Black Flag Army

On the morning of August 20, 1912, after Di Xiong ordered the execution of the internal demon Qu Sheng, he went to Weili Hotel accompanied by guards Zhang Kuwa and Di Chun. In the chaotic Beijing, casinos, brothels, and restaurants were the most likely places for conflicts. So although the headquarters of Weili Company moved to Nankou Town, Di Xiong still went to the restaurant twice a week. The current manager and chef of Weili Hotel is Du Yongzhong, the former Du Magan, and the deputy manager and accountant is Tuo Qingyun recommended by Wu Zhong. Tuo Qingyun is the Taoist priest in his twenties that Leng Hanbing met when he followed Wu Zhong. He was Wu Zhong's nephew and had to return to secular life in order not to starve to death. The two fourteen-year-old Taoist priests also became waiters in the restaurant. As for their master, Taoist Qingmo, he has passed away due to illness.

Di Chun is eighteen years old this year. He is the eldest son of the old housekeeper Di Fu. He learned martial arts from Bajiquan master Li Shuwen in Cangzhou, Hebei. After coming to Nankou Town with his mother, he was noticed by Di Xiong because of his fierce boxing skills and was recruited as a guard.

The iron factory leak caused great losses to Weili Company. The day after Guo Zhiming left Nankou with the military machinery, a dozens of people from the Beijing Police Headquarters came to investigate. Dong Huailiang, who was promoted from the director of the personnel department to the deputy director, was the team leader. Only some machines for producing farm tools were left in the iron factory, and of course nothing was found. Lan Jinping had brought Di Xiong to visit Dong Huailiang before and gave him gifts, but when Dong Huailiang came this time, he seemed not to know him and acted like a businessperson. Those policemen took bribes during the investigation, causing Weili Company to lose a lot of money. It was not until the British Sean lodged a serious protest to the Beiyang government that the investigation team left. After Leng Hanbing paid tribute to his family, he devoted himself to investigating the iron factory leak. He first questioned Bian Zhimei. Bian Zhimei truthfully confessed her experience with the Japanese. She was imprisoned in Ichiro Yokota's house and tortured. She was caught again after escaping. Later, Xian Yujie secretly handed her a knife while she was using the toilet, and notified her family to move from Yanshan Town to Nankou Town. Only then did she cut the ropes and escape for the second time at night.

As for Ma Tiehan, Guan Xue did send Meixiang to persuade him to go back with silver dollars and beauty tricks, but he refused, as testified by members of the security team.

A large bag of Japanese yen and letters written to him by Yokota Ichiro were found in Qu Shengze's home. The evidence was irrefutable. When he was arrested, he threatened Bian Zhimei in her dormitory and asked her to help the Japanese. After Bian Zhimei refused, he wanted to rape her. After being caught by the security team, he was beaten half to death on the ground and then dragged to the dungeon to be interrogated by the staff of the Supervision Department. After the interrogation, Di Xiong ordered him to be buried alive. The letters of complaint received by the Changping County Police Department and the Beijing Municipal Police Headquarters should all have been sent by Yokota Ichiro's men.

Di Xiong was alone in the hotel office reading newspapers. At that time, most newspapers were founded by foreign investors and reported mostly on the "great achievements" of foreigners in China. The few Chinese newspapers mainly reported on the parliamentary elections of the Beiyang government. Di Xiong found it somewhat boring because he knew that the ultimate winner of this parliamentary election was Yuan Shikai. The White Star Party, with Song Changde as its chairman, had defeated Yuan Shikai's Republican Party in the initial elections, but after Song Changde was assassinated, the White Star Party fell apart, and many White Star Party members who were elected as members of parliament defected to Yuan Shikai.

By chance, Di Xiong's eyes were fixed on an inconspicuous piece of news in the Beijing News: "Returned overseas Chinese Feng Ru will hold an airplane show in Guangzhou on August 25th." Di Xiong had some impression of Feng Ru. Many people knew that the airplane, a means of transportation, was invented by the Wright brothers in the United States. However, the Wright brothers' airplane had many defects at the time, and the test flight lasted only more than a minute. At that time, the Chinese Feng Ru was also trying to invent an airplane in the United States. Although his airplane was invented later than the Wright brothers, his test flight time was better than theirs. Unfortunately, Feng Ru's American airplane factory was later destroyed by a suspicious fire, and his flying career suffered a severe setback. Soon he responded to Mr. Sun's call and resolutely returned to China to serve the airplane industry, but he was already penniless and had to rely on this kind of airplane show to make money to maintain the operation of the airplane factory. At this time, Di Xiong thought that if he remembered the time correctly, Feng Ru should have crashed in this flight show, and the plane was destroyed and the people died. The death of such a talent is a great loss to China's aviation industry. More importantly, in the future war to recover the lost territory in the north, if there is a strong air force, the chances of winning will be much greater. Thinking of this, Di Xiong quickly sent Di Chun to find Wu Chunfeng.

At this time, Wu Chunfeng was having dinner with guests in the restaurant downstairs and collecting intelligence at the same time. After he entered the office, Di Xiong immediately asked him to take several other men to inform Tian Mengxue and Liu Zhendong. To save Feng Ru, they had to go to Guangzhou. The journey was long, and the important members of the party were busy with affairs and had no time to go, so they could only find these two. After Wu Chunfeng found Liu Zhendong, he said to him: "Brother Di asked you and Tian Mengxue to go to Guangzhou to carry out an important mission. You must bring weapons and four brothers from Jingwumen with you." While giving the instructions, Wu Chunfeng's assistant Yao Tiechui went to the flower shop and told Tian Mengxue that the boss asked her to prepare to go to Guangzhou in the afternoon and hand over the intelligence work and the flower shop to others.

While Wu Chunfeng was spreading the word, Di Xiong was not idle either, and immediately began to make preparations for going to Guangzhou. He first sent Zhang Kuwa to the British Jardine Matheson, where he bought six boat tickets from Tianjin to Guangzhou. There were only a few days before Feng Ru's plane show, and taking a boat was the fastest way to get to Guangzhou at that time. Then, Di Xiong sent Di Chunpai to Fengtai Station to buy six train tickets to Tianjin Wharf, which was considered to save time for the land route. In the world at that time, whether it was trains or passenger ships, they were almost all controlled by foreigners, and the huge profits from transportation were fat meat in their eyes. After finishing his work, Di Xiong suddenly remembered something and returned to the office to write a long letter.

That afternoon, Liu Zhendong and Tian Mengxue had prepared their weapons and luggage, and arrived at the train station that Di Xiong had told them to go to. Liu Zhendong also came with four of his former Jingwu brothers, all of whom were martial arts experts. At this time, Di Xiong had been waiting for them in a remote part of the train station for a long time. He said to everyone, "Everyone, I got the news that a young overseas Chinese named Feng Ru will soon perform an airplane show in Guangzhou. He is a talent in our Republic of China's aircraft industry. If he can make great progress in aircraft, the Republic of China may have its own air force, and the things flying in the sky will not only be foreigners' things."

During this period, the aircraft industry in the West was not particularly developed. Motorboats and hot air balloons were more popular. When foreigners were advertising in Beijing, they would occasionally use these means of transportation. Then Di Xiong said, "But Feng Ru's plane is quite old and has many problems, as seen in the newspapers. He is extremely poor and has no money to repair it. This flight show is likely to have problems. Therefore, you must stop this show, even if you have to beat him up and send him to the hospital."

Hearing this, Liu Zhendong's cousin Liu Zhennan laughed and said, "Boss Di, are we saving him or harming him?"

Di Xiong said: "It's better to let him get hurt than to lose his life. If possible, I hope he can join our Justice Party."

Liu Zhendong said: "From what Mr. Di said, this person can build something that can fly in the sky. That's really amazing. I will find a way to get him to join our Justice Party."

Then, Di Xiong took out a letter and a check and gave them to Tian Mengxue, saying, "There is another important person in Guangzhou who wants to visit. His name is Liu Yongfu. He is over 70 years old. He was once an important official of the Qing Dynasty in the south. But he was actually a member of the Tiandihui earlier and was also a member of the anti-Qing movement. Later, he accepted the Qing court's amnesty because he was forced to do so. What's more important is that he and his Black Flag Army had fought against the French and Japanese pirates in Vietnam and Taiwan. In the Vietnam Campaign, he killed two French commanders and thousands of French troops. In the Taiwan Campaign, he was isolated and helpless. In the absence of assistance, he and the local rebels wiped out tens of thousands of Japanese pirates and killed their commander, Lieutenant General Kitashirakawa Norihisa. He is an outstanding national hero. In order to support the Taiwanese rebels in the anti-Japanese war and take care of the families of the fallen martyrs, he has sold all his property and is heavily in debt. You have to help me pass this letter to Liu Yongfu and give him 50,000 oceans so that he can spend his old age in peace. This is a reward owed by the Chinese government for his military exploits. Neither the Qing government nor the Beiyang government paid this money, so I, a patriotic businessman, had to pay it. "

Tian Mengxue was surprised and said, "Brother Xiong is too generous. This is 50,000 yuan, and he just gave it to an old man. My flower shop only makes a dozen yuan a month."

Di Xiong said sternly: "If you can lead your army to kill several thousand French soldiers on the battlefield and eliminate more than 30,000 Japanese pirates, I will also give you 50,000 yuan."

Tian Mengxue quickly shook her head and said, "I don't have that ability." Everyone laughed.

After Tian Mengxue received the letter, check and 1,000 silver dollars, Di Xiong discussed with Liu Zhendong how to stop Feng Ru's airplane show and how to get Feng Ru to join them. After deciding on the plan, Liu Zhendong, Tian Mengxue and four members of the security team boarded the train to Tianjin Wharf. Di Xiong required that Tian Mengxue be the leader of the six-member team and everyone should obey her orders.

Soon, the group arrived at the dock the next day. Tian Mengxue followed Di Xiong's instructions and found a passenger ship that Di Xiong had booked in advance near the dock. On the turbulent sea, there was a hissing, whistling, and bizarre behemoth standing by the dock. The several large chimneys on the ship were particularly conspicuous, and the stairs on the ship had been lowered, and many passengers were already rushing to board the ship. During this period, the Second Industrial Revolution had long ended, and internal combustion engines had been widely used by Western countries in automobiles, ships and other means of transportation. Sailing ships had long been eliminated by these countries. Foreign ships sailing on the sea now basically rely on this engine to drive large ships powered by coal. In the Republic of China at that time, because President Yuan still recognized a series of defeat treaties signed by the Qing Dynasty, docks and ships in various places were still controlled by foreigners.

After finding the ship, Liu Zhendong and Tian Mengxue handed their tickets to the reception staff at the side of the ship, and boarded the ship one after another. They saw the captain and the first mate chatting in a language they could not understand, and the sailors were making preparations before departure. Liu Zhendong noticed that the captain and several main deputies were foreigners, while there were many hired Chinese among the sailors. They were constantly commanded by foreigners and were busy. They were sweating profusely before the ship set off, while the foreign sailors were very leisurely, chatting in groups of three or five, and some even smoked cigars. Seeing this, Liu Zhendong also silently lamented the shame of the Republic of China in his heart. Soon, the captain looked at his watch and announced to his men that they were leaving. The sailors put away the ladder and the giant anchor, and the tourists went to their guest rooms one after another. The passenger ship began to sail to the sea in a mighty manner.

After Di Xiong saw Tian Mengxue and her group off, he just returned to the hotel and went to his office when someone knocked on the door. After Di Xiong said "Come in", Sean walked into his office.

Sean is tall, with blond hair and blue eyes, in his twenties, a typical European white appearance. He smiled and said, "Chairman! You should give me a raise. Ten dollars a month is really not enough! Last time, Martin, Baker, and I went to Caiyunlou in Bada Hutong. When we paid the bill, we were almost beaten up because we didn't have enough money. A cup of tea in Caiyunlou costs twenty dollars. In the end, Martin paid the full amount, and the thugs let us go."

Sean has been in China for many years and speaks fluent Mandarin.

Di Xiong said earnestly, "Sean! Don't be too greedy. Ten dollars a month is not a small amount. The female workers in the textile factory work hard for a month, and the average salary is only more than 400 copper coins, which is equivalent to a little more than 2 dollars. The security guards, who have to fight for their lives when encountering gangsters and bandits, only make five dollars a month, and there are many candidates competing for a vacant position. You are just a errand boy. You are acting as the general manager. The real general manager, Mr. Wu, only makes 20 dollars a month. Is the Eight Great Hutongs a place you can go? It is a den of money for the rich and powerful in Beijing. Caiyunlou is a place for the top rich people. In the Beiyang government, only officials at the ministerial level dare to go there. I have never been there. Zhao Caiyun, the owner and top prostitute of Caiyunlou, whose stage name is Sai Jinhua, is the most famous prostitute in the late Qing Dynasty. Many rich people spend a lot of money on her. Is that someone you can touch?"

Sean said, "The chairman is right! But in this case, I will owe Martin a lot of money, a full hundred dollars. When can I pay it back? Last time the Beijing Police Department came to inspect, I protested, but it saved the company a lot of money! You should give me a bonus, right?"

Di Xiong said, "How about this, I'll write a note to Wu Chunfeng. The money you spent on prostitution will be considered as public relations expenses and will be reimbursed by the Intelligence Department. But this won't happen again!"

Sean nodded and bowed quickly, "Thank you, Chairman! If the Chairman also opened a brothel, we wouldn't have to waste money going to Caiyun Building. This brothel makes much more money than the textile factory."

Di Xiong said, "I know that brothels are extremely profitable, but they are also the places where trouble is most likely to occur. Rich young men and local hooligans often go to brothels to get jealous and fight. If they offend important people by accident, they will be closed down. You must have a strong force to protect you, and I am still very weak now."