duan Qirui from using troops to the south. It is said that after Lu Jianzhang arrived in Tianjin, General Xu Shuzheng wrote a letter inviting him to the headquarters of the Fengjun Army stationed in Tianjin for a talk. Lu Jianzhang believes that he is the current general and an old-timer of the Beiyang faction, and he has no doubt that someone will kill him. Xu Shuzheng kindly invited him to the garden room to talk, and when he walked into the garden, someone shot him from behind and killed him. ”

"Regarding the reason for the killing of Lu, according to General Xu Shuzheng's report to the political axe: 'According to the generals of this army, there are many people who claim to be General Lu's name and establish the chapter, secretly colluding, and making incitement. After the tree's cutting instructions, don't be moved. Two days ago, this officer again visited the personnel of various parts of the headquarters of his army stationed in Tianjin, wantonly reeded drums, and shook the morale of the troops. After all the members immediately explained everything to Shu Zheng, Shu Zheng thought that he was a bad party member and deliberately instigated it, and General Lu may not have been so delusional. The officer also wrote to Shu Zheng, saying that Shu Zheng had made an appointment to talk to his apartment by phone. Looking at the time limit mentioned in his letter, Shu Zheng has not yet left Beijing, which is deeply surprising. This afternoon, my aunt replied to invite her to come to the meeting. Sitting still, full of scolding, all of which undermine the overall situation. Shu Zheng tactfully advised, and knew that the country was in danger, and Wu Dun was a comrade, and he should not be in the same room. He Zeyun and I have already set up a purpose, the survival of the country, regardless of it, not the united army, overthrowing the current cabinet, is not enough to dissipate the anger in the chest. Shu Zheng immediately said sharply: 'With his qualifications in the army, he should contribute to the country, why did he do this? Never think about the country, rather than for your own children and grandchildren? When he saw Shu Zheng's face change, he said: "If so, please listen to the contemptible plan, unite the army, support Duan Tuifeng, and the contemptible people should run for the sake of effectiveness." The contemptible people are not sensitive, and now there are more than 20,000 people in Lu, Anhui, Shaanxi and Henan, even if they are controlled by the public? 'Yunyun. Shu Zheng whispered that the officer instigated the army, linked up with bandits, and disturbed the order of Lu, Anhui, Shaanxi and Henan provinces, and had heard of it for a long time. He was ordered to be shot on the spot, hoping to eliminate the black sheep for the country and avoid hidden dangers. In addition to examining the body of the officer and burying him properly, and waiting for the family to receive the burial, I hereby report that the officer should be deprived of his military position and that the code be used. ”

(To be continued)