In most of the month, Chen Qiang almost got to know the celebrities in Nanjing.

Just when Chen Qiang was planning to return to Nanjing, Hao Gengsheng came to him with an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"Chen Qiang, this is Director Zhou of the Personnel Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs." Hao Gengsheng introduced.

"Jin Chen, I have been a famous person for a long time." Director Zhou said with a smile.

"Hello, Director Zhou, please sit down." Chen Qiang asked the two of them to sit down.

After a few greetings, Chen Qiang asked, "Do you dare to ask Director Zhou to come to me, what's the matter?"

"I heard that Chen Jian will go back to Tianjin?" Director Zhou asked back.

"Yes, the Olympics have ended for a long time, and I don't need to stay in Nanjing. It's time to go back to Tianjin." Chen Qiang replied.

"Jin Chen, we hope you can stay in Nanjing." Director Zhou said.

"Is this what your Ministry of Foreign Affairs mean?" Chen Qiang asked subconsciously.

"It is the decision of the Executive Yuan and even higher-level leaders, and our Ministry of Foreign Affairs is just implementing it." Director Zhou said.

"Can I ask why I want me to stay in Nanjing?" Chen Qiang continued.

"Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs usually has a lot of foreign affairs activities. In addition, the officials in Nanjing often hold banquets to entertain foreign friends. We hope that Chen Jian will be able to attend these activities." Director Zhou replied.

Chen Qiang immediately understood that Nanjing wanted to use himself as a storefront.

Many banquets, dances or ceremonies require some celebrities to be invited as guests, so that no matter the organizer or the invited guests, they will feel more respectful. This is even more true for foreign affairs activities. When entertaining foreign politicians or other foreign guests, Nanjing also needs to find some celebrities to support the scene and improve their style.

On the ground in Nanjing, Chinese people may be familiar with ordinary social celebrities, such as well-known entrepreneurs, famous educators, famous artists, etc., but those foreign guests may not know them, and the effect of calling them to support the scene is not very good. But Chen Qiang is different. Foreigners all know that the title of the world's number one athlete is, even if they have never seen Chen Qiang, they have heard of Chen Qiang's deeds.

It can be said that Chen Qiang is the only "international celebrity" that Nanjing can find, so Nanjing naturally hopes that Chen Qiang will stay in Nanjing so that when we entertain foreign guests, Chen Qiang can also be used to support the scene and make the Nanjing government appear more famous.

Chen Qiang pondered for a few seconds, as if thinking about whether to agree. Director Zhou, the opposite side, continued to persuade: "General Chen Jian, you don't have to worry about the treatment. In addition to salary and various subsidies, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs also provides you with a special residence and furniture. I have already brought your appointment letter."

Director Zhou said, took out a letter of appointment from his bag and handed it to Chen Qiang.

Chen Qiang opened it and saw that the general content above was appointed as the special counsel of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"What is the responsibility of this special counsel?" Chen Qiang asked.

"Actually, there is no responsibility. It is just some foreign affairs activities that you need to attend, and sometimes you may have to go on a business trip in Shanghai. You can freely control the time other than that." Director Zhou said.

Chen Qiang instantly understood what Director Zhou meant. This "No Counselor from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs" was a mascot. He appeared when there were foreign affairs activities, accompanied the foreigners to eat and drink, and did whatever they liked for the rest of their time.

"It turns out that when foreign guests come, they are accompanied by food, drink and play. The relationship is a 'sanctuary'! But this job is good, with food, drink and time, and they also have to accommodate them. This kind of relaxed work can only be enjoyed by being a civil servant."

Chen Qiang quickly calculated the gains and losses in his mind.

The meaning revealed by Director Zhou is that this is the decision of the senior executives in Nanjing. Maybe it involves that big boss. If the big boss wants Chen Qiang to stay in Nanjing, then Chen Qiang will definitely not refuse.

Moreover, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has even received the appointment letter, which is obviously this job. Chen Qiang has no right to choose at all. He has to accept it even if he wants to accept it, and he has to accept it even if he doesn't want to accept it even if he doesn't want to accept it.

Chen Qiang thought again and again, perhaps staying in Nanjing is also a good choice.

The second half of 1936 was already half over, and the July 7 Incident was getting closer and closer. After the July 7 Incident broke out, if Chen Qiang was still in Tianjin, he would either have only two choices, either flee to the Tianjin Concession, or move south with Nankai University.

If Chen Qiang stayed in Tianjin, he would definitely be captured by the Japanese as Chen Qiang's "world's number one athlete". Then he would be asked to cooperate with Japan to do some "China-Japan goodwill" things, or even be an official in the pseudo-government. If Chen Qiang refused to be a traitor, he might be locked up in a concentration camp. If he really entered the concentration camp, it would be hard to say whether he was dead or alive.

If Chen Qiang fled to the concession in Tianjin, he would only be able to enjoy four years of peace. After the outbreak of the Pacific War, Japan would declare war on Britain and France. At that time, the Japanese army would take over the British Concession and French Concession in Tianjin, and a large number of British and French expatriates would be locked up in concentration camps.

As for the Italian Concession in Tianjin, although it was not attacked by the Japanese, considering Italy's cuteness in World War II, if Chen Qiang seized the gold in the Italian Concession, the Italians might really sell Chen Qiang to the Japanese.

Chen Qiang didn't want to be a traitor or die. If he followed Nankai University south, it would still be the result of retreating to the southwest.

During the War of Resistance Against Japan, Nankai University, Peking University and Tsinghua University first pulled a long gown and formed the Changsha Temporary University. Later, the Japanese army attacked Changsha, and the temporary university moved to Kunming, renamed Southwest United University. Therefore, Chen Qiang would also retreat to Kunming with Nankai University.

During the War of Resistance Against Japan, Kunming was in the rear. At that time, many factories and schools moved in, and a large amount of funds, equipment and talents flowed into Kunming. Bureaucratic capital set up and opened factory enterprises in Kunming, which made Kunming's economy prosperous for a short time. Moreover, Kunming is like spring all year round, which is very suitable for living. If you live in Kunming for eight years, it is also a good thing.

If Chen Qiang chose to return to Tianjin, after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, he would probably have the best result.

But if Chen Qiang stayed in Nanjing and served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at least when the war broke out, there was no need to rush to retreat from Tianjin. By the end of the month, the National Government would withdraw from Nanjing, and then the government's civil servants would definitely leave first. Chen Qiang would follow the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, first to Changsha, and then to Chongqing. In the next eight years, Chen Qiang would stay in Chongqing.

It will definitely be much more convenient to evacuate with the government, at least you don’t have to worry about the logistics support along the way. Moreover, when you arrive in Chongqing, you have a position and Chen Qiang can get a salary, so you won’t be hungry and have no food to eat.

Although Chongqing would be bombed by the Japanese army during the War of Resistance Against Japan, government departments have air raid shelters. When the air raid alarm comes, it should be no problem to save your life.

Thinking of this, Chen Qiang made a decision, which was to accept the appointment of the special counsel of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Chen Qiang said, "Thank you for your kindness. I wonder when I will report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?"

"It's OK at any time, but you have to wait for a week to live. We found you an apartment, but it takes some time to organize it." Director Zhou said.

After seeing off Director Zhou, Chen Qiang began to think about whether to buy a house in Chongqing before taking advantage of the present.

After all, if you have to stay in Chongqing for eight years, Chen Qiang can't always rent a house! What's more, the rent in Chongqing was getting more and more expensive during the War of Resistance Against Japan, and the money for renting a house in the end may be more expensive than buying a house now.

And it is still only 1936, and the housing prices in Chongqing are still very cheap. If Chen Qiang had enough money, he would want to buy a few more houses in Chongqing. After the government moved to Chongqing, he would definitely make several times more profitable.

...

In this way, Chen Qiang became the special counsel of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His main job on weekdays is to participate in various foreign affairs activities, eat, drink and play.

Occasionally, Chen Qiang would go to Shanghai. After all, Shanghai is the number one city in the Far East, with foreigners gathering. For example, the ambassadors to China from Britain, the United States, France and other countries, and they stay in the concession in Shanghai on weekdays, so Shanghai often holds important foreign affairs activities.

Two months passed in a flash.

Chen Qiang is playing tennis somewhere in Nanjing, and his opponent is John Rabe.

Since I met John Rabe at the Siemens dinner that time, with Chen Qiang's deliberate friendship, I quickly became familiar with Rabe.

If it were other ** party members, Chen Qiang might not bother to pay attention to it, but Rabe is different. In Chen Qiang's mind, John Rabe is a truly respectable person and a great person!

John Rabe is already friendly to the Chinese, and Chen Qiang is the person who personally awarded the title of the German head of state. Rabe also wanted to make friends with Chen Qiang, so the two quickly became good friends.

On weekdays, when they were idle, they would play tennis or go to the horse-riding field to ride horses. In Nanjing at that time, playing tennis and riding horses were considered elegant social sports and were also a more popular sport for foreigners.

In his previous life, Chen Qiang's tennis level was not bad, and he was almost at the NTTRP standard of 3.5 points.

The full name of ntrp is nationaltennisrating program, which is a tennis classification standard in the United States. The classification ranges from beginners to international players. The score for beginners who play tennis for the first time is 0.5, and then increments according to the 0.5-point level to the highest level to 7.0. Tennis players of international level who can reach 7.0 can participate in international competitions and use the prize money as their source of income.

With the future development of Chinese tennis, the highest score of amateur players is 4.5, and if they can reach 5.5, even if they can play in provincial training teams, if they can reach 6.0, they should be able to join the national team.

In the United States, due to the high level of tennis, many high school students can reach a rating of 6.0.

In the 1930s, the level of tennis was not that high, or in that era, tennis was still in a relatively primitive stage and many technologies were not developed.

Before 1968, the era of tennis's open competition had not arrived. From a modern perspective, tennis could only be considered an amateur competition, and even had more casual elements than competition. In the 1920s and 1930s, it was already very good that those players who participated in Wimbledon or French Open could reach a 3.0 rating.

Chen Qiang's NTTRP's 3.5-point score, even in the future, is considered to be a good player among amateur players, and is qualified to participate in domestic amateur competitions. If it can rise to a 4.0 score, it should be able to get a ranking in domestic amateur competitions.

Amateur players with 3.5 points can control the landing point and force when serving and receiving serves, and can send or return the top spun ball. They also have relatively stable interception techniques in front of the net. Athletes of this scoring level have good control over the direction of the mid-speed ball, but the depth and changes of the hitting are not enough. They can steadily fight back over the top ball during running, and can start to surf the net with the ball, put small balls and play rebound balls. The second round can basically control the landing point.

At this level, let alone beat John Rabe, it is more than enough to bully professional tennis players. Even if you go to Wimbledon or French Open, you can still advance in the first few rounds.

After more than half an hour, even though Chen Qiang deliberately let this John Rabe go, Rabe was defeated step by step and he was no match for Chen Qiang at all.

"No, I'm so tired that I can't run anymore! I need to take a break." Rabe put down his racket, shook his head, and then said, "Chan, your tennis is awesome, and you definitely have a professional level. If you go to Europe next time, you can play in Wimbledon!"

The two were talking, but the waiter of the tennis court ran over in a hurry.

"Two gentlemen, there is martial law outside!" said the waiter.

"Martial law!" Chen Qiang and Rabe were shocked at the same time.

Nanjing was the capital of the Republic of China. If martial law occurred in a country's capital, it must have happened at the national level that extremely serious things happened.

Generally speaking, a country will only put martial law into action when facing foreign wars, major disasters or internal rebellions. Now the Japanese are still in the Northeast, and Nanjing has not encountered any disasters, so the only explanation is internal rebellion.

Chen Qiang suddenly remembered something, so he immediately asked: "What is the number of people coming today?"

"December 13." Rabe answered.

"It's true. The matter from Xi'an has been spread to Nanjing. That person has been detained, so the city of Nanjing will naturally be subject to martial law." Chen Qiang sighed.

"Chen, you seem to know something?" Rabe said, looking at Chen Qiang.

"I think the civil war in our country is about to end!" Chen Qiang paused and continued: "But another war that concerns the life and death of our entire nation is about to begin!"

Rabe nodded inexplicably, and then he said, "Chan, although I don't quite understand what you are saying, I can feel that chaos is coming, and I seem to have heard the steps of war."

"Your premonition is correct." Chen Qiang nodded, but did not disclose much information about the Xi'an incident.

Rabe continued, "Chan, although I don't know what will happen, if you encounter danger, you can come to my home to take refuge. As my identity, people in your country dare not do anything to me!"

"Yes, not only Chinese, but even Japanese people dare not do anything to you." Chen Qiang said in his heart. He knew that at this time next year, Rabe might be the only safe island in Nanjing.

...

With the outbreak of the Xi'an Incident, the situation in Nanjing became unprecedentedly tense. Needless to say, the work of many government departments has also fallen into stagnation.

After all, the big boss has been arrested and may be executed, so the employees have no intention of working normally.

The senior executives in Nanjing also have their own thoughts and are ready to move. Just like a company, if the chairman of a company has an accident, several major shareholders will definitely have their own ulterior motives, and there are many people who want to take power.

The big boss is the biggest backer of the pro-American faction. The pro-American faction naturally hopes to rescue the big boss, so he actively runs.

The pro-Japanese faction began to deploy wars with Xi'an, as if they were going to fight another civil war. To ignore the safety of the boss, perhaps the best result for the pro-Japanese faction if the boss dies.

The local warlords also had different opinions. Chairman Han’s war in Shandong was a “wise feat”; Chairman Yan of Shanxi was “shocked and heartless”; Chief Li of Guangxi advocated stopping the civil war and unanimously to the outside world; Commander Ma of the Northwest took this to express his loyalty to the boss.

Foreign media unanimously criticized Xi'an's behavior. For example, the British Times said that this incident was a "rebellion"; the Soviet Union's Pravda said that it was helping Japan split China; the French National Salvation Times believed that the Xi'an Incident was a "deeply regretful incident"; the American media was more direct, saying that this incident made Western countries feel uneasy to retain interests in the Far East.

For Western countries, they seem to be calling for peace, but in fact they only care about their own interests in China. A stable, cowardly, and humble China, which is obviously more in line with the interests of the West. So of course they do not want the coup to happen, and it is best to let China maintain the status quo.
To be continued...