The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

"I never saw him again. I only knew he was from Hunan, that his surname was Ren, and that he was from a craftsman's family in Hengyang City. When he met me, he was still studying at a university in Shanghai..."

Hengyang.

"Hello, Boss Chen!"

When Chen Tianheng got off the train, Tan Wenwu, an analyst from the Strategic Planning Department of Chen Ying's Yingzhe Investment Group, saluted him at the door of the special compartment - Tan Wenwu had been a soldier, so he was a bit used to it.

Chen Tianheng: "The Strategic Planning Department found it in just a week. Not bad. Tan Wenwu, your work efficiency is very high, almost catching up with the efficiency of the General Staff."

Tan Wenwu: "With that information, and with the assistance of the Hengyang Civil Affairs Bureau, this person was actually very easy to find. His surname was Ren, and he came from a craftsman family in Hengyang City. He had a son who attended university in Shanghai around 1918. There was only one person who met these requirements."

"It's just that when we got to know this family, we found something a little unexpected."

"This student named Ren has passed away." Chen Tianheng: "What?!"

"Ren Kebing was born in December 1899, the 25th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, and died in August 1921. His father, Ren Jiangzhi, was a mason and bricklayer from Hengyang, and his mother, Ren Zhou, was also from Hengyang."

"In 1917, Ren Kebing was admitted to Tongji Medical and Engineering School, now known as Tongji University, where he studied engineering architecture."

After two years at Tongji University, Ren Kebing suddenly fell ill and could not recover on his own. He consulted a doctor, who said there was nothing he could do. So in early 1920, he dropped out and returned home. He remained in Hengyang until his death in 1921. At the time of his death, Ren Kebing was unmarried and childless.

"During the more than one year between his illness and his death, Ren Kebing wrote a lot at home. After his death, his father sealed up and stored away the writings and books he had read."

Chen Tianheng: "That's fantastic. We... No, I want to buy all these boxes, or just the book manuscripts."

Tan Wenwu: "Okay, I'll discuss this with the Ren family later." Chen Tianheng: "No bargaining, I'll accept whatever price is offered."

After discussing this, Tan Wenwu and Chen Tianheng also arrived at the Ren family's tiled house. One of the side rooms in the Ren residence was still used to store Ren Kebing's various belongings. Perhaps Ren's father wanted to keep it as a souvenir.

In this side room, there is also a portrait of Ren Kebing, who died young. Tan Wenwu: "Alas, fate plays tricks on me. I died at such a young age."

Chen Tianheng: "You're so young, but your hairline is so high..."

Chapter 88: Traveling through time is not fun, I’m leaving first

"Mad, I can't die. I want to live to be eighty!"

Chen Tianheng opened his notebook and saw this sentence written on the title page. The handwriting was very strong, but the strokes were crooked and overflowing, which gave a sense of Ren Kebing's anxiety and irritability at the time.

This is the only formal notebook in the wooden box that Mr. Ren gave to Chen Tianheng. The others are exercise books and manuscripts written on letter paper.

According to Ren's father, in June 1921, Ren Kebing, realizing his mortality was imminent, dragged most of his notes and manuscripts to the back mountains and burned them. Less than one-tenth of them remained, having been handed over to Chen Tianheng.

However, Ren's father told Chen Tianheng some words of reminiscence, which could roughly outline the life trajectory of Ren Kebing.

To put it simply, he was a naughty boy since childhood, but suddenly came to his senses when he was twelve or thirteen years old. He won all the exams in the new-style middle school he attended, and always complained that Hengyang was too small and he wanted to go to a big city.

After using various methods, he finally went to Shanghai to study in 1917. It is said that he was doing very well in Shanghai and sent money home, and each time it was a considerable sum.

But after just over two years at university, Ren Kebing suddenly fell ill, a condition Western medicine declared terminal. Dejected, he returned to his hometown, where he spent his days writing and drawing on paper, tinkering with glass bottles, jars, and foreign machinery his father had completely forgotten, all of which he had asked friends to send back from Shanghai. After tinkering for over a year, he died in August 1921.

Those glass bottles and foreign machines were stored in the side room of Ren's house; they were all old belongings that Ren's father kept as a memory of his son. Chen Tianheng took a look at the cabinets and shelves filled with imported chemical and biological laboratory instruments. He didn't know how advanced they were, but the high-magnification James Parkes microscope alone was worth three or four thousand dollars.

——Yes, Ren Kebing desperately searched for methods and medicines to cure his disease in the last two years of his life, but ultimately failed.

Before his death, he burned most of his manuscripts, and the small amount left was mainly medical notes.

March 3, 1920 | Dr. Kafur said leukemia was a terminal illness, and that there was no other way to prolong life except through regular blood transfusions. I told him otherwise, saying infection control was more important than transfusions. Without infection control measures, transfusions would actually hasten death. Kafur agreed.

1920.3.7|But, if possible, I still want to live.

"Leukemia, leukemia, tsk." Chen Tianheng turned to the second page and snorted.

Leukemia remained an incurable disease from the time it was first discovered and named by Rudolf Virchow in 1931. Chemotherapy only became available in the 1950s, and bone marrow transplantation even later.

1920.4.6|I need a chemical agent that has a similar chemical structure to the body's metabolic products or substances required for physiological functions, and can competitively inhibit the cell's ability to utilize certain endogenous metabolites or exogenous substances.

1920.6.2|Two months of attempts failed.

1920.6.15|How to prepare small amounts of alkylating agents in the laboratory?

7.10 | I went out for a rare opportunity and visited the children of my uncles and relatives who were visiting. I wish I could harvest some of their bone marrow and transplant it into me.

7.11/Dr. Kaful sent new experimental materials.

8.10 | Chemical drug preparation results: Alkylating agent. Injected into mice, all died. Experimental Report 2-33.

8.12|Chemical treatments for leukemia are not working.

9.12 | I haven't felt like doing experiments for a whole month. If I die, I die, forget it. 9.15 | I'll just study infection control. How to kill bacteria that have already invaded the human body. At least it can give me a few more months of life.

On October 31, 1921, Hunan native Ren Kebing observed this phenomenon in his private laboratory:

When a Penicillium mold was grown in a culture of Staphylococcus aureus, the culture surrounding the mold was free of Staphylococci.

In other words, Staphylococcus aureus was killed by some secretion of Penicillium, or its growth was effectively inhibited. Experimental Report 1-08.

"Yo ho!"

Chen Tianheng thought that if the medical community recognized this notebook manuscript as authentic, then in this historical dimension, he would be the first to discover the bactericidal effect of Penicillium, seven years earlier than Fleming.

——However, can this notebook manuscript be made public?

12.20 | Penicillium culture filtrate was used to treat infected mice, with measurable results. Experimental Report 3-O1.

12.25|The current strain of Penicillium is not good. We should find a strain with higher antibiotic production efficiency for cultivation.

January 21, 1921 | My health has deteriorated again. I'll just die, and pretend I never came into this world.

2.23 | Isolating the active ingredient from a mixture like Penicillium culture filtrate is a significant challenge. Figure A-3. Figure A-8 is even better.

2.23/How to cultivate penicillin on a large scale and in a streamlined manner is also a huge challenge. Figure C-1. Figure C-2. Figure C-7.

4.20|雇农民在衡阳周围方圆三十里找了22种青霉斑。4.23]托王同学在他家附近找了5种青霉和红青霉。5.25|鼻血止不住，人差点就死了。

6.2|Prepare to leave this world. I hope the world will continue to function normally after I die.

6.6|The two strongest Penicillium species found in the past three months, H-17 and S-2, are encapsulated and preserved as ER-H-17 and ER-S-2.

7.9|After checking again, I'll leave this to the world.

7.9|It would be too selfish to let the world continue as usual after I die. If it can make things a little better because of me, that would be nice too.

7.9|I quit! I hope there is lyf in the world I will be reborn in.

"pattern?"

Chen Tianheng rummaged through the box and found many separate design documents and drawings. After searching for a while, he found all the drawings mentioned in the diary, as well as the lab reports.

But… “the two strongest strains, H-17 and S-2”? “Samples”?

Chen Tianheng quickly contacted Tan Wenwu again and asked him to go to the Ren family in Hengyang as soon as possible to retrieve the two packaged samples.

Medical Laboratory of Sun Yat-sen University.

Chen Tianheng: "You reproduced Ben Fleming's Penicillium experiment?"

"Yes, Chief Chen," said Zhong Zaiquan, director of the medical laboratory, without any expression of ecstasy on his face. "It reappeared in January of this year. But... we obtained the mold sample from the Royal Society of London. Now we know that not all molds can inhibit pathogens after growth; only some species can. The mold that fell into Ben Fleming's laboratory was able to kill bacteria. It was an extremely accidental and coincidental phenomenon."

"There are two main problems. First, there needs to be an effective method to extract sufficient antibacterial substances from the Penicillium filtrate. Second, its effectiveness is not much better than sulfonamide."

Chen Tianheng: “…”

In the past two years, sulfonamides have rapidly become popular around the world. While earning huge revenue for Guangzhou, it has also caused the biopharmaceutical industries of various countries to focus their energy on the research and development of sulfonamide derivatives.

As for Ben Fleming's discovery, it was actually neglected because it was still in the immature exploratory stage and sulfonamide was industrialized early...

Chen Tianheng: "There was a student at the Tongji Medical and Engineering School who was once a close friend of Professor Yang Du. I only recently learned about this from Yang Du. When I visited his hometown to pay my respects, I discovered that this student had also conducted research on antibiotics and had produced some unique results."

Zhong Zaiquan: "Ah? There is such a thing?"

Chen Tianheng: "He conducted experiments similar to Ben Fleming's and left behind some bacterial strains before his death. According to his description, these strains have a relatively high antibiotic yield. People from the Strategic Planning Office have already obtained the strain samples and are on their way back."

"Also... the notes and manuscripts this student left behind. We are currently sorting them out and should be able to give them to you for reference later."

It seemed that Ren Kebing had screened the notes and manuscripts left behind, and burned all those that were not suitable to be kept.

Chen Tianheng planned to check the manuscript again himself to confirm that there was no evidence of time travel, or any text that would arouse people's suspicion about whether Ren Kebing had "traveled through time", and then hand over the assured version of the manuscript to the laboratory.

Chen Tianheng was eager to know what those burned manuscripts covered. After all, he wasn't a jack of all trades, only proficient in some areas and only slightly knowledgeable in others. For example, sulfanilamide—in reality, Chen Tianheng only remembered the two words, and the molecular formula was found in the chemical manual on this plane. Then, as deputy boss, he instructed the pharmaceutical laboratory to test derivatives in this area.

But what is burned is burned, and you can't use matter restoration magic to restore the papers that have turned to ashes.

Speaking of material restoration techniques, Chen Tianheng now also has spells, or "special abilities".

After I was injured on the battlefield in Chenzhou last time, the system in my head, which I usually didn't need to pay attention to for three to five months, prompted a bunch of messages, saying that Redance would be activated for the time traveler, making him immune to diseases and keeping his physique at the peak of his peers, and giving him five S-level abilities.

The first S-level ability took 28905 hours to complete the countdown. This S-level ability is:

【Wormspite】"Traversers are immune to bites and attacks from all arthropods"

...What an S-level ability! Chen Tianheng could save money on cooling oil and wind oil for the rest of his life. This would definitely save him over a hundred yuan.

After the first S-level ability was loaded, the system started a countdown, and the next S-level ability was loaded in more than 9000 hours.

But forget it, the superpower loaded after 28,000 hours is to give me free cooling oil for life, what else can I expect from this superpower loaded after only 9000 hours?

"Internal strife within the Guizhou clique led to the death of Chiang Kai-shek's special envoy to Nanjing in Zunyi." Chen Tianheng: "Hmm?"

General Staff Intelligence Department, Secret Intelligence Room.

Li Kenong: "It was our people who killed Chiang Kai-shek's special envoy. Zhou Yongtong went to Guiyang on behalf of Chiang Kai-shek to meet with Mao Guangxiang in order to bribe and stabilize Mao Guangxiang. When Zhou Yongtong passed through Zunyi, our secret agents killed him."

Chen Tianheng: "Chiang Kai-shek wasn't particularly concerned with Guizhou. He was trying to balance the two factions of Guizhou, Mao and Wang, to keep them in check. Zunyi was Wang Jialie's territory, and if the special envoy sent to contact Mao Guangxiang was killed in Zunyi, Chiang Kai-shek would definitely blame Wang Jialie. This would indeed greatly alienate Wang Jialie's relationship with Nanjing. However, was your assassination operation thorough enough?"

Li Kenong: "The assassination took a long time to plan, as Zhou Yongtong was afraid to fly... Starting from Nanjing, we traveled to Chongqing and it took almost a month to reach Zunyi. We deliberately made the assassination very crude, a typical Guizhou warlord style. All the agents involved in the operation were evacuated safely."

Chen Tianheng: "The Hunan-Guizhou Highway has just opened to traffic, and the Hunan-Guizhou-Sichuan Highway will open to traffic in a few months. Both of these highways were successfully built after we contacted Wang Jialie and exchanged interests. Based on the requirements of the Military Commission and the General Staff, we don't necessarily require Wang Jialie to drive out Mao Guangxiang and take the position of Chairman of Guizhou Province. We only need Wang Jialie to remain entrenched in the eastern Guizhou area and remain neutral with us, or at a low level of hostility, when we send troops."

Li Kenong nodded: "So, how much time does the Military Commission have left for this secret operation?"

Chen Tianheng: "Judging from the current state of the peasant movement in Guizhou, we will have a showdown in the first half of next year or in the middle of next year."

Chapter 89, Expansion Method: I Want to Punish the People

"The Nanjing Chiang Kai-shek clique established a warlord regime that was counter-revolutionary, anti-people, and anti-Three Principles of the People."

"Since its establishment, the Coalition Government has adhered to a consistent revolutionary program, namely, to overthrow the reactionary regime of the Chiang Kai-shek clique, unify the country, and establish a new China based on socialism and democracy, safeguarding the interests of the entire nation and the vast majority of the people."

"Since June 1929, in view of the dilapidated and backward state of industry, agriculture, and commerce, which urgently need to be revived and developed, and in consideration of the people's calls for peace and the Chiang Kai-shek clique's complete abandonment of its campaign of encirclement and suppression against the revolutionary base areas, the United Government has decided to suspend military action against the Chiang Kai-shek regime."

"However, suspending military action does not mean a permanent cessation of military action. Suspending the use of military means to oppose the Chiang Kai-shek regime does not mean that we will no longer oppose the Chiang Kai-shek regime."

The reporters attending the government press conference hosted by Qu Qiubai were in a very devastated mood.

When answering reporters' questions, Qu Qiubai often spoke in long paragraphs, with many long sentences. His choice of words and sentences had very strict logical relationships. It was hard to imagine that he said these words after only a few seconds of thinking after hearing the reporter's questions.

Today's journalists rarely bring recording equipment to press conferences. While wire recorders of the era weren't completely immovable, they required a dedicated person to carry them. So, while Qu Qiubai was speaking, most reporters were keeping their heads down and taking notes. The only sound in the press box was the scraping of pencils on paper.

Qu Qiubai: "This summer, floods hit all parts of the country, with the Yangtze and Huaihe River basins being the worst hit. From summer to autumn, we organized the military and civilians to carry out effective disaster relief work within the areas under the jurisdiction of the United Government, allocating large amounts of funds and resources to assist the victims and carry out post-disaster reconstruction."

"It is heartbreaking that the Chiang Kai-shek clique showed indifference to the severe flooding in the Jianghuai region, failing to implement effective relief measures for the massive casualties and epidemics caused by the floods. Furthermore, there was widespread misuse and embezzlement of privately raised relief funds and supplies, including those raised by the coalition government and the private sector within our current jurisdiction."

"The coalition government was forced to impose military control over the disaster-stricken areas south of Lu'an and Nanchang to more effectively distribute and use relief supplies and help the affected areas recover quickly. After completing the work of assisting the victims, the coalition government will continue to take over the two areas, restore legal and social order, safeguard people's livelihoods, and implement land reform."

"This is our response to some people in Nanjing who recently called for the Guangzhou army to withdraw from the Lu'an and Changnan areas: Impossible."

Qu Qiubai's answer was merciless and stopped some people in the Nanjing government from speculating that "the Communist Party should retreat after the disaster is over."

Liuan County had been captured by the 16th Division. If Chiang Kai-shek wanted to take it back, he had to get through the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Military Region first.

The regime in the Changnan area has been completely replaced. The army in Nanchang wants to leave the city and change the regime in Changnan back? You can try it.

In the Nanjing-controlled area, ordinary people and some officials now privately comment on this matter as "expansion in the form of punishing criminals and plundering the people."

Of course, this is just a joke circulating among the people and mentioned in some uncontrolled private newspapers. The official newspapers do not say this. They are all unanimous criticisms of Guangzhou.

For example, "The international community strongly condemns the Communist Party for violating the armistice agreement."

There is also the statement, "Lu'an was controlled by the Communist Party for two months, and the people were suffering in dire straits."

There was also an insider article revealing that the Nationalist government was about to suppress the Communists, saying, "The army was dispatched, guns and cannons were everywhere, and the city was in chaos." After reading the title and then the text, it turned out to be about the Nanjing Training Division's Double Tenth Day parade.

Chiang Kai-shek was furious at the loss of Lu'an and Changnan, but it was not convenient for him to immediately launch an offensive. Firstly, the Jianghuai region was devastated, and military action would inevitably cause great resentment among the people. Secondly, his own army was still undergoing reorganization and training, especially the Northwest Army, which had been incorporated into the Central Army the previous year.

In anger, Chiang Kai-shek had no choice but to remove Xue Yue from his position as commander of the 31st Army on the charge of collaborating with the Communists. Who was it that ordered (actually tacitly) the 66th Division stationed in Lu'an to voluntarily withdraw from Lu'an when the Hubei-Henan-Anhui base area launched an attack?

At the military and political meeting on November 1, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the troops in each pacification zone to be ready within six months to launch the third encirclement and suppression campaign to compress Guangzhou's sphere of influence from all directions.

Xiangxi, Yongsui County (Huayuan County).

"Oh my god, the Hunan-Guizhou Highway has become like this!" Zhou Shidi exclaimed.

Wang Erzhuo: "Minister Zhou, the Hunan section of the Hunan-Guizhou Highway is actually not as steep as the Guizhou section."