The Republic of Heroes

At the end of April, the Suifenhe River was completely civilized. The train hissed and headed west, and the south wind was blowing north. There was already a bit of spring warmth, but the stuffy tank car did not feel the spring breeze outside at all, and the dirty air was filled The cramped and narrow space is filled with immigrants from Shandong. Last year, a large area of ​​Shandong was hit by disasters. In the season of lean and yellow, the bosses from outside the customs came to recruit workers. They take care of food and housing, and in the future they will have to divide the land. Such a favorable condition Who can resist it?

No one can. Zhang Ergou from Zhucheng County is one of them. He sailed from Weihai to Tianjin, and later changed boats. He bumped all the way to this place where there are white mountains everywhere. It is said that this is Lao Maozi’s territory. But now it has been beaten down by General Wu.Speaking of General Wu and Zhang Ergou, I feel inspired. Who are the foreigners?Back then, Lafayette was beaten and fled for his life, but General Wu not only defeated them, but also set up a concession on their territory, which made him feel relieved.

"Brother Ergou, where are you going? I want to get out of the car, and I'm panicked." In the dark, a thin half-sized man muttered a strong Shandong dialect.

Zhang Ergou slapped half of his son with a big slap, "Stick up, you can eat delicious and spicy food wherever you go, you know?"

Half-child, smash it, smash it with chapped lips, and said in a murmur, "Zhong, I listen to you, but what if you don't?"

"Follow me, you're right, there's so much nonsense."

I heard that in that place called Suidong, a coal mine was discovered, and all the white coal that comes out is of high quality. It is better to go there to earn a living than to starve to death in Zhangzhuang, Zhucheng, where no shit.

The piercing sound of metal rubbing outside the stuffy tank rang out in bursts, then the car stopped and stopped, and then voices sounded, the sliding door of the carriage was slammed open from the outside, Zhang Ergou couldn't open his eyes because of the sunlight, a gust of The fresh air was mixed with the chill.

A row of heavily armed soldiers stood outside the carriage, standing there motionless, looking like a statue, without blinking their eyes.A half-child, curiously wanted to pull the skirt of a soldier, but was slapped back by Zhang Ergou again.Then there were people who looked like military officers and organized a group of people to line up, and soon they received a brand new cotton padded coat. Zhang Ergou couldn't wait to put the cotton padded coat on the filthy single coat, even though it snowed in Zhucheng in winter , but the cold in Suifenhe still made it hard for him to accept.

……

The discovery of a coal mine in Suidong, and it is high-quality white coal, this news made Wu Xiaoliang excited for several days, and he has been in a state of excitement. There is nothing more exciting than discovering resources. He comes from later generations, so he naturally knows about resources. importance.More than half of the immigrants brought by Sun Jiayu were arranged by him to Suidong, and the rest stayed in Vladivostok to build a concession port.And there was an unexpected harvest. Businessmen in the Suifenhe area heard that Vladivostok had established a Chinese lease, and they all came to ask to settle in the lease and move their shops here.

Since the Qing government ceded a large area of ​​territory along the Ussuri River and Suifen River to Tsarist Russia, the Chinese businessmen here have been bullied by the Russians, and their homes have been confiscated at every turn, and some even lost their lives.Now that they finally have a backer, how can these businessmen be unhappy.Wu Xiaoliang accepted all those who took the initiative to invest, and provided all conveniences. They only need to pay a land purchase price slightly lower than the market price, and they can permanently own a piece of land of their own.

Almost overnight, the desolate land in the concession turned into a construction site in full swing. Sun Jiayu looked at the thriving scenery in front of him, and was full of emotion: "Second brother, Ban Dingyuan is nothing more than that, regaining the lost land, you are China's great hero ah."

Wu Xiaoliang shook his head with a wry smile, and said, "Brother, this is just the first step. In legal terms, Shanghai Shenshouwei still belongs to the Russians, and the Suidong Army has successively handed over the control of the city to the Russians. A thousand acres of land."

Sun Jiayu regretted for a while: "Why return them? We will take it if we take it."

"Brother doesn't know something. Everything is about status. The reason why we were able to occupy Vladivostok was because the Russians took advantage of the competition between snipe and clam. Although they are not strong enough, they still have more than enough ability to protect themselves. , the outcome of the fight is unknown, and the Japanese, French, and British will definitely not sit idly by, and if the Russian territory is retaken by the Chinese, they will inevitably send troops to intervene, and then our Suidong Army will be in a dilemma."

Sun Jiayu listened intently. For the first time, he looked at the issue of regaining lost ground from a new perspective. He never expected that it would affect the whole world.Wu Xiaoliang went on to say: "So we can only use the most gentle means to nibble bit by bit. As it is now, the Suidong Army can take advantage of it without causing foreign forces to intervene."

In fact, the real situation is far more complicated than what he said. In his memory, the Japanese will interfere in the Russian Revolution in the summer, and they will land in Vladivostok, Temple Street and other coastal cities.This will bring serious obstacles to his expansion plan. Now that he has established a lease in Vladivostok and has become the stronghold of the Suidong Army, he will never let the Japanese succeed easily.

Sun Jiayu felt emotional again. Wu Xiaoliang had done something earth-shattering that he could never have imagined two years ago, and his grandson's Yuchang had also changed from a wealthy businessman in Fengtian to a well-known industrialist throughout the country. These are all thanks to the second brother.

"Second brother, what plans do you have next? It's fun to talk about it as a brother."

"Army expansion!" Wu Xiaoliang said without hesitation. He knew that once Petrov's Cossack cavalry regiment came back, the Suidong Army would face great challenges. Fall short.And there are also Japanese who are eyeing up, gearing up and eager to try, so he must let the Suidong Army have enough military strength to deal with future conflicts.

Sun Jiayu nodded, feeling a little cold, wrapped her black slender windbreaker tightly, and said, "I need brother to cooperate, so just talk about it."

"Brother, do you still remember the [-] catties of gold? It's time for them to come in handy."

When it comes to spending money, Sun Jiayu smiled confidently: "Second brother, don't say you have [-] catties of gold, if you don't have it, our Yuchang and Liangda teamed up to build an army is still more than enough. Just make a list of what you need."

Wu Xiaoliang's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. He didn't expect that Yuchang and Liangda had grown to the point where they were as rich as an enemy. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

The guards in the distance rushed over with anxious faces...