Respectfully

In the seventh year of the Republic of China, on May 1916, 5 in the Gregorian calendar, Beijing

In front of the city tower, the workers are busy building the viewing platform.The city tower has also been specially repaired. The white marble railings and railings on the base, the vermilion giant pillars and beams, the immortals, chi kisses and beasts decorated on the ridge, the ancient building that has gone through two dynasties will soon show its magnificence to the world again. with brilliance.

All the troops participating in the military parade from all provinces in China have arrived.

Steel helmets, military caps, bamboo hats, straw sandals, cloth shoes, leather boots.Different uniforms, different accents, different marching paces.

The old-fashioned Hanyang, the 15th style of the six northern provinces, the Mauser of Germany, the Murata of Japan, the Enfield of the United Kingdom, and the Colonia of France.

From the rifles on their shoulders to the whistles of the officers giving orders, they are all so different. The only thing they have in common is their shared identity, Chinese soldiers.

The troops of the various provinces are stationed in the city not far apart, and they often encounter each other in the morning and evening when they go out for exercises. When eating and resting, they often mix northern dialect and southern accent. I don’t understand what you say, and you may not understand what I say. It's common to make gestures, gesturing while talking, and laughing at the end, whether you can understand what the other person is talking about, only God knows.

Now the provinces in China are scrambling to encourage agriculture and start industries, and the treatment of soldiers is not the same. Not to mention additional subsidies, at least a penny of the monthly military salary can fall into the pocket.

The food is also better than before, and occasionally you can see meat. Even if you can't eat rice and white noodles, steamed corn bread and miscellaneous grain pancakes can fill your stomach.On weekdays, they do one job and one less. During war, they do two meals a day. There are rewards for killing the enemy, and pensions for those who die in battle. Most people, especially veterans who have been in the army for more than three years, feel that It's been a pretty good day.

It's a pity that life is good, so we still have to compare.

At noon, the soldiers gathered together to bite the steamed corn bread and miscellaneous grain pancakes. They all held a large bowl of vegetable soup in their hands. Floating over, sniffing, someone said: "Turtle son, braised pork!"

"It's those young soldiers again."

"It's only been three days, have you eaten two meals of meat?"

"You don't know, I went to see it myself, more than two meals..."

"Really?"

"Really. I've seen it too. Not to mention stewed meat, there are also boiled eggs, steamed buns with noodles, and big buns stuffed with meat. You can spray your mouth with oil and water when you bite into it!"

"You have eaten?"

"I've eaten." As if remembering the taste at that time, Brother Bing smacked his lips, "I went with the company commander the day before yesterday. Our company commander and a platoon leader over there are relatives. You haven't seen it, but a platoon leader. All you need is a pack of cigarettes, two boxes of canned food, and a box of biscuits. Just in time for their lunch breakout, buckets of hot steamed buns and steamed buns are brought out, big bone soup with cabbage, and a layer of oil on the soup. Everyone There is at least one meaty bone in his bowl!"

The people who were eating at the side opened their mouths. Is it so good?

"The company commander was left for dinner, and I and a few others also borrowed money. I ate five steamed buns, three steamed buns, and a big bowl of soup in one go. I'm not bad. Three rows followed me. I can barely move..."

The aroma of stewed meat kept coming, and after hearing such words, the rest of the soldiers felt that their mouths were all tasteless.

After a while, I saw a few soldiers wearing military uniforms from the six northern provinces carrying two boxes of canned food and two hams coming from a distance. The soldiers watched with wide-eyed eyes. Hehe said a few words, left things behind and turned to leave.

The battalion commander turned his head to look at the brothers with green eyes, kicked the closest ass, "Open a box, three brothers a can!"

On this day, the soldiers from the six northern provinces visited almost all the army stations, sent out hundreds of boxes of canned food, and scattered a lot of cigarettes.When others asked, they just said a few words: "Young Marshal Lou and his wife are here in Beijing. The President is happy. This is a little sympathy for everyone."

The name of Marshal Lou is astonishing, the wife of Marshal Lou, the third young master of the Li family, is the famous God of Wealth!Sending out so many things without even blinking an eye, this is really... Ordinary is Qiu Ba, why is there such a big difference?

The big soldiers are all envious, and the officers are not much better.They not only stared at the food of the troops in the six northern provinces, but also their equipment.

From military uniforms to weapons, from armed forces to steel helmets, from the rubber-soled cloth shoes of ordinary soldiers to the leather shoes and boots of officers, those who have stayed abroad and attended military academies have all estimated in their hearts that if soldiers in the six northern provinces are armed according to this standard, Just thinking about it makes one's scalp tingle.

Type 15 rifles, pistols, and submachine guns are also the focus of these officers' attention. There are also various light machine guns and heavy machine guns, artillery of different calibers, and armored vehicles. Manufactured?

Seeing the firepower of the machine guns equipped on the armored vehicles, everyone was shocked. No wonder the six northern provinces were able to beat Japan to the brim and snatch the territory from the old man. This is really incomparable.

The provincial commanders who arrived in the capital one after another also began to pay attention to this different army.Most of them just heard about it before, but now they saw it with their own eyes, and they couldn't say a word for a long time.Sima Jun and Song Zhou were the only ones who could keep their faces on the surface. Even Song Qining, Yan Huaiyu and others who were close to Lou's family trembled a little when they saw the army in front of them. You did the right thing by tying yourself to the chariot of the Lou family!

The warlords in several southwestern provinces have more or less benefited from the Lou family, or in other words, the benefits given by Li Jinyan.

The "second-hand" guns sold to them at almost cost price, the submachine guns given away as favors, and the bonuses for smuggling arms to Southeast Asian countries made Long Yiting, Liu Fuxian and others have a better impression of the Lou family. very different.Even Tang Guangren, the commander-in-chief of Guangxi who had been poached by Marshal Lou, smiled at President Lou.

As for Xue Dingzhou, who was also poached from the corner and saw all kinds of dislikes in the Lou family, his attitude was much more relaxed. The Jiangshan Lou family is firmly established, even if he is not convinced.

Before leaving for Beijing, Li Jinyan didn't do anything else. He just ransacked all the warehouses of Lou's Commercial Group's factories. The focus was on the quilt factory. He pulled over all the more than 5000 sets of military uniforms used to dress up the new recruits. loaded onto the train.

There are also boxes of canned food, bags of sausages, a large amount of candy, canned fried noodles, boxes of compressed biscuits, and everything that can be drawn, Li Jinyan did not leave any behind, and even brought five boxes of brushes.

The sad-faced factory directors discussed with the third young master, at least save some, because it was about to be shipped and shipped to earn foreign exchange!

Li Sanshao waved his hand, it was no big deal, he rented the boat, but it was delayed for a few days, so it was not a problem.

Several factory managers looked at each other in blank dismay, and the warehouse was less than half emptied. Is this a matter of a few days' delay?

The warehouse of the Northern Arsenal also failed to escape Li Sanshao's poisonous hands. Accompanied by Du Weiyan, Li Jinyan picked out a hundred Type 15 pistols with a 9mm caliber and a magazine capacity of eight rounds. Based on the principle of notch aiming, reliable performance and great power, it has long become a "love item" in the hands of military officers at all levels in the six northern provinces.

These pistols and supplies are all used as "gifts".The so-called reluctance to bear children cannot be used by wolves, and reluctance to bear supplies cannot take down soldiers, especially a group of veterans.

Li Jinyan breathed a sigh of relief after the materials were transported onto the train. Sending money is just a one-shot deal, but sending things is different. He heard that there is a wave of industry in several southwestern provinces. Nowadays, domestic transportation is inconvenient, and the railway is still in use. Building, he traveled thousands of miles to the southwest to open a factory, and the cost would be quite high. If he could cooperate with the local real power faction, it would be like a broadcasting company jointly established with the six southern provinces, an arsenal jointly established with Shanxi and Henan, and jointly established with Sanma. The cannery in China, as well as the oil fields exploited in Gansu, are all door-to-door businesses. As long as they don't push it out, they can basically win-win in the end.

Several provinces in the southwest are rich in mineral deposits. Even if they are not suitable for mining now, they can still be explored in advance. In addition, the land that Long Yiting and others took back from Southeast Asia and other places... Li Jinyan can already see them flying towards him with flapping wings The gold ingot.

However, this is only a preliminary idea. After all, business is endless, and money is endless.It is impossible for him to intervene in every business, which is unrealistic, and the locals may not be happy for him, an "outsider", to intervene directly.It's better to "remind" these big figures who control the real power in various places, sell favors, and the overall economy develops, and the common people can always get some benefits.

Young Marshal Lou looked at the supplies loaded onto the train, and didn't say much. He only hugged Li Jinyan into his arms when the train started and only he and Li Jinyan were left in the carriage, and kissed him on Li Jinyan's hair. At the top, only the sound of sirens and the click of wheels are left.

"Young Marshal," Li Jinyan was the first to break the silence, "These things are all for gifts."

"kindness."

Li Jinyan patted the young marshal Lou on the arm, motioning him to relax, and turned his head slightly, "How about giving those supplies and pistols in the name of the young marshal and the president?"

"Me and father?"

"Yes." In fact, Li Jinyan originally only planned to be a favor for Marshal Lou, but after thinking about it carefully, he still added President Lou.But the person who received the gift probably knew what was going on.

Young Marshal Lou looked at Li Jinyan quietly, then suddenly lifted his chin and lips, and pressed them against his lips.

"Young commander?"

Indistinct words flowed from the lips, but were quickly blocked back, and the carriage was silent again.

A moment later, with the soft sound of cloth being torn, Li Jinyan's voice finally appeared again: "Young commander, I only brought five sets of clothes!"

"Buy again."

This is really not in charge of the family and does not know the price of firewood, rice, oil and salt!

Considering the consequences of speaking out, Li Sanshao resolutely covered his mouth and just tore it up. Didn't he have a lot of clothes torn?Not bad for this one...

When the train arrived in the capital, Mrs. Lou took Second Young Master Lou to pick him up at the station. Seeing Li Jinyan's fluffy footsteps, Mrs. Lou gave Young Master Lou a helpless look, "You're messing around again!"

Bai Lao got off from another carriage, looked at his uneducated grandson, and could only shake his head.

Mrs. Lou took Second Young Master Lou to greet Elder Bai, and Second Young Master Lou stood beside Mrs. Lou's lap, with a serious expression on her chubby face.Until seeing Li Jinyan, the ice and snow melted all of a sudden, and immediately rushed over, hugged Li Jinyan's leg, and called Brother Yan, which was very cute.Li Jinyan wanted to bend down to hug Er Shao Lou, but as soon as he moved, his waist felt sore. Li Jinyan tried his best to control the hand that wanted to support his waist, gritted his teeth and wanted to continue to complete the "difficult" movement of bending over. With one step, he picked up Lou Er Shao who was on the ground.

The two brothers looked at each other for a few seconds, and Lou Er Shao frowned dissatisfiedly, and stretched out his arms towards Li Jinyan, his big black grape-like eyes became wet, "Hug brother Yan!"

"No."

The hard two words, the white dough was not satisfied, and he put up a small face, and looked at the young commander Lou seriously, invisible sparks crackled and flickered between the two brothers, but Mrs. Lou's voice came from beside him: "Father, look , After all, they are two brothers, how good are their feelings."

Bai Lao nodded slightly, twirled his beard and smiled, agreeing to Mrs. Lou's words,

Young Master Lou & Young Master Lou: "..."

Li Jinyan: "..."

Is this a good show of affection?

After getting in the car, Second Young Master Lou "struck free" from Young Marshal Lou's arm, and spontaneously sat beside Li Jinyan. He wanted to sit on his lap, but was picked up by Lou Marshal again.

The protest was fruitless, and Lou Er Shao once again realized how important force is.

After arriving in Beijing, Li Jinyan had nothing to do for the time being, so he and Mrs. Lou accompanied Lou Er Shao to read the pictorial.

On the carpet in front of the sofa, there is a thick pile of "Dianshizhai Pictorial", a book with eight pages of pictures, rich in pictures and texts, most of the content is current events and social news of the year, the illustrations of the pictorial are different from traditional Chinese paintings, but combined with Western perspective The painting method and the image are more three-dimensional. Not only Lou Er Shao read it interestingly, but Li Jinyan also read it with great interest.

Turning to the picture page with the hot air balloon, Lou Er Shao stopped, he didn't read all the words, and he couldn't understand the few lines next to him, the chubby finger pointed to the picture page, raised his head, "Brother Yan, what is this?" What is it?"

"It's a hot air balloon."

Li Jinyan simply sat down on the carpet and read the comments on the picture page to Lou Er Shao. Lou Er Shao seemed to understand, turned another page and continued to read Li Jinyan, expressing the meaning very clearly.

"It's a picture of an airplane."

"airplane?"

"Yes," Li Jinyan said with a smile, "Have Ruier ever seen an airplane? You can fly in the sky if you sit in it..."

Li Jin spoke in a soothing tone, Lou Er Shao listened carefully, Mrs. Lou leaned on the sofa, looked at them with a smile, but the pictorial spread on her lap hadn't turned a page for a long time.

These pictorials were sent by Mrs. Bai, and most of them were the supplements that came with the order declaration, but they had ceased publication more than ten years ago.Since the release of the supplementary issue of the Fun Talk, Mrs. Bai has only remembered these pictorials at home. The "Dianshizhai Pictorial" was popular in Shanghai back then. After the publication was discontinued, many people felt sorry for it.After the publication ceased, the newspaper published a collection, which cost 20 yuan, but not a few people bought it.

When it was delivered, Mrs. Bai said with a smile: "I used it as a diorama back then, and it was fun. Now it's just used to teach Rui'er how to read."

Mrs. Bai's natal family runs a bank and has been wealthy for generations. After Bai Baoqi became the president of Huaxia Bank, Mrs. Bai's natal family has also contributed a lot. Now her two nephews are working in the bank, not because of nepotism, but because of real business. I was hired on my own merits.If you don't say it, no one will know that the two humble tellers have such a background.

The money bank is out of date, and Mrs. Bai's father and natal brothers are not the ones to rest on their laurels. At the time when the old and the new are changing, they are faced with not only difficulties and forks, but also golden opportunities.

The Lou family, the Bai family, the Zhan family, plus their respective in-laws, are connected in the same spirit, covering everything from military, business and government.

At the beginning, Sima Jun would attack the Zhan family because he was also afraid of the big net formed behind it.Now that time has passed, and looking back, Sima Jun can't help sighing, what he saw back then was just the tip of the iceberg, and he kept his eyes on the Lou family and the Zhan family, but he didn't know that Lou Shengfeng's Yue family should not be underestimated.

The head of the Bai family, Mr. Bai, who is well versed in officialdom's dark science, is the real power.