Chapter Seventeen Historical Figures

  "Good kid!" Zhang Xueliang patted Zhao Xiaofeng's shoulder and said, "You're really a rare talent! Cough, cough!" Zhang Xueliang's heavy smoking habit suddenly acted up, he let out a yawn and said, "Report to my guard unit tomorrow! I'm leaving!" After that, Zhang Xueliang was about to leave.

  Zhao Xiaofeng was shocked and quickly thought: "Follow this prodigal son? That's unlucky! No way!"

  "What's wrong?" Hearing Zhao Xiao Feng's two words, Zhang Xue Liang immediately turned around and looked at him seriously.

  Zhao Xiaofeng was startled, and he didn't expect himself to blurt it out. He immediately explained: "Young Marshal! I'm still young now, and many combat experiences should be honed in the troops, so I request Young Marshal's approval to go down to the troops, also giving myself a chance to serve the country!"

  "Oh! Ha......" Zhang Xueliang yawned and said impatiently: "Alright! The Shan Cheng Zhen province defense first brigade is short of people, you go report there, ha...... I'll contact him in advance!" After finishing speaking, Zhang Xueliang walked away without looking back.

  "Heh heh!" Zhao Xiaofeng was so delighted that he almost jumped up, completely ignoring the strange looks from Zhou Wei and Wang Ruihua.

  However, Zhao Xiaofeng was delighted for a while and then became worried. Firstly, that Yu Zhishan should be a thorough traitor! How could he serve as a soldier under the command of a traitor? Secondly, this mountain town is located in the southwest corner of Fengtian, one day's journey from Fengtian! But there is an advantage, which is relatively close to his own front-line base.

  After returning, he immediately opened the booklet and found Zhang Xueliang in history. He really wanted to see what kind of person this "big smoker" was. It's true that if you don't look, you won't know; one look and you'll be shocked. The book wrote:

  Zhang Xueliang was the eldest son of Zhang Zuolin, who was originally a bandit in Northeast China. He abducted the daughter of a wealthy family surnamed Zhao in Xinmintun near Shenyang as his wife and gave birth to Zhang Xueliang in 1901. Later, Zhang Zuolin led his troops to surrender to the Qing government.

  Zhang Xueliang was a spoiled son, after Zhang Zuolin's death, Zhang Xueliang took over and his life became even more dissolute. During the 3 years when Zhang Xueliang was in power, he did not focus on state affairs, indulging in wine and women every day.

  Zhang Xueliang was particularly lecherous, unlike his father Zhang Zuolin who had six wives and concubines. Zhang Xueliang adopted a "use and discard" approach to women. His subordinates catered to his tastes, competing to present beautiful women to curry favor with him. Zhu Tiesheng presented his own sisters and was promoted to deputy officer; Zhu Guangyu presented his daughter and became the chief of staff; Liang Xiyue provided his wife and became the director of the finance bureau. The sister of Zhang Zuolin's provincial governor, Chi Wenyuan, was raped by Zhang Xueliang, but Chi dared not speak out in anger and instead became a monk.

  "Since ancient times, heroes have loved beauties. Those who don't love beauties aren't heroes. I may not be a hero, but in loving beauties, I'm the same as heroes." - Zhang Xueliang

  Zhang Xueliang did two shocking things in his life. One was the "Xi'an Incident", and the other was that at the age of 28, he launched the "Central Asian Road Event", which ultimately led to the loss of China's "chicken crown" for nearly 80 years by the Soviet Union.

  After Zhang Xueliang defected, he often visited Nanjing. Zhang Xueliang's visit to Nanjing was not to discuss politics with Chiang Kai-shek, but because he fell in love with the sister of Wang Zhengting, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs. In the end, Wang Zhengting had no choice but to present his sister to him. The most absurd thing Zhang Xueliang did was to bring the movie star Hu Die to Beijing, and when the film company protested to Zhang Xueliang, he simply bought her out with money, which was extremely arrogant. When Zhang Xueliang was forced to resign and leave the country after the "September 18th Incident" for not fighting back, the first thing he did was to bid farewell to his various concubines, and the newspaper scolded him as "concubines are more important than national territory". With such a lavish lifestyle, it's no wonder that he felt financially strained. Apart from increasing various taxes, he also took money through other channels, even stealing and selling treasures from the Forbidden City.

  During Zhang Xueliang's tenure in Beijing, hundreds of boxes of treasures were moved out of the Forbidden City and transported to Shanghai for auction. Among them, some extremely valuable cultural relics were lost overseas. The British Library purchased "The Snowy Landscape with a Pavilion" by Wang Shimin for ￡120,000, while American oil tycoon Rockefeller bought "Tang Yin's Snowy Landscape with a Pavilion" for $650,000. Legally speaking, these properties should have belonged to Puyi.

  On the night of the September 18th Incident, Zhang Xueliang was dancing with Hu Die in Beiping. Guangxi University President Ma Junwu even wrote "Two Poems on Recent Events and Lamenting Shenyang":

  "Zhao Si's wind Liu Zhu Wu is crazy, but Hu Die is just in time."

  "Soft village is the hero's tomb, who cares about Dong Shi entering Shenyang."

  "A military letter arrived in the middle of the night, and the strings and pipes were urging again."

  Shenyang has fallen into a state of reverie, and he reports that the beauty danced several times.

  The three women who appeared at the beginning of the poem are Zhao Si, also known as Zhao Yidi, nicknamed Miss Zhao Si, who later married Zhang Xueliang; Zhu Wu, also known as Zhu Mei Yun, whose father Zhu Qikun had served as acting Premier of the Beiyang government, she was the fifth child and wife of Zhang Xueliang's secretary Zhu Guangyu; The third is the famous movie star Hu Die. Although the poem does not mention Zhang Xueliang by name, a discerning person can see at a glance that they are the "beauties" who danced with Zhang Xueliang on the night of the September 18th Incident.

  "Haha!" Zhao Xiaofeng muttered to himself with a smile: "I didn't expect Zhang Xueliang to be such a talented person! It seems I need to learn from him more often!"

  At this time, Zhang Xueliang was indulging in his opium addiction under the care of his concubine Hu Die. He cursed: "You little turtle egg! I'm looking up to you, hum! If you don't drink the toast, you'll be punished with a penalty drink!"

  "General! Look! Who got you so angry? Calm down and have a cup of tea!" The seductive voice of Butterfly made Zhang Xueliang's heart flutter, he pinched Butterfly's high-pitched chest and laughed: "Ten thousand dollars can buy you, haha! What a bargain! What a bargain!"

  "Hmph!" The butterfly stretched out her slender fingers and poked Zhang Xueliang's nose, saying: "Then why do you always think about Wang Zhengyan, the Foreign Minister's sister?"

  "Cough!" Zhang Xueliang put down his teacup and shook his head, saying: "Since ancient times, heroes have loved beauties. If one doesn't love beauties, he's not a hero. I may not be a hero, but in loving beauties, I'm just like a hero!"

  "How many girls have you had? Why are you still flying to Nanjing every day to see that Wang bitch!" Butterfly said with a pretended angry tone.

  "Me?" Zhang Xueliang pointed at his own nose and laughed: "My women are all over the world! But I don't want to abandon you because you're worth 100,000 yuan!"

  "Hmm!" The butterfly knew her own identity and also knew that the young marshal was a flirt, so she just casually said it. When she saw Zhang Xueliang wanting to make a call, she immediately understood and retreated, but in her heart, she was still wondering: "What kind of person could have made the young marshal unhappy? This person is really capable!"

  On the third day, Zhao Xiaofeng cursed Zhang Xueliang and Yu Zhishan while rushing to report to the Provincial Defense First Brigade stationed in Shancheng Town.

  Zhao Xiaofeng learned from the materials that Yu Zishan is now a lieutenant general and brigade commander, who was once trusted by Zhang Zuolin. After Japan launched the "September 18th Incident", Northeast China fell one after another. Yu Zishan immediately publicly issued an "Independence Declaration", openly surrendered to the enemy, accepted expenses from the Japanese army, and attempted to establish his own sphere of influence with this.

  In December 1931, Yu Zishan was appointed as the pseudo-Fengtian Provincial Security Commander, and later changed to the pseudo-First Military District Security Commander. The command post was set up in the west wing of the Dashi Fu. In 1937, he was promoted to the Minister of Military Affairs of the pseudo-Manchukuo, in 1940, he was transferred to the Minister of Public Security, and in 1943, he was appointed as a general consultant of the pseudo-General's Office, a thorough traitor.

  Yu Zishan received him in his own office.

  Yu Zishan was quite slender and Zhao Xiaofeng felt that he was a person who was good at using sinister tricks.

  With a confident chest, Zhao Xiao Feng immediately saluted and said: "Report to the General! I, Zhao Feng, have come to report for duty! I await the General's orders, even if it means sacrificing my life, I will not refuse!" As he spoke these words, Zhao Xiao Feng himself felt his scalp tingling.

  But Yu Zishan was delighted to hear Zhao Xiaofeng's disgusting words! Since taking on the role of brigade commander, everyone has been addressing him as "Brigade Commander", and it's been a long time since anyone called him "General"! This kid knows how to get along with people! Yu Zishan nodded slightly and said seriously: "I heard you're a top student from the Martial Arts Academy! You were supposed to have a bright future ahead of you! Why did you choose to come to this poor and remote place?"

  "General! The great General Jiǔ Mù's prestige! In the past, you led your troops to defeat Guō Sōnglíng's rebel army! That was a heroic deed that will be passed down for thousands of years!" Zhao Xiaofeng said with a flattering tone while looking at Yú Zhīshān's eyes which were narrowed from joy.

  "Haha!" Yu Zishan naturally knew that he had not defeated Guo Songling's army at all, but it was precisely because of this matter that Zhang Zuolin promoted him to Major General and Brigade Commander! This matter might also be one of the things he was quite proud of.

  Upon seeing Yu Zishan's entranced expression, Zhao Xiaofeng seized the opportunity to say: "General, you are indeed a hero in the eyes of us common folk! To be able to follow General and become a soldier, I am truly blessed with good fortune in this life!"

  "Good! Good!" Yu Zishan said with a smile: "Since little brother is willing to follow me as a soldier, then stay in my army department and be my advisor!"

  "Ah!" Zhao Xiao Feng was deeply afraid that he would be left with this traitor, and at that time his reputation would be ruined. He immediately said: "General, absolutely not!"

  "What?" Yu Zishan's face suddenly elongated!

  "General!" Zhao Xiao Feng quickly thought about what to say, "I've always liked leading troops and fighting since I was a child! So I wanted to follow the general to battle on the battlefield, that's why I came to the Martial Arts Academy for further study, and then strongly requested General Shao to send me under your command!" He spoke more fluently as he went on.

  "Oh!" Yu Zishan said: "You first serve as my advisor, if it comes to fighting, I'll send you to lead the troops!"

  "Ah!" Zhao Xiao Feng really admired such "talent!" This Yu Zishan actually dared to order a staff officer to lead troops into battle at any time! "General! I, a humble man, admire the General's prestige, it is because the General can love soldiers like his own children and blend in with them. Therefore, I want to learn from the General, go to the grassroots unit for training, also to broaden my horizons, see if the soldiers are loyal to the General!"

  "Haha!" Yu Zishan was being persuaded by Zhao Xiaofeng, and he felt like he was on cloud nine. Didn't he need someone to help him figure out the mindset of his soldiers? The Japanese had already contacted him several times, wanting him to lead his troops in surrendering to the Imperial Army. But for now, he still didn't have a grasp on what his men were thinking. "Good! Good!" Yu Zishan laughed immediately: "A good man's ambition is to achieve great things! He has spirit and aspirations!"

  "Good!" Yu Zishan slapped the table and resolutely said: "You go to Zhang Xianfeng's division first and be a regiment commander!"

  "Thanks, General!" Zhao Xiao Feng almost jumped up, he didn't expect that with his shameless behavior, he actually managed to mix in and become a regiment commander! This was something that had never happened before at the Martial Arts Academy, the best anyone from the academy could hope for was to be made a company commander at most when they first started out!

  "Slow down!" Yu Zishan saw Zhao Xiaofeng walking straight towards him, and couldn't help but feel a little guilty. The young marshal had only ordered this man to be his deputy regiment commander or company commander, but he had suddenly promoted him to regiment commander, wasn't that too hasty? Now he still couldn't afford to offend Zhang Xueliang! Moreover, what if this kid was sent by Zhang Xueliang to spy on him, what would he do?

  Yu Zishan stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment, then opened his mouth and said: "Deputy Camp Commander! You do your job as Deputy Camp Commander first! If you have merits, I'll promote you!"

  "Yes!" Zhao Xiao Feng immediately saluted, fearing that this capricious little man would think of another way to demote himself. Just like that, Zhao Xiao Feng's position as battalion commander hadn't even lasted a minute before he was demoted to deputy battalion commander.

  "Good!" Yu Zishan continued to shout: "Come on!"

  "Report!" A young deputy officer pushed the door in and, pointing at Zhao Xiao Feng, said to Yu Zhi Shan: "Take him to see Zhang Xianfeng of the First Battalion!"

  "Yes!"