The residence that Chief Qian arranged for Zhou Wen and others was the Jianguo Hotel located on Dehua Street, the most prosperous street in Zhengzhou. By the standards of later generations, it is a standard four-star hotel. The western-style building has a total of five floors. The exterior is clean and grand, but once inside, it can only be described as magnificent.
This is the first time for the transport team members to drive meat. They all step carefully on the golden carpet, but after all, they are all well-trained elites. They will not scream in surprise, but just look around curiously. With. Only Hongxiu was so excited that she grabbed Li Qiaoer's hand and chatted and laughed non-stop. The second and third floors of the hotel have been fully booked by Chief Qian. The team members share a room with Hongxiu and Li Qiaoer staying. Only Zhou Wen was placed in a suite on the fourth floor by Chief Qian. Zhou Wen took Xiaohu to live with him.
Zhou Wen knew that it would be easy for brothers to make a fool of themselves when they stayed in a high-end hotel for the first time. I specially asked several party officials and hotel attendants brought by Liu Ruoshui to explain to the team members how to use the various facilities in the room.
In the afternoon, Chief Qian hosted a banquet for all members of Zhou Wen's transportation team at the Jianguo Hotel restaurant. Adjutant Zhang and several party officials accompanied the team members to eat in the hall. Zhou Wen accompanied Chief Qian and Liu Ruoshui into a private room. When he went in, he saw that Chief Zhang and Chief Gu were sitting in the private room, both looking at him with smiles. Zhou Wen quickly stood at attention, saluted, and said hello loudly: "Hello, Chief Zhang, Hello, Chief Gu."
Chief Gu said with a smile: "I'm telling you, Xiao Zhou, you're boring. We don't have any friendship at all, so we still need these false courtesy. Come on, come on, sit down quickly, we won't go home until we're drunk today."
Several officers have not seen Zhou Wen for a while, and the feelings cultivated on the battlefield are the most difficult to let go of. I also know that he is about to return to Shanxi for development, and it will be difficult to meet him in the future. The officers all put down their arrogance, exchanged cups with Zhou Wen, and called themselves brothers. The drinking lasted until nine o'clock in the night.
When Zhou Wen saw off several officers and returned to the restaurant, there were no other guests in the restaurant. The team members, including Old Uncle Wu, were still sitting in the restaurant. Only Hongxiu and Wang Xiaohu, who was also sitting obediently, were talking in a low voice. What. No one got drunk and no one left. Zhou Wen looked at Gao Xiaoshan and Miaohua and nodded with satisfaction, then looked at Tieniu jokingly and asked, "Are Jing and Tieniu full? Do you want another table?"
Everyone laughed, and Tieniu stood up and said angrily: "Brother Shanzi specially asked the restaurant to prepare two more tables. I am full, and I can still eat if there is more. It is really delicious."
With a "coax", everyone laughed even louder. This is two extra tables of food. Do you still want to eat more? What a big stomach this is.
Zhou Wen looked at his pocket watch and said: "It's too late today, let's eat tomorrow. We will still eat here tomorrow. I will let the restaurant do whatever you and Ah Jing want to eat. I will take care of it. What do you think?"
Tieniu happily scratched his head and laughed, "Hehehe, that's a good feeling." Everyone was amused by him again.
Zhou Wen turned to the team members and said sternly: "The morning training will be as usual at six o'clock tomorrow. We will gather downstairs at eight o'clock in the morning to wait for the National Army's Southern Front Group Headquarters to read out the retirement order and the new appointment of the party department. From tomorrow on, we will withdraw. The National Army, which means that tomorrow is also the day when our mercenary group is established. Let us use the name of the Shanxi Party Headquarters to develop in a low-key manner for a period of time, and when the time is right, we will use the banner and name of the mercenary group."
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At 8 a.m. the next day, soldiers cordoned off the lawn in front of the Jianguo Hotel. The 48 people in the transport team, starting from Zhou Wen onwards, were all dressed in uniforms and lined up neatly to wait.
At 8:30 in the morning, a major general and deputy chief of staff of the National Army's Southern Front Headquarters, whom Zhou Wen was familiar with, came with a group of officers to read out the retirement order for the entire transportation team to withdraw from active service in the National Army. Then the entire transportation team took off the rank insignia and badges from the military uniforms and handed them back to an officer carrying a tray.
At nine o'clock in the morning, a deputy secretary-general named Chen from the party headquarters arrived on a bridge car accompanied by Liu Ruoshui. Zhou Wen was stunned after deputy secretary-general Chen read out the appointment letter. Appointing himself as the director of the Security Division of the Central Party Headquarters in Shanxi Branch was known before. The question is, what is the rank of lieutenant colonel plus colonel? I have already quit the National Army, why do I still have a military rank?
Looking at Zhou Wen who was a little confused, Liu Ruoshui stepped forward and explained softly. It turns out that just in the past few days, the Kuomintang has issued a new national army reorganization and training plan, which includes a clause that all armed departments involved in security and security work must be included in the Kuomintang, whether it is the ** or the party headquarters. Under the unified management of the Military Commission, relevant military ranks are awarded and registered.
Liu Ruoshui only got the news that Zhou Wen would be awarded the military rank in the morning. Because the order had just been issued, the party headquarters did not prepare military rank badges and badges in a hurry. They could only wait a few days for the party's logistics vehicles to arrive before conferring the titles uniformly.
Zhou Wen couldn't laugh or cry for a while. He tried every means to withdraw from the National Army system, but in the end he just changed the soup without changing the medicine. He couldn't take off the military uniform for a while. But after understanding the situation, there is nothing to worry about. Who cares whether he wears a military uniform or a suit after returning to Shanxi? And sometimes it’s easier to do things in military uniform. This is a good thing with more pros than cons.
Zhou Wen knew that this addition of the rank of lieutenant colonel to colonel was a peculiar design unique to the Republic of China. It meant that the officially recorded military rank was lieutenant colonel, and the treatment was also that of lieutenant colonel, but the military uniform had the rank of colonel, which was convenient for all kinds of reasons. Show off.
After the appointment ceremony, Deputy Secretary-General Chen encouraged Zhou Wen with a few words of encouragement and left by car on the pretext that he was busy with official duties. Think about it, Zhou Wen had just slapped the Central Party Headquarters in the face not long ago. Although the two parties had reached a reconciliation in the end, the senior officials of the Party Headquarters were still very dissatisfied. Not even comfortable.
Liu Ruoshui hurried back to the headquarters to ask for money and equipment. We went to Shanxi, which is so far away. How could we leave without getting enough funds and benefits? The required equipment has been discussed with Zhou Wen, and you are welcome to take more. Moreover, the appointment letter clearly asked Zhou Wen to report the list of his subordinates. Military ranks below major and positions below deputy director were directly appointed and reported by Special Commissioner Liu Ruoshui.
Then dozens of brothers lived in comfortable rooms at the Jianguo Hotel, sleeping on luxurious spring beds, eating delicious delicacies from the mountains and seas, and lived a decadent life for two days. In the beginning, the National Army paid the bill, and later on, the Central Party Committee provided the money. Life should not be too comfortable. Even Zhou Wen began to worry that some brothers might be weakened by this corrupt life.
When Zhou Wenzheng was wondering whether to move out, Liu Ruoshui rushed back from Nanjing.
