20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 627 Ningguta

Ning'an County, formerly known as Ningguta, consists of seven mountains, one river and two parts of farmland.

Although it was once a place of exile, it was an important frontier town during the Qing Dynasty after all, so it is certainly not deserted.

The county town itself is not big. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides and borders the Mudanjiang River to the south. The scenery is quite pleasant in summer and autumn.

However, because the North Manchuria Railway was not built here, it has shown a slight decline in recent years.

Even so, if you stroll around the streets, you can occasionally see a few Russians speaking stiff Chinese, shouting and hawking their wares. They are all engaged in small-scale smuggling and their business dealings are quite frequent.

The north has been at war for years, and I heard that there has been a famine recently. The white-haired people are suffering terribly, so supplies from the Far East have become extremely scarce.

Millet for leather boots, flour for sabers, and if anyone can bring a bottle of vodka, the Russians will dare to call him daddy.

The brave ones have already started smuggling in secret.

Every winter, some people would put on seven or eight layers of cotton-padded jackets and run to Shuangchengzi or Vladivostok. Once they got there, they would take them off layer by layer and sell them to the local Russians.

Just this one trip and I'll have enough money to buy New Year's goods.

Seeing the lucrative profits, even old ladies with bound feet in their fifties and sixties joined in the fun and started smuggling businesses.

Such people are called "runners", "runners" or "peeling old customers" online.

…………

Jiang Lianheng and his companions took a train to Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang Province, where they rested for a night. They hired a carriage to head south the next morning.

The distance from Mudanjiang to Ning'an County is sixty or seventy miles, which doesn't sound far, but the mountain road is winding and it was not until dusk that we finally arrived at Ning'an County on time.

Follow the official road, turn into the old city from the west gate, cross several streets, and you will see an old government office in the distance.

This place was originally the official residence of the "generals guarding Ningguta and other places" in the Qing Dynasty who handled military affairs. Now it has fallen into disrepair and looks more like an abandoned house.

When I got closer, I saw two soldiers with guns standing guard at the gate. Their uniforms were loose and ill-fitting, but the expressions on their faces looked particularly majestic.

Jiang Lianheng bowed and clasped his hands, but before he could open his mouth, he was scolded.

"Hey, stand there!"

The two soldiers raised their chins and asked loudly, "Where did you get it? Do you have an invitation?"

"invitation?"

Jiang Lianheng frowned and thought to himself, you didn't mention this to me before coming here!

After thinking about it secretly, he did not get angry, but just said with a smile: "My two generals, I am a friend of General Zhang, I came from Fengtian, my last name is Jiang, Jiang Lianheng, please go in and report it."

After saying that, he turned around and raised his hand towards Zhao Guoyan, ready to show his appreciation to the two officials.

Unexpectedly, when the two men heard the name Jiang Lianheng, they immediately grinned, put aside their official airs, acted like a gangster, bowed their hands, clasped their fists, and apologized repeatedly.

"Oh, it turns out to be Boss Jiang. I finally see a living person today. Nice to meet you!"

Jiang Lianheng was stunned and asked hurriedly, "Why, do you two military officers know me?"

"More than knowing each other, our two families have even done business together!"

As the two soldiers pushed open the gate, they chuckled and said, "We were both on the front lines before. Do you still remember the boss's report number flying all over the sky?"

"Oh - I have an impression, I have an impression!"

Jiang Lianheng didn't even think about it, but he said calmly, "Come on, Guo Yan, say hello to the two brothers."

Zhao Guoyan understood what he meant and stepped forward and said with a smile: "Nice to meet you. I remember your boss was in Hulan area, why did he come to Ning'an?"

"Oh, don't mention it!" The two soldiers waved their hands, a little ashamed, "I accidentally got on the pirate ship, and now I'm turning to the light!"

After Zhao Guoyan's reminder, Jiang Lianheng also recalled it and asked, "It seems that you two are now eating official food. Is your boss doing well?"

"It's OK. He was just shot two days ago."

"Dead?"

"You are so ignorant. General Zhang is trying to persuade us to accept the imperial edict. What else can we do if he disagrees? We can only kill him and the second and third cabinets. Brothers have to save their lives, right?"

The two men spoke nonchalantly, not taking their brotherhood to heart at all.

When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. This is the norm in the underworld. Among a gang of hundreds of people, how many of them can be called friends of life and death?
Jiang Lianheng was already used to this, so he just nodded with pretended regret, then took the "personnel" from Zhao Guoyan and handed it over with a smile.

"Brothers, you two are smoking. This is a small token of my appreciation. You two can buy some wine later."

"Oh my God, I dare not, I dare not!"

The two soldiers refused repeatedly: "Since the day before yesterday, General Zhang has specifically ordered that anyone who dares to take bribes from Boss Jiang will be immediately punished by military law. Please don't harm us. Just go in directly. The general is playing cards in there!"

Jiang Lianheng refused several times, but seeing that the other party was really unwilling to accept it, he thanked him and strode into the government office with his brothers.

After crossing the courtyard, we met several soldiers on guard.

Many of them were former bandit leaders who had heard of Jiang Lianheng's name. After they explained their purpose, they were naturally let go.

However, Zhao Guoyan and others need to wait at the gatehouse.

Jiang Lianheng walked towards the main hall alone. From a distance, he saw the door of the room was wide open. There was a lot of noise coming from the room. It was the time for a lively card game.

Zhang Xiaokun was wearing a military uniform with his shirt open, his arms and sleeves rolled up, veins bulging on his forehead and his eyes were red. At this moment, he was sitting around a table with several gentry from Ning'an County, playing Pai Gow noisily.

On the corner of the table stood a plate of dog meat, torn into strips, with a pinch of salt in a small dish next to it, as a snack.

Zhang Xiaokun was busy having a lot of fun, eating dog meat with one hand and throwing dice with the other.

The other gentlemen at the table did not look like gamblers at all. They must have been forced to join in the game and lose money, so they felt uneasy and had to force themselves to smile.

Seeing this, Jiang Lianheng slowly walked to the table and called in a low voice: "Brother, I'm here."

"Tsk, can't you see I'm busy? Go away, we can talk later!"

Zhang Xiaokun's tone was extremely impatient. He had a cigarette between his lips, his eyes narrowed, and he didn't even raise his head. He was concentrating on playing the Pai Gow tiles, and his fingertips were slightly white.

“Fuck—”

Pai Gow was thrown onto the table. It looked like he had lost this time, but he was unwilling to accept the loss. So he immediately surrounded the players and ordered, "Come again, come again, I don't believe it anymore!"

Jiang Lianheng didn't feel comfortable disturbing them as they were having a great time, so he looked around, found a chair in the corner, and sat down.

Unexpectedly, I sat there for more than half an hour.

Turning around, he saw that it was getting dark outside. Zhang Xiaokun's long legs were shaking constantly, but the card game showed no sign of ending.

No one dared to suggest disbanding; even the slightest sign of doing so would result in a barrage of scolding.

Only after he had finished eating the plate of dog meat did Zhang Xiaokun reluctantly stand up.

"Just sit here. I'm going to the toilet and will come back to play!"

As he said this, he turned around and was about to leave, but when he glanced at something out of the corner of his eye, he was suddenly stunned.

At this time, the room was a little dim. Zhang Xiaokun carefully identified it for a long time before he exclaimed, "Hey, brother, when did you get here?"

Jiang Lianheng almost choked, and laughed dryly and said, "Brother, I've been sitting behind you for quite a while." "Ah?" Zhang Xiaokun couldn't believe it, "No, then why didn't you call me?"

"Yes, I called you. You were having fun, and I didn't have anything urgent to do, so I thought I'd sit here and wait for you for a while."

"Well, the reason for this incident is that those little bastards outside have no sense of propriety. They are all fucking dumb and didn't even tell me."

Zhang Xiaokun slapped his forehead and apologized with a smile: "Sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time... But you have to wait a little longer, I'm going to go to the bathroom..."

Jiang Lianheng smiled and nodded.

Zhang Xiaokun hurried out, finished peeing, and hurried back. He didn't know whether he washed his hands or not. He hugged Jiang Lianheng and came to the table laughing.

"Come on, brother, let me introduce you... This is the county magistrate of Ning'an County; this is Mr. Tang; this is Boss Pei, the rich man of Ning'an County..."

After hearing this, everyone immediately stood up and laughed along.

Jiang Lianheng didn't know most of the people in the room, but he had heard of the name of the Fengtian Jiang family. Although he had never met them, he seemed to know them well.

"It's a pity that we met too late, it's a pity that we met too late..."

Jiang Lianheng shook hands with everyone one by one.

Read more latest popular novels at 6.9*shuba!

He had been planning to get along with Guang Tongchen, but unexpectedly Zhang Xiaokun patted his shoulder and scolded him in public: "All of you, remember this, this is my confidant. From now on in Suining, Jiang Lianheng is me, I am Jiang Lianheng, whoever dares to cross my path will be beheaded!"

After hearing this, everyone nodded repeatedly, thinking that even without you, we would not dare to offend the Fengtian Jiang family!

Zhang Xiaokun was very satisfied, and then waved to someone at the table, saying, "Um... Boss Pei, my brother is here today, it's a great thing, I'll give you a chance to show off, find a high-end restaurant and let everyone have a good meal!"

Boss Pei came with an "invitation". Today's task was to lose money and treat everyone. Although he felt embarrassed, he still agreed with a smile.

"Okay, okay, thank you General Zhang for thinking highly of me. I'll make arrangements now and send a car to pick you up later."

"go Go!"

Zhang Xiaokun held Jiang Lianheng's arm, refusing to let go, and asked with a smile, "Brother, did you come here alone?"

"How can that be possible? The brothers are all in the reception room!"

"that whoever--"

Zhang Xiaokun immediately shouted outside the door: "Go and make a pot of good tea for the reception room. Ask them to wait a little longer. My brother and I have something to say!"

The guards in the courtyard agreed repeatedly.

Immediately, Zhang Xiaokun dispersed everyone in the house and took Jiang Lianheng to the back room, then closed the door mysteriously.

Jiang Lianheng was slightly confused and couldn't help asking, "Brother, what's the matter?"

Zhang Xiaokun smiled without saying anything, walked directly to the window, opened the cabinet door, and took out a small box one foot square from it.

"Brother——"

He put the box on the desk, pushed it towards Jiang Lianheng with a smile, and said, "Take this box back for your sister-in-law."

As he said this, he casually opened the lid of the box.

With a "crash" sound, gold, silver and jewelry immediately spread out from the box, and under the reflection of the lamp, they cast soft rays of light.

Jiang Lianheng looked down and was stunned.

The amount of gold, silver and jade artifacts in the box is staggering, and many of them are old items.

The jewels are intertwined like tangled balls of thread; the gems overlap like pebbles on the shore.

Because there are so many of them and they are stacked carelessly, at first glance they look like fakes.

"Brother, what are you doing?" Jiang Lianheng asked knowingly.

Zhang Xiaokun waved his hand and said, "These are little gadgets we got from suppressing bandits. They are a bit old-fashioned. You can take them back. If my sister-in-law doesn't like them, at worst we can destroy them and make new ones!"

"Too many, inappropriate, inappropriate."

"What's inappropriate about this? If I tell you to take it, just take it. If you don't take it, you're looking down on me. I still owe you a debt!"

"It's no fun to bring this up again!"

"Hahaha, fine, fine, I won't mention it, but you have to accept this box of stuff from me."

Although Jiang Lianheng was not short of money, he saw that this box of jewelry was worth at least 18,000 yuan in cash. It would be a lie to say that he treated it like dirt. But after thinking about it, he said, "Brother, I heard that you are recruiting soldiers recently, and you need money. We have a long way to go, so there is no need to rush to make a quick success."

"Oh, that's nothing!" Zhang Xiaokun waved his hand nonchalantly, "Brother, let me tell you straight, there will be plenty of opportunities to make money in the future, so this little thing won't hurt!"

After saying that, he casually took out a telegram from the drawer and handed it to Jiang Lianheng as if nothing had happened.

"Here, take a look at what's written on it!"

Jiang Lianheng took it and glanced at it, then blurted out, "Brother, you're standing up!"

Zhang Xiaokun laughed heartily, leaned back in his chair, put his feet on the table, and looked quite proud.

"Suining Garrison Commander, Commander of the Third Brigade of the Jilin Provincial Frontier Defense Force... Brother, how are you doing? Are you okay?"

"That's great!"

The combination of these two titles is equivalent to the "local general guarding Ningguta and other places" in the Qing Dynasty, who was in charge of all military and political power in Suining.

Jiang Lianheng sat down and saluted to congratulate: "Brother, look, I told you, this is a once-in-a-decade fortune for you, you will definitely make a comeback!"

Zhang Xiaokun smiled and said, "Thanks to my good words, this matter has finally been accomplished. Otherwise, why would I come to Ning'an? It's mainly for investigation and to find a suitable place to stay in the future!"

"Of course, of course. But I never expected that Big Brother would become so successful so quickly. He was promoted three levels just by suppressing a bandit. It seems that I must get drunk tonight!"

"Haha, brother, do you really think that the Marshal appointed me as the garrison commander of Suining because of my meritorious service in suppressing bandits?"

Jiang Lianheng was stunned and couldn't help asking, "Why else could it be?"

"Maozi!"

"Maozi?"

Jiang Lianheng frowned and thought for a moment, suddenly remembering the information that Fan Sibai mentioned casually.

The red-haired people in the north, now that the overall situation has been determined, are about to use military force against the Northeast.

This means that Marshal Zhang will inevitably have to deal with the Russians in the future, and the requirements for local officials will naturally change accordingly.

There are many officers who studied abroad in Japan within the Fengzhang Group, but when it comes to understanding of the North, I'm afraid no one can compare to Zhang Xiaokun.

After all, he had worked for the Russians since he was a child, had been to Siberia, and could speak fluent Russian.

Suppressing bandits was certainly an opportunity, but these two advantages were the key to why Lao Zhang appointed him as the garrison commander of Suining.

Jiang Lianheng immediately admired him and said hurriedly: "Brother, God will not let down those who work hard. You have learned the Maozi language in vain. It's time for you to make a fortune!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a guard outside the door reported loudly:
"General Zhang, Boss Pei's car has arrived!"

Zhang Xiaokun replied, then stood up and said, "Come on, brother, call your friends, let's talk while we walk. I have a few things to discuss with you!"

(End of this chapter)