Chapter 26: Unexpected

  After a brief mobilization, Liu Zhen and Xiong Shihui, two hot-blooded young men with boundless admiration for the revolution, enthusiastically became Fang Zida's followers. Using their uniforms as an excuse that they were not suitable for this mission, Fang Zida specially let them change into casual clothes. After changing their clothes, the two of them looked like ordinary young people, full of spirit and vigor, radiating a lively atmosphere.

  The train speed in this era is not fast, at most forty kilometers per hour, plus the need to stop at every station, add water and coal, change lines, etc., starting and stopping, it took until the second day to leave Hebei Province and slowly enter Shandong Province.

  "Mr. Fang, we can arrive in Yanzhou tomorrow." Zhang Huchen said to Fang Zida after walking outside for a while and coming back.

  "Everyone sleep well tonight, and we'll change trains in Yanzhou tomorrow." Fang Dazhi also felt helpless about this slow train. Who let China's railways fall behind? From north to south to Nanjing, a distance that would take just over ten hours after a hundred years, but now it's like a snail crawling, taking almost three days to crawl to Yanzhou, and even then we have to change trains again to continue south, what a hassle.

  Thinking of this, Fang Zidao couldn't help but recall Sun Wen's grandiose words. Last year, he patted his head and came up with an ambitious goal - to build a dense network of railways that would cover even the most remote areas, including the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Mongolian Plateau, with a total length of 3.25 million kilometers of national railway lines. He also claimed that he would build 1.8 million kilometers of railway lines within ten years, which was met with widespread acclaim across the country. This kind of rhetoric inevitably made Fang Zidao think of the so-called "expert" style of speaking nonsense in later generations. To put it into perspective, after 1949, China spent nearly 60 years and invested tens of billions of dollars, mobilizing tens of millions of people to build only 90,000 kilometers of railways. Building 1.8 million kilometers of railway lines in just ten years? It's simply a pipe dream. Yet, there are still people who believe in such grandiose talk, and Fang Zidao couldn't help but marvel at Sun Wen's charm.

  Yanzhou, one of the nine ancient provinces, is known as "the throat of the nine provinces and Qi and Lu". When they arrived in Yanzhou, Fang Zida and his group planned to stay for half a day before transferring to another train to continue south.

  "Mr. Fang, we still have half a day to spare, and just staying idle is also idle, why don't we go downtown for a stroll?" Liu Zhen was still young, it was his first time in Yanzhou and he was extremely curious about this ancient city, besides, after sitting on the train for three days, his legs were numb, finally having some fresh air, he couldn't help but have the idea.

  Although Xiong Shi Hui didn't say a word, Fang Zi Da saw the same intention in his expression and smiled: "Alright, you guys go take a stroll. I'm a person who likes quietness, so I'll just wait for you at the station. Remember to come back on time."

  "Thank you, Mr. Fang." Liu Zhen and the others were overjoyed, thanked him, and made an appointment to leave together. Seeing Zhang Huchen still standing beside him, Fang Zida smiled and asked: "Huchen, I'll take a look at this book for a while, if you want to go, let's go together."

  "Yes, sir." Zhang Huichen responded with a voice, but still didn't go anywhere, sitting beside Fang Zida with his eyes slightly closed.

  Zhang Huchen is indeed a good follower, since he wants to do so, there's no need to force him. Fang Zida took the book and leaned back in his chair, savoring it with relish.

  Time flies, and four hours have passed in the blink of an eye. Looking at his watch, Fang Zidao said with a furrowed brow: "Huchen, go take a look, why haven't those two kids come back yet?"

  Zhang Huchen hastily got up and quickly went out to find someone. After waiting for a while, Zhang Huchen hurried back, anxiously telling Fang Zida: "It's not good, Mr. Fang! I've searched everywhere but couldn't find anyone. However, just now on the street, I heard people saying that an hour ago two young men who looked like students were caught."

  "Caught? Who caught him? The Yanzhou police?" Fang Zida asked in surprise.

  "No, it's someone from the patrol camp."

  "Xunfang Camp?" Fang Zida was stunned, what about Xuzhou Xunfang Camp? Isn't this under the command of Garrison Commander Tian Zhongyu? How could they suddenly arrest Liu Yan and Xiong Shixue? Thinking of this, he couldn't sit still anymore. With a serious face, he stood up and said: "Let's go! We'll take a look."

  He rushed to the outskirts of the city, where the patrol camp was stationed. Before he even got close, several fierce-looking soldiers with guns came to drive him away. Fang Zidao avoided trouble by handing over a few traffic banknotes, and only then did the other party's expression ease up, smiling as they accepted them.

  "Everyone, I'm sorry to trouble you with a question. Two of my companions just got off the train and went into town on business, but I heard they were inexplicably arrested by the patrol troops. Can someone tell me what's going on?"

  "Did our brothers catch the person? How come I don't know about this? Hey! Jiang Lao San, do you know?" The leading lieutenant turned his head to ask another person, who also shook his head: "Catch someone? We're not police, what's the point of catching people after eating our fill?"

  However, another soldier seemed to remember something and scratched his head, muttering: "It seems like there was such a thing, I saw Liu Wei scolding and leading several brothers to take two people in, maybe he caught them."

  "Who is Liu Wai Zui?" Fang Zi Da hastily asked.

  Wei laughed and said, "Liu Waimou is a distant relative of the commander-in-chief who came to rely on him. Half a year ago, he was appointed as an acting officer in our patrol camp. This friend, if your people have offended Liu Waimou and fallen into his hands, this matter... well, it's hard to say whether it's easy or difficult to handle."

  Fang Zida nodded in understanding and hastily stuffed two more tickets into the hand of the lieutenant, bowing repeatedly with a smile: "This old general, we are all doing business, really honest businessmen, as the saying goes, when going out, rely on friends, please point us in the right direction."

  With a satisfied expression, he put the money in his pocket and lowered his voice to say: "Liu is relying on being the second cousin of the commander's fifth wife to hold this position in our patrol camp. This guy actually has no skills, but loves to show off and make money. He has a strong backing, I reckon you must have offended him somewhere, if you want him to release your person, you'll have to pay some compensation, got it, brother?"

  "Got it! Got it!" Fang Zidao suddenly enlightened, hurriedly clasped his hands in gratitude, but then sighed in embarrassment: "Boss, I'm not familiar with this person, and look, we're just passing by here, and we have to rush back home soon. Can you help us out? Help us smooth things over? Don't worry, boss! This definitely won't lose out for you." After finishing speaking, Fang Zidao snapped his fingers, making a gesture of counting money.

  "Alright! Leave this small matter to me!" The lieutenant's eyes lit up instantly, and he laughed boldly: "We Shandong men like to get straight to the point when doing things, wait here for a moment!"

  Wei dropped the sentence and called out to the two brothers, who rushed into the barracks excitedly. The remaining soldiers gathered together, chatting and laughing, while Fang Zidao was not idle either, taking out a cigarette and chatting with them in a casual manner.

  Not long after, the individual who went in came out and pulled Fang Zouda to one side, his face sinking as he said: "Brother, this matter is a bit troublesome. Liu doesn't know what kind of fire medicine he's eaten, but he's furious right now. As soon as he opens his mouth, he wants that number. If it can't be done, then your people will have to be treated as rebels..."

  He made a cutting motion with his hand, and the lieutenant stared at Fang Zidao, waiting for him to make up his mind. Fang Zidao was furious in his heart, these two little brats had just left the house and were already causing trouble, did they not listen to what he said on the train? However, he also couldn't just stand by and do nothing, so after thinking for a moment, he gritted his teeth and nodded: "Alright! We'll do it your way!"

  He handed over a stack of banknotes to the lieutenant, and Fang Zida bowed his head again. The other person narrowed his eyes and laughed: "Alright, I guarantee that I will bring the person out for you!"

  After waiting for thousands and tens of thousands, and waiting for another ten or so minutes, Liu Zhen and Xiong Shihui, who were beaten until their faces were blue and swollen but still unwilling to give up, were finally released. When the two guys saw Fang Zidao, they first froze, then lowered their heads in extreme shame.

  "Thank you, boss! Thank you, boss!" He quietly handed the prepared benefits to the lieutenant and turned his head to scold these two unlucky guys: "Look at your behavior! You're always causing me trouble, hurry up and follow me!"

  They rushed to the train station, and the train was about to depart. They hastily boarded the train and entered a compartment. Fang Zida then looked at them with a gloomy face and said, "Tell me, you two great revolutionary heroes, what's going on?"