Black Flag Army

In the early morning, the cold wind blew on the white tents of the refugee camp outside Bulgan County. Although some of the tents were a little shabby, they were all neatly patched and there were no leaks. At the gate of the refugee camp, a flag with a black background and white patterns was very eye-catching.

"It's time for dinner! It's time for dinner! Hurry up and line up to get steamed buns. Two steamed buns and a bowl of meat soup for each person." A platoon leader of the security brigade shouted loudly, leading the soldiers to maintain order in the queue of refugees. Thousands of refugees lined up under the guidance of the soldiers. There were cooks in white aprons at more than a dozen stalls serving meat soup and steamed buns for them.

Mr. Zhou from Peking University was chewing a steamed bun while he said to the scarred guide, "Little brother! Where is this place? How long will it take to get to Beitang City?"

The scarred guide who was drinking meat soup said, "We have reached Bulgan County. We will reach Beitang City tomorrow after another day of walking. However, most refugees cannot enter Beitang City. They can only enter the refugee camps in the six counties below because Beitang City cannot accommodate so many refugees."

Mr. Zhou asked, "Can I enter Beitang City? I have traveled over a thousand kilometers just to see Beitang City. It would be a pity if I cannot enter Beitang City."

The scarred guide smiled and said, "I have no say in this matter. That man has the final say, as long as you can pass his questioning." He pointed to a young lieutenant officer who was walking over.

This young lieutenant officer wore a gray cloth uniform like other officers and soldiers of the guard brigade. The only difference was that he wore a black badge on his left chest with a pattern of two white swords on it.

The young officer saluted Mr. Zhou and said, "Welcome Professor Zhou to Bulgan County in Beitang City. I am Zhan Yiqing, the inspector of the third company of the first battalion of the first regiment of the security brigade. I have been ordered to ask you a few questions. First, where are you from?"

Mr. Zhou put down the steamed bun, clasped his fists and returned the greeting, saying, "I am from Shaoxing, Zhejiang. Let me make it clear that I am not a professor, but just a lecturer. I work as a clerk in the Ministry of Education and as a part-time lecturer at Peking University. When many people hear that I teach at Peking University, they think I must be a professor, but this is actually a misunderstanding."

Zhan Yiqing took out his notebook and wrote it down, then asked, "May I ask your name? Why did you come to Bei Tang City?"

Mr. Zhou said, "My name is Zhou Shaoxing. I have heard many rumors about Beitang City in Beijing. The rumors vary greatly. I was curious and wanted to come to Beitang City to take a look and then write a book called "Travels in Beitang City."

After Zhan Yiqing finished taking notes, he said, "So Mr. Zhou is also a writer. I speak directly, so please don't be angry. I have to ask you as part of my duty. You said you are an employee of the Beiyang government's Ministry of Education. Did your superiors give you an order to come to Beitang City to collect intelligence? Or did someone from the Beiyang Ministry of Internal Affairs give you an order before you came?"

Mr. Zhou's smile disappeared when he heard this, and he said coldly: "I understand. Your status is equivalent to the Beiyang Military Police or the Military and Political Law Enforcement Department. I didn't expect that there are special agents in Beitang City. It seems that Beitang is not a paradise. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Internal Affairs have not given me any orders. Believe it or not."

Zhan Yiqing put down his notebook and said, "Mr. Zhou, don't be angry. This is just routine work. Recently, there are many people in Beitang City and many people with bad intentions have sneaked in. Even the Mongolian princess was assassinated by Japanese agents and was seriously injured. A few days ago, someone robbed a bank. These have caused a lot of damage to our place. I have to be careful. As for the paradise you mentioned, it is just a kind of propaganda in the newspaper. You just listen to it and don't take it seriously. The newspapers of the Beiyang government in the past two years still advertised themselves as a country ruled by law. This year, they are carrying out a retro movement and bringing Confucius out as a god. It is completely slapping themselves in the face. So don't be too fussy about things in the newspaper."

Mr. Zhou said coldly: "Mr. Inspector, I don't want to interfere in your work, but your questioning skills are not as good as those of the Beiyang police. How can you directly ask the other party whether his superiors have given orders? Even if there are really Beiyang spies sneaking in, you will not find anything with your way of questioning. You should find more veteran policemen to practice your skills. Also, comparing this place with the Beiyang government is itself a kind of self-depreciation. Did Mr. Di, Mr. Wu and others from your party come here despite difficulties and obstacles just to build a city similar to the Beijing Municipal Government?"

Zhan Yiqing heard the sarcasm in the other party's words, and knew that what he said was inappropriate. In fact, he had only been an inspector for a short time, and his methods of questioning were indeed quite unfamiliar. He had indeed not caught a spy recently, so he said: "If I have caused Mr. Zhou any unhappiness, please let me express my apologies. Since you said that your behavior has nothing to do with the Ministry of Education, I will not ask any more questions. Please continue to show Mr. Zhou around, guide." After that, he opened a blue pass for Mr. Zhou, told him that he could enter Beitang City with the pass, and then left.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, the guide with long scars quickly tried to smooth things over and said, "Mr. Zhou, don't be angry. The lieutenant was just following orders. After all, this is Mongolia, not the Republic of China. Mr. Di is indeed facing a lot of dangers. We were attacked by the Mongolian army a few days ago. It makes sense for him to be cautious."

Mr. Zhou sighed and said, "I don't blame him. Beitang City was built under the eyes of the Mongols, so it's right to be careful. I'm just a little disappointed with the Justice Party's selection of people in the supervision department. I just questioned the lieutenant a few times, and he didn't dare to ask any more questions. He's not as brave as the Beiyang police. When I left Beijing, I was tortured by that gang of police for a long time. They even asked me how many kilograms of rice I had at home. I was tortured to the point of laughing and crying. Well, let's not talk about it."

The next afternoon, the guide with the long scar accompanied Mr. Zhou to the gate of Beitang City. After showing their passes to the sentry, the sentry let them in.

After a while, Mr. Zhou followed the guide with scars to the gate of a factory. There were five gold-plated characters on the red gate: "Simon Cannon Foundry". After the guard looked at the pass, he actually let them in. Sparks flashed in the workshop, and various machines roared. There were two unfinished cannons on the open ground. Several workers were cleaning the burrs on the outside of the cannons. There were also several young blue-eyed and yellow-haired foreigners arguing fiercely. Scars pointed to one of the foreigners and said to Mr. Zhou: "This is the factory that produces Krupp cannons. It is specialized in making heavy cannons. That person is the factory director Simon. He is German. It is said that he suffered discrimination in his family in Germany and was hired by Boss Di for a large sum of money. Thanks to this gentleman, we have produced dozens of heavy cannons recently. The machines for making cannons were also made by him, but the materials for making cannons here are not enough. The scale of the iron ore and steel mill is too small. Mr. Simon is also worried about this matter recently."

Mr. Zhou said: "Mr. Di has very good connections. Germany is currently fighting a bloody battle with the British and French forces and attaches great importance to domestic talents. It is quite rare that Mr. Di can still recruit Germans to Mongolia during this period."

Long Scar said: "Although Mr. Simon provided a lot of help for our cannons and machines, he also has a bad temper. Because there are many problems with the local metal quality, some cannons do not meet his standards. For this reason, he has been angry with the company's directors many times."

After leaving the cannon foundry, the guide with long scars took Mr. Zhou to visit the Beihai Gun Factory. The guide with long scars said to Mr. Zhou, "This Beihai Gun Factory was formerly called the Beihai Ironware Factory. It can produce light infantry guns, mortars, and various guns and ammunition. My father used to be the director of this factory. Unfortunately, after my brother died, he was so sad that he didn't want to come to Beitang City. As a result, he stayed in Baotou and was shot to death by warlords during the melee. Before he died, he regretted it and asked my mother and I to go to Beitang City. The current director is my second uncle."

Mr. Zhou said, "It seems that you have also experienced misfortune. Your father and brother have both passed away. I have not asked for your name yet. It is really rude."

The scarred guide said, "My name is Jin Xiong. I was originally a cook, but there were so many refugees who needed guides, so I became a part-time guide. I'm not a professional. The scars on my face were caused by the Beiyang Army in Baotou. Although Beitang City is not a paradise, Baotou is definitely hell right now."

Mr. Zhou said: "Well said! Without comparison, we will not know the value of peace. It is better to be a dog in peacetime than a man in troubled times!"

Then they went into the leather factory, where they saw many female workers busily producing leather coats, leather jackets and leather shoes. Guo Jinxiong took Mr. Zhou on a tour and said, "What is least lacking here is cowhide and sheepskin, so the leather factory is the most prosperous. But there is a lack of cotton here, and yarn and cloth can basically not be produced. Therefore, the textile factory run by Boss Di is much smaller than before. It can only weave wool and make wool sweaters, wool trousers and wool carpets. The garment factory can only produce cotton-padded clothes, cotton trousers and wool coats for winter. In this way, many cloths and cotton have to be traded from Suiyuan. It has to be said that the light industrial environment in Mongolia is really bad, and many daily necessities cannot be obtained locally."

Mr. Zhou said: "Mongolia itself started out as a nomadic hunting country, so it is normal for its light industry to lag behind. If Mr. Di wants to develop light industry here, it will be very difficult. By the way, I saw in your newspapers that the living conditions of your female workers are quite good, and their status has reached an environment of equality between men and women. Is this true?"

Guo Jinxiong said with some shame: "Unfortunately, it is not entirely true. I can say that the treatment of female workers here is indeed better than that in foreign factories and factories in the Republic of China, but gender equality is far from being achieved. The female workers here have a separate factory area, and even the supervisors are female, but there are still occasional incidents of male harassment, because the moral quality of the locals is quite poor, so that the Beihai Company has to arrange patrols to protect the female workers. In addition, the local Mongolian women are quite open to matters between men and women, and sleep with men at will, resulting in the spread of dirty diseases. Their superstitious ideas are even more serious than those of the Han people. They are basically illiterate, and they used to live like slaves. It is difficult to change their ideas for a while, so the female workers in these factories are still mainly Han people. Mongolian women are mostly engaged in service industry jobs such as brothels, restaurants, hotels, and bathhouses. Most Mongolian men are quite rude and barbaric, and look down on factory and service industry jobs. There are quite a lot of lazy people, and those who are a little more obedient are only willing to join the army. It is not as easy to govern this place as the newspapers say."

Mr. Zhou smiled and said, "You are a very honest person. You are very outspoken about many negative aspects of Bei Tang City. I think it's a waste of your talent if they only let you be a guide."

The two walked for about ten minutes and came to a place that looked like a school. There were several tall white buildings surrounded by a red wall in the middle. Many teenagers in school uniforms were coming in and out of the gate. Guo Jinxiong continued to introduce: "This is called Zhengqing School. It is a school under the name of Zhengqinghui, an external organization of the Justice Party. It is divided into middle school and elementary school departments. I heard that it is dedicated to providing free education to local teenagers under the age of eighteen. The purpose is to cultivate young talents for the Justice Party. This school was established in Baotou and it has not been moved here for long. I am not very clear about many things, but I heard that the principal of the school is the boss's former secretary, Bai Xiuling, and the dean of the middle school department is the boss's fiancée, who seems to be named Lan Jinchun."

Mr. Zhou frowned and said: "In such an important industry as education, how can Mr. Di be so reckless and directly appoint people based on personal connections? This is a serious mistake in employment. Mr. Di has a lot of problems in the selection of talents. If I have the opportunity to meet him, I will give more suggestions on this issue."

Guo Jinxiong said, "Mr. Zhou may have misunderstood. The two women were able to become the principal and the dean of studies not entirely because of their relationship with the boss. They also have certain abilities. Otherwise, the school would have collapsed long ago. If you don't believe me, you can go in and take a look. If you are lucky, you can even hear them giving lectures."

Lan Jinchun was teaching a class at this time. She said to a student, "Leng Hanrui! You answer!"

Leng Hanrui was only twelve years old. He stood up immediately upon hearing this, his body straight. Lan Jinping asked, "What are the three evils in the world mentioned by the Mohists?"

Leng Hanrui said: "The lower-class people in a country, hungry without food, cold without clothes, and overworked without rest, these are the three evils in the world."

Lan Jinchun said: "The answer is correct! What are the three worlds mentioned by the Mohists?"

Leng Hanrui said: "When you are hungry, you have food; when you are cold, you have clothes; when you are trapped, you have a house. These are the three pillars of the world."

Lan Jinchun said: "That's right! Can you explain what you mean?"

Leng Hanrui shook his head. He was only twelve years old and could only memorize things by rote. Asking him to explain was beyond the ability of a child. Lan Jinchun said to the students: "The three benefits of the world are to have food to eat when hungry, cotton clothes to wear when cold, and a house to sleep when sleepy. It seems simple, but many dynasty rulers in Chinese history could not do it, such as the current Beiyang government, so they had the three harms of the world. In Beitang City, we, the Justice Party, have achieved the three benefits of the world. No one dies of hunger and cold, and everyone has a place to sleep. The core idea of ​​Mohism is to promote the benefits of the world and eliminate the harm of the world. Mohism is the first organization in Chinese history to help the poor without self-interest, and it is also the first organization to propose chivalry. Although their ideas were not tolerated by rulers of all dynasties and eventually perished in the late Qin and early Han dynasties, the ideas of promoting benefits and eliminating harm proposed by Mohism are always worth learning."

Lan Jinchun knew that these children might not be able to fully understand what he said now, but as long as the seeds were planted in their hearts, they would blossom and bear fruit one day.