Black Flag Army

Di Xiong smiled and said, "After all, I am a detective by profession, and my brother-in-law is Wang Jinming of the Beiyang Army, so of course I know more than others. When Brother Feng becomes a general in the future, please don't refuse me when I go to you!"

Feng Jishan suddenly sighed and said, "Although the Qing Dynasty was overthrown and the Republic of China was established, Yuan Shikai continued to recognize the traitorous treaties signed by the Qing Dynasty with foreign countries in order to gain support from foreign powers. Customs, concessions, railways and ports are still in the hands of foreigners, and a large amount of wealth continues to be plundered by foreigners. What is the difference between this and the Qing Dynasty? Wang Jinming and his men's blood was shed in vain."

Di Xiong said: "So Brother Feng must have military power in the future. He is willing to temporarily join the Beiyang Army for this. Only with military power can he have the opportunity to control the government. Only by controlling the government can the treaty be abolished. Think about Yuan Shikai. Wasn't it because he had military power and territory that he defeated the revolutionaries and the Qing army and became president? This is called political power comes from the barrel of a gun."

Feng Jishan's face changed, and he felt that what he said made a lot of sense. He stared at Di Xiong and said, "I haven't asked your name for so long."

Di Xiong said, "My last name is Di Xiong, my courtesy name is Congmo. I work at the Xicheng District Police Station. I saw that Brother Feng was short of money just now. I still have some money on me. You can use it first." He took out ten silver dollars and handed them to Feng Jishen. Although Feng Jishen was extremely poor, he refused again and again. In the end, he only accepted two silver dollars and stated that it was a loan and he would definitely pay him back in the future.

Feng Jishan asked: "Brother Di, what do you think of Yuan Shikai?"

Di Xiong said: "When Yuan Shikai was 1884 years old, he became famous in the Gapsin Coup in Korea in . At that time, at the request of the pro-China faction in Korea, he led soldiers in the Huai Army to attack the Korean palace. He fought a bloody battle with more than Japanese soldiers and the pro-Japanese faction in Korea and rescued the kidnapped Korean king. At that time, Yuan Shikai was also a loyal and brave man of the Qing court. He became the Minister of Commerce in Korea for this achievement. However, after the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of -, the Qing court ceded land and paid compensation again. Yuan Shikai was completely disappointed with the Qing court and had the ambition to replace it. He really became an important official of the court, but in the Reform Coup years ago, he made merit by betraying the reformists and dyed his hat red with the blood of the six gentlemen including Tan Sitong. He became the governor of Shandong. In order to please the foreigners, he massacred the Boxers and their families in Shandong. When the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China, he signed the "Southeast Self-Preservation" secret agreement with the Allied Forces to preserve his strength. He controlled more than troops in Shandong Province, including He had elite German troops, but he watched the Eight-Nation Alliance troops burn, kill and loot in Beijing, Tianjin and Zhili Province. He paid tribute afterwards and was not punished. Instead, with the help of Ronglu and Li Lianying, he became the Governor-General of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang. After the Wuchang Uprising, he sent Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang to lead the Beiyang Army to bloodily suppress the revolutionary army in the south. He also suppressed the Wu Luzhen Uprising and the Luanzhou Uprising in the north. He was greedy for money and lustful, and had many wives and concubines. In the hearts of the common people, this man was notorious. "

Feng Jishan sighed and said, "But this man can become president. Even Mr. Sun in the south can't compete with him."

Di Xiong said: "The governors of the Southern Revolutionary Party are fighting for power and killing each other. They are basically a pile of loose sand. Mr. Sun was originally a doctor. He has no military power, no territory, and no money. Why should he compete with Yuan Shikai? Yuan Shikai's advantage is that he is good at using money, beauty, and power to win the hearts of generals and foreigners. Therefore, he not only has the largest army and the largest territory in China, but also has the support of foreign powers. The powers know that if they support Yuan Shikai, who is unpopular, as president, China will not be unified and will fall into disunity for a long time. This is in the interests of the powers, and they can continue to plunder wealth in China. If Mr. Sun is president, he may establish a strong and unified China. By then, the customs and concessions will definitely be taken back, which is what they don't want to see."

Feng Jishan laughed and said, "As a detective of the Beiyang government, you dare to say such treasonous words. Yuan Shikai will kill you if he finds out."

Di Xiong smiled and said, "I only dare to say this in front of Brother Feng. I believe Brother Feng will not betray me."

Feng Jishan added: "Using money and beauty to win people's hearts is a vulgar and shameless practice. How can it be called a virtue?"

Di Xiong smiled but did not answer. He thought to himself, "It was because you were too honest and did not want to resort to despicable tricks that you were pushed down from the position of supreme ruler."

Feng Jishan said: "I didn't expect Wang Jinming to have such a smart and capable brother-in-law like you, who knows everything about current national affairs and can analyze them very clearly."

The tea on the table was finished, and the remaining snacks were eaten up by Di Xiong. He was always frugal and hated waste. Di Xiong stood at the window, watching Feng Jishan's back as he left, with a smile on his face. Di Xiong was not a man of this era. He was Di Zhonghan, a young businessman who died in 2012. He had been an armed police officer. After demobilization, he did business. When his business was booming, he was killed in a car accident caused by several competitors. After his death, his soul was still attached to a detective from a hundred years ago. The detective was named Di Xiong. He was seriously ill at home. His parents died early, and only an old servant Di Fu was taking care of him. Di Fu thought that the young master was dying and was ready to take care of the funeral. After Di Zhonghan possessed him, "Di Xiong" woke up and recovered from the illness, but he didn't know anything about Di Xiong's past. Di Fu was very loyal to Di Xiong. He thought that the young master's illness had burned his brain, and tried his best to tell Di Xiong everything he knew. But he didn't know the situation at the police station. As a result, Di Xiong made a lot of jokes when he went to work at the police station. His colleague Yuan Baimao gave him a nickname, "Di Shazi". It took him more than a month to adapt to the new environment.

In his previous life, Di Zhonghan admired two people in the Republic of China, one was Feng Jishan and the other was Wang Yaqiao. He admired Feng Jishan because he trained a patriotic and disciplined army and taught a group of famous anti-Japanese generals such as Zhang Zizhong and Zhao Dengyu; he admired Wang Yaqiao because he joined forces with the Koreans to assassinate General Shirakawa Yoshinori, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese invading army. When he learned that he was reborn in Beijing in 1912, the first thing he thought of was to find Feng Jishan, because he knew that this person was the founder of the Northwest Army, which later became famous all over the world, and the subsequent failure of the Northwest Army was actually a loss to the country and the nation. He knew from history books that in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, the Xifengkou Victory, the Linyi Victory and the Taierzhuang Victory were all fought by the remnants of the Northwest Army. He wanted to help Feng Jishan to make the Northwest Army stronger and at the same time achieve his own career. He knew that Feng Jishan would appear in an inn in Beijing on the third day of the first lunar month, when he was at his most miserable. There were too many inns in Beijing, and he searched for two days before finding Gaosheng Inn. As for Wang Jinming's brother-in-law, of course it was nonsense. It was just a way to get close to Feng Jishan.

After paying the bill at the teahouse, Di Xiong was on his way back to the police station when he saw a notice of "Store Transfer" posted at the door of a small restaurant at the end of the street. On the black plaque were the words "Zhu's Restaurant". He was moved and walked in. The floor of the restaurant was dark, the tables and chairs were worn out, and the window paper had been torn by the cold wind and hung in pieces. There was not a single customer inside. The shopkeeper was a dark and thin middle-aged man, who was lying on the moldy counter, reading a worn-out Go chess manual.

Seeing someone coming in, the two waiters who were huddled in the corner stood up. Their cotton jackets were dirty and torn. One of the waiters with a sullen face came forward and greeted: "Sir, are you here to eat? I'm sorry, the restaurant is closed."

Di Xiong said, "I saw that your restaurant has posted a notice of transfer. I want to buy this restaurant and I'm here to discuss the price." Di Xiong knew that one of the important reasons for the failure of the Northwest Army was the lack of logistical support. During the bloody battle of Nankou, the soldiers could only eat one meal a day. In the end, even one meal could not be guaranteed. Even the most combat-capable army would be dragged down. Di Xiong believed that in order to change the fate of the Northwest Army, it was necessary to start an industry to make money. Buying this restaurant could be considered the first industry.

"Are you really going to buy our restaurant?" another thin waiter asked in surprise. The dark-faced waiter was also very excited, and the shopkeeper also raised his head, revealing a long face full of wrinkles.

Di Xiong looked at the shopkeeper and asked, "How much does it cost to transfer this restaurant?"

The long-faced shopkeeper said, "I'm sorry! I'm not the owner. You have to talk to the owner, Ma Gan! Go and call the boss's wife out!" The rest of his words were directed to the Ma Gan waiter, whose nickname was actually Ma Gan.

Ma Gan ran into the back hall. Although the boy was thin, he ran as fast as a rabbit. After a while, a woman in her thirties came out from behind the curtain. She had dignified features and beautiful eyes. Behind her was a little girl in her teens. The little girl had a white and tender face and was very cute, like a porcelain doll. They were dressed in shabby clothes and did not look like the shop owner at all.

Di Xiong asked curiously, "Why did you call the boss's wife out? Where is the boss?"

The pretty woman said, "My husband passed away last month, and I, a woman, can no longer run this restaurant, so I had to sell it. This restaurant is worth at least two hundred dollars, and I'm in urgent need of money. You only need to pay fifty dollars."

Di Xiong asked, "I haven't asked for your name, the boss lady? Is this your daughter? She is very beautiful. Can I see the title deed?" He reached out to touch the little girl's face, but she dodged him and glared at him.

The pretty woman said, "My last name is Wei, everyone calls me Mrs. Wei, and this is my daughter Yuqiong. May I ask what your last name is, sir? Where did you make your fortune?" She took out the house deed from her bosom and showed it to Di Xiong.

The family Di Xiong was reborn into was not wealthy. The former young master Di Xiong had long since squandered his family fortune on drinking, whoring and gambling, leaving him only an old courtyard with two entrances and a debt of more than 300 silver dollars. After Di Xiong was reborn, he heard about Yuan Baimao's story and blackmailed a corrupt official from the Qing Dynasty for 500 silver dollars. After paying off his debts, he still had more than 100 silver dollars left.

After Di Xiong finished reading it, he returned the deed to Mrs. Wei, told her his name and identity, and then said with a smile: "Fifty dollars for this restaurant is really cheap, deal! But I only have eight dollars on me, so I'll give you five dollars as a deposit. I'll go to the bank to withdraw the money now. You immediately find someone to write the transfer documents and prepare the formalities. I'll bring the remaining money and the middleman to handle the formalities within an hour."

Di Xiong took out five silver dollars and handed them to the woman, then turned around and went out to call a rickshaw and headed straight to the nearest bank. There were many people queuing at the bank, and it was very crowded. Several security guards in blue uniforms were maintaining order. When Di Xiong used the slip to withdraw 100 silver dollars from the counter, he attracted the attention of a girl in black. The girl was slender and wore a large mask on her face, revealing only a pair of beautiful big eyes. She saw Di Xiong casually put two rolls of silver dollars into his trouser pocket (50 silver dollars per roll), and she squeezed over quietly.

Di Xiong was just walking out and didn't notice the girl in black staring at his pocket. When he reached the door, he was bumped by a red-faced boy in a baseball cap. His body tilted and just happened to touch the girl in black.