Independence Corps

Chapter 19: Dark Chess Game (5)
He would never allow such a thing to happen in Miliang City.Especially at this critical moment!You know, if someone hoards grain and oil, someone will dare to hoard cloth, department stores, and even medicines.At that time, even if Gangben does not attack the city, as long as Miliang City is surrounded, there will be chaos inside.

The scene in the brick kiln is astonishing. As soon as you step in, a pungent musty smell hits your face.Tu Lanlong sneezed several times, Ruan Xiaoliu took out a handkerchief and gave it to him, and Tu Lanlong waved his hand.Walking forward for 50 meters, the entrance of the cave suddenly widened. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that it had been rebuilt.In the place where bricks were originally fired, green bricks were used to solidify several small kilns.The small kilns are numbered, and the one that Tu Lanlong entered was kiln No. 6.Bags of rice are piled up into a pile, each bag is about fifty catties, and the words "Hengtong" are printed on it.There was a thick layer of dust on the pile, covered with mouse feces.Just as Tu Lanlong was about to reach out to touch the rice bag, a big mouse suddenly jumped in front of him.The mouse weighed five or six catties, and it was fat from eating, but its body was still flexible.There was a sound of screams in the kiln, probably because the Shuo Shu frightened the students who came in.Tu Lanlong ordered Ruan Xiaoliu to open a bag of rice, and the rice dripping out of it was black and yellow.

His heart became more and more heavy.It seems that shopkeeper Sun has hoarded rice for more than a year or two, and the rice in front of him has been more than three years at least.Three years, think about it, how much their adoptive father has fooled them.He vaguely remembered that there was a food shortage in Miliang City three years ago. At that time, the Northern Front was struggling with the Communist Party. Although the 11th Army did not participate in the war, it still supported Yan Zhang and the others a lot in terms of supplies.Later, the chairman ordered the grain to be transferred from the rice grain city, but the adoptive father couldn't get it out, which made the chairman furious.Later, he was the one who tried to find a way from Datong to help his adoptive father overcome that difficulty.

Rice Grain City, known as Wuhua Tianbao, where soldiers and civilians live and work in peace and contentment, actually hides such filthy things.Tu Lanlong's hatred for Shopkeeper Sun was not as simple as hoarding some rice.He suddenly thought of another rumor, which was told by the one-legged old Tang. Before his adoptive father had an accident, shopkeeper Sun was a guest of honor. Regarding the business community in Miliang City, shopkeeper Sun said nothing.On the first night when the adoptive father left Meiyuan and went to Jigong Mountain, shopkeeper Sun hosted a banquet with his third concubine at Sun's mansion for the adoptive father.It is said that there were two people of unknown origin sitting with me that night.After Tu Lanlong arrived in Miliang City, he secretly checked the two people, and now it is preliminarily found that one of them is the cousin of the third wife of shopkeeper Sun.This person has a mysterious background, and his public identity is the manager of the foreign affairs department of Taiyuan Dasheng Warehouse, but this person is not at the warehouse most of the time.The news from Taiyuan said that Dasheng Warehouse had long been having an affair with the Japanese, and Tu Lanlong suspected that the cousin of shopkeeper Sun's third concubine was probably on the line of Chairman Wang Jingwei.

Of course, without conclusive evidence, Tu Lanlong didn't want to blame someone for his adoptive father's death. He even forced himself not to think about it anymore. The dead are already dead. Even if the truth is found out, it won't help. It's better to save your heart and do the things in front of you well.But can the matter in front of me be handled well?

When going to Kiln No. 8, Tu Lanlong didn't have a clear idea on how to deal with this matter. During this time, he met a person, a tall student named Lin Jianying who appeared out of nowhere and took advantage of Ruan Kong, who was explaining the matter to Xiao Liu and his followers, suddenly jumped in front of his eyes: "May I ask you, Commander, do you feel that you have failed after seeing this situation?"

"Failure?" Tu Lanlong was stunned for a moment, staring at this fearless girl in surprise.

"Isn't it? Old Commander Tu keeps saying that everyone in Miliang City is equal, and that there is no bullying or bullying. You also said that you must maintain this simple folk custom, but what is the reality? It is better to let the rice rotten than to sell it to the people at a low price. How does Commander Tu plan to deal with this kind of profiteer?"

"..." Tu Lanlong was speechless for a while, not knowing how to respond to this articulate girl.

Ruan Xiaoliu at the side saw someone besieging Tu Lanlong, so he jumped over and covered Tu Lanlong with his body: "If you have anything to say, let's talk outside. This time, follow orders and move forward in order."

"What else is there to see, and what's the use of seeing it? The wine and meat of the wealthy family stinks, and the roads are frozen to death. This is the peaceful and prosperous world you advertise!"

"You—" Ruan Xiaoliu was irritated by Lin Jianying's radical remarks, and subconsciously wanted to draw his gun.Tu Lanlong stopped Ruan Xiaoliu, and signaled him to leave him alone and just maintain the order in the kiln.

"Student, although your words are extreme, I still want to thank you." Tu Lanlong turned to Lin Jianying and said seriously.

"What's the use of thanking me? If you thank me, they won't do anything wrong? If you thank me, they won't steal by chance? It's a pity that the people in Miliang City think that the sky will always be blue and the sun will always be bright. How would they know? , Commander Tu Lao has worked hard to rule the Rice Grain City for more than ten years, and crimes and selfish desires are still rampant. Today is rice, and tomorrow may be what it is. One day the Japanese devils come over, maybe they won’t even be able to drink their saliva!"

"Are you too pessimistic?" Tu Lanlong suppressed the waves in his heart and said with a smile.

"I'm pessimistic, are you too subjective? You go and see, these days, these big shopkeepers who keep saying that they want to tide over the difficulties with the rice grain people, what are they doing behind the scenes, I'm afraid they can't wait." Lin Haiying He was eloquent and said a lot in one go.

"What do you mean?" Tu Lanlong felt that the girl's words meant something.

"It's nothing interesting, Young Commander. On behalf of all the students in the normal school, I request you to severely punish these illegal profiteers who speculate and try to make money in the country. If the profiteers are not eliminated, the stability of Miliang City will become empty talk!"

While Tu Lanlong was still in shock, Lin Jianying had already turned around and left.This stubborn girl, she didn't follow the crowd into the kiln, but strode out of the kiln.Tu Lanlong kept staring at her back until she disappeared into the sunlight outside.Tu Lanlong's heart was greatly shaken. At this moment, he suddenly understood that shopkeeper Sun pushed him to a very dangerous crossroads!

The meeting to dispose of shopkeeper Sun was held overnight, and the location was chosen between clouds and water.On the way to Yunshuijian, Tu Lanlong's heart was gloomy, and the words Lin Jianying told him in the kiln kept echoing in his ears.The one-legged old Tang followed behind him, appearing to be more disturbed than he was.Later, Old Tang was taken away by Wu Qi, the captain of the pistol team, saying that shopkeeper Sun's third aunt was crying to see him. Old Tang stomped his feet and went reluctantly.The county magistrate, Meng Bingliang, saw the opportunity and came over, looking at Tu Lanlong with a sad face.

"Have you found out the matter?" Tu Lanlong asked Meng Bingliang in a low voice.

"I've found out, Commander, the situation is even worse than this. Not only shopkeeper Sun, but several other shopkeepers have also tampered with it to varying degrees." Meng Bingliang's voice was very sad.

"I mean something else!"

Meng Bingliang let out an "oh" and said, "Commander, that matter has also been found out, that's right, it was all done by him."

What Meng Bingliang was referring to was a rumor that suddenly spread in the city these days, saying that Miliang City would soon become an occupied area, and that the 11th Army was no match for the Japanese 13th Division.As soon as the rumors came out, the whole city panicked.If you don't panic, shopkeeper Sun's hoarding of rice may not be reported.Tu Lanlong's hard work to stabilize the hearts of the people made this rumor mess up again!
When Tu Lanlong hits a cream, everything can be messed up, but the hearts of the people can't be messed up!
"Also, the manager of Dasheng Warehouse in Taiyuan is not the third aunt's cousin at all. He has been having an affair with the third aunt all the time. Now this man has left Taiyuan and is working under Gangben!"

"A couple of dogs!" Tu Lanlong spat out harshly. At this moment, he had a very clear idea of ​​how to deal with Shopkeeper Sun's family.

The meeting was very dull, and no one in the room raised his head to speak. The shopkeepers all hugged their heads and squatted where no one noticed.Tailor Liu Tailor, who talked loudly in front of the brick kiln, was also dumb for a while. It seemed that they were afraid again if they really wanted to stab someone.

The county magistrate, Meng Bingliang, was ordered to preside over the meeting. This was a scene he and Tu Lanlong planned together.Meng Bingliang first talked about the importance of stabilizing people's hearts in a gentle manner, then changed the subject and talked about the crux of the matter.Unfortunately, Meng Bingliang's words did not resonate with the shopkeepers, and the situation was deadlocked for a while.Tu Lanlong rushed to the shopkeepers who were silent under the stage and said: "You have all seen the matter clearly, and you should give me your opinion on how to deal with it."

The money shopkeeper of Dahe Bank stood up and stammered: "Shopkeeper Sun is wrong, it's a pity to waste so much rice, but it's his first offence, so please forgive him once."

"First offender? So much rice mold rotted in the kiln, you say he is a first offender?" Tu Lanlong couldn't help being angry.If the shopkeepers had a more positive attitude and a more high-minded attitude, maybe he could let Sun Deren go, but what he saw was exactly the opposite.This made him have to believe that the gang of the chamber of commerce had an affair behind their backs, and how many ulterior things they might have done without telling him and Meng Bingliang!He looked at President He of the Chamber of Commerce: "The matter happened to you, how to deal with it, please give me your opinion."

After speaking, he left the crowd, left the venue, and walked out of the cloud.When heading towards the Plum Garden, a one-legged Old Tang chased from behind with a cane, stopped the car and said, "Young Commander, Young Commander, you have to think twice, this matter must never be hasty."

"Why was I careless?" Tu Lanlong didn't understand why Old Tang was so flustered.

"Shopkeeper Sun can't be killed, absolutely can't be killed."

"Old Tang!" Tu Lanlong was afraid of being shaken. He really didn't want to kill shopkeeper Sun, but if what Meng Bingliang said was true, how could such a person stay?Suddenly, his adoptive father came to his mind again, and he remembered the rumor that his adoptive father died.

"He saved the old commander's life!" Old Tang said vigorously, and his voice also became weeping, "He did this really unkindly, and shouldn't be against you, young commander, but he really saved the old commander. life."

Tu Lanlong's eyes darkened, feeling that the most vulnerable part of his heart had been stabbed.

Old Tang did not make up a fiction, Sun Deren and the shopkeeper indeed saved the life of his adoptive father.Seven years ago, the adoptive father received an invitation from the newly established chamber of commerce to give lectures to friends in the business world. After drinking that night, the foster father invited the members of the chamber of commerce to play cards in Plum Garden.When the car passed No. 2 Road, everything was still calm. The foster father, who was in high spirits, took Chairman He's hand and kept praising him, saying that he was a genius, and he felt relieved when he entrusted the chamber of commerce to him.Unexpectedly, when the group of people got out of the car and entered the plum garden, five black shadows suddenly came out, trying to take the life of the adoptive father in the dark.If it wasn't for the timely action of the bodyguards, the adoptive father might not have escaped that night.In the process of subduing the murderer, the adoptive father was still shot. Someone hid behind five black shadows and shot the adoptive father three times in the depths of the plum garden.One shot missed, one shot hit shopkeeper Sun's right shoulder who was rushing towards his foster father in an emergency, and the other shot hit his foster father's right leg.Later, Tu Lanlong heard that if shopkeeper Sun hadn't rushed to his adoptive father in time and pushed him to the ground, it would have been...

But, can this be a reason for him to bully the market and hoard grain and oil?Also, if the rumor really started because of Shopkeeper Sun, would there be more tricks in it?
Tu Lanlong left Old Tang behind, jumped into the car angrily, and returned to the plum garden.

That night, Tu Lanlong didn't blink a single eye.News from Yunshuijian kept coming, saying that shopkeepers pleaded with Meng Bingliang one after another, asking for leniency in dealing with Sun Deren.Later, I heard that Sun Deren's wife and several concubines were kneeling at the door of Yunshuijian, and the guards couldn't pull them away...

Later, he heard that Meng Bing, the county magistrate, gritted his teeth and uttered a sentence that terrified all the shopkeepers: "Openly trampled on the commercial order, secretly colluded with the traitor organization, sold information to the traitor organization, and attempted to use the Japanese A butcher's knife is used to squeeze the blood of the common people, this kind of person cannot be left behind!"

Tu Lanlong closed his eyes, thanking Meng Bingliang in his heart.If it wasn't for Meng Bingliang, he really wouldn't be able to solve this problem.At five o'clock in the morning, after the gunshot that shook the whole city, Tu Lanlong's body fell limply on the sofa. This shot made his heart bleed.

He said to the portrait of his adoptive father: "If I, Tu Lanlong, kill him by mistake, I will give him my life back!"

Then he pointed in the direction of the gunfire and said, "I don't have to kill you for hoarding food and oil, I don't have to kill you for robbing women, I can spare you for bullying the market, but you must not be a traitor!"

This is a secret, I am afraid that apart from Tu Lanlong and Meng Bingliang, people in Quanmi Liangcheng don't know that Sun Deren, the shopkeeper, has become a traitor!

(End of this chapter)