Chapter 29: Meeting General Jiang

  "Report to the commander, Liu Mingjiu from the 18th Regiment has arrived." In the governor's mansion in Chengde, the capital of Rehe Province, a lieutenant colonel aide walked into the study of Governor Jiang Guiti and reported to him while he was reading.

  Jiang Gui Ti raised his head and put down the book in his hand, saying: "Call him in."

  The deputy officer responded with a sound, turned around and walked out of the study. A few minutes later, Liu Mingjiu, wearing a blue military uniform and adorned with the rank of upper lieutenant, marched into the study in a steady step, stood opposite Jiang Guiti, and said loudly: "Report to the commander, Lieutenant Colonel Liu Mingjiu, the 18th Regiment of the 2nd Division of the Yi Army, the 3rd Battalion, the 8th Company, reports to you, please instruct."

  Wearing a coarse linen military uniform and an old-fashioned calabaza hat, Jiang Gui Ti leaned on the back of the desk in the study, blinking his deep eyes: "You're that 'Little Flying Dragon', not bad, yeah, indeed heroes emerge in youth."

  This Jiang Gui was once a fighter against the Taiping Army, and led troops to kill the Nian rebels. Later, during the First Sino-Japanese War, he also fought desperately against the Japanese. When the Eight-Nation Alliance entered Beijing, he was summoned by Li Hongzhang to "defend the capital" and became a vanguard in suppressing the Boxer Rebellion. He was once wounded by Zhang Decheng, the leader of the Boxers. For escorting the two palaces back to the Forbidden City, Jiang Gui was promoted to Taizi Shaobao, granted the privilege of riding horses in the Forbidden City and Xiyuan Gate, and awarded a yellow jacket. After being wounded, he gradually gained the capital for promotion, and eventually replaced the deceased Ma Yukun to become the third commander-in-chief of the Yi Army.

  He arrived in the Republic of China, first using his connections to persuade the dying Qing royal family to donate money to fight against the revolutionaries. Later, he followed Yuan Shikai and forced the abdication of the emperor, earning himself the title of Taizi Shaobao. After Yuan became president, he was appointed as the governor of Zhili Province and the military commander of Rehe Province, but he only controlled Rehe and from then on took root there. He later participated in suppressing the peasant uprising in Henan Province, luring and killing a hero of the Xinhai Revolution, issuing an order to open up opium trade in Rehe, actively supporting Yuan's attempt to become emperor, participating in Zhang Xun's restoration, and supporting the Anhui clique's "military unification". At this time, he had just joined the later famous Anhui faction.

  This person has always maintained an extremely backward, conservative and even reactionary stance, and he treasured the yellow jacket bestowed by the Qing emperor as a rare treasure. Even in major celebrations after the Republic of China was established, he often wore it to show off his glory. However, due to his humble origins and rise through the military ranks, he still retained some of his original straightforward and simple nature, and also placed great importance on the combat effectiveness and discipline of the troops. In his later years, he was not good at speaking and often used the phrase "guāng jǐng, guāng jǐng" (literally "glorious scene"). People would flatter him to his face as "General Jiang" or "Commander-in-Chief Jiang", but behind his back they would call him "Jiang Luo Guo" or "Jiang Guang Jing".

  Liu Mingjiu saw Jiang Gui looking at himself and saying something, and another one stood up straight and replied: "Thank you, General, for your praise. I don't dare to accept it."

  "There's nothing to be afraid of, you've set an example for yourself." Jiang Gui Ti straightened up and continued to look at Liu Mingjiu, saying: "You have made our Yi army famous in Jianchang with these achievements. I heard that your father and uncle are all old men of our Yi, is that right?"

  "Reporting to General, yes." Liu Mingjiu still replied with a serious expression and without looking at Jiang Guotie.

  Jiang Gui stood up, and that head was actually not inferior to Liu Mingjiu. Just now he was sitting behind the desk with a hunchbacked appearance, it would be hard for anyone to believe that he was also so tall and majestic, although somewhat hunched back, but still had the bearing of a veteran general.

  He slowly walked up to Liu Mingjiu, looked at the eighteen-year-old lieutenant in front of him: "The situation is chaotic now, if there are a few more good young men like you among our Yi army brothers, the future of our Yi army will be better."

  Liu Mingjiu saw Jiang Gui walking up to him, staring at him. Although he had read some introductions about this person in the future and didn't have a good impression of him. But after all, his life was now in this man's hands, so he could only stand upright and say: "Reporting to General, as a member of the Yi Army, I should do my best. We are all people who rely on the Yi Army for food and clothing, doing more for the Yi Army is what we should do."

  "Well, not bad, not bad. I heard you've also changed the training and discipline of your entire regiment. Haven't your subordinates given you any trouble? Those soldiers in our army are all old men now." Jiang Guiti turned around and walked back to his desk, saying this as he sat down again.

  "Reporting to the commander. Please forgive me for altering military discipline without permission, when revising military discipline and training outline, I did not encounter any soldier riot." Liu Mingjiu hastily asked him to pardon himself, in front of such a conservative and stubborn old-fashioned warlord, one careless mistake could cost his life.

  "Alright, alright. This situation is really something that needs to be changed." Jiang Guiti took out a pipe and had one of his maids light it for him. He took a deep drag, looking at Liu Mingjiu as he continued: "You only attended high school at the Lushun Army Academy in Chengde, right? But from this training outline of yours, I see that many places are even more impressive than those foreign armies."

  Liu Mingjiu knew that Sun Congzhou had already handed over his combat outline to Jiang Guiti before he came, which was naturally not comparable to any army in this era. Seeing Jiang Guiti's inquiry, Liu Mingjiu could only make an excuse: "Report to the commander, these were told by a passerby who met Zhang Xiaoming when he was at the Army Middle School."

  "Oh, where did that person get this idea? He can come up with so many new things, his brain must still have a lot of stuff." Jiang Guiti heard Liu Mingjiu was told by someone else, and immediately his eyes flashed with surprise, shining with the same light.

  Liu Mingjiu did not dare to look at the general, knowing that he was telling a lie, and could only stare straight ahead and reply: "Reporting to the general, that person has already died in battle on the Hubei battlefield some time ago."

  Jiang Gui's energy seemed to deflate like a punctured balloon, and he slumped back into his chair. He took a deep drag on his cigar: "What a pity, what a pity. Alright, I'm getting a bit tired, you can go back now."

  "Yes, I'll withdraw." Liu Mingjiu responded with a loud voice after being pardoned, and then walked out of Jiang Guidi's study in big strides. Under the leadership of that lieutenant colonel aide, he left the Military Governor's Mansion.

  This time, Jiang Gui invited Liu Mingjiu to meet him. Sun Congzhou had already made preparations before entering winter, so after Liu Mingjiu arrived in Chengde, he didn't have to worry about anything himself. At this time, it was early winter of 1918, and Chengde had just experienced its first heavy snowfall. Originally, Liu Mingjiu wanted to take a look at the Summer Resort, an opportunity he had missed twice before, but he was informed by a lieutenant colonel that the Summer Resort was a place protected by the order of the Grand Marshal, and anyone who entered without the personal approval of the Grand Marshal would be executed on the spot. Liu Mingjiu could only silently scold him in his heart and reluctantly gave up.

  On the second day after Jiang Gui summoned Liu Mingjiu, a lieutenant general of the Du Junfu read out a commendation order to Liu Mingjiu in the Yi Army's Chengde Reception Office. In recognition of his meritorious service in suppressing bandits, Liu Mingjiu was awarded the Order of the Precious Light, the Order of Wenhu and the Order of the White Eagle, each one fifth-class, fourth-class and fifth-class respectively.

  "Haha, congratulations to you, Director Liu! The commander-in-chief has not praised an officer of your rank for a long time. You will definitely have unlimited prospects in the future." The major general said this congratulatory remark while pinning the medal on Liu Mingjiu's uniform.

  Liu Mingjiu stood up straight and said: "Please, General, convey my gratitude to the Commander-in-Chief on my behalf. I am just a junior officer, and in any case, I am not even half as good as you."

  After pinning the last medal on Liu Mingjiu, he smiled and said: "Hehe, you're too modest. You can be called a young talent! When I was your age, I was just a follower of Old Marshal Ma, haha, and you will definitely achieve something!"

  "General, you're overpraising me, I'm not worthy of such praise. Before we even had a chance to talk, General, what's your honorable surname? Let's have more interactions in the future." Liu Mingjiu saw that the young general had already sat down on one side, so he relaxed his body and smiled along with him, handing over a Havana cigar from the extortionist Sun Zhou.

  That young general took the cigar, looked at it and said: "Ah, authentic American cigars. Not bad, it seems that what's being spread outside about your 18th Regiment being very wealthy is true, even you can afford to smoke such good stuff."

  "I wouldn't dare say that. This cigar was snatched from our team leader's hand before I came." Liu Mingjiu said as he lit the cigar for General Shao.

  "Ah, the flavor is quite authentic, no wonder it's American goods." After taking a puff of his cigar, he continued with a look of great enjoyment: "Come on, sit down, don't just stand there. I'm Deputy Director of the Inspectorate Office of the Military Governor's Office, my name is Xu Minghui. Looking at your age, from now on don't be so formal all the time, just call me Uncle Xu."

  Liu Mingjiu was pulled by Xu Minghui to sit beside him, and smiled saying: "That little nephew will thank Uncle Xu now."

  Liu Mingjiu had already investigated him thoroughly before he came. This Xu Minghui is from Anhui Bengbu, and during the suppression of the Nian Rebellion by the Yi Army, he followed Ma Yukun. His family was originally a small landlord, and after bribing one of Ma Yukun's trusted followers, he was arranged to be by Ma Yukun's side as an attendant. Later, in successive battles, he gradually rose through the ranks. After Ma Yukun's death, he hugged Jiang Guidi's thigh, successively serving as battalion commander, garrison commander, and deputy commander-in-chief. Because he offended Jiang Guidi's younger brother-in-law, he was dismissed from his post and stayed at the Military Governor's Office. Recently, Jiang Guidi's younger brother-in-law embezzled a sum of military funds and was shot dead, only then did Xu Minghui regain power.

  The two of them chatted in Liu Mingjiu's room at the reception office for a whole morning, until 12:10, when Xu Minghui stood up to bid farewell. Liu Mingjiu had long seen through the officialdom of this era, and most officials in his time were "not serving the people, but rather going home to sell sweet potatoes." Although there were some corrupt officials, they did not have the audacity of those in this era who "only serve themselves, and heaven and earth cannot tolerate a second fool." Everything relies on money to open doors, and no one dares to offend their own small-time leaders. So when Xu Minghui walked to the door, Liu Mingjiu quietly stuffed several silver tickets from Jin Yuan Money House into his pocket. Xu Minghui saw that this young man understood the rules of officialdom so well, and he was delighted to socialize, throwing out phrases like "let's keep in touch" and "if you need anything, just find me."