Section 002 I am Zhang Xueliang (2)

  Meng Xiang felt his consciousness floating in a dark and chaotic void, with a severe headache and unbearable discomfort. He secretly regretted not knowing the suffering of a hangover earlier, he wouldn't have drunk so much with those friends. Thinking about it, as a Chinese person who doesn't believe in Christianity, why should he celebrate Jesus' birthday? The white-bearded old man on the reindeer wouldn't come through his kitchen exhaust fan to give him gifts at midnight. Christmas was just an excuse for merchants to scam people into buying things. He had joined in the commotion and now felt dizzy, sour all over, and would have been better off staying home watching Iron Blood Network. Meng Xiang sighed inwardly and slowly lifted his heavy eyelids. His only thought now was his parched throat, wanting to get up and drink some water from the water dispenser.

  But he had just opened his eyes and hurriedly closed them again, thinking to himself: "It seems that I really drank too much, and all of a sudden I'm having hallucinations."

  "General!" "Young Master!" "Xue Liang!" "Han Ying!" At the same time, four or five hands reached out to pull and tug at Meng Xiang. Four or five male and female voices called out different titles, but each voice was filled with extreme anxiety and worry, mixed with sadness and tension. Meng Xiang felt dizzy and his hair stood on end. He carefully opened his eyes again, and the scene before him was still the same: he was lying on an antique bed, surrounded by luxurious furnishings, and in a room filled with furniture and objects that he had only seen in movies from the early 20th century. There were even gramophones that could be put in a museum. Around him were about ten people, all staring at him with extremely concerned eyes. Among them, six or seven men wore military uniforms from the Northern Warlords period of the Republic of China, while four or five women were dressed elegantly and had an air of refinement, looking like noblewomen. These women were beautiful and elegant, but they all had obvious tear stains on their faces. The leader of this group was a man in his sixties, with a dignified appearance and an extraordinary aura. He wore three gold stars on each shoulder and a five-pointed star badge on his military cap. He gazed at Meng Xiang with a look of paternal concern and kindness, but it made Meng Xiang's heart feel uneasy. And what made him even more uneasy was yet to come. The old soldier suddenly asked Meng Xiang: "Han Ying, are you okay?"

  “Han Ying?” Meng Xiang's dull and confused brain was shocked by this name, his heart racing wildly. He quickly sat up in bed, looking around the room with a bewildered expression, rubbing his eyes vigorously, and pinching himself hard, which made him gasp in pain. His mind sank again, and he couldn't help but stare at the people in front of him with a mixture of shock and confusion.

  "What are you talking about? What Han Ying?" Meng Xiang asked, still trying to process what was happening. As he spoke, he suddenly realized that he was wearing a yellow military uniform, which made his heart skip a beat and filled him with extreme fear and panic. He felt like he had lost all sense of direction and was trapped in a chaotic and confusing world.

  "What's going on? Am I dreaming? Or have I gone crazy and started hallucinating?" Meng Xiang thought to himself, feeling like his brain was overloaded and unable to process the flood of questions that were popping up in his mind. He could only stare blankly at the people around him, unsure of what to do or say next.

  One of the women, a middle-aged woman who seemed to be the leader, couldn't help but burst into tears again and said to the old soldier: "General, what's going on? The general has just passed away, Han is mentally disordered, and we are left with orphans and widows. What about the foundation of the Northeast? You must take charge of the situation!" The women around her also started crying together. Several young people in the crowd also cried to Meng Xiang: "Big brother, you must cheer up!" Meng Xiang felt a chill run down his spine and thought: "What big brother? I'm an only child, where did all these younger brothers come from?"

  "Gentlemen, ladies, please calm down and don't panic. Don't worry, Han Ying is just temporarily unconscious due to overexcitement, it's nothing serious." He looked at Meng Xiang again, but the concern and anxiety in his eyes deepened, "Han Ying, wake up quickly. I know you're feeling extremely sad now, but people can't come back from the dead, Generalissimo has passed away, our Northeast is currently leaderless, the National Revolutionary Army is pressing us hard on the battlefield, the Japanese are getting restless, and there are many unstable elements within our ranks. You must pull yourself together! Our Northeast is relying on you to take charge now! You must be strong!" His words were tinged with sadness, but his expression remained calm and composed in the face of crisis.

  Meng Xiang stared blankly at the old soldier, and after being stunned for a long time, he trembled with fear and asked: "Who are you?"

  The old soldier said in surprise: "Han Ying, don't you recognize me? I am Fu Xun!" He saw that Meng Xiang still had a puzzled expression on his face, and he hastily added, "I am Zhang Zuoxiang!" Zhang Zuoxiang was an elder of the Fengtian clique, who had always been diligent and dedicated to assisting Zhang Zuolin, and later assisted Zhang Xueliang. Because his courtesy name was "Fu Xun", he was also known as "Fu Shuai", a senior minister of the Fengtian clique.

  Meng Xiang felt a thunderbolt exploding in his mind, and he stuttered: "Y-you... are you Zhang Zuoxiang?"

  "Ah, Han Ying, you don't recognize us?" Zhang Zuoxiang exclaimed in shock. He hastily pointed to the people surrounding Meng Xiang and introduced them one by one: "These are all your father's widows - this is Shou Furen, this is Lu Furen, this is Xu Furen, and this is Ma Furen. And these are your younger brothers - Xue Ming, Xue Zeng, Xue Si, and Xue Sen." Next, Zhang Zuoxiang introduced the military personnel present: "This is General Huang Xiansheng, commander of the Shenyang garrison; these two are Colonel Cui Chengyi and your deputy officer Tan Hai, who escorted you back from Beijing in secret. That one is Advisor Zang, that one is Governor Liu. Han Ying, don't you really recognize us?" He and everyone present turned pale. Meng Xiang looked at the introductions - the woman who had spoken earlier was indeed Shou Furen; as for the other three women, Lu Furen and Xu Furen were middle-aged, while Ma Furen was a young woman in her thirties. Huang Xiansheng, Tan Hai, and Cui Chengyi were all young military officers in their thirties. As for his "younger brothers", some were around twenty years old, while others were only ten or so. Meng Xiang's subconscious had already vaguely sensed that he seemed to have guessed the gist of the matter, but his heart still found it extremely hard to believe, and a stormy wave surged up in his chest once again. He gasped with difficulty: "What...what is going on here?"

  "Zhang Zuoxiang's face was filled with pain as he said, "Han Ying, don't you remember anything? Half a month ago, the commander returned to Shenyang from Beijing by train, but the train exploded for unknown reasons at Huanggutun, and the commander and Wu Ying both died. You were busy reorganizing troops in Beijing at the time and didn't have time to return to Shenyang immediately. It wasn't until last night that you quietly returned to Shenyang after finishing your tasks. Two hours ago, you rushed back to the commander's mansion, saw the commander's coffin, and burst into tears. You fainted from excessive grief and only woke up now. Han Ying, don't you really remember anything?" His words were also increasingly tense."

  Meng Xiang's mind went blank and he muttered to himself, "Am I... am I Zhang Xueliang? Is this Shenyang? The Marshal's Mansion?"

  Zhang Zuoxiang and the others stared at him with their eyes wide open. Zhang Zuoxiang said, "You must be Zhang Xueliang! Han Ying, don't you even know who you are?" Although he was usually calm and composed in front of everyone, he also became somewhat flustered at this time.

  Meng Xiang felt a heavy weight on his chest, almost unable to breathe. He struggled to get out of bed, and Tan Hai, Cui Chengyi, Shou Furen, and Zhang Zuorong rushed forward to support him. Meng Xiang touched his head with his hands and feet in a daze, and asked tentatively: "Am I Zhang Xueliang? Am I really Zhang Xueliang? Where is...no, where is my father's body now?"

  "General's coffin is placed in the flower hall of the East Garden. Due to the suddenness of the incident, people from the Southern Nationalist Army, Japan, and some within our own ranks are suspicious, so we dare not announce General's passing to the outside world for now, and temporarily suppress the news. Han Ying, do you want to see? But please don't get too excited, don't be too sad!"

  Meng Xiang took a deep breath and suppressed his trembling heart: "Take me to see."

  The crowd led Meng Xiang into the flower hall of the East Garden of the Commander's Mansion with tense expressions. After entering, a high-quality coffin suddenly appeared before Meng Xiang's eyes. The coffin was made of precious and valuable wood (Wan Nian Hao), and due to the hot summer weather, the people from the Zhang family had wrapped it in cloth soaked in tung oil to prevent the corpse from decaying. Two carpenters stood beside the coffin, who were summoned from the Shenyang Arsenal to work day and night to make the coffin. They lived and ate at the Commander's Mansion and were not allowed to return home, so they waited here as well. At the same time, Meng Xiang felt a chill in the air, and there were no wreaths or white silk placed in the flower hall, only two long-life lamps placed simply in front of the coffin, with large ice blocks piled up beside it to lower the temperature. Meng Xiang mustered his courage and walked forward to take a look at the person inside the coffin. He saw that the corpse was wearing a black robe with golden dragon embroidery and a longevity hat with a long tassel. After seeing the face of the corpse, Meng Xiang suddenly gasped in cold air, and when he looked at the spirit tablet in front of the coffin, he saw that it was written in traditional characters: "The Spirit Tablet of Commander Zhang Zuolin". Suddenly, he stumbled and almost fell backward. Zhang Zuo and others quickly supported him and advised: "Han Ying, don't look anymore! What if you become overly grief-stricken again?" The elderly lady and other female relatives couldn't help but cry again.

  Meng Xiang was not about to fall over from excessive grief, but rather because of the extreme shock that welled up inside him, causing him to lose his composure. He had just clearly seen that the person lying in the coffin was actually Zhang Zuolin, the last leader of the Northern Government during the Republic of China era, the head of the Fengtian clique and the Grand Marshal of the Republic of China's land and sea forces. Meng Xiang's mind buzzed again as he fell into a dizzying blankness, with golden stars dancing before his eyes and his six senses in disarray: "Am I Zhang Xueliang? How did I become Zhang Xueliang? What is going on here? How can I be Zhang Xueliang? My god! This joke has gone too far!"

  Zhang Zuolin's death left Zhang Xueliang stunned, standing in front of the coffin with a vacant expression, his eyes sunken and lifeless. Everyone was worried that he would faint again, so they quickly pulled him back to his original room. Zhang Xueliang spoke solemnly but calmly: "Han Ying, now that the Grand Marshal is gone, your responsibility is as heavy as Mount Tai! You must mourn in an orderly fashion and not harm your body due to grief. You cannot betray the Grand Marshal's dying wish! You must quickly pull yourself together! The Northeast is currently without a leader, everyone is looking up to you!"

  That Mrs. Lu wept and said: "Han Ying, the commander had a last will before he died, saying 'I'm too seriously injured, I'm afraid it's not going to work out, tell Xiaoliu Zi that for the country, do your best!' Han Ying, the commander was thinking of you until his death! He wanted to pass on this foundation to you, you must not disappoint him!" As she spoke, tears gushed out like a spring. After Zhang Zuolin was bombed at Huanggutun, he was covered in blood and barely breathing, and after being sent back to the commander's mansion, he struggled for an hour or two before finally succumbing to his injuries. Before his death, he told Mrs. Lu beside him these words. The other women present, including Xu Furen, Shou Furen, and Ma Furen, all cried like rain, with Ma Furen almost overcome with grief. Ma Furen was Zhang Zuolin's sixth wife and also the youngest of his wives. During the bombing at Huanggutun, Ma Furen was also in the car, but while Zhang Zuolin was seriously injured, she only suffered minor burns on her toes. Originally a courtesan, Ma Furen had been favored by Zhang Zuolin for her "lucky face" and lived a life of luxury from then on. She was extremely grateful to Zhang Zuolin and thus witnessing his death before her eyes was a spiritual blow that shook her like the sky falling down. Among all the women present, only Shou Furen remained calm, but even she had red and swollen eyes with tears welling up in them.

  "What... what should I do now?"

  Zhang Zuoxiang calmly analyzed: "The commander suddenly left, leaving all aspects of the situation in a mess, and various forces are watching. The commander must have been poisoned by someone, so to prevent the planners from taking advantage of the situation, we cannot directly announce the commander's death to the outside world for now, and temporarily block the news. We need to withdraw the troops from outside the pass, control the army and Shenyang, and stabilize the situation before announcing the commander's death." He shouted at a middle-aged military man and an old civil official in the room: "Zang Canzuo! Liu Provincial Governor!"

  The two men hurried over, this "Zang Canzuo" was the chief of staff of the Fengtian Governor's Office, Zang Shiyue, and that white-haired "Liu Provincial Governor" was the then governor of Fengtian Province (Liaoning Province), Liu Shangqing. The two exchanged a glance, and Zang Shiyue said: "Young Marshal, Fu Gong, we believe that the Grand Marshal's death is very likely to be the result of Japan's sinister plot. At present, the Japanese are definitely sharpening their knives and eager to make a move. If the outside world learns of the Grand Marshal's passing, it will not only cause the frontline troops to lose morale and the people in Northeast China to become unstable, but also allow the Japanese to take advantage of the situation. Therefore, we must seal off the news, temporarily keep the mourning secret, and announce to the outside that the Grand Marshal has only suffered minor injuries and is being treated at the marshal's mansion, with his condition improving day by day. This will deceive the Japanese and prevent them from making rash moves, while also stabilizing the morale of the military and civilians in Northeast China, giving Young Marshal precious time to gradually control the situation, and then deliberate on a long-term plan.

  Zhang Zuoxiang's expression was solemn as he nodded: "Very good!" He asked again, "How many other people know about this matter?"

  "Most of the people in the know are already at the Commander's residence, and the Commander's residence has also refused all external visits. In addition, Dr. Yong, the director of Shengjing Hospital, was also present at the scene when the incident occurred, but Colonel Wang Chengbin had asked him to keep his mouth shut and keep the secret. Although Dr. Yong is a British person, he is an honest and reliable person, so he should not leak the secret. Even the high-level military personnel on the front line and the dignitaries of the Northeast provinces are all kept in the dark." He suddenly lowered his voice again, with a strange expression, "Yang Yutong and others also don't know."

  "Good. Dr. Yong is a British national, the British Consulate will definitely interrogate him, and he will be implicated in order to keep our secret, we must compensate him well afterwards. As for the frontline commanders and high-ranking officials, we should continue to keep it confidential from them, after all, the more people who know about this matter, the less secure it is." He looked at Meng Xiang, "Han Ying, what do you think of such an arrangement?"

  "Then...then let's just do it this way!"

  Zhang Zuolin added: "Young Marshal, two days before your return to Shenyang, that is, on June 16th, I have convened a high-level meeting at the Provincial Governor's Office in Fengtian. All colleagues present unanimously agreed that when the Grand Marshal is unable to handle military and political affairs, you, Young Marshal, will take over as the Military Governor of Fengtian."

  Meng Xiang's expression was evasive and he didn't know how to respond.

  "Get the pen and ink immediately, and bring the Grand Marshal's seal as well." The two men hurried off to fetch them. Zhang Zuoxiang took the pen and ink, and with a flick of his wrist, wrote in a style imitating Zhang Zuolin's handwriting: "The Commander-in-Chief is currently ill and unable to attend to all duties related to the military government of Fengtian Province. All matters are temporarily entrusted to Zhang Xueliang as proxy." This was used as the basis for a telegram issued in Zhang Zuolin's name, appointing a special envoy to handle affairs in Fengtian Province. The date on the document was June 16th, two days before Zhang Xueliang returned to Shenyang. Next, Liu Shangqing personally took up his pen and wrote another document in Zhang Zuolin's name, this time as an order from the Governor of Fengtian Province, temporarily entrusting Zhang Xueliang with handling all military and government affairs in the province. After finishing writing, Zhang Zuoxiang, Cang Shiwei, and Liu Shangqing carefully reviewed the documents to ensure there were no flaws or loopholes before they all breathed a sigh of relief. Zhang Zuoxiang instructed: "These two orders will be publicly announced after dawn." He then turned to the women present and said: "Ladies, after dawn and in the following days, people from various quarters will come under the pretext of visiting the Grand Marshal to inquire about his condition. Please take great care to conceal the fact that he has passed away."