1928: The rise of giant merchants

"It's not that we want to avoid the battle, but that we are not allowed to fight on the top." Cai Tingkai sighed. Facing Shanghai's No. 1 God of Wealth, he couldn't hold back and told the truth.

Jiang Guangnai, who had been having a heated argument with Chen Mingshu just now, also had a bitter look on his face and nodded: "Shangfeng called yesterday and believed that Japan's operation will 'occupy Jinling and control the Yangtze River Basin' and that the war will quickly spread to the whole country.' Major dangers may occur in important places in our country at any time, so we have been warned many times not to engage in head-on conflict with Japan!”

"Isn't this too strange? You clearly think that the Japanese are going to invade, so why do you continue to avoid the war? Are we just cowering like turtles, so they won't attack us?"

Shi Jianqiao, who followed Ye Luo in, couldn't help but complain.

Several generals glanced at her and wanted to scold her, but they hesitated when they thought that she was the second young master's personal bodyguard.

Shi Jianqiao knew that he might have asked a stupid question. He stuck out his tongue slightly and looked at Ye Luo, hoping that he could answer his doubts.

"Jianqiao doesn't understand politics, please don't be offended by the officers." Ye Luo first apologized on her behalf, and then answered her questions with a smile, "The Jinling National Government believes that the country is divided by warlords and has endless civil strife, inconsistent military and political orders, and financial constraints. We were unable to go to full-scale war with Japan, so we tried our best to avoid conflict and advocated tolerance.”

"That's what the second young master said." Chen Mingshu nodded in agreement, "Yesterday, the new executive president Sun Ke sent an urgent message to Mayor Wu Tiecheng, saying, 'We should take the preservation of the Shanghai Bund Economic Center as the premise and only moderate the Japanese demands. Attitude. All walks of life should be summoned immediately to explain tactfully, and no conflict should occur, resulting in the violent seizure of the Shanghai Stock Exchange."

"Slave of subjugation," Shi Jianqiao muttered in a low voice.

Not only did Sun Ke and others react this way, but the new military and political minister He Yingqin also ordered the 19th Route Army to withdraw its defenses from Shanghai Beach to the west of Nanxiang and re-defense within five days.

There were many lobbyists like Ye Luo, but they all stood on the side of the Jinling National Government. None of them wanted to take the initiative to fight against the Japanese invaders like him.

Zhang Jingjiang, one of the elders of the Qing Gang, specially invited Cai Tingkai to his home yesterday and advised him to command the 19th Route Army to withdraw its defenses as soon as possible.

No, today the four of them got into a quarrel over when and how to disarm.

Chen Mingshu and Dai Ji advocated solid defense, while Jiang Guangnai and Cai Tingkai wanted to withdraw their defenses under pressure.

"Second Young Master, we really can't disobey the order from the top." Cai Tingkai didn't want to conflict with the God of Wealth. After all, he would continue to work in the 19th Route Army in the future. The troops were stationed in the Beijing-Shanghai area. If he and the God of Wealth If there is a conflict, there is no hope of having a good meal.

"I understand. It is difficult to disobey military orders, but I would like to ask the two officers not to withdraw the defense so quickly, but to hand over the situation slowly, and to warn the defense troops along the line not to underestimate the Japanese and think that they really dare not come in."

Ye Luo nodded,

"If the troops have any needs, please feel free to ask me, Ye Investment, you're welcome."

"Thank you for your understanding, Second Young Master! Although we have to withdraw the defense, we can deploy a reinforced company to protect the safety of Ye Mansion." Jiang Guangnai cupped his fists and smiled, "The principal specifically called me to tell me that I must protect the Second Young Master."

Cai Tingkai was stunned for a moment, regretful in his heart, and he hesitated. This good man was killed by Jiang Guangnai.

He had no choice but to say that he could also mobilize a reinforced company to help Ye's investment withdraw from the concession from the suburbs.

Ye Luo thanked the two for their kindness, saying that the soldiers they gave were free of charge.

After everything was settled, Cai Tingkai was ready to leave for Suzhou City and convene Shen Guanghan, a senior general of the troops stationed in Suzhou, and others to hold an emergency meeting to convey Ye Luo's wishes.

However, due to the Jinling National Government's order to compromise and avoid war, they could not do more and had to order the defenders stationed in Zhabei to switch defenses with the 6th Military Police Regiment on the morning of the 29th.

Dai Ji also ordered the garrison headquarters to prevent the Japanese troops from occupying Zhabei during the change of defenses, and ordered all ministries to enter the positions and guard them closely.

The car slowly drove away from the security headquarters. Shi Jianqiao was about to complain to Ye Luo about the messy situation within the Kuomintang when he heard a loud noise, followed by explosions one after another.

She was so frightened that she quickly shrank back and got into the back row from the passenger seat. She held Ye Luo in her arms and bent down to watch her surroundings.

"Xiao Fan, sound the whistle and tell all the convoys to stop!" Ye Luo's whole head was pressed into a soft place, and he almost couldn't breathe, so he could only shout indistinctly.

Cao Fan cleverly turned the steering wheel, pulled over, and then kept honking the horn to signal the convoy of escorts to surround their car and be alert.

The team leader Heng San rushed out first, and then Ma Yongzhen and Ding Li jumped out of the car to see Ye Luo's condition.

Ye Luo was forced to throw herself into Shi Jianqiao's arms. The tip of her nose was filled with the girl's body fragrance. She had to hug her soft waist tightly to prevent her from slipping further down.

"Second Young Master, don't move! Be careful of stray bullets!" Shi Jianqiao pressed his head with one hand and pulled out his gun with the other, alert to the surroundings.

"I, I can't breathe!" Ye Luo couldn't laugh or cry. Although his skills were not as good as Shi Jianqiao's, he had practiced martial arts all year round, and it was not a problem to fight one against three.

Shi Jianqiao protected him like a child, leaving him speechless.

When he said this, Shi Jianqiao realized that he had used too much force, and the originally upright mountain was sunken deeply. He blushed slightly and quickly pushed Ye Luo away gently.

"Dong dong dong——"

Someone knocked on the car window, and a big face appeared. It was Ma Yongzhen who had completed the investigation.

"What's going on?" Ye Luo rolled down the window and took a few deep breaths.

"Someone set fire to the nearby residence of Aoi Shigemitsu, the Japanese minister to China, and others threw incendiary bombs and grenades. There is no other danger at the moment."

Ma Yongzhen immediately replied,

"I have sent people to check. It seems that someone did it deliberately, but there were no casualties."

"These bastards are going to frame us Chinese again!" Cao Fan said angrily.

Ye Luo nodded and said: "It is most likely done by the Japanese secret service. They really don't get tired of this kind of slanderous trick."

"Second Young Master, shall we wait any longer?" Ma Yongzhen asked.

Ye Luo shook his head: "No need. If someone dares to brave the hail of bullets and bullets from dozens of us to assassinate me, I guarantee that he will not be able to see the sun tomorrow."

"Yes. Then I told the convoy to move on." Ma Yongzhen also felt that the security measures were very strict. If he wanted to injure the second young master from their hands, it would be impossible without strong firepower.

"Jianqiao, please do me a favor later." Ye Luo reached out and squeezed Shi Jianqiao's palm.

Shi Jianqiao was still in the shy state just now. When he squeezed her, she immediately became alert and nodded: "Okay! Second Young Master, please tell me!"

"Send a few words to Dai Li later." Ye Luo snorted coldly.

"What word?"

"A useless agent who only knows how to fight among himself." (End of this chapter)