20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 540: Soldiers and Bandits Are One Family

The next morning, just as the sun was rising, a faint smell of burning straw wafted from the outskirts of the city.

The weather is a bit cool, and a thin breath can be condensed when you breathe.

Around six o'clock, Lao Niu, Lao Jie and Yang Lazi arrived at the Jiang family on time to do errands.

The three of them were chatting along the way, and just as they reached the gate of the mansion, they saw two children, a boy and a girl, shouting in the yard.

"Uncle Dong, can you please hurry up?" Jiang Ya urged in a hoarse voice, "Didn't you say you wouldn't drive today? You'll be late!"

The little girl was shouting as she walked. As soon as she finished shouting, she turned her head and looked up, only to see three burly men standing at the door. She was stunned for a moment, and her eyes quickly became alert.

"Master, miss."

Yang Lazi leaned over, grinned, and said in a flattering way: "Why don't you recognize me? I was the gatekeeper here two years ago. Have you two forgotten?"

Jiang Ya shook her head, looking a little confused, and looked at Yuan Xinfa outside the door, as if seeking confirmation.

Yang Lazi turned his head and said with a smile: "Hey, you two, look at how attractive our young lady is. Her eyes are as big as a horse's."

"Okay, okay, if you don't know how to praise people, just step back a little and stop talking nonsense." Lao Jie waved his hands helplessly.

Yang Lazi ignored him and took out two silver dollars from his pocket and handed them to the two children: "Master, Miss, I didn't bring any gifts, so I'll give you some pocket money to buy some delicious food. If your parents ask, just say it was given by Yang Lazi!"

"Thank you."

Jiang Chengye blinked, responded, and was about to reach out to take it, but Jiang Ya immediately grabbed his arm and pulled him back two steps.

"My mother said that we are not allowed to ask other people for money!" The sister scolded her brother in a low voice.

Just at this moment, Zhang Zhengdong walked out of the mansion, called two brothers from the gatehouse, and came to the gate of the mansion together.

"Jiang Ya, Cheng Ye, let's go!"

"Uncle Dong, who are these three?"

"The three of them...work for the family." Zhang Zhengdong explained vaguely.

"What kind of work do you do?" Jiang Ya asked.

"Uh..." Zhang Zhengdong lied, "We're watching you two do your homework. If you keep nagging, the three of them will beat you up."

Hearing this, Jiang Chengye was so scared that he immediately leaned towards Dongfeng and looked timidly at Yang Lazi and others.

Jiang Ya curled her lips and said in disbelief: "Tsk, you are such a liar, my dad has never hit me, if the three of them dare to hit me, I will tell my dad and let him -"

Before he could finish his words, Zhang Zhengdong leaned over and pushed the two kids out the door.

"Okay, okay, stop talking nonsense and let's go!"

Zhang Zhengdong followed and walked out of the house, then turned to Yang Lazi and the others and said, "I have to take them to school, you go in directly, Lao Zhao is waiting for you in the living room!"

The three of them nodded repeatedly, turned sideways and watched Dongfeng leading his nephew and niece who were jumping and skipping as they walked further and further away in the streets. Suddenly, they felt a little bit amused.

Who would have thought that Zhang Zhengdong, who was responsible for arranging the dirty work, spent most of his energy every day accompanying his two children.

"Let's go."

Lao Niu patted the shoulders of the two brothers beside him twice, raised his chin towards the Jiang family mansion, and said in a muffled voice: "It's time to talk about business."

Yang Lazi and Lao Jie nodded, put on a serious expression, and walked across the courtyard.

As soon as I arrived at the living room on the first floor, I saw the "Jiang Family Guardian" squatting on a chair, his hands on his knees, his face stern and intimidating without even getting angry.

"Brother Yan!"

Lao Niu and the others greeted each other in unison and were about to step forward when two figures suddenly jumped out from the side.

Looking closely at the two men, one of them was wearing glasses and had a soft tape measure around his neck; the other was holding a cardboard in his arms and a pencil in his hand. They seemed to be two tailors.

Seeing someone coming in, the two tailors immediately came forward, grabbed Yang Lazi and began to measure his arms, arm circumference, waist circumference, leg length...

"Hey, what is this for?" Yang Lazi was a little confused.

"Let him measure it." Zhao Guoyan didn't bother to explain, but asked, "You all know about the business trip, right?"

Lao Niu nodded in response: "I have heard about it, but I don't know the details yet."

"The boss has recently run into some trouble online, and needs us to go over and clear things up. If we can't get this job done, we won't be able to eat at the Jiang family's table anymore. You three are all elders, and the eldest sister-in-law trusts you, so she sent you over, and she has some ideas in mind."

"I know, I know!" Yang Lazi let the two tailors fiddle with it and couldn't help asking, "Brother Yan, what does this mean?"

Zhao Guoyan explained, "This errand is to go to Shanghai. My sister-in-law has told me that you are the Jiang family's 'Famous Sons' and the face of the Jiang family, so I have to change your clothes before I leave."

Lao Jie frowned and asked, "Just the three of us?"

"No, I will lead the team myself this time, so don't let any of you down. However, the family can't be without manpower, so in addition to our own brothers, we have to call on a few familiar connections to help. The three of you will take the trouble to run errands and send a number to the online line for your family to ask them to send someone to Fengtian Dianbian."

"Go to the top of the mountain to look for Hu Zi?"

"Yes!" Zhao Guoyan ordered immediately, "You will go to the train station later. Lao Niu will go north, Lao Jie and Yang Lazi will go to the southwest and southeast respectively. Notify all the gangs that have connections or business with the Jiang family. Hurry up."

"How long?" Lao Niu raised his arms and let the two tailors measure him.

"Two days, at most." Zhao Guoyan said, "Don't worry, my sister-in-law has already notified the branches of insurance companies in various places. When you arrive at the branches, the brothers there will have prepared carriages and horses waiting for you. After notifying, take the train back immediately."

As he spoke, he stood up and gave everyone a sum of travel expenses, the amount was astonishing as usual, and finally gave instructions:

"If any mountain refuses to accept the offer, you don't need to waste time talking to them. Just go find the next one. They don't need to send many people. One or two will be enough. The most important thing is to manage them directly. Don't bring those rotten fish and shrimp home."

The three men took the travel expenses and held them in their hands. They felt the heavy weight and had an estimate in their minds. Although their expressions were a little complicated, they nodded in the end.

After the tailor finished his work, Zhao Guoyan gave some instructions on a few key points, and then ordered someone to drive the Jiang family's car to personally take Lao Niu and others to Fengtian Railway Station with very high treatment.

After the two sides parted ways, Zhao Guoyan did not rest for a moment, and immediately rushed to the headquarters of Zongheng Insurance Company, made a long-distance call, and gave a few instructions to Tong Saner in southern Liaoning. Then he sat in the office and, under the arrangement of Fangyan, met with all the "helpers" and "relying on helpers" of the Jiang family, as well as the famous wealthy businessmen in the provincial government, to inquire about all the news about Shanghai. ...

……

It was noon, west of Fengtian City.

Bagua Street in South Market and "Songfengzhuyun" entertainment venue.

In broad daylight, the lobby was already filled with singing and dancing, creating an extravagant and luxurious scene.

In the private room on the second floor, a hearty and heroic laughter suddenly broke out.

Zhang Xiaokun sat upright in the main seat, holding a young White Russian girl in his left hand and holding a cup in his right hand. He gathered a group of mobsters, and while they ate dog meat in big mouthfuls, they talked nonsense about all sorts of things.

It has been more than a month since I returned to Fengtian.

The great poet Zhang's career never improved and he was still a military police battalion commander, but his salary was paid according to the standards of an army general.

Logically speaking, he should not have worried about money, but he was unruly by nature, and indulged in all kinds of eating, drinking, whoring and gambling. He also made friends everywhere and had good relationships with people. In just one month, he had brought all his old subordinates who had followed him to Jiangzuo, Hunan and Huaihe, the capital and other places to Fengtian.

Most of these bad friends were bandits and hooligans. Although they had obtained military ranks by following Zhang Xiaokun, they were not good at anything and their nature of thieves remained unchanged. To sum it up, it can be summed up in eight words:

He has no skill in commanding the army, but knows how to disturb the people!
Whenever he had some free time every day, he would gather with others to gamble, eat and drink to his heart's content, linger in brothels, and from time to time he would sigh, "I have a talent but my talent is not appreciated," in order to seek psychological comfort.

With such extravagant spending, the salary was not enough to support him, so it didn't take long for him to be heavily in debt to the Jiang family.

Zhang Xiaokun didn't care at all, and said to everyone he met: "Boss Jiang is my brother, you know, these are just small amounts of money, it won't matter at all!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Kang Zheng knocked on the door and walked in.

"General Zhang, officers." He smiled and said with some embarrassment, "I'm sorry to bother you. General Zhang, would you mind...giving me a moment to talk?"

Zhang Xiaokun's face froze, and he looked a little embarrassed. He immediately waved his hands and said in annoyance, "Go away. Can't you see we're drinking? If you have anything to say, wait until my brother comes back. It's just a credit, I'm not refusing to pay you back."

Kang Zheng quickly explained, "No, General Zhang misunderstood. Before my boss left, he specifically told me that when you come to play here, you can always get a free meal. There is no such thing as credit."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiaokun immediately showed off to everyone around him with a smile: "See? My brother is so considerate!"

"Then... General Zhang, would you mind talking to me for a moment?"

"Well, just tell me what you want to say. Everyone at this table is my lifelong friend. There are no secrets."

Kang Zheng saw that the people at the table were from all over the world, and hesitated for a moment, then said cautiously:

"It's like this. I just got the news that my boss has recently run into some trouble in Shanghai. General Zhang was once famous in Shanghai, so my family sent me here to ask if you can help establish some connections and help my boss out of this predicament."

"What's wrong with my brother?" Zhang Xiaokun, taking advantage of the alcohol, immediately blew his beard and glared.

"Well, I'm unfamiliar with Shanghai and got bullied by the local bully."

"What the hell, which bastard is so blind?"

"I heard... their names seemed to be Zhang Xiaolin and Du Yong." Kang Zheng answered truthfully.

"Who?" Zhang Xiaokun frowned, looking a little confused. "What kind of people are they? I only know that there is a Huang Jinyong in the French Concession in Shanghai, who is always boasting about his achievements. Who are these two?"

It's not the great poet Zhang's fault for being short-sighted, but when he was the head of the cavalry regiment in Zhabei, Du Yong and Zhang Xiaolin were just real small-time punks. The so-called Sanjin Company only existed in the last two years.

"Du Yong?"

A bandit with the rank of second lieutenant in the audience pondered, "Is it that monkey kid who sells Laiyang pears? When did he become a local tyrant?"

"What? Do you know him?" Zhang Xiaokun asked hurriedly.

"I don't know him." The man replied, "He's just a guy who sells fruit outside the casino every day. How can we have anything to do with each other?"

"I have heard of Zhang Xiaolin," someone else said, "He used to be a thug at the docks, but I don't see how powerful he is!"

In the end, it's all just nonsense.

Zhang Xiaokun turned to look at Kang Zheng and asked directly: "Just tell me, what does my brother want me to do for him?"

Kang Zheng thought for a moment and said, "It's nothing, actually. The forces in Shanghai are too complicated. I just hope that General Zhang can help me use his connections to help my boss 'clear the field' so that we can move freely over there and avoid having to find people to hinder us everywhere in other places."

"Oh, if you say so, then I understand." Zhang Xiaokun said, "I can't guarantee anything else, but there is a Shandong Province Hometown Association in the French Concession in Shanghai. When I was hanging out in Zhabei, I also had contacts with them. I will send a telegram to tell them about this matter later."

The lieutenant suddenly said, "If Boss Jiang is in trouble in Shanghai, let him go talk to the Green Gang. There is nothing that the Green Gang can't handle in the foreign lands!"

Kang Zheng smiled awkwardly: "I'm afraid that won't work. My boss's troubles come from the Qing Gang."

"That's a bit troublesome." Everyone shook their heads.

Zhang Xiaokun snorted coldly and said, "Fuck, what's so great about the Green Gang? When I was the head of the group in Shanghai, the Green Gang had to call me grandpa when they saw me. If they wanted to cause trouble for my confidant, I wouldn't allow it. Who is the current Shanghai Guardian?"

"It seems to be He Fenglin."

"Someone from the Anhui clique?" Zhang Xiaokun said disdainfully, "Go tell my brother that he doesn't have to worry about anything. Although I'm not from the Anhui clique, I'm also an army general. When I was the military attaché to President Feng, I knew all those generals. Brother Jiang is not short of money, so I'll help him make some connections. This will be easy!"

When Kang Zheng heard this, he was so excited that he immediately clasped his hands together.

"Thank you, General Zhang. With your words, it will be easier for me to report back."

"What are you talking about? Brother Jiang is my confidant. Do you understand the importance of a confidant?"

Zhang Xiaokun looked around and waved his hands in disappointment: "Well, forget it, I can't explain it to you guys."

Everyone laughed dryly and flattered, "That's right, the general is very talented, but we are too ignorant."

Zhang Xiaokun waved his hand and called Kang Zheng to his side, and promised solemnly:
"Please tell Brother Jiang that if you run into danger in Shanghai, go find 'Little Mengchang' Li Wuye. I'll send him a telegram later. As long as it's about the Green Gang, Wuye can speak on everything!"

(End of this chapter)