By May, the Second Northern Expedition was in full swing.
The Nationalist Government in Wuhan marched into Henan, Feng Yuxiang's division left Tongguan, and both sides agreed to meet in the Central Plains.
Faced with siege from three sides (Feng Jun also attacked him), Wu Peifu was defeated and led his remaining troops to flee westward into Sichuan and defected to the Sichuan native emperor Yang Sen. The once-prominent Zhili warlords were destroyed.
There are still several Zhang Xueliang's direct troops in Henan. They originally planned to reap the benefits, but now they have to face attacks from the north and the south. Zhang Xueliang couldn't help leading the "relief for work" and rushed to the front line overnight to personally direct the battle in Henan.
Feng Yuxiang's Northwest Army is really too strong. Each department under his command has members of our Party serving as political commissars. It is also highly disciplined and does not commit any crimes against the common people. It has received enthusiastic support from the people. Zhang Xueliang's new army can also be considered an elite force, but when it encounters the Northwest
The army was still retreating steadily, which made Zhang Xueliang so worried that he couldn't sleep all day long.
Zhang Zuolin also had a headache. He had divided the forces of the Northern Expedition. But he never expected that the Northern Expeditionary Army that was divided into two would be so strong. Most of the Henan that had been captured with great difficulty was now about to be given away.
As for our President Chang, after announcing the establishment of the Nanjing National Government, he has been focusing on "purging the party" and has not intervened in the battle between the two sides for the time being - he is also sitting on the mountain watching the fight between tigers and tigers.
The war in Henan is fierce, but there are signs of severe drought in Hebei and Shandong. There has been no rain recently, and the grain planted in the fields has dried up and turned yellow.
The Red Spear Association organizations in Hebei and Shandong provinces resurrected and spread rapidly like a prairie fire. Uprisings broke out every now and then, not to mention killing local tyrants to share food, and many government offices in prefectures and counties were breached.
More and more fleeing victims are gathering in Tianjin. Fortunately, most of them are just a temporary stop. Their final destination is the Northeast. Since the late Qing Dynasty, it has almost become a tradition that whenever there is a major disaster in Shandong, the victims bring their families with them.
Running to the northeast is called "breaking through Guandong".
Zhang Xueliang was not in Tianjin, so the "work-for-relief" method of cooperating with foreigners in the name of the central government was unable to proceed. Zhou Hexuan had no choice but to do his best to provide life-saving food to the victims.
Since there were too many victims, those who were sick could no longer be taken care of. Zhou Hexuan could only turn a blind eye and let them die. Tianjin's corpse collection team collected at least two digits of corpses every day.
At this time, most of the donations raised by the Jimin Association had been used up, so Zhou Hexuan had no choice but to publish an appeal for donations in newspapers, barely surviving.
…
Tianjin, Commercial Music Stage (Beiyang Theater).
The place is very lively and full of theater fans. It is in sharp contrast to the hellish scene outside the city. It is a completely different world.
Li Keyong, played by Meng Xiaodong, was stroking his long beard and singing: "I will reminisce about the old roots with my virtuous brother. Reminiscing about the old days of the Five Phoenix Tower, when all the civil and military officials celebrated the thousand years... I fell to my uncle Duan Wenchu, and the king of Tang Dynasty was furious.
We want to behead people. Since we parted ways that year, we meet again in Beizhou today."
"good!"
There was thunderous applause and cheers from the audience.
"Zhulian Village" is a traditional play, with Li Keyong originally playing the net role. Later, Tan Xinpei, a famous Tan School master, re-edited it, with Lao Sheng playing Li Keyong, and the result was a great success.
At this time, Meng Xiaodong has integrated the skills of Tan and Cheng, and has mastered the essence of both schools. She does not speak, but when she does, she is a blockbuster, and her singing voice is so beautiful that the audience is intoxicated.
"good!"
Wanrong also clapped her hands and praised her. She even ignored Zhou Hexuan next to her and kept staring at Meng Xiaodong.
After the performance of "Zhulian Village", Xun Huisheng, one of the four famous Dan Dans, took the stage to perform "Fishing and Killing the Family."
This is a charity performance. Except for Meng Xiaodong, all famous Peking opera actors from Tianjin have voluntarily signed up to participate in the performance, and all the tickets sold are used to provide relief to the victims.
Although actors are looked down upon by others and belong to a lower-class profession, there are many righteous people among them who love their country and the people.
After all the performances were over, theater manager Guan Xingquan came on stage and said: "Thank you to all the owners for the wonderful performances, and thank you to all the fans for their support. Today's benefit performance is for disaster relief, and all proceeds are donated. We also set up a donation box at the door.
If you are interested in donating, you can go and express your love. Here, I would like to express my gratitude to you all on behalf of the victims. Of course, donations are purely voluntary and not required. It all depends on your heart."
"good!"
"Don't worry about the boss's benevolence!"
The theatergoers clapped their hands and applauded, and Guan Xingquan left the stage with a smile. Although he was a senior figure in the Qinggang, he had never done anything bad. The Xiangtang only accepted disciples from opera practitioners.
Guan Xingquan was just the theater manager. He persuaded his boss to organize a charity performance, which made him feel uneasy. But judging from the situation in the past few days, although the charity performance did not make any money, it could gain fame and influence. The popularity of Beiyang Theater would definitely be even higher in the future.
"Boss Cheng, Boss Xun, Boss Meng, Boss Zhang, Boss Yang... Thank you for your hard work!"
Guan Xingquan came to the backstage of the theater and saluted the famous actors with fists in their hands.
Cheng Yanqiu waved his hand and said: "Mr. Guan, you're welcome. Relieving the victims is a great thing. Cheng is honored to be able to participate in it."
Cheng Yanqiu's original surname was not Cheng, he was a Manchu, surnamed Guerjia, and was one of the "Four Famous Dans" together with Xun Huisheng.
Xun Huisheng had already taken off his makeup and turned from a charming woman back to a handsome young man. He smiled and agreed: "Yes, if there are charity performances in the future, Mr. Guan just ask, Huisheng will be there at your call."
Meng Xiaodong was packing his things and said to everyone: "Brothers, Xiaodong has something important to do, so please leave first."
Guan Xingquan said quickly: "Boss Meng, I'm hosting a banquet tonight, why are you leaving in such a hurry?"
"I have an appointment with Mr. Zhou." Meng Xiaodong explained.
"Oh, it turns out to be Mr. Zhou, I was too talkative." Guan Xingquan laughed.
Xun Huisheng joked: "Xiaodong and Mr. Zhou are really talented men and beautiful women. Go quickly, don't delay the date."
Meng Xiaodong's pretty face turned slightly red, she didn't say anything more, and just left with her fists clasped.
Walking to the entrance of the theater, Meng Xiaodong found Zhou Hexuan and Wanrong waiting there. Many people were surrounding the donation box next to it, and the sound of clanging copper plates could be heard from time to time. "Everyone, you give me three points. My five percent donation, although the amount is
Little, but a lot of heart.
"Brother Zhou, I've kept you waiting for a long time," Meng Xiaodong said, looking at Wanrong again and greeting, "Hello, sister Wanrong."
Wanrong is only a few months older than Meng Xiaodong. In Meng Xiaodong's view, Wanrong does not pose a threat to her.
Although Zhou Hexuan and Wanrong were very close, their relationship seemed to be very ambiguous. But Wanrong was the queen after all. Even if she and Puyi were officially divorced, it would be difficult for her to marry Zhou Hexuan as his wife. At most, she would only be a lover, not even a concubine.
"Hello, Xiaodong." Wanrong returned the greeting with a smile. She was a little jealous, and she was also vaguely repelled by Meng Xiaodong, but the Wenxiu incident taught Wanrong a lesson. She didn't want to make men unhappy anymore by fighting for favor.
The two women had met a few days ago, and what surprised Zhou Hexuan was that they actually got along very harmoniously, at least on the surface.
Men in the Republic of China were really happy. The prerequisite was that you had money, fame, and status.