Chapter 27 Mausoleum House Meeting

The first meeting of the "preparatory office" in February was held at 7 o'clock one night, with a total of 25 people attending.The meeting place was set one mile away from the Xiaoling Mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty, in Jiang's small villa in the pine forest on the right downhill of the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum.In addition to Teng Jie, there are also He Zhonghan, Pan Youqiang, Feng Ti, Sun Changjun, Du Xinru, Gui Yongqing, Deng Wenyi, and Xiao Zanyu from the first class of Huangpu; Fu, Kang Ze, Han Wenhuan, Li Yimin, Huang Zhongxiang, Qiu Kaiji and Luo Derong; Lou Shaokai from the fourth class; Qian Guoxun, Peng Mengji and Yi Deming from the fifth class; and Dai Li, Liu Chengzhi and Chen Qi from the sixth class.Three members of the preparatory office: Hu Zongnan from the first class, Zeng Kuoqing and Ye Wei from the fourth class, did not attend the meeting because of other tasks.

These people met in a large rectangular room, which was scattered with various sofas and wooden chairs.Chiang Kai-shek sat on a wicker chair against the wall behind a medium-sized desk at the west end of the room.Deng Wenyi was sitting on a small sofa beside the coffee table to the right of the leader, preparing to take minutes of the meeting.After Teng Jie called everyone, including the three who could not attend, Chiang Kai-shek raised his eyes and looked at everyone one by one.After a pause, he said: "The party and the country are in great danger now, and I have specially invited you to have a talk and listen to your opinions. Therefore, no formal meeting is adopted, and the focus is on listening to the opinions expressed by each of you. There is no time limit for speaking. "

Although Jiang did not stipulate the meeting procedures or the order of speakers, according to the gathering habits of Whampoa alumni, usually the members with early shifts and older members speak first.Therefore, He Zhonghan, the oldest in class one, took the lead, followed by Sun Changjun, Pan Youqiang, Gui Yongqing, Du Xinru, Feng Ti and Xiao Zanyu.Everyone spoke for 20 minutes to half an hour.There were no guards outside the door during the discussion, which is very rare.Dai Li with a gun would get up from time to time to check indoors and outside the building.He appeared alert, serious and composed.According to Qian Guoxun's recollection, Chiang Kai-shek sat there in silence, listening very carefully, and took notes with a blue lead from time to time.Occasionally, if you don't hear clearly, you will ask a question or two softly, as if trying to avoid interrupting the speaker's speech.He appeared calm and patient, a far cry from his usual stern, blunt, and condescending attitude toward them.He's pretty much asking them for their opinions, letting everyone finish.

Talks run from 7pm to 11pm.Gui Yongqing spoke the longest.He had just returned to Nanjing from Germany via the Soviet Union, through Zhangjiakou and Beiping.He reported on the responses of Europe and northern China to the "January 28" Incident and the "September 18th" Incident. At 11:00, Jiang stood up and said that those who had not yet had the opportunity to speak would continue to speak at the same time and place the next night, and left with Deng Wenyi.Others took the original car back to Nanjing.On the way back, no one spoke, but everyone looked "excited".

At 6 p.m. the next day, the group gathered outside the "preparatory office" on Erlangmiao Street and took a car to Jiang's villa.Dai Li and Teng Jie took the first car, and after they arrived, they carefully inspected the surroundings of the house and the interior of the conference room.As soon as Chiang Kai-shek and Deng Wenyi arrived, the meeting proceeded according to the procedure, and the speeches began.Deng Wenyi was the first to speak that night, followed by Ge Wuqi, Cai Kangjun, Zhou Fu, Kang Ze, Li Yimin and Han Wenhuan.Gui Yongqing made a brief interjection, he wanted to introduce one of He Yingqin's disciples, and then Qiu Kaiji spoke.Statements from their second meeting continued until 11 p.m.

On the third night, Lou Shaokai was the first to speak, followed by Qian Guoxun, Peng Mengji, Yi Deming and Dai Li.According to Gan Guoxun's recollection: Dai Li worked very hard during those three nights.Others were able to sit quietly and rest except to speak.He's the only one in charge of the guard.He never rested for a moment.He just sat for two minutes before it was his turn to speak.This is his only rest time.He was in his early thirties, with thick eyebrows, large eyes and a square mouth.He was wearing an off-white Chinese tunic suit.He stands in the middle of the room and expresses his opinion.His speech was concise and powerful.After he finished speaking, he humbly asked the leader and all his "big brothers" for "advice".

It was nearly midnight, and although there was silence outside, Tengjie, neatly dressed and wearing glasses, stood in the middle of the room and announced loudly that, in his opinion, they should strengthen their organization and revive the revolutionary spirit under the guidance of their leaders. "Survive from death" by eliminating dissidents from the inside and resisting the Japanese invaders from the outside.He firmly believed, "If we can grasp the situation, then we will succeed." Teng Jie believes that history has proved them invincible.In Guangdong, with only a few thousand troops, they were able to form an alliance and wipe out enemies ten times their size.On the one hand, they were not afraid of the British imperialists who sent large amounts of weapons and money to the enemy, and on the other hand, they were not afraid of the Communists who acted as "Soviet puppets" among them. They unified Guangdong and completed the Northern Expedition.Now with an army of 300,000 people, occupying important areas in several provinces, why can't they unite with allies and mobilize friendly forces to "suppress the Communist Party" and resist Japan?After expressing great confidence in their cause, Teng Jie announced that they would be able to continue the unfinished business of Premier Sun Yat-sen, complete the revolution, build the country, and be magnificent.This is the only way to appease the souls of Sun Yat-sen and the revolutionary martyrs and realize the hope of the entire nation.

Behind Teng Jie's impassioned rhetoric invoking the spirit of the motherland and the souls of the revolutionary martyrs lay a simple message: The Chinese, under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek, were able to drive out the Japanese invaders while crushing their internal enemy, the Communist Party.But Chiang Kai-shek did not want to hear this information.Internal affairs had begun to turn in his favour, and Chiang was about to become chairman of the Military Council after Wang Ching-wei had been appointed head of the Executive Yuan.From this vantage point, Chiang believed he could concentrate on destroying the Communists, even at the expense of temporarily making concessions to the Japanese.A slogan of "to fight against the outside world, we must first settle down at home" quickly became a policy: stability first, resistance second.For Chiang, the success of "putting down the rebellion" depended entirely on ensuring that his closest entourage fully agreed to implement the "Annei" policy.

At this moment, in response to Teng Jie's passionate speech, Chiang Kai-shek first emphasized the great danger that the Japanese posed to the Chinese nation.He speaks concisely and directly to the audience, without bombast.He said: It has been fifty years since the Japanese warlords prepared to invade China, and their land, sea, and air have all been modernized.Once the battle starts, our officers and soldiers are on the front line, and we can hardly raise our heads to aim and shoot, and we can only be beaten and sacrificed.After the sacrifice is over, the only option is to retreat, and when there is no place to retreat and no soldiers to use, the only option is to make an alliance under the city.Once the alliance under the city is established, the country will be destroyed.

Chiang Kai-shek went on to say that during the 268 years when the Manchus ruled China, they committed atrocities such as the Ten Days in Yangzhou and the Three Massacres in Jiading.And the tyranny of the Japanese in Korea and Taiwan in the past 50 years is no less than that of the Manchu Dynasty.Unfortunately since Sun Yat-sen's death, "responsibility for the revolution has fallen on my shoulders. From what I know about ourselves and our enemies, I must live up to the expectations of our prime ministers and martyrs, our country and our people." Chiang Kai-shek emphasized that the Japanese could do almost anything with their modern military, while the Chinese were completely defenseless.Therefore, those thousands of Chinese who opposed his policy of concessions and praised the suicidal resistance of the heroes of the 19th Route Army in Shanghai were completely intoxicated in a state of individual heroism.In fact, none of them volunteered to go to the front.And China is in need of "unsung heroes" at the moment to "work hard, work hard, work fast, and work hard."

Chiang Kai-shek told his disciples that he did have an army of 300,000 men.If his only goal is to become an admired "national hero," regardless of the larger historical consequences of the national crisis, he can easily achieve his goal.But his personal honor is insignificant compared with the success of the revolution and the safety of the people.To sacrifice the country for one's own reputation is to betray the prime minister and the heroic souls of the revolutionary martyrs, and to pass the crisis on to future generations."All I can do is endure the humiliation," Chiang declared. (I) will never talk about war lightly, and never give up peace until the period of despair.Gain time for preparation, the so-called last moment and peaceful despair time: it is the period when the enemy is desperate to attack and must force us to form an alliance under the city and subjugate the country. With this speech, Chiang Kai-shek seemed to have completely won the hearts of the audience.These Whampoa graduates were deeply moved by his sincerity, and they all stood up to express their admiration for this teaching.It was already the early morning of the next day, and Jiang asked them to meet him again at the office of Lizhishe on Huangpu Road in Nanjing at 8:00 am.