Devil's Army

At the end of June, the completed houses were delivered for use one after another. Residents of the former Tieling County went to the county government with their ID cards to claim the corresponding houses.

Those who cannot provide relevant documents must provide two people to prove their identity, preferably neighbors. Then they must go to the county government to check the information and confirm it. The procedures are quite complicated.

The people who received the new houses looked at their homes which were neater, more beautiful and more spacious than before, and they were filled with nothing but gratitude and thanks.

The junction of the two roads was originally a place where small vendors sold their wares, but when it rained, sewage flowed everywhere, and rotten vegetable leaves, rotten fruits, cardboard and other garbage were thrown everywhere.

Leng Feng cleaned it up once and re-dug and arranged the drainage channels. Now there is no sewage flowing everywhere. But garbage is still thrown everywhere every day.

This time, the place was full of potholes and pits from the bombs of the Japanese. The houses on both sides were almost all blown down. Leng Feng simply built a park square there according to his own idea.

He cleared the middle of the two roads and leveled them. He sent people to dig up some magnolias from the mountains and planted them along both sides of the path. Under each magnolia tree, he built a double wooden chair. In the middle, he laid a gravel path for one person to walk on, and in between the two paths, he laid grass.

Two gravel paths curve forward and form a circle in front. A circle of magnolia trees are planted around the circle, and a circle of double wooden chairs are built under the magnolia trees.

In front of the magnolia circle is a square covered with small gravel, and in front of the square is a wooden platform. Leng Feng is going to hold a public auction of Tieling County shops here.

Some well-informed businessmen privately approached the old county magistrate to see if they could privately reserve one or two shops or learn the reserve price and other details of the auction.

In order to boost the economy of Tieling County and attract investment, the old county chief offered a cup of tea to all the merchants who came to visit him, but he refused all the gifts they sent.

Most people knew the old county chief's stubborn temper, so they all backed off. However, some merchants forcibly left their gifts and left, so the old county chief sent people to chase them and return the gifts.

On July 8, the Tieling County Shop Public Auction jointly organized by the First Anti-Japanese Army and the county government was held as scheduled at the Tieling County Square. Leng Feng and the Fifth Brigade Commander Li Junnan (Mei Lang) attended the auction on behalf of the military.

At the meeting, Leng Feng described the development blueprint of Tieling County to everyone and assured everyone that the First Anti-Japanese Army would do its utmost to defend Tieling County.

Before the auction started, all the merchants participating in the auction sat in front of the square. A gravel path separated them, and the common people who came to watch the excitement sat or stood on the other side of the path. The county government was responsible for maintaining order at the scene.

Because of the fear that the Japanese would cause sabotage, the Third Regiment also sent a company to help maintain order.

The first to perform was the Anti-Japanese Drama Troupe of the First Army. Tian Xiuli sang a cappella the song "On the Songhua River" taught by the Gray Wolf. The sad and melancholy tune aroused the homesickness of the onlookers and drew a round of sighs.

Then the Anti-Japanese Drama Troupe performed dramas such as Tian Xiaoer Herding Cattle and Eliminating the Japanese Invaders.

Residents of Tieling County, which rarely has entertainment programs, gathered around the square to watch the performance. There were cheers and applause from time to time.

Finally, the shop auction officially began. The staff raised the bids for the corresponding shops. Due to the war, the bids for the shops were not high.

However, since the First Army successfully defended Tieling County twice, and the merchants' shops were bombed by the Japanese, the First Army replaced them with a shop for free at the corresponding location. Therefore, there are still merchants who subscribe to the shops, but they are not enthusiastic enough.

The shops were subscribed by merchants one after another, who went to the back office to pay deposits to county government staff and go through relevant procedures.

Finally, less than half of the shops still had no merchants subscribing.

The ten shops on both sides of the park square have good locations, large flow of people, and a park in front of them, so merchants are very enthusiastic about buying.

Leng Feng and the old county magistrate originally planned to rent these ten shops but not sell them. Later they decided to wait and see the sales performance of those shops before making a decision.

Now seeing that all the shops have not been sold out, it has been decided that the ten shops on both sides of the park will only be rented and not sold, and priority will be given to those who cooperate with the First Army. The First Army must hold more than 20% of the shares.

To Leng Feng's surprise, merchants were much more enthusiastic about leasing than purchasing.

It turns out that businessmen believe that in times of chaos, if they cooperate with the army to do business, their profits will be guaranteed.

The rents of shops sold at auction have been rising again and again, and some have even more than doubled.

The old county magistrate saw that a businessman who had bought the fourth shop on the right side of the park looked unfamiliar, so he asked casually:

"This gentleman looks unfamiliar. May I ask where he does business?"

"I run Jishiditang in Fengtian. I heard from my relatives that there was a shop selling products here, so I came here to join in the fun." The businessman responded.

"Is it Mr. Wu Zefu's Jishiditang?"

"That's my father."

The old county magistrate had heard of Jishitang's reputation. He had a good reputation, and when some of the common people who came to see him didn't have enough money, he would pay for their treatment out of his own pocket.

After hearing what the old county magistrate said, Leng Feng discussed and decided with him on the spot: give both shops to Jishidiang and only charge him rent for one shop.

The merchants at the scene were shocked when they heard this. Everyone was vying to rent shops, but Jishidiang got two shops at once, and only had to pay the rent of one shop.

Leng Feng stood up and said loudly to all the businessmen that since what Jishidiang was doing was related to the people's livelihood in Tieling County, the government should strongly support it.

If a county has a pharmacy or hospital, it will be much more convenient for people to see a doctor. Businessmen are well aware of this, and gradually everyone has no objections.

The ten shops were quickly rented out.