Black Flag Army

Chapter 116 Lan Jinping's Secret

Di Xiong added: "Moreover, our Simon Cannon Foundry has not sold a single heavy artillery since its opening. The heavy artillery produced is used by the Justice Army itself. In fact, it is operating at a loss. How can we make a profit if we don't sell the heavy artillery? Selling to people other than the Justice Army, no matter who they sell to, may be a potential enemy."

Yang Lushuang said: "But the poor party is very weak now, but there are a lot of people. If they get heavy artillery, their strength will quickly increase. They originally developed very slowly."

Di Xiong said: "It doesn't matter. We can sell it to their opponents. When their opponents see the lethality of our heavy artillery, they will contact us."

Yang Lushuang couldn't help but say: "This is too despicable."

After she finished speaking, she quickly covered her mouth with her hands, opened her eyes wide in horror, then let go of her hands and said, "I'm sorry, boss! I said the wrong thing."

Di Xiong smiled and said, "You are not wrong, you are just telling the truth. On the other side of the ocean to our east, there is the United States, which is selling weapons, ammunition and military supplies to both the Allied Powers and the Allied Powers in the World War. Their practices are equally despicable, but they have gained a huge amount of wealth. The funds spent on the water diversion project are a huge pressure for us, but for them, it is a drop in the bucket. Because the war caused the devaluation of currencies in various countries, they only accepted gold and silver when selling weapons, ammunition and other supplies. As a result, the powerful and wealthy countries in the world have shipped gold and silver to the United States in shiploads, and even the former world leader Britain is no exception. Of course, the gold and silver of these powerful countries are not clean, they are all robbed from weak countries and colonies, including weak countries like China."

During World War I and World War II, the United States quickly became the richest and most powerful country in the world by selling weapons and supplies to both warring countries, and this dominance continued for nearly a hundred years. In later generations, the United States could invade Grenada, Panama, Iraq, and Syria at will, but other countries could not. After Russia invaded Ukraine, the United States gave an order and all countries in the world imposed sanctions on Russia, and not only in politics and economy, but also in military, sports, technology... all-round sanctions. The value of the Russian ruble plummeted and the country fell into chaos.

With the addition of Tsarist Russian prisoners and workers, the number of workers at Hukou on the south side of Beihai Lake increased rapidly from more than 10,000 to more than 20,000, and was increasing every day. The progress of the project was greatly accelerated, but the various required materials were in short supply. Di Xiong wrote a transfer order and asked a transport plane to take it to Wuzhong to urgently transfer a batch of materials from Beitang City.

Accompanied by Jiang Hongyu, Di Xiong visited Suwu City and cordially met with some officers and soldiers of the First Brigade. When shaking hands with them one by one, some soldiers excitedly shouted: "Long live Commander-in-Chief Di!"

Di Xiong laughed and said, "It is impossible for a person to live to be 10,000 years old. The ancient emperors claimed to live 10,000 years old, but that was a self-deceiving statement. I will be content if I can live to be 70 years old."

Jiang Hongyu said: "Although Commander-in-Chief Di is young, he has a very wise and clear mind."

Di Xiong asked: "You only have one brigade now. If you encounter a large enemy attack, can you defend Suwu City before reinforcements arrive?"

Jiang Hongyu said: "I am confident that we can defend Suwu City. Our actual army is more than one brigade. We have formed a guard regiment composed of refugees and young and strong local residents, as well as four county security regiments and a militia brigade. The actual strength of the troops is close to 9,000. With the entry of Zhengqing Commercial Company and Da Kuisheng Commercial Company into Suwu City and four county towns, the city has abundant supplies and commodities, and more people from nearby areas have come to seek refuge. Beihai Company's winery, tobacco factory, and breeding farm in Suwu City have also begun to recruit workers. The people have work to do and food to eat, so they will support us even more.

Di Xiong said, "I feel relieved when you say that, but we still have to be cautious when using the Tsarist Russians in the local troops. The relationship between Liu Zhendong and Katyusha is a bit worrying. If you find something wrong, you must report it to the higher-ups in time. We will quickly transfer Liu Zhendong away."

Jiang Hongyu smiled and said, "Although Brigade Commander Liu likes Katyusha, he can still control the overall situation. There is no need to transfer him away. The 'Northern Spear King' is too famous in the army and is the mainstay of the First Brigade!"

Di Xiong also had a private conversation with the deputy brigade commander and commander of the special service battalion Liu Zhendong and the commander of the heavy artillery regiment Wang Shitou before leaving Suwu City and flying back to Beitang City. Although the Beihai Group's board of directors gave him fifteen days to return, he had something on his mind and went back after only ten days.

Wang Shitou was originally the battalion commander of the first battalion of the heavy artillery regiment. After the commander and deputy commander of the heavy artillery regiment were killed in the explosion, he was automatically promoted to acting commander. Jiang Hongyu reported to Di Xiong, and Di Xiong approved him as the official commander.

After returning to the Beihai Group's office, Di Xiong called the Beihai Bank's president's office, but no one answered. Di Xiong said to Di Chun, "Go to Beihai Bank and invite President Lan to come. Tell her that I have something important to discuss with her."

After Di Chun left, Di Xiong began to read a large number of documents and materials after he left, including the signatures that needed to be signed, and the results of the handling of the refugee issue sent by the Intelligence Department. The Intelligence Department sent Bian Zhimei, the head of the Beitang City Intelligence Station, as the head of the investigation team to cooperate with the Supervision Department to secretly investigate the Japanese agents and hooligans among the refugees. More than a dozen Japanese agents and a large number of hooligans and gang members were found. After being arrested and interrogated, the Japanese agents and the hooligans with the heinous crimes were shot, and those with less serious crimes were imprisoned in the hard labor camps of various counties to engage in hard labor, and those with lighter crimes were driven out of the refugee camps. However, the head of the Japanese intelligence team, Nakajima Yunko, still escaped. According to the confession of the arrested Japanese agents, she may have gone to Hangai Mountain to join the Mobei One-eyed Dog, because the deputy head Yoshida Ryozo was also in Hangai Mountain.

An hour later, Lan Jinping, wearing a sky blue bank uniform, came with Di Chun. Lan Jinping was 28 years old this year, and still as young and beautiful as before, with short black hair and a fair face.

After Di Chun took the initiative to leave the office, Di Xiong said to Yang Lushuang, who was working as a part-time secretary, "You should also go out for a while. President Lan and I have something important to discuss. Please close the door when you leave."

Yang Lushuang immediately left and closed the office door. Lan Jinping, who was originally smiling, suddenly became nervous. She asked carefully: "What do you want to talk to me about? I'm a timid person, please don't scare me."

Di Xiong said, "More than a year ago, one night in August 1915, I was getting off work and preparing to go home, and you insisted on dragging me to your house for a drink, saying that you wanted to thank me for sending troops to destroy Lu Jianzhang's spy company and saving your life, and to apologize to me for Bai Xiuling's matter. I couldn't refuse your kindness, so I went. As a result, I drank too much and did something I shouldn't have done. I heard that you brought back a baby boy four months ago and fostered him at the home of pediatrician Yuan Qingmei. I want to ask if this child is your own? Is it my child?"

Lan Jinping smiled and said, "Did this happen in August of the year before last? How come I don't remember it? I only know that you were drunk at the time, and then you went home with the support of the guards. Other men would deny it completely when they encountered such things. How can you take the initiative to admit something you didn't do? This will damage your image as a Justice Party leader. You really didn't do it. You must have remembered it wrong. I have never given birth to a child, so of course the child is not yours. I picked it up from the hospital. I don't know which unmarried mother abandoned it. I felt sorry for it, so I adopted it. I originally planned to raise it myself, but the child cried a lot at night, and I was busy working in the bank, so I couldn't take care of it, so I gave it to Yuan Qingmei. She and I are like sisters, and she also has two four-month-old twins, so it doesn't matter if I have one more child."

Di Xiong said, "Did I really remember it wrong? If you don't have time to take care of the children, you can hire a nanny! Why should you let Yuan Qingmei take care of them? It's hard enough for her to take care of two children alone, and you want to add to her burden?"

Lan Jinping said, "How can a nanny be better than Yuan Qingmei? She is a pediatrician and has the most experience in taking care of children. She also hired two nannies to help, so taking care of children is not tiring. I also paid her a sum of money, not for free, but she refused to take it, so I forced it on her."

Di Xiong sighed and said, "You are really making a fuss. You let someone else take care of your adopted child. How can the child have feelings for you when he grows up? Has the child been named? Do you want me to give him a name?"

Lan Jinping smiled and said, "I know you are knowledgeable. Many people ask you to name their children, but I have already chosen a name for my child, so I won't bother you."

Di Xiong asked, "What's its name? Judging from the time, it should be about the same size as a strong wind."

Lan Jinping said: "His name is Li Hansheng. When he grows up, he will witness the prosperity of our Han people."

Di Xiong was stunned and asked, "Why did you give your child the surname Li?"

Lan Jinping's eyes turned red, and she said, "Eight years ago, I also had a love affair. His name was Li Laosheng. It sounds old-fashioned, but he was actually a young man in his twenties who repaired rickshaws. At that time, I fell into the hands of Zhang Zhongqi, the boss of the Flying Eagle Gang. I was forced to steal things every day. If I didn't steal or couldn't steal anything, I would be beaten and humiliated in public. When Li Laosheng learned about my experience, he felt very sympathetic to me. In order to help me escape from the sea of ​​suffering, he made two sharp spikes and assassinated Zhang. However, Zhang was very skilled in martial arts, and the sneak attack only injured him, but he was killed by Zhang."

Di Xiong said: "Although Zhang Zhongqi has committed many evil deeds, his martial arts skills are indeed very high. It took me more than ten rounds to kill him."

Lan Jinping said, "In order to avenge Li Laosheng, I reported Zhang Laoda to detective Yuan Baimao of the police station. Unexpectedly, the two were in cahoots. As a result, I was beaten unconscious. When I woke up, I was already in a brothel. Then I realized that I was sold by Zhang Laoda. He wanted to kill me, but after being persuaded by his men, he thought that killing me would result in a huge loss of money, so he sold me to the brothel. I may not get married again in this life, so I want to adopt a child so that someone will see me off when I am old. I also want to continue the incense for Li Laosheng, so I named him Li Hansheng, and he is considered Li Laosheng's adopted son."

Di Xiong said, "Since you hope someone will take care of you when you are old, then it is best for you to take care of the child yourself. If you don't know how to take care of the child, you can hire a nanny. If you don't understand how to take care of the child, you can ask Dr. Yuan for advice! Leaving the child with Yuan Qingmei is equivalent to giving up the right to adopt. The child will not take care of you when he grows up."

Lan Jinping said, "Okay! I'll listen to you. I'll go to Yuan Qingmei's house tonight to get the child back and hire a nanny."

Di Xiong said, "When we are free, Jinchun and I will go to your house to see Li Hansheng."

After saying goodbye to Di Xiong, Lan Jinping walked out of the office door, and a cunning smile suddenly appeared on his face.

One morning in February 1917, in the bedroom of the village owner, One-eyed Dog, in the Lagerling Village of Hangai Mountain, Nakajima Yunko woke up from her sleep and gently pushed away the One-eyed Dog lying on her body. One-eyed Dog Gou Zongwei was still sleeping soundly. Nakajima Yunko got out of bed and put on her clothes. She suddenly noticed that there was a bookcase next to the wall of the bedroom, which was full of books.

Nakajima Yunko said to herself, "I thought he was just a warrior, but I didn't expect he also likes reading. No wonder he has better survival skills than other horse bandit leaders."

There were three books on the top of the bookcase, all of which were very old and obviously often read. Nakajima Yunko looked at the covers of the three books, one was "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", one was "The Art of War", and what surprised her most was the third book "China's Power Lies in Northern Tang". This book was once the most popular banned book in Beijing. Her teacher Kenji Doihara saw the introduction of the book in "Justice Daily" and asked her to buy the book immediately at the bookstore. When she arrived at the bookstore, she was a step late. The police had just banned and confiscated the book. In order to prevent the teacher from scolding her for being incompetent, she had to buy the book on the black market at a high price and give it to the teacher.

In order to keep abreast of his opponent's situation, Kenji Doihara must read every issue of "Justice Daily", just like Di Xiong must read every issue of "Shuntian Daily".

The cover of the book "China's Power in the Northern Tang Dynasty" is red, and the author is Sanwei Shusheng. Nakajima Yunzi opened the first page and started reading. At this time, Gou Zongwei's voice came from behind: "I didn't expect Miss Yunzi to also like to read "China's Power in the Northern Tang Dynasty". It seems that great minds think alike!"

Nakajima Yunzi turned around and asked, "Master Gou also likes to read this book?"

Gou Zongwei said, "That's for sure. Sun Tzu's Art of War says that only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win every battle. How can we understand our opponents if we don't read "China's Power in Beitang"? Sanwei Shusheng is a writer with extremely high literary attainments. He wrote about all walks of life in Beitang City in great detail. After reading this book, it's like you've been to Beitang City. Judging from the content of the book, Di Xiong of Beitang City was able to succeed, and it really wasn't just luck."

Nakajima Yunzi said: "We, the Great Japanese Empire, have fulfilled our promise. We have built anti-aircraft bunkers for you within three months and replenished a large number of weapons for you. Now you know Bei Tang very well. Can we attack?"

Gou Zongwei said, "Don't worry, I am a man of my words. Tomorrow at noon, a large caravan will enter Honggel County east of Hangai Mountain. They are the Da Kuisheng caravan that has formed an alliance with the Beihai Company. We will attack this caravan first, and then divide our troops into three groups tomorrow to make a good start."

Gou Zongwei now has more than 5,000 people under his command. The extra people are ruffians and gangsters who were driven out of the refugee camps. After being driven out, they had nowhere to go, so they turned to the horse bandits. Gou Zongwei was the most powerful horse bandit, so of course he had the most people turning to him.