Black Flag Army

The white-faced fat man's face changed, and he said, "Lu Jianzhang is our Qinglong Society's enemy. The assassination of Yuan Datou at the end of last year was clearly done by the southern rebels, but he arrested many people from our Qinglong Society and the Royalist Party, and robbed a lot of property in the name of house search. I really want to touch him."

The girl said, "Godfather! The most profitable industries in the market now are casinos, brothels, opium dens and arms. How much money can a small restaurant make? Why should the brothers go head-to-head with Lu the Butcher? I think it's better to forget it! As long as our big opium den below attracts more customers, the income will increase."

The pockmarked man also advised, "Boss! Miss Three is right. Our main rival in the west of the city is the Ghost Shadow Gang, and the territory in the east of the city is being severely suppressed by the Flying Knife Gang. We can't make any more powerful enemies!"

The white-faced fat man sighed and said, "You are a bunch of cowards. It seems that you have to bear with it for now."

The fat white-faced man is Guan Rongting, the president of the Qinglong Society, a Manchu.

Although it was already the third month of the lunar calendar, the weather was still very cold in the morning. Di Xiong put on a silver-gray fur coat before he dared to go out. This was a new coat that Bai Xiuling bought for him, which cost him ten silver dollars. As soon as he arrived at the alley, a shabby rickshaw stopped in front of him. The ragged driver asked cautiously, "Sir, would you like a ride? Within three miles, it's only three copper coins."

Just as Di Xiong was about to get on the rickshaw, he suddenly stared at the driver for a few more seconds and asked in surprise, "Aren't you Brother Li Fei? How did you become a rickshaw driver?"

The former patrolman Li Fei looked very haggard, with a dark and thin face. He looked like he was in his forties although he was in his twenties. It was obvious that he had been doing very badly after leaving the police station.

Li Fei said, "Because of Liang Mazi's incident, I was fired. I have no job, but my wife and kids need to eat! I had no choice but to rent a rickshaw to run around. Thank you, Boss Di, for still calling me Big Brother. My former colleagues in the patrol team pretended not to know me when they saw me. You are really amazing! You were fired on the same day as me, but you have become a big boss. People are just incomparable!"

Di Xiong smiled and said, "Since you know I started a company, why don't you come to me?"

Li Fei said with a painful expression: "I have been treated coldly by many relatives and friends in my search for a job, and I have been rejected many times. I don't want to suffer any more."

Actually, he was fired entirely because of Di Xiong, and Di Xiong felt sorry for him.

Di Xiong took out dozens of silver dollars from his pocket and handed them to Li Fei, saying, "I can see that you're having a hard time. Use this money first. Don't drive the rickshaw anymore. My company is short of security guards. You can come to my place and work as a security guard. It'll be ten dollars a month."

Li Fei held a pile of silver dollars in his hands, tears streaming down his face. You know, he only earned less than two silver dollars by pulling a rickshaw for a month!

Li Fei's family lived in the poorest shantytown in the west of the city. Garbage was everywhere, and when the wind blew, all kinds of paper and debris flew everywhere. In the two thatched houses made of wood, five-year-old Li Xiaofei was playing in the mud at the door. Due to malnutrition, Li Xiaofei looked only three years old, with a pale face and thin body. Li's wife, Fu, who was washing clothes, also had a yellow and black face, was very thin, and had messy hair.

Li Xiaofei suddenly said to Fu: "Mom! I'm hungry."

Fu's heart ached, and she lied to him, "Your father has gone to buy food. We'll have dinner when he comes back."

At this time, Li Xiaofei smelled the aroma of meat. He turned around and saw that it was Li Fei who came back with a smile on his face and a bag of braised meat in his hand. He ran over and tried to take it, but Li Fei gently hit him and said, "Wash your hands before eating."

Li Xiaofei ran into the house to wash his hands, then came back and grabbed a few pieces of meat and started eating them voraciously.

Fu pulled Li Fei into the house and asked, "Who told you to buy cooked meat? Cooked meat is three times more expensive than raw meat? How much does so much meat cost?"

Li Fei proudly took out a bag of silver dollars and said, "We are rich now. You can keep these twenty-odd dollars first."

Fu was horrified and asked, "Where did you get so much money? Did you steal it?"

Li Fei said, "It was given to me by Boss Di, the detective Di Xiong I told you about. He is a big boss now, and he told me to stop pulling rickshaws and come to work in his company. He will arrange a high-paying job for me."

Fu whispered, "I heard that he is the owner of the restaurant in name, but he is actually the leader of a gang. He gives you money because he wants you to work for him! Can you go?"

Li Fei said, "Do you think my life is worth much? The old man next door, the rickshaw driver, was Li Laoshi's father. He was sick and had no money to treat his illness. He died in agony. His death was worthless. But for all the money Boss Di gave me, it was worth it to work for him. I don't want to live this kind of poor life anymore."

"Brother! Chunlei has sent a letter! Look! This is Chunlei's letter!"

As soon as Di Xiong arrived at the hotel office, Bai Xiuling ran over with a letter and handed it to Di Xiong. After Di Xiong and Bai Xiuling broke through the window paper that night, they slept together. Bai Xiuling seemed to be living in a sweet life, very happy, her eyes were always full of spirits, her face had a little more charm of a young woman, her breasts and buttocks became fuller, outlining the beautiful curves of her body. Di Xiong opened the letter and read it for a long time before finishing it, saying, "It has been a month since Wu Chunlei joined the reserve army. I should visit Captain Feng in the camp."

Bai Xiuling asked: "What does the letter say?"

Di Xiong said, "Wu Chunlei has become a squad leader. The training and life of the reserve army are very hard. Three meals a day are steamed bread and vegetable soup. Occasionally, they eat cabbage and tofu stew, which they think is the best delicacy. There is a serious shortage of logistical supplies. There are no cotton hats, gloves, or cotton shoes. Many soldiers have frostbite on their hands, feet, and ears."

Bai Xiuling said, "When Chunlei left, Chen Xianglian bought him two pairs of ear-protecting cotton shoes. He shouldn't get frostbitten, right?"

Di Xiong smiled bitterly and said, "The problem is that as a squad leader, he couldn't help but care about the suffering of his soldiers. He gave earmuffs and cotton shoes to the two soldiers with the most severe frostbite, but ended up getting frostbite himself."

Bai Xiuling punched him in the chest and said angrily, "It's all your fault, you bad guy. You insisted on sending him to the military camp. Chunlei suffered so much in the Flying Eagle Gang. Just after a few days of good life, you made him suffer again. No wonder Chen Xianglian cried like a tearful person after reading the letter just now. Chunlei also wrote a letter to her. After she read it, she cried and took out her five-dollar salary to send to Chunlei."

Di Xiong laughed and said, "It turns out that Wu Chunlei already has a girlfriend, Chen Xianglian. Isn't Chen Xianglian's salary used to subsidize her parents? This girl has a man in her heart and she doesn't even care about her parents."

Bai Xiuling said angrily, "What nonsense are you talking about? Have you forgotten? Last month, Chen Xianglian lured Liang Mazi to death. Because of her merit, you promoted her to foreman and her salary increased to ten yuan. Now she only took out half of the money and sent it to Chunlei."

Di Xiong said, "Tell Chen Xianglian not to send it. It's useless for Wu Chunlei to receive the money. New soldiers are strictly prohibited from going out of the camp to buy things. I will go to the Nanyuan camp tomorrow. Each of Captain Feng's men will get a pair of earmuffs, cotton shoes and gloves."

Grayish-yellow walls, dark blue brick houses, and grayish-white flat training grounds, this is the front camp of the Left Route Reserve Army in Nanyuan. As soon as Di Xiong and Wu Chunfeng got off the carriage, the two sentries at the door pointed their rifles at them. Three carriages came at once, and they were full of goods. This could not but attract the attention of the sentries. The two sentries had thin faces, yellow with a hint of black, but they were very energetic and agile. Di Xiong noticed that they were wearing thin clothes and had frostbite on their ears and hands.

A sentry asked loudly: "Who are you? This is a restricted area of ​​the military camp, you are not allowed to trespass!"

Di Xiong said, "Please tell Captain Feng that my old friend Di Xiong is here to visit!"

The sentry was stunned, whispered a few words with another sentry, and then said to Di Xiong: "Please wait a moment, sir, I will go and report!"

Di Xiong said, "It's okay, just go ahead! We'll wait patiently."

Wu Chunfeng also noticed the sentry's thin uniform, and then looked at his own brand new sheepskin coat, and sighed: "I didn't expect the Beiyang reserve army to be so poor that the soldiers didn't even have cotton clothes."

Di Xiong said: "The Beiyang government was not poor. They levied more taxes on the people than the Qing Dynasty. President Yuan and his high-ranking officials were all very rich. Take President Yuan for example. He not only married one wife and nine concubines, but also kept many female actors and "goddaughters" in his house for him to play with. There were more than one hundred women in total, and their monthly expenses were as high as hundreds of thousands of dollars. There were too many corrupt officials in the government. Take the Ministry of the Army as an example. The officials under the chief of the Army took kickbacks at every level, and the supplies that should have been sent to the reserve army were gone."

A loud song came from the military camp: "In the Gengzi Year of the Guangxu Period of the Qing Dynasty, the Russians invaded the north in nine directions, occupied forests and grasslands, killed people, set fires and robbed money. The fire in Hailanpao illuminated the sky red, and the blood of tens of thousands of people dyed the river surface..."

Wu Chunfeng said: "The lyrics of this song are somewhat similar to the 'Song of Justice' written by the boss. Both are about the Qing Dynasty's loss of territory in the north."

Di Xiong said: "Wu Chunlei said in the letter that this is the 'National Humiliation Song' written by Captain Feng!"

Wu Chunfeng said: "No wonder you and Captain Feng can become friends. You both miss the lost land in the north."

Di Xiong said seriously: "Every Chinese should not forget Vladivostok, Blagoveshchensk and other lost territories in the north!"

Before he finished speaking, he heard a deep voice saying, "Well said! If all Chinese people had the same idea as Brother Di, we would be able to take back the lost territory in the north."

A tall man walked out of the camp gate. Di Xiong recognized that it was Feng Jishan. He was the one who said the words just now. He was like an ordinary soldier, wearing a thin coarse cloth military uniform with two patches on it. His face was dark and red. He was thinner than two months ago, but more energetic.

Di Xiong clasped his fists and said, "Brother! It's been a long time since we last met. I've wanted to come and see you for a long time, but I've been busy and haven't found the time. I heard that you became the commander of the reserve army battalion, so I should come and congratulate you."

Feng Jishan smiled and said, "You seem to be more talkative than before. No wonder you became a big boss. Why did you bring so many things here today? Are you here to sell goods?"

Di Xiong said, "No, I heard that you are living in poverty and lack of supplies here, so I came here as a patriotic businessman to comfort the army. I brought 650 sets of earmuffs, cotton shoes and gloves, as well as three fat pigs and 100 kilograms of mutton, all for free, without asking for a single copper coin."