Chapter 57: The Turbulent Four Years (Part 2) Fei Ku Wang

  Cheng Zhihao's residence in Germany.

  "Afeng, your mouth is really poisonous! You said Zhang Zuolin would be blown to death, and he was indeed blown to death. Did you learn how to predict the future at Daiyun Temple?" Cheng Zhihao joked with a smile.

  Lin Aofeng played with the high-footed cup in his hand, looked at Cheng Zhihao for a while, and said: "The Japanese have no other skills, they only know how to do despicable things like assassination. But this time the little devils are stealing chickens without losing rice. Zhang Xueliang, that playboy, is very vengeful, he will definitely follow Chiang Kai-shek's lead and announce his defection."

  "What?! What?!" Cheng Zhihao suddenly sat up straight, looking at Lin Aofeng and asked: "How can you be so sure?! Do you have some kind of information channel?!"

  Lin Ao Feng immediately reacted and said with a smile: "Young uncle, this doesn't need any message source. As long as you have some rationality, analyze it and you'll understand."

  Cheng Zhihao heard Lin Aofeng's words and awkwardly smiled twice, saying: "You're not unaware that since marrying your younger aunt, everything has been managed by her. My brain doesn't move often, so it's become a bit degenerated!"

  Lin Ao Feng glanced at Cui Mei Lan who appeared behind Cheng Zhi Hao, and jokingly said: "Little brother-in-law, are you saying that your little sister-in-law is controlling you too much?"

  "Nothing?!" Cheng Zhihao said with a satisfied face: "One must be content! If it weren't for your little aunt, I still don't know what would have happened to me now?! Thinking carefully, I even feel some guilt towards her!"

  Situ Meitang, who was standing behind, heard her husband's words and tears flowed uncontrollably. Cheng Zhihao heard the sobbing sound from behind and quickly turned around, seeing that it was his wife, he hastily supported her to his side and sat down. Lin Aofeng tactfully dismissed the servant and left the living room himself.

  The wheels of history turned rapidly, and were not changed by Lin Ao-feng's crossing. On December 29, 1928, when the Japanese were still dreaming of letting Zhang Xueliang proclaim himself emperor in Northeast China and continue to be their puppet, Zhang Xueliang announced that he would change his flag and obey the leadership of the National Government. In this way, the National Government completed its unification in terms of situation.

  "Afeng, you've guessed everything that happened this year. Say something about what will happen next year!" Cheng Zhihao handed the wine cup in his left hand to Lin Aofeng. Lin Aofeng took the cup and drank a mouthful before saying: "I'm not a god. I just made some analysis based on the intelligence you provided."

  "Alright! Alright! Don't try to fool me with this. Others may not know, but I, your uncle who has known you since childhood, won't be unaware of your abilities?!" As he spoke, Cheng Zhihao gave Lin Aofeng a stern glance, implying: "You'd better tell the truth obediently!"

  Lin Ao Feng glanced around with a sly look and asked: "Little brother-in-law, how much money have you saved for me now?!"

  "What's with the question?!" Cheng Zhihao looked at Lin Aofeng with a puzzled expression, sizing him up and down, and joked: "Have you found a new girlfriend, gotten her pregnant, and are going to get married?"

  "Get out of here with your nonsense! I have a deep affection for Ke Qian, how could I do something like that?! Lin Ao Feng's words were cut off by Cheng Zhi Hao who interrupted: "Then why are you asking this?! Are you afraid that I, as your uncle, will embezzle your money?!"

  Lin Ao Feng shook his head and said, "I'm not worried that you'll embezzle my money! There's a chance to make some money, but I don't know if you have the guts to do it."

  Upon hearing that there's money to be made, Cheng Zhihao's eyes lit up and he suddenly became spirited, asking: "A Feng, what's the good business opportunity?! Speak quickly!"

  Lin Aofeng tilted his head, staring at the ceiling, holding a wine cup as if talking to himself. "This world is really hard on good people. I originally thought that with money, everyone could make it together, but some people just don't know what's good for them. Forget it, I'll just send my dad a telegram tomorrow and let him make the money!" After speaking, Lin Aofeng stood up, holding his wine cup, preparing to leave. Just then, Cheng Zhihao suddenly came back to himself and grabbed onto Lin Aofeng, with a smiling face, saying: "Aofeng, just now was uncle's fault! Don't take it to heart. For the sake of your mom and your grandparents, as well as your little aunt, spare me this once!"

  Lin Ao Feng curled his lip and said: "Young uncle, what are you doing?!"

  Cheng Zhihao's face showed a crying expression and said: "A Feng, can't you just stop teasing me?!"

  "You're my elder, how dare I play with you?!" Lin Ao Feng said with a smile. Early on, Cui Mei Lan had been watching the lively uncle and nephew from upstairs, but now she couldn't take it anymore and intervened: "Ao Feng, your younger uncle is asking for trouble, don't bother with him. If there's anything, just tell Auntie, I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

  "It's still Auntie who's the best!" Lin Ao Feng laughed and shook off Cheng Zhi Hao, quickly running upstairs and saying: "Little Auntie, I want to know how much money I have now. Can you tell me the approximate figure?!"

  "Adding this year's dividend, it should be almost over $9 million!"

  "$900 million?! That should be about it!" Lin Ao Feng walked into his own room, took out a folder and handed it to Sito Mei Lan, saying: "This is some analysis I did based on intelligence gathered from various sources over the past period of time."

  Situ Meilan took the file, hesitated for a moment, called her husband over, and pulled Lin Aofeng into the study. In the blink of an eye, half an hour had passed. Situ Meilan and Cheng Zihao were shocked by Lin Aofeng's boldness. The couple exchanged a glance, and Cheng Zihao, who was the first to recover from the shock, asked: "Aofeng, what are you planning to do?!"

  Lin Ao Feng replied, "The level of technological development in the United States is in no way inferior to that of Germany and Britain. Germany cannot be bound by the Treaty of Versailles forever, they will think of ways to break free from the shackles of the Treaty of Versailles. The fastest and most practical way to break free from this shackle is to launch a war that is not inferior to World War I. At that time, American industry will stand out. I want to take advantage of this opportunity to massively acquire American heavy industry enterprises and munitions companies, making preparations for China's rise in the future."

  Cui Mei Lan furrowed her brow, carefully considering Lin Ao Feng's plan, and said: "Ao Feng, since you're so confident in your judgment, then I'll accompany you on this crazy venture. If we win, we'll soar to great heights; if we lose, no big deal, we can just revert back to our original form and start over."

  When Lin Ao-feng and the other two were discussing specific plans in the villa, Itagaki Seishirō and Ishiwara Kanji walked into Inukai Tsuyoshi's office. Seeing the broken porcelain on the ground and the scattered documents, Itagaki Seishirō and Ishiwara Kanji exchanged a glance, and Ishiwara Kanji picked up a stack of file folders, flipping through them casually and saying: "Inukai, Zhang Xueliang's rise to power is not his loss, why must you be angry about this matter?! Besides, Zhang Xueliang does not want to become emperor, but someone else does. Don't forget the existence of Puyi. His weight is not lighter than Zhang Xueliang's at all."

  Tsuchihashi Genji replied calmly: "I am not reconciled. So many years of effort have been wasted in vain!"

  Itagaki Seishirō said, "Tachibana Kozaburō, have you forgotten that in Shina, there is not only the Fengtian clique among the warlords. There are other warlords as well. If we just stir up their contradictions, can't we make them commit crimes?"

  "Go west!" Tōyama Kanken suddenly burst out laughing and said: "I already have a plan to deal with other Chinese warlords. Since Zhang Xueliang doesn't know how to behave, I won't let him off easy either. This is just a small lesson for him. Let him know that without us, he's nothing!"

  After the spy sent by Tōyama Kakudō stirred up trouble, Yang Yuting and Chang Yin-huai took advantage of their seniority to make things difficult for Zhang Xueliang everywhere. The young and vigorous Zhang Xueliang was provoked into killing Yang Yuting and Chang Yin-huai, cutting off his own left and right arms, causing the Fengtian Army to begin its decline.

  "Father-in-law, this is a telegram from Ah Feng in Germany." Lin Guodong walked up to his father-in-law with the newly received telegram. Cheng Jincheng took the telegram and said while reading: "Ah Feng, this kid hasn't wasted his time studying in Germany for over a year. He has a very clear understanding of the domestic situation."

  Lin Guodong smiled wryly and said, "Father-in-law, in March, Chiang Kai-shek imprisoned Li Jishen and had a hard-to-resolve conflict with the Guangxi clique. This month, he also clashed with Feng Yuxiang. What if Feng Yuxiang and Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi unite..." Before Lin Guodong finished speaking, Cheng Jincheng chuckled and said, "Ziliang (Lin Guodong's courtesy name), it's not me saying this, but in terms of understanding people, you're not as good as Feng'er. He sees through things more clearly than you do. Among the Chinese warlords, each one is a master of internal strife, but inept at external warfare. Based on my understanding of Chiang Kai-shek, the one who will ultimately emerge victorious is definitely him. It's not because his abilities are stronger than theirs, but because he has more money than they do."

  "So, Father-in-law, what should we do?" Lin Guodong, as a businessman, immediately caught something from Cheng Jincheng's words and asked hastily.

  Cheng Jincheng thought for a moment and said, "Now we don't need to do anything, just take care of our own business. If all else fails, let's go to the United States! This way, Feng'er can also be at ease."

  Lin Guodong smiled wryly and said, "Father-in-law, do you think this is the right time to go to America?!"

  Cheng Jincheng was taken aback, sighed, and just as he was about to say something, the butler rushed over and said, "Master, Mr. Song Ziwen has come to visit."

  "How did he come?!" Cheng Jincheng muttered and said: "Please ask him to go to the living room, I'll be right there!"

  "Yes!" The butler responded and quickly left. Looking at the butler's receding back, Cheng Jincheng muttered to himself: "What is Song Ziwen doing here at this time?! Has Chiang Kai-shek run out of money?!"

  "Impossible!" Lin Guodong retorted, "A while ago, Song Ziwen and Kong Xiangxi raised a large sum of money in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. If Chiang Kai-shek uses it sparingly, it's enough for him to use for two years. It's impossible that he's short of money now." As Lin Guodong spoke, he seemed to have thought of something and said, "Could it be that he came for the formula of penicillin?!"

  "It's possible!" Cheng Jincheng nodded in agreement, glanced at his son-in-law and said: "Let's go! We'll meet him together!"