Chapter 3: The Generous Young Master

  Huofeng was startled and raised her powdered face, saying resolutely: "Young master, I've done this before, so don't be shy!"

  "Is that so? I—" Hu Zhiyong didn't dare to stop her again, fearing that a sudden change would arouse suspicion. He was deep in thought as she changed his clothes, mechanically allowing the little beauty to button up his buttons.

  "Some people must stay! Feng Jie, you and Yin Long unload the things from the car and hide them here, I'll go deal with those soldiers." Hu Zhiyong had thought it through, in a chaotic world one must have their own strength, otherwise nothing can be accomplished.

  "Good." Huo Feng heard Young Master call her Feng Jie and walked out of the living room with a charming smile.

  Hu Zhiyong quickly walked out of the courtyard, looking at the soldiers who were arguing fiercely. As soon as he came out, this group of people stopped talking. In order to ease the situation in front of him, he ordered the steward Hu Da to bring three boxes of silver dollars from behind and kicked them open, saying: "Gentlemen, those who decide to leave, please gather together, I will give each of you three big oceans as a travel allowance. It's not that I don't want to keep everyone staying, during the day there is fear of little devil planes bombing, it's better for everyone to take advantage of the night and hurry on the road safely."

  "Thank you, Young Master, for your enthusiastic hospitality!" Lian Zhang walked over and saluted to express his gratitude. Pointing at the soldiers under his command, he said: "The old and weak will only increase your burden if they stay behind. The young ones are all new recruits. To be honest, this battalion is still relatively intact. If you can agree to one condition of mine, I'll guarantee that we'll follow Young Master to the death!"

  "Speak!" Hu Zhiyong nodded slightly, he wanted to know their true thoughts.

  "Half of the troops are men around forty years old, please give each of them one hundred dollars to go home and have some capital to make a living!" The company commander knew this was a big expense, but he couldn't bear the thought of his brothers returning home with nothing to eat.

  "You just count the personnel, money is no problem!" Hu Zhiyong said calmly.

  "Master, over 800 people need over 80,000 taels of silver." Lian Chang couldn't believe his ears, it seemed like the young master hadn't calculated this account clearly.

  "Nine thousand!" Hu Zhiyong smiled slightly: "You and I are both Chinese, being able to help our elder brothers is also a fate for us!"

  Facing the generous young master, all the soldiers shed tears of excitement. The officials who embezzled their rations ran away, and they were starving on the road. A man in his thirties walked over and bowed deeply to Hu Zhiyong: "Thank you, sir! You're a good person!"

  "Whatever!" Hu Zhiyong smiled faintly: "All I can say is that Young Master has money to burn!"

  "Hahaha!" Everyone burst out laughing. Faced with the witty and humorous generosity of the young man, they nodded in conviction: "Rich people can also be good people!"

  More than 800 people returned home, more than 300 were unwilling to stay and prepared to retreat to the Pass, while more than 200 volunteered to stay, all of whom were elite young people.

  Regarding the weapons, Hu Zhiyong and Lian Zhang discussed: "Brothers who are leaving voluntarily, I suggest you leave your good guns behind and exchange them for old ones to take with you. Bullets are also a burden, so why not let me exchange them for money? Of course, I will pay each of you 100 yuan, what do you think?"

  "Young master, we were just arguing about this earlier! Thank you, young master, my brothers will all be grateful to you!" Lian Chang repeatedly thanked him and signaled for the brothers who were ready to leave to receive their dry rations and silver.

  They spent 110,000 yuan to get 1,000 rifles, 10 handguns, 7 light machine guns and 2 mortars. Hu Zhiyong saw that the people who needed to leave had left, and told Yin Long and Huo Feng who came over: "Arrange for the remaining brothers to rest, and move the guns and ammunition to the backyard!"

  "Yes! Follow me!" The Silver Dragon led the crowd into the courtyard, and Huo Feng ordered the people in the manor to bring pots and bowls into the yard.

  The bustling entrance of the manor suddenly became quiet, and Butler Hu Da said in a low voice: "Young master, go back to rest, I'll let someone clean up here, lest those little devils come and cause trouble."

  "Alright, if there's any movement outside, inform me immediately. Be careful and send a few men to scout out the enemy within a ten-mile radius!" Hu Zhiyong's actions made this group of astute people feel strange. They couldn't have imagined that Young Master would be so knowledgeable about military affairs after regaining his senses.

  Huo Feng followed closely behind Hu Zhiyong and asked in a low voice, "Young Master, the 214 people have all been arranged properly. You've had a long day and should rest too."

  "It's autumn with many things happening, and I'm feeling uneasy at heart. What if the little devils' planes come to bomb us?" Hu Zhiyong said as he walked, slowing down his pace to walk alongside Huo Feng.

  "The little devils are advancing so quickly, when the planes come we can only resign ourselves to fate." Huo Feng furrowed his brow and spoke unnaturally.

  "Select 300 rifles, two machine guns, ten pistols, and forty boxes of ammunition. Hide all other weapons in the basement. Feng Jie, don't enter that place easily from now on, it's better for us to live outside." Hu Zhiyong stood up, nodding thoughtfully: "Even if the village is destroyed, we must strengthen our vigilance. If an airplane is spotted, order everyone to retreat to the woods in the back!"

  "I'll go and attend to Young Master's rest first, this matter will be handled by Silver Dragon." Huo Feng looked at Hu Zhiyong with admiration and adoration on her face.

  In the bedroom of the third courtyard, Hu Zhiyong looked at the two quilts on the bed and curiously turned around: "Two people? Who is sleeping with me?"

  "Young master, female servants have been serving you like this for many years." Huo Feng's face turned red, and she didn't dare to look directly at the sober young master again.

  "You... slept with me for many years?" Hu Zhiyong awkwardly touched his burning face, and emotionally said to Huo Feng: "It's hard on you, from now on you can live in a separate room by yourself."

  "Young master, the old master and mistress have ordered that I am not allowed to leave your side for the rest of my life!" Huo Feng resolutely raised her head, her eyes flashing as she bravely spoke out.

  "I - sleep naked at night, isn't that bad?" Hu Zhiyong became even more embarrassed, forcing a bitter smile to try and scare this beautiful girl away.

  "Hmph!" Huo Feng couldn't help but laugh out loud, and gently said to the young master: "Young Master, I've seen your body every day, even when you're defecating or urinating, it's me who cleans up after you. Moreover, at night, you have a habit of... biting, biting..." Huo Feng's face turned as red as an apple, and she couldn't bring herself to say those embarrassing words.

  "I'm a damn fool!" Hu Zhiyong couldn't help but hate himself, holding Huo Feng tightly in his arms: "Feng Jie, if you don't mind, I'll take care of you for the rest of my life!"

  "No!" Huo Feng shook his head, bluntly rejecting the young master's affection: "The young mistress has already been arranged for you by Master. Her name is Chen Xiuzhi, and she is the daughter of Master's sworn brother Chen Xinwen."

  "She is her, you are you!" Hu Zhiyong said in a low voice: "It's just that I'm wronging you by making you a concubine."

  "Master!" Huo Feng burst into tears, her years of grievances all erupted at this moment, and she affectionately kissed the master's face.

  Perhaps due to a day of excessive fatigue, Hu Zhiyong fell asleep with his clothes on and hugged Mei Mei tightly. As soon as the sky brightened, he woke up vigilantly like in his previous life. He slowly pushed away the beauty in his arms, put on his boots lightly, and walked into the courtyard.

  "Master, it's still early, you can sleep a bit longer." Team leader Su Xi Qing came over and hastily moved a chair to let the master sit down.

  "How's your marksmanship?" Hu Zhiyong asked Su Xiqing after sitting down.

  "Young master, it's not accurate to fire a shot." Su Xi Qing lowered his head unnaturally: "Master bought the gun to prevent bandits, we are all rookies in battle."

  "What?" Hu Zhiyong was shocked and jumped up: "You guys - hey!"

  "Young master, it's not their fault." Huo Feng walked over, her face still flushed: "In peaceful times, who would use guns and cannons? If there weren't so many thugs in the Northeast, Master wouldn't have bought so many weapons to keep at home either."

  "This won't do!" Hu Zhiyong stroked his chin with his right hand, thought for a moment and said: "Find a secluded mountain valley, we must train all the people! Go, inform Jingzhuang Labor and the remaining soldiers, let me see their situation!"

  "Young master, behind the mountain is the most remote wilderness area, shooting and artillery are no problem." Huo Feng finally stabilized his emotions and timely provided a plan for his master.

  "Come on, let's go and take a look!" Hu Zhiyong stood up to leave, but Huo Feng grabbed him: "Young master, wash your face first before going!"

  "Haha, busy and made a mistake, how did I forget to wash my face?" Hu Zhiyong bitterly smiled, this is really chaotic, even he himself was confused!

  The mountain villa was built against the forest, and from the slope looking down, the dense forest belt covered the villa tightly. Yang Wei's hanging heart finally put down, and he couldn't help but admire the old man he had never met before.

  He turned his body and looked into the mountain again, his ambition was even greater. Lian Huang Jinshan handed over the telescope to his young master and said respectfully: "Young Master, this is what our captain left behind, if you like it, keep it."

  "Huang Lianchang, I'm really sorry about last night. If I hadn't killed him, I'm afraid many more people would have died." Hu Zhiyong took over the binoculars, expressing regret for opening fire last night.

  "Young master, the brothers are actually grateful to you. That *** is nothing, for three consecutive years they have been eating empty salaries and deducting grain allowances to support the three wives." Huang Jinshan hastily expressed his understanding and was very satisfied with him taking down the captain.

  "It's strange, with such a vicious guy, your team can still retreat intact?" Hu Zhiyong was astonished, he was perplexed by this matter.

  "Master, to be honest with you, our troop only has over 300 people, the others are all recruits we picked up along the way. I know what the commander means, he's planning to go to the Beijing-Tianjin Plain to ask for a division commander position!" Huang Jinshan felt embarrassed.

  "Hahaha!" Hu Zhiyong burst out laughing uncontrollably, he didn't expect things would turn out this way.

  "Huang Lianchang, I'm thinking of organizing these men into a battalion with you as the commander. What do you think?" Hu Zhiyong had already given it some thought last night, and when he found out that Huang Jingshan was a graduate of Baoding Military Academy, his mind was made up.

  "Young master, I can do the deputy job, but for the main job, you'd better arrange someone trustworthy." Huang Jinshan was happy, but he knew he wasn't the new master's confidant yet. Moreover, having been in the official circle for a long time, he suspected that Hu Zhiyong was testing him.

  "I trust everyone here, and I believe in all of you! Of course, a big forest has all kinds of birds, so it's normal to have one or two bad apples. Brothers, I'm announcing now that Huang Lianchang is promoted to Regiment Commander, other battalion and company cadres will be appointed after training ends. Rations will be uniformly distributed at 10 taels per person, squad leaders get 12 taels, platoon leaders get 18 taels, company commanders get 23 taels, and regiment commanders get 30 taels. Deputy positions get one tael less than the main position, those who have merits will be rewarded! Commander Huang, divide everyone into three companies, following standard organization with each squad having 12 people, each platoon having 40 people, each company adding a cook squad, a clerk, and three communication personnel for a total of 138 people. The regiment headquarters will add a defensive guard platoon, we'll figure out how to supplement the insufficient numbers later!"

  "Master, have you been a soldier?" Huang Jinshan was shocked and stared blankly at the young man in front of him. Huo Feng, Yin Long, Liu Xingdou, Hu Yaowei, Ma Qingde, Butler Hu Da, Accountant Li Hansheng, and Squad Leader Su Xiqing all looked at this former foolish young master with tension, as if Huang Jinshan had asked the question that was on their minds.

  "I don't know if you believe it or not!" Hu Zhiyong wasn't going to tell the truth, but had to fabricate a beautiful lie: "At the moment I fell from the rooftop, many strange things appeared in my mind! For example, shooting guns, speaking foreign languages, driving cars and so on, as if I had done them all before in my past life."

  "Master, this is a divine revelation for you!" Butler Hu laughed with glee, and everyone burst into joyful laughter.

  "It's probably so. Since the little devils dare to come to Huaxia, I believe that the gods of Huaxia will not let them off!" Hu Zhiyong's face revealed a murderous aura: "Brothers, we must stick together and absolutely cannot let the Japanese bandits show off their military might on the land of Huaxia!"