I used the Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword) to fight the Japanese.

"As for the name, let's call it the 'Mo Dao Regiment.' We use the Mo Dao as our weapon to fight the Japanese. A single Mo Dao strike leaves no one alive—that's the Mo Dao Regiment! What do you think?" Zhao Mancang thought for a moment and decided the name Mo Dao Regiment was quite fitting. It would be good to spread the word and scare the Japanese while making it easier to hide. Imagine a regiment suddenly appearing in the Japanese camp—wouldn't that scare you?

"The Mo Dao Regiment? Great! Then these dogs will be called the Mo Dao Regiment Hunting Dog Squad! In the future, each of us will lead a hunting dog into battle and we'll scare the Japanese devils so badly they'll run away with their tails between their legs!" Tiger said excitedly.

Soon, during a break in training, everyone gathered around to tease the hunting dogs. When they learned that the team would be called the Mo Dao Regiment, they were all delighted and waved their Mo Dao swords and cheered.

Another half month passed in the blink of an eye. Except for the old carpenter, who was too old, everyone else in the Mo Dao Regiment had completed their training and were all eager to go out and fight the Japanese. Those brothers who came from Wanrendong were originally swordsmen, and after adapting to the training, they quickly completed their missions. They also often trained with their hunting dogs, and the two even came up with many interesting ways to play together!

As the saying goes, "You don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you're in charge." Zhao Mancang is facing another problem! The two large carts of grain he got from Wang Shuanzhu's house last time are almost gone. He originally thought he wouldn't have to worry about food for half a year, but the team has grown by eight people, and Hu Zi has brought in more than forty dogs. The food is quickly being used up. If they can't get any more grain in three to five days, they will run out of food.

Going to the landlord's house to beg for money again is obviously inappropriate. Doing it once or twice is fine, but doing it frequently will easily expose us. If the Japanese were to trap us in this village, our chances of survival would be slim.

"Uncle Cang, good news! The Japanese have withdrawn from those checkpoints!" Li Dadi rushed in and said.

"Oh, so the Japanese aren't arresting people everywhere anymore?" Zhao Mancang asked.

"They probably won't arrest anyone anymore. I heard that the Shaojialing Iron Mine has reopened. During this period, the Japanese have arrested a lot of people from various villages, and the scale is even larger than when we did it!" Li Dadi recounted the information he had gathered.

"Damn it! The Japanese are getting even more aggressive; they'll blow up that iron mine sooner or later!"

"That's right! That place is a den of devils, who knows how many people it'll harm! What do you suggest we do? The brothers are all looking forward to it!"

"Haha, no rush. We can't tackle that tough problem yet. Tell the driver to hitch up the cart and we'll go to the market to buy some grain."

The Japanese will definitely tighten security when they reopen the iron mine. It would be like throwing eggs against a rock with only twenty-odd men. They won't do something so foolish! The most important thing to solve now is the food issue.

"Buy grain? Why waste money like that? Let the brothers put on Japanese soldiers' clothes and go to the landlord!" Li Dadi was puzzled. Why spend money to buy grain when it's free?

"Haha, that's not a long-term solution. If the Japanese devils target our village, we'll be exposed. You don't want to be trapped here without even fighting a single Japanese soldier, do you?"

"Huh?...Alright! I'll send someone right away." Although she still didn't quite understand, she was sure that listening to Master Cang was the right thing to do.

Soon the carriages were harnessed, and Li Dadi, Gou Mao, and two grooms pulled one carriage and one donkey cart towards the market in Qili Township. Zhao Mancang was dressed in a lavish landlord's robe and jacket, while the rest of his clothes were those of ordinary people. Overall, he looked like a wealthy young master of a landlord's family strolling through the market with his servants. Especially striking was the small hat on Zhao Mancang's head, embroidered with clusters of flowers in gold thread, which made him appear extremely rich and powerful!

"Haha, Chunhua's craftsmanship is truly superb. Wearing this outfit, he instantly transforms into a wealthy young master, looking incredibly extravagant!" Gou Mao praised Zhao Mancang as he looked at the carriage.

“That’s right. Chunhua is a famous seamstress in the village. If you’re getting married, you can’t go wrong by having her make your clothes,” Li Dadi added.

“We need a reason to buy so much grain at once. There are plenty of Japanese devils and traitors in the market, so this uniform is just to cover our tracks. When our Mo Dao Regiment grows stronger, we’ll get uniforms too, and we’ll be even more imposing than the Nationalist Army!” Zhao Mancang said with a smile.

"Military uniforms are great! Wearing a military uniform and carrying a big gun, the girls will scramble to lean against you as soon as you step out!" said Wang Dali, the coachman, in the lead.

"Dali is in love!"

……

Soon, a group of people swaggered into the market and stopped in front of the only grain store. The Japanese checkpoints had been removed, and the market was bustling again. Many ordinary people were going in and out of the grain store, carrying sacks of grain and looking distressed. They were muttering to themselves:

"Why has the price gone up again? One and a half yuan a pound of rice, is this some kind of life-or-death situation?!"

"Who says otherwise! Flour costs one yuan a pound, and salt costs nine yuan. Where are we going to get so much money?"

"This legal tender is becoming less and less valuable. Those who have silver dollars should hold on tight. Real gold and silver are the only hard currency."

"That's right! Last year, one hundred yuan could buy two cows, but this year it's not even enough to buy one. I really don't know what happened!"

"It's because of the war!"

……

At that time, the main currency used was the legal tender, and silver dollars were a scarce commodity. Many wealthy business owners used legal tender to buy silver dollars. This caused the legal tender to become increasingly worthless; at its most extreme, one hundred yuan of legal tender could only buy a few steamed buns.

As Zhao Mancang listened to people's discussions, he remembered that he was now buying things with legal tender. Touching the silver dollars in his pocket, he made a decision.

"Hey guys, call your manager out here! My young master has a big deal for you!" Li Dadi said, grabbing one of the shop assistants as soon as the group entered the grain store.

"Uh... wait a moment!" The shop assistant, who had been doing business in the shop for many years, naturally had excellent eyesight. As soon as he saw this well-dressed man with four assistants, he knew that a big customer had arrived, so he scurried in to call the manager.

Soon a middle-aged man dressed in an elegant long gown came out, and upon seeing the crowd, he cupped his hands in greeting to Zhao Mancang and said:

"Greetings, young master! I am Wu Changde, the manager of my shop. May I ask what you would like?"

"You're the manager? See those two carts outside? They're full of rice and flour for my master's 60th birthday!" Li Dadi said, pointing to the large carts at the door.

"Hmm? Very well, please come in, both of you!" Wu Changde was secretly delighted at the sight of this scene. Such a grand gesture was not common in the midst of war and chaos. He raised his hand and ushered the two into the room.

"May I ask your honorable name, young master? You must have quite a few guests at your home, buying so much grain at once!" Wu Changde asked with a smile as he had the waiter serve tea.

"Yes! The old man loves to make friends, so let's have some fun. Is there enough food in the shop?" Zhao Mancang asked slowly, taking a sip of his tea.

"Don't worry, young master, our grain store is the only one in Qili Township, and we have plenty of rice and flour." In these days, ordinary people only got to eat wheat flour during the New Year; they lived on cornmeal most of the time. Even landlords didn't eat wheat flour every day. Buying so much rice and flour at once is quite a generous gesture!