The Jade of the Republic of China

"Yutong! Yutong!"

Shen Tianci called twice in succession before he regained his senses from the daze.

"Brother Tianci, what's the matter?" Shen Yutong took a deep breath and waved away the strange mixed feelings in his heart.

"That's right, you're here for two days, see if you're going to visit Brigadier Liu today."

Shen Yutong nodded: "Okay, you look at the arrangement."

Since the end of the Qing Dynasty, the whole country has been in turmoil. First, the Qing Dynasty fell, then the restoration failed, and then the warlords from all walks of life were in chaos.The Beiyang Army, the Sichuan Army, the Yunnan Army, and many chieftains in Xikang are all vying to be the king of the Southwest.

There are many barbarians in the southwest, and the industrial development is lagging behind. The warlords have to lead troops to fight, and in addition to the tobacco tax, only the salt tax is left.As the capital of salt, Ziliujing is naturally a battleground for warlords from all walks of life.

Now controlling the Ziliujing area is a brigade commander of the Sichuan Army, surnamed Liu.Because of his strict leadership, he never harassed the people, and treated Ziliujing salt merchants very courteously. The salt tax was reasonable, and the local salt merchants got along quite well with him.

Shen Yutong came here to set up a refined salt factory, so naturally he had to say hello to his elder brother first.

When Second Master Shen started to start the business of the new factory, Meng Liansheng and others who had been on the road for two full days also arrived at Xikang Sangji Chieftain's Mansion.

Sangji is the chief chieftain of Xikang and one of the best owners of tobacco gardens.

Lixin has worked with him for many years, and Sun Zhidong has been here once or twice, so he is no stranger to Chieftain Sangji.Apart from being a partner, Xikang people are warm and hospitable. On the night when the three of them arrived, the Chieftain's Mansion held a feast, singing and dancing. There was a smoking gun in front of each small table, and there was a special beauty on the side. burn smoke.

What Shen Yutong said was right, now in Xikang, opium has become a good delicacy for banquets.In the entire banquet hall, clouds and fog were swallowed, as if living in a fairyland.

Meng Liansheng was not interested in being a fairy, so when everyone became a fairy, he quietly withdrew from the banquet hall.

Xikang has a high terrain and no industry, and the air is thin but fresh and cool.

He stood outside the house, took a deep breath, and took out the copper pocket watch from his pocket.

He missed the second son.

In the past ten days and a half months, he didn't see each other, and he didn't feel anything.But this time we have been together day and night for nearly ten days, just like those people inside smoking opium, they became addicted.

He actually lied to the second young master that night, he didn't regard him as his elder brother.His elder brother was nearly ten years older than him. Although he was a kind elder brother, the two were actually not too close. He had never slept with his elder brother, and even today he didn't even remember his elder brother's appearance.

Compared with his elder brother, who has long been blurred in his memory, Shen Yutong is the one who really occupies his mind.

The second son of the Shen family is the moon in the star water in the sky, but he also wants to pick it up.

He stroked the copper pocket watch in his hand that was worn next to his body and never left his body, and thought, if the second young master could keep it on his body every day like this pocket watch, that would be great.

"Xiao Meng, why did you come out alone?"

He was thinking wildly, when a simple voice sounded from behind.

Meng Liansheng put the pocket watch back into his pocket, turned his head to look at the person, and said with a smile, "Dunzhu, you came out too?"

The man called Dunzhu was the eldest son of chieftain Sangji, not more than two years older than Meng Liansheng, tall and straight, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, very handsome.He can speak fluent Chinese, and he is a very hearty Xikang man.

In the banquet hall just now, apart from Meng Liansheng, he was the only one who didn't smoke opium.Those who smoke are of the same kind, and those who don't smoke are naturally of the same kind. Dun Zhu paid attention to Meng Liansheng, and when he saw him come out, he also left the scene.

Now seeing him standing alone under the moonlight, as if he was missing someone, he smiled and joked: "Xiao Meng, are you homesick? I read your Han poetry collections, and when I miss home, I look at the moon."

Meng Liansheng smiled slightly: "I'm not homesick."

"Oh, who are you thinking about?"

Meng Liansheng was noncommittal.

Dunzhu thought he had guessed right, tilted his head and asked with great interest, "Then it must be the girl who missed you?"

Meng Liansheng still didn't speak.

Dun Zhu didn't take it seriously, and continued to ask: "Where is she now? Is she in Shanghai?"

This time Meng Liansheng finally responded. He shook his head, looked up at the full moon in the sky, and said softly, "No, he's not in Shanghai."

Although Chieftain Sangji warmly entertained Sun Zhidong and his party, when the other party talked about the tobacco and soil trade, this cunning chieftain always looked at him and did not give him a letter. Stay in Xikang as much as you want, enjoy the upcoming poppy picking season, and personally monitor their own tobacco garden.

This dominant chieftain did not speak Chinese fluently, but he was obviously not inferior to any shrewd Han merchants in terms of cunning and treachery.

Xikang has beautiful scenery, there are many beautiful women, and there are endless smokes, but compared with the bustling and modern Shanghai Bund, it is always a sky and a ground.

Sun Zhidong, who had been in the sky for a long time, couldn't get used to this barbarian land.Helpless, returning empty-handed is not his style, so he can only stay temporarily and continue to deal with Chieftain Sangji.

Sun Zhidong Duzan in this room enjoys himself with chieftain Sangji every day, while Meng Liansheng in that room is dragged by Dunzhu to play all over the mountains and plains.Dunzhu doesn't eat opium and doesn't play with women, but he is a good horseman and shooter. He is the most heroic prince in the territory and the expected successor.

His prestige is already far higher than that of his father Sanji.

Meng Liansheng was a wild child in his childhood. After the famine in his hometown, he has accumulated rich hunting experience. Hunting on horseback is no problem.Although he has never used a gun, he is very good at shooting with a slingshot - after all, a large number of sparrows and eagles in his hometown have died tragically by his hands.

He is really good at learning, took the gun that Dunzhu gave him, and quickly started to use it. In just two days, he has faintly revealed his talent as a marksman.

Dunzhu had no opponent in the territory for a long time, and he always felt that the Han people were not good at riding and hunting by nature, so he never knew that he would meet a Han Chinese boy who was equal to him.

The Han people he met, except for the gentleman who taught him Chinese, were all businessmen who came to buy cigarettes from his father. like yourself.He just wished he could learn from the scriptures of the Han people, pulling the other party down to the holy mountain to make a sworn brotherhood.

Meng Liansheng always seemed to have the ability to capture people's hearts. He didn't put his mind to it deliberately, just like many beasts, he could confuse people only by instinct.

When the poppies in Xikang bloomed all over the mountains, Sichuan and Shu were once again in turmoil.

After Shen Yutong met Brigadier Liu, he was sure that this person was reliable and had the support of the other party.He began to boldly prepare to open a refined salt factory.

On this day, several machines were finally transported thousands of miles into the artesian well and set up camp in the Shen family's salt field.

At ten o'clock in the evening, when he returned to Shen's house from the salt factory, he saw a noodle shop that was still open on the road. He was feeling hungry, so he sat down and ordered a bowl of Dandan noodles, which he ate among several salt workers returning late.

It's just that a bowl of noodles has not been eaten halfway, and suddenly there is a loud bang.He was startled. He thought it was dry thunder, but unexpectedly, there was another bang. The originally quiet night suddenly became noisy like a frying pan.

I don't know who called out: "It's a war!"

Although wars have been going on all over the country these years, Shen Yutong grew up in the Shanghai Concession. For him, the wars are news in the newspapers and have never really happened around him.

Realizing that it was the sound of cannons, he was so startled that he almost forgot what he did next, and someone who knew him reminded him: "Master Shen, Mr. Wang is calling in, why don't you hurry back to the room."

Only then did Shen Yutong come back to his senses, before putting down his chopsticks, he did not forget to throw a silver dollar to the owner and his wife who were in a hurry to clean up.

Crackling gunshots rang out, and there were cries and screams. He didn't know if he was hit by a bullet. He didn't care about the safety of others, so he ran towards the Shen's house with his legs against the wall.

The battle was not so fierce. Master Wang took advantage of the darkness to sneak attack, and two cannons easily blasted open the city gate of Ziliujing.Brigadier Liu was not prepared to deal with it, and quickly fled the city with hundreds of remnants.

Master Wang occupied Ziliujing and incorporated the remaining soldiers of Liu Brigade. Ziliujing changed overnight.

When the city gate was bombarded last night, Shen Yutong was still on the street, and almost scared Shen Tianci to death.My Jin Gui's little cousin came alone, if he went back with missing arms and legs, then his old life would be shameless.

Because he didn't know what the situation outside was like, and he didn't know where this new teacher was going, Shen Tianci didn't dare to let you go out, Shen Yutong, so he sent a servant every day to find out the news.

Two days later, several soldiers with guns knocked on the door of Shen's house, saying that Master Wang was going to entertain a local salt merchant. Shen Tianci hurriedly said that he would go right away, but the leading soldiers blocked him, saying : "Master Wang invited Second Young Master Shen."

Shen Yutong followed these soldiers to the mansion newly occupied by Master Wang.

The salt merchants in Ziliujing are all very rich. Since the end of the Qing Dynasty to the present, there have been several waves of soldiers. Every time a new chief takes office, the first thing he does is to hit the salt merchants hard.Shen Tianci didn't take Shen Yutong's being called away at first, but sent people to prepare gold and silver as soon as possible. The only worry was that his little cousin, who was used to being pampered, would be frightened by these barbaric Qiu Ba.

However, this time, Shen Tianci was obviously too optimistic.

After the invited salt merchants each determined the amount of ocean offerings, after the feast, they went home to prepare money.

Only Shen Yutong was left alone.

There is no other reason, because Mr. Wang offered 100 million to the Shen family.

Many of the warlords who have sprung up in recent years are bandits. This Mr. Wang is regarded as a leader of bandits. In just a few years, he was asked to pull up a banner as a tiger skin, from a bandit who occupied the mountain to a teacher.However, it is probably because the division commander has been working for a very short time, and he is really short of money to support soldiers, so he still maintains the style of a bandit in the past.

This time, I finally managed to occupy Ziliujing, a land of great wealth, and now I have attracted salt merchants to raise funds and donations—they are called donations, but they are actually robbing money. Ten thousand, but he asked the Shen family for one million.

The current salt production of the Shen family in Ziliujing barely ranks in the top ten, which is far behind the local big salt merchants.But Mr. Wang, who is a bandit and a bandit, knows a lot about the world.The Shen family is not ranked well in Ziliujing now, but it is the leading salt merchant in the country, especially the refined salt factory it opened in Shanghai the year before last, which is very successful, and it is said that its monthly profit is as high as hundreds of thousands.

This time he was very lucky. After occupying the Ziliujing, he found out that the young master who runs the refined salt factory of the Shen family was actually in the Ziliujing.

Others see Shen Yutong as an incomparably handsome and noble son, but Mr. Wang sees him as an inexhaustible human-shaped gold mountain.

100 million oceans is just one or two months' profit of the Shenjia Refined Salt Factory.

Mr. Wang not only does not think that he is a lion with a big mouth, but also feels that his mouth is very reserved, which can be called a cherry mouth.

When Shen Tianci heard the news from Mr. Wang, he was almost so frightened that his seven orifices rose to heaven.

It is indeed not difficult for the Shen family to come up with 100 million, but Ziliujing can't raise that much money no matter what, so they can only send a telegram to the Shen family in Shanghai.But once the Shen family knew that the second young master had been kidnapped, let alone his 70-year-old uncle, I'm afraid it would scare the hell out of him.

Shen Tianci didn't dare to send a telegram to the Shen family rashly, so he could only tell Mr. Wang not to embarrass Shen Yutong, and go to the provincial capital to raise money.

The Shen family has a business in the provincial capital, which is managed by his eldest son, and it is probably not a problem to raise 100 million yuan from here and there - after all, it is necessary to redeem the younger cousin first and then make plans.

Master Wang really didn't make things difficult for Shen Yutong, after all, this is a mountain of gold and silver, and he can't wait to confess someone.

However, for Shen Yutong, house arrest is house arrest, and no matter how delicious the food is, it cannot offset his humiliation and anger.

He couldn't believe it, the man surnamed Wang actually paid 100 million yuan when he opened his mouth.

The Shen family is indeed rich, and it is not a problem to earn 800 million from all properties in a year.But if you do not advance in business, you will retreat. Only by continuously investing money can you not be crushed and eliminated.Coupled with the rapid development of science and technology nowadays, sufficient capital reserves are required for the annual replacement of machine technology.

Today the other party asks for 100 million, and tomorrow they can ask for 200 million.The Shen family's money must not be wasted in the hands of these people like this.

He originally wanted to escape first, but without himself, the second young master of the Shen family, as a hostage, the other party would not have the confidence to speak up like a lion.

However, Master Wang kept him under strict supervision. He sent five or six soldiers outside the gate to take turns to stand guard day and night. Let alone a big living person, even a small fly would fly away from these people's eyelids without anyone noticing. It's not easy either.

In the end, he simply said harshly that they couldn't give 100 million, so that the surnamed Wang would keep him locked up if he could.

Master Wang didn't care about his harsh words, after all, it's not up to the young master of Jin Gui whether to give money or not, and shopkeeper Shen Da is already on the way to raise money.

The victorious Mr. Wang, in Ziliujing's new yamen, guarded the human-shaped golden mountain of Shen Ergong, waiting for 100 million oceans to come to his door.Brigadier Liu, with several hundred remnants of soldiers, fled to Xikang Sangji Chieftain's Mansion.

It turns out that Brigadier Liu and Chieftain Sangji have a very good relationship. Chieftain Sangji has a lot of shares in Yanyuan, and he has always relied on his troops to escort the smoke out of Shu.

Brigadier Liu and his party fled in a very embarrassing situation. They traveled day and night on their feet, and it took them six days to reach this place. If it wasn't for the dirty clothes on their bodies, they could still be seen as military uniforms, and they might be regarded as beggars. .

When Meng Liansheng heard the news, when he rushed over, Brigadier Liu, who looked like the leader of the beggar gang, was leading a group of beggar-like subordinates, sitting on the ground and spitting voraciously.

Although Meng Liansheng had never met Brigadier Liu, he still recognized him immediately from this group of disgraced Qiu Bazhong.He walked over anxiously, grabbed the opponent's arm and said, "Brigade Commander Liu, what's going on? Was the fight severe? Will there be many casualties?"

Brigadier Liu has lost the battle, and now he is living under someone else's roof. Although the visitor is a young and unfamiliar face, he can't bear to hold up his former prestige in the yamen, waved his hands and replied kindly: "If it weren't for the surnamed Wang who sneaked past me In the big camp outside the city, I opened the city gate with cannons. I was afraid that the people in the city would be harmed, so I had to flee first. Do you have family and friends in Ziliujing? Don't worry, nothing will happen. We fight against the rules of Zhancheng , is not embarrassing the people."

Hearing what he said, Meng Liansheng breathed a sigh of relief, remained silent for a moment, and then asked, "What if it's not ordinary people, but a salt merchant in the city?"

Brigadier Liu curled his lips, and said: "The man surnamed Wang has been coveting the Artesian Well for a long time, because of the salt merchants inside. According to his usual bandit style, the first thing he will do is to ask the salt merchants for money. And this time in Shenyang, Shanghai The second son of the family just happened to come to Ziliujing, I am afraid that this surnamed Wang will use the second son to beat the Shen family severely."

Meng Liansheng frowned suddenly when he heard this.In his clean and harmless black eyes, there was a cold light like a ferocious beast, which made Brigadier Liu, who had been eloquent, suddenly stop, and asked falteringly, "Do you know Mr. Shen?"

Meng Liansheng looked pale, nodded and said, "Second Young Master is my friend."

Brigadier Liu nodded knowingly: "So you are also from Shanghai, no wonder you have a different accent."

Meng Liansheng didn't listen to what he said, got up and said to Dunzhu beside him: "Dunzhu, can you give me the fastest horse, I have to go to the artesian well."

Dunzhu had just listened to his words and asked curiously, "Are you going to find your friend?"

Meng Liansheng nodded.

Dunzhu patted his chest boldly: "Xiaomeng's friend is my friend, I will pick two best horses and go to Ziliujing with you."

The author has something to say:

The separation is so short~

The relationship between the two is about to grow by leaps and bounds.