Black Flag Army

In mid-May 1912, the Left Route Reserve Army completed three months of recruit training. Three battalions were ordered to guard the Army Department's Arms Bureau and Arsenal in Sanjiadian, west of Beijing, 50 miles away from the capital. The three battalions were Feng Jishan's front battalion, Lu Chengwu's rear battalion, and Dong Shilu's left battalion. One of Feng Jishan's battalions was stationed in Lingyuan Village in Sanjiadian. Feng Jishan saw that there were many dilapidated empty houses in Lingyuan Village, so he organized soldiers to renovate them and set up three lecture halls: the squad leader lecture hall, the officer lecture hall, and the special soldier lecture hall. In addition, two training classes were established: the boxing training class and the sword training class. Wu Chunlei participated in the training of the squad leader lecture hall, the boxing class, and the sword class. Among the soldiers in his class, Cao Fulin, Sun Lianzhong, and Liu Ruming participated in the special soldier lecture hall. Considering that most soldiers were illiterate, Feng Jishan compiled a textbook of 800 commonly used characters to enlighten the soldiers. There were simple annotations under each character so that they could understand it at a glance. Because there were many bandits near the west of Beijing, Director Yuan of the Ordnance Bureau gave several hundred automatic breech-loading rifles to each of the three battalions for the safety of the armory and arsenal. Although all the soldiers in the battalion were basically equipped with guns, Feng Jishan still selected 150 soldiers to form a broadsword team. The broadswords they used were all Penang iron broadswords produced by the Weili Iron Factory.

Among all the twenty-five battalions of the five reserve armies, only Feng Jishan's battalion had lecture halls and training classes. When Lu Jianzhang learned about it, he praised it highly. He went to inspect and listen in person, and sent some equipment that was urgently needed for the lecture hall. He asked his son Lu Chengwu's rear battalion to set up a lecture hall as well. Lu Chengwu was a playboy who only knew how to eat, drink, gamble and whore. He agreed on the surface, but actually did nothing about it.

"Dinner is ready! Dinner is ready!"

As the bugle sounded for dinner, the soldiers rushed to the canteen. Wu Chunlei also entered with his lunch box. The cook Feng Zhian saw Wu Chunlei coming and hurriedly used a big spoon to scoop a spoonful of thick porridge from the big pot for him, and then gave him two yellow steamed buns.

Wu Chunlei sighed and said, "It's porridge and steamed bread again! There's no oil or water at all. I'm tired of it and I really can't eat it anymore."

Upon hearing this, Han Fuju, the platoon leader next to him, said angrily, "Wu Chunlei, as a squad leader, how can you be so picky about food? In the barracks, it's good to have enough food. Did you know that Captain Feng eats the same as us? The battalion commanders of the other two battalions in the Ordnance Bureau eat a lot of fish and meat every day, but the soldiers under them can't eat enough. They are all skin and bones, and some even starve to death. If you dare to talk nonsense and disrupt the morale of the army again, be careful to get a beating with a military stick!"

Han Fuju was serving as a librarian under Feng Jishen during the Luanzhou Uprising, and he always looked down on people like Wu Chunlei who came from the underworld.

Feng Zhian added, "Yes, squad leader Wu, if it weren't for your brother Di who brought some millet with him when he delivered the sword last time, we wouldn't even have porridge to drink."

Wu Chunlei was a man who could bend and stretch. He quickly bowed his head and said to the platoon leader: "I'm sorry! I marked it wrong!"

After Han Fuju left, Feng Zhian saw that there was no one around, so he took out two white buns and stuffed them into Wu Chunlei's arms. Wu Chunlei was overjoyed and quickly put them in his arms.

Feng Zhian asked, "Captain Wu! Is there any progress on the matter of recruiting regular soldiers that I told you about last time?"

Wu Chunlei said: "I have reported your name to Captain Song. Once Captain Song approves it, you will be a regular soldier in our squad."

The soldiers of the Beiyang Army were divided into regular soldiers and auxiliary soldiers. Auxiliary soldiers were also called servants, including cooks, grooms, gunsmiths, porters, etc. There were more than 200 auxiliary soldiers in a battalion. The work of auxiliary soldiers was harder and more tiring than that of regular soldiers, but their salary and treatment were far worse than those of regular soldiers. Moreover, they had no weapons. If they encountered enemies in battle without the protection of regular soldiers, they could only flee or be slaughtered. Therefore, most auxiliary soldiers wanted to be transferred to regular soldiers.

Wu Chunlei said, "I'm going to take a leave tomorrow to go back to the capital. Do you want to bring something with me?"

Feng Zhian said, "If you hadn't told me, I wouldn't have remembered. I really need to buy something. I recently got a scabies on my leg. If there's time, buy me a box of scabies cream and two pairs of socks."

The next morning, Wu Chunlei took the train from Sanjiadian back to Beijing. As soon as he got off the station, he saw Chen Xianglian who came to pick him up. Chen Xianglian was wearing a brand new light yellow outfit. Her face, which had been yellow and thin a few months ago, had become white and rosy, and she looked much more beautiful than before. Wu Chunlei felt warm in his heart and had an urge to hug her in his arms.

Chen Xianglian saw him, ran over excitedly, punched him lightly on the shoulder and said, "You're back! You look a lot darker and thinner than you were three months ago. I'll give you a good rest this time. After receiving the telegram, Mr. Di was going to pick you up in person, but because he was too busy with the establishment of the Justice Party, he asked me to pick you up."

Wu Chunlei asked: "What Justice Party?"

Chen Xianglian said, "The Xihe Society has changed its name to the Justice Party. It has only more than 20 members and has two peripheral organizations: the Zhengqing Society and the Jiandao Society. Not only are you a member of the party, but you are also one of the eight Mohists. Do you know what a Mohist is? Just like the boss of the Flying Eagle Gang, you have a very high status. This time I asked you to come back to complete the oath-taking procedures for joining the party."

Wu Chunlei asked: "What do the Zhengqing Society and the Jiandao Society do? Are you a member of the Justice Party?"

Chen Xianglian said, "The full name of the Zhengqing Club is the Justice Youth Club. It recruits young people under the age of 18 from Weili Company to join. After one to three years of assessment, those who perform well can join the Justice Party. The full name of the Jiandao Club is the Jiandao Brotherhood Association. Those who are recruited from other gangs and do not meet the qualifications of the Justice Party members are all members of the Jiandao Club. In the future, the dirty work of fighting and killing will be done by the Jiandao Club. I joined the Xihe Club too late, so I could only be a member of the Zhengqing Club. It was Sister Lan and Sister Bai who helped persuade Mr. Di to let me become a member of the Justice Party."

Wu Chunlei asked: "Who are the other seven Mohists?"

Chen Xianglian said: "The party chairman Mr. Di, the vice chairman Wu, the secretary general Sister Lan, and the other four people are the supervisory section chief Leng Hanbing, the intelligence section chief Wu Chunfeng, the president of the Zhengqing Association Sister Bai, and the president of the Jiandao Association Hong Tianlie."

Wu Chunlei was surprised and asked, "Sister Lan actually joined the Justice Party and became the Secretary-General?"

Chen Xianglian said, "Mr. Di and Sister Bai took great pains to convince her to join. Sister Lan has a special status, so her joining the Justice Party must be kept secret." Seeing that Wu Chunlei's hair was dirty and his beard was long, she took him to the barber shop to wash his hair, cut his hair, and shave his beard. She also combed his hair neatly. Wu Chunlei looked at her serious and focused look and thought, "If I can marry her in the future, I will be very happy."

Chen Xianglian took Wu Chunlei to No. 21, Lane , Xihe Street, which was the former headquarters of the Xihe Gang Action Group and is now the office of the Justice Party. Wu Chunlei saw the Justice Party flag here: a square flag with a black background and red borders, with a white Big Dipper on top and two crossed white swords below. Wu Chunlei had listened to Di Xiong's lectures, and these two swords were obviously the swords of justice that Di Xiong often talked about, and the Big Dipper was the pattern on the black flag military flag created by Liu Yongfu.

Di Xiong attached great importance to Wu Chunlei. Seven Mohists, including Di Xiong, were waiting for Wu Chunlei while holding a meeting in the office. The most eye-catching person in the meeting room was not Lan Jinping and Bai Xiuling, but Wu Chunfeng. Wu Chunfeng's hair was shiny and shiny. He wore a snow-white suit and a red tie. With his fair face, he looked like a pretty boy. Wu Chunfeng used to dress up when he was in the Flying Eagle Gang, but he was too poor to buy clothes, so he had to wash his tattered clothes every day. His clothes were the cleanest in the Flying Eagle Gang. Later, when he came to Xihe and had money, his love of dressing up was exposed. He bought many sets of clothes under the pretext of doing intelligence work. After becoming the head of the intelligence department, this problem became more serious.

Di Xiong said to Hong Tianlie, "Although you are the president, you should listen to the opinions of the vice president Li Fei. Li Fei has been a patrolman for many years and is older than you. He knows all the people in Beijing. You have a problem with alcoholism and gambling. You should drink less and gamble less in the future, otherwise you will make mistakes or be taken advantage of. Do you understand?"

Hong Tianlie said: "Don't worry, boss, I will remember it."

In fact, in Di Xiong's mind, Hong Tianlie is not the right person to be the president of the Sharp Knife Club. He has a bad temper, acts rashly, and has too many flaws. His strengths are that he is very brave when fighting and is absolutely loyal to Di Xiong. Leng Hanbing and Li Fei are the right candidates, but Leng Hanbing already has several positions, and he will definitely not be able to handle being the president of the Sharp Knife Club. Li Fei joined the Xihe Club late, and without any great achievements, it is difficult to convince the public.

At this time, Wu Chunlei came in and shook hands and greeted everyone enthusiastically. Di Xiong took Wu Chunlei to the party flag, gave him a copy of the Justice Party Handbook, and asked him to read the purpose and goals in the handbook facing the party flag. After he finished reading, the ceremony ended.

In the past, the purpose of Mohism was to promote the benefits of the world and eliminate the harm of the world, to love all and not to attack, to respect the virtuous and not to fatalism. Di Xiong changed the purpose of promoting the benefits of the world and eliminating the harm of the world to eight words: "uphold justice and eradicate evil." He retained the principles of loving all and not to attack, and respecting the virtuous and not to fatalism.

Di Xiong said to Wu Chunlei: "Love all and do not attack means: no distinction between high and low, everyone is equal, oppose aggressive wars, respect the virtuous and do not accept fate means: select the virtuous as officials, do not recognize the things that are destined, and rely on yourself to change your destiny. You must remember the goal of the Justice Party: to drive out foreign powers, recover the lost territories of the Qing Dynasty, overthrow the Beiyang government, and revitalize the Chinese nation!"

Wu Chunlei said seriously: "I am a squad leader of the Beiyang Army, but you want me to overthrow the Beiyang government. Isn't this asking me to rebel?"

This made everyone laugh. After the meeting, everyone went to Weili Restaurant, where a sumptuous banquet had been prepared to welcome Wu Chunlei. Wu Chunlei had not eaten meat for a long time. He wolfed down many delicious dishes, and when he was half drunk, he pulled Chen Xianglian away from the banquet and went to the bedroom next door to enjoy himself with Chen Xianglian.

Hong Tianlie laughed and said, "Wu Chunlei was too impatient. He attacked Chen Xianglian before he even finished drinking."

Tian Mengxue smiled and said, "This is normal. After serving in the army for three years, he returned home. Seeing a sow is like Diao Chan. Squad Leader Wu has not left the barracks for several months, and he must have been suffocated a long time ago."

Tian Mengxue was supposed to be the chief of the newly established Intelligence Section, but as the number of intelligence personnel increased and the workload grew, Tian Mengxue felt overwhelmed and took the initiative to give way to Wu Chunfeng. She became the deputy chief, and by doing so, she also gave up Mozhe's position.

After the rain cleared, the exhausted Wu Chunlei still held Chen Xianglian tightly. Chen Xianglian wiped the sweat off her face with a handkerchief and smiled at him, "I'm not going to run away, why are you holding me so tightly?"

Wu Chunlei said, "I feel like I'm dreaming. I was a poor man who couldn't even get enough food a few months ago, but now I'm not only an officer in the Beiyang Army and a leader of the Justice Party, but I also have a woman as good as you. Compared to my former brothers, I'm really lucky."

Chen Xianglian said, "You borrowed a large sum of money to save me from the fire pit last time. I have long regarded myself as your woman, and it is only right for me to commit myself to you."

Wu Chunlei asked: "But will your parents agree to our marriage?"

Chen Xianglian said, "Sister Lan said that she will make the decision for us and persuade them. You don't have to worry. Also, Mr. Di said that the company sent you to join the army, so it's considered a business trip. The company will keep your position as department manager and pay you your monthly salary. I'll collect it on your behalf. Do you have any objections?"

Wu Chunlei was overjoyed and said, "There is such a good thing? You are the person I trust the most now, so of course I have no objection."

Chen Xianglian asked, "Isn't Wu Chunfeng your brother? Why don't you let him take the lead?"

Wu Chunlei said: "He is my distant cousin. When he fled from Henan, his parents starved to death on the way. I felt sorry for him, so I brought him to Beijing."

Chen Xianglian said, "I'm not trying to sow discord between you two brothers. Your cousin is too philandering. He has intimate relationships with several female employees at the same time. He spends money like water and has many problems. You should talk to him when you have time, otherwise you will suffer a great loss."

Wu Chunlei nodded and said, "This is all because he has too much money. When he was a pauper before, he didn't have so many problems."