Black Flag Army

On the morning of March 20, 1913, outside the west gate of Beijing, along Xihe Street, a young man in the uniform of a Beiyang Army officer walked into the Lanji Hotel. The Lanji Hotel was the former Weili Hotel, and the current owner is Lan Jinping. When Di Xiong first took over the Weili Hotel, it was just a very small one-room hotel. Later, Di Xiong expanded it to a two-story building with five storefronts, a comprehensive hotel integrating food, bathing, and accommodation. When it came to Lan Jinping, it became a three-story building with more magnificent decoration, and also added casino and brothel services.

The waiter at the door was only fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing a snow-white dress. He greeted the officer politely: "Excuse me, sir, how can I help you?"

The officer with the rank of lieutenant said, "I'm here to see the owner of your store. Is Mr. Lan here?"

The waiter said, "General Manager Lan is not here, but Manager Du is here. It's the same if you tell Manager Du what you want to say."

It was nine o'clock in the morning, and the hall was still full of breakfast guests. Business was booming. Manager Du was collecting money at the counter. He looked up and saw that the officer who walked in was Wu Chunlei. He was very surprised and said, "Brother Wu! Are you back to visit your family? It's a pity that Foreman Chen is no longer here. She went to Baotou with General Manager Wu."

Manager Du is Du Magan, but he has gained weight now and weighs more than 150 kilograms. No one calls him by this nickname anymore. People below him call him Manager Du, and people above him call him Du Yongzhong.

Wu Chunlei said: "I'm here to look for Sister Lan and Hong Tianlie."

Du Yongzhong invited Wu Chunlei to an elegant room for tea, and then called Lan Jinping and Hong Tianlie.

When Lan Jinping walked into the elegant room, Wu Chunlei had already finished his cup of tea. Both of them were very surprised to see each other. Lan Jinping said, "Have you had breakfast? I'll ask someone to bring you a basket of meat buns. I remember you like meat buns the most."

Wu Chunlei shook his head and said, "No need, I've already eaten. What I want to know most now is why the Weili Company in Nankou Town is deserted and overgrown with weeds?"

Lan Jinping asked, "Didn't you receive Chen Xianglian's letter? Didn't you read the newspaper?"

Wu Chunlei said, "Our troops left Sanjiadian Village a long time ago and were transferred to Henan to suppress bandits, so we didn't receive Chen Xianglian's letter. We did read the newspapers, but the content of different newspapers was different and contradictory. I want to hear your opinion."

Lan Jinping said, "This matter started more than three months ago. At that time, under the management of Di Xiong, a business genius, Weili Company was doing very well and made tens of thousands of dollars every month. However, a big tree attracts the wind, and the Japanese who were squeezed out of the business became jealous and hired the Qinglong, Guiying, and Beilang gangs to massacre Nankou Town..."

Lan Jinping first recounted the attack on Nankou Town by the three major gangs and the counterattack by the Justice Party, and then said: "Under pressure from the Japanese, the Beiyang government sent police to arrest Di Xiong and prepare to sentence him to death. But Kawashima Naniwa was worried that things would get worse, so he bribed the police chief Yuan Chenggui and wanted to kill him directly in the cell through the old prisoners. Fortunately, I got the news in time and bribed the prison guards to get Liu Zhendong into Di Xiong's cell at night. After a fierce fight, Liu Zhendong killed the leader Tie Haozi, and the other four old prisoners were also seriously injured. Wu Zhong also immediately sent fifty "big yellow croakers" (gold bars) to Xu Shichang and Lu Jianzhang respectively."

Wu Chunlei said: "After beating someone to death, will those policemen let it go?"

Lan Jinping said: "This is not a big deal. The Police Department doesn't care about the deaths of a few prisoners. Besides, the money given to Xu Shichang and Lu Jianzhang also played a role. Xu Shichang said a lot of good things about Weili Company in front of President Yuan. The president also thought about sparing Di Xiong's life, but the Japanese were tough. They said that others could be spared, but Di Xiong must be executed."

Wu Chunlei looked a little nervous. After taking a sip of tea, he asked, "Did Brother Di survive?"

Lan Jinping replied, "He can be considered alive, or he can be said to be dead. I told Lu Jianzhang about the various benefits of Weili Company, and asked him to save Di Xiong's life in exchange for helping him acquire the company. Lu Jianzhang bribed the prison warden and several of his cronies with the gold bars given by Wu Zhong, and threw a death row prisoner who looked somewhat similar to Di Xiong into Di Xiong's cell. In order to deceive the Japanese who were watching the execution, he also asked a makeup artist to make up for the fake Di Xiong, and bribed the fake Di Xiong's family members to make the fake Di Xiong admit in front of the judge that he was Di Xiong. He was originally a death row prisoner who was to be shot, so it didn't matter what his name was. Di Xiong himself was put into a body bag and thrown into a mass grave as a prisoner who died of illness. A few days later, the fake Di Xiong was shot in the name of Di Xiong himself, and his household registration was marked as dead and cancelled. The news of Di Xiong's death was also reported in the newspapers."

Hearing this, Wu Chunlei was surprised and happy, and said: "Brother Di is finally alive. I want to express my gratitude to Sister Lan and General Lu."

After saying that, Wu Chunlei stood up and bowed to Lan Jinping. Lan Jinping sighed and said, "Don't be in a hurry to thank me. The trouble left by Di Xiong has given us a headache for a while. As for Lu Jianzhang, he is a greedy guy who does things for money. You don't have to thank him."

Although she was Lu Jianzhang's concubine, it was obvious that she had no good feelings towards Lu Jianzhang.

Then he went on to say, "Without Di Xiong, Weili Company naturally became a lamb to be slaughtered. Minister of the Interior Zhao Bingjun and Police Chief Yuan Chenggui both wanted to get it. Under the strong persuasion of Xu Shichang, President Yuan required those who wanted to get Weili Company to buy the company for 150,000 oceans. Because they had to pay 150,000 oceans to the Japanese, and the company had been looted by those policemen after all, those two were afraid that Weili Company was not worth that much money now, so they took the initiative to give it. In order to help Di Xiong keep the company, I told Lu Jianzhang that Weili Company had huge profits, definitely more than 150,000 oceans. He believed me and took out a loan from the Bank of Communications to acquire all of Weili Company's assets. The restaurant was handed over to me to manage, and I also promised to give Lu Jianzhang a profit of 60,000 oceans in three months. So I became the owner of the restaurant, and Mr. Lu handed over the other three factories to his other three relatives. He himself actually had no interest in business."

Lan Jinping said a lot in one breath, and then she also drank a sip of tea. Wu Chunlei was a little confused, and he asked: "Sister Lan, since Mr. Lu let his relatives manage other factories, why is it so deserted there now?"

Lan Jinping went on to say, "Di Xiong dug a lot of holes. A lot of the talent, funds and equipment of the three factories were transferred by Wu Zhong, Leng Hanbing and others. The formula of the pharmaceutical factory was also taken away. There were many problems with the accounts alone. Those people from the Lu family didn't want to run the business either. They just wanted to make money. After taking over, they sold the goods in the warehouse at a low price and put the money into their own pockets, regardless of whether the products were expired. For example, a lot of expired drugs from the pharmaceutical factory flowed into the black market. Many workers had already left, and the remaining ones left after working for a month. When they saw that their wages were not paid on time and the canteen was closed, more people left. They left quickly. The three relatives of the Lu family were very happy because everyone had left. He We just happened to sell all the machines at a low price and made some money. After making the money, the Lu family no longer cared about the company, so Weili Company soon went bankrupt. The 60,000 yuan I promised was given to Lu Jianzhang. Lu Jianzhang asked his three relatives for money, and they complained bitterly, saying that they didn’t make much money. Each of them only gave Lu Jianzhang 20,000 yuan and left. Lu Jianzhang also got angry with me several times because he didn’t make 150,000 yuan. It was obviously his fault for hiring the wrong people, so how could he blame me? Later, I said that the hotel could still give him a profit of 20,000 yuan every month, and he calmed down. In fact, each of the three relatives made at least 50,000 yuan, because after returning to their hometown, they were busy building mansions, marrying beautiful concubines, buying good land, entertaining guests, and spending money like water."

When Wu Chunlei heard this, he couldn't help but feel deeply moved. Di Xiong had originally set up his company with the intention of benefiting the people and had helped so many poor refugees, but in the end it ended up like this. So he continued to ask, "Where did Brother Di go? Didn't he come back after his company went bankrupt?"

Lan Jinping replied: "After he faked his death, he was taken to Baotou by Liu Zhendong. I don't know the specific circumstances. In addition, when Wu Zhong left, he not only took Tuo Qingyun away, but also took Chen Xianglian away. I wanted her to stay and help me manage the hotel. Wu Zhong said that having Du Yongzhong to help me was enough. He insisted on taking Chen Xianglian away and said that this was Di Xiong's intention. Chen Xianglian also expressed her willingness to obey Di Xiong's orders, so I had to let her go."

At this time, Wu Chunlei heard a familiar voice saying, "Where is Di Xiong? I know. I just came back from him."

Wu Chunlei looked closely and saw that the man was holding a bottle of wine in one hand and leaning against the wall with the other hand, his face flushed. It was Hong Tianlie. Wu Chunlei realized that Hong Tianlie, who had always admired Di Xiong, no longer called him "big brother" but called him by his name, and realized that something was wrong.

Wu Chunlei asked, "Why are you drunk again? Tianlie! You are the president of the Sharp Knife Society now. How will your subordinates view you if you are always drunk?"

Hong Tianlie said: "I am no longer the chairman of the Sharp Knife Society. I fought bloody battles in Nankou Town and killed Ding Heigui. I made great contributions to the Justice Party. But I made a small mistake and Di Xiong dismissed me from my position as chairman."

Wu Chunlei looked at Lan Jinping, who said, "I have been in Beijing the whole time, so I am not very clear about the situation in Baotou. I only found out the reason why Wu Zhong was dismissed after receiving his letter."

Du Yongzhong came in to pour tea for everyone. Seeing Hong Tianlie staggering as if he was about to fall, he quickly helped him sit down on a chair.

Hong Tianlie said to himself, "Di Xiong is a lucky man. Although he suffered some hardships in Beijing, he became successful after arriving in Baotou. He became the chairman of Beihai Group and became friends with Suiyuan General Zhang Shaozeng. I just slept with Guan Xue, but he put me in solitary confinement, removed me as the chairman, and stripped me of my position as a Mozhe. What's the point of me staying in the Justice Party? I can just take a group of brothers back to Beijing to conquer the world on my own."

Lan Jinping said, "Wu Zhong said in the letter that after Guan Xue, the president of the Qinglong Society, was captured, Di Xiong had intended to persuade Guan Xue to surrender and use the Qinglong Society's network in Beijing to create benefits for the Justice Party and the Beihai Company. But Hong Tianlie messed things up. He claimed that he wanted to avenge Ma Tiehan and Zhang Kuwa, so he tortured Guan Xue to death with instruments of torture and ruined her body. In the end, he forced her to receive customers, causing her to contract syphilis. Di Xiong had to end her life early, otherwise she would have been covered with pustules and died of ulcers all over her body."

Wu Chunlei asked: "Didn't anyone stop him at that time?"

Lan Jinping said, "At that time, Di Xiong was still in prison, and Liu Zhendong and Li Fei were still trying their best to rescue him. The company had just moved to Baotou and it was very chaotic. Wu Zhong, Leng Hanbing, Wu Chunfeng and others were all so busy that no one cared about this matter."

Hong Tianlie said with a breath of alcohol in his mouth, "What's so great about Di Xiong? He was tortured in prison. Demote me to vice president and let Li Fei be the president. I simply quit being vice president. I returned to Beijing and reorganized the Flying Eagle Gang. I am the leader. Li Manniu, Liu Dasha and others are all leaders under me. You, Wu Chunlei, can come over and be the deputy leader."

Wu Chunlei frowned and said to Lan Jinping, "Get him some Pueraria root soup to sober him up. I have to go to Baotou. Although Hong Tianlie made a mistake, we can't just give up like this."

That evening, Lan Jinping hosted a banquet for Wu Chunlei at the hotel, and invited his old acquaintances Guan Qier and Du Yongzhong to accompany him. Guan Qier had made great contributions in gathering intelligence about the gangsters' attack on Nankou Town, and had become the chief of the Beijing Intelligence Station. He thought Guan Qier's name was ugly, so he changed his name to Guan Hantang, but everyone still called him Guan Qier. Hong Tianlie was also at the banquet. He had sobered up and stopped talking nonsense. Lan Jinping didn't allow him to drink, so he didn't drink. He just ate his food and didn't talk, as if he had turned into a cold ice.

Guan Hantang looked at Wu Chunlei's shoulder straps and asked, "You have been a soldier in the Beiyang Army for more than half a year, right? How come you are only a lieutenant? What position do you hold?"

Wu Chunlei smiled bitterly and said, "I am now the deputy company commander."

Guan Hantang said, "You were promoted too slowly. I remember that you became a squad leader in the first month after joining the Beiyang Army, and a platoon leader in the second month. It took more than half a year before you became a deputy company commander. Zhang Zhenyang was only a platoon leader before he joined the patrol regiment, but now he is the regiment commander and cavalry battalion commander. And Zhang Zhongzhi, who joined the Justice Party after you, is now a battalion commander."

Du Yongzhong said, "The situation is different. The Beiyang Army is a regular army, and the patrol regiment is a ragtag army. It is difficult to get promoted in the regular army, and Feng Jishan is a very strict person. Of course, there are very few bosses like Mr. Di who know how to use people well."

Wu Chunlei said: "The reserve battalion was first expanded into a regiment, and later into a brigade. There were many opportunities for promotion, but I offended my superior Han Fuju and was retaliated by him, so I couldn't get promoted. At that time, the platoon leader Shi Yousan bullied the new recruits and forced them to pay tribute and money. If they didn't pay, he would beat them. As a member of the Justice Party, of course I couldn't ignore it, so I knocked him down and beat him up. Shi Yousan was Han Fuju's close friend, so Han Fuju found all kinds of excuses to deal with me. After the expansion of the army, the three squad leaders under me were promoted to platoon leaders, and later Cao Fulin even became a company commander. However, because Han Fuju repeatedly said bad things about me in front of Brigade Commander Feng, I was always stuck in the position of platoon leader and couldn't move. Later, Song Zheyuan and Li Mingzhong couldn't stand it anymore, so they asked Brigade Commander Feng to intercede for me, and I was promoted to deputy company commander."

Lan Jinping looked at Wu Chunlei's thin face and said, "It seems that you have suffered a lot in the Beiyang Army. If you really can't make it, come back. The position of department manager in the company is reserved for you. You can also go to the patrol regiment to be the battalion commander. Chen Xianglian has always missed you."

Wu Chunlei said, "I found that I still have a lot to learn under Commander Feng. Besides, I would be too embarrassed to come back if I don't become a battalion commander."

Suddenly, a newsboy on the streets of Beijing shouted, "Newspapers for sale! Newspapers for sale! Breaking news! Song Changde, the leader of the White Star Party, was assassinated in Shanghai!"

Lan Jinping was surprised and said, "The White Star Party defeated other parties in the recent parliamentary election and won a landslide victory. Everyone said that Song Changde would become prime minister, but I didn't expect him to be assassinated."