Respectfully

Song Wu walked into the reception room, Imai Ichiro dressed in a long gown stood up, and bowed to him with a smile on his face: "Song Jun, long time no see."

"It's been a long time." Song Wu nodded and smiled, "Have you solved the trouble you encountered?"

Imai Ichiro waited until Song Wu sat down, and then said: "It has been resolved."

"Oh?" Song Wu took out a cigarette from his pocket, knocked out one and put it in his mouth, lit it and took a deep breath, "How did you do that?"

"Money can often control power. I just sent a telegram to the upper echelon of Taiping Group."

At first, Imai Ichiro just held the idea of ​​giving it a try, and told his boss that Honda had approached him.

As a result, instead of being angry because he rejected Honda, his superiors praised him greatly: "Imai-san did a great job! We are businessmen, and the job of businessmen is to make money. As for the rest, that is the matter of the military and the cabinet." !” and hinted in the telegram that those who troubled him would soon retreat.

It didn't take long for Honda Kumataro to receive a severe warning, and was almost dismissed and recalled to the country, and even Ijuin was almost implicated.When he was too busy to take care of himself, it was naturally impossible to trouble Imai again.

Ichiro Imai breathed a sigh of relief temporarily. With the "protective umbrella" of the Taihei Group, Japanese intelligence agencies should not find him again in a short time.The premise is that he can continue to make money for the Taiping combination and make more money, otherwise it is difficult to guarantee when he will be discarded as waste.In order to complete the unfinished business of Xiao Shanqing and many compatriots, he must continue to gain the trust of the upper management of Taiping Group, and find a way to go further!

"Song Jun, please help me!"

"Help you?" Song Wu leaned on the sofa, the white smoke from the burning tobacco blurred his expression.

"Helping me is also helping yourself." Imai Ichiro said decisively: "I can continue to provide you with a large number of weapons, the price is even lower than the purchase price of the Japanese military department, and at the same time, many people with the same status as me will give you At your service, our intelligence, our resources, and everything we can offer!"

"You are a businessman, and you are a businessman working for the Japanese." Song Wu put out his cigarette, "Not long ago, I had contact with Japanese intelligence agencies. Do you think I should continue to trust you?"

Imai Ichiro took out a white envelope from his pocket and sent it to Song Wu, "This letter is the last letter left by Xiao Shanqing to his companions. My name is mentioned on it. I will give it to you. If you find that I am not It is trustworthy, and I can give this letter to any Japanese. Even if I am working for the Japanese, once this letter falls into the hands of the intelligence department, I will die."

vote?Or a trap?

"Cooperate with me, what can you get?"

"We need strength, and only you can help us." Ichiro Imai stood up and bowed to Song Wu again, "Please!"

It's a deal, and it's a gamble.After Wu Song took the initiative to disconnect the telegram contact with Ichiro Imai, it's not that Imai didn't think about going to find someone else, such as Lou Xiao.But considering Lou Xiao's behavior in the past, he judged that it was impossible for Lou Xiao to cooperate with him.So he decided to take the initiative to find Song Wu, and revealed a few cards of his own.Even if the Song family is not yet the supreme power in China, the power in their hands should not be underestimated.Besides, who can say that one day in the future, the person sitting on the throne of the President is not surnamed Song?

"I will consider what you said. As for this letter, you take it back."

"Jun Song?"

"Ichiro Imai, Qian Lang, you don't understand me." Song Wu stood up, "I prefer to send the person who lied to me to the Hall of Yama with my own hands. I will smash his bones one by one, and then slowly cut them apart." his neck until he dies."

"..." Imai Ichiro's face turned slightly pale.For the first time, he clearly realized what kind of person he was dealing with.

But for the sake of Xiao Shanqing who died, and for the wishes of all of them, he had to make this deal!

In the fifth year of the Republic of China, July 1913, 7 in the Gregorian calendar, June 19 in the lunar calendar

Today is Li Jinyan's birthday, before noon, there was an endless stream of guests who came to congratulate him.

The young master of the Li family, the head of the General Chamber of Commerce of the six northern provinces, and the factories he opened are making a lot of money every day, with the support of the Lou family behind them.Today, in the business circles of the six northern provinces, the name Li Jinyan is a gold-lettered signboard.There were also rumors in private that if Li Sanshao had favored him, he would be able to make a fortune sooner or later.

As soon as the news spread that President Lou Da and Mrs. Lou had specially returned from the capital, more people came to the door.Almost all the people in the Marshal's Mansion were busy without touching the ground, especially the second butler who was in charge of registering the gift list. His pen hand began to tremble. Fortunately, the big butler who came back from the capital helped him, otherwise his arm would have to be useless. .

The second butler put down his pen and sat aside to drink tea for a while. The first butler casually picked up the gift list he wrote down and flipped through it. Shuai and Master Yan are married.

Government officials, merchants in the six northern provinces, and many business giants from other provinces.Boss Song from Tianjin, the Gu family from Huzhou...these wealthy businessmen cost tens of thousands of dollars!

Before the big butler recovered from his surprise, the concierge came to report again, and the managers of foreign firms from various countries also came to present Young Master Yan's birthday.

John from the American firm, George from the British firm, Joseph from the Danish firm, Thomas from the German firm, as well as France, Holland and Italy, almost none of them had contact with Li Jinyan.

I don't know if it was a coincidence or a joke from God, these people seemed to have made an appointment in advance, they arrived almost at the same time, and greeted each other politely, as if they were quite friendly, but in fact it was not the case at all.

The big class managers of these foreign firms all know that John and Li Jinyan have a very good friendship, and they get large orders from him one after another, and export products such as lipstick and canned food always get the largest share.Although the British and the Danes also made a lot of money, in general, the Yankee is more hated!If sight could kill, this Yankee would have been poked hundreds of holes in his body!

John, George and others have been doing business in China for a long time, and they have also learned the knack of human relations in China, especially the gift-giving object is Li Jinyan, and the hand is even more extraordinary.But the most generous are Yankees and John Bulls.John gave Li Jinyan a luxury car made by General Motors, and George's gift was a pistol with an ivory handle.

The two housekeepers in the Lou Mansion had weird faces when they registered the gift list.It's not because these gifts are expensive, but because they really don't understand what these foreigners are thinking, how can they send such a variety of things.

The gun is fine, the car is fine, and the jewels and pearls are fine, but what is that thing with no clothes on its upper body and a long fish tail on its lower body?goblin?Mermaid?Sending a fairy statue as a gift for someone else's birthday, even if it is gold, is a bit unreasonable, right?

Qian Boxi, Du Yuzhang and others had no time to spare in the army, but they didn't get any gifts, and they were all real, either silver dollars or gold bars.After the whole day, Li Sanshao was really soft when he received gifts, and his hands cramped when counting the money.

He also knew that most of these people were able to give him face in this way, more because of the relationship between President Lou and Marshal Lou.But Li Sanshao is very open-minded, he and Lou's family are grasshoppers tied to the same rope, it's not the same for anyone, anyway, the money always falls into his own pocket.

After the banquet was over and the guests were sent away, the first thing Li Jinyan did when he returned to his room was not to lie down on the bed and rest, but to sit at the table with his eyes bright and look through the gift list, grinning while flipping through the pages. Young Marshal Lou pushed open the door, Li San The corner of Shao's mouth was grinning almost to the base of his ears, and he was already smiling so hard that he couldn't see his teeth.

"Young commander, get rich!" Li Jinyan held up the gift list in his hand, "These are enough for us to build two more aircraft factories and refit [-] ugly monsters. Qiao Leshan asked me for money to buy experimental equipment before, but now it's all gone." With.,"

Young Marshal Lou walked up to Li Jinyan, took away the gift list in his hand and put it aside, then lifted the excited Li Sanshao into his arms.

"Young commander?"

"sleep."

"...I haven't washed yet."

"Sleep before washing."

Li Jinyan: "..."

Well, at least he understood that what Young Marshal Lou said about sleeping was a verb, not a noun...

After this sleep, he slept until the middle of the night, and when Master Lou finally mercifully let him go, Li Jinyan couldn't even open his eyelids. As for those gift lists, he had long since forgotten them.

"Young Marshal, don't make such a fuss next time, I really can't bear it..." Li Jinyan leaned on Lou Xiao's chest and yawned.

Lou Xiao lowered his head and kissed Li Jinyan's forehead, but did not speak.

The next day, Li Jinyan slept until the sun was up, so he naturally missed breakfast, and almost had to postpone lunch.

President Lou Da called a meeting of important officials in the military government, and Young Marshal Lou naturally couldn't be absent.In the living room, there are only Mrs. Lou and Young Master Lou who are crawling happily on the carpet.Li Jinyan wanted to go to the farm after lunch, but Mrs. Lou stopped him.

"Wait first, what's the rush." ​​Mrs. Lou asked Li Jinyan to sit beside him, and Second Young Master Lou crawled to his lap, grabbed the hem of his gown and stood up.Opening his mouth and babbling, Li Jinyan directly bent down and hugged him into his arms.Although the movements are still a little rusty, compared to before, they have made great progress. At least Lou Er Shao smiled happily.

"Mother, do you want to tell me something?"

"I just want to ask you how the President and I are in the capital, how is your family doing?" Mrs. Lou saw that the Second Young Master Lou was being dishonest in Li Jinyan's arms and couldn't speak properly, so she signaled the nanny to take him away.

Li Jinyan straightened the hem of the gown after transferring the Second Young Master Lou, "Both the home and the factory are fine. The young master is a bit busy, but it's nothing serious."

"That's good." Mrs. Lou nodded, "I always think about whether you and Xiao'er can take care of themselves in the capital. There are no elders around to watch, so I can't remember to eat well?"

"How can it be, mother." Li Jinyan laughed quickly, "I remember clearly what mother said before going to the capital, so don't worry."

"Just remember." Mrs. Lou pinched Li Jinyan's face, "If you are not obedient, be careful, I will come back from the capital and take care of you."

Li Jinyan touched his nose, what else could he do?Just keep smiling.

It was already two o'clock in the afternoon when he came out of the Marshal's Mansion and arrived at the farm.

Outside Guanbei City, more than a dozen large and small farms have been reclaimed. The large ones are thousands of acres, and the small ones are only a few hundred acres. They are all operated in the model of Li Jinyan's farm. , After production, the profit will be divided according to the proportion of investment.The grain and livestock on the farm are not worrying about selling at all, but Guanbei can be almost completely digested, and the industrial areas outside the city consume a lot of grain and meat every day.Furthermore, even if Guanbei can't digest it, not all places in such a large market in the north, or even the whole country, have no shortage of food.

So far, similar large-scale farms can be seen in the three provinces of Heiji, Liao, and parts of Rehe among the six northern provinces. The main crops are soybeans, corn, wheat and sorghum.In addition to rice, potatoes and sweet potatoes and so on.Most of the livestock raised are black pigs and yellow cattle.

Since most of these farms are not far away, some people saw business opportunities and built flour mills, oil mills and other food processing plants nearby, spontaneously forming one agricultural economic zone after another.

These farms and factories absorb a large amount of labor from local and other provinces like gold-eating beasts. Immigrants from other provinces pour into the six northern provinces like a tide. People from other provinces who bring their families with them, or go alone in the direction of Guanbei.

The well-known "Ta Kung Pao" in the north specially wrote an article for this, and newspapers in Shanghai and other places also reprinted it one after another. Even some foreign newspapers in the concession began to pay attention to the situation of the six northern provinces absorbing a large number of immigrants from other provinces.Occasionally, reporters took photos of pedestrians walking on the road. The sparks and white smoke often startled these hurrying people.

Regardless of whether it was positive or negative in the newspapers, whether it was Li Jinyan or others, most of them laughed it off.

So what if a flower is mentioned in the newspaper?What if people say that they have ulterior motives?Those who should make money make money, and those who should look for work look for work, and no one can hinder the other.

It is not only the Chinese who flowed in with the wave of immigrants, but even some Russians living in Siberia also ran across the border.Most of them came from places like Irkutsk near Outer Mongolia, and some of them brought important news to Li Jinyan.

coal mine.

"My lord, I swear to God, everything I say is true! In the cold winter, we burn these coals to survive."

Li Jinyan asked those people carefully, hoping to get more detailed information about the coal mine from them.When he asked whether the coal mine had been mined, the answer he got was no.

"I swear, my father and grandfather both lived in Irkutsk. The coal mines here were discovered a long time ago, but no one has been mining them. Neither the noble lords nor the Jewish merchants."

Li Jinyan thinks there is no need for these people to lie about this matter, so what good does that do them?

He decided to find out about this matter. The coal mine that can be mined in the open pit is still close to the Siberian iron furnace. Why has the Russian government not explored and mined it?

Is it because there are too many resources, dismissive?

Li Sanshao gritted his teeth, making people envious and jealous!

However, this matter must be told to Young Marshal Lou and President Lou Da as soon as possible. They signed an agreement with Germany when they borrowed money. If mineral deposits are discovered in Siberia, the Germans will have half of the mining rights.But now it still belongs to Russia, and even Outer Mongolia is still "independent". If you want to explore this coal mine, you have to get the territory first.It's like there is a piece of meat dangling in front of his eyes, he is so greedy that he can't put his mouth down, it's a scam!

Just when Li Jinyan was scratching his head about the coal mine, something big happened to the Li family.

Li Jinshu left a letter and left!

The third lady almost fainted from the anger, and the third master Li was also so angry that his eyes were red.Ever since Li Jinshu was imprisoned in the ancestral hall, although she was still a bit stubborn, she was quite sensible, at least she could listen to what the elders said.In addition, the old lady called her to talk to her from time to time, seeing her childish temper gradually shed, and she looked like a big girl. Who would have thought that such a thing would happen in just two days!

"What should I do..." The third lady is usually strong, but when she met Li Jinshu, she still seemed a little confused, "Master, what should I do?"

"What else can I do? Send someone to find her as soon as possible!" Master Li San clenched his fists, "Immediately lock up all the girls in Jinshu's house, I want to see who is so bold as to help her escape from home !"

The third lady clenched her lips, and she also knew that the old lady would definitely not be able to hide this matter now, as long as she could hide it from the Shen family and get the brocade book back before the Shen family found out, everything would be fine Otherwise... the third lady didn't dare to think about it anymore, so she immediately called her confidant girl and mother-in-law, and arrested and locked up everyone in Li Jinshu's room.

Mr. Li San went to ask the old lady for instructions. The third lady was busy arresting people. Li Jinhua sat in Mrs. Zhou's room, embroidering flowers, and said to her, "Don't worry, Auntie, it's fine."

"Why don't I worry!" Aunt Zhou glanced outside the room, closed the door, leaned into Li Jinhua's ear and said, "I heard that the second young lady ran away, so it's probably true. If she wasn't so lucky , maybe it’s your luck.”

"Aunt," Li Jinshu put down the half-embroidered handkerchief, "There are some things that you should not think about, nor should I think about. If you think too much, you won't know how to die."

"Girl, what are you talking about?"

"What did I say? Does my aunt think that if the second sister ran away and couldn't be found, I would get benefits?"

"Isn't that so?"

"Auntie, I was born by you, and the second sister was born by my wife. Besides, if the second sister is found, it is fine to cover up the matter. If the matter is not found, and the matter spreads, I will be the first to be troubled! I I advise my aunt to recite the Buddha twice more, and pray for the blessing of the Buddha to find the second sister back as soon as possible."

After saying this, Li Jinhua didn't look at Aunt Zhou who was puzzled, and continued to embroider the handkerchief with her head down, but accidentally stuck the tip of the needle on her finger, leaving a little red on the embroidered peony petals.

Yang Pinting walked out of the bookstore, holding the copybooks bought for the children in her arms, and just waved for a carriage, but saw a familiar figure across the street.Li Jinshu?Why is she here alone?

"Pingting, what are you going to see?"

The other female gentleman who was traveling with her had already boarded the car. Yang Pinting hurriedly said that she suddenly remembered an urgent matter, so she entrusted her with the copybook in her arms and walked across the road towards the person who looked like Li Jinshu.

"Pin Ting, where are you going? Pin Ting!"

The female gentleman yelled twice, seeing that Yang Pingting didn't turn her head back, she had to get out of the carriage, and said sorry to the driver, picked up the books and copybooks and chased after Yang Pingting.

"Jin Shu!"

Yang Pingting had already walked in front of Li Jinshu, and saw that she was anxious and at a loss, with a box at her feet.

"Jin Shu, what are you doing here?"

"..." Seeing Yang Pinting, Li Jinshu immediately felt aggrieved, "Pinting, I..."

"Pin Ting, why are you running so fast!" The female gentleman who was chasing behind Yang Ping Ting caught up. She and Yang Ping Ting and Li Jinshu were classmates, and she recognized the person in front of her, "Li Jinshu?"

"This is not the place to talk."

Yang Pingting winked at another female gentleman and shook her head.The female gentleman didn't ask any more questions, and called a carriage again, intending to take Li Jinshu home first.

Unexpectedly, when Li Jinshu heard that he was going to send her home, he immediately shook his head and said, "I won't go back. I ran away from home. If I go back, I will be locked up in the ancestral hall again!"

Yang Pinting and the female teacher looked at each other, knowing that something was wrong, so they had to take Li Jinshu back to Zidi Primary School first.After arriving at Zidi Primary School, Yang Pingting frowned after asking in a few words that Li Jinshu had indeed run away from home.She is not Li Jinshu, nor is she a student who was ignorant of everything before. She knows how serious the consequences of this incident will be.

"Jin Shu, if you listen to me, go home immediately."

"But..." Li Jinshu pouted, "I won't go back!"

"you!"

"Pin Ting, I lost all the money I brought out, can you take me in? When I find something to do, I will definitely return it to you."

"What can you find to do? Or rather, what can you do?"

"I..." Li Jinshu was stopped by the question.

"I can't force you to go home, but I have to inform your family. You have no money and can't support yourself. Even if I lend you money, it can only help you for a while, not for a lifetime."

Seeing that Li Jinshu had stopped talking, Yang Pinting took out a pen and paper, and wrote two notes, one to Li's family and the other to Lou's, specifying that they should be handed over to Li Jinyan.She knew the relationship between Li Jinyan and Li Jinshu, and she wasn't sure whether the Li family would ask him for help. She just subconsciously felt that it was better to tell him about it.

As for why... She didn't want to think too much about it, after all, she was no longer that little girl who could write love letters casually.