Chapter 8 Yellow Crane Tower

A bouquet of flowers is a expensive luxury in the cold winter. Jianbing looked through the bouquet, but couldn't find the card. Although she was smart, she couldn't guess the flowers given by her admirer. But women liked flowers in the end. She took out the scissors and decorated the branch, lit the hookah, blew out the fire broker, and said lightly: "Even if she fell into a bacon and let the coolie sleep, what's the relationship with Mr. Ding?"

Mr. Ding was so angry that he jumped: "I think you can last until you can. Who doesn't know that your business is in a bad state and has not earned a fortune for a week."

Jian Bing's movements froze, and these words touched his pain. It was really hard to move without money on Shanghai.

Mr. Ding's business has become softer: "Jianbing, I have you in my heart. Be my woman, and you have enough money."

Suddenly someone outside said, "There are only money in Shanghai?"

Everyone turned their heads together and saw a young man in a suit standing at the door, wearing a top hat, a British tweed coat on his shoulder, a cigarette in his mouth, and two sluts wearing baseball caps and short shirts standing behind him, wiping matches to help him light a cigarette.

Jian Bing was slightly surprised. Isn't this Chen Zikun's little brother Li Yaoting? Last time he chopped off his finger at home and scared away the people from the Axe Gang. Since then, Agui and the others have never visited again, and they have not had time to thank him.

A smoke spurted out from Li Yaoting's nostrils. He walked over and looked at Mr. Ding, but he didn't look at him. He took out a bouquet of flowers from behind his back as he made a trick: "Miss Jianbing, I'll give it to you."

Jian Bing was a little surprised. The flowers were actually given by Li Yaoting. He heard that he was just a waiter in the Danzi Room, with a bouquet of flowers every day, but it was quite expensive. She just hesitated for a moment, then took the flowers and said generously: "Thank you, Mr. Li, for supporting you."

Mr. Ding looked at Li Yaoting up and down, unable to figure out his way, so he took out a business card and handed it over: "Didn't ask for advice?"

Li Yaoting took the business card and said politely: "It turns out to be Mr. Ding. Fortunately, my name is Li Yaoting. I am a rough man who makes a living on the Huangpu River. Today I specially brought my brothers to hold Miss Jianbing's venue, haha." As he spoke, he accidentally lifted up the hem of the suit, revealing the handle of the revolver.

Mr. Ding took a deep breath and then became tough again: "Mr. Li turned out to be a member of the gang. By the way, my father and Inspector Shi Yunsi of the British Concession Police Station are close friends. Next time I will introduce you to you, let's have tea together."

Li Yaoting smiled faintly: "The case of two Western arresters in the police station being killed has not been solved yet. Inspector Shi Yunsi has no intention of drinking tea."

Mr. Ding was bored, but Li Yaoting caught a glimpse of the HSBC promissory note worth ten thousand yuan on the table, and immediately took out a bank ticket from his suit pocket and slapped it on the table.

"Five hundred liang of Chongyu Money Bank's banknotes, cut it." Mr. Ding snorted sarcastically. Shanghai's financial industry is developed, and the most strongest ones are foreign banks and Ningbo people's banknotes. Bank promissory notes are just as hard currency as those of money banks, but five hundred dollars is too little.

"Miss Jianbing, please think about it again. I promise to love you only and never take another concubine." Mr. Ding said confidently, completely treating Li Yaoting as nothing.

With a "bang", Li Yaoting slapped the table and changed his expression: "Jian Bing is my eldest brother's woman. If anyone dares to rob it, I will be polite to him."

Mr. Ding was timid and didn't want to continue to get entangled with the people in the gang. He found a way out and said, "I have something to do, so I won't accompany you anymore. See you again."

Jian Bing smiled and said, "Young Master Ding is leaving now. Come and support me if you have time."

After seeing off Mr. Ding, Jian Bing asked the servants to prepare wine and food, but Li Yaoting left a card and said, "Miss Jian Bing, if you have something to do, you can call me. Goodbye."

"This bank ticket?" Jian Bing hesitated.

Li Yaoting said: "This little money is left to Miss Jianbing for rewards to the servants."

"Mr. Li..."

"See you back." Li Yaoting hurried away with his subordinates. Jian Bing leaned at the door, glittering his long eyelashes and looking at his back, feeling a little confused.

...

In Hengyang, Hunan, the army is finally about to withdraw its defense and head north.

The local gentry organized the people to bid farewell to the Third Division to go north. The elders and villagers presented the umbrella of the people to Marshal Wu, who loved the people as much as his son, and both sides parted in tears.

The team was stormy and heading northward. Chen Zikun and Wang Degui sat on the cart of the direct logistics camp of the division headquarters, looking bored at the rice fields on the roadside.

At this time, Chen Zikun had been in the army for more than half a year, but he was still the lowest-level second-class private. He asked Wang Degui when he would become an officer and carry the shoulder stamps. Wang Degui calculated it for him with his fingers.

"You are a second-class private now, and you will be a first-class private, a senior-class private, a corporal, a sergeant, a sergeant, and a sergeant. Only after you pass the sergeant can you be considered an officer, a warrant officer, a second-level lieutenant, and a lieutenant. Let's climb up slowly."

Chen Zikun asked: "Lao Wang, what is your military rank?"

Wang Degui said: "I have been a soldier for twenty years and am now a sergeant."

Chen Zikun was dumbfounded: "Mom, what life do you have to wait to become an officer?"

Wang Degui said: "You don't understand this. How can you be promoted without fighting? It's a good old saying, "You can't receive any reward without merit. No matter how good your physique or how accurate your gun is, your superiors can't promote you. Why can't you convince the public?"

Chen Zikun felt this. The army was a large group that obeyed orders and followed the rules. If he did not fight, it would be difficult to have the opportunity to show his strengths.

The ches and horses were slapped. On the vast land of Hunan and Hunan, there were soldiers wearing gray uniforms. The kitchen squad of the division headquarters where Chen Zikun was located followed the central army first. After several days of marching, when the army arrived near Changsha, the division headquarters suddenly sent troops to issue a first-level combat readiness order.

Changsha is the territory of the governor of Hunan Zhang Jingyao, which was the mortal enemy of the Third Division. The troops immediately covered the police force. The guard bayonet was unsheathed and the bullets were loaded. Chen Zikun also filled his rifle with bullets, looking eager to try.

But Wang Degui covered his face with a hat and lazily lay in the car and said, "Don't worry, I can't fight."

Chen Zikun wondered, "Why can't you fight?"

Wang Degui said: "Is the little soldiers under Zhang Jingyao enough to get the teeth of our Third Division? He doesn't dare to take action first when he beat him to death. I guess they are afraid that we will take Changsha and make a move to give him courage."

Chen Zikun said: "The 70,000 guns from the Seventh Division will not be so unpredictable."

Wang Degui said: "You are young and don't know the rules in the team. After the general of the army occupied the territory, the people's wealth they plundered first in foreign banks in Shanghai, then bought a house in the Tianjin concession, then bought land in the hometown and built a ancestral hall. The remaining little money was used to support soldiers. Do you think such soldiers can go into battle? Can they fight after joining the battle?"

As Wang Degui said, the army passed by Changsha without any danger. It is said that Commander Wu went to visit Governor Zhang, and both sides were polite as if they were a mother.

At the end of May, Wu Peifu's 4th Brigade of the 1st Division arrived in Wuchang.

Wuchang was the first place of the 1911 period. The troops rested at the horse-skiing farm, waiting to cross the river, looking at the river from afar, with vast smoke and waves, hundreds of boats and thousands of sails, and Hankou on the north bank were full of buildings and houses, which were much more prosperous and lively than Wuchang.

This is the territory of Hubei Governor Wang Zhanyuan. Wang Governor Wang is a direct member. He hopes that the Wu army will go north as soon as possible to force Duan Qirui to step down, so he prepared a pontoon bridge and a ferry early to assist the Third Division in crossing the river.

The division headquarters was arranged to cross the river in the first wave. The kitchen squad sat on the ferry to cross the Yangtze River natural danger. Chen Zikun looked at the top of the south bank. There was a tall building with ridges and eaves in the lush greenery. A white light flashed on the building. He quickly shouted: "Lao Wang, look."

"Stop looking, it's the Yellow Crane Tower. The division commander must be watching us from above." Wang Degui was not surprised, and did not raise his head, and slept soundly in the bumps of the ferry.

On the Yellow Crane Tower, the generals shine with stars and swords clanging. Wu Peifu, Wang Zhanyuan, and an extremely burly general stood on the railing to guide the country.

Wu Peifu put down the telescope in his hand and asked the burly general with some smugness: "Huanzhang, how is my third division's appearance?"

The general said, "The Third Division is the Iron Army trained by Yushu. I, Feng Yuxiang, admired me, and prostrated myself."
Chapter completed!