Chapter 7: Trouble is Coming

  "Achoo! Achoo!"

  In the early morning of the Northern Campus of the Sichuan Army, Qin Dada's mouth was carefree and happy, while Yang Qiulian sneezed repeatedly in her heart, wondering if it was those dead friends from his previous life thinking of him.

  It was probably because of the generous reward from Commander Kawachi yesterday, and not even half a soldier could be seen in the large northern campus. Fortunately, he didn't have the heart to chat with people, and he started running laps around the campus by himself.

  This was a habit he had cultivated when he served in his previous life, and after retiring, he never stopped because running 10,000 meters every morning not only exercised his body but also ensured that his muscles were at their peak state all day long, especially now that he was in a chaotic world where friend and foe were unclear, and he needed to be extra careful.

  Because there was no training equipment, after finishing running, Yang Qiu stretched his body and changed his clothes, also sticking on the fake mustache that Bingwen had found for him last night. Finally, he put on a hat and checked his pistol again before quietly slipping out of the military camp when no one was paying attention.

  After Zhao Er Feng's "publicity" yesterday, I dare not say that he was beaten and scolded, but at least he has become the most unwelcome person in Sichuan. So when going out, one must be careful. Originally, Xiao An Guo repeatedly reminded him to bring them along when going out yesterday, but Yang Qiu thought it over and still felt that this matter had to be done by one person.

  What's wrong?

  Change money!

  After checking the pouch snatched from Du Lao Liu, Yang Qiu found that there were as many as 5,000 taels of silver inside. Originally, this could be exchanged for cash in Wuhan, but since he had come to Chengdu, he should go out and have a look around. Moreover, he had also forgotten the day when the Railway Protection Movement evolved into an armed revolution, so just in case, he decided to exchange it for physical silver first.

  He Sheng Yuan Piaohao was a well-known Shanxi merchant bank in the late Qing Dynasty, with branches not only all over China but also in Japan and Southeast Asia. After considering several options, Yang Qiu decided to choose this one.

  "This old man, are you going to... exchange it all?" The shopkeeper, holding the silver ticket and wearing reading glasses, looked Yang Qiu up and down, which made him very unhappy. He put on a fierce expression and shouted in his Northeastern accent from his previous life: "What's wrong, won't give me the exchange?"

  "Not, not." The old shopkeeper was sharp-eyed and knew at a glance that Yang Qiu might not understand how much 5,000 taels of silver were. He smiled and said, "Sir, 5,000 taels of silver can be exchanged for yuan, but where do you plan to put it?"

  Yang Qiu didn't understand at first, but when he saw the old shopkeeper constantly glancing at his empty hands, he suddenly realized.

  It's late Qing dynasty, many poor areas can sell their children for just one or two silver dollars, so even ordinary rich families won't keep a lot of silver dollars at home. Each silver dollar weighs half a tael, and last night after Xiao Anguo left, he didn't touch the three hundred silver dollars, so he didn't notice the weight. Now thinking about it, five thousand silver dollars would weigh over 100 catties, even someone as strong as him wouldn't be able to carry that much.

  Yang Qi scratched his head, knowing he had wrongly blamed the old shopkeeper. However, he still didn't like silver notes. After all, the Xinhai Revolution was just around the corner, and who knew if they would depreciate in value once war broke out? But carrying 5,000 taels of silver on him wasn't convenient either. He thought for a moment before asking, "Old shopkeeper, can I exchange them for US dollars?"

  "Dollars?"

  The old shopkeeper was taken aback for a moment, he too had experienced the world and had extraordinary eyesight, but it was also his first time seeing someone rush into the ticket office to exchange foreign money. He pushed up his old flower glasses and laughed: "Sir, this is a ticket office, if you want to exchange foreign money, you need to exchange silver first and then go to the foreign bank to exchange for money. Don't say that the old man is talking nonsense, if you really want to exchange foreign money, it's best to be more careful, the rules here are not shallow."

  Yang Qiu didn't know that the ticket number couldn't be exchanged for US dollars, and he thought it was all part of the banking system.

  After guessing Yang Qiu's thoughts, the old shopkeeper narrowed his eyes and said: "Sir, I think you're probably going on a long trip. In my opinion, it's better to go to the Hankou Foreign Concession, where you can exchange it, but the price might be unfavorable to you. If you don't mind the trouble, it's best to go to Shanghai, where the prices are more reasonable."

  The old shopkeeper was quite enthusiastic, not only telling Yang Qiu how to exchange, but also roughly saying the price ratio. According to Shanghai's official price, 10 yuan can be exchanged for 1 pound, and 1 pound is equivalent to about 5 US dollars.

  Yang Qiu thanked the old shopkeeper, and then took out two silver dollars to exchange for some copper coins. After that, he put the silver note back into his pocket, but didn't notice that the pistol under his collar had slipped out. The young apprentice standing beside him saw the gun and was slightly stunned, but after a moment's thought, his eyes suddenly shone with wild joy.

  After Yang Qiu left, Xiao Huizhang also made up an excuse and asked for leave from the old shopkeeper, then rushed to the dock at a rapid pace.

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  "Brother Wang, they're all top-quality German-made."

  In the warehouse next to Su's dock, a man in black shirt picked up a German-made Mauser rifle and tossed it to Wang Tianjie behind him. The latter skillfully played with it for a while and nodded his head in satisfaction. Although 200 rifles were not many, they could still play a big role if used well.

  "Brother Wang, I'll go and get the goods ready for collection right away."

  "Stop!" Wang Tianjie abruptly halted his subordinate, pointing at his nose and scolding: "Are you an idiot? Qin Zaihong is just a thug from the underworld, using him is enough, if we give him a few more guns, who will listen to us in the future?"

  "But..."

  "There's nothing to discuss." Wang Tianjie didn't allow his subordinates to speak, pointing at the gun and saying: "Let our brothers come and take the goods, bring them all back to Rong County. I'm telling you, guns are the foundation of our livelihood and overthrowing the Qing dynasty."

  Seeing Wang Tianjie glare at him fiercely, his subordinates didn't dare to speak anymore, but in their hearts, they were somewhat dissatisfied with this matter. No matter what, the old club was the main force this time, and everyone was on the same rope as the locusts. If it failed because of the lack of these guns, wouldn't everyone still be unlucky together?

  After finishing speaking, Wang Tianjie took out a list from his bosom and handed it to his subordinate: "This is the list of our comrades in Sichuan revolution. You take it back later and keep it for future use...".

  His hand slightly stunned, not yet clear why Wang Tianjie wanted to leave such an important thing by his side, suddenly saw a partner who was watching the wind outside running in and shouting: "Wang brother, someone found Yang Qiu on the street!"

  "What!" Wang Tianjie suddenly jumped up, his eyes flashing with a fierce killing intent before becoming excited. It was as if he had seen himself kill Yang Qiu and become the governor of Sichuan after the successful revolution due to this great achievement. Without thinking, he stuffed the list back into his pocket, gritted his teeth, and fiercely grabbed a rifle, loading dozens of bullets before saying: "I'll be right back, you guys transport first." After finishing speaking, he turned around and ran out without looking back, leaving behind his stunned subordinates who didn't know what to do.

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  Walking on the main street, Yang Qiu's mood improved a lot.

  Although it didn't turn into hard cash, the old shopkeeper's words made him roughly understand the value of silver dollars, and only then did he realize that the 5,000 taels in his pocket were actually a considerable fortune, because at this time opening a moderately sized spinning mill would cost no more than tens of thousands of taels.

  However, he didn't have the mind to run a textile mill. Even if he did, without a super large scale of several hundred million spindles, it would be squeezed to death by Japan and other powerful countries. Now that there are no people or land, it's better to try to exchange this money for US dollars or other hard currencies and save them.

  Having money, he can be considered a small rich man, and his thoughts have also become more lively. In addition, after deliberately disguising himself, he no longer needs to rush along the road in a hurry, so his footsteps have slowed down a lot.

  The surging Railway Protection Movement also seemed to have affected this city, with large-character posters advocating for the protection of the railway appearing everywhere on the streets. After Yang Qiu casually bought a copy of the locally well-known "Shu Bao" newspaper, he found that it was mostly promoting the importance of the Hankou-Chengdu Railway and the idea of protecting the railway to protect the country.

  "Get out of the way, get out of the way......"

  Just as he was watching with relish, a small team of patrolling Qing soldiers appeared in front of him. When they saw them, the people dodged one after another. One of the Qing soldiers took down a big-character poster and suddenly brightened his eyes and walked towards Yang Qiu.

  "Oh no!"

  Seeing this guy staring at the newspaper in his hand, a hint of schadenfreude appeared on his face. Yang Qiu secretly thought it was not good and remembered that the founder of Shu Bao was a revolutionary named Deng Xiaoke, who was also one of the initiators of this road protection movement.

  Yang Qiu turned her head and wanted to leave, but as soon as she turned around, she found a large group of porters coming from afar. A young man who had been seen in He Shengyuan before was also among the crowd, whispering to the leader of the porters while pointing and gesturing towards this place.

  This scene made his heart suddenly sink, and he realized that he had been ambushed! His eyes involuntarily swept the surroundings.

  To the right was a row of houses, and rushing in without knowing if there was a back door could only lead to a dead end. To the left, however, there was a small alley, but the three vegetable vendors at the entrance of the alley looked somewhat suspicious no matter how one looked at them.

  Seeing Yang Qiu's eyes drifting away, the leader of the gang knew that things were going to go bad. Without even thinking about exposing himself, he suddenly pulled out a big knife from behind his back and shouted loudly: "Seize him! He is Yang Qiu, the Qing dynasty dog thief who killed my sworn brother!"

  "Just you wait and see!"

  Yang Qiu still thought that He Shengyuan had betrayed him, so he vented all his anger on the ticket counter and was about to turn around and run away. However, he found that the several Qing soldiers who were patrolling earlier also ran over, not only did they not come up with the idea of protecting the "great hero of the Manchu Qing dynasty", but they also kept sneering at him!

  "Kill him!"

  As the loud shout rose, three vendors on the left side took action first. One of them pulled out a shiny embroidered spring knife from under the basket and chopped it down towards Yang Qiu's chest. Yang Qiu had already guessed what was happening and dodged to the side, but before he could see clearly, a wooden pole swept across his chest.

  The fierce impact and pain almost made him faint, his feet stumbled backward for several steps before he steadied himself. At this moment, two more men in robes had already arrived in front of him. After Yang Qiu dodged the first man's large knife, another knife came at him before he could even catch his breath.

  This is going to be the death of me!

  Yang Qiu hastily retreated half a step, using his left leg as an axis to deliver a swift and fierce kick that sent the guy flying. He then grabbed a nearby basket and flung it backwards. The basket blocked several oncoming guys, managing to win him a brief moment of respite. His right hand drew out a handgun, taking aim at the vegetable vendor who had launched the attack.

  After seeing the terrible handgun described by Du Lao Liu in prison last night, this guy was so scared that he hastily dodged and Yang Qiu himself did not want to make a big enemy again. Since the opponent avoided him, he hastily flashed towards the small alley on the left, but unexpectedly, before entering the alley entrance, a Mauser rifle suddenly appeared from inside.

  This shocked him so much that he didn't have time to think, and with his left hand grasping the barrel of the gun, he lifted it up. His right hand aimed the M1911 at the person's chest and fired a shot.

  Bang! Bang!

  Almost simultaneously with the gunfire, a bullet grazed Yang Qiu's head and flew past at the same time. A young man wearing a Japanese school uniform also fell backwards and heavily hit the wall, his eyes wide open in disbelief that he had been shot.

  "Wang Tianjie is the Wang Tianjie of Tongmenghui! Come quickly, Yang Qiudan has killed the leader of Tongzhijun!"

  "Wang Tianjie!!!!" This name made Yang Qiu's brain explode! He remembered that this guy was an active member of the Sichuan Railway Protection Movement and also one of the leaders of the Tongmenghui in Sichuan!

  Wang Tianjie was even more unwilling to die with his eyes closed, he never thought that after receiving the news, he would secretly bring a gun out and try to kill this Qing dynasty running dog to establish himself in Sichuan. He also didn't think that this guy could still react so quickly under the pursuit of so many brothers.

  Watching Wang Tianjie's chest almost shatter, like a soft rubber leaning against the wall slowly falling down, Yang Qiu knew that he was really done for this time!

  Several Qing soldiers were also frightened, they did not expect Wang Tianjie to suddenly appear here, still carrying a rifle attempting to ambush Yang Qiu. Although they would have liked Yang Qiu dead, this guy killed the leader of the Tongmenghui in Sichuan in broad daylight, which was a great achievement, and the news will definitely be transmitted to the Governor's Office, and even shock the imperial court!

  If this guy was killed by someone, it would be fine, but now he has entered the alley, and the "poisonous" method cannot stop him, so he is scared to quickly turn the wind and blow the alarm whistle to catch the fake revolutionary party, and in an instant, the whole city is filled with the sharp sound of capture whistles.

  Taking advantage of the brief chaos, Yang Qiu glanced at the bloodstained wall and suddenly gritted his teeth, dashing into the depths of the alley.

  But didn't see a policeman who followed up behind, checking if Wang Tianjie was out of breath, quietly found a note from his arms, and then gleefully bit his teeth along the fork in the road disappeared without a trace.