Chapter 4: Busy with Happiness (Part 2)
The atmosphere in the Western-style private room on the top floor of the Buron Building finally calmed down, and it is unknown what kind of agreement was reached between Cheng Jiaji and Wu Shouren. All that is known is that about seven or eight days later, a large sum of money was transferred to the account of a German bank in the Shanghai Concession, and about ten days after that, a batch of light weapons made in Germany were secretly transported out of Shanghai. The recipient was naturally Cheng Liu Shao, who had become an officer at the time. Almost no one knows what kind of agreement Wu Zhen Shanghui's president Wu and Cheng Jiaji reached at the time, and even Wen Songyuan, who was a trusted aide to Cheng Jiaji but couldn't keep secrets, never told anyone anything about it.
Only Cheng Jiaji knew that in order to achieve his own ideals, he had done something against his conscience. To put it accurately, he took out a portion of the heroin from Shanghai that was sealed last month by the troops under the 66th Division and used these things to make a poisonous transaction with Wu Shouren without any discount. At the same time, Wu Shouren also had to pay a price equivalent to 70% of the market value for this batch of poisons, but he didn't have to pay in cash, just by purchasing guns and ammunition from German firms would do.
To raise funds for the military equipment needed in the future, Chu originally came to this world and became a drug dealer in less than two days. The only thing that made him feel better was that he wasn't doing it for himself, but for the sake of fewer Chinese people suffering from massacres like the Nanjing Massacre at the hands of the Japanese in the future. As for whether this is just a temporary solution to quench his thirst, he can't afford to think about that now. For now, it's not even possible to completely ban drugs, after all, the Japanese aren't just poisoning the Chinese people spiritually, but are already carrying out large-scale extermination of their bodies.
Perhaps due to a self-destructive mentality, after handing over the heroin to the merchant's representative the next day, Cheng Jiaji suddenly realized that he had become a drug dealer and his mood was not good. He ran to Yu San Gu's place and got drunk, still liking the cook there, but what attracted him more was Yu San Gu, who resembled his idol. After getting drunk, he slept soundly in the guest room of Hong Yun Cai for a day, got up and thanked her before leaving, which made Yu San Gu, who had thought he was coming to take advantage of her under the influence of alcohol and had prepared various countermeasures, even more unable to see through or understand what kind of person this young master Cheng was.
She knows the bitterness in Cheng Jiaji's heart at this moment!
In this era, most people just saw doing drug business as a high-risk illegal transaction, and in the eyes of some powerful people, it was just a lucrative business project that didn't matter much. As long as the relationships were in place and all aspects were handled properly, it was fine. Even someone like Wu Shouren, who was considered a legitimate businessman, didn't think twice about doing drug business. When discussing this transaction with him, he even pulled out his abacus to calculate the prices of gold and other hard currencies compared to white powder, without realizing that he was violating Republican law - ironic, given that he had once been a judge.
In contrast, Cheng Jiaji's thinking still came from the 21st century. To him, selling drugs was a heinous crime, and anyone involved would be tainted for life. He couldn't understand why someone like Wu Shouren, who had some status as a businessman, could engage in such transactions with such ease, as if they were just discussing a pork sale. However, after getting used to this world, Cheng Jiaji would come to realize that in some regions of China at the time, the opium trade was not much more secretive than selling pigs.
No matter what, the days went by one by one. The officers and men of the division were all secretly delighted as they watched each other's faces light up with joy. Everyone knew that the division was going to be expanded, and everyone had a knowing smile on their face. Even colleagues who didn't get along in the past were now smiling at each other more often. After all, with the expansion, most people would benefit from the rising tide, and they looked at each other with more kindness.
December 27, 1927, the day after Jinan fell, the war zone officially announced the appointment of Xia Weimin as the commander of the 16th Temporary Corps, and the formation work of the 16th Temporary Corps was also proceeding in secret. The fall of Jinan greatly accelerated the efficiency of the relevant departments of the War Zone Headquarters in forming the 16th Temporary Corps. In just half a month, all the troops planned to be incorporated into the 16th Temporary Corps were assembled around Wuzhen, and the defensive area originally responsible by the 66th Temporary Division was also handed over to the 28th Army Group of Pan Wenhuai at an unprecedented speed.
On December 30, 1927, Gu Zuotang, the deputy commander who had been in charge of the Third War Zone, was formally promoted to commander. On the same day, Commander Gu also issued an unprecedented order to allocate new guns, including 800 rifles, 30 light and heavy machine guns, 5 mortars, 2 75mm mountain guns, 200,000 bullets, and 500 shells to the Temporary 16th Army. This was considered a generous allocation. As the de facto commander of the war zone, Commander Gu was relatively lenient compared to other commanders. At least this funeral gift was quite generous. The military uniforms of the Temporary 16th Army were also replaced with brand new ones. After all, this unit was also the face of the Third War Zone, and at least on the surface, it had to look decent to avoid embarrassing the highest commander and Commander Gu.
The composition of the temporary 16th Army has also been determined. In addition to the temporary 66th Division, which is naturally the main force, with two brigades and 6,000 people expanded into three brigades: Temporary 171st, Temporary 172nd, and Temporary 173rd Brigades, totaling 10,000 people, still led by Xia Weimin. Another temporary 88th Division was formed with the 8th Guard Brigade, the 7th Independent Brigade, and other scattered armed forces, under which a temporary 174th Brigade and an independent regiment were established. This temporary 88th Division has less than 5,000 people, not even half of the temporary 66th Division, and did not receive any new guns or equipment. Eight hundred veteran soldiers with good discipline were also transferred from the 7th Independent Brigade. In short, the temporary 16th Army is a motley crew of the National Army, and this temporary 88th Division is a motley crew within the temporary 16th Army, without even a single mountain cannon, only a dozen or so mortars of different calibers. The headquarters has a guard battalion, a mountain artillery battalion, a cavalry regiment, plus some direct units, totaling over 18,000 people in the temporary 16th Army. After more than a month of training, the troops have taken shape, and at least each unit can now hold normal drills, no longer like before when many companies couldn't even march properly.
Cheng Jiaji was quite displeased with his brother-in-law's actions during this expansion. It made him realize that all warlords have a common trait - they always divide their troops into close and distant relatives, which is probably determined by their nature. Another inherent characteristic of theirs is to wield power for themselves, like Xia Weimin, who originally wanted to form two divisions and one brigade but ended up with one main division and a smaller division with only one brigade and one regiment. Although they used the excuse that it would be easier to command and fight, in the end, it was just about being afraid of others holding real power over their troops.
Cheng Jiaji finally got his wish and left the military department, but things had some changes he didn't expect! The problem wasn't with other aspects, but with what he thought was the most reliable communication with Xia Weimin and Cheng Jiaji's older sister. In comparison, Chang Jing still kept the agreement between them and said a few good words about Cheng Jiaji in front of Xia Weimin, but his words didn't carry much weight, instead making Xia Weimin more concerned about this younger brother-in-law, which was a bit counterproductive.
