The meeting lasted for two hours, and after it was over, all the officials left the cockroach base to return to their posts. Zhang Xiaoqiang left a few of the highest-ranking officials behind for a short meeting. In this meeting, Three received Zhang Xiaoqiang's approval and affirmation, and at the same time, requested him to continue working hard and recover the entire Guangxi. Yue Yang and Song Kunhai, on the other hand, accepted Zhang Xiaoqiang's order to further accelerate the development of Sichuan. Every day, large amounts of Red Algae were sent back to Yin Meng and Hubei. So far, in three months, six hundred thousand tons of Red Algae had been stockpiled. Six hundred thousand tons of Red Algae was equivalent to hundreds of millions of tons of oil, which was more than enough to satisfy the oil supply of the entire Huaxia Renaissance. The military's combat power had increased by several folds, and as long as the roads were clear, even if they couldn't win, they would still be able to escape.
In the end, only Huang Quan, Zhao Jun, Ishihara Ye, and Zhou Jie were left in the meeting room. Huang Quan sat beside Zhang Xiaoqiang, looking at the information in his hands without saying a word. Zhang Xiaoqiang held his tablet and swiped the screen without saying a word. Ishihara Ye held his teacup and closed his eyes to rest. Only Zhao Jun looked at this and that, wanting to say something but not knowing what to say.
"Beijing City and its surrounding areas have been mostly cleaned up. All the military academies and the General Armament Department have been recovered. Through the files and documents found by the General Armament Department, we can pretty much figure out all the military arsenals in China. We also know where the retired weapons that have been replaced by previous generations are stored. There are also grain depots and oil depots that are enough to feed a billion people for three years waiting for us to take over …"
After a long silence, Ishihara Ye spoke first. He knew that today's meeting was for Zhou Jie. After working together for so long, even if there were some unpleasantness, he didn't want to add insult to injury. He brought up the gains from Beijing, hoping to attract Zhang Xiaoqiang's attention.
Zhang Xiaoqiang nodded to show that he understood. Beijing was the political center of China, and more than half of China's heritage was there. It was no surprise that he had obtained these things. After three months of lying low, Zhang Xiaoqiang had roughly combed through all the regions of China. Not including Hainan and Taiwan, he had made initial contact with all the big and small forces in all the provinces on land. Among them, the two major forces in Guangdong and Hunan had basically merged into the Huaxia Renaissance. Guizhou, Shaanxi, Anhui, and Henan all had bases for Hubei's army. With Hubei as the center, they had established a loose defense circle. Hubei's next step was Shaanxi. Not only did it have a large number of heavy weapons left behind by the garrison in his previous life, it was also connected to Gansu. Gansu happened to be the main direction of development for Yin Meng's southern expansion. Once Gansu and Shaanxi were connected, Hubei and Yinchuan would officially be connected, and they would be able to reach their destination in less than twenty-four hours by highway.
But in such a good situation, there was an internal problem. This made Zhang Xiaoqiang vigilant. He didn't want to experience the despair of being trapped in Bamboo Mountain a second time. All signs of danger had to be nipped in the bud. If it wasn't for his nostalgia, Zhou Jie wouldn't have been sitting in front of him unscathed. He understood what Ishihara Ye was trying to say, but he didn't say anything, waiting for Zhou Jie to take the initiative to explain.
"By the way, we also rescued quite a number of people from the aristocratic families in Beijing. They want to exchange resources for land or land around Yinchuan City. They also want to keep some armed forces. If they can't keep their armed forces, they hope that we can accept them as management …"
Zhang Xiaoqiang frowned and said, "Don't bother. Just throw them to Qinghai. If they don't want to go to Qinghai, then they'll have to be good citizens …"
Zhang Xiaoqiang was already in a bad mood. When he heard about these people, he became even more displeased. Those resources were nothing to him. At most, he would learn from the government in his previous life. Everything underground belonged to the country, whether it was buried treasures or ancestral coffins. But this topic was just an excuse. Ishihara Ye smiled strangely and turned to Huang Quan. "A pair of cousins asked us about the situation in Hubei. One is called Huang Cheng, and the other is called Huang Shan …"
Huang Quan stood up immediately and glared at Ishihara Ye. He shouted, "Why didn't you tell me earlier …"
This time, Zhang Xiaoqiang's interest was piqued. He had heard about Huang Quan's family background. His grandfather was one of the founding generals of the country. They had stood strong for decades and protected the descendants of the Huang family. Although they weren't the top aristocratic family in Sijiu City, they were still considered a prominent family. Initially, Huang Quan didn't miss them and thought that he was the only one left in the family. He didn't expect that someone would survive.
"They weren't screened before, and the soldiers don't have a good impression of these aristocratic families. This pair of cousins only came to ask about you after they found out that we have influence in Hubei. Of course, we didn't tell them about you. It's up to you. They're also one of the aristocratic families …"
Huang Quan's mind was in a mess, but at least he remembered that Zhang Xiaoqiang was here. He turned to Zhang Xiaoqiang and said, "Huang Cheng is my uncle's son, and Huang Shan is my uncle's son. They're both military academy students. They came to say that my elders are all gone, and I'm in charge of the Huang family now. I'll let them lead the way to Qinghai. The other aristocratic families won't be able to say anything …"
After Huang Quan finished speaking, he couldn't sit still anymore. He looked at Zhang Xiaoqiang eagerly, as if he didn't want to stay a second longer. Zhang Xiaoqiang was a little envious of Huang Quan. It was a miracle that he could find his family in the apocalypse. He nodded and said, "I'll give you three days to bring them back to Hubei. Your ancestors could build an aristocratic family, so can you …"
After Huang Quan left, Zhang Xiaoqiang looked at Ishihara, who was sipping his tea, but didn't say anything. Ishihara was obviously trying to save the country in a roundabout way. After getting rid of Huang Quan, Zhang Xiaoqiang would be easier to talk to. However, Ishihara had underestimated himself. He wasn't that unreasonable. Those who were familiar with him knew that he cherished old friendships. Zhou Jie's matter still depended on the person involved.
"You should know Tang Mengru's identity, right?"
Zhang Xiaoqiang took out a cigarette and lit it. It was finally time to get to the point. Zhao Jun and Ishihara also sat up straight. Zhou Jie was obviously not frightened. He had already guessed that there was a problem with Tang Mengru.
"The Democratic Alliance is a good name. It sounds like freedom and democracy. It seems like you want to be the president, Zhou Jie?"
Zhang Xiaoqiang's words made Zhou Jie pale. He quickly stood up and wanted to refute, but Zhang Xiaoqiang continued, "I didn't expect that you, Zhou Jie, would start to play politics after being the president for a few days?
Cultivate the Democratic Alliance to become stronger, unite the people of the lower class, use the lower class to threaten the higher-ups, and then manipulate the people to take power? "
Zhang Xiaoqiang was at least half right. It was this half that made Zhou Jie speechless. Ishihara continued drinking his tea. Zhao Jun wanted to say something, but Zhang Xiaoqiang glared at him. He sat in his chair and didn't say anything. He believed that others wanted to rebel, but he definitely didn't believe that Zhou Jie wanted to rebel.
"There's no need for you to explain yourself. From the moment you started watching the Democratic Alliance grow, you've changed. Don't say it's for the sake of the common people. You know full well what kind of lives they've led before, and what kind of lives they're living now. You used to be a smuggler, so your ambitions were limited. Now that you're the leader of a million people, your ambitions naturally soared. That's what my advisors deduced, and I'm sure I'm well aware of it …"
"No, no, Zhang Xiaoqiang, I never thought of going against you …" Zhou Jie quickly stood up and swore to Zhang Xiaoqiang. Zhang Xiaoqiang shook his head and said, "Even though I'm not in Yin Meng, someone will report to me. I know better than anyone what Yin Meng is like now. Zhao Jun and Ishihara are both in the military, and they don't care about civil affairs. The Yin Mountain Battle has been going on for three months, but the logistics are dragging on. Did you forget that when we attacked Silver Stream, I only used a hundred thousand people and a small county to guarantee the logistics? Now that we have a few years of reserves, can't we guarantee a million people?"
Zhang Xiaoqiang's words made Zhao Jun's expression change. He couldn't help but look at Zhou Jie. Ishihara put down his teacup and started studying his palm lines. Clearly, he knew that the logistics were not doing their best. At this time, a woman's voice came from inside. "The people are not your slaves. You can't ask them to work like cattle or horses. Many people are so tired at their workstations, many people …"
"Enough …" "Mengru …" Two shouts came from Zhang Xiaoqiang and Zhou Jie.
Tang Mengru was escorted out of the house by the female soldiers with disheveled hair. It was obvious that she was doing well for now. Other than her eyes being a little red and swollen, her hair a mess, and her clothes wrinkled, she didn't suffer much. As soon as Tang Mengru appeared, she shouted, "Zhou Jie …"
Her voice was as miserable as it could be, as if she was being bullied. Seeing her husband like this, Zhang Xiaoqiang said, "This woman wanted to poison me. Did you participate …"
"What …" Zhao Jun and Ishihara stood up at the same time and looked at Tang Mengru angrily. Zhou Jie's chair fell to the ground, and he looked at Zhang Xiaoqiang in shock.
"Zhang Xiaoqiang, do what you have to do. We won't object to any decision …" Zhao Jun was the first to speak. He stared at Zhou Jie as if his eyes were burning. The veins on his forehead bulged. If it weren't for the fact that Zhang Xiaoqiang was here, he would have stepped forward and kicked Zhou Jie to death. Without saying anything, Ishihara took out his gun and pointed it at Zhou Jie's head. He looked at Zhang Xiaoqiang. As long as Zhang Xiaoqiang nodded, he would shoot without hesitation to prove that the Yin Meng military was on Zhang Xiaoqiang's side.
"Put away your gun. Zhou Jie probably didn't participate in this. Who is this woman? Zhou Jie, you tell me …"
Zhang Xiaoqiang's tolerance made Zhao Jun stomp his foot and sit back in his chair.
Ishihara put away his gun and said to Zhang Xiaoqiang, "We got the news that the leader of the Democracy Alliance is a female university student. This woman appeared here at this time, so it should be her …"
"Damn, I said that the Democracy Alliance couldn't solve it. So it's all because of you. Good, good, good. I was wrong about you. I thought Zhang Xiaoqiang didn't know the situation and helped you get out of it. Bah …"
Zhao Jun jumped up and cursed at Zhou Jie again. Zhou Jie was speechless. After a long while, he said, "Zhang Xiaoqiang, seeing that Yin Meng hasn't had any big problems for so many years, please spare her life. If you really want to kill her, just kill me …"
"Zhou Jie … you don't have to beg him. He's a dictator, and dictators have no conscience …" Tang Mengru had seen through life and death after a night of terror. Seeing Zhou Jie's request, she couldn't help but encourage him.
"Shut up, you have no right to speak here. If it wasn't for Zhang Xiaoqiang transferring troops and food, you guys would have starved to death in Yin Mountain. The higher-ups of the Northern Army had already made a plan. At the last moment, they would abandon all the civilians and leave alone. The person you want to kill is the savior of 800,000 survivors …"
Zhao Jun jumped up and shouted at Tang Mengru. Zhou Jie closed his eyes helplessly. Tang Mengru was unrepentant. Even if he begged for mercy, it would be useless. Shi Yuanye sneered and said to Zhang Xiaoqiang, "Zhang Xiaoqiang, we should clean up Yin Meng. Since the president of the Democracy Alliance is the secretary of the Administrative Yuan, there must be more people in the administrative units. Why don't we just ask Zhou Xiong to do a big investigation and pull out all the members of the Democracy Alliance and execute them …"
"Don't …" Tang Mengru knelt on the ground. She didn't want to admit defeat and begged for mercy from Ishihara. She was the one who founded the Democracy Alliance. Everyone in it was ordinary people who wanted to live a good life. Her best friends and sisters were all in it. If she really did that, more than a hundred people would die.
"Zhang Xiaoqiang, today they can poison you to death, tomorrow they can sneak into the army's mess hall to poison you, and the day after tomorrow they can plant a bomb in the conference room of the Administrative Yuan. There's no need to tolerate these terrorists. The army is willing to cooperate in the purge …"
Shi Yuanye was the most vicious when he decided to be ruthless, not caring how many innocent people would die. He was from the Lanzhou military district, and his greatest enemy was the Eastern Turks. He had a deep hatred for these rats that hid in the shadows and harmed others.
"I … this was my decision. Zhou Jie didn't do anything. He brought me here to hide from Zhou Xiong. It had nothing to do with him …"
Tang Mengru finally came to her senses. She had not experienced the difficult times of the early days of Silver Meng's development, and all the members of the Democracy Alliance were survivors of Yin Mountain. Now that they knew the truth, they could only feel regret and vexation. But Shi Yuanye was not willing to just let it go. If Tang Mengru had not killed Zhang Xiaoqiang, he might have done his utmost to persuade Zhang Xiaoqiang to handle this matter gently. Once he discovered that someone was harming the foundations of China's revival, he would use any means necessary, just like how he had used the lives of one hundred thousand people as a stepping stone to break out of the encirclement at Silver River.
"Everyone, sit down. This matter is just a small group of people acting for their own benefit. Tang Mengru's matter is just an exception. I heard from Xu Mengzhu that the poison she used was found in the flowers outside. It was probably a random idea. Don't let this matter get out. If it does, it'll damage our own reputation, and our subordinates will think that we're fighting for power."
Zhang Xiaoqiang did not want to get to the bottom of this. Tang Mengru was just a tool, a tool used to reclaim authority. Yin Meng, because of its territory, was an independent faction that did not get along with Hubei. It was fine if he was here, but if he wasn't, Yin Meng would not give a damn about Hubei, just like how Hubei would not give a damn about Yin Meng. Since he had already decided to use Hubei as his foundation, he had to reclaim Yin Meng's authority to avoid creating a situation where the tail was too big to shake off. Tang Mengru was an excuse that had come knocking on his door.
"Then, what does Zhang Xiaoqiang plan to do?"
Shi Yuanye's aggressive gaze was fixed on Tang Mengru, who was whimpering softly. Zhou Jie simply waited for Zhang Xiaoqiang's orders. Zhao Jun did not want to care about anything anymore. He thought that the three of them were all from Yin Meng, so they should help each other no matter what. He did not expect Zhou Jie to bring a scourge over. If they met a narrow-minded leader, Yin Meng would probably be killed, and blood would flow like a river. Zhao Jun and Shi Yuanye would not be able to get anything out of it.
"Zhou Jie is not suitable to stay in his original position. As for the Democratic Alliance, if the Sea Race did not come ashore, we might be able to reform it. But now, we need to unite all our forces to deal with this crisis. The Administrative Council also needs to investigate thoroughly and remove all disloyal people from the management. The vacated positions will be taken over by people from Hubei. I trust that the two of you will not be touched for the time being. However, we need to start a rotation of low-ranking officers. Hubei will send people over, and Yin Meng will also send people over.
The few of them had nothing to say about Zhang Xiao Qiang's arrangements. Zhou Jie's crimes were punishable by death in ancient times, and Zhang Xiao Qiang had only stripped him of his position, giving him some face. As for using the opportunity to clean up the Democratic Alliance to clean up the government, the military would not have any objections. The government had never had any relations with the military, even if Zhang Xiao Qiang were to replace the entire government with Hubei people, they would not say anything. Naturally, they would not have any objections to the change of military officers. The military was established by Zhang Xiao Qiang, and it was the Second Army of China's Renaissance.
"No problem, I agree with Zhang Xiaoqiang's suggestion. I don't think the Democratic Alliance members who have been cleaned out are suitable to stay in the rear. Coincidentally, there is still a large portion of the zombies in Beijing that have not been cleared out. We need enough logistical support …"
Shi Yuanye rolled his eyes and suggested a new plan. Tang Mengru did not know what was going on, but Zhou Jie knew. He knew that these people would be killed in less than a week if they went to the frontline. However, he was still a criminal, so he had no right to say anything.
"The Democratic Alliance only wants freedom and democracy. If something happens to them, wouldn't that prove that I am a dictator?
Let the Democratic Alliance deal with them. Those officials are more suited to deal with these people than we are. Zhou Jie, go with them. They're still part of the Huaxia Renaissance's people, so we need to send someone to take up the post. You'll be just in time … "
Zhang Xiaoqiang solved Zhou Jie's problem with a few words. Shi Yuanye and Zhao Jun would not object. Zhou Jie would be exiled in disguise, but he would still be able to keep his identity. At this time, Zhou Jie turned to look at Tang Mengru. This made Zhao Jun so angry that he wanted to throw an ashtray at her. It was all this woman's fault. How could she not forget him? Did she not know how to spell the word 'death'?
"Yes, as for Tang Mengru, even if she is guilty of attempted murder, she will be exiled to Qing Hai. She will not be able to return to the mainland for the rest of her life. In the future, the death penalty will be abolished. Other than those who eat humans, the rest will be sent to the frontier to open up wastelands …"
Zhang Xiaoqiang let Tang Mengru off lightly. This was the last thing he wanted to do to Zhou Jie. However, he left a trap here. If Zhou Jie came to his senses and left Tang Mengru, he would still have a chance to return to the center of power. If he stayed with Tang Mengru, then he would have to live in Qing Hai for the rest of his life.