Chapter 53: The Lion Opens Its Mouth

  "Master Fang, you've finally returned." Zhou San'er, who had been waiting anxiously since morning, rushed over to see Fang Zida as soon as he arrived back at the long-separated mansion.

  "Thanks for your hard work, San Er." As he stepped into the courtyard, everything was still as it was before he left. The clean floor had not a single fallen leaf, showing that Zhou San Er had been taking good care of the place during his absence from the capital.

  "Your luggage has been placed in your room. If you need to tidy up, just let me know." He said as he accompanied Fang Zida to the south wing.

  Fang Zida nodded, Zhou Saner was still very understanding of the rules. Although he had his luggage and other items sent home after getting off the train, Zhou Saner only moved into his room without privately opening and arranging them. This made Fang Zida very satisfied. Often, looking at a person starts from small things, Zhou Saner was clever and understood things, which was also one of the reasons why Fang Zida appreciated him.

  From south to north, he had been rushing about for several days. As soon as he arrived in Beijing, he went back and forth from the Ministry of War to the Premier's Office, and when he returned home, Fang Zida felt a bit tired. However, he didn't go to rest directly, but instead asked Zhou San'er to help him make a pot of coffee, and then went to his study to drink the coffee, lit a cigar, and asked about what had happened after he left Beijing.

  In response to Fang Zida's inquiry, Zhou San'er was well-prepared and immediately pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket, on which were written the names of dozens of people. These people were all KMT reserve forces developed by Zhou San'er in recent days, and it could even be said that these people were directly led and commanded by Fang Zida.

  Pointing to the names of these people, Zhou San'er introduced their backgrounds, personal circumstances and specialties one by one. Fang Zida sat quietly listening, and the more he listened, the more he felt relieved, it was clear that Zhou San'er had put a lot of thought into these people.

  Among the people on the list, there are all kinds of professions, from small ones like street vendors, rickshaw drivers, and shop assistants, to big ones like compradors in foreign firms, business owners, and university professors... All sorts of people are included, it can be said that all walks of life are covered.

  "Did a good job, the money I left should be almost spent, right?" Fang Zida nodded in satisfaction and turned to ask, he had left some money for Zhou Saner before leaving, looking at the number of people on the list, he asked with a smile.

  "Hehe, actually it didn't cost that much, you still have more than half of the money you left behind." Zhou Saner smiled and replied.

  "Huh!" Fang Zida looked at him strangely, the money he left behind was not a small amount, but the expenses for doing these things were also high, with his development number, no matter how calculated, it was only barely enough to use, how could he still leave behind more than half? Did Zhou Saner not follow his own instructions, but instead acted on his own initiative?

  At this thought, Fang Zidao's expression turned unpleasant and he coldly looked at Zhou San'er.

  "Master Fang, don't get me wrong, Qian Xiao didn't spend less money. It's actually like this..." Zhou San'er hastily explained and after a long time, Fang Zi Da gradually understood what was going on. He couldn't help but secretly praise Zhou San'er for being a waiter in the past, which was really a waste of her talent.

  It turned out that Zhou Saner was indeed following Fang Zida's instructions at the beginning, but after he had a few people under him, due to a coincidence, he discovered a way to reduce expenses and increase efficiency. It was simple: there was a comprador named Wang Zaorong who happened to mention that the French were eager to sell a batch of goods, which they couldn't find buyers for in Beijing for over half a month. Zhou Saner took note of this and, through other channels, found out that a Shanxi merchant needed these goods. After learning this information, Zhou Saner used all the funds Fang Zida had given him, collaborated with Wang Zaorong to negotiate a low price with the French, and then resold the goods to the Shanxi merchant at a profit. In just a few days, he made a lot of money.

  This way, Zhou San'er discovered a path and then paid more attention to this aspect. At this time, the three teachings and nine streams of people under his hand were not few, although some people could not be used temporarily, but sometimes they still heard some news very clearly. By using this means, Zhou San'er was like a fish in water, and later expanding his manpower did not reduce the money on hand, but instead became more abundant.

  "Not bad, you're quite clever!" Fang Zida couldn't help but praise him a few times. Zhou Saner smiled so hard that his eyes became slits. Business opportunities are all about capital and ability, as well as information. Zhou Saner's abilities were already good, and with a certain network of connections, he could make some profitable deals by taking advantage of opportunities. However, after praising him, Fang Zida also criticized him, reminding him that his main job was not to do these things. The business world is complex and ever-changing, and people's hearts are complicated. Now that he had made money, it was hard to guarantee that there wouldn't be a day when he would lose money. Funds must be used for their intended purpose only, and absolutely cannot be embezzled or misused. If the funds were lost, he would no longer be able to grasp the loyalty of those people.

  To make a horse run fast, the horse must eat good grass. Fang Zidao does not believe that there is a horse in this world that can run fast without eating grass. No matter how lofty an idea is, once it loses its economic foundation, everything becomes useless. After warning Zhou Saner, Fang Zidao asked him to focus on his own affairs with all his might and never divert his energy to other areas again.

  In addition, Fang Zida also criticized the list handed over to Zhou San'er on Wednesday. This kind of situation where a list appears is dangerous. Once there are changes in the future, this thing will absolutely be deadly. Fang Zida instructed Zhou San'er that from now on, everything must rely on his own brain to remember, and under no circumstances should such things be left behind unless absolutely necessary. Moreover, Fang Zida recalled the way intelligence work was portrayed in movies and TV dramas, and taught Zhou San'er a lesson about single-line connections, code names, and tight organization. As for how much Zhou San'er could understand and achieve, Fang Zida would wait and see.

  He handed over the money to Zhou Saner again, and Fang Zidao let him leave. After Zhou Saner left, Fang Zidao sat in his study, thinking deeply about future arrangements. Although Zhou Saner's network was simple, it had already begun to take shape as a prototype of an intelligence network, which was a good start and would be a powerful assistant in the future. Thinking of this, Fang Zidao couldn't help but laugh secretly again, feeling that he, the head of the KMY Central Statistics Group, was indeed transforming into something like the "Central Intelligence" agency, but this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. China currently lacked such an institution, and Fang Zidao knew well that politics had never been pure. Looking at countries around the world, whether they were democratic, republican, or people's governments, which one didn't have some kind of clandestine organization?

  Of course, Fang Zidao is fond of his feathers and doesn't want to wear such a black cloak on himself when he has already made a name for himself. Let Zhou San'er do this kind of thing, it can be seen that Zhou San'er has a talent for this, although he is now just a rookie, but it will take some time before he slowly grows up.

  Putting aside Zhou San's affairs, Fang Zidao carefully considered his promise to Song Jiaoren. In the Premier's Office, what Fang Zidao said was not just a casual remark; in fact, since returning to China and especially during this trip south, he had indeed wanted to express something.

  In Fang Zidao's view, China is now plagued by all sorts of ills and crises everywhere. Although Song Jiaoren has become the premier smoothly, and the Republic of China has nominally embarked on a democratic path with checks and balances among the parliament, premier, and president, but with World War I looming ahead and Japan and Russia eyeing covetously, the country's future is not all smooth sailing.

  The country's economy, the perfection of institutions, the development of industry and commerce, land issues, class issues, educational problems, infrastructure construction, military and political issues in the south, party struggles... etc. These are all obstacles to development, wanting to change is not an easy task. Fang Zidao knows that Song Jiaoren is not a god, Yuan Shikai is not a god, Sun Wen is also not a god, he Fang Zidao even more so is not, there is only step by step doing, step by step coming, gathering the strength of the whole country, can gradually improve.

  Of course, the primary condition is stability, but this stability is not easy to achieve. Although the second revolution was suppressed, Fang Zidao also had no bottom line on when the country could truly stabilize. Just as the revolutionary party in the south had just calmed down, a new disturbance broke out in the northwest with Bai Lang, and Fang Zidao had to combine reality, consider the urgency and gradualness of the situation, and come up with the most feasible solution.

  Just after Fang Zidao returned to Beijing, he did not step out of his house and wrote diligently, thinking about what to do. At that time, the White Wolf Army in the northwest was getting more and more chaotic, and its situation even caught the attention of Sun Yat-sen, who had fled to Japan. After learning about it, Sun Yat-sen was overjoyed and even gathered the revolutionary party members in Japan, planning to send someone to contact the White Wolf Army and create something to respond to, and then launch a third revolution.

  For this reason, the suppression of Bai Lang's case became the main task of the Ministry of the Army. After Zhang Xun received the order, he did not assemble his troops to enter Shaanxi as required by the central government, but instead lingered in Anhui Province for four or five days. In response, Zhang Xun directly telegrammed the Ministry of the Army, claiming that his troops had suffered significant losses during the suppression and were now short of supplies and personnel, requesting the Ministry of the Army to provide him with additional military equipment and pay, and even brazenly asked the central government for 15 battalions' worth of troops.

  "Damn him!" After listening to Duan Qirui's report, Yuan Shikai slammed his fist on the table and scolded loudly: "Who does Zhang Shaonian think he is? Fifteen battalions? What does he want to do? What does he want to do?"

  "Great President, doesn't Zhang Shaoxuan's move make you realize what he wants to do?" Duan Qirui sighed and said: "He is not a fool either. The Ministry of the Army let him go to fight against the White Wolf, his intention can be guessed, let alone his queue troops suffered heavy losses in Jiangsu, now taking this opportunity to expand their forces, Zhang Shaoxuan would not be Zhang Xun!"

  Liang Shidao frowned and said, "The number of the 15th camp must not be given, even if we agree with Song Dunchu, he will not give in. After all, this number is too scary, once Zhang Xun has these 15 camps, how can we deal with it in the future? Besides, I have another worry!"

  "Is Wing-husband worried......?" Yuan Shikai's eyes flashed, and Liang Shiyu nodded: "That's right! Zhang Xun has always been independent, viewing the central government's orders as nothing. This time is even more perfunctory, trying to use the White Wolf incident to expand his power. His heart can be punished! If Zhang Xun really got the 15th camp number and entered Shaanxi with White Wolf, I'm afraid the situation in the northwest would......"

  "Not bad! What Wing-fu brother said is also my concern, Mr. President, I think it's better not to mobilize Zhang Xun's troops." Duan Qirui also agreed.

  Yuan Shikai had already been on guard when Duan Qirui reported that Zhang Xun was asking for a title, and he nodded in agreement. After careful consideration, he still thought it was better to be cautious. Although Zhang Xun's queue army was still intact, it had been crippled in the Battle of Nanjing, so it wouldn't hurt to put him aside for now and deal with him later. As for the White Wolf, since they couldn't drive out the tiger and swallow the wolf at the same time, Yuan Shikai decided to send a trusted general instead. After some thought, he finally chose someone - his trusted aide, Lu Jianzhang.