In the winter of 1923, three major events occurred in Nantai County.
The first was a rare heavy snowfall in ten years, which alleviated the severe drought; the second was that the army guard Chen Zikun led his troops to annihilate the largest massacre in the county.
From then on, merchants no longer had to pay tolls when traveling to Daqingshan to kill tigers.
The third thing, which is also the most important thing to the people of the county, is that the Protector’s Office recruited thousands of bandits and restored the security of Nantai County to the level of the early Republic of China without a single blow.
Speaking of Mr.
Chen, the Protector of the Army, Regardless of whether he was a respectable squire or an ordinary citizen, everyone praised him.
Gai Longquan's reputation was not exaggerated.
He raised his arms and all the bandits in the county fell into disgrace.
These days, most of the bandits were forced to go to Liangshan.
They had no choice but to survive under the encirclement and suppression by the army.
Even the "White Wolf" "They all surrendered, so why bother to persist?
So, except for some habitual bandits who had committed too many crimes, all the people in the county rushed to submit.
The strength of the 7th Mixed Brigade quickly expanded to 4,000 people.
Chen Zikun was worried.
He couldn't manage so many soldiers and horses at all.
At best, he was just a military school graduate.
He had no experience in managing thousands of soldiers and horses.
Fortunately, with the help of Chief of Staff Yan, the work of recruiting bandits was not easy.
Also organized.
Gailongquan recruited a total of 3,688 bandits, enough to form a brigade, but their quality was not that good.
Only half of them had guns, and some were old and some were young.
Even so, Chen Zikun still As promised, Longquan served as the second regiment of the 7th Mixed Brigade.
The regiment leader, Su Qingyan, became the chief of staff of the second regiment, and all the brothers from Gangzi became the battalion commander and company commander.
For a time, the cloth shop, tailor shop and shoemaker in the county were all busy, custom-making woolen uniforms and leather jackets for the officers.
Boots and blue-gray woolen materials were all sold out, so we had to urgently transfer goods from the provincial capital.
After recruiting so many bandits, Chen Zikun's troops expanded rapidly, with nearly 5,000 men and horses overnight.
However, various problems followed.
The first was insufficient food and pay.
With so many soldiers, the monthly military salary alone would cost 50,000 yuan.
Ten thousand, not counting the cost of military uniforms, clothing, food and pickles.
Secondly, there is a shortage of guns and ammunition.
The bandits have all kinds of firearms.
In the former Qing Dynasty, there were no fewer than five kinds of guns and muskets, including the German Mauser, the Japanese Golden Hook, and the Austrian Mannlicher.
First of all, there is also a lack of barracks.
The city cannot accommodate so many people.
Even if they could accommodate them, they would not dare to be stationed in the city.
The barracks matter is easy to deal with.
Just build a temporary barracks outside the city with adobe stones.
As long as it can provide shelter from wind, rain and cold, the manpower is readily available and the raw materials don't cost a lot of money, but military pay and food are really hard to come by. .
It’s not like people know how expensive firewood and rice are.
In the past few days, Gong Zijun, the director of the logistics department of the Military Guard Office, has been worried about his head and two heads.
He was born in a wealthy family.
Although he went to university in the provincial capital and has some ink in his belly, it is so complicated to deal with it.
There is still a serious lack of experience in the affairs.
Fortunately, Su Qingyan, the chief of staff of the second regiment, is assisting, and the burden is reduced a lot.
Free novels bring you joy and joy ---> storyskyline.net
Su Qingyan was born as a scholar.
He not only served as a military advisor in the pole, but also held the position of grain station.
The grain station was responsible for logistics.
He was very experienced in the business.
However, it was difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice.
There was no food, money, or guns in the county, so he had no choice. .
Money and food cannot be distributed, and the newly surrendered bandits are unstable and may mutiny at any time.
Yan Su persuades Chen Zikun to increase taxes, but Chen Zikun vetoes it.
The money borrowed last time has not been repaid, so how can he borrow it again?
There are rumors among the people, okay It is easy to borrow and pay back, and it is not difficult to borrow again.
Adding a gift at this time is tantamount to destroying one's reputation.
Chen Zikun had been a horse thief in Guandong and knew very well the mentality of bandits.
Worrying not about scarcity but about inequality is the unstable factor.
He took off his major general uniform and changed into a coarse cloth military uniform.
He tied a belt casually around his waist and took the guards with him.
After moving to the military camp outside the city, the soldiers saw that the guardsmen were sharing the joys and sorrows with them and eating chaffy vegetables, so they naturally stopped and became less active.
On New Year's Day, 1924, everything was calm in Nantai County.
The common people did not observe the tradition of the Gregorian calendar year and just lived their daily lives as usual.
The military camp outside the city began to take shape.
The officers and soldiers of the 7th mixed brigade composed of bandits were stationed here.
Colonel Gai After Long Quan chopped off a few bad apples with a guillotine, the originally lax military discipline became more like that.
An old beggar man in ragged clothes came to the gate of the military camp.
He sat down on the ground and couldn't get up.
The sentry came to chase him, but the old man said: "I am related to your army guard."
The sentry did not dare to neglect and hurriedly reported to the commander.
After hearing the news, the adjutant Zhao Yufeng came and looked at the old man with disdain.
Although he was dressed sloppily, his eyes were shining, and he was clearly a training man.
He said: "Old guy, our commander-in-chief You don’t even have parents, so where are your relatives from?
What on earth do you do?”
The old man said: "My name is Sun Guizhi.
I come from Shandong.
My nephew and the military guard have been friends for eight times.
They are as close as brothers.
In other words, I am also a relative of Marshal Chen."
When Zhao Yufeng saw that the person he was talking about was named, he went back to the office and reported the matter.
Chen Zikun was shocked when he heard that Sun Guizhi was Uncle Sun Meiyao, the old boss of Baodugu.
Why did he suddenly come to Nantai?
Something must have happened to him.
Without even bothering to change clothes, he walked out of the barracks wearing a private soldier's coarse cloth uniform and greeted Sun Guizhi in person.
"Old village master, you are indeed the elder."
Chen Zikun recognized Sun Guizhi at a glance and hurriedly came forward to say hello.
Sun Guizhi burst into tears and was speechless.
Chen Zikun said: "Hurry and help the old man to the official room."
Two sentries stepped forward and carefully helped Sun Guizhi to the office room like a father.
They fetched hot water to wash his face, prepared rice and made tea.
Free novels bring you joy and joy ---> storyskyline.net
They were well served.
Sun Guizhi washed his face, ate, and felt much better.
He drank tea. , picking his teeth, and said: "I really saw the right person, Boss Chen is a very particular person."
Chen Zikun said: "I still don't know why the old man came here."
Sun Guizhi said: "I'm here to give you a gift."
When Chen Zikun saw that he had nothing to offer, but was brazen about giving gifts, he wondered: "How can you say this?"
Sun Guizhi said: "The head on the old man's neck is worth five thousand oceans.
Boss Chen takes it and offers it to the Yanzhou garrison's tent, and he can get five thousand oceans."
As soon as these words came out, Chen Zikun was shocked, stood up suddenly and said: "Something happened to Sun Meiyao" Sun Guizhi burst into tears: "Half a month ago, Yanzhou garrison Zhang Peirong held a Hongmen Banquet at Zaozhuang Zhongxing Coal Mine Club.
He first blinded Sun Meiyao with a lime bag, then hacked him to death with a knife, and his head was chopped off and packed in gasoline.
In the barrel, showing off to the public, newly formed brigade Brothers, those who disarmed and those who ran away ran away.
I left in time and escaped with my life.
It was me who harmed Meiyao's nephew.
There is no point in living this old life in the world anymore.
It's better to be a favor.
It’s not a waste of time for our friendship to be sent to Boss Chen.”
Chen Zikun was dumbfounded.
Sun Meiyao actually died like this.
Only half a year after he committed the heinous crime, he was secretly executed by the government.
Although his death was expected, he thought that such a lively and powerful contemporary hero died tragically in the limestone.
Baoxia, still a little sad.
After a long time, Chen Zikun said leisurely: "People cannot be resurrected, so the old village leader does not need to blame himself too much.
There is no need to talk about working hard to receive rewards.
If I have a mouthful of food, you will be indispensable.
So be it, you Stay here for now and wait until the news subsides before we find a way to return to our hometown.”
Sun Guizhi thanked him profusely and followed the orderly.
Chen Zikun was sitting in the office room and was extremely upset.
He even smoked a few cigarettes and couldn't calm down.
Sun Meiyao's fate reminded him of himself, although there was no comparison.
Sun is a bandit with no background, and he is a direct descendant of Wu Peifu.
But in this chaotic era where even the president can be bought with money, who can guarantee that he will not fall under the guillotine tomorrow.
While I was bored, suddenly the door of the official office opened, and Gong Zijun, the director of the logistics department, came in with his eyes full of joy: "Envoy of the Army Guard, we have something happy to happen."
"Oh, you want to get married," Chen Zikun said.
"No, no, it's a telegram from Shanghai, transferred from the provincial capital."
Gong Zijun presented a long telegram with holes all over it.
This is what private telegrams are like, and they need to be translated by themselves.
Chen Zikun said: "What does it say?"
Gong Zijun said: "I came over halfway through the page.
Manager Mu said that he bought 10,000 new American-made foreign guns, and the content behind it was not revealed yet."
Chen Zikun's eyes lit up: "Read it quickly."
"Okay."
Gong Zijun took the code book and looked at it word by word, and finally translated the full text.
It turned out that this was a telegram sent by Mu Yichen, a foreign trade company in Springfield, reporting that he had reached a preliminary agreement with the United States to pay the cost price.
Ten thousand rifles in stock were purchased at a price of ten dollars each.
The funds for the purchase of the guns came from a loan from the Bank of the United States.
Free novels bring you joy and joy ---> storyskyline.net
The matter was progressing rapidly and Chen Zikun was in urgent need of a final decision.
This is really great news.
You must know that the price of a Mauser rifle is about one hundred silver dollars, and the American rifle purchased by Mu Yichen is only twenty dollars when converted into silver dollars, which is several times cheaper than the normal market price.
Ten thousand rifles are enough to arm two divisions of the army.
The most important thing is that you don't have to pay a penny for these weapons.
God knows where Mu Yichen got such a big skill.
At this moment, he couldn't think too much.
Chen Zikun, who was dazzled by the surprise, said immediately: "Reply to the letter and let Mu Yichen do things easily without asking for instructions on everything, so as not to waste business opportunities."
"Yes, let's do the humble job right now."
Gong Zijun rushed away excitedly.
Chen Zikun sat on a chair and pondered for a long time before he came back to his senses.
He just said that he had stock of American-made rifles, but did not explain what model, caliber, or quality they were.
Mu Yi Chen doesn't know much about military affairs.
If he gets a batch of scrap metal recovered from European battlefields or antiques from the Civil War, it will be a big loss.
At the same time, in an office room in the Sassoon Building on the Bund Road in the Shanghai Public Concession, Mu Yichen, in a suit and leather suit, lay exhausted on a sofa chair, holding a thick contract in his hand, which he had been working on for several months.
The result of hard work, Chen Zikun had already signed the contract before he called back, because such favorable conditions were really rare.
The subject of the contract is 10,000 Type 1917 rifles in the inventory of the U.S.
Department of War, produced by Remington Armed Alliance Metal Ammunition Company, caliber 3006 inches, in new and unused condition
.
: