The Seventeenth Chapter Farewell, My Concubine

  "Damn it, this kid really can't be kept down. Haha, okay, this time I don't have to worry about him not being able to hold on anymore." In the office of the 18th Regiment Commander in Jianchang City, Sun Congzhou listened to Zuo Zhenyuan's report and said with a smile: "Damn it, he finally didn't pretend to be some kind of noble gentleman, but knew to follow other troops to learn and sent someone as a bodyguard."

  Zuo Zhan Yuan on the other side also smiled: "This kid's brain is really not white, but recently several teams have come to me and Lao Kang to complain. He became famous in one battle and came up with so many tricks to calm the people at Linglong Tower, all the way through various horse beards, they let him. As a result, the other teams originally protected good businesses, ran to him for escort, no longer partnered with those brothers, and lost a large amount of income."

  "Haha, damn it, they're useless, you tell those kids not to cause any internal conflicts. Whoever has the ability will take over, whoever is capable will keep it safe, and if anyone dares to mess with me, I'll kill him." Sun Zongzhou stood up laughing and handed a cigarette to Zuo Zhenyuan.

  Before the outbreak of the Zhili war, the Beiyang Army, especially the Yi Army and the Northeastern Army, didn't care about private armed guards. As long as you had enough troops in your camp, and at the right time sent some tribute to your superiors, no one would bother you. This is where the warlords differed from regular troops. Private use by officers and soldiers was even more developed in the later Four Big Families. What Sun Chuanfang fears most now is that other troops will lose their income and turn to banditry or destructive activities.

  Zuo Zhenyuan took the cigarette from Sun Congzhou, lit it and took a deep drag: "I reckon the other brothers really don't have the guts. In these two months, Xiao Jiu has encountered several times when he almost got himself killed, but in the end, more than 100 people were beaten to pulp by him alone. As for those other brothers of mine, I think they're very clear about it - they just don't have that kind of combat power."

  "Haha, damn it, he didn't suffocate to death, instead he squeezed out a team with combat power that no one can match. You think, if the instructor and those people who always find fault know about this, will they be so angry that they'll scold our Liu family's ancestors for eighteen generations?" Sun Congzhou walked back to his deerskin chair, sat down again, leaned back on it, and said leisurely

  "Haha, definitely will. Captain, we've also deducted the wages of the 8th company for five months, I think it's almost time to change it back?" Zuo Zhenyuan was very clear that Sun Congzhou was also forced by his superiors to deduct and suspend the wages of the 8th company, and only spoke out when he saw that the timing was almost right, hoping to help the 8th company out of trouble. After all, although Xia Jiuzi had no wages, they still sent Wu Tongjin to deliver money to them every month.

  Sun Congzhou looked at Zuo Zhenyuan and nodded: "Commander Liang has been letting us hold back this kid, the timing is already ripe. Now that we've given the 8th Company their payback, Commander won't be able to blame us anymore. Let's have Old Kang personally lead a team to give it to them later, let Old Kang come up with some excuse or other. With 'ghosts lurking' around, Xiao Jiu will understand and believe they won't bother too much about it. Then we'll submit a report to the division headquarters, this kid has been with us for almost half a year now, that deputy position is his for the taking, let's promote him another level."

  Sun Congzhou and Zuo Zhenyuan's guess was correct, Liu Mingjiu could withstand the cut-off of food and salary, and it was unexpected by all parties. Who would have thought that an eighteen-year-old young man would find out the hidden rules of the Beiyang army so quickly and use them better than anyone else? The most annoying ones were naturally Zhao Miaosheng, Zhao Dongqu father and son, who wanted to squeeze Liu Mingjiu out of the Linglong Tower, and their followers.

  "I'm asking you, Village Chief, don't you have a way to deal with this kid? It's happened several times already. Your friends from the Three Mountains and Five Peaks not only failed to discipline him, but they themselves were disciplined by that kid." A wealthy household member asked Zhao Miao Sheng, who was sitting in a reclining chair, puffing on his pipe and resting his eyes.

  Zhao Miao Sheng opened his eyes, gazing aimlessly at that person: "That little bastard is too formidable, actually able to make those soldiers of his so capable in such a short time. Even the poor devils from the security team have become so fierce. Now my friends on the east side are all intimidated by him."

  "Are we still going to squeeze him? Looking at the current situation, unless he is removed from his position. But now Sun Zhongzhou is clearly playing neutral, not directly attacking this kid, nor is he opposing us. It's hard to remove that kid from his position." Another wealthy merchant chimed in after a moment of contemplation.

  "Grandma's, you all wait for the autumn harvest, okay? Disperse now. Can only slowly think of a way to deal with him. This young whippersnapper is really not a good seedling." Zhao Miao Sheng lazily walked to the side of the sandalwood bed and lay down, letting everyone disperse.

  He wasn't without the thought of thoroughly driving Liu Mingjiu out. However, several times he wanted Wang Xiaobi to come and beat up Liu Mingjiu, but the battle at Xi Fourth Liangzi had left Wang Xiaobi and his men still reeling from the blow. During this time, Wang Xiaobi had finally regained some composure and sent two groups of people to rob the merchant caravan escorted by the Eighth Regiment, only to be severely beaten back again. So now, even if Zhao Miaosheng offered him money, Wang Xiaobi was not willing to come and clash with this hard bone again.

  At the time when Zhao Miao Sheng and his men were worried, Liu Mingjiu was in the office with Wu Tongjin, Han Xinfeng and others to settle accounts and divide the money. From the beginning of sending troops to escort, Liu Mingjiu's troops quickly became the number one escort team in the county within three months. In the first month, only four trips were made, leaving 4,200 yuan. By the second month, as many as 24 teams were dispatched, running 48 trips. This month, 35 teams were sent out to transport goods, and after 70 trips, the account of the Eighth Company was truly rich.

  "Up to now, our account has a total surplus of 1.2 million, all in accordance with your intentions. It's been exchanged for three-month bills at the Bank of China in Beijing." Wu Tongjin handed an account book to Liu Mingjiu, who was studying the training plan after entering winter with Luo Xiliang.

  Liu Mingjiu took over the account book, looked at it carefully for a moment to confirm that there was no mistake, and then handed the account book back to Wu Tongjin: "The Korean team should also strengthen their weapons. Take out 10,000 yuan and give it to the Korean team's security team to buy a batch of big-bellied guns in Tianjin. Take out another 90,000 yuan and go to Tianjin to find the Germans, and replace our entire company with German-made Mauser rifles. Let's transfer the original Hanyang-made ones to the brothers of the security team."

  "Yes." Wu Tongjin took over the account book and continued to say: "What about those extra grains, what do you want to do with them?"

  Also, let's allocate it to the Korean team, so that next year, the villagers will have to pay less than 100,000 catties of grain. Liu Mingjiu has already practiced and can calculate these grain things quickly. People need to be constantly trained to become a genius, and born geniuses are all fabricated legends. In his previous life, Liu Mingjiu had always believed in this point.

  "Thank you so much, Director Liu. This time, the brothers and fellow villagers of the Security Team know that they have to thank you even more." Although he was the commander-in-chief of the Linglong Tower, Han Xinfeng, who was already in his fifties, was only a junior colonel of the Security Team. According to the regulations of the Northern Government, when an officer of the Security Team met with a regular army officer, they had to show respect by lowering their rank by three levels. Therefore, as a junior colonel and commander-in-chief, he was equivalent to a junior lieutenant in front of Liu Mingjiu.

  Liu Mingjiu looked at Han Xinfeng and said, "What are you talking about? This money was also earned by our security team brothers. As soldiers, we shouldn't just rely on our fellow villagers to support us. Others have paid their taxes and still have to pay rent to the landlords, so we should be able to let them keep a little more."

  "Alas! If all officials were like you, our fellow villagers would truly be happy." Han Xinfeng couldn't help but express his heartfelt words.

  In the Northern Ocean era, apart from transaction taxes and land taxes, there were more than a dozen types of levies with various names, including donations, taxes, expenses, and fundraising. Sometimes, even head taxes could be imposed. As a result, farmers often worked hard for a year just to avoid owing rent to their landlords, and if they managed to make ends meet for the year, that was already quite an achievement. After Liu Mingjiu took over the eight villages, he vigorously promoted "self-reliance" and in the first year alone, the average annual grain tax per person in the entire town was reduced by more than three kilograms. Although this may not seem like a large number, it did alleviate the burden on the people to some extent.

  "Oh, right, after the grain is all collected, we'll use the military donation from the 8th Regiment and the town to buy food at market price. From now on, let's try to make the security team self-sufficient like the 8th Regiment." Liu Mingjiu said a few words to Luo Xiliang, then suddenly turned around and said another sentence to Wu Tongjin.

  Wu Tongjin was taken aback for a moment, then said: "Commander Lian, that's no small amount of money, it's 600,000 to 700,000 yuan."

  Liu Mingjiu turned around, staring intently at Wu Tongjin: "You little scoundrel, have you become a miser? From next month on, we'll take over the entire two-tenths of the Chaoyang Prefecture's transportation business. I've roughly calculated it, and which month can't bring in 700,000 to 800,000 or even over a million? Take out one month's income to collect military rations, are you heartbroken? Or are you afraid that your account will be empty again?"

  "Ah! Officer Liu, you're truly a living Bodhisattva for the people of Linglong Tower. This way, all the villagers will have some spare money, and those long-term workers and tenant farmers won't have to tighten their belts until the end of the year anymore." Han Xinfeng said, then directly knelt down in front of Liu Mingjiu's office desk: "I represent the villagers, bowing my head to you, thank you so much!"

  This Han Xin Feng was originally a tenant farmer, but he was forced to join the Yi Army when they were fighting against the Japanese in Liaodong. Later, although he was promoted to a squad leader, the people who could get by in the Yi Army were either from Anhui or Shandong. After several years without being promoted, he was sent to Linggu Tower as a team trainer. He wasn't corrupt and lived a simple life. When Liu Mingjiu reorganized the troops, he considered recruiting him into the 8th company, but gave up because of his age, nearly fifty. However, when Liu Mingjiu introduced a series of reform policies, Han Xin Feng responded with all his might, as he understood the suffering of the poor people. Liu Mingjiu replaced most of the older personnel, but kept Han Xin Feng, who was far beyond the age limit, because he valued his integrity and closeness to the people.

  Liu Mingjiu saw Han Xinfeng kneeling in front of him, and as he walked out from behind the office desk, he said: "Get up, what are you thanking me for? If the villagers want to thank someone, they should thank their own sons. Which security team officer isn't one of their sons? Eight companies are also mostly their sons, right? The money earned by their sons is just to save their parents some military donations. Look at your useless appearance, get up."

  "It's not just talk, Director Liu. In the past, those officials didn't just fail to lead us brothers in making money, they also thought of ways to secretly put it into their own pockets. You're really different from other officials, if there were more like you, this world would truly become a better place." Han Xinfeng spoke his true thoughts.

  Liu Mingjiu smiled and said thoughtfully: "In the future, there will be more officials who are better than me."