In early November 1938, a passenger ship flying the Japanese flag suddenly appeared on the river near Chaotianmen Pier in Zishan City, and blew its whistle under the eyes of the people on the shore.
Several loud noises were heard. Seeing how arrogant the "Japanese" were, the citizens of the hot-tempered mountain city cursed loudly, and there were endless scoldings in various tones.
Zuo Zhong, who was standing at the bow of the boat, turned dark and shouted at Wu Chunyang: "What are you doing? Take off the plaster flag quickly, or someone will shoot us."
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The submissive Wu Chunyang responded obediently, and led the people to lower the flag and throw it into the turbid river water. A whirlpool immediately passed by and dragged it into the bottom of the water, where a few bubbles appeared.
This passenger ship was the Hongri Maru that departed from Jiangcheng. After picking up Wu Chunyang and others from Baishazhou that day, they went upstream along the Yangtze River and stopped and stopped for several days before finally arriving at the mountain city.
Since there were constant harassment by Japanese planes along the way, Zuo Zhong asked people to raise the Japanese flag to confuse the Japanese pilots. Needless to say, it really worked. The reason is very simple.
The government did not cut off economic ties with Japan. There were many ships of Japanese shipping companies in the Yangtze River. Relying on this plaster flag, Hongri Pill was not attacked even once along the way.
"Haha, Sir Zuo, no wonder Xiao Wu, the people in the mountain city have a strong personality, so it is normal to have such a reaction when seeing a Japanese ship."
At this time, a middle-aged man with a long beard walked up to Zuo Zhong and said with a smile, then stroked his beard and pointed to the stilt houses on the riverside to point out the river road.
"In the 16th year of the reign of the previous dynasty, China and Britain signed the "Extension Articles of the Yantai Treaty", and the mountain city was opened as a commercial port. In the summer of the next year, the mountain city customs was established near Chaotianmen.
During the Sino-Japanese War of Sino-Japanese War, the former navy was defeated by the Japanese. According to the "Treaty of Separation", this place became one of the first inland trading ports opened to Japan.
In 1901, the Japanese established a concession in Wangjiatuo on the south bank. In the same year, France also established a naval dock and barracks near Danzishi on the south bank. Public sentiment was boiling for a while.
In the 10th year of the Republic of China, the mountain city established a port opening supervision office to prepare for municipal administration. In the 18th year of the Republic of China, the city was officially established and established as a second-class provincial municipality under the National Government. Pan Wenhua, Chief Pan, was the first mayor.
In the 20th year of the Republic of China, the people of the mountain city could not bear the loss of their national rights and the humiliation of their citizens. They took the expiration of the 30-year lease of the Japanese concession in Wangjiatuo and September 18th as an opportunity to prepare to take back the concession. "
Speaking of this, the bearded middle-aged man's voice became more and more passionate: "At that time, the special committee of Shancheng voluntarily taking back the Wangjiatuo Concession issued an announcement, and the Shancheng business community interrupted Japanese business.
At the same time, it was required that all Chinese cars and ships were not allowed to carry Japanese people, and Chinese sedan chairs and Chinese slide poles were not allowed to carry Japanese people. Japanese people inside the concession had to walk to and from get off work.
The Yamashiro Seamen's Federation also called on the Chinese seafarers who were piloting the river on Japanese ships to come ashore, otherwise their memberships would be directly revoked, and the Japanese shipping companies had no choice but to suspend operations.
The Yamashiro General Chamber of Commerce announced that it would arrange jobs for Chinese people who resigned from Japanese companies. For those who could not be temporarily arranged, the living expenses would be fully borne by the chamber of commerce, and the people immediately followed suit.
Business gangs from all over Sichuan Province followed suit and telegraphed their counterparts in Shanghai and Jiangcheng to stop taking Japanese passenger ships and ban Japanese goods from entering Sichuan Province. Countless paoge crossed the river to inspect the ships. "
The middle-aged man stretched out his hand to hold the fence, his tone with a slight Sichuan accent was full of pride, the strong river wind blew his beard and clothes high up, and between his brows and eyes was the nervousness of a wanderer returning home.
Listening to this turbulent past, Zuo Zhong was also overwhelmed with emotion. He looked up at the city that seemed to be hidden in the clouds and mist, and recalled the information about this matter.
Subsequently, the people of the mountain city held two consecutive rallies (separation meetings) of tens of thousands of people, demanding that the government declare war on Japan, demand that the government break off economic relations with Japan, demand that Sichuan troops be mobilized out of Sichuan to fight the war, and so on.
In addition, a goods-hating inspection team was organized to prohibit the sale of Japanese goods. Any store selling Japanese goods would be smashed to pieces. In short, whatever tactics worked were used.
The Japanese could no longer bear the internal and external troubles. With the consent of the mainland, the Japanese consul in Chongqing summoned Japanese expatriates and businessmen in Chengdu and Chongqing and left the mountain city on two Japanese warships that year.
Perhaps in order to disgust the government, the other party sent a letter to Jinling before leaving, stating that the Japanese concession was to be handed over to the government for custody, not to be handed back, and that he was trying to find an opportunity to return to the southwest.
As soon as the Japanese left, Wang Liuxiang of Sichuan Province sent troops into the Wangjiatuori Concession, and sent people to take over the houses and businesses in the Wangjiatuori Concession, making a huge profit.
It was not until the July 7th incident (separation) last year that the angry national government officially took over the Japanese concession in Yamacheng. Since then, the only concession in the southwest has been successfully taken back.
"Heroic people, heroic city!"
Zuo Zhong murmured to himself that compared with the people in other cities in the Republic of China, the temperament of the people in the mountain city was like the taste of local food - spicy and spicy.
The relocation (separation) of national capitals is all related to this. In addition to factors such as geography, population, and resources, the Sichuan people's temperament of not letting go of their enemies may also be one of the reasons.
After a moment of silence, he turned to look at the floating beard, with a smile on his lips: "Mr. Zhang, if Zuo remembers correctly, you are from Neijiang, Sichuan Province."
"Exactly, it has been many years since I left Sichuan in the blink of an eye. I feel timid about being near my hometown. I wonder how many of my childhood companions still remember Zhang." The middle-aged man said with emotion.
"Just don't forget to agree to my painting."
Zuo Chong took the opportunity to give a reminder. After picking up the teachers and students from Jinling and Central University on board the ship, the other party said a few polite words in excitement, saying that the life-saving grace could not be repaid.
Facing this famous painter named Zhang and Daqian, who was a former professor of the Art Department of Central University, he immediately said that it didn't matter if he was kind or not, he just liked art.
After hearing this, Big Beard promised to paint a few paintings for him on the way. Now that they have arrived in the mountain city, Zuo Zhong must of course remind him that even if the Zuo family goes bankrupt in the future, they will be able to live and feed well with these paintings.
"Haha, of course I will never forget it."
The middle-aged man (separated) laughed and waved. When he saw the student walking over with three scrolls, he raised his hand and thanked him seriously: "This time, Commander Zuo saved me, Zhang is very grateful. Please accept this my work."
I managed to escape from Beiping with great difficulty. If I fall into the hands of the Japanese again, I'm afraid it will be very bad. In the future, if you have some free time, Mr. Zuo, you can go to the Central University to get together. "
After speaking, he solemnly handed over the tray with the scroll, without any of the contempt and disdain that other literati showed when dealing with agents.
"Thank you."
Taking the tray with both hands and handing it to Wu Chunyang, Zuo Zhong made a serious promise: "Mr. Zhang, if you encounter some unsolvable difficulties, you can also go to the Secret Service to find Zuo.
Zuo still has some connections and connections in the government and the party, and he will give me some face in every aspect. Of course, the premise is that it does not involve dissidents or intelligence incidents. "
"Understood. Zhang thanked Mr. Zuo again."
The bearded man smiled, then skipped this sensitive topic and started talking about the scenery on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and the customs of mountain towns, and also introduced the local food.
This is a smart man who is very understanding of people and the world. He is not aloof or arrogant. He is talented but not arrogant. No wonder he was captured by bandits and transformed into "Master Black Pen".
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He also deceived the Japanese twice, tricked the Beiping Japanese in circles, and successfully escaped from the enemy's nest. In a sense, this great painter has the potential of an intelligence officer.
After glancing at this person, Zuo Zhong chatted and turned his attention to the mountain city in the distance. At this time, Hongriwan turned to the right and entered the Jialing River, a tributary of the Yangtze River.
From the map, the main urban area of the mountain city looks like a peninsula dividing the Yangtze River into two, dividing the entire area into three pieces of land.
The land to the north is Jiangbei County, adjacent to the Jialing River.
The south side belongs to the Nan'an Municipal Management Office and is adjacent to the Yangtze River.
The peninsula in the middle is naturally the main city of the mountain city. It is where the national government and other military and political agencies are located. It has the residences of many dignitaries and dignitaries. It has the largest population and the most prosperous commerce.
If you are an ordinary passenger ship going to the mountain city, you should dock at the Chaotianmen Pier at the end of the peninsula, and then climb up the long steps to enter the city.
However, considering that the westward relocation of Jiangcheng is still in progress, Chaotianmen Pier is overwhelmed and blocked, and Zuo Zhong and others need to keep their identities secret.
Therefore, the destination of Hongri Maru was not this civilian wharf, but a small public wharf called Liziba on the Jialing River.
With the support of banknotes, the French crewmen steered the boat skillfully to avoid shoals one after another, dodge the ramming fishing boats, and gradually approached the final destination of the trip.
When he was still a hundred or two hundred meters away from the pier, Zuo Zhong saw many people standing on the shore, and at the same time he could vaguely hear the sound of the band playing.
As he got closer to the shore, he was surprised to find that cheap teachers Dai Chunfeng, Gu Qi, Song Minghao, Gui Youguang, He Yijun, Shen Dongxin and other members of the Secret Service had all arrived.
"Welcome the triumphant return of the Deputy Director"
"Celebrating the successful return of warriors behind enemy lines to Chongqing"
What was even more speechless was that there were several little spies holding two banners. The content on them made Zuo Zhong die on the spot. Needless to say, this must be Dai Chunfeng's idea and order.
As soon as the Hongri Pill landed on the shore, Lao Dai walked onto the boat in three steps and two steps at a time. He quickly came to Zuo Zhong, looked him up and down, and said passionately with his eyes red.
"Okay, it's fine. Shen Zhi, thank you for your hard work this time. Not only did you successfully destroy Jiangcheng's industrial facilities, but you also rescued so many students and celebrities.
But don't make such a decision on your own in the future. If something happens to you, how will you explain it to Captain Wei and your parents? You must be careful when doing things. "
After knowing what happened to Zuo Zhong and his group in Jiangcheng, Dai Chunfeng was once again grateful that he had accepted a good student. Otherwise, he might have been trapped in Jiangcheng this time.
He decisively dealt with the troubled workers and factory owners, instigated a rebellion against Francois Huang, set fire to sneak into the French Concession, hijacked Japanese passenger ships, bribed French workers, and rescued trapped teachers and students.
These things require the person in charge of the operation to have rich field experience. The most valuable thing in a person is self-awareness. He asked himself that he couldn't do it, thanks to Shen Zhi who forced him to send him away.
So as soon as he received the news of Zuo Chongping'an's return, Lao Dai immediately organized personnel from the Secret Service to come to greet him. This was all he could do. As a teacher, he couldn't say thank you in person.
Zuo Zhong knew what he meant, and showed no complacency at all. He said with sincerity and fear: "The student made the decision privately without the teacher's permission and forcibly took you away from Jiangcheng. I hope the teacher will forgive me."
Dai Chunfeng shook his head and said nothing. He held Zuo Zhong's hand and patted it gently. He said everything without saying anything. There were some things that could be said but not done, and some things that could not be said.
This touching scene of a mentor's kindness and his disciple's filial piety moved the onlookers deeply. A Chinese professor from Jinling University even composed a poem on the spot to commemorate the event, which received loud applause.
Immediately after Zuo Zhong introduced Dai Chunfeng, he shook hands with the rescued celebrities one by one and exchanged greetings. Everyone walked to the cars parked outside the pier while chatting and laughing, and the atmosphere was extremely harmonious.
While everyone was immersed in joy, in a darkroom located in Jiangcheng Concession, banana man Francois Huang wrote a line of words on paper with invisible ink.
"Students and professors have been safely transferred. Please advise on the next steps, thumbtack..."
