Although he was not freed for the time being, Zhang Xueliang was in a good mood, and he couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "I blamed the chairman of the committee, I have not understood him all along, since I read his diary, I only know his pain, after the signing of the Tanggu Agreement, he wrote in his diary such a paragraph: 'I bend the country, I stretch the country, humiliation, self-improvement, but seek benefits to China, in a clear heart'".

Song Ziwen said: "The attitude of resistance against Japan, whether left or right, is the same, but the dispute is a matter of time, the gap between the strength of China and Japan is too big, Japan can build aircraft carriers, we even have to import barbed wire materials, this war will come sooner or later, the later, the more beneficial it will be for us." ”

Chen Zikun said: "Ziwen, haven't you always had a tough attitude, how can it become this kind of argument." ”

Song Ziwen said: "Everything has a degree, I don't have such a good belly as the commission, the three eastern provinces are occupied, you can bear it, Rehe is occupied, you can bear it, the twenty-two counties in eastern Hebei have also been carved out, and then Pingjin, do you know what the Japanese say, the New York Times reporter once interviewed the commander of the Kwantung Army, Honjo Shigeru, this fang said: If you don't control Pingjin, Japan will never have peace, if you don't control the area north of the Yellow River, it will be difficult for the Pingjin region to get safe, you listen, the Japanese appetite can be satisfied, and the commission will endure again and again, delayed time, but lost the hearts of the people. ”

Chen Zikun said: "Yes, the academic community is also this view, even Hu Shi also said that the cession of Manchuria can bring 30 years of peace to China, and the whole of China is pessimistic, except for the *** in northern Shaanxi, their ideas and slogans, every sentence speaks to the hearts of the people, on the other hand, what they think is only written in the diary, on propaganda, the Kuomintang is far worse than ***, Han Qing launched a military admonition, dare not say that he was not inspired by ***." ”

Zhang Xueliang said: "*** is not only the propaganda work is done well, their actual work is also different from what the outside world imagined, Mr. Song Qingling once asked me to send an American reporter to the Soviet region of northern Shaanxi, after he came back, I looked at the notes and photos, which greatly changed my impression of ***." ”

Chen Zikun's heart moved: "This person's surname is Snow? ”

"Edgar. Snow, that's him. Zhang Xueliang said.

Song Ziwen said: "Why is it getting farther and farther, come, let's replace wine with tea, and wish Hanqing early freedom." ”

……

Zhang Xueliang finally failed to go back, and a few days later, he was placed under house arrest by the secret service headquarters, and even Song Ziwen did not know the specific place of detention.

The Northeast Army was leaderless, and some of the officers of the Shaozhuang faction were angry with the senior generals because the young marshal could not return, and killed Wang Yizhe, commander of the 67th Army, Xu Fang, chief of staff of the Northwest General Headquarters, Song Xueli, deputy director, and Jiang Bin, director of the transportation department.

Yang Hucheng was difficult to support alone, in order to avoid disaster and go abroad, the Northwest Army was to Nanjing to convey sincerity, the Central Army marched into Xi'an, after coordination, the Northeast Army was transferred to western Henan and northern Anhui to rest and reorganize, and since then it has become the fish and meat on Chiang Kai-shek's board.

While actively preparing for war, the Red Army in northern Shaanxi sent a congratulatory telegram to Nanjing, celebrating the peaceful settlement of the Xi'an Incident, hoping that the central authorities would open up freedom of speech, release all political prisoners, pool China's strength, and unite with the outside world, and ensure that the main purpose would no longer be to overthrow the government, and that the Soviet government would be renamed the Special Administrative Region of the Republic of China, and the Red Army would be renamed the National Revolutionary Army, and accept the leadership of the Nanjing Government and the Military Commission.

The Japanese Kwantung Army immediately issued a statement that if the Chinese Government accommodated communism and adopted a hostile attitude toward Japan, the Kwantung Army would take all necessary means to defend Manchukuo and maintain peace in East Asia.

The threat did not work as well as before, and the Kuomintang responded positively, with Chiang Kai-shek announcing an open speech, pooling talents, pardoning political prisoners, and sending personnel to Xi'an to continue consultations with Zhou Enlai, while reshuffling the government and removing the pro-Japanese foreign minister Zhang Qun.

For a time, the dawn of peace appeared, the left-wing and right-wing people in the country were not dissatisfied, and the relations between the national government and the Soviet Union were also strengthened, but Japan was the only one who was angry, because the Kuomintang's actions directly violated the "Hirota Three Principles," that is, the joint defense against communism.

In April, the Japanese army increased its troops in Pingjin and conducted exercises in North China.

In May, the commander of the Kwantung Army, Kenkichi Otada, held a military meeting in Rehe to intensify the oppression of Suiyuan, and the incident of the tax police regiment broke out in Qingdao, and an armed conflict almost broke out between the Japanese navy and the Qingdao authorities over the stationing of the tax police regiment.

In early June, Konoe Fumitsu formed a cabinet, and Hideki Tojo, chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, threatened that in order to fight against Russia, it should first strike at the Nanjing government and eliminate the threat from the rear.

Half a year has passed, Chen Zikun, who made great contributions to the Xi'an Incident, has not received any reward, he is calm, Chiang Kai-shek is also calm, but Song Meiling can't help it: "In public and private, Zikun is kind to us, Darling, should you express it." ”

Chiang Kai-shek snorted coldly: "Everyone else was detained, but Chen Zikun escaped alone, Xi'an was heavily surrounded, and the Northeast Army and the Northwest Army rebelled together, I don't believe he can escape." ”

Song Meiling said: "What, do you suspect that Zikun and Han Qing are conspiring? ”

"It's not that this is not possible, before the incident, Chen Zikun and Zhang Xueliang advised me not to target students, you know, Han Qing has an impulsive temper, but Chen Zikun is scheming, it is difficult to say that Han Qing made up his mind to launch a military admonition without his participation, and flying back to Nanjing alone is also part of the plan."

Song Meiling said: "Darling, are you thinking too much, even if what you say is true, their intentions are good, and it is not up to them that you can be released in the end." ”

Chiang Kai-shek said: "I'm just guessing, if there is real evidence, Chen Zikun will also be tried by military law...... But what you said is also reasonable, rewards and punishments are not clear, and they will be criticized by others, so let's give Chen Zikun a piece of rice that I wore when I went to Xi'an, which can be regarded as a kind of warning to him. ”

In the Chen Mansion in Nanjing, the staff of the chairman's chamber sent a cardboard box, which contained a thick black face and red red with three gold stars on the collar, and the staff said that this was a gift from the chairman, Chen Zikun expressed his gratitude and asked Liu Ting to hang up her clothes.

"This dress doesn't seem to be new." Liu Ting carefully inspected it and found that although the Dayu had been dry cleaned, the details were worn. It should be second-hand.

"This is what Lao Jiang wears, he now regards himself as an emperor, and the clothes he wore are also given away as a sign of grace." Chen Zikun smiled and tried it on his shoulders, which was a bit short.

"Put it down and you can wear it." Liu Ting said.

"Let's change it to a urine ring for children." Chan disagreed.

……

All signs show that the war is imminent, and Beiping and Tianjin bear the brunt, while Lin Wenjing's sister and brother are still in Beiping, and Yao Yilei's parents and aunt's family are in Tianjin, and for the sake of safety, they must be picked up as soon as possible.

Chen Zikun sent a telegram to urge, Lin Wenjing replied that his studies could not be delayed, and he needed to return during the summer vacation, and ordinary people could not access high-level information, and did not know that the situation was critical, so Chen Zikun had to take the plane in person, first fly to Beiping, and then go to Tianjin.

When flying over Pingjin, two Japanese fighters suddenly emerged from the clouds, circled around the DC-3 several times, and left only after seeing the civil aviation logo on the fuselage, which shocked the pilot into a cold sweat.

Chen Zikun was also indignant, just now at a close distance, you could see the Japanese pilot's Rendan's beard, and it was unbearable for the Chinese sky to allow enemy planes to run rampant.

The plane landed at Nanyuan Airport in Beiping, and Qin Dechun, deputy commander of the 29th Army and mayor of Beiping, came to pick up the plane.

"This war will come sooner or later, and it is better to die in battle than to die." Forty-four-year-old Qin Dechun is Song Zheyuan's right-hand man, and he was also Feng Yuxiang's subordinate in his early years, and he met Chen Zikun ten years ago.

The 29th Army is the remnants of Feng Yuxiang after the Central Plains War, if it is another warlord leader, it is too late to snicker at the integration of such a combat effective force, but it is Zhang Xueliang, the loser of Tianzi No. 1, who can incorporate them, and his own Northeast Army is too cumbersome, not to mention that it is someone else's child soldier, who left it after sending 500,000 resettlement fees, and the 29th Army sent people under the fence, poor and miserable, and the march had to take advantage of the night, so as not to be regarded as bandits.

After the signing of the "He-Mei Agreement", the Nanjing Central Army and military police withdrew from North China, and the Beiping Military Affairs Branch was revoked, and Song Zheyuan and the 29th Army were cheaper in a huge Pingjin place, and the Japanese had no opinion on this, after all, the direct annexation of Pingjin was too ugly, and it was more elegant to first "autonomize" and then slowly encroach on it.

As a result, the Pingjin area has become a special area in China, giving birth to such a freak as the Jicha Political Affairs Committee, and Song Zheyuan carefully maintained the situation in North China, for fear of losing the hard-won territory.

"This is a territory, it's clearly a hot potato." Qin Dechun complained in front of Chen Zikun without any scruples, and suddenly the car stopped halfway, and the driver turned around and said, "Little Japan is blocking the road." ”

In front of him stood a Japanese soldier with a cannon barrel and a Type 38 rifle taller than himself, blocking the intersection and blocking the entire train fleet of the 29th Army.

A moment later, a squadron of Japanese soldiers lined up, singing loudly, neatly lined up, brown Shogo-style summer military uniforms, large-brimmed hats, tweed leggings, young faces full of vitality, and the long bayonets on the Type 38 rifles flashed with cold light.

Leading the team was a captain officer, riding on a tall horse, his ochre-red riding boots polished and a blue sword-belted captain's saber hanging from his waist, he glanced contemptuously at the convoy of Chinese officials, and raised his head proudly.

In the sound of neat footsteps with boots on, the Japanese soldiers walked away without squinting, and Qin Dechun's convoy guards turned gray with anger, staring at the smoke and dust in the distance wordlessly, hating the roots of their teeth, and the handle of the barge gun was about to be crushed.

"Drive." Qin Dechun said calmly.