Chapter 5: The Old Scholar Wu Tianyun

  The Zhao family apartment was originally the residence of a large family. After the Xinhai Revolution, warlords rose up in various places, vying with each other, and the Chinese mainland fell into a state of turmoil. Shanghai, as the "Oriental Paris", an international metropolis, became the main battleground for the struggle among the warlords. The owner of the house used his connections to emigrate abroad and sold it to Zhao Tianming.

  The apartment has two floors, with decorations and architectural style maintaining the artistic beauty of traditional Chinese classics. The family hired a maid and a housekeeper, the maid is over 40 years old, from Anhui rural area, Zhao Wei calls her Zhang Ma, usually taking care of the daily life of the family, when there's nothing to do, she supervises this young girl practicing piano.

  Housekeeper Wu, a typical southerner, was slender and fair-skinned, just like the big girls from the north. She was good at managing the household and was the person Zhao Tianming trusted most.

  This is just Zhao Tianming's residence, nominally the old nest of Hu Renbang, but in fact he has a more hidden place. Du Haisheng learned through Zhao Wei'er's mouth, as for the specific location, this girl was forced to reveal nothing, and she didn't even say a word. He understood that this was distrust of himself, a person who had just been in contact with him for six days, and he would never reveal all his secrets if he were in his shoes.

  In the morning, casually had some breakfast. In two days, Zhao Wei'er was going to attend a classmate's dance party and went with Zhang Ma to the tailor's shop to pick up her custom-made clothes. Du Haisheng, who had nothing to do, sat in the living room, picked up a copy of "Minguo Daily" at random, flipped through it for half a day, mostly criticizing the cooperation between the KMT and the CPC as well as the Shanghai Workers' Inspection Team. As the main publication of the Nationalist Party at that time, it belittled others to elevate itself, which was also reasonable.

  The content above had no appeal to Du Haisheng, a reborn ordinary person who didn't want to get involved in the affairs of the two parties. With his ability alone, he knew it was impossible to change the course of events, but the date on the newspaper caught his attention. He read for half a day, furrowed his brow, and had a thoughtful expression.

  "Wu Guan Jia, is this today's newspaper?"

  Wu Tianyun didn't know why he was asked this, and nodded immediately, explaining: "The newspapers I read every day are all put in the storage room. The old master can't recognize a few big characters. Generally, only I and the young lady take a look. It's just that these newspapers are really too boring, everywhere is full of critical voices, without any positive views on the current situation."

  "Oh?"

  Du Haisheng looked at the white-haired old man in front of him, smiled with interest, and then asked: "According to Guan Jia's idea, what should the current political situation be like?"

  "Warlords are carving up the country, Old Chiang is getting stronger, the KMT and CPC will inevitably split, and the revolution will be nipped in the bud!"

  Wu Tianyun's brief sixteen words, however, gave Du Haisheng a sudden shock. He had been staying at the Zhao family apartment for several days and this old man usually just tidied up some materials and accounts, sometimes reading books, with an air of not being concerned about politics or government affairs. Unexpectedly, these brief sixteen words were concise and hit the nail on the head regarding the current situation and future changes, forcing him to re-examine the unassuming housekeeper in front of him.

  "What makes you say that?"

  Wu Tianyun put down his work, pulled a chair and sat down, saying: "The current National Government seems powerful, but the warlords are divided, with Zhang Zuolin and Wu Peifu in the north, and the Guangxi clique and Xiangxi in the south. These people are all heroes of their generation, not yielding to each other, and the situation of vying for power and land cannot be changed in a short time. However, the overall trend has been set, and the rise of Chiang Kai-shek's government is already unstoppable. As for Wang Jingwei, he is just a Liu Bei who can't be supported, Zhang Zuolin has been entrenched in Northeast China for a long time, with courage but lacking heroic talent, not worth mentioning."

  Du Haiying became even more interested and immediately asked: "What about the inevitable split between the Nationalists and Communists, and the premature death of the revolution?"

  Wu Tianyun was a Xiucai in Zhejiang during the late Qing dynasty. He had participated in the Xinhai Revolution, and after its failure, he came to Shanghai and became the steward of Zhao Tianming. Every day, he would be with a group of rough men who danced with knives and guns, with whom he had no common language. Although this young man's background was mysterious, after spending several days together, Wu was surprised to discover that he too was well-read and knowledgeable about ancient and modern times.

  Idle Du Haisheng asked about the current situation, and Wu Tianyun also spoke bluntly, expressing his own thoughts one by one.

  "The Kuomintang's program and **'s program are diametrically opposed, just like two people with completely incompatible personalities doing business together. And Chiang Kai-shek has always considered the National Government to be the only legitimate government of China, thinking that ** is just a small party that should be under his control and manipulation. But even if you think about it with your toes, you know that ** is not a party that can willingly submit to others. So I say that the KMT and CCP must split, and the revolution will be aborted. These are not what I worry about most; what I fear most is the side effects brought about by all these changes."

  "Oh..."

  Du Haisheng is now more and more interested, although he doesn't have a good impression of current politics, most of the history of the Republic of China was also learned through historical books and online, it's hard to guarantee that some parts weren't tampered with by experts and scholars. Since he has been reborn, he wants to thoroughly understand this period of history, not participating in political affairs, but able to take advantage of the constant changes in the political situation, this is what he wants to achieve.

  Du Haisheng thought for a moment and asked with respect: "What are the side effects mentioned by the housekeeper?"

  "The war is ongoing, and the people are suffering!"

  Simple eight words, but Du Haisheng read from them the old steward's concern for the country and its people, not only having a broad vision, keen insight into politics, but even his final worry was for the sake of all living things. This kind of magnanimity, Du Haisheng asked himself if he had far from reached it, looking at Wu again, his eyes were filled with admiration.

  He just saw the date on the newspaper, March 12th, 1927, and fell into deep thought. It was because of what Wu Guanjia said that this old man seemed to be a Zhuge Liang who would not leave his mountain gate but would decide the fate of the world.

  After rebirth, Du Haisheng did not have the ambition of a wolf, but he didn't want to live a life of mediocrity either. He wanted to stand firm in the chaotic Shanghai and have people like Ma Yongzhen and Wu Tianyun by his side, just like his left and right arms. If Ma Yongzhen was the general on the battlefield, then Wu Tianyun was the military strategist who planned from afar.

  Thinking of this, Du Haisheng asked again: "What does Wu Guan think of the Shanghai Workers' Patrol Team?"

  "Proud, after all, it is the armed force maintaining the working class."

  When it comes to the workers' patrol team, the old man's eyes shine with a strange light, and words of praise overflow from his expression, without hiding his inner excitement.

  "Has it ever occurred to you that the National Government is playing politics with the workers' pickets?"

  "Hmm..."

  Wu Tianyun snorted, his face full of disdain: "Relying on the National Government, in this big city of Shanghai, they don't have the guts to take action against the armed workers again. The May 30th Massacre has already made the National Government anxious and worried. I dare guarantee that Chiang Kai-shek won't make a fool of himself by doing something stupid twice. Moreover, the current Workers' Inspection Team is also a force not to be underestimated. If they really want to take action, even the National Army stationed in Shanghai will not have any advantage. Not to mention the pressure from domestic and international public opinion, Chiang Kai-shek is not an idiot, he won't do something so stupid."

  Facing the old man's grandiose words, Du Haisheng stood up and paced back and forth, asking in return: "What if Old Jiang insists on being foolish this time?"

  Wu Tianyun was speechless for a moment, planning is in the hands of man, success is in the hands of heaven. He also didn't dare to guarantee that Chiang (Kai-shek) wouldn't be foolish once, what if this kid's words came true and Chiang Kai-shek really wanted to be foolish again?

  At that moment, the old steward who worried about the country and its people fell into deep thought. The more he thought about it, the more frightening it seemed. After all, given the National Government's recent behavior over the past few years, the likelihood of such a possibility was not low, but rather quite high. Once this situation arose, Shanghai would really have to start heading towards chaos... This was something that the benevolent old scholar did not want to see at all.

  :p: Continuous update of five chapters, with three to four more chapters tonight. A new author and a new book need everyone's encouragement and support. Lastly, I'll ask quietly: Can you all patronize me?