Chapter subtitled: Masters Make Heroes

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"On the evening of May 5, 1923, as a reporter for Millard's Revie, I was traveling by train from Nanking to Peking with a few journalistic friends, planning to cover a newly completed pioneering project. The project was funded by the American Red Cross and was designed to help victims on both sides of the Yellow River. We took a blue-painted steel train. There are one, two, and three classes in its carriages. At that time, it was not only the most advanced equipment on the land of China, but also the only all-steel train in the entire Far East.

Translator 1: Miller's Review is a comprehensive weekly magazine founded in Shanghai on June 9, 1917. Millard, T-F. Millard. Edgar Snow, a well-known American journalist and author of "China Shining on the Red Star (A Journey to the West", interviewed the descendants of the Heavenly Devil as a reporter for the newspaper in 1936.

The train's first-class carriages are all sleepers, and passengers from different countries, some on global tours, some on business in China.

The first-class passengers came from about six or seven countries, including Americans, British, French, Italians, Mexicans and Romanians, as well as many Chinese. Many of them were women and children, including Miss Lucy Aldrich, Jr.'s sister-in-law. She is the daughter of the late Rhode Island Senator Nelson Aldrich. She was accompanied on her journey by Miss Cofden and a French maid, Miss Snberg. In addition, there are two U.S. Army officers, Major Allen and Major Pinger, as well as their wives and children. There were also several French and American businessmen. Mr. and Mrs. Willia from Guadalagara, Mexico, a newlywed couple from the Far East, Mr. Willia is a well-known Mexican industrialist. Another traveler was G-D-Musso, a very wealthy Italian lawyer who had become extremely wealthy because of his work in the Public Concession, but no one knew how he made his fortune. He was a lawyer for the Opium Tobacco Society in Shanghai for many years, was one of Mussolini's earliest supporters, and was the majority shareholder of an influential newspaper in Rome.

Later, I heard that there were some Japanese people in Beijing who took this train, but for some reason, when the train arrived at Xuzhou East Railway Station, they got off the train halfway and mysteriously disappeared into the vast night.

Staying in the same berth with me was Berube, a Frenchman who works in the Chinese Customs and Excise Department, and this time he went to Beijing to return to China after France's participation in the European War. I had never known him before, but when I talked about the wars in Europe and the complicated political situation in the Far East, I had a lot to talk about. In addition, he was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was a friend of Mr. Yuan Yanqi. So we talked all the way to two o'clock in the morning.

It was the early spring in the north, a bright moon hung high in the sky, and you could clearly see the bare Mount Tai Mountains in the distance. Looking out the window, I told my new French friend that the train was moving at the junction of the three provinces of Suzhou, Anhui and Shandong, and that it was a famous bandit's den.

Once upon a time, this was the gathering place of murderous bandits. Most of them were originally the Qiuba under the command of the warlords, but later they became stragglers. Unable to make a living, they engaged in banditry such as robbery, kidnapping and murder. Of course, a very small number of bandit leaders may be Robin Hood-esque figures.

The train entered the territory of Shandong, and the speed gradually slowed down. Suddenly, the train braked suddenly, and the moving train came to a sudden stop. The passengers who were sitting upright were caught off guard and thrown out of the way. Due to the suddenness of the incident, before people could come to their senses, they heard a burst of shouts outside the train, mixed with the piercing gunshots. I was trying to peek out the window when a bullet whistled overhead and nearly killed me. So I quickly shrank back, and just as I was looking out, I saw a group of bandits shouting and shooting towards the train......"

——Excerpt from John Benjamin Powell's "Twenty-Five Years in China - Adventures in the Bandit's Lair"

Author's note: Mr. Powell bought the magazine in 1922 and became its editor-in-chief and publisher, and in 1941 Powell was arrested and imprisoned by the Japanese, where he was severely tortured to the point of crippled feet. He died in Washington, D.C., in 1947. This newspaper man is a real "old friend of the Chinese people."

"That's it!" The fifth brother of Hongqi patted his thigh and said, "Mr. Yuan...... That Hongjian brother, I will believe you this time. ”

Fourth Sister Jin Feng couldn't help but be surprised: "The ...... in charge"

"Lady, don't say it." Li Jie waved his hand and said, "If you want to say that anyone in the Chinese community in New York can not be trusted, can you still trust Brother Hongjixian?" I don't look at what other people are now. ”

Now our Master Yuan is indeed a man with status. But he knew that the other party was talking to him.

Yuan Yanqian said with a smile: "Okay, okay, fifth brother and fourth sister, we are all Hongmen's own brothers, adversity should be the same straw shop, and wealth should bloom under the tang." ”

The same straw shop is the meaning of the same cold kiln (prison), and the flowering under the tang is everyone to spend and wipe the flowers together.

"So how can the little brother harm you?

Master Yuan's expression was straight, and he said solemnly: "Fifth brother and fourth sister, I have arranged all the things in Germany. Mr. Julian Chandler is in charge of it, but you'd better go along and familiarize yourself with the process. ”

"You don't have to worry about shipping, the goods will be shipped to Sturgelmo for loading. And this ship is mine. ”

"As for the Chinese port...... Little brother, let me give you a thorough explanation, Japanese friends will take care of you. Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai, Xiamen, and even Wuhan, the ports where Japanese marines are stationed, have no problem......"

"Brother Hongji, you want to cooperate with the Japanese?" Cao Linsheng on the side couldn't help frowning when he heard this, and asked very dissatisfied.

"Brother Qingzhi, it's not the Japanese but the Japanese Navy!" Master Yuan didn't mind and said, "Besides, what's wrong with the Japanese......

Major Cao said with some excitement: "That's Japanese!" What's wrong? Brother Hongji, if it weren't for the Japanese, our Qingdao would ......"

Yuan Yanqian waved his hand and said, "I know, Brother Qingzhi." I know that they did go a little too far in Qingdao. But you know, the Japanese are not human. ”

"If you are a person, you will not really not be able to eat oil and salt, if you are a person, you will not love real money, and if you are a person, you will not have seven emotions and six desires. They are not made of special materials. ”

Our Master Yuan said earnestly: "Brother Qingzhi, there is an elder who once said that the army cannot do business, because it will corrode combat effectiveness. So you can think of it this way, we are smuggling arms with the Japanese, is this corroding the Japanese army? ”

"This can be regarded as a small contribution to the country."

He can't beat Cao Linsheng in a war, but there are really not many people in this world who can talk about him in this world.

"This ......" the poor West Point graduate didn't know how to refute it.

Yuan Yanqian pulled the conversation back and said, "In short, now only domestic affairs are left. ”

"Of course, how to expand sales channels depends on the fifth brother and fourth sister."

"As for the matter of pulling a team, I think as long as there is money and guns, where will there be no one? In fact, the younger brother thinks that it is almost enough to have a company......"

"Wait, Brother Hong." Li Jie raised his hand and said, "Speaking of this matter, I really lack people!" ”

He explained: "Brother knows that you have big plans, so you shouldn't want that kind of rabble. However, to build a refining master, even if there is only one company, it will take professionals. ”

"I can only build bridges, but I can't fight."

"It doesn't matter!" Yuan Yan pointed at Cao Linsheng nonchalantly and said, "Isn't this Brother Qingzhi going back to China soon, just ask him for help when the time comes." ”

As soon as he heard this, Major Cao immediately exploded, and he shook his head again and again: "I'm sorry, Brother Hongji." I'm not going to do that. And I can't. ”

"Brother Qingzhi, why can't you? You're a West Point graduate. Master Yuan said a little angrily, "When you say that, you look down on my brother." ”

"No, no, no, it's definitely not looking down on you." Cao Linsheng reacted quite quickly, and immediately found a rhetoric and said, "The younger brother is learning regular military operations, and he is not very familiar with family robbery...... That particular form of warfare. ”

Yuan Yanqian slandered in his heart, in fact, your regular military operations are not very good, otherwise Lao Zhang would not have retreated outside the border. It's better to specialize in special operations, and then follow Lao Tzu to Nanyang to mingle.

Perhaps, you will either become an expert in guerrilla warfare - Cao Wala, or you will become an expert in counter-guerrilla warfare - Cao Gangcun. Whether it is Wala or Gangcun, you will definitely leave a strong mark in the world's military history.

Thinking of this, the little guilt in the smile in our Master Yuan's heart disappeared, and he felt that he was pulling his brother along.

"Brother Qingzhi, this is yours." He was very dissatisfied and said, "Brother Ziyi started a group to defend Sangzi and rob the rich...... That's a good thing, don't think about it. ”

"Brother Hongjian ......"

Yuan Yanqian interrupted, "Okay, that's it!" ”

He said in his heart, okay, anyway, when I return to China, there will always be a way for you to comply.

Our Master Yuan remembered one more thing, and leaned over to the fourth sister of Jinfeng and said, "Fourth sister, the junior brother wants to ask you for a favor." ”

Mrs. Li, who was very jealous, said with a dry smile: "What's the matter, second master, please tell me directly." ”

"Oh, that's it......" he explained with some embarrassment, rubbing his hands, "it's not my little mi...... The female secretary was about to go around Germany. A girl's family is alone, and the younger brother is not very relieved. I don't know if I can ask the fourth sister to be her bodyguard for a while. ”

"Giggles...... Fourth Sister Jinfeng covered her mouth and smiled, "The second master is really a person who pities the fragrance and cherishes the jade." The concubine agreed to this matter. ”

"In the early hours of May 6, I woke up from my dream as the train shook and saw through the curtains a group of people hugging the train below. Soon, my box was filled with savage bandits, slashing at us, threatening us and robbing everything they saw. I was furious that a bandit had snatched a pearl necklace from me, and I sternly demanded that he pick up the beads that had been scattered all over the ground, but the bandit put the left pistol to my head.

After the bandits turned our things inside out, they half-pushed us off the train from the box. At that time, there was a moon in the sky. But the moonlight was dim, and I couldn't see anything at all, and I only felt that there was grass all under my feet, and I realized that I was walking towards the field. It was only then that I discovered that many of my fellow travelers had also become prisoners of the bandits.

On this night, I not only witnessed the atrocities of the bandits, but also saw some interesting things. Sometimes the bandits stopped me and asked me what the looted things were for. One of the bandits pulled out a jar of emollient cream and wondered if he could eat it. When I wiped my face with my hand to indicate that it was just cosmetics, he immediately threw it away. The bandits were interested in the looted medicines. I had to gesture to advise them that if they took the whole bottle of medicine, it would definitely be dangerous.

Soon our group came to a small village at the foot of the hill, which was very peaceful, but by this time the sun had risen, and it was very hot. I sat down with my back against the mud wall in the shade of the tree in front of my house. Some women and children began to look around us as foreigners.

I tried to have a conversation with a girl who wouldn't come forward, but I made friends with her little brother. There was a man in the village who was happy because the two siblings were his children. I spread my fingers and told him that I had five nephews, only to find out that he mistakenly thought I had five sons!

I found that the villagers were very kind, and a boy of about 10 years old could even speak English, which became my interpreter during my stay in the mountain village. After a while, I was surrounded by an "admiring" crowd of people looking at me like curious children, and a small-footed woman who could also speak English joined the crowd. I told her I was cold, so she took off her coat and wrapped it around me. Then she whispered in my ear that I would wait until there was a commotion and hide in the bushes by the roadside.

The officers and troops must have approached again, because the bandits were on the road again in panic. However, there seemed to be an accident at the front of the group, and I remembered the woman's words and hid in the grass as she said. When I began to remember that I hadn't told my two companions the news, I realized that I was alone, and that the others had already rushed to the front.

Before I could figure out the truth, I had actually left the bandit brigade, and I was out of danger. Later, I learned that the woman with small feet was Mrs. Lee. ”

—Excerpt from Lucy Aldrich's "The Adventures of a Miss America in China"

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For the record, this chapter is all written by Murong because I will not convert PDF to ORD.