The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

Chen Tianheng: "No. If Instructor Yun invites me, I'll participate in one or two activities, but I'll always find an excuse to withdraw when the final push comes."

Jiang Xianyun: "The top 450 students from the final written exam will be selected for interviews. According to the Party organization, we originally planned to admit 350 students after the interviews. However, we have discovered that the academic and political qualities of the candidates who took the exam have exceeded our previous expectations. Their quality is too high. Therefore, I am afraid that those 100 people will not be eliminated. These 450 people will basically become first-term students in the end."

Chen Tianheng: "I guess so."

This was the case in the history of the first batch of students at Huangpu Military Academy. When the first term started, there were 465 students in teams 1 to 4. When they were about to graduate, more than 100 students from Tan Yankai's Military Academy were merged into Huangpu and graduated as first-term students. Later, 22 students from the Sichuan Military Academy were added, and the total number of students in the first batch of Huangpu Military Academy was 645.

Jiang Xianyun: "Chen Tianheng, didn't your aunt say that when you get to Guangzhou you should go visit your Chen family relatives, such as your uncles and cousins? Haven't you gone yet?"

Chen Tianheng: "I didn't have time a few days ago, but now it's arranged. I'll go tomorrow... I still have to visit relatives."

……

Chen Tianheng's father, Chen Fuxian, was born in Guangdong. At 13, he became a caravan driver, traveling through Hunan, Guizhou, and Guangdong before settling in Changsha. Relatives in his hometown of Guangdong rarely heard of Chen Fuxian, and Chen Tianheng presumed these Chen family members were of the same social class as his father.

"That doesn't seem right, does it? Am I wrong in my estimation?"

Following the address written on the note, Chen Tianheng walked to the gate of a house. This was a luxurious house, the kind that could be considered a wealthy mansion in Guangzhou.

Knock on the door.

"Excuse me, is this Uncle Chen Qixian's home?"

"Yes, are you?"

Chen Tianheng: "I am his nephew, Chen Fuxian's son Chen Tianheng. I came to Guangzhou this time to pay him a special visit."

"Oh!" The servant nodded, "You are Chen Tianheng. Wait a moment."

Chen Tianheng's second uncle, Chen Qixian, came out staggering with a cane.

"Your aunt wrote to say that Chen Si's son had gone to Guangzhou to take the military academy entrance exam. She asked you to come visit relatives in Guangzhou. We waited for over a month and thought you hadn't come to take the exam. It wasn't until the list was posted on the street that the servant came back and said that the top student on the list was Chen Tianheng. ... It's enough that you've come. What else do you need to bring?"

Chen Tianheng actually brought a gift box, which he bought on the street.

Chen Qixian solemnly accepted the gift box and started chatting with Chen Tianheng. Soon it was time for dinner, so Chen Tianheng was pulled into the family dinner again.

"Second Uncle," Chen Tianheng thought for a while before asking the question at the family dinner: "Are our Chen family related to Chen Qiyuan and Chen Lianbo?"

……

Chen Qiyuan, an industrialist in the late Qing Dynasty, was the founder of modern Chinese silk reeling industry.

Chen Lianbo is the grandson of Chen Qiyuan. His other title may be more well-known:

Head of the Guangzhou Chamber of Commerce.

Yes, it was the Guangzhou Merchant Corps that was defeated by the Whampoa Student Army in the first battle.

"Chen Qiyuan and Chen Lianbo are from the Nanhai Chen family. We are from the Zhaoqing Chen family. He and we have no relatives for five hundred years."

Chen Qixian answered very affirmatively.

Chen Qixian recounted his family history, revealing that his four brothers had once been from the lower classes. He drove a rickshaw in Guangzhou. The fourth brother, Chen Fuxian, Chen Tianheng's father, left Guangzhou to seek a living, never returning. Then, during the 1911 Revolution, he hired a rickshaw to help a family of Manchu officials flee Guangzhou. When he smuggled the officials' belongings to a designated location outside the city, he discovered that the officials, who had arrived earlier, had already been captured and executed by the revolutionaries. He and the official's steward cleverly turned the rickshaw around, leaving behind valuables worth over 6000 taels of silver...

"Now my bank has also joined the merchant bank, but my dealings with Chen Lianbo are just ordinary. He is the president and I am a member."

Chen Tianheng: "Not only is a military academy being established in Guangzhou, but the Guangdong Revolutionary Government has also just been established. Mr. Sun Yat-sen will undoubtedly launch a Northern Expedition in the future. Before that, he must first unify Guangdong's military and financial affairs. Uncle, it would be best if you distance your business from the Merchant Corps."

Chen Qixian: "Sun Yat-sen, many people call him Sun Dapao. I don't think it's necessary to ridicule him like that. After all, he was motivated by public interest. But most of what he wanted to do was impossible. He tried for many years in Guangdong, but always gave up halfway. He was even driven out of Guangzhou two years ago, but luckily he got on a warship. Now he's back, but who knows what will happen in the future."

Chen Tianheng: "Sun Yat-sen is now collaborating with the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and has established a relationship with the Soviet Union. Of course, each warlord now has a backer, either Britain, the United States, France, or Japan. But the support of countries like Britain and the United States for warlords is just a platform and loans, while the Soviet Union will directly provide guns, artillery, and military advisors. Whampoa Military Academy was established by Soviet instructors and advisors, and many textbooks are also in Russian. In the future, Sun Yat-sen's power will be much greater than before."

Chen Qixian: "Then, nephew, do you think Sun Yat-sen can win this time?"

Chen Tianheng: "Even if Sun Yat-sen didn't ultimately unify the country this time, he was sure to wipe out the local forces in Guangdong before the Northern Expedition. Chen Jiongming advocated federal autonomy and wanted to be the King of Guangdong, but his path will soon come to an end. The Guangdong Merchants Corps, which has no regular army but only a Merchants Corps rifle corps, is now at odds with Sun Yat-sen. When the two sides come to blows, many people will surely be overthrown."

Chen Qixian: "That makes sense."

Chen Tianheng: "If we launch a Northern Expedition, merchants in Guangdong will undoubtedly be temporarily taxed at a heavier rate. This will increase the burden on everyone, from the wealthy to the middle class and even the general public. However, China has been in chaos for so long, and it's time for unity. Unification is what everyone wants, and the majority, including Guangdong natives, will ultimately support the Northern Expedition. Second Uncle, regardless of your ideology, we should make preparations based on our own interests. If Chen Lianbo leads a merchant group to challenge the Guangdong Revolutionary Government in the future, we must disembark immediately."

Chen Qixian: "No, no, in a couple of days I will tell the merchant group that my family is withdrawing from the group."

Chapter 29

More than 400 students who passed the final exam were interviewed. In fact, there was basically no screening of candidates for the interviews, and all 450 people were finally admitted. Before the interviews, the bosses even added a dozen "connected people" who had not had time to take the exam.

As the first batch of students at Huangpu Military Academy were selected, the Communist Party of China’s Party and League branch at Huangpu Military Academy was also under preparation.

In 1924, many Communist Party members who were scheduled to work in Huangpu had not yet taken their positions. For example, Zhou Enlai was not yet the director of the Political Department.

At this time in Guangzhou, Yun Daiying was in charge of the preparatory work of the Party and League branch.

The Communist International's general programme on the Eastern question points out that at present we must go beyond mere lip service to the recognition or advocacy of rapprochement between the working people of all nations; we must pursue a policy of the closest possible alliance of all national and colonial liberation movements with Soviet Russia, and that the form of this alliance should be determined by the degree of development of the proletarian communist movement in each country or by the degree of development of the bourgeois-democratic liberation movement of the workers and peasants in backward countries or nations.

"The emphasis here is mainly on the alliance between the Eastern countries and Soviet Russia. The Eastern countries are China and... Isn't Jiang Xianyun here today?"

Yun Daiying noticed that Jiang Xianyun hadn't shown up for today's group meeting. Looking around, he realized he wasn't the only one missing.

"Chen Geng didn't come either?" "Chen Tianheng didn't come either?"

"Teacher Yun, Jiang Xianyun said that the three of them are out today."

Yun Daiying: "This 'trio' is really like that. Let's come together and go together."

……

In fact, today Chen Tianheng is not leading a group of three, but a group of four.

"Chen Tianheng, do you think our Military Academy can really be merged into Huangpu?" Four people climbed the mountain in a line. Zuo Quan walked at the end and asked Chen Tianheng who was walking in front.

"It's almost 100% certain," Chen Tianheng said, "In a few months, you and the three of us will be classmates."

The four of them quickly climbed to the top of the earthen ridge.

"Yuanling, south of Huizhou City, but the distance from Huizhou City is unknown. The altitude is unknown. South of Yuanling is Danshui, but the straight-line distance from Danshui City is unknown."

Chen Tianheng held a map in his hand. It was the most detailed map that could be bought in a bookstore in Guangzhou. That was it.

Fortunately, although it is crude, it is a "Western-style map", that is, a map drawn at a bird's-eye view, and it was not turned into an ink-and-wash landscape painting.

The four went out once in recent days to survey the terrain of Guangdong (mainly near Guangzhou).

You must visit Huizhou because the area around Huizhou is the main battlefield of the Whampoa Army's First Eastern Expedition.

Taking advantage of the free time before Huangpu officially opens, Chen Tianheng wants to make a few more trips to study these places.

"Chen Geng, you have been a soldier. Come and see, can we hit Tamsui City from this ridge with a heavy machine gun?" Chen Tianheng asked.

Chen Geng used the jump eye method to roughly estimate: "Two thousand meters. A bit too much. If we want to use heavy machine guns to blockade Danshui City, it's best not to use them here."

Chen Tianheng: "Chen Geng, when you were in the army, did your unit have artillery?"

"The entire regiment has none. The division does have six mountain guns, but three of them are broken."

Jiang Xianyun: "I don't know whether the Soviet Union will provide artillery after we graduate and form a revolutionary army, and how many guns they will send..."

Chen Tianheng: "Without artillery, the walls of Huizhou and Danshui would become a very troublesome obstacle for the attackers. At this time, we have to rely on heavy machine guns. ... Let's go further south and see if there are any suitable heavy machine gun positions."

Before going to the next location, Chen Tianheng and Chen Geng used pencils to mark the map they bought, marking the terrain details they had surveyed on site today on the map.

Chen Geng had been a soldier, a sergeant, and had learned a lot from his company commander. His marking techniques were basically professional.

Chen Tianheng's marking technique is also professional.

Chen Geng: "It seems like we haven't even started school yet, but we've already learned a lot."

Jiang Xianyun: "However, looking at the Huangpu Military Academy's curriculum, our class will only graduate after a few months of study. Chen Tianheng, you've mentioned quite a few training programs at foreign military academies. It seems they all take three or four years to become qualified officers. How can we, after just a few months of study, be able to lead troops?"

Chen Tianheng: "It's a bit hasty. I can only say that even after graduation, we have to continue learning. Fortunately, we will face actual combat as soon as we graduate. Leading troops in battle and improving based on actual combat is a faster way than learning in school. Of course, the premise is that you can't sacrifice yourself. In addition, Whampoa students have another advantage-"

Chen Geng: "What advantage?"

Chen Tianheng: "The quality of students."

Huangpu recruits students from across the country. While not necessarily the most elite students, they are all individuals who recognize that China needs radical change. For young people today to be able to think this way demonstrates that their intelligence, knowledge structure, and analytical skills are at the forefront of their peers.

In addition, everyone knows that Sun Yat-sen has no money and no territory at present. Those who want to get promoted and make money through military means will go to the military academies and military academies run by local warlords. Instead of taking the nearby options, they travel thousands of miles to Guangzhou to study at Huangpu and join Marshal Sun. At this time, it can only be said that they rely entirely on idealism.

This is especially true among the first and second batch students of Huangpu Military Academy.

In the third and fourth phases, there were many candidates who came to serve in the army to get food and salary.

After returning to Guangzhou City, Jiang Xianyun returned to the Peasant Movement Training Institute, and the three returned to the Military Academy.

"Chen Tianheng, when you were away, someone came to see you. They said they were from your second uncle's family. He said that your second uncle asked you to come to his house again tomorrow. Your second uncle still has a lot to talk about."

Chen Tianheng nodded to Song Xilian: "Thank you very much."

This second uncle's family seemed to be okay. Although they hadn't been in contact for more than ten years and one was poor and the other rich, Chen Qixian treated his nephew with courtesy.

"Chen Tianheng? Is Chen Tianheng here?"

A female voice was shouting outside the dormitory. Chen Tianheng went out and said, "I am Chen Tianheng. Who are you?"

"Are you Chen Tianheng?"

Outside the dormitory was a woman who looked to be in her early twenties. She looked Chen Tianheng up and down and said, "I was not at home when you came to my house last week, so I didn't see you. I'm Chen Ying, your cousin."

"Oh!"

Chen Tianheng learned from his second uncle's conversation that he had a daughter, so he wasn't particularly surprised. "Hello, Sister Chen Ying. I'm so sorry, the dormitories at this military academy are shabby. There aren't even any decent tables, chairs, or stools."

"My family was very poor when I was a child. I lived in a storage room with my parents until I was eight years old."

Chen Tianheng: "I heard this from my second uncle."

Chen Ying looked up and down at the dormitory where Chen Tianheng was currently staying, then retracted her gaze and said, "Tianheng, do you know when the second phase of the Huangpu Military Academy will start recruiting students? I also want to apply to Huangpu."

……

Chen Geng, who was drinking water nearby, choked.

Chen Tianheng gathered his chaotic thoughts and said, "Sister Chen Ying, there were no female students in the first class of Whampoa Military Academy. It seems that there are no plans to recruit female students for officer training in the second class or any of the subsequent known enrollment plans. But the future is uncertain. Perhaps when Whampoa Military Academy opens a branch school, they will recruit female students, but that will probably be several years from now."

The main Whampoa Military Academy never recruited female students. However, after the Northern Expedition broke out and Wuhan was conquered, the Wuhan branch was established (unlike the main campus, the Wuhan branch had a large number of Communist Party students and teachers) and recruited a group of female students.

After hearing this, Chen Ying said with a hint of regret, "It took so long. I just want to find something to do now."

Chen Tianheng: "I heard from my second uncle that you are studying business in college now."

"Yes, but I'm graduating soon. Tianheng, when you last came to my house, did you suggest that we keep our distance from the Guangzhou Merchants Group?"

Chen Tianheng: "Yes."

Chen Ying: "My dad quit the Guangzhou Merchants Group yesterday."

"So fast?"

Chen Tianheng was secretly surprised. It was just over a week ago that he visited Chen Qixian's home. Uncle Chen was really efficient.

Chen Ying: "Actually, a few months ago, I told my dad that the Guangzhou Merchants' Association was too powerful and didn't take the Grand Marshal's Office seriously. This was very dangerous. I suggested that my dad should not get too involved in the affairs of the Merchants' Association. As a result, my dad scolded me. I didn't expect that when you said the same thing, he would listen immediately."

Chen Tianheng smiled. "The older generation generally has this tendency to favor boys over girls. You studied business, so I'm afraid your knowledge of trading and bank operations has surpassed your father's. The most you lack is some practical experience."

"What's the point of practical training? Right now, I just want to attend military school and join Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary army in the Northern Expedition. By the way, Tianheng, how come you know so much about the Guangzhou Merchants' Group?"

Chen Tianheng: "Before coming to Guangzhou, I was in Shanghai, where information was more readily available, especially from major commercial ports like Tianjin and Guangzhou. Even if I didn't pay much attention, I could learn a lot by reading the newspaper every day. I also followed Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary activities very early on, so I also knew something about the revolutionary situation in Guangdong."

Chen Ying: "Guangzhou's industrial and commercial scale isn't as large as Shanghai's, but it's also extremely prosperous. Banks, money houses, and bill exchanges abound. My family's money house is only considered medium-sized, and its main business now is lending to commercial and trading companies by sea and land."

Chen Tianheng: "Compared to foreign banks, money shops and bill exchanges have more relaxed lending standards, but this also carries greater risk, so they demand higher interest rates to offset the risk. Guangzhou's industry and commerce are primarily focused on trade, especially import and export. However, if we expand into the surrounding areas, then Foshan's ceramics, textiles, and foundry industries, as well as Jiangmen's machinery workshops, are all promising sectors."

"Yes," Chen Ying took over, "In the future, the bank's business can develop in this direction. I've studied this before."

Chen Tianheng: "But all of this also needs to take into account a major factor of change: the Northern Expedition."

Chen Ying: "You already know about the Northern Expedition. First, banks can't get caught up in political turmoil. Secondly, I think it would be safer to place more bets on foreign trade or even companies with foreign backgrounds."

Chen Tianheng: "On the premise of ensuring political security, we can also invest in industries related to military supplies in a targeted manner."

Chen Ying: "It's great that we can talk about this in such depth. It's great."

Speaking of this, Chen Tianheng suddenly heard other information from Chen Ying's words.

"You're kidding! I just talk a lot, not that much. Sister Chen Ying, I actually know nothing about business and finance."

Chapter 30

After changing clothes and getting a souvenir, Chen Tianheng used the same routine as last time and knocked on the door of his second uncle Chen Qixian.

"Tianheng, come, sit down."

Chen Qixian sat in the C position and solemnly called Chen Tianheng and the whole family together.

"In our Zhaoqing Chen family, your grandfather had four sons and two daughters, including me and Fuxian. In your generation, the four of us brothers only have four children. Alas, we are not prosperous enough."

"Your eldest uncle died at the age of nineteen, leaving no children. My family has no descendants, only a daughter, Chen Ying. You are the only child in Chen Fuxian's family. Your third uncle, Chen Shouxian, has one son and one daughter."