Black Flag Army

Di Xiong walked into the office, and Shopkeeper Wu followed behind him, asking in surprise, "Are you really going to kill them? Isn't this what a black shop does?"

When the Beijing mutiny broke out last month, Manager Wu asked for leave to go home, unaware that five Beiyang soldiers had already been killed in the hotel.

Di Xiong said viciously: "If I don't do this, my fate may be the same as Boss Zhu. Do you want me to be the second Boss Zhu? To ordinary people, we are an innocent restaurant, but to evil people, we are a black shop. In a place like Beijing where tigers and wolves are rampant, if you want to survive, you have to be ruthless."

About ten minutes later, Leng Hanbing came in and said, "Boss! Those four people have been taken care of."

Di Xiong noticed a drop of blood on Leng Hanbing's shoe.

The four Beiyang soldiers who caused the destruction of the family of the previous boss Zhu were easily dealt with by Di Xiong.

Di Xiong took out another silver dollar coupon and handed it to Leng Hanbing, saying, "Well done. This is for you and Hong Tianlie, half each."

Leng Hanbing waited for Shopkeeper Wu to leave Di Xiong's office. Seeing that only Di Xiong was inside, he whispered, "Boss! This Shopkeeper Wu has another identity. He is a Taoist priest of Qingyun Temple."

Di Xiong looked up at Leng Hanbing and said coldly, "Did you follow him?"

Leng Hanbing said, "I saw him and the boss often discuss the Mohist Scripture. They get along very well. The boss trusts him very much. What if he is an undercover agent of other gangs? It will cause great harm to our gang, so he kept an eye on him several times. On the third night after the restaurant opened, he took some leftovers from the restaurant kitchen, packed them in a lunch box, and brought them to Qingyun Temple in Dasheng Lane, half a mile away. Qingyun Temple was very dilapidated. There were four Taoist priests with pale faces and thin bodies inside. They were very happy to see him bring food. A Taoist priest in his twenties called him uncle and said that if he didn't come, they would starve to death. There were also two Taoist children aged fourteen or fifteen, and a Taoist priest in his fifties lying in bed, very ill, and seemed to be dying."

Di Xiong said, "This is not surprising. The Mohist Classic is one of the Taoist scriptures and has been lost in other places. It is normal that Mr. Wu is a Taoist priest. Don't follow him anymore. If he finds out, he will think that I don't trust him."

Leng Hanbing showed a disappointed expression and said coldly: "It seems that I am meddling in other people's business."

Di Xiong smiled and said, "You are very vigilant, which is an advantage and worth encouraging. The company needs people like you who can nip internal enemies in the bud. When the company grows bigger, we will set up a supervisory department and you will be the first department manager."

Leng Hanbing said neither humbly nor arrogantly: "Thank you for your appreciation, boss!"

After Leng Hanbing left, Tian Mengxue knocked on the door and came in, saying to Di Xiong, "We have found the two people you asked us to check last time."

She placed the two photos in front of Di Xiong and said proudly, "Fei Bao and Gou Zongwei took a few remaining disciples of the Flying Eagle Gang and defected to Sun Jingfeng, the bandit leader of Motianling in Yanshan. Fei Bao became a small leader under Sun Jingfeng. From his conversations with others, I know that he has always remembered you and wants to take revenge on you at any time. Give me the reward!"

Di Xiong opened the drawer, took out a red paper envelope containing fifty silver dollars, and handed it to Tian Mengxue. It was the first time for Tian Mengxue to receive so much money, and she took it with surprise. Di Xiong asked, "How many people are there in your flower shop now?"

Tian Mengxue smiled and said, "You still remember that flower shop! I thought you were the big boss now and had forgotten about it. In addition to Shi Lan and Ai Yun, for safety reasons, I hired another guy named Shi Zhu, who is Shi Lan's younger brother. Including me, there are four of us in total."

Di Xiong smiled and said, "I didn't expect that a flower shop that only cost 30 yuan to build could actually support four people. You are quite capable. However, society is in chaos now, and our Xihe Club has offended many gangsters. Although I am not afraid of their revenge, if they know that you are my subordinate, they will probably attack you and the flower shop. Take these things with you for self-defense."

He took out a pocket Browning pistol and three spray guns and placed them on the table.

Tian Mengxue picked up the pistol, pulled the bolt closed skillfully, put it in her bag, and looked at the spray pipe: "What is this and what is it used for?"

Di Xiong said: "This is a nozzle, also used for self-defense. The spray inside is ether, which is extracted from alcohol and can cause people to become unconscious. Due to limited funds, we cannot afford to buy guns for the time being, so we can only use the nozzle instead. Most of the brothers in the gang also use knives, sticks and nozzles."

Tian Mengxue put the three nozzles into her bag and said happily, "I feel more at ease with the guns and nozzles. A few days ago, a bald fat man brought a bunch of young men to buy flowers. He touched Xiaoyun and really scared me."

"Even with weapons you are not absolutely safe. If the opponent is too strong, you can abandon the flower shop and escape for your life. Do you understand?" Di Xiong said.

After Tian Mengxue left, Di Xiong asked Bai Xiuling to invite the shopkeeper Wu Zhong to come over and said to him: "The Mohist Scripture is one of the Taoist scriptures. You know so much about the Mohist Scripture, so it must be related to Taoism, right?"

Wu Zhong was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Boss, you really have a keen eye. You saw that I was indeed a Taoist priest before."

Di Xiong said, "I don't have a sharp eye. Leng Hanbing said so. Let me make it clear that I didn't send him to follow you. He was curious and followed you to Qingyun Temple privately."

Wu Zhong said, "Of course I believe what the boss said. I have been a Taoist priest in Qingyun Temple for ten years. Due to war and drought, the number of pilgrims in Qingyun Temple has decreased. I could not survive, so I had to return to secular life and work as a staff member in Minister Duan Qirui's family. However, there were too many staff members in Minister Duan's family, and the internal struggles were fierce, so I was eventually squeezed out. When I was desperate, Boss Zhu took me in, and I became the shopkeeper of Zhu's Restaurant. I also donated some of the money I earned back to the temple. One should not forget one's roots."

Di Xiong said, "Tell your brothers and nephews to come to the restaurant. Don't wait to die in Qingyun Temple. The restaurant doesn't lack their food and drink. Of course, they need to work."

Wu Zhong said: "My senior brother is the master of Qingyun Temple. If they all come to the hotel, doesn't that mean Qingyun Temple has given up?"

Di Xiong said with a smile, "If you can't even save your life, what's the point of having a ruined temple? You can't escape from that place. At most, it will be occupied by some refugees or beggars to sleep. I heard that your brother is seriously ill and needs money to hire a doctor to buy medicine. You can advance the money from the account first."

Wu Zhong's eyes turned red, and he was very moved and said, "I would like to thank the boss for his kindness on behalf of my senior brother Qing Mo."

Di Xiong said, "It's just a small matter. I saw in today's Beijing News that because of the war and drought, the number of refugees who come to Beijing to find work or beg increases by thousands every day. Dozens of people die of starvation and cold every day. The police station's corpse collection team is short of manpower and has no time to collect the bodies. They have to recruit workers to expand the team. Unfortunately, my ability is limited and I can't help too many people."

Wu Zhong said: "Yes! Because there are too many refugees, it has become increasingly difficult to find a job. Some spinning and textile mills opened by Japanese in the suburbs of Beijing offer very low wages and a very bad working environment. They should have closed down, but because of the large number of refugees entering the factories, they were full again in a short time. These Japanese bosses made a lot of hard-earned money for nothing."

Di Xiong said, "In Yanshan Town, Changping County, there is a Japanese-owned East Asia Textile Factory, which belongs to the East Asia Textile Company. The general manager is Yokota Ichiro, who often abuses beautiful female workers by taking advantage of his power. The managers and factory guards under Yokota also follow suit. Most of the female workers working at the East Asia Textile Factory are unkempt and wear tattered clothes because they are afraid that they will be insulted if they dress up nicely."

At No. 21, Lane , Xihe Street, which is the courtyard across the street from the Weili Hotel, more than people from the action team were training. Some were practicing martial arts, and some were practicing target shooting with pistols. Of course, they all had silencers installed when they fired. Seeing Di Xiong coming in with a package, everyone stopped and saluted Di Xiong.

Hong Tianlie asked curiously, "What did the boss bring?"

Di Xiong opened the bag, and inside were three one-meter-long javelins, all made of pure iron. He said to everyone, "These are called disassembly-type javelins, which are suitable for street fights and bayonet fights on the battlefield. The tip and tail of each javelin have screw threads, and when screwed together, they become a three-meter-long spear. Because they are longer than rifles, they have a great advantage in bayonet fights. For those who are good at throwing javelins, they can just throw them like javelins, and it doesn't matter if they are carried on the back. Before the opponent rushes up to fight with bayonets, they will be hit by three rounds of javelins, and at least half of the people will be killed. It was originally a one-on-two fight, but it becomes a one-on-one fight."

Leng Hanbing said: "When we are short of guns and ammunition, this javelin is indeed a very good substitute, and there are some fights where guns cannot be used at all."

Zhang Heimian took a javelin and looked at it, then said happily, "This thing is great! If I had this thing when I fought those scoundrels last time, I wouldn't have gotten hurt. Do you only have one set? Can you give it to me first?"

Hong Tianlie snatched it away and said to Zhang Heimian, "Of course you should give it to me first. I was good at using long weapons before. Team leader Leng Yaba is a sharpshooter, so of course he won't use this."

Di Xiong smiled and said, "You don't have to fight for it. I ordered ten sets in total from the blacksmith shop. I have just finished making one set, and the other nine sets will be delivered in three days."

Di Xiong was thinking about more than just street fighting, he also wanted to send a batch to Feng Jishan. Feng Jishan's Northwest Army later had to fight the enemy with swords because of the lack of guns and bullets. If they used more lethal detachable javelins, the casualties of the Northwest Army could be greatly reduced. However, this thing was too expensive, and it was impossible to give it away for free. He didn't know if Feng Jishan could afford his price.

At this time, Du Yongzhong ran over from the hotel and said to Di Xiong, "Boss! I finally found you. Boss Li from the Nankou Cotton Mill is here. Shopkeeper Wu invited you to discuss the purchase of the textile mill. Shopkeeper Wu couldn't find you and was sweating profusely. I guess you are here. Come over quickly."