Li Mu woke up leisurely and opened his eyes. There was a sweaty man next to him fanning him. He glanced lightly and felt that the person in front of him was wearing something strange. The military uniform did not look like a military uniform, and the police uniform did not look like a police uniform.
This man was very clever. When he saw Li Mu waking up, he immediately turned around and said, "Captain, you're awake."
Li Mu nodded: "Pei Ming, thank you for your hard work!"
Liu Peiming was a little flattered, and his attitude became more humble: "It's not hard to serve the leader."
After saying that, he quickly shouted: "Old man Sun, our leader is awake, please make another pot of herbal tea quickly."
Old man Sun agreed hurriedly, and soon brought a pot of herbal tea over. Liu Peiming quickly poured a cup for Li Mu. Li Mu took it and took a sip. The taste was pretty good, a bit like Wong Lo Kat.
While drinking tea, I casually looked around a few times and saw that I was in a tea shed at the foot of a hillside. I was dressed in a nondescript outfit, resembling a military uniform or a police uniform.
There is also a recliner under me, where I just lay down for a lunch break.
At this time, the memory was finally sorted out. His name was still Li Mu, and he looked the same as in the real world. He was born in the year of the Republic of China, he is twenty-five years old this year, and he is now the head of the Nanyang District Security Group.
Li Mu's experience is very rich. When he was a boy, his family was well off. Then something happened and his family fell into decline. He started wandering when he was 16 or 17 years old. During this period, he served as a soldier for half a year and participated in two small conflicts. He felt that being a soldier was too dangerous and he carried a bucket.
Ran away.
Then, I ran to Shanghai. Gangs were prevalent in Shanghai at that time. I felt that joining a gang had a future, so I was thinking of joining the Qinggang. Suddenly, I heard that a foreign company was recruiting people, saying that they would take them to the United States to make a fortune.
Li Mu was only nineteen years old at the time, an age when he was easily deceived and enthusiastic. He signed up immediately without thinking too much.
Unexpectedly, I was deceived into becoming a Chinese laborer. Fortunately, Li Mu took English as a course when he was in school. He had studied English for several years, and he was able to communicate in English even though he was struggling.
Among this group of Chinese workers, he was one of the few who knew some English. He directly became a small leader among the Chinese workers and lived a relatively comfortable life.
However, Li Mu obviously has a restless personality. After spending more than a year here, he has become proficient in English, can write and read, and has gradually become familiar with the social customs and living habits, and he has also saved a little money.
So, he took the bucket and ran away again.
For the next few years, Li Mu wandered around like this, not only in the United States, but also in Europe. Discrimination is ubiquitous these days.
Li Mu had a wandering heart and felt that he had nowhere to go, so he finally decided to return to his country.
However, returning to the country is not simply about buying a boat ticket and going back. If he does this, all his years of living abroad will be in vain.
Over the years, he has sneaked into some universities to attend classes, disguised himself as an international student, and communicated with foreign students in China.
These days, foreign students are absolutely popular in China.
How can I go back to my country naked? I must go back as an overseas student, so that I can find a good future.
In this regard, Li Mu actually didn't put much thought into it. There were so many wealthy young men in China studying abroad. Not to mention getting diplomas, many of them couldn't even speak English well.
What to do? If there is demand, there will naturally be a market.
In recent years, corresponding industrial chains have been formed overseas. If you want an overseas diploma, there is no problem, and it is not a fake diploma. Some of them have very lofty names, but they are just Pheasant University.
So, Li Mu spent all his savings except leaving money for the ferry ticket, and finally got two diplomas.
Moreover, the two diplomas, one in civil and military, and one from a certain university in the United States, are probably similar to Fang Hongjian in the siege.
One was from a military academy in a small European country. Of course it was a military academy in name only, but in reality it was just a military skills training class at most.
However, in order to appear superior, the Chinese name is European Military School.
Of course, I came up with the name myself. Anyway, it is a foreign school name. If you translate it into a Chinese school name, you can translate it however you want as long as no one cares about it.
In this way, more than a year ago, Li Mu bought a boat ticket with his remaining money and hurried back to China.
After getting off the ship in Shanghai, Li Mu was still very ambitious. He thought that with a diploma and the status of an overseas student, he would be able to achieve great success in Shanghai and enjoy the upper class society.
Therefore, he was very high-spirited and took the American diploma directly to apply for jobs at some large foreign banks or large commercial firms.
As a result, I was slapped in the face.
At that time, Shanghai, as the largest city in the Far East, was not an inland area.
With a pheasant diploma like his, if he goes to those big foreign banks or big trading houses, they will just wave him away.
Li Mu thought for a while, then went to Wuhan again, thinking that the inland areas were not as well-informed as those in Shanghai. As a result, he applied for jobs at those big foreign banks and large commercial banks, but it still didn't go well.
Just when he had spent the last money in his pocket and was about to sleep on the street, he was just thinking about finding a job to make ends meet when he suddenly saw a recruitment notice in the newspaper.
In the Nanyang area, due to the serious banditry, the small number of local troops stationed in the area, and the difficulty in clearing the troops, it was decided to form a militia, that is, a local security group.
We are looking for a military chief, that is, the head of the security group of the militia.
Recruitment requirements are also quite high, requiring either practical experience in the military at battalion level or above, or graduation from the Central Military Academy or an overseas military academy.
With an anxious attitude, Li Mu took out his diploma from the European Military School and went over to give it a try. Unexpectedly, the other party agreed immediately.
Li Mu was overjoyed. Wuhan was not far from Nanyang, along the Yangtze River, along the Han River, through Xiangyang, and along the Tangbai River that ran through Nanyang.
Traveling all the way by water, we arrived in two days.
Unexpectedly, when they arrived at the place, Li Mu was dumbfounded. They said it was a security group, and they improvised more than 300 militiamen from a few places with less than 200 guns.
Is this the security team?
It’s true that during the Republic of China, some local people dared to call themselves security groups. In fact, they were part-police and part-military organizations, part of the local armed forces, and the central government had no jurisdiction over them.
In comparison, with more than 300 men and 200 guns, he is already quite strong among the domestic security groups.
Li Mu finally understood why the other party immediately made a decision when he applied for the job. With these conditions, whoever had the best conditions would apply.
I heard that two people came before him, but they left on the same day.
Li Mu also wanted to throw away his hands and leave directly. However, that was impossible. After all, he was the head of the security group. After all, there were more than 300 people and 200 guns. He had only a pheasant diploma. How could he leave here?
Where can I find such a good job?
As a result, Li Mu took the position of head of the security group.
After all, he had traveled to various overseas countries and was well-informed. He also served as a soldier for half a year before going abroad. Li Mu also bought some military materials from the bookstore.
Just like that, after stumbling and stumbling, he set up a security team, which was actually pretty good, of course, compared to the bandits.
After two months of military training, Li Mu started to suppress the bandits with Xinye County as his base. There were more than a dozen exchanges of fire, and the results were not bad. At his strong request, the security group was expanded, and the total number reached more than 500 people.
More than a hundred guns.
Originally, it was pretty good as it has always been, but who knew the situation had changed a few months ago.
In fact, there are some garrison troops in the Nanyang area, but naturally they are not Bald's direct descendants, they are all miscellaneous troops, and their numbers are not large.
Naturally, there isn't much money paid out there.
In normal times, the military salary sources for supporting these troops include some allocations from the government, donations from merchants, and local allocations.
With the establishment of a security corps, there will naturally be fewer sources of salary in this area.
We can't blame the merchants and localities. Banditry was a serious problem in several nearby counties. Before the establishment of the security corps, these garrison troops did their job half-heartedly and had no intention of suppressing bandits.
When merchants use money, they go to the mountains for a walk.
With the security team, no merchants will go to them anymore.
Seeing that the income has dropped sharply and cannot even support the army, the opponent is also anxious. Even if they want to fight, the security team is not weak after being trained by Li Mu. It means that it will hurt the enemy by one thousand and damage itself by eight hundred.
As a result, the other party also became active, competed with the security group, and actively went into the mountains to suppress bandits.
Although not many bandits have been suppressed, in recent months, due to the active competition between the two families, the banditry in several nearby counties has been greatly reduced, and not many bandits dare to go down the mountain to rob.
The effect of suppressing bandits was so good that these garrison troops naturally began to call in local areas and merchants. After all, they were regular troops with guns, so they couldn't do it even if they didn't care.
However, with such a large security group, the merchants would not be able to bear the garrison here.
Helpless, they couldn't control the military side, and the bandit troubles in the places they saw were lessened. Three months ago, they started discussing with Li Mu whether they could downsize the security team.
Reduce the security team from the current 500 people and 300 guns to 150 people and 100 guns. With donations from merchants, the extra 200 guns will be sold, and the security team will return
can continue to be maintained.
Li Mu was naturally reluctant. In such troubled times, there was no way to downsize the army, but he was told clearly that they could only support one or two hundred people at most. If Li Mu didn't want to downsize, he would have to raise it himself.
Li Mu thought about it for a long time, but finally refused to agree to the drawdown. He did find a way to make money to support the army.
In Xinye County where the security team is stationed, there is a river called Baihe, which was called Feishui in ancient times. It is the mother river of Nanyang. It originates from Gongli Mountain in Baihe Town, Henan Province, and flows through Song County, Nanzhao County, Fangcheng County, Wancheng County, and Xinye County.
It enters Xiangyang County, Hubei Province at Zhai Bay. After it meets the Tang River at the mouth of the two rivers, it is named Tangbai River. It flows south to Zhangjiawan and flows into the Han River.
Historically, the Baihe River in Nanyang was full of boats and cars, the water pier was crowded with people, and the sails were prosperous.
It can go directly to Hubei, along the Han River into the Yangtze River, and directly to Wuhan and Nanjing. The water transportation conditions are very convenient.
With such a river leading to the sea and such a golden waterway, commerce along the river is naturally prosperous, such as Wadian Port.
Wadian is close to the Baihe River, and is known as Little Chang'an in the Han Dynasty. Linshuiyi was established in the Yuan Dynasty. In ancient times, water and land transportation was developed and commerce was prosperous. During the Republic of China, hundreds of ships often moored at Wadian Pier, traveling between Nanyang, Xiangyang and Laohekou.
Xindian Port is located in Xindianpu, Xinye County. Because it is located downstream of the Baihe River, the water level is good and the dock is stable. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, wealthy businessmen from Hankou, Xiangfan and other places often came here to make purchases, which promoted the port's development.
It was prosperous, and hundreds, sometimes even as many as a thousand, ships were often moored in the harbor.
There are many businesses around and business development makes it a good place to make money.
And, as it happens, Xindian Port is located in Xinye County, just over ten miles away from the security corps station.
The white river is the new source of wealth that Li Mu wants.
The security team has been suppressing bandits everywhere during this period, protecting the country and the people, and maintaining the safety of the river and merchants. Is it appropriate to charge some money?
So, Li Mu arranged for three battalions to be stationed by the Baihe River, and built a few boats. He recruited dozens of people with good water skills into the army through half threats and half temptations.
A simple gun tower was built on the bank of the river. Naturally, there was no artillery security group, but there were quite a few native cannons, and two were installed on each side.
Not to mention its power and accuracy, I don't even know whether it can fire cannonballs. I haven't tried it anyway.
However, as long as it is set up there, it will be a deterrent, and no one will risk their lives by not paying a small toll.
Of course, in order not to attract attention from above and to avoid resistance from merchants, the toll charges were extremely low.
In order to save trouble and effort, naturally it doesn't depend on what kind of goods they transport. The basis for charging is based on the size of the ship.
One yuan for a big boat, a few cents or a dime for a small boat.
At the end of a day, hundreds of ships cross the border, and they can collect 180 yuan. At the end of a month, there are only 3,000 yuan per day.
The security corps is also paid, only three oceans a month, which doesn’t seem like much. However, for the bald direct line troops, a big-headed soldier’s salary is only ten oceans a month. Moreover, after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, they were given national calamity pay, seven to seven
If you fold it, you will only get seven yuan.
Although the security regiment was issued a little less, it could reach nearly half of the troops directly affiliated to Chiang Kai-shek, but it was actually pretty good. Many miscellaneous troops couldn't even get this after being exploited and exploited from above and below.
After recruiting dozens of brothers with good water skills, the size of the security group reached 600 people. In addition, officers must have higher salaries than top soldiers, and the monthly salary expenditure is almost 2,000 yuan.
The remaining one thousand oceans, plus donations from merchants, are enough to maintain the normal operation of the security team.
However, life is still tight today. The brothers only have three oceans of salary to support their families, and they can only maintain simple food and clothing.
Li Mu wanted to expand the size of the security group and increase the salaries and benefits of his brothers, but it was simply impossible.
When he was worrying about money, he suddenly found that there seemed to be an opportunity in front of him, although it was a bit risky.
I have been collecting tolls on the river for several months. Since I collect very little, I don’t harass the passing merchants. When I hear there are bandits somewhere, I will go over and patrol. Everyone is quite cooperative.
There are also some cross-river dragons who don't pay any attention to the security team, let alone tolls.
Among them, several trading ships from Shanghai were the most unruly. Not only did they have dozens of gunmen on board, they even had machine guns installed.
Anyone who collected tolls from the security team dared to approach, and was immediately greeted by a hail of bullets. The security team looked embarrassed as they fell into the water out of fear, and then there was a burst of mocking laughter on the boat.
This trading company passed by here once a month, and Li Mu quickly found out their details. It turned out that they were transporting tobacco.
During the Republic of China, what was most prevalent was opium, or opium, which was also one of the most profitable industries.
No wonder the firepower is so good, it turns out that he is in this business, and Li Mu doesn't feel guilty for messing with people who sell this kind of stuff.