Agents of the Republic of China

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Wan Molin secretly sneaked back to Shanghai from Wuxi. As soon as he arrived in the French Concession, he met Lin Xiaotang non-stop. What Wan Molin brought was Du Yuesheng's intention.For Zhang Xiaolin's aggression, we must attack head-on, but don't hurt his life.

Regarding this point, Lin Xiaotang felt very embarrassed. The two sides were already close at hand. Zhang Xiaolin, as the representative of the Japanese in the concession, annexed the forces of Du Yuesheng and Huang Jinrong. It was inevitable. This was not only his personal ambition, but also the Japanese intention of.At this critical moment when life is at stake, Du Yuesheng made this request, which is a bit of a woman's benevolence.

Wan Molin explained that at this time, the French Concession is full of wind and rain. Du Yuesheng has been in control of the concession for a long time, and he is well aware of the stakes. Currently, Sanxin Company only has Zhang Xiaolin in Shanghai, and Huang Jinrong is determined. Regardless of Jianghu affairs, Du Yuesheng is far away in Hong Kong. If Zhang Xiaolin dies at this time, the situation in the concession and even Shanghai will be in chaos. This move is undoubtedly only beneficial to the Japanese. Find someone to clean up the mess.

After listening to Wan Molin's explanation, Lin Xiaotang couldn't help but feel relieved, and he also sincerely admired Du Yuesheng's overall view and foresight. These tycoons who climbed up step by step from the bottom are indeed not easy people.

Wang Tianmu also sent the news through Liu Chengfeng that the military command is currently being suppressed by No. 76 and cannot help for the time being, but he also asked Lin Xiaotang to rest assured that the military command will provide Lin Xiaotang with all the information in the concession, including Zhang Xiaolin's Every move.This, for Lin Xiaotang, was enough.

On the morning of the third day of the Lunar New Year, the public concession and the French concession suddenly issued announcements at the same time, announcing the ban on smoking, reaffirming the concession's membership in the "No Smoking Convention", and announcing that they would step up crackdowns on drugs such as tobacco, opium, and heroin within their jurisdiction.

The public in Shanghai scoffed at this. In fact, as early as the early years of the Republic of China, countries such as Britain, the United States and France had already joined the convention. There were many similar actions in the public concession, but everyone knew that the governments of the countries in the concession were the biggest ones. Drug dealers, these actions are nothing more than a gesture.Sanxin Company joined forces with the French Concession and started out relying on the tobacco business.

Today, except that the drug business in the British and American concessions has gone underground due to the pressure of public opinion from the international community, the opium dens in the French concession are still open and operating in a grand manner, without any shyness.

Therefore, this time, the announcement of the ban on smoking in the concession did not attract the attention of all parties.But Lin Xiaotang knew clearly that the eye drops he gave Hong Chawei had begun to work quietly.

There was also news from Liu Chengfeng. Before Lin Xiaotang asked him for some information through Huoyan, Liu Chengfeng agreed without saying a word. Afterwards, with Wang Tianmu's consent, Liu Chengfeng was even more motivated. Put all the information on Lin Xiaotang's desk.

The information is divided into two parts, one is the source of Zhang Xiaolin's funds, Wan Molin provided a part, and the information provided by Liu Chengfeng is undoubtedly more valuable, because these information are Zhang Xiaolin's most secret business, Lin Xiaotang guessed right, The most important of them is smoke and soil, and there are also some arms, but the proportion is not large.The second is Zhang Xiaolin's power structure, including a part of his hidden strength, which Wan Molin cannot provide, because these are Zhang Xiaolin's last killer moves to save his life.

It took Lin Xiaotang one night to digest the information. Afterwards, he gathered all his lurking subordinates. After a brief explanation, everyone was divided into three groups, led by Guo Zhui, Lin Huaibu and Fatty Shen, and hurriedly leave.

In the early morning of the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Lin Xiaotang, Huoyanhui and Ma Qixiang went out to sea from Wusongkou to meet someone who was very important in his plan.

The Cao Gang, known as the "Chaohu Gang" in the Qing Dynasty, originated from the "Anqing Gang", the predecessor of the Qing Gang, and was one of the important secret societies in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.The Anqing Gang is divided into two factions, one is the main gang, which is mainly from eastern Zhejiang; the other is the guest gang, which is mainly from northern Anhui, so it is called "Chaohu Gang". Most of its members are transport laborers and undertake water transportation for the court and the government. .At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, water transportation was gradually replaced by sea transportation, and the strength of the water gangs plummeted. Most of the grain ship sailors were unemployed and became homeless. They gradually developed in the hinterland of the Taihu Lake Basin, and then turned to Shanghai. Some people were engaged in smuggling salt and smuggling industries; Some of them went to sea and took up the business of robbing houses. They were actually pirates.When the warlords were fighting, a large number of defeated soldiers fled to Shanghai, and some of them were desperate and joined the ranks of pirates with weapons.

What Lin Xiaotang is going to meet this time is the biggest pirate leader who controls the waters at the mouth of Shanghai, known as the "Dragon King".

After leaving Wusongkou, this small fishing boat bumped up and down on the sea for three hours before arriving at the pre-appointed sea area.In winter.Ma Qixiang couldn't stand it any longer due to the strong wind and waves, and the pungent fishy smell in the fishing boat. He took the jug handed over by Huoyan and took a sip, until his pale face flushed, "Little Seven, you have to be more careful when chatting with the Dragon King. Although this guy also has the name of the Green Gang, he is very senior. My master has to be polite when he sees him, and this guy has a very violent temper. , throwing people directly into the sea at every turn, so..."

Lin Xiaotang nodded, "I will pay attention."

At this time, the fisherman outside raised his head, "Brother, they are here!"

The sky is still gloomy, and it seems that rain is brewing. Although there is only a layer of faint mist on the sea surface, it is still blurry to see at a distance. Everyone feels chilly.

Two fast boats emerged from the mist, and when they got closer, they realized that they were motor sailing boats converted from fishing boats. One was larger, and there were more than twenty shadowy figures standing on it, all covered in old cloth padded jackets of different colors. , Some people also wear sheepskin hats, the holes in the hats reveal cotton, which is very eye-catching.The guys in their hands are all kinds of strange things, some of them are made in Hanyang that I haven’t seen for a long time, some of them are still holding the [-]-type rifle of the Japanese army, an old Maxim heavy machine gun is driving on the bow, and there is even a small-caliber mountain cannon , the muzzle was aimed at Lin Xiaotang and the others' boat impartially.

Everyone looked at Lin Xiaotang and the others with unfriendly expressions, but no one came up to talk to them. The two sides just looked at each other in silence. For a while, the atmosphere was a little weird.

A man put a gangplank between the two boats in silence, and said in a muffled voice, "Anyone who wants to see Boss Long, come here!"

Lin Xiaotang smiled slightly, and cupped his hands at the man, "I'm sorry." He jumped onto the other's boat.Huoyan followed closely, Ma Qixiang opened his mouth, but still didn't speak, so he had to follow the two into the boat.

The man squinted at the three of them, and waved at the people on the deck. Everyone opened up a narrow passage, and the man stretched out his hand, "Please!"

The three of Lin Xiaotang followed the man down to the cabin, and they suddenly realized that the cabin was not small, and the decoration was extremely special. Lin Xiaotang felt that the word "special" was not enough to express it, and perhaps the word "alternative" was more suitable.

The furniture in the cabin is a mix of Chinese and Western, including simple mahogany tables and chairs, as well as western-style coffee tables and bar counters. There is a hideous bull head hanging on the bulkhead, which is lifelike. The hatch made people look cold.

In the room facing the door, that is, under the bull's head, there is a large mahogany desk. Behind the desk sits a middle-aged man, wearing a fat leather cotton robe, with his arms open, revealing two dark spots on his chest. He was wearing a pair of British army leather boots on his feet, which looked nondescript, but it seemed that he himself felt quite good, and there was an air of confidence and contempt all over his body.

Behind him were four men wearing gray cloth military uniforms of the original direct line army, with two shell guns slanted on their waists, and bright red silk tied on the breeches of the guns, looking at the three of Lin Xiaotang coldly.

Standing by the side of the middle-aged man was a woman with long hair and a shawl, who seemed to be about ten or twenty years old, with her hair hanging down to cover half of her face, and her piercing almond eyes looked at the three of them up and down.

There were three chairs opposite the middle-aged man, and just as Lin Xiaotang and the three sat down, Ma Qixiang said, "Master Long, we are here this time...".

With a wave of his hand, the Dragon King put one leg directly on the chair, "I'm a guest from afar, it's already noon, let's talk while drinking!"

After finishing speaking, he couldn't help but pouted at the man behind, "Serve!"

One of the men wearing old-fashioned military uniforms at the back, wearing glasses, bowed and shouted. Six burly men with shirtless upper body filed in. Each of them held a huge plate in his hand, put it on the mahogany desk, and turned around to leave. .

On the table, there were six plates, each containing a whole snapper, tuna, capers, a large piece of raw beef, and a black sea urchin.

The Dragon King skillfully took over a wine jar from a man, poured a bowl of wine for each of Lin Xiaotang's three people, and told them to drink it up, "I can't drink homemade rice wine anywhere else, you three have a taste!"

Seeing that Lin Xiaotang and the others drank up the wine in the bowl, the Dragon King smiled and pointed to the dishes on the table, "Eat first, we'll talk about the rest later!" After finishing speaking, he cut off a piece of fish and chewed it , while staring at the three of them, juice and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. .

Ma Qixiang was stunned, this was the first time he had seen such a way of eating. Although he had heard of Japanese sashimi, he still hadn't tasted it himself.

Huoyan grinned, picked up a piece of beef and put it in his mouth, then nodded, "Kobe beef, not bad!"

The Dragon King looked at Huoyan with satisfaction, and set his eyes on Lin Xiaotang and Ma Qixiang, with a hint of sarcasm in his eyes, "You two, don't you think the dishes are not tasty?"

Ma Qixiang had no choice but to forcefully pick up the smallest piece of beef, slowly put it into his mouth, and began to chew with a bitter face.

Lin Xiaotang stood up abruptly.

The men in military uniforms were startled, and they pulled out the double guns at their waists like lightning, aiming at Lin Xiaotang.