Chapter 137: Year

Kunming on December 31, 1935 grew increasingly cold. Li Yuxuan sat in his office, and outside the window fell a drizzling winter rain. A trusted aide slipped in quietly and placed two telegrams on the rose‑wood desk.

"Director, telegrams have arrived from Jinling and Shaanbei."

Li Yuxuan first opened the Jinling telegram; it bore the principal's familiar tone:

"Jingxing my junior brother: The Red Bandits have fled into Shaanbei, their vigor greatly weakened, making it opportune to strike while the iron is hot and eliminate future threats forever. I hope you will promptly reorganize your troops and, after the spring, march north for the suppression. National rejuvenation rests on this single act."

He set it down expressionlessly, then opened another. This telegram was written on a slightly coarse sheet of paper: To Jingxing Xiansheng, my elder brother, for your appraisal:

I recall the day at Xingcheng when the teacher of the first class held a doctrinal debate; you, sir, were like a spring breeze and rain, enlightening my ignorance and correcting my literary style, offering many teachings on self‑cultivation, scholarship, and the mission to save the nation. I still remember when you lectured on the classics, each time you invoked "the rise and fall of the world is the responsibility of every man," your voice impassioned, stirring our blood to boil. Under the lamp you corrected assignments, each word a pearl, both sternly pointing out omissions and urging the study of "practical learning for the world." The gratitude for that instruction has been etched deep within me, never a day forgotten.

Later, while serving together at Huangpu Military Academy, you designed the military education, and I roamed the countryside delivering agricultural propaganda. Though our duties differed, we both labored to realize revolutionary ideals and cultivate talents to save the nation, practicing together day and night, sharing kindred spirit. Your rigorous school governance and profound patriotism taught me that "saving Huaxia" is not empty talk; it requires solid groundwork and iron‑blooded resolve. Former teacher and student, now comrades, that period of rowing the same boat together still fills me with deep sentiment.

Now Huaxia is gravely ailing; the Japanese Invaders' iron hooves have trampled the Northeast and are gnawing at North China, the humiliation of the He Mei Agreement still lingers, mountains and rivers lie shattered, lives are scorched, and the disaster of national ruin is imminent. I lead the Red Army on a ten‑thousand‑li Long March, braving the perils of Snowy Mountains and Grasslands and enduring gunfire and shell rain, not to carve out a fiefdom but to march north to resist the Japanese and save the nation. This heart and resolve, as you once taught, "upright and radiant," shine like the sun and moon, a mirror for heaven and earth.

You now serve at the center, deeply trusted, and have always harbored loyalty and talent for worldly affairs; you should understand the principle that "national righteousness outweighs all else." Past partisan views and policy differences, in the face of national ruin, are mere trifles. Only by ending the civil war and uniting against humiliation can Huaxia survive on the right path. I am willing to set aside past grievances, lead the Red Army to fight side by side with the National Government troops, jointly form an Anti‑Japanese Allied Forces, and together face the national crisis, repaying the nation's nurture and fulfilling your former teachings.

I hope you keep the people in mind and the state in weight, strive to counsel rightly, and promote KMT‑CCP cooperation. If we can turn weapons into jade and silk, turn scattered sand into solid rock, and together drive out foreign aggression to restore our rivers and mountains, the country will be greatly blessed, the nation greatly blessed, and your merit will be forever recorded in the annals.

Having been taught by a master in those years, I have benefited for life. Now I hope we can together face the national crisis and renew the bond of teacher‑student comradeship. I look up awaiting your wise decision, quietly awaiting good news.

Respectfully wishing you health and peace!

Your junior brother Yongzhi respectfully

December 31, 1935

Li Yuxuan read Yongzhi's letter three times over, each character striking his heart. Finally, he slowly tossed the letter into the furnace, watching the flames devour the ink that had penetrated the paper.

"Director, what's wrong?" the aide noted his unsettled expression.

【7】 "Nothing." Li Yuxuan looked northward, his gaze seeming to pierce the towering mountain ranges,

"It's nothing." Li Yuxuan looked northward, his gaze seemed to pierce the layered mountains,

At the same moment, in a cave dwelling of Wayaogong in Northern Shaanxi, Gu Yue was bent over his desk, writing swiftly. The oil lamp's glow illuminated his gaunt face.

"Gu Yue, aren't you resting yet?" Zhou Ming lifted the curtain and entered, bringing a chill.

"The letter to Old Li has already been sent," Gu Yue set down his pen, "I wonder whether he will understand our sincerity."

The senior teacher sat on the edge of the kang: "Li Yuxuan is a man who, though following the Chairman, still clearly distinguishes national righteousness. When the Long March passed through the Southwest this year, his troops gave us a free pass."

"That is precisely why I wrote to him," Yongzhi lit a cigarette, "Now the Japanese Invaders press step by step, Huabei is in imminent danger. If we can win over someone like Old Li, the Anti‑Japanese national united front gains another hope."

Outside, the distinctive wind of the Shaanbei plateau rose, like the sigh of this ancient people in peril.

Inside the Jinling Presidential Office, the principal paced back and forth in his study. Chen Bulei stood nearby, not daring to speak.

"What recent movements has Jingxing made?" the Chairman suddenly halted.

"Army Commander Li has been reorganizing Southwest affairs and training new troops. However…" Chen Bulei began to speak but stopped.

"But what?"

"There are rumors lately that Army Commander Li is privately not very proactive in bandit suppression."

The principal snorted coldly, "Jingxing grew up with me since childhood; he would never betray me."

Yet a trace of unease rose in his mind. He recalled that when the bandit army passed through the Southwest this year, Li Yuxuan's troops were always "a beat behind." He thought of Li Yuxuan's repeated admonitions over the years to "first resist the Japanese, then suppress the bandits." He recalled the increasingly frequent disputes between them...

"Has the telegram sent to Jingxing received a reply?"

"Not yet."

The Chairman walked to the window, gazing at the myriad lights of Jinling City. This capital he had painstakingly cultivated for years now filled him with an unprecedented loneliness.

Li Yuxuan remained alone in the office. The contents of the two telegrams echoed repeatedly in his mind.

The Young Master's telegram was filled with a commanding tone, its words exuding unquestionable authority. It reminded him of the days over thirty years ago when they were together in Japan. Back then the Young Master was a hot‑blooded youth, and they had sworn together to save this country.

Yongzhi's letter, however, was like a heavy hammer striking the softest part of his heart. "National peril outweighs everything"—hasn't that phrase been his deepest feeling all these years?

He recalled his anger at the 1931 fall of the Northeast, his plea for battle during the 1932 Songhu Resistance, and the helplessness of repeatedly urging the Chairman to first resist the Japanese with no result...

"Director," the aide knocked again as he entered, "it's already midnight."

Li Yuxuan only then realized he had been sitting idle in the office for a full four hours.

He suddenly asked, "If you were me now, what would you do?"

The aide was stunned, and after a long pause said, "I dare not speak rashly."

Li Yuxuan gave a wry smile, "Even you won't tell the truth?"