Chapter Seventy-Three: Night Talk in South Garden

  At half past six in the evening, Ouyang Yun left the Wanping Military Camp with Gu Lianyun and Liu Zheliang after having dinner with the officers and soldiers of the Student Army Brigade. Then, he went directly to the 29th Army Headquarters in Nanyuan to see Song Zheyuan.

  Song Zheyuan met him in the company of Jiang Shiren and Guo Biao.

  Song Zheyuan's mood seemed to be not bad, after both sides sat down, he asked warmly about the recent situation of the student army and the recruitment of university students. Ouyang Yun was well-prepared and answered one by one, then he took out the plan book he had hastily prepared last night. He solemnly handed it over to Song Zheyuan, saying: "Military seat, this is a plan I made, please take a look."

  The name of the plan is "Wing Cha Local Industry Plan", Ouyang Yun detailedly described the current technology that can be grasped and what kind of factory enterprise can be set up, and predicted the benefits that these enterprises can produce, as well as the role that stabilizing Wing Cha area will play.

  The plan book is attached with a table at the back, which includes specific enterprise categories and enterprise nature as well as preliminary intentions of partners.

  Song Zheyuan couldn't understand anything too professional, but that didn't stop him from taking a keen interest in the numbers representing profits. The 23 factories listed by Ouyang Yun had varying returns after normal production, but when added up, they formed a substantial sum. He did some mental calculations and his eyes widened at the specific number he arrived at. He handed the business plan to Jiang Shuren, composed himself, and said to Ouyang Yun: "Ouyang, I've appointed Mr. Jiang as my financial advisor; from now on, he'll be my full representative in discussing these details with you. Ouyang, it seems you haven't wasted your time lately - I heard you became a professor at Yanda University. I thought you'd forgotten our agreement."

  Ouyang Yun smiled and said: "Jun Ze, you already know, I was just about to talk to you about this - the reason I became a professor is actually for the convenience of starting my own business."

  "Oh, what's going on?"

  "You know, the domestic industrial level is really too backward. Some processing equipment needed by factories and mines can only rely on imports. President Yan Da is an American, and the United States is a country that started industrialization relatively early. If we want to import large-scale equipment, the US is a good choice -" Just as he was about to mention Cotter's invitation for him to go to the US, Song Zheyuan stroked his short beard under his chin and interrupted him.

  He said to Guo Biao: "Biaozi, give that agreement to Ouyang."

  Guo Biao glanced at Ouyang Yun, with a hint of hidden worry in the corner of his eyebrow. He took out a contract from his briefcase and handed it to him, forcing a smile as he said: "Ouyang, you little scoundrel, you really have eaten the heart of a bear and the gallbladder of a leopard! Haha, if this gets out, I reckon no one in the world would dare believe it." After finishing speaking, he gave Ouyang Yun a meaningful glance.

  The so-called agreement was an agreement between Song Zheyuan and Ouyang Yun, only written in a textual format, somewhat like a letter of guarantee - Song Zheyuan guaranteed to resist Japan, while Ouyang Yun had to guarantee that he would serve the 29th Army wholeheartedly, with the main project being the production of penicillin in the pharmaceutical factory, with 50% of the monthly profits belonging to the 29th Army, and the annual profit of the pharmaceutical factory not less than one million.

  The signatories of the agreement are Song Zheyuan and Ouyang Yun, with Song Zheyuan having already signed his name below.

  Ouyang Yun looked at Song Zheyuan and saw that his face was somewhat gloomy, no longer as amiable as before. It was clear that this agreement had been signed reluctantly, even under duress, and he must have felt uncomfortable about it in his heart. At the time when he was discussing terms with Song Zheyuan, he proposed a guarantee and a promise, but later thought that it was somewhat childish and too naive. If Song Zheyuan really wanted to surrender to Japan, he would have already made preparations for losing face and being cold-shouldered by thousands of people. What binding force could such guarantees and promises possibly have? Guo Biao also seemed to be aware of this point, which was why he gave him a warning look.

  Ouyang Yun had thought this through, so the contract was worthless. He tore it to shreds and threw it on the ground, then smiled at Song Zheyuan and said: "General, it was just a joke, why did you take it seriously? In the eyes of overseas Chinese, you are the reincarnation of Yue Fei, if even you became a traitor, wouldn't China have become a vassal state of foreigners already?" After finishing speaking, he looked at Guo Biao and Jiang Shuren, leading them to smile.

  Ouyang Yun's guess was correct, Song Zheyuan signed this contract not out of willingness - he had agreed to Ouyang Yun's terms so readily at first because getting Pingjin area was a dream come true for him, and the temptation of penicillin came second.

  As the 29th Army smoothly entered Pingjin, Song Suwen's wish was fulfilled, and Ouyang Yun's importance suddenly decreased a lot. At this time, Ouyang Yun seriously disobeyed orders in dealing with Shi Yousan, which was unforgivable in Song Zheyuan's eyes - his idea was that although the 29th Army would not surrender to Japan, it was better not to offend them if possible. He thought he had seen through Chiang Kai-shek's character and had never held much hope for the National Government, believing that in the future, if something happened, the only one the 29th Army could rely on was itself. Therefore, how to balance between the National Government and Japan became very important - at one point, he even considered secretly capturing Ouyang Yun and handing him over to the Japanese.

  Ouyang Yun, as a later generation, relied on historical records to have an advantage in understanding the people and events of that time. However, human hearts are not something that can be fully described or clearly recorded by words - he only knew that Song Zheyuan would not surrender to Japan, but had little knowledge of his true thoughts. In short, he was still too young and inexperienced, and did not know how treacherous human hearts could be. Fortunately, he made amends in time, personally went to Tianjin to apologize, and drew a big cake.

  It so happened that Ou Yang Yun's sudden appearance had some impact on the negotiations between Xiong Bin and Song Zheyuan. After fully accepting the conditions put forward by Song, Xiong Bin tactfully proposed that he hoped to give the independent brigade's establishment to the student army. Xiong Bin represented Chiang Kai-shek's intention, which made Song Zheyuan suspect Chiang's motives - not long ago, he was loudly arresting the "anti-Japanese heroes", and now he was helping Ou Yang Yun get an official position? Did Chiang also discover Ou Yang Yun's value and want to compete with him for talent? This made Song Zheyuan pay more attention to Ou Yang Yun.

  It was based on this consideration that Song Zheyuan had to accept Jiang Shuren's suggestion, which was to use a written agreement to tie Ou Yangyun to the 29th Army. Jiang Shuren's reason was: since Ou Yangyun grew up in the United States from a young age, his thinking habits should have a Western flavor - Westerners like to do things by the book, lightly making promises but heavily relying on documents, so he suggested that Song be more open and straightforward, first confirm their original agreement in written form, and clearly state his attitude, which would also limit Ou Yangyun's stance.

  However, Song Zheyuan was after all a powerful warlord with tens of thousands of troops under his command. Although it seemed that he had proposed the agreement voluntarily, in his heart, he always felt as if he had been forced to sign a "surrender treaty", and naturally harbored resentment.

  He had originally planned to wait until Ouyang Yun signed the contract before saying a few harsh words to dispel his idea of publishing so-called promises in the newspaper. Who knew that this young man was not as light on promises and heavy on contracts as Jiang Shuren said, but actually tore up the contract and said that the original agreement was just a joke? This was another insult to Song Zheyuan - as the saying goes, "a gentleman's word is his bond, and it's hard to chase after a runaway horse." He couldn't help but get angry and shouted: "What? Is my promise not worth anything?"

  Kuo Piao had followed Song Che-yuan for many years, and was well aware of his temperament. Seeing Ou-yang Yun stroke his mustache, he couldn't help but secretly worry about him.

  Ouyang Yun was not surprised at all, and smiled: "General, it's precisely because your promise is worth a thousand gold that this agreement doesn't need to exist." After finishing speaking, he took out the invitation letter from Kottehorn and handed it over to Song Zheyuan.

  The translation was already annotated at the bottom of the invitation letter. Song Zheyuan looked at it with a stern face, his expression softened slightly, and asked: "It seems you're planning to go to the United States?"

  Ouyang Yun came to find Song Zheyuan in the middle of the night, actually for two things. One thing was to fulfill his original promise, as Guo Biao reminded him not to disappoint Song, and also to report to him about going to America; another thing was to clarify some matters regarding the Independent Regiment.

  "Yes, General, I'd like to take this opportunity to purchase all the equipment we need at once. However, this will cause a problem with our funds, so I plan to form an inspection team consisting of those businessmen who are willing to invest and bring them to America together. Firstly, let them see how Americans develop their industries, and secondly, let them feel secure about investing," he said with a smile, "If I don't bring the businessmen along, I'm afraid they won't be willing to hand over the funds to me, fearing that I'll abscond with the money."

  Song Zheyuan nodded slightly, and Jiang Shuren said with a smile: "Mr. Song, Ouyang's idea is not bad, I think it's very necessary. The thinking of domestic businessmen is generally more conservative, it's good to let them go out and see the world, this will be very beneficial for the future economic construction of the Pingjin area! Mr. Song, I also want to go to America with Ouyang, what do you think?"

  Song Zheyuan smiled and said: "Listening to you guys, I've got the urge to go to America, but unfortunately I really can't spare the time. Hmm, you're my full representative, so you go on my behalf, and when you come back, tell me all about it, let's see what this so-called industrialized country is all about."

  Jiang Shuren nodded in agreement.

  Song Zheyuan's gaze turned to Ouyang Yun, saying: "Ouyang, for economic matters, you can discuss and handle them with Mr. Jiang, as long as they are beneficial to the people's livelihood and the 29th Army, you can boldly go ahead. This time, the 29th Army is going to expand comprehensively, I have decided to expand the Student Brigade into an independent brigade, and you will still be the commander of this brigade, I hope you won't disappoint me."

  Ouyang Yun had already learned of this news, and now hearing him say it himself, he knew that it was a done deal. He humbly said: "Your Excellency, isn't this inappropriate? Ouyang is really too young, I'm afraid it will be difficult to convince the public."

  Song Zheyuan smiled and waved his hand, saying: "This matter has already been decided, the list has been reported to the National Military Commission - being young is a good thing, after all, youth is capital. It's hard to convince others, haha, don't worry, the Academic Army Independent Brigade will face those students head-on. You've been the commander of this Academic Army for over a month now and have won two battles, I think you're quite capable. However, there are some things I must remind you of - young people's hot blood is a good thing, but considering our current strength, it's not realistic to engage in an all-out war with Japan yet. As the saying goes, 'small tolerance leads to big chaos', next time you encounter something like this, think more deeply about it. Ouyang, I heard you've taken on a new deputy officer, and she's a woman?"

  Ouyang Yun's other purpose for coming today was to clarify this matter, and upon hearing the words, he smiled and said: "Yes, a very beautiful woman, also a graduate of Hangzhou Aviation School, should be a special agent from the central government department."

  "What? You've already figured out her identity?" Song Zheyuan looked at him, implying why are you still staying by her side?

  Ouyang Yun smiled and said: "Jun Ze, she told me that this time I can become the head of this brigade, she also made an effort in it -" He didn't finish his words, Song Zheyuan waved his hand and said: "I'm not sure if it was her effort or not, but Xiong Bin did mention this issue to me - Ouyang, do you know how I answered him?"

  Ouyang Yun shook his head, choosing this way of clarification actually meant to add chips for himself. He wasn't clear about Gu Lianyun's true identity, but one thing was certain - this girl was absolutely not simple. As for whether she was using him or if she had completely devoted herself to him, he wasn't clear, but these weren't important - Song Zheyuan was a clever person and would definitely have the "correct" association with his actions, and would also offer higher chips - these were what mattered most to him!

  Song Zheyuan burst out laughing and said: "I told Xiong Bin, the National Government can give you Ouyang Yun's, our 29th Army can also give it to him. This independent brigade organization was originally meant for the Student Army!"