Back to the Republic of China as a commander

Wang Zhenyu thought to himself that you thought I, the guardian envoy, was a student who went to school, and there was still a holiday.But since my wife brought it up, of course it was a good idea to say it casually, but I just forgot it after I followed it. . .

Since ancient times, Sichuan has been a land of abundance, with rich land and a large population.However, at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, the population of this area was almost extinct due to the impact of war.The first time was the most efficient massacre in the world maintained by the Mongols, and the second time was the result of Zhang Xianzhong's highly revolutionary revolution.

Thanks to Zhang Xianzhong, Sichuan has ten rooms and nine empty rooms, in order to ensure the local economic development.The Qing Dynasty, which had been upgraded from a bandit group with the right to injure illegally to a statistical group with the right to injure legally, had to carry out the historically famous filling of Huguang and Sichuan.This also makes it difficult for some northerners in later generations to distinguish the accents of Sichuan, Hunan, and Hubei. Of course, southerners cannot distinguish the accents of Henan and Anhui, Shandong and Shanxi.

The world is in chaos before Shu is in chaos, and the world is already in peace before Shu!

The former is determined by the regional characteristics of Sichuan people, while the latter is caused by the geographical characteristics of Sichuan.

The so-called regional characteristics of Sichuan people, the first point is that they can endure hardships, and the second point is that they are bloody.

To put it simply, honest people are basically the ones who can endure hardships, and it is the most terrible thing for honest people to get angry.

Only a little more than a year ago, those dignitaries in the Qing Dynasty who felt superior to others finally fooled and crazily provoked the people of Sichuan.As a result, the resulting road protection movement eventually evolved into the [-] Revolution that destroyed the Qing Dynasty.

The honesty of Sichuan people makes people despise, but the bloody behavior of Sichuan people at the end of oppression makes people frightened.Humble, timid, cowardly; brave, fearless, majestic; such contradictory characters are intertwined in the bones of Sichuan people, thus affecting the direction of Chinese history time and time again.

After Huguang filled Sichuan, the Sichuan people in turn exported two things to Huguang.One is a magic soldier, this Wang Zhenyu has already dealt with in Jingzhou, and he almost suffered a big loss, this magic soldier himself is an armed force formed by religious believers to protect themselves and resist bandits.The result is the same as all armed forces in history. When it develops to an extreme, it changes qualitatively, from self-protection to bullying and harming one side.The second is the Gelaohui. When people talk about the gangs in the Republic of China, they always say that there are Hongmen in the south and Qinggang in the north. It seems that these two gangs are the only ones in China.In fact, in Sichuan, Hunan, Shaanxi, and Hubei, the Gelaohui is the one that counts, and the Gelaohui is one of Sichuan's specialties.

The Gelaohui, originated in Sichuan and Chongqing, is a secret association organization active in the Yangtze River Basin in modern China, with great momentum and influence.Among them, the Gelaohui in Sichuan and Chongqing are called Paoge.

Although the revolutionaries repeatedly emphasized that the Gelaohui originated from Hongmen in their propaganda for the needs of the revolution, in fact, the true origin of the Gelaohui should be the Sichuan dialect, which means robber in Sichuan dialect.

It itself is a triad organization composed of refugees. The earliest official record is that it appeared at the end of Yongzheng and the beginning of Qianlong. It is estimated that it has little to do with Hongmen.This organization has neither the great ideal of anti-Qing and restoring the Ming Dynasty, nor the ambition to unify the Jianghu.Their greatest pleasure is to occupy a pier and hang around for a lifetime.

After a hundred years of development, relying on the Yangtze River shipping, Gelaohui has gone out of Sichuan.Those who stayed in Sichuan called themselves Hanliu, while those who left the Yangtze River came into contact with the Qing Gang. After friction and confrontation, they called themselves the Red Gang to distinguish them.

In this way, the Gelaohui, together with the Green Gang and the Hongmen, became one of the three major gangs in modern Chinese history.

As for the famous people who were born in Gelaohuipao, I won't list them here one by one. It's not uncommon for the warlords to have been there.

But right now Wang Zhenyu is very worried about this organization, because on his own territory, the Gelaohui not only exists, but is also very prosperous.

In the battle of Jingzhou, Wang Zhenyu had a good time. The bandits and magic soldiers in this period were not strong enough to challenge the government.If the War to Protect the Country broke out in 1916 and the Northern Army suffered a disastrous defeat, it would not be about suppressing bandits, but how not to be suppressed by bandits.

When the Northern Army suffered a disastrous defeat, they were very wicked and threw their weapons in western Hunan. It doesn't matter how they threw them.The important thing is that with the guns and cannons, the bandits and magic soldiers in Xiangxi swelled up like blowing up balloons. The 600-year Xiangxi banditry has reached its climax in history, but it is a pity that there is no such thing as history.

Wang Zhenyu was very lucky, relying on the 4000 guns of the Tiger Brigade, he wiped out the inexhaustible bandits and magic soldiers who had dominated the western Hunan area for 600 years.Moreover, it was someone who came to ask to clean up, and Wang Zhenyu felt embarrassed if he didn't clean up.In this operation, the bandits were the worst, and those who survived either became coolies or changed their careers to do good.And the god soldiers are not much better, they lost the qualification to organize armed forces, otherwise Wang Zhenyu, the demon king, would not mind killing Taoism and Buddhism, anyway, he has a score with the bull head and horse face, and going to Abi Hell is not for him What a horror.

Under the absolute threat of force, most people choose the former between survival and wealth.And those who still wanted to continue the latter were all eliminated by Wang Zhenyu without hesitation. Wang Zhenyu's attitude was very clear, wealth and honor can only be given to me.

The political reforms of the Xiangxi Development Company and the county government have turned the merchant group into their hard-core allies and staunchest supporters.

But after Fenghuang's encounter, the Gan army based on the garrison army suddenly became his subordinates.Looking at the whole of Xiangxi, there are almost no opponents, except Gelaohui.

Long Tingjiu has been in Xiangxi for a long time, and he has dealt with people from the Gelaohui, so he is considered an authority in this regard.Therefore, Wang Zhenyu also humbly asked him for advice on related matters. Long Tingjiu was a newcomer, so he naturally knew everything.

After listening to Long Tingjiu's introduction, Wang Zhenyu, who had always been worried about the influence of the Gelaohui, was relieved. It turned out that the Gelaohui was not monolithic in Xiangxi, but divided into many forces, and most of them lived by the pier.Among them, there are two well-known ones in western Hunan, both in Sangzhi County, one is the He family and the other is the Gu family.In fact, it is a family, because the eldest daughter of the He family married the Gu family as the daughter-in-law.

He family?Is that the marshal's family in later generations?Wang Zhenyu immediately became interested, and calculated that the marshal is estimated to be only fourteen or fifteen years old now.Shen Congwen mentioned in his book that this marshal was once a groom under Wang Zhenya, the guardian envoy of Changde, but in fact, this man's background is very extraordinary.

The head of the He family is He Shidao, and the head of the Gu family is He Shidao's nephew Gu Hu. Gu Hu is married to He Ying, the eldest daughter of He Shidao, so the two families are actually one family.

For this Gu Hu, Long Ting has known the details for a long time. This person is tall, easy to make friends, keeps promises, and shows loyalty. He is the leading brother of the "Singles Club".His friends are everywhere in the mountains, streets and wharves on the border of Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan and Guizhou, and they are very influential in western Hunan.

"Bachelor Party? This name is really bachelor!" Wang Zhenyu teased.

After thinking for a while, Wang Zhenyu asked again: "What is the main business of these gangs?"

"On the surface, they are all buying coolies, tea, salt, opium, tung oil and other messy goods. They are responsible for shipping." Long Tingjiu also paused for a while, and continued: "In fact, their main business is selling illegal salt. "

Wang Zhenyu nodded. In fact, the problem of private salt has existed in all dynasties. Until later generations, salt has been monopolized by the state.Even in order to maximize profits, the relevant departments did not hesitate to concoct a shocking lie that if you don't eat iodized official salt, you will get a big neck.Although the lies cannot withstand scrutiny (how did the Chinese avoid the big neck disease in the thousands of years before the new China?), but the lovely people actually believe it and pay for it. What is the final result?Iodine excess and some people's pours.

As for salt and tobacco, Wang Zhenyu's initial plan was to specialize in them. After all, these two items are usually not obvious, but once they are franchised, the profits will be very high.Especially salt, even though you can't eat much in a month, everyone has to eat it. Once the territory expands, the profit will be hundreds of millions.The most proof is the current taxation in China. The annual salt tax has reached a staggering 4000 million yuan, which is the same as the customs tariff (this shows that the customs tariff is low), accounting for [-]% of the total tax revenue.

Knowing this, Wang Zhenyu did not hand over the management rights of salt and tobacco to Hongshang when he distributed the business of Xiangxi Development Company, but kept it in his own hands.As for opium, you have to pay it, because Liu Qishan is already the biggest opium dealer in Xiangxi, if you don't continue to use him, you can only kill him and start a new one. The cost of doing this is too high, and you will be offended by it Hong Shang is not cost-effective.

The profits of tobacco are not obvious yet, but the benefits of salt are visible right now.

He Shidao, what Gu Hu and others do, even if Long Ting doesn't say it for a long time, Wang Zhenyu is clear about it.Because the story of two kitchen knives making a revolution has long existed in his childhood memory.A marshal has followed his father and brother-in-law to traffic in smuggled salt since he was 11 years old, and the revolution that developed in the end may not be class-conscious, and was attacked by the government's salt department.After careful analysis, the government did not have the strength of its own, so it became a riot.Decades later, out of the need to serve politics, a group of literati called the anti-government campaign of private salt dealers a revolution.

Wang Zhenyu made up his mind, if the He family and the Gu family can follow him, and at the same time have the ability to control the entire Gelaohui in Xiangxi.In return, Wang Zhenyu will hand over the salt franchise to these two companies.No one can resist such a big temptation.

Thinking of this, Wang Zhenyu asked Long Tingjiu to take his invitation card to invite these two to dinner, by the way, bring a Ganjun company over there, if he refuses to come, he will forcefully invite them. . .

Chapter 101 Phoenix Walk ([-])

What Wang Zhenyu didn't notice was that with the improvement of his status and the expansion of his influence, his domineering became more and more powerful, and he began to test his leaks. . .

He Shidao, Gu Hu and the two of them were stunned as soon as they received the greeting card. The majestic Xiangxi guard envoy hosted a banquet for private salt dealers?No matter how you look at it, it is against the rules! . He Shidao, who was in his 40s, immediately asked cautiously: "Brother Long, apart from our two families, who else has this guardian envoy invited?"

Wang Zhenyu didn't tell Long Ting Jiuming what he thought, after all, no one would believe such a thing about the world's pie.If Long Tingjiu went to tell He Shidao and the others what he thought, Wang Zhenyu would probably be under suspicion and fear. Not only would He Shidao and the others not dare to come, but they would even flee with their family overnight. Everyone would feel that he had no good intentions.

Therefore, Long Tingjiu couldn't explain it clearly, he could only tell He Shidao that it was a good thing.But it doesn't matter if you don't understand, there are more than 100 soldiers standing outside.Gu Hu was a little dissatisfied with this, he always took the soft but not the strong, and what he disliked the most was the government's use of power to oppress people.But after all, He Shidao is not a young man like Gu Hu. After thinking about it, he decided to appease his son-in-law and tell him that he must go.Because the truth is obvious, the other party is the guardian envoy of Xiangxi, unless people like myself don't plan to stay in this Xiangxi boundary, otherwise it is a blessing or a disaster, and it cannot be avoided if it is a disaster.Moreover, the soldier stood at the door, and now he couldn't get away if he wanted to, and he couldn't help himself whether to go or not.

The men from the Bachelor's Club rushed over with all kinds of guys. When they heard that there were soldiers standing at the door of the helm of the master, they thought that someone was coming to take them as masters.Gu Hu had no choice but to come out to thank the brothers, and then persuade them to go home.

Wang Zhenyu considered it thoroughly, he arranged for Zhu Cihan to hire three sedan chairs, invited He Shidao, Gu Hu, and He Ying to get on the sedan chairs, and the soldiers escorted him all the way to the county government office where he was.This made He Shidao and others very proud. He Wenhuan, the eldest son of He Shidao, followed his father on horseback. This 15-year-old child was as strong as an adult.

Wang Zhenyu did not go out of the palace to greet them. To deal with these people from the Jianghu, the necessary official authority is still necessary.

He Shidao, Gu Hu, He Ying, and He Wenhuan entered in a file, and the table in the main hall was already full of dishes.Wang Zhenyu only arranged for Long Tingjiu to sit with him. Except for Song Haomin and Zhu Cihan, no other guards were arranged. This made Zhao Dongsheng very dissatisfied, but there was nothing he could do.However, He Shidao and others felt very relaxed because of this. After all, if there were soldiers with guns and live ammunition standing around them, how would they have any appetite to eat? Their palms and backs were probably sweaty.

It was the first time for He Wenhuan to eat such good noodles, and he ate it regardless, the taste was really good.

Wang Zhenyu fixed his eyes on this thick-headed boy, he was really a certain marshal, with such courage at such a young age, he was indeed a natural pillar of talent.

He glanced at He Shidao again. He was over 40 years old, but his face was full of wrinkles. It seemed that life was not easy.

But that Guhu is full of tiger spirit, strong muscles and a bunt outfit, which makes people feel very powerful.As for Gu Hu's wife, He Ying, she really looks like a heroine, with a pair of shrewd and clear eyes observing her, the guard.

Wang Zhenyu looked at the four of them, and the four of them were also observing the young guard who was a bit too much.After all, he was on the pier. He Shidao was very clear about Wang Zhenyu's great defeat of the bandits in southeast Guizhou, his outsmarting of Hong Jiang, and his recent recruitment of the Gan army. Moreover, Long Tingjiu, who had always been a loner, unexpectedly devoted himself to this person Under his command, this makes people have to obey.But when they met, the guard was a young man in his early twenties, and He Shidao had mixed feelings for a moment.

Wang Zhenyu looked at the four of them kindly: "I know that you are the elder brother's club, and I am also a straightforward person. I don't like to beat around the bush. I invite you to come. First, I want to make friends with the famous Guhu brothers in western Hunan; second, I want to congratulate you. , the Gu family is negotiating a deal, I wonder if the two are interested?"

Gu Hu was dissatisfied with Wang Zhenyu's youth, and he was upset when he sent soldiers to invite him before, so he yelled on the spot: "You are the guardian envoy, the official has great power, you can do whatever you want with this business, and I, Gu Hu, can do it." How? As for making friends, my Gu Hu's friends are all bitter haha, you are such a high-ranking official, I, Gu Hu, can't get ahead of you."

Wang Zhenyu didn't care about Gu Hu's rudeness, he just looked at He Shidao with a smile.

He Shidao immediately scolded: "Tiger boy, don't be rude."

Gu Hu himself was very unconvinced. After being scolded by his father-in-law, his temper immediately exploded. He slapped the table and shouted: "Then he sent soldiers to surround our house, and he will be polite. What kind of courtesy is he? Isn't he just a guardian envoy?" Isn't it just that you have soldiers in your hands? It's nothing more than death, and I, Gu Hu, are not afraid."

As soon as Gu Hu went crazy, the whole banquet suddenly became silent.Song Haomin and Zhu Cihan put their hands on the gun case at their waists consciously, but they didn't dare to draw their guns without Wang Zhenyu's words.But Zhao Dongsheng, Wang Hu, Zhao Chong and other guards outside were not so particular. With bullets loaded and guns in hand, they rushed in just waiting for Wang Zhenyu to shout angrily.

He Shidao groaned secretly in his heart, his son-in-law, everything else is fine, but this personality is too hot.After suffering so many losses, he still hasn't changed. This time, he was so rude to the guardian envoy, and he was in big trouble.

Wang Zhenyu stunned Gu Hu for a moment, it was too sudden and unscrupulous.Doesn't this dude know where he is?No wonder Chen Quzhen, the king of Xiangxi in later generations, planned to get rid of this person, and his temper was the way to death.