Supporting the Orphaned and Raising the Bereaved

  "Aunt, please accept this money. From now on, I'll send someone to deliver fifteen dollars to you every month. Consider it a token of respect from the Liu brothers to Uncle Zhao." After receiving his official appointment letter, Liu Mingjiu changed into his new lieutenant uniform and set off with eighteen brave soldiers towards Linglong Tower. On the way, he made a special stop at the north gate of Jianchang, where he visited the home of Zhao Zhengyi's widow, Zhao Li, and handed her fifteen silver dollars.

  "How can this be? This cannot be, Little Liu. When your Uncle Zhao was alive, he would not let us take advantage of any benefits from the officials." As she spoke, Madam Zhao stuffed the money back into Liu Mingjiu's hands.

  Zhao Zhengyi indeed never deducted from the soldiers' pay before his death, nor did he allow his family members to accept any gifts from subordinates. This is also one of the reasons why the sixty people who survived after his martyrdom in the entire fourth company are very nostalgic for him. Of course, Zhao Zhengyi was not so polite to those wealthy families, landlords and merchants, so although he was only a regimental commander before his death, even if the troop did not provide compensation after his martyrdom, his family would still have no worries about food and clothing, and they could live a life of moderate prosperity, without having to worry about their next meal.

  "Aunt, you must accept this money. I'm now the commander of the 8th company and from now on, for every soldier who dies in battle, we will provide their family with a monthly allowance of 15 yuan from our company's funds. So, this isn't the first time." Liu Mingjiu said, revealing his initial plan for using the remaining 2,800 yuan.

  Zhao Li looked at the young man in front of him, who just a few months ago was still arrogant and mischievous, and couldn't believe that he had become a company commander so quickly, and was even so kind-hearted. However, he still refused to accept the money from Liu Mingjiu's hand: "You are the eighth company commander, and your uncle Zhao is the fourth company commander. According to your rules, you shouldn't take the money of the eighth company either. Besides, you've just taken over the eighth company, and there will be many places where you'll need to spend money in the future. It's better for you to keep this money yourself. Your aunt has accepted your kind intentions, and I'll thank you on behalf of your uncle Zhao."

  "Aunt, didn't you just say so yourself? My Uncle Zhao is the commander of our 4th company, although I'm now ordered to reorganize the 8th company, but after all, I still count as a member of the 4th company, and was brought up by Uncle Zhao himself." Liu Mingjiu's quick wit was admired by everyone, he was always good at catching small details when arguing with people, this time he used this skill again, leaving Zhao Li speechless, she could only reluctantly take the 15 silver dollars from Liu Mingjiu's hand.

  "Mother, I'm back." Just as everyone was talking, a girl's shout came from outside the door. As soon as the voice fell, a 16 or 17-year-old girl lifted the curtain and entered Zhao Li's room. Seeing everyone, she immediately blushed and quickly hid behind Zhao Li, pulling at her hem and asking: "Mother, who are these people?"

  "Come, come, come, Zhen'er. This is your father's often-mentioned Liu Mingjiu, now the Eighth Commander of the Eight Banners. Quickly come and pay respects." Zhao Li saw her daughter enter and immediately hid behind her own back, so she began to introduce them: "These are all your father's former subordinates. That one is your father who always said was dull and only knew how to work and fight, 'Mule' Luo Xiliang. He came to our home when you were young. This one is your father who often said was like a foolish child, Tong Quan. That one is your father and Uncle Li who often called 'Ghostly Slippery' Wu Tongjin. Quickly come and pay respects to them. Now they are all military officers."

  The girl, with Zhao Li's words and holding his hand, followed one by one to the front of the crowd and introduced herself. The girl also saw each other shyly. Zhao Li looked at the crowd and introduced: "This is my second sister, named Zhao Bizhen, who is now studying at that new women's school in the county town."

  Liu Mingjiu took a look at this girl who was already considered a great beauty in her own time, and only half a head shorter than himself. He quickly shifted his gaze and changed the subject. It wasn't that Liu Mingjiu had a big appetite for sex, but rather that the girl looked too much like the actress he saw on TV playing Wu Zetian in "The Legend of Zhen Huan".

  Zhao Zhengyi has two sons and two daughters. The eldest daughter is currently attending Yanjing University in Beijing, and this Zhen'er is the younger daughter. The eldest son Zhao Tai is nineteen years old and entered the Baoding Army Officer School two years ago; the youngest son Zhao Taixu is sixteen years old and is still studying at the National Middle School in the county town (equivalent to junior high school grades 1-3). As for the situation of the Zhao family, Liu Mingjiu had actually heard Zhao Zhengyi mention it before at a banquet.

  The crowd spoke for a while, and Liu Mingjiu and others got up to bid farewell to Zhao Li's family and left Zhao's house. They walked towards the home of Lian Fu, Li Nianxin, which was not far from Zhao's house. Suddenly, a thin and weak young man rushed to the front of the team, blocking their way forward.

  "Xiao Xue, what are you doing?" Luo Xi Liang asked after seeing that boy first stunned and then asked.

  That boy didn't even look at Luo Xiang, and directly pushed away Guan Yutang and Liang Shengchu who were blocking his way. He looked at Liu Mingjiu sitting on the war horse and said: "Brother Liu, I've come to find you. I want to follow you to join the army and inherit my father's legacy."

  Liu Mingjiu also guessed it out from the memories of this body and Luo Xiangliang's words, that is Zhao Zhengyi's youngest son, Zhao Taiyu, who was not seen at the Zhao family just now. Liu Mingjiu looked at the thin boy in front of him and smiled: "You're so young and want to be a soldier? Wait until you can hold a Han Yang rifle, graduate from school first. Isn't your brother already in Baoding Military Academy? What legacy do you still want to inherit?"

  "My brother is my brother, when my father was alive he always said that my brother was a spoiled brat, unlike you and Father. So I want to be like you and Father, not a spoiled brat." Zhao Tai Xiu's immature face showed an unyielding determination beyond his years. The "spoiled brats" of this era referred to those military officers who only knew how to indulge in food, drink, whoring, and gambling, and boasted about their exploits. When Zhao Zheng Yi was alive, he would often scold his eldest son when he got drunk, saying that he was useless.

  When Zhao Tai entered the fifth period of infantry at Baoding Military Academy, he became friends with some high-ranking officials' sons. Although the discipline at Baoding Military Academy was very strict, some high-ranking officials' sons still managed to get in through the back door and flaunt their wealth. At first, Zhao Tai only spent money from his family on lavish spending, but later he even accumulated a huge debt of 3,000 yuan from gambling and ran back to the dormitory to steal money from his classmates, not to mention stealing guns from the school. Fortunately, after being discovered by his classmate Fu, he was only given a warning by the school. However, he did not change his ways and instead wrote to Zhao Zhengyi, saying that he had arranged a marriage in Baoding and asked him for 10,000 yuan to buy a house and get married. In this era, children's marriages were all arranged by their parents, so Zhao Zhengyi thought it was time to try out some new ideas. However, after sending someone to investigate, they found that the woman was five years older than Zhao Tai and had a background as a secret prostitute. Infuriated, Zhao Zhengyi immediately went to the county civil affairs bureau and severed his father-son relationship with Zhao Tai, and according to Zhao Zhengyi's strict orders, Madam Zhao also stopped giving Zhao Tai any money.

  "Haha, well, your brother is your brother, and you are you. But have you thought about it? If you follow me to join the army, your father will be gone soon after his illness, and only your second sister will be left by his side. Can your mother take it? Besides, you still have a year of high school left, right? Isn't it a waste of the efforts your father made to support you when he was alive?" Liu Mingjiu started to reason with him, jumped off the horse, held Zhao Taiyu's hand and pulled him to sit down at a nearby street stall, patiently talking to him.

  Zhao Tai Xiu thought for a moment, not speaking for half a day. Finally, he stood up and looked at Liu Ming Jiu: "Alright then, I'm telling you, Brother Liu, don't deceive me. When I graduate from middle school, my mother will be taken care of by someone I hire, and you must let me follow you to join the army."

  "Haha, okay, okay. Definitely, definitely." Liu Mingjiu looked at the young face and continued with a smile: "But you also have to promise me, help us brothers take good care of your mother and second sister. My subordinates are all men of their words, I don't want anyone who is unkind, unfilial, or disloyal. If you can't even take care of your mother and second sister, then neither I nor these brothers will accept you, and in the future, we won't even bother to talk to you, got it?"

  "Ah, I remember, you're going to Uncle Li's house, right? I'll go with you guys, it just so happens that we can find Li Bai and head to class together." Zhao Tai Xiu heard Liu Ming Jiu's words and felt they made sense, so he didn't mention the soldier thing again. From Liu Ming Jiu and their attire and direction of walking, he knew they were heading to Li Nian Xin's house, so he led the way in front.

  "Hehe, this kid is quite clever." Liu Mingjiu said to Luo Xiliang beside him as he watched Zhao Taixu jumping and walking forward in front of the team.

  Rohi looked at Zhao Tai Xiu with a thoughtful expression, muttering to himself: "When I first joined the army, I was only a few months older than him. This kid is much more clever than I was back then, and he's got culture too."

  Luo Xiliang was also brought into the 18th Regiment after his father died in battle, just like Liu Mingjiu. However, he had a strong temper and was not good at communicating with others from a young age. His father sent him to a private school, where two sons of wealthy families would often bully him and other "military dependents" because they thought they were inferior. One day, Luo Xiliang was so angry that he didn't say a word and beat the two bullies unconscious with a stick. This caused a big stir, as one of the wealthy families had a relative who was a high-ranking official, and they wanted to drown seven or eight-year-old Luo Xiliang in the river. If it weren't for Sun Congzhou and Liu Mingjiu's father leading an armed rebellion to seize the county government at the time, Luo Xiliang might have already lost his life, and the Luo family would have been extinct.

  The crowd followed Zhao Tai-xu and soon entered Li Nian-zhen's home. Li Nian-zhen's wife, Li Zhang-shi, was initially startled to see such a large group of officials and soldiers entering the house, thinking that something from Li Nian-zhen's past had been discovered and they had come to arrest him. However, upon seeing Zhao Tai-xu running at the front and Liu Ming-jiu following behind, she put her mind at ease and led the crowd into the living room.

  Li's new home was much more luxurious than Zhao Zhengyi's, the latter being a two-story courtyard house that was only expanded to four stories after Zhao Zhengyi's death. Li's family had always been a large and wealthy one, with twenty rooms in their compound, whereas Zhao's family had only twelve rooms even after the expansion. Moreover, before his death, Li had also opened a pharmacy and an ironwork shop in the county town, and had bought two storefronts on the street to rent out. Therefore, it was often said among the soldiers that "the company commander is honest, but the deputy commander is corrupt; if you want to get things done, look for the deputy commander first."

  Looking at the scene in Li's courtyard, and thinking of Zhao's family, Liu Mingjiu also understood that Li must have accumulated a lot of wealth before his death. Otherwise, how could he, an ironworker by origin, become a low-ranking military officer for twenty years and still manage to acquire such a large estate? His wife Zhang's family was just a wealthy peasant household, but they had such a large estate, there were only two possible explanations: either corruption or bribery. However, since Li had died in battle, neither the regiment nor the higher-ups would investigate further, but it left Liu Mingjiu feeling uncomfortable for some time.

  Although he felt uncomfortable, Liu Mingjiu still left the first month's alimony for Li Zhangshi and did not want to stay long. He took everyone to visit the homes of six comrades-in-arms who had died in battle and had families, leaving 15 taels of silver at each home. Then, he led the 18 brave warriors out of the city on horseback, rushing northeast towards the county town, raising a cloud of dust as they departed.