"Mr. Jiang personally invited him, what do you have to worry about? Besides, it's not a big deal." Sheng Youde looked at Lu Ming and asked meaningfully.
"Old man, is this still a small matter? You have to push it away for me quickly." Lu Ming said anxiously.
"Why do you want to turn it down? The country needs you now, but you have backed down. Have the foreign money of several years been wasted? This is not your character." Sheng Youde half criticized and half encouraged.
"But, old man, I don't even know what to say after I leave." Lu Ming said with a sad face.
"Say whatever you think. Showing your talent at the highest military conference may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you." Sheng Youde clenched his fist in the air.
"How could they listen to me? I really can't do it." Lu Ming looked sad.
"If it doesn't work, I think it will work." Sheng Youde took a newspaper and showed it to him. On it was a photo of him facing the Japanese Marine Corps commander.
"You can speak eloquently in the face of the ferocious Japanese soldiers and ask him to make him speechless. You are not even afraid of the Japanese. What else is there to be afraid of? Are people like Chiang, Wang, and Sun scarier than the Japanese?" Sheng Youde
Encourage the general.
"No, old man, I haven't been through this kind of formation before. I have stage fright. If I don't stop and say I run away, then I won't be the one who embarrasses you." Lu Ming said with a bitter smile.
What Lu Ming said is true. The Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nanjing government, including the Military Commission, basically knew that Lu Ming was the spokesperson of the Shanghai Sheng Group.
Lu Ming asked Sheng Youde to help him turn down this opportunity to show his face. This is the reason why the top leaders of the Kuomintang believe that Lu Ming's words and deeds represent Sheng Youde.
Of course, what Lu Ming said about stage fright is also true. It is the first time to speak on such a high-profile occasion, and it would be strange if he does not have stage fright.
This is just like when a lawyer first starts his career, he must attend various court defenses with a barrister. After he has experienced this kind of scene many times and got used to it, he can handle cases independently.
If you go to court to handle a case independently just after starting work, you may be so nervous that you can't even say a word, let alone a battle of wits and courage with the other party.
It’s not that judges and prosecutors are vicious, nor are juries like man-eating tigers. In fact, it’s human psychology that is at work, and to overcome this instinct, you need to constantly temper yourself.
"I'm telling you, you treat the people attending the meeting as the grand jury of the court. Your job is to analyze the information you have and convince the grand jury one at a time. It's easy to understand."
Lu Ming thought about it. He had never eaten pork and never seen pigs running away. He had never been in court in the United States and China. Although he did not assume the responsibility of the lead defense lawyer, he had still seen those battles.
"I'm afraid that the views I expressed are too childish and will make people laugh." With Sheng Youde's encouragement, Lu Ming gradually became a little shaken.
"You now have a good idea of the dynamics of the Japanese army, and you have a thorough understanding of the Japanese psychology. Although you do not understand economics, you can testify to the analysis that Mu Yi and I made on the Japanese economy." Sheng Youde continued.
Promote the road.
"Then let me try? How about you accompany me to this meeting tomorrow? I can feel more confident with you here." Lu Ming begged.
"I will not attend this kind of meeting, and I will not accompany you. You are not a child anymore. You can't walk without my crutch? You have done an excellent job in the Blue Clothes Club. Ziyuan said that you have taken control.
Being able to control the situation shows that you are fully capable of taking charge on your own." Sheng Youde knew Lu Ming's situation well.
"I'm not afraid of anything you think or do. I'm not afraid of facing Mr. Jiang or Mr. Wang alone. I'm just afraid of situations where a bunch of people sit there and watch you speak." Lu Ming said with an embarrassed smile.
He also knows that his mentality is quite ridiculous, but he really has such a mental disorder.
"If you behave appropriately this time, in my opinion, inviting Soviet experts to come to China to teach and run the secret service school will become a trivial matter, and someone will naturally worry about it for you." Sheng Youde laughed loudly after saying this.
stand up.
"My uncle's words reminded me that I worked hard to build a special agent school." Lu Ming laughed at himself.
Lu Ming had no choice but to know that he could not escape and this battlefield must be won. However, after hearing what Sheng Youde said, he suddenly felt that he had courage.
"Young people, you must become independent quickly. You can't just rely on us old guys. If you really want to live a carefree and ordinary life, then go back to the United States. I can give you more money than you can spend in a lifetime."
With money, you can live according to your own preferences, be a lawyer, play tickets and be a detective, or do nothing and just lie on the pile of money, eat, drink and have fun." Sheng Youde sighed.
"No, I will not be a deserter." Lu Ming said firmly.
"Then prepare to go to the battlefield. Various high-level meetings are your battlefield, dealing with various people is your battle, and the intelligence field is your main battlefield." Sheng Youde said.
"I understand." Lu Ming really understood. He suddenly felt that his future life was about to be finalized.
"Very good, then come and have dinner with me and don't talk about these annoying things at the dinner table." Sheng Youde laughed.
After having dinner with Sheng Youde, he drove to the barber shop he had been going to, which was owned by a Jewish man.
He is a German Jew. After the rise of the Nazis in Germany, he had a premonition that the life of the Jews would not be easy, so he bought a ticket and left Germany with the only money he had.
I don’t know what he went through after leaving Germany. Anyway, he ended up living in Shanghai and opened this barber shop.
"Mr. Lu, your hair is not long, so you don't need to cut it," the Jewish barber said in broken English.
He basically didn't speak Chinese. When he arrived in Shanghai, he still lived in a Jewish circle. They usually spoke German and Yiddish.
His English was learned when he was studying in Germany, and his level is obviously not high, but he can barely hold a conversation.
"I'm just fixing my hair." Lu Ming said in proficient English.
"Are you going to attend someone's wedding tomorrow?" the Jewish barber said with a smile.
His English was stumbling, and sometimes he would stop and think before continuing. Lu Ming was really worried about him, whether he would stutter after talking like this for a long time.
"No, I want to attend a formal occasion." Lu Ming explained.
"Oh, I understand, I'll just help you decorate it."
The Jewish barber liked talking to Lu Ming very much. Every time Lu Ming came to get a haircut, he would take the initiative to chat, probably because he wanted to practice his English.
After arranging his hair neatly, Lu Ming returned home, took out the navy blue Chinese tunic suit, went out to find a dry cleaner to iron it again, and polished his leather shoes when he came back.
When you are about to go to the battlefield, you still need to prepare this outfit. You cannot let people say that young people are ignorant.
After doing this, he began to sit at the table and think about the content of his speech tomorrow.
He sorted through all his thoughts these days. The analysis of the situation by Sheng Youde and his daughter could be interspersed without being obvious. The main threads of politics, economy, military, and culture must be integrated.
Gradually, these things took shape in his mind. Not only were they clear, but they were also very layered. He closed his eyes and imagined himself standing on a podium, giving a debate-style speech to dozens of people in the audience.
.
He checked and felt that it should be okay.
He was busy until midnight. He quickly drank a large glass of whiskey, then lay on the bed, trying to relax himself and not think about anything. It turned out to be very effective, and he fell asleep after a while.
At 6:30 in the morning the next day (January 22, 1932), Lu Ming drove to Lanyi Club early according to the pre-arranged time.
The man from Lanyi Club hadn't gone to work yet, so an orderly quickly brought him boiled water. He made a cup of tea and drank two sips.
He won't stay here today, and he won't make a fire at all.
After a while, Kang Ze also came and simply sat in his office, and the two of them waited for Mayor Wu together.
"I said, brother, do you think that when the Military Commission convenes this meeting, it would like to hear our intelligence analysis?" Kang Ze said with a frown.
"It's very possible." Lu Ming said with a smile.
"But, we can't get any results, what will we do then?" Kang Ze was a little anxious.
"Don't worry, it's probably something else. If you just want to hear our intelligence analysis, just call us. Do we need to go there in person?" Lu Ming changed the subject. He didn't want to talk about it at the moment.
"That's right." Kang Ze kept shaking one of his legs, feeling uneasy.
Yesterday, Lu Ming was too nervous and restless. Now it was Kang Ze's turn. He felt like there was a nail under his butt and couldn't sit still for a while.