Chapter 24: The Four Great Rascals of the Imperial City and the Legend of Hongwu
What kind of person is Li Hongwu? He's a notorious hardliner in the army, and when it comes to discipline, he shows no mercy. As an enemy, people tremble with fear at the mention of his name. But when it comes to romance, he's as gentle as water. Li Hongwu fears that his tough reputation will precede him even in front of his wife. Such a person can be described as having an iron exterior and a tender heart, but Li Hongwu has another side to him.
This is a pair of extremely contradictory personalities, yet they appear in the same person.
On the other hand, Li Hongwu is almost a rogue, and it's not an exaggeration to call him a second-generation rich kid. The four big spendthrifts in the capital have always looked up to him, and since he was young, no one dared to cross him. If he hadn't been sent to join the army, I reckon the current Four Young Masters wouldn't even be considered as worthy of wiping his ass.
The four young masters of Beijing back then were Li Hongwu, Zhang Junying, He Lihong and Ma Lin. Except for Li Hongwu who is now a major general, Zhang Junying is currently the China regional general manager of East Asia Electronics Distributor, with a net worth that exceeded 10 billion two years ago! The undisputed richest young man of his generation!
He Lilong's achievements are a bit lower, but he has taken the political route and is now just a mayor. As for Ma Lin, he was closest to Li Hongwu, serving as the political commissar of one of his regiments, with the current military rank of lieutenant colonel. He repeatedly tried to use connections to enter the "Steel Blade Reserve Regiment", but was always kicked out by Li Hongwu, who knew him well.
Those four young masters back then, who would have thought that more than twenty years later, they would make such a big impact in the political, military and business worlds. Now these four young masters, any one of them standing out is a formidable figure, but how many people know about their dreams from their youthful days?
Li Hongwu was not the one who wanted to be a soldier at all, the one who most wanted to be a soldier was Zhang Junying. Li Hongwu's dream was to become the world's number one junk collector, that is, a person who collects junk. However, Li Hongwu has always been someone who wants to do things to the best of his ability, even if it means collecting junk he must become the king of the junk world! And now this junk king has become an unbeatable figure in the military world!
Zhang Junying wanted to be a soldier, because when soldiers walk, they always walk sideways. Zhang Junying's father, Zhang Xiaozheng, was the president of the university, and his mother was the vice president, an absolute scholarly family. This also led to Zhang Junying being strict with himself from a young age. However, this kid met Li Hongwu during his carefree days and was led astray. His desire to join the army became unstoppable. But due to some unexpected twists and turns, he ended up going to the US to study for an MBA and entered the business world in one step.
Logically speaking, he should have become a professor or something to take over his father's business, but if this guy were that honest, it would be impossible for him to be one of the four big rich kids. In those days when Li Hongwu had not yet gone to join the army, this guy was already the richest among the four, and he became a multimillionaire when he was still in middle school. Of course, this is also thanks to Li Hongwu; otherwise, he would have been able to become the first self-made multimillionaire in history while still in elementary school!
But Li Hongwu and the other two were young masters, who relied on him for food, once made him bankrupt. Later, Li Hongwu joined the army, and Zhang Junying finally ushered in his own spring.
To be honest, Li Hongwu is the nemesis of Zhang Junying. Even if Zhang Junying has extremely good luck, he will still be jinxed to death when with him. This is fate, can't do anything about it.
He Lihong used to want to join the underworld when he was young, and his dream was to become a big boss. In those days, among the four major bullies, he was the first to fight, and even Li Hongwu wasn't his match when they were young. But such a person actually became a mayor after growing up. When they gathered together, Li Hongwu was the one who sighed about the unfairness of fate the most. However, every time he got beaten up, it was always him!
The last Ma Lin had a more absurd dream when he was young, he wanted to be a writer! With his old man's power, even if he sat at home for seven days and came up with six words, he could become one of the world's best-selling authors. But this guy's "monthly period" never got written out. As for the reason, it was the same as Li Hongwu, he was sent to be a soldier.
Ma Lin's physical condition is the worst among the four, which is related to his bad habits when he was young. In his words, this is "romantic"! "Ten literati, nine are lustful, and one... impotent." This is Li Hongwu's reply to him.
After Ma Lin became a political commissar, he continued his literary creation. He even boasted that "a talented scholar and poet is naturally a white-clad general!" It was because of this sentence that Li Hongwu refused to let him join the "Steel Knife Reserve Regiment". If such a guy were allowed in, wouldn't it be a stain on the organization?
A group of four second-generation rich kids in the capital city are notorious for being scoundrels, and whatever evil deeds they can think of, they've already done them; if you looked further, it's a wonder they haven't gone to hell yet.
Li Hongwu is absolutely the most awesome one. Compared to him, Ma Lin's peeing on the dragon chair is child's play! This guy was able to evade multiple investigations, slept in a crystal coffin, and when he was discovered, he still had the nerve to say, "This place is so easy to get into, I thought it wasn't very important." Later, his old man took him back and gave him a good scolding.
It's also because of him that the number of people guarding the crystal coffin has increased tenfold! In response, Li Hongwu disdainfully curled his lip and said: "Even if you increase the number of guards by another ten times, I can still go in and sleep as usual!"
Investigation has always been Li Hongwu's strong suit; otherwise, he wouldn't have received First-Class Merit four times in a row within a year.
At that time, the leader gave him a medal and said, "You little guy has achieved in one year what others can't get in a lifetime! When are you going to let go?"
At that time, Li Hongwu, who was only 16 years old and had just been promoted to senior lieutenant, replied: "Let me get another Medal of Martyr first!"
This is "Dage"!
Upon hearing Li Hongwu's response, he immediately had him leave. Li Hongwu followed "Knife Brother" away for four years and when he returned, he was already twenty years old and directly became a colonel.
What happened during that period nobody knows, Li Hongwu stayed in the army for more than a year and then went to military school. Two years later he returned as the commander of the "Steel Knife Reserve Regiment", Commander of the 59th Division of the 707 Army, with the rank of Senior Colonel, at the age of 23!
In the following five years, Li Hongwu's performance was always very stable, with the only ups and downs being successfully taking charge of the 707th Army. The next year, he took over the 707th Army from Yang Delin, and a year later, he was promoted to Major General at the age of thirty!
It's worth mentioning that the former commander of the 707 army, Yang Delin, his promotion path is surprisingly similar to Li Hongwu, the difference is that he followed "Knife Brother", while Li Hongwu took over from him.
"Dagger Brother" founded the 707 Army in the nineties and returned it to his apprentice Li Hongwu's hands fifteen years later!
For Li Hongwu's career over the past thirty years and twenty years of military service, someone used a very vivid term to describe it - "The Legend of Hongwu!!"
