It has to be said that Zhou Jizhong's words immediately pushed Li Qiang into an embarrassing dilemma.
If he refuses to promise, it will be tantamount to admitting that his real purpose is those ancient books, and furthermore, he has admitted Qian Guanqing's accusation in disguise. In that case, not only himself, but also the entire Quanye Chamber of Commerce will be affected.
If you are implicated, your reputation will be greatly damaged, and you may even be labeled as a traitor businessman.
But if I make a promise, then I am afraid that I will really have to watch those precious ancient books fall into an extremely dangerous situation. What should I do?
However, when Li Qiang was still in a dilemma, Qian Guanqing, who had been aggressive before, naturally would not let go of such an excellent opportunity and directly changed his position to support Zhou Jizhong's proposal.
Wrong, if you were not a traitor, you would naturally not help the Japanese acquire those ancient books, so why not make a promise in front of everyone?"
Hearing this, Li Qiang simply became disheartened and said loudly in front of everyone: "In that case, you should listen carefully. I Ming Qiang hereby promise that no matter what happens in the future, I will always
I will not get involved in anything related to those ancient books! If I violate it, it will not be tolerated by God! How about it, you should believe me now, right?"
"This..." Qian Guanqing obviously didn't expect that Li Qiang would really agree to the promise, and he was stunned for a moment.
Li Qiang took the opportunity to escape, said "goodbye", turned around and left the room without looking back, leaving only those people there looking at each other in embarrassment.
Li Qiang originally thought that this matter would be over and would slowly subside over time. That night, Chen Junbao took the initiative to find the hotel.
"Professor Chen, I was shocked when I received the call from the front desk. You shouldn't be here now."
"Don't worry, even if you give those guys the courage, they will never dare to use the same tricks you used against me on me."
"That's good!"
Just as he was talking, Haitang came over and brought a steaming cup of Longjing tea to the two of them, "Professor Chen, please drink tea!"
"Thanks!"
"I wonder why Professor Chen came here late at night?" Li Qiang asked again.
"Mr. Ming, Ming people don't tell secrets. Although I don't know exactly what you said to Mrs. Xu, after I read the interrogation record you got from the operations department, I couldn't help but feel a little worried. I dare to conclude that
, she would definitely go to the extent of offending the Japanese Black Dragon Society in order to make the true cause of brother Xu's death known to the public. This would probably be equivalent to putting their orphans and widowed mothers in an extremely dangerous situation. I can't say that.
Wrong?"
Li Qiang didn't hide it, "Yes, but I can only say that this is her own choice."
"Of course, I know Mrs. Xu's character very well. If she doesn't do it voluntarily, even if she dies, she won't do anything under anyone's pressure. So I'm not here to ask questions, but to ask for something."
"Professor Chen has something to do, but it doesn't hurt to say so."
"I hope you can find a way to arrange for the mother and daughter to go to Chongqing and leave this place of right and wrong as soon as possible to avoid being killed. I wonder if Mr. Ming is willing?"
"If Professor Chen can do her job well, I will naturally have no objections."
"Okay, that's refreshing! In that case, Mr. Chen will give Mr. Ming a set of his personal collection of "Ancient and Modern Zaju" in the banknotes of the Pulse View Hall as a thank you gift. How about that?"
Li Qiang naturally knew very well that although the set of ancient books was said to be given to him, it was actually given to Mrs. Xu. After all, Chiang Kai-shek still liked drama, so when he arrived in Chongqing, he
The set of books will definitely be of great use, and by then the mother and daughter will no longer have to run around for a living.
Thinking of this, Li Qiang agreed straightforwardly, "Thank you very much, Professor Chen, for the generous gift, but I would be disrespectful. However, Professor Chen, although I have publicly promised not to participate in anything related to that batch of estimates,
I still have to say more to remind you, be careful of those with ulterior motives."
"Well, don't worry, no one except me, Chen, knows the specific whereabouts of those ancient books. Even if there are changes in the future, I have a way to protect the safety of those ancient books."
"Well, if nothing else happens, I think we won't see each other again. Please take care of yourself, Professor Chen!"
"Hahaha, the same goes for you! Farewell!"
"No!"
There was nothing to say all night, and early the next morning, Li Qiang, who had nothing to do, took Haitang to the Huashang Newspaper office as scheduled. When he arrived, he was naturally warmly received by the newspaper's editor-in-chief He Liuhua.
"Oh my, my left eyelid has been twitching all morning! It turns out that there are distinguished guests coming to the door. If there is any improper greeting, please don't take offense!"
"Where, where, the foolish couple came to visit unexpectedly, but received such a grand reception from Editor He, we are really flattered!"
"It should, it should."
"Editor He, to be honest, we came here this time to visit the Three Treasures Hall for no reason. Please take a look at this first." With that, Li Qiang handed Huo Ying's confession to He Liuhua.
"This is..." He Liuhua was fine not to look at it, but he couldn't help being surprised when he saw the content inside.
"This is the confession of Dr. Huo Ying, who previously worked at Queen Mary Hospital. I would like to make it public with the help of your newspaper."
"this……"
"This is what Mrs. Xu meant." Seeing that He Liuhua was obviously hesitant, Li Qiang quickly added.
"Mr. Ming, you misunderstood. I didn't mean anything else. It's just that if this happens, Mrs. Xu will probably..."
"In this regard, Editor He, you can rest assured that since Mrs. Xu has made a decision, she has naturally fully considered the consequences and is fully prepared."
"That's it... okay then!" He Liuhua was silent for a moment, and then he grabbed the phone in front of him and said, "Xiao Wang, come here."
Shortly after hanging up the phone, a young man in his early twenties knocked on the door and walked in, "Editor-in-Chief, did you call me?"
"Notice it, and issue an extra issue immediately!" He Liuhua said while handing over the confession.
When Xiao Wang took it and took a look, he immediately became excited and rushed out of the room holding the confession as if he had found a treasure.
"This kid behaves like this every time he gets breaking news. I don't know when he will be calmer. I'm sorry for making you two laugh."
Li Qiang smiled and waved his hand, "It's okay, young man!"
Just as he was talking, Xiao Wang, who had just ran out, came back again in a panic. He even forgot to knock on the door and ran in, "Editor in Chief! Editor in Chief! Oh no, something... something big has happened!"
Hearing this, He Liuhua swallowed back the words of reprimand that were already on his lips, and asked in a deep voice: "Don't be anxious, tell me slowly, what happened?"
"Just...just now, a British cargo ship traveling between Hong Kong and Myanmar was seized indefinitely by the Japanese on the grounds of undermining the 'jihad'!"
"What did you say?" It's okay that He Liuhua didn't listen. After hearing the news, he immediately stood up from his chair in shock.
In fact, it is not surprising that he was so excited. You must know that since the National Government moved the capital to Chongqing, most of the country's territory has been lost, and all the large and small ports along the coast have been occupied by the Japanese. As a result, the country, which originally had a very weak industrial base, had to face the crisis.
The dilemma of increasing scarcity of supplies.
Since the 26th year of the Republic of China, the Chongqing government, which guards the rear area, has needed to import 90% of its strategic materials in order to provide blood transfusions for the Anti-Japanese War.
It took countless manpower and material resources to finally open up four international transportation lines: the South China International Transportation Line; the China-Vietnam International Transportation Line; the Northwest International Transportation Line, and the Southwest International Transportation Line.
The South China International Transportation Line starts from Hong Kong and transports materials to Wuhan via the Guangzhou-Kowloon-Guangdong-Han Railway.
The China-Vietnam international transportation line uses Haiphong Port in French Vietnam as a transshipment port, and transports anti-war materials to the country through the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway and the Guangxi-Vietnam Highway.
The Northwest International Transportation Line starts from Saryozek in the Soviet Union and connects to XJ, Gansu and Shaanxi by road.
The Southwest International Transportation Line is also called the Yunnan-Myanmar International Transportation Line. Overseas materials are first transported by sea to Yangon Port in Myanmar, then transferred to Lashio via Myanmar’s domestic railway, and finally transported to the country by road.
It is precisely because of these four transportation lines, which can be called blood transfusion arteries, that the Chongqing government can still maintain its confidence in the war of resistance in such a difficult situation. At the same time, it is also because of the existence of these four transportation lines that the Japanese military and political circles have to face
Yes, Haikou, which originally boasted of "destroying China in three months", has completely gone bankrupt, and a rare agreement was reached at the imperial meeting: in order to make the Nationalist government surrender in the short term, it must find ways to cut off its external aid.
Therefore, from then on, Japan began to try every means to cut off the "four major arteries" that transported supplies to China.
Similarly, the Chongqing government is also well aware of the importance of these four arteries. They ensure late supplies and a steady stream of active forces in the anti-Japanese battlefield. If they are cut off, the consequences will be disastrous.
So while the Japanese were racking their brains and threatening these four transportation lines through military and political coercion, the Chongqing government also tried its best to spare no effort to protect them.
But even so, in the second year of the all-out war of resistance, Japan captured Wuhan, Hubei, and simultaneously sent troops to occupy Guangzhou, Guangdong, cutting off the South China international transportation line from the beginning to the end.
The following year, Japan captured Nanning, Guangxi. At the turn of the new year, it forced the French colonists in Vietnam to close the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway and the Guangxi-Vietnam Highway, and occupied Vietnam in the same year.
At this point, the China-Vietnam and South China transportation lines have been controlled by Japan.
In comparison, the Northwest International Transportation Line is very strong.
Due to the remoteness of the terrain and the inland northwest, the Japanese ground forces were beyond the reach. However, Japan soon dispatched its air force to attack Lanzhou from time to time, but was counterattacked by the Soviet and Chinese air forces.
Unfortunately, the Northwest Transportation Line is too far away and its carrying capacity is relatively limited.
In addition, after the outbreak of the German-Soviet War, the Soviet Union had to shift its attention to Europe, so large-scale aid to China gradually stopped.
At this point, the Southwest International Transportation Line became the only remaining blood transfusion channel. The Japanese army continued to send planes to bomb the highway on this transportation line. Fortunately, there were many mountain roads and the roads were complicated, so they survived.
This Burma Highway, which was urgently built by the people of Yunnan at the beginning of the outbreak of the all-out Anti-Japanese War, was transferred from Yangon Port in Myanmar to Kunming, the capital of YN Province. It has almost become the last resort of the Chongqing government.
The Japanese army's detention of British merchant ships traveling between Hong Kong and Myanmar undoubtedly sent a dangerous signal, that is, the Japanese army was probably ready to send troops to capture Myanmar and then use Myanmar as a springboard to invade Yunnan, seriously threatening the rear area of the Anti-Japanese War.
.
The loss of Myanmar means that the southwest transportation line will be cut off, and the four transportation arteries will be completely cut off. It is conceivable how serious a blow this will have to the Chongqing government and even the confidence of the entire anti-war army and people in the war. Just the loss of Wuhan will be enough.
Wang Jingwei appeared, and when that time comes, Wang Jingwei and Li Jingwei will sprout up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain among the bureaucrats who have a negative attitude towards the war, and the consequences will be unimaginable!
I don't know how long it took, but He Liuhua finally recovered from the extreme shock and said to Li Qiang with an apologetic look: "Mr. Ming, I'm really sorry. I'm afraid I have to accompany you and I can't continue to entertain you two.
"
"It doesn't matter. Since Editor He has other important matters, we won't bother you too much!"
"The reception is not good, the reception is not good! Xiao Wang, why are you standing there? Why don't you kick me and send Mr. Ming and his wife away."
…
"It seems that the waterway is impassable?" Haitang said to Li Qiang as soon as he got back to the car.
"Well, it seems that the situation is developing more rapidly than we expected. I think the Japanese have already received the news, so they did not hesitate to offend the British and seize their merchant ships."
"What should we do?"
"Without further delay, I will send you back to the Quanye Chamber of Commerce and tell Chairman Gu the news, and then go to Du Yuesheng to discuss countermeasures."
"Um!"
After making up his mind, Li Qiang sent Haitang back to the Quanye Chamber of Commerce, and then rushed to Du Yuesheng's mansion without stopping.
"Mr. Ming, didn't I tell you that I will notify you when the exact time comes? You don't even have this patience, right?" Seeing Li Qiang coming uninvited, Du Yuesheng felt a little unhappy.
said.
However, Li Qiang could no longer care about this at the moment and hurriedly lowered his voice and said to Du Yuesheng: "Mr. Du, that's what happened. Just now..."
"Seriously?!" After hearing the news brought by Li Qiang, Du Yuesheng's reaction was almost exactly the same as that of He Liuhua before. He stood up from the chair with his eyes wide open and said in disbelief.
"Of course it's true! Just now, I was a guest at the Chinese Business Newspaper and happened to hear it."
"Huashang Newspaper? That should be true. No, I have to go out immediately and wait for news!" After saying that, Du Yuesheng shouted to prepare the car, then threw Li Qiang in the living room and hurriedly walked
