Chapter 43 Chapter Forty-Two

Zhangjiayu is a small mountain village at the foot of Tianxiong Pass, with a population of only a hundred or so.Zhangjiayu, the most famous is the Zhangjia Courtyard, which is built on the hillside, layered on top of each other. This compound was the most prosperous time of the Shanxi merchants in the early Qing Dynasty. The luxurious villa built by the Zhang family, a rich man who walked to the west, spent 10,000 silver yuan in his hometown. Therefore, the local people called the Zhang family compound "Silver Yuan". Villa". Walking on the stone road of Yinyuan Villa, Zhang Zhaozhong, the representative of the World Bank, felt a little emotional: "My father hasn't come back for more than 60 years in such a nice villa, just for breath."

"The mayor who teased the Communist Party yesterday, you should be angry enough, right?" Although Shi Jiamin was dressed plainly, there were very few charming women walking on such a mountain stone road, which attracted many people's attention. "One breath, holding back two generations, it's really not that simple to resolve it." Zhang Zhaozhong said what was in his heart, "No matter what, I would like to thank Harvard alumni for their wonderful cooperation. The mayor of the Communist Party is coveting you. Ruler. If he doesn't have you in his heart, I really can't vent my anger."

"We are college classmates, and now we are together again." Shi Jiamin did not evade, "We were also lovers once." "If you say that, you are not only helping me, but more importantly, you are helping him!" Zhang Zhaozhong was always wondering why such a magnificent woman cooperated with him so tacitly when she acted. "How do you say that?" Shi Jiamin regretted after asking. "Women are the most able to understand a man's psychology. You can feel it from the very beginning. I am full of resentment and have nowhere to vent it. If I can't vent it and keep it in my heart, it will become the biggest obstacle in the negotiation." Zhang Zhaozhong slowly Walking in front, "But my anger is different from anyone else's. It is aimed at the Communist Party. Among you, the biggest official of the Communist Party is Li Lilin. I use him as a punching bag, and you help me vent my anger, and finally vent all my anger." Come out, there will be no obstacles when negotiating."

"Do you feel that your goal has been achieved?" Shi Jiamin said with a pun. "It is impossible to say that it is fully achieved, because this is the anger of two generations. If you say no, it is against your will. After all, you have helped, and you have offended Li Lilin." Zhang Zhaozhong saw the front It is the Zhang Family Tomb. "I won't offend him!" Shi Jiamin replied decisively. "Why?" In Zhang's photo, he saw wormwood growing all over the tomb from a distance. "At that time, he had to be calmer, and he would be able to realize the truth of what you just said." Shi Jiamin followed behind.

"So, after going back, he calmed down." Zhang Zhaozhong guessed. "Probably, he is also a smart person." Shi Jiamin knew Li Lilin better. "The Communist Party still values ​​talents." Zhang Zhaozhong praised for the first time since the meeting. "You mean Li Lilin? Where did you find it?" Shi Jiamin was puzzled. "It's not enough to be ambitious, affectionate and righteous!" Zhang Zhaozhong also felt a little loose in his heart. Zhang Zhaozhong and Shi Jiamin walked in front of Zhang Jiazu's tomb, and suddenly found a strange phenomenon: many tombs in the middle were intact, and it was just a big mound at the far east, and now it suddenly turned into a big pit.

"What's going on? When I came back the year before last, I specially retrieved the remains of my grandfather from the Tianxiong Pass site and buried them here. Why disappeared?" Zhang Zhaozhong turned his head and stared at his nephew. "I'm sorry, uncle, the ancestor's grave has been dug away." My nephew cried. "Who dug it?" Zhang Zhaozhong looked angry. "There are more than a dozen people from the government, and we can't stop them." My nephew tried to dissuade him for a long time, but it was useless. "Okay, the Communist Party! Okay, Li Lilin! You actually dug up my grandfather's grave." Zhang Zhaozhong gnashed his teeth in hatred.

In rural Shanxi, the digging of ancestral graves is a great shame. "People in the village say that the government asks you for money, but you don't give it. So, they dug our ancestral grave." My nephew shirked responsibility. "Li Lilin, good boy, I'm going to Beijing to sue you!" Zhang Zhaozhong looked at Shi Jiamin next to him, "Miss Shi, who do you think is the most wicked person in the world? Is it true that Li Lilin is the most wicked boy! I want a loan from the World Bank , you can’t dig up my grandfather’s grave, use this kind of dirty trick to threaten me!”

"I don't think so." Shi Jiamin seemed to understand something. "No? Did the bandits dig it?" Zhang Zhaozhong hated Li Lilin more than the bandits. "Li Lilin is not the kind of vicious and smoking villain, I know him well." Shi Jiamin told him clearly. "Why did he dig my grandfather's grave?" Zhang Zhaozhong asked seriously, his voice trembling. "Because, because your grandfather was a famous anti-Japanese general." Shi Jiamin came up with an answer. "Since I admit that my grandfather was a famous anti-Japanese general, I still have to dig his grave. Are you worthy of the dead ancestors? Are you worthy of your own conscience? Are you worthy of the descendants of the martyrs?" Zhang Zhaozhong finally said ruthlessly, "If Beijing doesn't give me an explanation, I will There are also ways of revenge."

"What method, let me hear." Shi Jiamin stood on the high slope. "I hired someone to chop him up, ten million is not enough, thirty million." Zhang Zhaozhong almost lost his mind. "What Li Lilin is doing is something you can't buy for 20 to 30 million." Shi Jiamin wanted to calm him down. "You said that he sent people to dig my ancestral grave, and he paid such a high price? Impossible, I don't believe it." Zhang Zhaozhong expressed his opinion, "The government of the Communist Party will not spend money if they want to send people to dig my ancestral grave. It's enough to hire a few bums."

"Why do you always think that Li Lilin dug your ancestral grave? You won't think about the good." Shi Jiamin felt that Zhang's photo was indeed too prejudiced. "Then where did my ancestral grave go?" Zhang Zhaozhong's eyes were red. "I know." Shi Jiamin replied. "So, you two did it together?" Zhang Zhaozhong became suspicious. "I don't have that qualification." Shi Jiamin looked at the loess pit. "Is there a qualification to dig someone's ancestral grave?" Zhang Zhaozhong was surprised. "Of course, I'm not a member of the government. I'm not qualified to dig people's graves, and I'm not qualified to help others erect graves." Shi Jiamin reassured him.

"Can you tell me where Li Lilin's ancestral grave is?" Zhang Zhaozhong suddenly thought of a cruel move. "You want revenge, you want to hire someone to dig his ancestral grave?" Shi Jiamin was surprised. "Of course, no matter how unreasonable the Communist Party is, he can't be allowed to dig my ancestral grave, and I can't dig his ancestral grave. As long as we dig it, we will be evened." In Zhang Zhaozhong's view, this is the most direct way to relieve hatred. Method. "If you really dug his ancestral grave, where would you put it? You can't put it here." Shi Jiamin thought it was funny. "Where he put my ancestors, I will put his ancestors. This matter must be evened out." Zhang Zhaozhong did not budge. "But his ancestor, a grassroots, is not qualified to be put together with your grandfather. Your grandfather is an anti-Japanese hero. No matter how brave Li Lilin is the mayor, he can't put his grassroots ancestors with the anti-Japanese hero. .” Shi Jiamin was serious. "An anti-Japanese hero? Where is my grandfather's coffin?" Zhang Zhaozhong couldn't wait. "The Anti-Japanese Martyrs Cemetery in Meicheng City." Shi Jiamin gave the final answer, "Recently, Meicheng City invested 50 million yuan to newly build the Anti-Japanese Martyrs Cemetery. Your grandfather Zhang Pinghua, such a famous anti-Japanese hero, is it appropriate not to go there? Li Lilin Ancestors of grass-roots people, are you qualified to go there!" "Really? Don't lie to me." Zhang Zhaozhong didn't believe it. "In the afternoon, I can take you to the Anti-Japanese Martyrs Cemetery. If there is no your grandfather, I will lie here." Shi Jiamin pointed to the hole. "Then why didn't Li Lilin tell us in advance?" Zhang Zhaozhong finally believed and shed tears, this time tears of joy. "You father and son have such deep and serious prejudices against the Communist Party, and you want to eat them up." This time it was Shi Jiamin's turn to laugh at him, "If Li Lilin said it in advance, you are too suspicious, and you will suspect others of 'United Front' You, why bother!" "It turned out to be like this!..." The hard iceberg accumulated in Zhang Zhaozhong's heart suddenly encountered a warm current and began to melt... On the way back to Coal City from Tianxiong Pass, there were two very peculiar scenic spots. Under Shi Jiamin's enthusiastic suggestion, Zhang Zhaozhong saw that it was still early and decided to visit them. The Hutuo River is a small river that is nearly dry on the northern Shanxi plateau. It originates from Guancen Mountain and finally passes through the Mangmang Taihang Mountain. It gathers countless tributaries from the mountains and becomes surging. the Great North China Plain. On the upper reaches of the Hutuo River, in the territory of Wutai, next to the Hutuo River, there is a big town and a small village on the left and right.A powerful figure came out of the big town, that is Yan Xishan, a Shanxi native and well-known warlord of the Republic of China.Although the small village is small, it is not simple, and a bigger figure has emerged, that is, Marshal Xu Xiangqian, who defeated Yan Xishan. Today, celebrity tourism is popular all over the country. People along the Hutuo River have also used their special resources to develop two tourist attractions for celebrities. One is the former residence of Yan Xishan in a big town, and the other is the former residence of Xu Xiangqian in a small village. . For Yan Xishan, Zhang Zhaozhong admired him from a very young age.He heard from his father that General Yan was one of the five famous commanders of the Kuomintang, who was based in Shanxi and remotely controlled the north. The other four were Chiang Kai-shek, Feng Yuxiang, Zhang Xueliang and Li Zongren.During the Central Plains War, Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang joined forces to attack Chiang Kai-shek. In the middle, Zhang Xueliang, who supported himself in the Northeast, was bought by Chiang Kai-shek with money, and threw the great Northeast country to the Japanese. As a result, General Yan, who was victorious on the front line, gave up halfway and fell into the sand. Otherwise, modern Chinese history would be another version. Yan Xishan's former residence is indeed grand in scale and extraordinary in momentum, and it is not the same as the few thatched huts that General Yan lived in Yangmingshan, Taiwan in his later years.Covering an area of ​​more than 200 acres, it is built on the hillside. It is a castle-like compound with unattainable outer walls, and there are even bunkers and gun towers at the main nodes.After entering, there are more than one hundred courtyards, large and small, with completely different decoration styles according to different functions.The yards used for living are mostly high-end and practical daily necessities, with a complete range; the yards used for entertainment and leisure are picturesque and elegant, displaying many rare treasures; among them, the most and largest yards, Almost all of them were the headquarters of various industries of the Yan family in the past, such as ticket offices, silver shops, money houses, pawnshops, coal mines, textiles, machinery, banks, hospitals, investment... "General Yan is really a great family." After seeing the former residence of Yan Xishan, Zhang Zhaozhong, the representative of the World Bank and the direct descendant of the Yan family, was about to leave. Looking back at the ancient castle in the sunset, he sighed infinitely, "In the past, just listen to my father It is said that General Yan was born in a bank account and has a wealth of wealth. Later, when I saw General Yan in Yangmingshan and saw his family with bare walls, I was surprised at that time, how could the rich family be so poor! Only now did I know that he threw all the property left by his ancestors in the Mainland China. What a pity, what a pity!" "Do you know how General Yan's family was before he entered politics?" Shi Jiamin said unintentionally. "I don't know. If Ms. Shi knows something, please let me know." Standing on the square in front of the former residence, Zhang Zhaozhong looked at the children running around. "In the past, I didn't know. Later, when I was studying at Harvard, I read a book by the American writer Edgar Snow, and then I learned about General Yan in his childhood and youth." Shi Jiamin found that the children here are very naughty , Regardless of the stranger standing in front of him, he played a game of hide-and-seek in the gap between the adults. "Edgar Snow?" Zhang Zhaozhong recalled in his mind, "that red writer, American. He came to China in the 1930s and interviewed many big figures. It is said that his works are very realistic and original, so It shocked the West. How does he evaluate General Yan?" Zhang Zhaozhong stopped a naughty child and stroked the child's little bald head. "He said that General Yan was actually born in a bankrupt banker's family. He was insolvent, and he was heavily in debt. He had no choice but to get admitted to a public-funded foreign student and study military in Japan. All this wealth was accumulated after he became an official. Yes. In order to conceal the source of his wealth, General Yan often advertises to outsiders who don’t know the details: he was born in a wealthy Shanxi merchant family..." "Credible?" Zhang Zhaozhong was still skeptical. "It's written in an American book, and there is no problem with my personal analysis." Shi Jiamin took a few steps forward, looking up at two big black crows perched on a nearby big tree, "now Shanxi Business School has also become a If you have a chance, you can learn about it. In the past, big Shanxi merchants chose a career for their children: finance and trade were their first choice, shopkeepers were their second choice, and those who really had no other choice let their children take the imperial examination and enter the officialdom..." "General Yan, including your family's great benefactor, Dean Kong, was once a poor child from a poor family. After becoming famous, he flaunted that he was from a wealthy Shanxi merchant family. It was to cover up the illegal source of the huge wealth!" After finishing speaking, Shi Jiamin looked According to the opponent's reaction. "That's right." Zhang Zhaozhong seemed to have been hit on the head by something, a little bored and listless, "Let's go, let's get in the car." "Do you want to know how Mr. Snow commented on General Yan and the others? If you don't want to hear it, I won't talk about it." Shi Jiamin closed the car door, and the car started to drive slowly. "Let's talk." Zhang Zhaozhong was hit dizzy anyway. "Mr. Snow commented: A high-ranking Kuomintang official like General Yan needs talent, temperament, and culture. The only shortcoming is that he likes money too much. If the Kuomintang collapses in the future, it will not be because of ability and The level is because they are too greedy for money and have lost popular support." Shi Jiamin looked smug, "Mr. Snow's prediction is really accurate, after more than ten years, the mighty Kuomintang will collapse!" Xu Xiangqian's former residence is just three or five miles away on the other side of the river, and he arrived soon. The scene is very surprising.Such an all-powerful person, the former residence is so simple: only a dilapidated courtyard, only a simple wooden bed and simple daily necessities, the most extravagant things are baskets of farm tools, and shabby farm tools that cannot be broken any more. clothing.The only place worth visiting is that the walls are covered with photos of Xu Xiangqian's life... "The Communist Party really knows how to dress up itself. In order to fight against landlords and the rich, it has packaged the marshal's hometown into such a dilapidated and settled look." Zhang Zhaozhong analyzed that everything in front of him was a political need. "Wrong." Shi Jiamin seemed to be born as a baseball player, and if he came or not, he would give others a blow. "In the 1930s, Mr. Snow, including many American writers and scholars, included Dr. Fairbank , I visited the home of Xu Xiangqian, one of the commanders-in-chief of the Red Army, and it was like this at the time, and it is still the same now. If you have any doubts, you can go back and read the travel notes written by those Americans.” "Snow and the others, what do you think of Xu Xiangqian?" Zhang Zhaozhong was a little unconvinced. "Stop it." Shi Jiamin hesitated. "Why didn't you say it?" Zhang Zhaozhong wondered. "I'm worried that you won't be able to accept it." Shi Jiamin turned out to be thinking of the other party. "I can accept the failure of the party-state, what's the point!" Zhang Zhaozhong tried to put on an air of generosity. "Can you stop standing so straight, don't be so nervous, as if you are going to the execution ground." Shi Jiamin said tenderly, "Just relax, okay?" "Okay." Zhang Zhaozhong was relaxed on the outside, but uncomfortable on the inside. "Snow and the others, as free intellectuals, objectively evaluate: Communists like Xu Xiangqian have ideals and ambitions, and are capable and accomplished. The only shortcoming is that they are too poor and dressed too shabby. This is where the Communist Party can win the hearts of the people..." Shi Jiamin observed the other party's expression while talking. Zhang Zhaozhong was obviously embarrassed and passive.However, he tried his best to pretend to be calm in front of the senior beauties: "I finally figured out a truth: why did you and Li Lilin go out of your way to accompany me to visit my hometown." "You said, I have carefully designed this special 'celebrity travel route' long ago?" Shi Jiamin felt the most, and the two talked, and she was in the upper hand. "Isn't it?" Zhang Zhaozhong asked back. "I didn't design it, I don't have that ability!" Shi Jiamin laughed. "Could it be designed by Li Lilin? Well, you two are 'beauty tricks', 'bitter meat tricks', and 'double-reed opera'. One link after another, it's so wonderful, you have to get me involved!" Zhang Zhaozhong suddenly realized. "He doesn't have that ability either." Shi Jiamin felt that Zhang Zhaozhong was not only paranoid, but also paranoid. "Then who has such a great ability?" Zhang Zhaozhong wanted to ask. "It's history! It's history that shaped this 'celebrity travel route'." Shi Jiamin looked up, "This is the inevitability of history, and it is also a coincidence of history. It is this inevitability that tells us the most profound truth; it is This coincidence makes history as full of legends as literature." "I want to say my most sincere words, which may hurt you and Li Lilin." Zhang Zhaozhong listened, suffering for a long time, silent for a long time, and hesitating for a long time. "If there is a kind of love that really wants to hurt others, it's really like that, just bury it in your heart, don't talk about it." Shi Jiamin can only politely reject many men who admire her. "Okay." Zhang Zhaozhong sighed, "Our Harvard can cultivate such outstanding talents, I don't know whether it is Harvard or the Communist Party!" Zhang Zhaozhong was not only stunned by the ruthlessness of history, but also awakened by the ruthlessness of reality, "We Come back, take me to the Anti-Japanese Martyrs Cemetery tomorrow to pay homage to my heroic grandfather, okay?" "Of course! I promised, if your grandfather wasn't there, I'd have to lie back in that hole!" Shi Jiamin joked, bringing the dull-minded picture back to the real laughter.