The next day, after entering Nanchang City, An Yi and Gu Lao's Second Division held a preparatory meeting and went to the teahouse at Zhuangyuan Bridge to sit down and drink tea to pass the time. When they entered the teahouse, they heard the tea guests talking about the "Great Robbery in Western Jiangxi". ", the number of people killed in the rumors increased from the actual thirty-five to hundreds, and the number of victims expanded from servants and nursing homes to hundreds of families, old and young, including Luo Xiliang's younger brother, the famous wealthy businessman Luo Xuliang in western Ganxi. They were also killed in bed in a daze. The strange thing is that both their mothers-in-law were spared by the ruthless robbers.
The only point of great controversy is that people from all walks of life have different opinions on the murderer, which makes An Yi and Gu Laoer look at each other in shock.
There are many rumors mixed with the scattered rumors. Some people say that strongmen from the Luoxiao Mountains on the border of Hunan and Jiangxi came down to rob. Some people say that it was Luo Xiliang's retribution for occupying the mining area and killing people. Some people said that it was the lone thief Shen Kuaishou who was famous in nine provinces in the north and south. More people believed that it was the work of Zhu Peide of the Third Army, because Zhu Peide had long been dissatisfied with Tan Yankai's Second Army dominating the tax-rich tungsten ore-rich area. The generals of both sides had made many quarrels over this. , broke up unhappy. This time Zhu Peide's troops took advantage of the mobilization of the armies and saw the opportunity to suddenly rob the wealthy county magistrate of Anfu. After they succeeded, they refused to admit it and pushed him away. It was understandable that no one would take him. There is no other way, as the saying goes: if you catch a traitor, you will get a double, if you catch a thief, you will get the stolen goods! Who would admit it without evidence? Let alone Zhu Peide, the commander of an army with more than 30,000 troops.
The biggest reason to support this statement is that Anfu County Magistrate Luo Xiliang, a survivor who had a huge amount of wealth robbed, complained to the Second Army garrison and the Second Army headquarters, saying that the people who robbed him all wore the gray and blue uniforms of the Third Army. They wore colorful military uniforms and spoke Yunnan dialect, and there were dozens of them. Furthermore, the Second Army garrison who reacted at dawn immediately dispatched to hunt and hunt, following the traces left by the robbers, and finally in the northwest The stolen carriage and part of the Xinruan Yangyang were found in the woods fifteen kilometers southwest of Yichun City, where Yichun was the headquarters of the Eighth Division of the Third Army. At that time, a large number of recruits and veterans of the Third Army were leaving Yichun in a steady stream. Heading to the front lines of Nanchang and Jiujiang, the two sides suddenly met and got into a quarrel. After a few words, it escalated into a confrontation with guns, almost killing people. In the end, the second army, which was small in number, could only return with hatred. Immediately submit a complaint to the Northern Expeditionary Army Headquarters through the military department.
At the reception banquet at noon, more than 200 guests, the headquarters and dozens of generals of the First Army who were specially invited to attend were almost all talking about the "Great Robbery in Western Gansu" and elevated this robbery to "the first robbery in the Republic of China". The strange thing is that many generals and commanders have a look of gloating in their eyes.
Jiang Dingwen, who had just recovered from his foot injury and whose right arm was still hanging on his chest, was very happy to see An Yi. He quickly left a group of generals who were chatting enthusiastically and came to An Yi. He led An Yi and Gu Laoer to sit under the window sill in the north of the hall. : "How are your textile and grain and oil factories doing?"
"The fence is being built, the foundation of the factory has been poured, and the construction of the upper factory is about to begin. It is estimated that the equipment will not be installed until April next year to start trial production."
An Yi took the champagne handed by the waiter and put it on the table: "Brother, it took two and a half months for my shoulder injury to heal. Your injury is much more serious than my brother's. It's best not to go to Zhejiang this time. It's too much to fight all the way." "
Jiang Dingwen laughed: "I can't go even if I want to. It's inconvenient to do anything until I recover from my injuries. Let me tell you some inside information. Mr. Wang Jun of the First Division has been transferred to another position. The principal called me two days ago to ask if I would like to go.
I was offered the position of commander of the First Division, but I thought for a moment and declined. Commander He's East Route Army was preparing to establish a new First Army. Commander Tan Zhenxiang (Tan Shuqing) of the Third Division was transferred to the commander of the New First Army, and Gu Mosan (Gu Zhutong) was promoted to the position of Commander of the Third Division.
The division commander and deputy division commander Xue Boling (Xue Yue) is expected to be promoted to the commander of the first division soon. Our First Army has changed a lot this time. As for me, I will just follow the principal and study while recovering from my injuries, haha!
By the way, the principal has sent another invitation letter to Mr. Ou Yaoting, asking this God of Wealth to come to Nanchang for a visit and to communicate more with friends from the business circles in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. I guess he will come. First, the various political factions in Guangdong are currently in trouble.
It's very serious. In the past two months, there have been hundreds of thousands of demonstrations and workers' strikes in Guangzhou. Mr. Ou's business may not be able to continue, no matter how good his products are, he will not be able to sell them. Secondly,
The first reason is that you finally decided to develop your industry in Nanchang. Mr. Ou regards you as his nephew and has always communicated frequently with you and has a close relationship. If he doesn't help you, who will he help? Not to mention the products produced by his Nanyang factory
Nowadays, the sales of medicines and footwear are increasing day by day in the markets of Shanghai and Nanjing, and the supply exceeds the demand. Even several major commercial houses in the three towns of Wuhan and Nanchang distribute his goods, and he also wants to set up several branches in Shanghai, Nanjing and Nanchang."
An Yi nodded: "A few days ago, Mr. Ou asked several people from our group to pick up equipment in Guangzhou to bring a letter. The letter mentioned that they would come to Nanchang for inspection. He also said that Guangzhou is now in constant turmoil and business is difficult to do. He has once again
He moved his family to Hong Kong and planned to sell more than a dozen businesses under his name, leaving only the time-honored Taichang to concentrate on Hong Kong and Nanyang.
Mr. Ou has always had business dealings with Mr. Jing Lao (Zhang Jingjiang), Mr. Yu Qiaqing from Shanghai and others, and also had plans to invest in industries in Shanghai and Nanjing. However, he did not expect that the situation in Guangdong would change so quickly. Our
I am afraid that the comfortable life will not be easy anymore. Minister Song finally implemented the tax reform and achieved initial results. He can spend more than 4 million yuan every month to support our troops in the Northern Expedition. Now Guangdong has suddenly become like this. It is really shocking.
It is puzzling that if the Nationalist Government does nothing, I am afraid that it will not even be able to pay the military salaries of the soldiers of the Northern Expedition."
Having said this, An Yi let out a long sigh and was worried about the future development of the situation.
"Don't say you don't understand. Many of us don't understand. Now even the Guangdong National Government can't collect taxes. Officials from various government ministries staying in Guangzhou have arrived in Wuhan and Nanchang one after another, preparing to convene a joint meeting of the Central Party and Government to discuss
To solve this series of problems, including the Guangdong problem, Tang Shengzhi's occupation of the two lakes areas to collect taxes and control by himself, how to develop the economy of the occupied areas and revitalize industry and commerce, etc. Otherwise, where can we find money to fight the war? What about the Northern Expedition?
Therefore, Mr. Yu and I, the principal and many officials from the headquarters all support your idea of developing Nanchang’s economy and revitalizing national industry. The officials from the headquarters read the “Nanchang and Surrounding Economic Zone” that you submitted to the principal.
After the report on "My Views on Industrial and Commercial Development", everyone was full of praise, praising you An Yi for being talented in both literary and military skills and good at seizing business opportunities. Many people want to cooperate with you." Jiang Dingwen raised his glass and touched An Yi lightly.
An Yi raised his head and took a sip, put down the glass, nodded slightly when he saw Gu Laoer bringing him a buffet, turned to Jiang Dingwen and asked in a low voice: "Brother, why hasn't the principal come out to give a speech?"
Jiang Dingwen smiled bitterly and said: "It's not because of the stupid robbery of the Second Army and the Third Army. It is estimated that the headquarters is still mediating between them at this moment. This thing happened at the wrong time. It might hinder the entire Northern Expedition plan.
In order to abandon differences and agree on the Northern Expedition, the principal has made huge concessions to the Northern Expedition armies. He borrowed five million interest-free loans from Shanghai to launch the Northern Expedition with all his strength. Chief He Yingqin led the Eastern Route Army, the principal personally led the Middle Route Army, and Chief Tang Shengzhi led the Western Route Army.
The road armies are moving forward together, the plan has been formulated, and military mobilization is also in progress. Such a shocking robbery suddenly occurs. How can people not be upset? Maybe the second army and the third army really don’t want to join.
Zhejiang is fighting."
"My little brother has also heard about this case, and it has even spread on the street. Who is responsible for it?" An Yi's face was full of doubts.
Jiang Dingwen shook his head: "This case is definitely not something that ordinary thieves can do. It was done so seamlessly that there is almost no trace. For this reason, the principal called a group of our generals to analyze and discuss, but in the end there was no result. Most of them tended to collude with internal and external parties."
Otherwise, it would be impossible to see the timing so accurately and move so fast. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that someone in the Third Army did it. The headquarters had to secretly notify Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Nanjing and other parties to pay more attention.
See if you can get a break from the possible loot.
You don’t know that many of those stolen goods are national treasures, not to mention tens of thousands of taels of gold and jewelry. The pair of jade bis from the Eastern Han Dynasty and four top-quality bronzes from the Warring States period alone are worth at least four million oceans.
, Thinking about it, I admire those robbers, they were so precise, quick and clean in their attacks, they are really amazing!"
An Yi nodded worriedly, and the very nervous Gu Laoer put down his knife and fork leisurely and enjoyed the wine. An Yi estimated that Principal Jiang would not appear for a while, so after eating something, he said goodbye to Jiang Dingwen:
"At the preparatory meeting at the division headquarters in the morning, I received the order to lead the regiment to Shangrao at any time, select and build a camp for the division headquarters, and take on the task of guarding the station before the arrival of the entire division. The division's engineer battalions set off together, and I had to
Take these two days to take care of the construction status of your old Nanchang Ramie Textile Factory, and hold a meeting with several shareholders to implement their respective responsibilities, so you have to leave now.
I hereby implore my eldest brother to take more care of my younger brother's property while he is in Nanchang, and to select the factory site of our 'Nanchang Jiangnan Food Manufacturing Company' as soon as possible, and to encircle one or two hundred acres of land as much as possible to make preparations in advance for other investment industries.
, otherwise Mr. Ou will be unhappy when he comes and sees us unprepared. We have to rely on big brother for all this."
Jiang Dingwen nodded: "Don't worry, Mr. Yu and I have always taken this matter to heart. The day before yesterday, Mr. Kong Xiangxi came quietly from Shanghai to Nanchang and wanted to build a thermal power plant in Xingzi County or Xiushuijie, south of Lushan Mountain.
To supply electricity to several surrounding counties, the principal agreed to him in principle, and informed Mr. Kong of our upcoming industrial investment cooperation plan with Mr. Ou, and also took out your report for Mr. Kong to correct.
Mr. Kong was very surprised after reading it and praised it repeatedly. He asked me about you at the dinner party. Like Mr. Ou Yaoting, he said it was a pity to have people like you in the army.
The principal naturally knew what he meant, so he smiled and said nothing. Mr. Kong saw the secret, so he didn’t mention anything else. Instead, he praised your vision and was very optimistic about several projects in your plan. From the looks of it,
Maybe he will also become a shareholder by then, so we, the big brothers, cannot tolerate not taking this matter seriously."
Now An Yi was finally relieved and secretly entrusted Jiang Dingwen to help him buy another piece of land near Zhuangyuan Bridge with the intention of building a leisure gathering place. Then he and Gu Laoer quietly left the luncheon hall and went straight back to the old Nanchang station to start.
Intense preparation work.
At four o'clock in the morning on the third day, the snowflakes that had been falling for most of the night finally stopped. An Yi's independent regiment headquarters completely evacuated the old Nanchang County town, and all the troops quietly set off eastward.
At dawn, people in Nanchang who opened their homes accidentally discovered that the three big flags at the entrance of the county government office had disappeared. A big red banner hung directly above the closed government office, which read "The people's kindness will be engraved in our hearts" and was signed by the leader of the National Revolutionary Army.
Independent Regiment of the Second Division of the Army.
Only then did people know that this soldier with strict military discipline, who had silently dedicated himself to building bridges and paving the way for the old city, had left. They knew that this revolutionary team that respected the old and cherished the young and initiated the construction project of the welfare home had quietly set off. Then they exclaimed loudly and ran
Tell each other.
The large number of gifts prepared in advance by the old Nanchang Chamber of Commerce and people from all walks of life were no longer available for gifting. One after another, women, children and village elders rushed to the gate of the county government office, looking at the big red banner above the government office, sighing loudly and quietly wiping away tears.