Chapter 50: Returning Home as a Bandit (1)

  P.S: Ouch! Overslept again! Hurry up and change clothes!

  Chen Xiaoqi said: "If there were other ways, I would also like to find a good place, but now after our comprehensive consideration of the domestic situation and our own advantageous conditions, we finally chose this place. This is the best place for us to develop and grow in the future under current domestic and international conditions. The reasons are as follows:"

  Everyone stared with wide eyes and perked up their ears to listen to Chen Xiaoqi's words. In fact, including Li Junfeng, they didn't understand why Chen Xiaoqi chose this place. The so-called "General Staff" decision was actually just Chen Xiaoqi's own words. After all, only he was the most clear about the future situation, and how could he dare to entrust such things to others?

  Chen Xiaoqi said: "First of all, our core team members are from Shandong Province. Our background and social connections are also mainly concentrated in Shandong Province. This innate condition cannot be abandoned, it is one of the necessary conditions for our future development. Who doesn't want to let their hometown live a happy life first? Who doesn't want to let their relatives benefit from those great plans in our ideals first? No one, right? So this point doesn't need to be discussed."

  "Secondly, our military development needs an extremely favorable environment. This environment must enable our team to have a vast space for activity and expansion, and quickly establish a solid base that can be both offensive and defensive, laying a good foundation for the next step of the entire group's development. Why did we choose Laiwu? Let's take a look at the map."

  As he spoke, someone behind him unfolded a hand-drawn map with the two large characters "Absolute Secret" written on it. This was a copy of the "1948 Edition China Map" from Chen Xiaoqi's cross-time accessory, which was far more accurate than any map drawn by Chinese people at that time. Chen Xiaoqi had seen maps from the 1920s and they were simply "pitiful". The 1948 map, on the other hand, was created after the victory of the War of Resistance against Japan, using maps confiscated from the Japanese devils as a reference. Its precision and level of detail were extremely high, with terrain clearly marked in different colors, and the heights of major mountain peaks clearly indicated. Even many small paths that Chinese people themselves didn't know about were clearly listed on this map. It could be said that this map was the most accurate and detailed map of its time.

  Chen Xiaoqi drew a circle on the map along Jinan, Zhangdian, Qingzhou, Weifang, Yishui, Linyi, Xintai and Tai'an, and said to everyone: "Everyone, can you see anything from this map?"

  A large group of people, except for the wooden-headed ones like Zhu Dacheng, immediately saw the subtlety in this. He Bao Wen patted his thigh and said: "Hmm, boss drew a great circle! This is all mountainous terrain! The mountains are perfect for hiding troops, advancing and retreating at will, with an activity range of almost half of Shandong Province. Not to mention our few hundred people, even several thousand or tens of thousands of people would be no problem, it's great."

  Huang Zhen Shan also said: "Really! In this circle, Laiwu is the core area. It's a rare flat land in the mountain group. If you block the three important passes of Boshan, Tai'an and Xintai, it will become a self-contained world inside. Haha, it's a great place to attack and defend, it's a blessing for military use. No wonder so many bandits are hiding inside, I didn't know there was such a good thing about it! Hehe, boss really knows how to choose a location!"

  Chen Xiaoqi said: "That's it, our first foothold is Shandong. We have no choice but to establish our own base in Shandong, and the central Lu mountains with Laiwu as the core are just the right place. This is the first step. After the 'Huaxia Revival Army' returns, we must first stand firm here, open up a new world, and initially, we need to bring the entire Laiwu area under our control. It depends on your skills, Huang."

  "Boss, you can rest assured, I'm not bragging, but taking over the mountain is absolutely no problem. As long as you provide us with enough guns, ammo, and supplies in time, it's just a matter of time before we take over not just Laiwu, but the entire Shandong province. However, boss, it seems like there are bandits all over Shandong right now! The Beiyang Army may not be great, but they have at least 100,000 to 800,000 troops in Shandong alone. Can we really just openly recruit and buy our way to victory while they watch? Our few hundred men can't withstand their massive army's siege! Boss, what's your plan?"

  Chen Xiaoqi said, "Do you know when a drop of water is least noticeable?" He dipped his hand into the teacup and picked it up, with a single drop of water on the tip of his finger. As he shook his finger, the drop fell back into the cup and disappeared into the tea.

  "Got it, boss! You mean to say that you want us to mix in with these bandits and rebels? No way, boss! You're telling your brothers to go back to being bandits?"

  Chen Xiaoqi smiled and said, "What's wrong with being a bandit? You're not like you've never done it before. Among the three million people under Lao Zhang's command in Northeast China, how many of them were originally bandits? Isn't this just returning to your true nature?"

  "Huang Zunshan sighed and said, 'Alas! I thought we were going to leave the bandits behind from now on, but it turns out we're back to this again. This time is even better, our military strength has increased, but boss, you want us, the great "Huaxia Revival Army", to become bandits? Isn't that a bit of a bad reputation? Aren't you afraid that in the future it will affect the reputation of our entire undertaking?'"

  Chen Xiaoqi said: "For the great cause of the nation's revival, you can be a little selfless and make some sacrifices! The people will remember your great achievements! In the future, when our great cause is successful, we will also rehabilitate your name, erect monuments, and record your deeds in history! Haha! Okay, let's not joke around. What's wrong with being a bandit? Bandits are not all bad, didn't the heroes of Liangshan take justice into their own hands back then? Your northeastern warlords can become powerful generals ruling over half of China, why can't we?"

  "Alright! Boss, bandits will be bandits, but do you really want us brothers to go and rob trains? It's a bit of a waste of our talents, isn't it? This bad reputation!"

  "Nonsense! How could I possibly let you do those unskilled things? Of course, when we're bandits, we have to rob and kidnap, otherwise we wouldn't be bandits. But our target is a different kind of person - the evil landlords who bully people in the countryside, and also those who practice heresy."

  "Huang Zhen said, 'These local tyrants are easy to understand. Most of them bully and oppress the villagers, some are even directly connected with bandits. It's easy to find them out and deal with them. But boss, what's going on with this evil cult? Is it like the White Lotus Sect? I just can't figure it out!'"

  Chen Xiaoqi said: "This problem, we have long thought of for you. So-called cults, they have the following characteristics: first, they generally have a master who possesses the truth or is a messenger of God, and his decision-making power is not subject to any doubt. Their requirements for you are: unified thinking and recognition, do not think, do not examine. The teachings of the cult are seen as the only true and permanently correct knowledge, rejecting traditional science, rejecting rational thinking, rejecting intelligence, believing that these only emphasize the brain, are negative, and belong to the devil, etc. Cults lack a culture of rational discussion: because cults believe they possess unchangeable truth, they think that all discussions about their teachings and organization are superfluous. Cults only recognize two kinds of people: either friends or enemies, whoever is not our supporter is our opponent. They often declare that the world is facing a great disaster, only the cult itself knows how to save this world or its own believers. People inside the cult are elites, outsiders are all on the wrong path, at most they are objects for proselytizing. Cults can use any means to achieve their goals. If you have doubts about the cult, no one will care about the reasons for your doubts. If you don't feel the kind of sacredness they talk about, they will say: 'This cannot be explained, you must experience it yourself, what we have experienced is a completely different level...' or similar words."

  "They often incite the masses to gather and attack, storm important national departments and institutions, disrupting work, production, business, teaching order; incite, deceive, organize members or others to gather and attack, occupy, riot in public places and religious activity venues, disturbing social order. Resist relevant departments' crackdowns or have been cracked down by relevant departments, but restore or re-establish cult organizations, or continue to carry out cult activities, incite, deceive, organize members or others not to fulfill legal obligations. Some directly tell you to dedicate everything to them without asking for any compensation. These theories all apply to this type of person. In short, if you use these criteria to analyze, it's easy to see through them. A person who has sufficient cultivation in the middle way, the unity of heaven and humanity, and sincerity is unlikely to be deceived. However, most people in our country are illiterate and have been oppressed for too long, their minds are numb, they have no guard against these people, and it's easy for them to succeed. Once these people organize and arm themselves, they will be more terrifying than any bandit."

  Several people listened, and suddenly some were stunned. Especially Zhu Dacheng, who said directly: "It seems that when I was a kid, my dad kept muttering about this stuff every day? Is this a cult?"

  Hu Qianbai shot him a glance and said, "Aren't you spouting nonsense! Your dad was with the Boxers, and the Boxers were in cahoots with the White Lotus Sect. This has been going on for thousands of years, and every dynasty has labeled the White Lotus Sect as an evil cult. Whether they're good or bad, the White Lotus Sect always incites people to rebel during peaceful times. Can you say they're not an evil cult? If a lump of mud falls into your pants, it's either shit or it smells like shit!"

  Zhou Yunpeng muttered: "How come I heard that those revolutionary parties did something related to this?"

  Huang Zhen Shan glared at him: "You little rascal, what nonsense are you spouting? We're also revolutionaries! Do you dare say we're also a cult?"

  "This statement is not strange, in the Qing government, we were considered a heretical cult. In fact, revolutionaries and heretics are not very different, the difference lies in that revolutionaries sacrifice themselves for the welfare of the majority of people, for the future of the whole country and nation, while heretics sacrifice others to satisfy their own desire for power. This direction is exactly opposite. Why do we have cohesion? It's because our ideal is to establish a world that can make the whole country and nation strong, we are fighting for the happiness and well-being of all people, not for the private gain of one person. No matter what political party or team, once they start fighting for the private gain of a certain individual or small group, they are no longer revolutionaries. This point must be clearly distinguished."

  "Boss, this seems a bit difficult! My old Huang's brain is good at fighting, but not professional in doing business!"

  Chen Xiaoqi said, "You don't have to worry about this, when the time comes, there will naturally be people who will assist you with these ideological tasks. You just need to do a good job in your bandit career, which has great prospects!"