Black Flag Army

The next morning, Lan Jinping left at dawn. Lan Jinchun, who was sleeping with her child in another room, waited until her sister left before walking into Di Xiong's bedroom. As soon as she entered, Di Xiong closed the door and looked at her coldly.

Lan Jinchun's face was filled with fear. Her body was shaking uncontrollably and her voice became stammering: "I... I know I was wrong. You can beat me or scold me as you like... It's up to you. Please don't look at me like that anymore. I'm really scared!"

Di Xiong's face was frighteningly gloomy. He clenched his fists tightly and said with gritted teeth: "You are a famous educator and the principal of Zhengqing School! How could you do such a thing? Is this what you call an 'unexpected surprise'?" His tone was full of disappointment and anger.

Lan Jinchun cried and said, "I know what I did was wrong. You can punish me however you want, but don't blame my sister. She is a widow with two children to take care of. It's hard for her to find a suitable man to be her husband. She is so pitiful."

At 8:00 a.m., in the conference room of the Justice Party building, the Justice Party leaders held a meeting and decided to promote a group of generals who had made contributions in the battles of Saynshand and Daranza. Wu Chunlei was promoted to deputy commander-in-chief of the Black Flag Army and continued to serve as commander of the First Army Group. His rank was promoted from lieutenant general to general. Lan Jinping was promoted to deputy chief of staff of the Black Flag Army and no longer served as chief of staff of the Third Army Group. His rank was promoted from major general to lieutenant general. Zhu Anbang was promoted from deputy chief of staff of the Third Army Group to chief of staff. Several deputy division commanders and brigade commanders were promoted to division commanders to fill the vacancies of division commanders.

After the meeting, when Xian Yujie left the meeting room, she made a gesture to Di Xiong in a very covert way. Di Xiong knew that this was a secret signal for a private meeting. Remembering that he had not met her alone for more than a month, he returned a gesture of agreement.

In the information room, when Di Xiong carried the carefully dressed Xian Yujie down the stairs, Xian Yujie suddenly sniffed Di Xiong, then her eyes turned red and she began to cry softly.

Di Xiong asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Xian Yuji wiped away her tears and said, "You know in your heart that you have a new lover. No wonder you haven't seen me for such a long time. It turns out that you are tired of the old and love the new, and you want to abandon me."

Di Xiong was surprised and said, "You can tell by just smelling it. Are you too good?"

Xian Yuji said, "Not only do I know you have a new lover, I also know she is Lan Jinping, because I sit next to her every time I have a meeting, and I know the smell of her perfume very well. Today, she sat next to me and looked radiant, so I knew something was wrong."

Di Xiong sighed and said, "I don't mean to abandon you." He told her everything that happened last night and that night, and then said, "She is just a poor widow who is lonely and unbearable, that's all."

Xian Yuji said, "So it was the two sisters who teamed up to plot against you. You can't be blamed. There must be something wrong with that bowl of hangover soup. I admit that my private life was a bit messy before, but since I became your lover, I have turned over a new leaf and rejected all other men's attempts to flirt with me. I have been devoted to being your woman, but the two sisters have taken you for themselves. Now you pity Lan Jinping, but who will pity me?"

Di Xiong said, "She told me the truth last night. She really had a one-night stand with me six years ago, and gave birth to a son for me five years ago, Li Hansheng, so I have no way of cutting off my relationship with her."

Xian Yuji said, "I have already told you that Li Hansheng is your son, but you didn't believe me and insisted on believing her lies. I can't control her being your lover, but you can't abandon me. We must date at least three times a month."

Di Xiong said: "That's for sure, my promise to you will not change."

In June, the drought in the north became more and more serious, especially in Henan Province. There was no rain for three consecutive months. Cracked farmland could be seen everywhere on both sides of the country roads. The food in the homes of the lower-class farmers was getting less and less. Looking at the dead wheat seedlings, people were panicked. In order to compete for the only water source, young and strong people in villages continued to fight, and countless people were killed and injured. The Beiyang government was busy fighting, so who cared about the lives of the people? Just after the Zhi-An War, another Zhi-Hei War was fought. The Zhi-Hei War ended, and the Zhi-Feng War began again. The two sides had fierce conflicts in Zhangjiakou and Chengde.

In Anyang County, Henan Province, in this dry and barren field, there is a dead silence and no life. A group of hungry people with pale faces, thin bodies and ragged clothes are wandering aimlessly, their eyes are empty, as if they have lost their souls and are walking like zombies.

At this moment, a man suddenly pointed ahead and shouted in a hoarse voice: "Look, there is a carriage ahead!" Everyone looked and saw a carriage in the distance. The carriage was shabby and the wheels rolled forward, making a creaking sound. There were several bulging large sacks on the carriage, and you could vaguely see that they were full of things.

"Could it be... this is the legendary grain truck?" someone asked in a trembling voice.

"Impossible? How could so much food appear here?" another person also questioned.

But the hungry people quickly gathered around, their eyes flashing with greed and despair, staring at the sacks as if they were their only hope for survival.

When the hungry people saw the carriage, their eyes turned red and they immediately rushed over like crazy. The coachman shouted in fear: "Don't come over!"

But the hungry people did not stop, but raised their steel forks, wooden sticks and kitchen knives. The two powerful servants on the carriage picked up their rifles and fired. After two shots, the two hungry people who were shot in the front fell to the ground. The other hungry people had already rushed to the front, and with their forks and sticks, they stabbed the two servants off the carriage and killed them. The driver suffered the same fate, but the hungry people were disappointed when they opened the sacks. There was only dry straw inside, not a grain of food. The hungry people killed the horse and shared it. In order to fight for a piece of horse meat, the hungry people had a bloody fight. Suddenly, there was a sound of horse hooves in the distance. The hungry people raised their heads and looked in horror. They saw a team of cavalry galloping over. They were wearing the black uniforms of the guard brigade, holding rifles, and looked majestic.

The cavalry came slowly, led by a young major officer in a neat uniform, with a stern expression and eyes as sharp as an eagle. When he saw the chaotic scene ahead, he frowned, waved his hand to signal the soldiers behind him to stop, and gave an order: "No more fighting!"

Then, three gunshots were heard, and three soldiers raised their guns and fired into the air. The sudden gunshot startled everyone, and the hundreds of hungry people who were fighting stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the sound in astonishment.

"Stop it!" The major's cold voice sounded, with unquestionable majesty. He rode his horse into the middle of the crowd, and his sharp eyes swept around the hungry people.

"Can anyone tell me who killed these three people?" The major asked in a cold tone, pointing at the three bodies lying on the ground.

He recognized the three men at a glance. One of them was the coachman of his own house, and the other two were servants.

After hearing the gunshots and shouts, the hungry people who had gathered together scattered instantly, but a few people who were too hungry to escape were unfortunately caught. Under the severe questioning of the guards, they trembled and explained the whole story.

After understanding the situation, the major immediately jumped off his horse and walked quickly to the pile of sacks thrown on the ground. He tore open one of the sacks and found that it was filled with worthless straw. Seeing this, the major could not help but feel very angry. He gnashed his teeth and cursed: "These damn poor ghosts are really hungry! They brutally killed three of my servants for a few useless bags of straw."

A second lieutenant platoon leader stared at the hungry people in front of him with a ferocious smile on his face. He then turned to look at the major standing behind him, with a cruel light flashing in his eyes, and asked, "Captain Shang! What should we do with these poor people? Should we just kill them?"

Captain Shang frowned, and his eyes swept over the hungry people, with a trace of disdain and indifference in his eyes. He took a deep breath and replied firmly: "Killing someone means paying with your life! Since you have committed a crime, you should be punished."

After hearing the order, the platoon leader smiled with satisfaction. He nodded, then turned around and waved to the other soldiers, saying, "Let's go! Take these guys to be executed!" Then he led the hungry people to the ridge of the field.

The hungry people looked at the soldiers around them in horror, their eyes full of despair and fear. They began to beg for mercy, but the soldiers were indifferent, as if they had not heard them. Finally, they were taken to the edge of the field, and the soldiers pointed their guns at them.

After a few gunshots, the hungry people fell to the ground, and their blood dyed the land red. Captain Shang watched all this silently, with no ripples in his heart, as if such things were already common to him.

Captain Shang led the cavalry into a village. Most of the houses in the village were dilapidated thatched houses. There was only one large house with red walls and blue tiles. There were three courtyards. There were several servants at the gate of the courtyard. When they saw Captain Shang coming, they all came forward to greet him: "Young Master is back!"

Captain Shang dismounted and entered the courtyard, saying to his parents who came out to greet him, "Dad! Mom! Why haven't you fled yet? Everyone in the village has fled, and villagers from several neighboring villages have also fled."

Father Shang sighed, "Where can we go? This house and land are left by our ancestors, how can we give them up so easily?"

Shang's mother agreed, "Yes, and your brothers and sisters are still young, and the journey is long. What if you encounter bandits?"

Captain Shang said helplessly: "But we don't know when this drought will end, and staying here is not a solution. There are bandits and hungry people everywhere now, and their numbers are increasing. If a large group of bandits comes, how can we, a family and dozens of servants, stay here?"

Shang's mother said, "Could it be that what the Taoist priest who came at the beginning of the year said was true? He said that there would be no rain in the Year of the Sheep, and the drought demon would be released from prison and flee to Beihai, where he would be free from worries. Unfortunately, Beihai Province is too far away from our Henan Province."

At this time, a servant came running over and said, "Master, it's bad! Those hungry people have come to our warehouse to steal food!"

Captain Shang's eyes turned cold, "Humph, these bold and unruly people are simply lawless! I'll go and take a look." After that, he led a group of guards and servants to the warehouse. When Captain Shang arrived at the warehouse, the hungry people were arguing with the servants. Without saying a word, he ordered the guards to shoot. The hungry people fled everywhere, and some were hit by bullets and fell to the ground. Captain Shang looked at the corpses on the ground, and a sense of pleasure arose in his heart. However, he soon realized that such killing would only cause more hatred and conflicts.

Captain Shang went home and said to his parents, "Since you don't want to flee to other places, why don't you move to Anyang County? The people who came just now were just a small group of hungry people. If they were a large group of hungry people or bandits, I really couldn't stop them!"

After hearing this, Shang's mother was a little shaken and persuaded Shang's father, "Then go to the city to take shelter. Isn't your second brother in the city? Take the land deeds and house deeds with you. The land and house can't be taken away. Come back after the disaster is over."

Mr. Shang thought what she said made sense, so he nodded and agreed. Then the last family in the village also moved away.

Six months ago, monks, nuns, and Taoists in Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Zhili, and Shandong provinces prophesied that there would be a severe drought this year and that people must flee to Beihai Province. As expected, after the severe drought this year, tens of thousands of refugees from all over the country fled to the north, forming a huge refugee wave. All the refugee teams were heading to one place: Beihai Province.

On July 1, 1920, in the office of the Justice Party leader in Beitang City, Tian Mengxue was reporting the situation of the refugees to Di Xiong: "This refugee wave is coming fiercely. There are millions of refugees in the first batch, and there will be a second and third batch. The first to come are from Zhili and Shanxi, who are closer to Beihai Province, and there are refugees from Shaanxi, Henan, and Shandong. Our propaganda department's propaganda efforts were too strong. Do we have enough food reserves?"

Di Xiong said: "Since they are here, we must accept them."

He turned around and said to Huo Qingtong seriously: "Write all of this down, and then issue orders immediately. First, let the Beihai Winery and all the wineries in the northern three provinces stop using grain to make wine, and switch to fruit wine. If there are violators, all their property will be confiscated and they will be arrested and imprisoned. Second, notify the Foreign Trade Department of Beihai Province and ask them to reduce the amount of grain shipped to Russia, saying that the drought has caused the price of grain to rise. Finally, arrange to deliver one hundred tons of flour to Daranza and Saynshand every day to supply the refugees there. We must ensure that no refugee will starve to death." After speaking, he looked into the distance with a firm gaze, as if thinking about something important.