Chapter 3: The Wind Rises in Guangdong Section 2: Duanyi (Part 2)

  (Internet connection was cut off, fixed after almost 10 hours, what a waste)

  Looking at He Zonghan and Deng Wenyi, Zhuang Jihua felt that these people were still quite lovable, admitting defeat was quite straightforward, not a mature politician.

  An immature politician? An idea suddenly popped into his mind, now this group of Whampoa students should still be a blank sheet of paper, at least they can still draw a few strokes, so why can't I draw a few strokes for them? Chiang Kai-shek's power base comes from Whampoa, if he can shake this foundation, can the 4.12 incident be avoided? This idea suddenly emerged and strongly tempted him, wanting to quit Whampoa is no longer possible, only to avoid the worst outcome.

  "Wushan, with your eloquence, it's a waste of talent if you don't become a lawyer," Zhuang Jihua joked first, and everyone burst out laughing, the atmosphere in the room relaxed. Zhuang Jihua organized his thoughts and continued: "The mistake in Xie Chi's article is that the problems he pointed out are what he imagined, you see that the whole article has no facts at all, it's all fabricated, and under the circumstances where the argument is not established, the proposed solution even endangers the foundation of cooperation between the KMT and the Communist Party."

  "In fact, the cooperation within the party is what the Premier requires, not what the Communist Party puts forward. This way of cooperation is unfair to the Communist Party, but it is very beneficial to our party."

  "Is it unfair to the Communist Party? Why?" He Zhenhan asked in confusion, Jiang Xianyun and Yang Qigang also showed puzzled expressions.

  "A fair approach is inter-party cooperation, with equal status for both parties and equal participation in revolutionary activities." Zhuang Jihua first didn't explain why, but explained what was fair, then said: "Intra-party cooperation, the relationship between the two parties is fixed, it's like the Communist Party is a small account, my party is the boss, and the small account can never compete with the boss. Think about it, isn't that so?"

  "So who is the landlord then?" Yang Qigang was somewhat dissatisfied with this metaphor. Jiang Xianyun, however, seemed to be deep in thought.

  "The people are the masters. We are only the accountants and assistants hired by the masters. If an assistant does a good job, the people can let him become an accountant; if an accountant does not do well, he can be demoted to an assistant. But now it is always the case that an assistant remains an assistant, and an accountant remains an accountant."

  "So I find it strange that some members of our party can't see this obvious advantage, in my opinion, it's normal for Communist Party members to oppose it, while our Nationalist Party members should firmly support it, not the other way around."

  "This is like worshiping Buddha, originally you just need to put your hands together and bow, but instead you insist on kneeling three times and knocking nine times, and also bringing incense oil money. Isn't this letting the monks take advantage of you?"

  Everyone burst out laughing, although no one was mentioned by name, but everyone knew that Zhuang Jihua was teasing Wang Boling. Even He Zonghan and others were amused, the awkward atmosphere suddenly disappeared.

  "The Cultural Revolution, you and Wushan teamed up would definitely be unbeatable in court, the other side would kneel three times and knock nine times to beg for your conditions." He Zonghan said with a smile.

  "After the revolution succeeds, and the Cultural Revolution is over, I'll come find you, and we can work together to open a law firm. At that time, you mustn't decline." Although Jiang Xianyun's face was smiling, his eyes flashed with a hint of worry.

  "Alright, when the time comes, everyone will take care of business. If there's a lawsuit to be fought, we'll fight it; if not, we'll create one to fight."

  Everyone burst out laughing even louder.

  "What if the partner wants to be the boss?" Jiang Xianyun asked with a smile, but He Zonghan became vigilant.

  "Then there's nothing but changing the rules of the game." Zhuang Jihua replied unequivocally.

  Everyone quieted down at once, and He Zhanchen's face was filled with solemnity.

  "Brothers are brothers, how can they be bosses?" Deng Wenyi interjected.

  "No, Xue Bing, Napoleon said that a soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier; so an apprentice who doesn't want to be the boss is not a good apprentice. It's normal for apprentices to want to get promoted." Zhuang Jihua said seriously.

  "Modify the game rules, how to modify?" He Xuanhan asked.

  "The current rule is that the boss is the boss, and the employee is the employee; no matter how poorly the boss performs, they are still the boss, and no matter how well the employee performs, they can only be an employee. This rule lacks competitiveness and cannot motivate the boss and employees to be proactive. Therefore, a fair approach would be that if the boss performs poorly, they can be demoted to an employee, and if an employee performs well, they can be promoted to a boss. The prerequisite is that the employee is an employee, and the boss is a boss."

  "So you're saying that the partners and the boss should be separated, what's the difference between them? Is it also a fart?" Deng Wenyi understood and sneered, He Zonghan looked at him with some surprise.

  "Of course it's different, I proposed a rule and kept the store, while Xie Chi wanted to demolish the store." Zhuang Jihua immediately counterattacked.

  "What's the rule? Just say it, there are no outsiders here." Song Xilian was a bit left behind, he was the youngest and least experienced among this group of people. He came to Guangzhou to take the Huangpu exam under Chen Gong's persuasion, and after entering the first team, he became very familiar with Zhuang Jihua, and the two had already upgraded from classmates to friends.

  "It's just the store rules, first set the store rules, and then can execute the promotion and demotion of the shop assistants, otherwise the shopkeeper and the assistants will do their own thing, and in the end they will tear the store apart, only the boss will suffer." Zhuang Jihua still didn't dare to speak clearly, he didn't know if there was anyone reporting to Chiang Kai-shek.

  "What's the rule?" Yang Qigang asked in puzzlement.

  "Yes, right, it's best to establish a board of directors first, and let the board formulate the store rules." said Zhuang Jihua thoughtfully.

  Establish a board of directors, what does this board represent? Even Jiang Xianyun doesn't quite understand it now.

  "The board of directors is composed of the shopkeeper, apprentices and other people in the store, such as accountants, plus representatives of the owner. They formulate store rules, evaluate the performance of the shopkeeper, and if the shopkeeper does not perform well, they will be removed and a new shopkeeper will be elected, giving the apprentices an opportunity to be promoted to shopkeeper."

  Everyone looked at each other in confusion, still not quite understanding. The store rules and board of directors had a big gap, some were completely left behind.

  "Cultural Revolution, just say it straight out, what are these shop rules and board of directors? Stop being so mysterious." Liu Qixi was getting a bit impatient, this kind of guessing-game-like conversation made him very uncomfortable.

  "Right, Cultural Revolution, let's just say it, what is the board of directors? What are the store rules?" Song Xilian also chimed in, he had also racked his brains, but still couldn't figure it out.

  Zhuang Jihua thought for a moment and decided to make it clear: "In short, it's the National Government and the Constitution."

  The National Government and the Constitution, everyone suddenly realized, but soon Yang Qigang spoke up: "Cultural Revolution, you've gone too far, Premier Zhou is in Beijing negotiating the new government, but you're here talking about abandoning the Beijing government to establish a national government, is this appropriate?"

  "What about the provisional constitution?" Deng Wenyi also opposed

  "Yes, the Cultural Revolution, Premier Zhou went to Beijing to discuss new government affairs. Is it appropriate to bring up the national government now? Also, there is the issue of the constitution. Since the Republic of China was established, we have been using provisional laws as our constitution. In order to protect these provisional laws, our party has even launched a war to defend them; but now you want to negate these provisional laws. How can we explain this to the people? Moreover, there are many old comrades within the party who have protected these provisional laws and they will surely oppose it." asked He Zizhen

  "Hmm, actually after the revolution has made further progress, for example after capturing Nanjing. Then discussing the establishment of a national government and drafting a constitution might be better. But the current situation forces us to consider first establishing a national government and drafting a constitution." said Zhuang Jihua.

  The situation developed under compulsion, and everyone looked at Zhuang Jihua in confusion, listening to his further explanation.

  "Intraparty cooperation is the policy set by the Premier, and many people only support this policy out of respect for the Premier, but that doesn't mean there's no opposition. It was with this in mind that the Premier gave a speech on the Three Principles of the People after the First Party Congress, and also wrote an article specifically to explain it. However, these people are just temporarily lying low, and they may attack this policy again at any time. The article by Xie is the best proof."

  "That's nothing, as long as they come out, we'll fight them until we thoroughly defeat them." Yang Qigang was full of confidence.

  "Completely defeated? Brother Yang, your courage is commendable." Deng Wenyi said with a sarcastic tone.

  "If this struggle continues, the revolutionary camp may split. Just look at Yang and Xuebing brothers. If the revolutionary camp does not split, it will still hinder the development of the revolution."

  "Do you think that establishing a government and drafting a constitution can reconcile the differences between the KMT and the Communist Party?" Jiang Xianyun asked with a frown. He was somewhat opposed to Zhuang Jihua's view, even if Sun Yat-sen had differences with the Communist Party, it could be seen that even if a government were established, the differences would still exist.

  "It can't, but it's possible to control the way of divergence and resolving divergence." ZHUANG Ji-hua seemed to understand JIANG Xian-yun's idea: "It's impossible to have no divergence at all. In fact, even within your party, there are divergences. But why hasn't your party split due to divergences? It's because your party has party constitution and discipline, which control the divergences and provide a way to resolve them, isn't it?"

  Chiang Hsien-yun was silently pondering, and at this moment he was somewhat moved. As the branch secretary of the Whampoa Branch, he understood more about the internal divisions within the party than Yang Ch'i-kang did, and he could not deny it to his face. Chuang Chi-hua continued:

  "For a country, the constitution is the best means of controlling party differences and resolving them."

  "How to control the way of resolving disputes?" Jiang Xianyun felt a chill run down his spine, and He Zhanchan was surprised.

  What is Zhuang Jihua hinting at? It must be so, Jiang Xianyun thought to himself. Does he think the Nationalist Party will take up arms against the Communist Party? But now the Nationalist Party needs to rely on Soviet Russia for funding and weapons, using force to suppress the Communist Party would only harm the Nationalist Party, not benefit it. If that's not what he means, then what does he mean? Jiang Xianyun felt perplexed and confused.

  What exactly does Zhuang Jihua want to say, controlling the party's differences? Why did he bring this up. He Gechuan also dares not underestimate Zhuang Jihua, but Zhuang Jihua's way of talking that is as unpredictable as a flying horse makes him unable to grasp Zhuang Jihua's true thoughts for the time being.

  Zhuang Jihua looked at the expressions of everyone, not knowing whether to clarify or not. After hesitating for a while, he decided not to fully clarify and instead looked at Jiang Xianyun, hoping that he could understand what he was saying. Seeing Jiang's puzzled expression, Zhuang sighed inwardly and changed the subject: "Actually, we don't need to argue. We just need to remember that the cooperation between the Nationalists and Communists is a strategy set by the Premier, it's the foundation of our revolution. So I think we should do this: anything that doesn't benefit the cooperation between the Nationalists and Communists, we shouldn't say; anything that doesn't benefit the cooperation between the Nationalists and Communists, we shouldn't do. Let's remember our oath."

  "Well said," Zhuang Jihua turned his head to see Political Commissar Liao Zhongkai, Principal Chiang Kai-shek and several military officers entering from the outside. The officer with armbands shouted loudly: "At...ten...tion."

  Classmates in the dormitory immediately stood up in their original positions.

  Liao Zhongkai walked up to Zhuang Jihua: "Well said, these two words should be engraved in the minds of every revolutionary."

  They arrived at the door just in time to hear the last half of Zhuang Jihua's sentence.

  Zhuang Jihua's eyes turned black and he almost fell over. How could they produce two "vans" out of thin air? The political commissar couldn't just cover this up arbitrarily.

  "Comrades, you must remember that the cooperation between the KMT and the CCP is advocated by the Premier. Opposing this cooperation means opposing the Premier. Some people say that the Communist Party relies on the Nationalist Party to develop, but that's a narrow view; they can't see our party's development. Liao Zhongkai was very angry at Xie Chi for publicly demanding the Communist Party withdraw from the Nationalist Party in the newspaper. He believed that as a member of the KMT Central Supervisory Committee, Xie Chi should not have openly questioned the party's policy without permission, which challenged the party's major resolution and should be seriously dealt with. For this reason, he has already reported to Sun Yat-sen and asked for disciplinary action against Xie Chi."

  "You are about to graduate, you should strengthen your studies. I have told you many times not to talk nonsense about politics. You are still young and do not understand anything. The reason why the country is in such a mess is because of the military intervening in politics. I don't want my students to become warlords in the future, do you understand?" Chiang Kai-shek said with a stern face, somewhat angrily.

  "Yes, Principal."

  Inside the room, it was quiet for a moment. At this time, Chiang Kai-shek still had great prestige among the students, and his words were to some extent more effective than Liao Zhongkai's. As soon as these students saw that Chiang Kai-shek was angry, they became tense.

  Liao Zhongkai took a step aside, revealing a young officer behind him. "Comrades," he introduced, "I'd like to introduce our new Director of the Political Department, Comrade Zhou Enlai."

  Zhuang Jihua felt a wave of dizziness, and finally appeared. How could he have forgotten him? History had not changed after all. He looked carefully at Director Zhou's face, feeling that it was still somewhat different from the photos in his past life - thinner, less refined than before, now more like an unsheathed sharp sword. As for what Director Zhou said, he didn't hear clearly, only staring at that smiling face, and in this instant, he felt that the future might not be so bleak after all.

  ….