Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 51 Li Xiaowei (Please read more)
That night, the Li family held a family dinner to welcome the third young master Li Xiaowei, who had not returned home for a long time.

Although Zheng Yi is not a member of the Li family, he is better than a member of the Li family. He was also invited and got to know Li Xiaowei at the dinner table.

He Shili also joined the family dinner as an old friend, junior, and good friend.

If not for this, the young marshal might not have sent him here at such a critical juncture.

Li Xiaowei extended his hand. "You must be Zheng Yi, Mr. Zheng, right? I've long heard of your name. To be honest, if it weren't for you, the commander wouldn't have given me such a long leave to visit my parents. Xiaowei really wants to thank you."

Zheng Yi: "Third Young Master, you're too polite. You gave up your immense wealth and instead chose to join the army to defend your country. I've truly admired you. You've already reached the rank of Major at such a young age? Third Young Master, you truly have a bright future."

Li Xiaowei: "Speaking of which, I was just promoted to major, and it was really thanks to Mr. Zheng. If it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't be able to become a major.
Although I am the battalion commander now, this Feiniao Battalion has just been established. We don't have enough personnel and weapons and equipment."

Zheng Yi: “…………”

My goodness, the Feiniao Battalion, just promoted, has no weapons in the battalion. Can this hint be any more obvious?

This time the young master comes back to visit his family, he plans to bring back at least a battalion of powered delta-wing aircraft.

The Li family is from Xinyi. Although Xinyi belongs to Guangdong Province in terms of administrative division, it is actually quite close to Guangxi.

At least in this era, customs, habits, and even language are actually more similar to those in Guangxi.

It is precisely for this reason that the Li family’s relationship in China has always been close to the Guangxi clique. When Li Jiqian returned to China to start a business, he chose Guangxi, and when Li Xiaowei joined the army, he also chose Guangxi.

Objectively speaking, why should Guangxi and the Guangxi clique be in such a hurry to arm themselves?
It’s a million miles away from the front line.

From the perspective of serving the public, it is understandable to give priority to selling to the Northeast Army and the Central Army when the production capacity of the triangle wing is limited. But for the Guangxi clique, this is purely selfish, right?

However, Zheng Yi and the Li family are not public servants. Taiyou Machinery Factory and Powered Delta Wing Factory are both purely private enterprises.

Spending one's own money to pave the way for one's son, even if it is purely selfish, so what?

No one is a saint.

Besides, who says that supporting the Guangxi clique is not anti-Japanese?
Aren’t these all the country’s troops?

So Zheng Yi didn't hesitate at all and said, "Third Young Master, can you stay for a month when you return home to visit your family? If you have a month, how about you take two thousand... three thousand? How about you take three thousand delta wings? If it's a reinforced battalion, there should be at least three thousand people."

"Three thousand? Okay, okay, Brother Zheng, thank you."

Li Jiqian was also smiling particularly happily in his seat. His face was particularly rosy from the few sips of wine he had taken. He stroked his beard and said, "If it's a reinforced battalion... I'd like to ask General Bai later whether the commander of this reinforced battalion should be a major or a lieutenant colonel, hahahaha."

The mistress Gan on the side angrily retorted to him, and said with a smile: "How can you be so eager for an official position? The third brother is only in his early twenties. It is a blessing from his ancestors that he can be a colonel. He is also a lieutenant colonel. Aren't you afraid that you can't win the support of the people?

San'er, don't listen to your father. Serving in the military is different from doing business. You still have to endure the hardships and gain the necessary experience. When you have made great contributions, given our family's friendship with General Bai, we will certainly not leave you behind."

"Eat slowly, why do you look like a starving ghost? Isn't there enough food in the army?" Li Xiaowei smiled like a child, shoveling rice in big mouthfuls, nodded, and said vaguely: "Yeah, I know, I know."

Gan raised her head and smiled at Zheng Yi, saying, "Mr. Zheng, thank you very much. I know that Li Huaishuang will be coming here in a few days with Zhou Zhirou. For the sake of Xiaowei... sending out another 3,000 at this time will definitely put production under pressure. I know this must be difficult for you. Thank you very much."

Zheng Yi: "Old Madam, you are too polite. Given the relationship between me and our Li family, you are embarrassing me by saying thank you. Besides, I really admire the Third Young Master.

Born overseas, with his heart set on his motherland, he gave up the vast Li family fortune and the comfortable life of a young master, choosing instead to join the army. At this critical juncture for the country, he risked his own life and fought on the battlefield.

After saying this, Zheng Yi also picked up the wine and poured a toast to him: "Third Young Master, your fame and achievements are thousands of miles away, but your heart is in this cup. I toast you with this cup. With people like Third Young Master, why should China worry about not being able to restore the country and unite the nine provinces?"

Everyone likes to be praised, and Zheng Yi's words were not entirely out of flattery. In any case, if it were Zheng Yi, with a father as wealthy as Li Jiqian, he would probably not be willing to join the army.

What's more, as far as he knows, Li Xiaowei was born in Hong Kong Island and grew up in Kuala Lumpur. Before he returned to China, he had never eaten a grain of rice or drunk a drop of water from his motherland. In fact, he can hold his head high and say with confidence, I am a foreigner.

In such a dangerous situation, returning to China to join the army is definitely not a very comfortable life path.

It can't be called great, but it is indeed admirable.

Objectively speaking, Li Jiqian's teaching of his sons is indeed extraordinary. Since ancient times, the rich have fallen into the mortal world. His Li family is so wealthy, but it is not easy for his three sons to become successful.

However, Li Xiaowei had a bad ending in history. He was killed on his way to surrender during the Battle of Peiping-Tianjin.

The Li family's main assets are in Malaya, but they did have some property in their hometown of Xinyi. Even if it was just a drop in the bucket compared to Malaya, they still had 1,800 acres of land, and all of this land was registered under Li Xiaowei's name.

It's also very sad.

This is actually the reason why Zheng Yi was reluctant to return to China and serve his country. In troubled times, everyone is busy and vigorous. When seeing the historians' praise and criticism, one must avoid them.

At the dinner table, Li Xiaowei was very happy to hear Zheng Yi say this. He swallowed the food in his mouth with great effort and said with a smile: "Brother Zheng, you make me feel embarrassed. However, I would accept your evaluation at other times, but I dare not do so today. When it comes to joining the army and becoming rich and powerful, I can't compare with Brother He."

As he spoke, Li Xiaowei put his hand on He Shili's shoulder and said, "My elder brother He is the real hero in the army. He has shown his heroic qualities in the face of adversity.

You don't know, their family is much richer than ours. I joined the Gui army, but my eldest brother is in the Northeast Army. He followed Captain Wang Tiehan and fought the devils with bayonets. Compared to my brother He, what kind of hero am I? Brother Zheng, Brother He and their Northeast Army had a hard time. You must help them. "

My goodness, he just finished establishing his own delta wing and he started helping the Northeast Army. Doesn’t he intend to leave any of his production capacity for Zhou Zhirou?
He Shili has been very quiet the whole time. He didn't say a word when Li Xiaowei was speaking just now.

He also came to ask for friendship, but he also understood that no matter how close his relationship with the Li family was, it could not be as close as that of someone's biological son. Naturally, he had to wait until Li Xiaowei had asked for the plane before it could be his turn.

At this time, Li Xiaowei's matter had obviously been discussed, and since he was mentioned again, he naturally stood up and followed suit.

"Hello, Mr. Zheng."

(End of this chapter)