Chapter 40 Zhu De's Banquet

On the afternoon of the 31st, Zhu De received a mission to entertain some of Zhu Peide's subordinate officers. It was best to find a way to delay until the middle of the night. The enemy's command would be greater, and the victory would be greater. The most effective and unobtrusive way is to treat guests to dinner and take out to play mahjong.Before dinner, after Zhu De deployed the uprising preparations for the officer education corps, he came to the Jiabin Building at the entrance of Dashiyuan Street in the west of the city.He was very familiar with the boss here, and when he booked a few tables of banquets, the waiter would type out the big word "full guest" and keep the scattered guests out of the door.The old army was very popular, and the general officers would come when they were invited, and many embarrassing things were laughed at while offering money; and the mahjong style was even more prevalent, and staying up all night was common.

Not long after Zhu De’s post was sent out, before it was dark, the two hostesses and guests—the two regiment commanders of the Third Army, Lu Zeming and Xiao Riwen, stepped into the threshold with a smile on their shoulders.Head Lu was stationed at the old Gongyuan, and Head Xiao was stationed in the barracks of the Dajiao Field. It was Xiao Huzi whom Hou Jingru visited.They all have a good relationship with Zhu De.When Wang Jingwei rebelled, Lu Zeming had arrested the party representative of the officer education group. After Zhu De came to the door, Lu Zeming released him.After Zhu De returned to Nanchang, they still visited frequently.

In the minds of Lu Zeming, Xiao Huzi and others, Zhu De was a loyal elder they respected and an old friend of their immediate boss Zhu Peide, and a treat was a must.Although Zhu De is a major general, his salary is not low, but his life is extremely simple. He usually wears a gray cloth military uniform, a pair of dark yellow leather shoes, wrapped in a pair of leggings, and sometimes barefoot in straw sandals.When he was concurrently the head of the Nanchang Public Security Bureau, he always carried a leather bag to work and seldom used a car.His wife lived with him at that time, and she always maintained the frugal habits of country people, eating and dressing like a regimental leader's wife.She was the heroine Wu Ruolan who died later and was missed by Zhu De.Because the weather was too hot, Zhu De didn't wear military uniform today, and didn't bring his wife with him. He just put on an old silk shirt casually and came to Jiabin Building.After several dishes were served, Zhu De casually said a few words, meaning that the weather was too hot, and there was no other meaning to this light feast, but to enjoy the coolness, reminiscing about the old days, and everyone drank to their heart's content, until they got drunk.

The two heads of the regiment are people who are used to playing tooth festivals and are also veterans of boxing games, and their faces became red in a short while. Zhu De also has a capacity for alcohol, so he drinks a few cups with him from time to time.It was around 9 o'clock, and Zhu De felt that this place was too exposed, and it was difficult to maintain it tomorrow morning.He proposed to let everyone move to No. 32 of Dashiyuan not far away to play mahjong. The two regiment leaders had no objection, and followed Zhu De to transfer the "position". Zhu De secretly confessed to Liu Gang, the guard: All foreign guests must be prevented from entering this place, especially those who come to look for Lu and Xiao Er. You presume that they have gone back.If it's late at night, you give some money to the guards of the two regiment leaders Lu and Xiao, and tell them to come to pick up the commander early tomorrow morning.It is best to remove the self-defense weapons of Lu and Xiao when the opportunity arises, but they must not be disturbed.As soon as the card table is opened, the guests go deep into the roles, and people's eyes are only on the bamboo cards, and they no longer look at the clock.The mahjong tiles collided with the marble tabletop, and in the quiet night, there was a clear and clear sound that the fans of the tiles were fascinated by.The officers fiddled with the bamboo card game, just as painful as hearing the gunshot.

At the height of the excitement, an adjutant under Head Xiao (nicknamed Xiao Huzi) slipped in somehow, ran pale, breathless and said that he had just received an order to take the The Yunnan Army in its own jurisdiction disarmed.The young officer's voice was very low when he first spoke, almost sticking to Captain Xiao's ear. Later, when he saw that most of the poker tables were surrounded by his fellow villagers from Yunnan, he amplified his voice.He found Zhu De, who had the highest military rank, and asked, "I'm also from Yunnan, and I don't know whether I should attack my fellow countrymen. What should I do?" Hearing this, Zhu De's heart sank to the bottom of his feet.

Head Xiao stared at the adjutant in astonishment, asking him to explain the situation more carefully.The adjutant added: "Zhao Fusheng, a fellow from Yunnan of the 20th Army, said that someone is going to riot tonight and hand over our guns." The card game that was still noisy just now fell into dead silence.Zhu De turned his head around, laughed at the guests and said, in this messy time, there are really all kinds of rumors, and he dismissed them.He was playing mahjong and greeted everyone: "Please continue playing cards. There are too many gossips, so don't worry about it."

Head Lu pushed back his chair, stood up and said, "Maybe it's a rumor, but I also heard that something will happen tonight, everyone should go back to their posts." As he said this, the rest of the people stood up, Find the clothes and guns you took off. Zhu De still wanted to persuade him to stay: "Everyone sit down for a while, it's not too late to leave after I figure out the situation." The guest refused: "Thank you, Captain Zhu, for your kindness. We will play again some other day, and we will play again some other day." At this point, Zhu De didn't want to force him to stay, so as not to arouse more suspicion, so he saw off the guests in front of the door, laughing and joking.

As soon as the guests had left, he immediately rushed to the headquarters of the former committee.The Jiangxi Grand Hotel, where the headquarters of the former committee is located, has set up a firepower network of the rebel army around it.Heavily armed guards cruised around, watching passers-by vigilantly.It was late at night, and in the festive auditorium on the first floor, four pairs of red palace lanterns hanging from the roof complemented each other, as if welcoming a festival that was about to be born.The civil servants of the rebel army are crouching under the lamps to produce various propaganda materials, and the proclamations and slogans are spread all over the floor.When Zhu De came in, Zhou Enlai was looking at a map at his desk and talking with the people around him. "Enlai, did the news get leaked? Zhu Peide's subordinates all know about it!"

Zhou Enlai told Zhu De: "Yes. He Long has been here, and one of his deputy battalion commanders has rebelled. It is estimated that the enemy has prepared. You came at the right time. The front committee has decided to advance the riot time by two hours." Zhu De looked at his watch: "I'll go back to the education group immediately and bring out the rebels." "You have to pay attention to safety. If you have anything to do, tell me or Bo Cheng." Zhou Enlai took care of Zhu De, who was older than himself——in his long revolutionary career, Zhou Enlai almost always took care of him in this way, perhaps it was this kind of Zhu De was extremely sad when Zhou Enlai passed away. With his old body, he tremblingly paid the last military salute.

When Zhu De walked out of the hotel, the rebel sentries were installed on all the streets and thoroughfares.Everyone can't call passwords, and from the red cross on the flashlight, each other can recognize each other from a distance.Some troops have already issued red scarves and asked everyone to tie them on their collars, like wearing a suit and tie.The uprising is getting closer by the minute.Jing Ye is condensing the first spring thunder.