Chapter 1 Some Panic

Jia Youde was truly starting to panic this time.

He stammered, trying to explain, "It wasn't me! It was them!

They did it, not me."

As he said this, his voice suddenly grew louder:

"I only asked them to bring the people back,

To have a good talk with them.

If there were any problems,

As fellow villagers, we could easily discuss them.

There was no need to trouble the officials.

The officials are so busy,

We shouldn't bother them with such trivial matters as our meals.

Absolutely not."

He had barely finished speaking when the others who were tied up protested.

This was a matter of murder,

And for murder, one must pay with one's life!

Such a simple principle was clear to everyone.

A middle-aged man interrupted Jia Youde's words with a cry,

Saying:

"Reporting to the official! We were tricked.

We were deceived by Jia Youde.

He said that these things

Were all ordered by the officials.

He said that some people had to eat well,

To build up their strength first,

So that they could show how kind the officials were to the disaster victims.

He told us to listen to him,

To eat well and do little work.

He said the officials said that the rest of the people just needed to not die completely.

He wanted us to add yellow dirt to the porridge,

Saying that this was a good method used by an honest official

To save people during the previous dynasty.

This would make it impossible for people who weren't disaster victims to eat the porridge,

Only those who were truly hungry,

Those who were about to starve to death, would be able to swallow it.

That way, we wouldn't waste any food.

That's why we added yellow dirt to the porridge every meal.

He told us to tie up anyone who was unruly,

So that they wouldn't cause trouble for the officials.

That's why we tied people up.

Official!

We're just villagers.

Without the officials' orders,

Even if we had the greatest courage, we wouldn't dare to harm anyone!"

Gu Xiuming coldly asked, "Where are they? Where are the people you tied up?"

The middle-aged man, who had said so much in one breath, suddenly fell silent.

He didn't dare to say anything more.

The group of people who had just been tied up had been indignant,

But now they all lowered their heads,

Afraid to look Gu Xiuming and the others in the eyes.

Stared at by Gu Xiuming and the surrounding people,

Sweat streamed down their faces,

And their bodies began to tremble.

At this moment, a girl rushed out of the crowd,

Running up to the middle-aged man:

"Uncle Li, what happened to my brother?

What did you do to my brother?"

Someone in the crowd whispered:

"Poor child, this disaster

Has left only two people in her family.

Now it seems only one seedling is left."

"The Xu family is probably finished now.

Leaving a girl behind, it seems there will be no descendants."

"Didn't they say that the second son of the Xu family had secretly escaped?"

"Can you believe the words of these beasts?"

...

Listening to the people around her talking,

The man called Uncle Li tightly closed his mouth,

And didn't say another word.

Another boy ran out: "Uncle Li!

Where's my brother?

Didn't you say that my brother didn't want me anymore,

That he secretly ran away?

And that I should follow you and change my surname to Li?"

Gu Xiuming looked at the two people who had run out.

The girl was probably sixteen or seventeen years old, and the boy was only about ten years old.

They had one thing in common: they were thin!

So thin that they were skin and bones.

Someone on the side pointed at the girl and boy surrounding Li Jiaguo, educating their own children:

"I always tell you to listen to me.

Now look at them, two reckless youngsters.

They don't have any elders to guide them at home.

They were making trouble the other day, and you wanted to join them.

Do you understand now?

Those two reckless boys must have suffered a cruel fate.

If I hadn't kept you in check,

The grass on your grave would be halfway up your head by now.

Now look at this.

The Xu and Wang families each have only one seedling left.

Old Xu was honest all his life,

And it's been less than a month since he passed away,

And now his son is gone too.

How will Sanyuan live alone?"

"Old Xu's daughter is so old,

She can find someone to marry and live her life.

The Wang family's half-grown boy,

Half-grown boys eat their fathers into poverty.

In this famine year, who has extra food to help him?

He's the one who really can't survive."

...

Gu Xiuming listened to these people and their increasingly outrageous claims.

He said loudly:

"Don't worry, everyone.

Our Lu Nan base area will not abandon the lonely and widowed.

It's just that his words

Clearly can't be trusted by these disaster victims anymore."

The one called Uncle Li

Finally couldn't bear it any longer and said, "They're dead!

Your brothers are all dead."

"Give me back my brother! Give me back my brother!"

The boy who had just called him Uncle Li

Was frantically tugging on Li Jiaguo's clothes.

Li Jiaguo's feet moved.

His hands were tied,

But his feet could move.

Judging from his expression,

He wanted to kick the child away,

But in the end, he didn't dare to move.

"I want to see them alive, and I want to see their bodies dead!

Where are they?" Gu Xiuming asked.

"They're buried! Buried not far outside!"

Now that Li Shu had spoken, he wasn't afraid anymore.

He answered every question.

He described how Jia Youde had gathered them together,

Letting them eat dry rice while others drank porridge.

As the amount of grain in other people's porridge became less and less,

The meat dishes in their bowls increased.

The clearer others ate, the better these people ate.

Xu Laoer and Zhang's eldest son,

These two reckless youths, complained that the Lu Nan Detachment had given everyone eight liang (a unit of weight) of grain,

But they hadn't received eight liang,

And they wanted to take the grain back and cook their own meals.

After Jia Youde refused,

They threatened to go to Sishui City to complain.

Xu Laoer and Zhang's eldest son didn't have any elders to guide them at home.

They said they would complain,

And so, after drinking their porridge in the morning,

They walked toward Sishui.

When Jia Youde learned of this,

He immediately sent all seventeen of his men to chase after them and tie them up.

The two reckless youths were tied up,

And they neither admitted their mistakes nor kowtowed.

They even shouted that as long as they were released,

They would still run to the city.

That's when Jia Youde ordered them to dig a pit and bury them.

Their bodies were buried halfway in the dirt,

And the two reckless youths became afraid.

They begged for mercy, asking Jia Youde to spare them because they were younger,

And because they were all fellow villagers.

But at this point, Jia Youde had already hardened his heart,

He ordered them to fill the pit with dirt,

And he even stomped on the dirt to make it firm,

Only then was he relieved.

That noon, Jia Youde even specially killed a chicken,

And offered wine and food to everyone to eat and drink well.

Hearing that they had buried the people like this,

The disaster victims who were watching were all frightened.

Although they had suspected it,

Actually hearing Li Shu say it,

Was still a bit hard to accept.

Some of the older men,

Pointed at Li Shu and Jia Youde and began to scold them:

"Li Laoyao! Jia Laoer! When you were little,

You grew up with Xu Erniu and Wang Dazhu, naked and carefree.

You fished together in the river, and you climbed trees together to cause mischief.

How could you bring yourselves to harm his descendants?"

Jia Youde finally spoke: "They were going to report me,

What could I do?

I had no choice!"

Gu Xiuming asked Jia Youde:

"You're all disaster victims,

But you made everyone else eat porridge with yellow dirt,

A thin soup so watery you could see your reflection in it,

While you ate dry rice.

Did you add yellow dirt to your rice?"

Jia Youde didn't dare to speak.

"You're all disaster victims!

Who gave you the courage

To divide people into classes?"

Gu Youde grew more and more angry. He hadn't expected Lin Fan to trust him so much,

Asking him to be responsible here, asking him to save the disaster victims.

But instead, he had made things like this.

Calming down,

Gu Youde ordered: "Give the order to the regiments stationed in each county.

Each regiment must thoroughly investigate the grain distributed to the disaster victim reclamation groups.

Did the disaster victims actually receive the grain?

Don't let a single person who has embezzled grain get away with it.

Pay special attention to those disaster victims who are eating with rosy cheeks."

Those disaster victims who had been listless when building the wall

Began to dig at the spot Li Jiaguo had pointed out.

These were all experienced farmers. After Li Jiaguo pointed out the location,

They could tell that the color of the soil there was different from the surrounding soil.

Something had definitely been done there.

Before long,

Two corpses were lying on the ground, just dug up.

Their hands were tied behind their backs with ropes.

Even though they had been dead for so many days, and their flesh had already begun to rot,

Judging from the appearance of their bones,

They had truly been buried alive.

The two corpses gave off a strong stench.

The girl and boy ran up to the corpses,

And began to cry bitterly.

The people around them were all saying that Jia Youde and Li Jiaguo had lost their consciences and done inhumane things.

They said that they would be punished for what they had done.

Gu Xiuming's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

He ordered, "Gather all the disaster victims here.

Hold a public trial.

Let everyone determine whether they are guilty or not."

At this point, those disaster victims who had been following Gu Xiuming and his men

Finally believed that Gu Xiuming had truly come to speak for them.

Jia Youde's group, who had been tied up by Gu Xiuming,

Numbered seventeen.

There were nine people cooking in the kitchen.

Although they hadn't been tied up,

They were standing on the side, trembling.

Those who had been listless when building the wall

Finally had energy now.

One by one, they rushed to the stage,

Accusing Jia Youde and his men of eating chicken and meat, drinking and smoking,

While giving the others thin rice porridge with water and a bit of rice soup.

Someone also accused Jia Youde of using dry rice and meat to lure young girls and wives into his bed,

And then transferring them to work in the kitchen.

As soon as these words were spoken,

The women in the kitchen couldn't stand steady.

Some of their faces were red, and others were pale.

Their bodies, which had already been trembling, were now shaking like sieves.

A girl as thin as a bamboo pole stepped forward,

Sobbing for a long time without being able to speak.

This was the sister of one of the dead men,

The girl who had called Li Shu "Uncle" earlier.

The originally noisy meeting place, after this girl stood up,

Gradually became silent.

The entire meeting place was so quiet you could hear a pin drop!

She sobbed for a long time before finally asking Jia Youde:

"You said my brother had run away with people,

And told me to stay here,

And that you would take care of me in my brother's place.

You even said you wanted to marry me!"

She knelt down to Gu Xiuming,

Scaring Gu Xiuming so much that he quickly stepped forward to help her up:

"Girl! We don't do that in our team.

Speak your mind!"

"I want to kill him to avenge my brother!"

After she said this, her body swayed,

And she couldn't stand steady anymore.

Gu Xiuming, who was used to seeing life and death, panicked.

He knew that this girl was hungry.

With one hand supporting the girl,

He took a chocolate bar out of his pocket with the other.

This chocolate was what Lin Fan had given to the soldiers of the Special Operations Company when they were short on supplies.

They hadn't been distributed since the team arrived in Jurong.

Gu Xiuming tore open the wrapper,

And the scent of chocolate immediately spread.

"Eat it! This stuff can quickly replenish your strength," Gu Xiuming said softly.

At this point, the disaster victims on the scene were shouting along with the girl:

"Kill him!"

"Kill him!"

...

Watching the girl's face flush red,

And how she shared the chocolate with the little boy whose brother had also been killed,

Before eating the chocolate in small bites herself,

And how her body had steadied,

Gu Xiuming finally let go,

Turned around to face the indignant crowd,

And shouted loudly: "Quiet down!

Quiet down!"

The crowd slowly quieted down.

Gu Xiuming said:

"Jia Youde embezzled public grain, lining his own pockets,

He deserves to die!

These accomplices, aiding and abetting the evildoer, deserve to die!

Execute them immediately!"

Gu Xiuming was able to judge Jia Youde and his evil-doers.

Killing them would be the end of it.

But he really didn't know what to do with the women in the kitchen.

From the accusations just now, Gu Xiuming had gathered that

These women had all paid a price to be able to help in the kitchen.

Not punishing them would fail to set an example.

Punishing them would mean punishing a group of miserable people.

These people had nothing but their bodies.

If they were imprisoned, they would be able to eat their fill.

They might even welcome it.

And everyone knew what they had done,

So who knew how their families would treat them?

Gu Xiuming thought about it, looking at the girl who had just received the chocolate from him,

And who had shared the chocolate with several other people.

Although the chocolate bar wasn't small,

After being divided among several people,

Each person only got a small piece.

Gu Xiuming nodded and walked over, asking, "What's your name?"

"Chen Sanyuan!"

Gu Xiuming looked at the girl, who was skin and bones.

He could still see her delicate figure. Because she was so thin, her eyes looked especially large.

Chen Sanyuan saw Gu Xiuming staring blankly.

She lowered her head and said shyly:

"I had a serious illness when I was little, and I was about to die.

A wandering doctor asked my father for three silver yuan (currency).

He said it could buy my life.

After I recovered,

My father changed my name."

Gu Xiuming couldn't help but smile.

He asked, "Xu Sanyuan, I'm asking you.

If I were to let you lead the villagers to build houses,

Reclaim wasteland, plant fields, and distribute grain,

Would you be willing?"

"I would be willing!" Xu Sanyuan said firmly.

Gu Xiuming continued: "You've seen it too. For their own selfish gains,

These people made so many of my fellow villagers go hungry.

If you do the same, I won't show any mercy."

"Official, don't worry! If I eat even a grain of rice more than the villagers,

Then you can shoot me."

Chen Sanyuan said, looking at the rifle Gu Xiuming was carrying in his hand.

Gu Xiuming nodded. "These women don't deserve to die.

It's up to you to decide what to do with them.

Jia Youde and his men deserve to be killed,

But not here.

They should be dragged to the graves of the two dead men and killed."

Everyone came to the front of the two corpses that had been buried alive.

Gu Xiuming issued the order: "Shoot them!"

After a burst of gunfire, a total of seventeen people were shot there.

Gu Xiuming walked back and forth in front of the seventeen corpses,

And finally ordered: "Erect seventeen wooden stakes.

It's too cheap to let these seventeen people die like this.

Hang them here,

So that everyone who sees these corpses

Will remember:

People are watching what you do!"

After all, there were thousands of people here,

And it was impossible for Xu Sanyuan to manage them all alone.

Gu Xiuming sent a platoon here,

To help her manage the area.

After thinking it over, Gu Xiuming finally decided:

"Distribute the grain to each person.

Let each family cook for themselves.

This is the only way to truly prevent this situation from happening again."

At this time,

Instead of trusting someone's integrity,

It was better to cut off the foundation for embezzlement from the root.

Gu Xiuming said to Xu Sanyuan:

"Starting today,

Distribute the eight liang of grain allocated to each person every day to each household,

And let them cook for themselves at home.

Stop eating communal meals in the canteen.

You must first concentrate everyone on building houses for the winter.

You also need to plant some vegetables to eat next,

Reclaim wasteland, and prepare for autumn planting.

Tell everyone that the more wasteland they reclaim,

The more farmland each person will be allocated.

This farmland, which you reclaim,

Will be your own in the future.

The houses that are built, four people to a room,

Must be properly allocated so that everyone has a place to live.

You also need to have them take the grain back to their homes

And plan it out so that they don't eat it all in a few days

And starve for the rest of the month."

At this point,

Xu Sanyuan's eyes were shining, and she said softly:

"I understand!"

Gu Xiuming thought for a moment and gave her another chocolate bar:

"Don't give it to anyone else, keep it for yourself!

If there's anything you can't solve, come to the city and find me.

My name is Gu Xiuming!"

"Okay!" Xu Sanyuan's voice was even softer.

Gu Xiuming left a platoon and took his men to the next reclamation point.

Seeing the situation here,

He was a little anxious and a little flustered.

A good thing,

Had turned out like this in his hands.

Fortunately, the situation at the second reclamation point was much better.

Everyone was full of energy,

Working hard to build walls and houses.

Near the places where the adults were working,

There were also many children running around.

Gu Xiuming asked a few children

And learned that they were eating rice thick enough to stand chopsticks in.

Then he found the person in charge here,

Encouraged him and told him to do a good job.

Next, the Lu Nan Detachment would give them vegetable seeds,

Farming tools, and mules and horses,

So that they could reclaim more land now,

Prepare for autumn planting,

And strive for a bumper harvest next year.

That day, Gu Xiuming visited six reclamation points

And found problems at two of them.

Gu Xiuming showed no mercy to those black-hearted people who were exploiting their fellow villagers.

He killed them and exposed their bodies as a warning to the others.

At these two reclamation points,

Gu Xiuming had them cook separately,

But work collectively.

It was getting dark!

Gu Xiuming returned to Sishui and began to inquire about the situation in the other counties.

He told them what he had seen today,

And also reported how he had dealt with it.

He demanded that those who embezzled and ate more than their share be resolutely cracked down on.

At the same time, he instructed each county to strictly investigate merchants who were smuggling grain out of the base area.

He would deal with anyone caught to the fullest extent of the law.

He also reported his situation

To Lin Fan.

Lin Fan didn't criticize him too much,

But just told him to learn from his mistakes.

This was the first time Lin Fan had encountered such a situation.

He didn't have many good solutions either.

But he had backup.

Li Desheng, who was far away in northern Shaanxi,

Had recently published an article that sparked worldwide discussion.

Seeing the letter for help that Lin Fan had sent,

He couldn't help but laugh: "This young friend really turns to the organization whenever he has a problem!"

Seeing his smile, the comrades around him knew

That Li Desheng was in a good mood.

Zhou Enlai suggested: "We already have an army over there.

We can send a work team to help the Lu Nan Detachment with local work.

At the same time, we can make overall arrangements for the next battle,

So that we can take unified action when the time comes."

Li Desheng thought for a moment:

"They do things differently from us when it comes to fighting and working.

For the time being, let's not have unified military command.

But we can establish a connection,

So that we can share intelligence with each other.

As for local matters,

Whether it's the Special Operations Brigade or the Lu Nan Detachment,

They're completely handing them over to us.

We can support them in a unified way,

But we must adhere to one principle:

We can monitor the financial situation of the Lu Nan Detachment and the Special Operations Brigade,

And offer suggestions on their policies,

But we should try not to interfere.

In addition, we must further strengthen the organization within the Lu Nan Detachment and the Special Operations Brigade.

Lin Fan has already established organizations down to the company level.

We must further strengthen the cadres of these organizations,

So that they can more accurately grasp the soldiers' ideological trends."

"Understood!

The Lu Nan Detachment's base area now has eleven counties,

And it is constantly expanding.

The Japanese devils are currently focusing on attacking Wuhan,

Leaving their rear empty. This is a good time to establish a base area."

Li Desheng said cheerfully:

"We can transfer some people from here

And from the Eighth Army.

The militia that Lin Fan set up in Jurong

Was very good.

In the Lu Nan base area, the guerrillas like those in Longjia Village are also very good.

After our local staff members go down,

They can also follow this model.

The military and the people are one family.

Everyone picks up a gun to defend their home,

And the Japanese devils won't be far from their demise."

"That's right! I heard that in Jurong, every village has its own security team.

They're all equipped with rifles and machine guns,

And they have training and live-fire exercises every month.

That's basically a regular army.

And the number has reached 100,000,

Which is a powerful force."

"The young friend has a knack for fighting the Japanese devils, and he has an even better knack for developing his forces.

I heard that he recently took on Dai Li's job,

And went to operate in the belly of the Japanese devils.

The results have been very good."

"Yes! In Nanjing City,

They not only target big traitors, but also small traitors!

Now, what ordinary people in Nanjing City are talking about is not envy for how well those traitors are living,

But rather, they're coldly watching what happens to those traitors.

This kind of public opinion is very useful for our propaganda."

...

At this time, Lin Fan was already in Deqing.

He was preparing to enter Hangzhou.

When he heard that the organization had decided to send a team of more than eight hundred elite personnel to support the Lu Nan base area,

He finally felt relieved.

He was confident in Gu Xiuming when it came to fighting,

But there weren't many experts in the Special Operations Brigade when it came to local governance.

Lin Fan was still a little worried about this.

But now, of course, he wasn't worried anymore.

Next, Lin Fan's main focus would be on dealing with Zhang Xiaolin.

Since Zhang Xiaolin had boarded the Japanese devils' ship last November,

He had been somewhat on guard.

Especially after that time in Huang Jinrong's Great World,

When Lin Fan had taken him hostage.

Zhang Xiaolin had become especially concerned about his own security,

And had been constantly recruiting skilled bodyguards.

He could afford to pay, and he had power and influence in Shanghai,

So there were still many people willing to work for him.

In recent days, he had also recruited several good men with good skills and marksmanship.

As the two big tycoons, Huang Jinrong and Du Yuesheng, one left and one retired,

Zhang Xiaolin's influence in Shanghai had expanded rapidly, and his ambitions were also expanding.

The Japanese devils' occupation of Shanghai was definitely not just to show off their military might,

Their ultimate goal was still money.

They had extracted a lot of money from this country in the past,

Using this money to complete the transformation of the entire country from an agricultural society to a modern society.

The purpose of this war was to extract huge amounts of money from this country again,

To transfer their domestic economic crisis.

Now, the interests and some profitable industries in Shanghai

Had mostly been taken over by Zhang Xiaolin.

Of course, the Japanese devils weren't willing to accept this.

They had paid such a great price

And so many Japanese devils had died. How could they be willing to help a Shanghai gangster tycoon for nothing?

So the conflict between the Japanese devils and Zhang Xiaolin had emerged.

These days, Zhang Xiaolin had returned to his hometown of Hangzhou to avoid the Japanese devils.

Hangzhou was a small city, and the Japanese devils' power and control were far less than in Shanghai.

More importantly, Zhang Xiaolin felt that he could raise 20,000 of his own men in Hangzhou at any time,

So that he wouldn't be afraid of the Japanese devils using underhanded tricks.

He was hiding in his villa, and at least four hundred gunmen were stationed outside the house.

These were the core disciples he had specially maintained.

They were well-paid, and they were paid enough money

To get them to work hard for him,

The kind who would truly give their lives for him.

Zhang Xiaolin was hiding in the villa and usually didn't go out.

People came to him if they had something to do.

This made it easy for Lin Fan to find Zhang Xiaolin's villa.

It was just that the Zhang family's villa was quite large, covering more than fifty mu (a unit of area).

There were also many houses inside.

If they launched a direct attack, Zhang Xiaolin only needed to run into his garden.

With such a large area, whether he hid

Or escaped, it wouldn't be easy to find him.

In Lin Fan's eyes,

Zhang Xiaolin's guard team

Was nothing.

The Special Operations Brigade could come and go freely in Nanjing City.

They didn't even notice the guard team of a gangster tycoon.

It was just that they couldn't accurately locate this traitor's position,

Making it difficult to attack.

Lin Fan observed from afar for two days,

And discovered that there were quite a few dogs in his villa.

Lin Fan found at least thirteen German Shepherds,

Who patrolled day and night,

Making it even more difficult to sneak in and assassinate him.

Returning to his residence, Lin Fan gathered Feng Junya and the others to discuss.

Feng Junya suggested:

"If we assassinate him at night, Zhang Xiaolin only needs to run out of the house,

And it will be difficult to find him if he goes outside.

Why don't we take action during the day,

And fight our way in through the front door?"

He was going to break through with force.

Lin Fan thought for a moment: "That's also a way!"

Although it was easier to see people during the day,

There was still a possibility that he could escape.

If a traitor like Zhang Xiaolin were allowed to escape again,

Who knew where he would hide next time?

After all, he had been ambushed in his car in Shanghai,

And had been shot at with a machine gun.

It was only because he hadn't gotten into the car at the last minute that he had escaped death.

It was precisely because Zhang Xiaolin wasn't sure whether it was the Japanese devils who wanted to kill him,

Or Dai Li,

That he was hiding in his hometown to avoid disaster.

Everyone gathered together, but they still couldn't come up with a good solution.

Lin Fan had already stayed here for five days,

And he couldn't wait any longer.

Lin Fan decided: a direct attack.

He had the northeast part of the team stationed in Deqing secretly send a company over.

They would bring earth tanks. Since they were going to attack head-on, they had to do it properly.

Anyway, Zhang Xiaolin's villa was five li (a unit of distance) from the city.

Even if a fight broke out here,

It would take the Japanese devils at least half an hour to arrive.

If the Special Operations Brigade placed a few directional mines on the road,

By the time the Japanese devils broke through the obstruction and arrived,

They would have already retreated.

Once the plan was set, they began to prepare.

The northeast team also secretly shifted its forces in this direction,

To prepare to intercept the Japanese devils' subsequent pursuit.

Two days later, the Special Operations Brigade began to take action.

That day, the weather was clear and sunny.

It was a good day.

People were constantly coming to visit Zhang Xiaolin's villa.

Zhang Taiping stood at the door,

Watching his disciples directing the visiting guests to park their cars,

And get out of their sedans.

His heart was full of pride.

Each of these people was a prominent figure in Shanghai and Hangzhou.

Some of them had come all the way from Shanghai

Specifically to visit Zhang Xiaolin.

In the past six months, his master had been the dominant force in Shanghai,

And those who had been following his master had also been shaking things up.

Today, the weather was very good, and there were many people coming to visit.

Zhang Xiaolin was also in a very good mood.

He seemed to have forgotten about the assassination attempt in Shanghai a few days ago

And was instructing a room full of successful people.

The things they were discussing

Were related to the current situation.

The Yellow River breach at Huayuankou had blocked the Japanese devils' mechanized troops,

But it had also caused tens of millions of people to suffer,

And there were millions of refugees.

Whenever such a situation occurred,

The most scarce resource was food.

The reason why so many people had gathered here at Zhang Xiaolin's place today

Was to discuss the food problem.

Of course, they weren't discussing how to provide food for disaster relief.

These people were discussing how to control the price of food

To make the market price of food even higher.

Mei Youde said with some distress:

"The price of grain in Jurong has refused to rise.

The grain they sell to Suzhou and Hangzhou is also at a fair price."

Zhang Xiaolin smiled without saying a word.

Another grain merchant said: "Please make the decision, Mr. Zhang!"

This grain merchant was called Zhen Youcai.

Many people echoed his words.

These people were very anxious now.

They saw an opportunity to make a lot of money,

But someone was blocking their path, and they didn't dare to confront that person head-on.

In their eyes, every day that the price of grain didn't rise,

Their money was being eaten away by those commoners.

Zhen Youcai said:

"They now limit everyone to buying only five jin (a unit of weight) of grain at a time.

And they must be old customers.

We can't even interfere and cause trouble."

One of the merchants who had come from Shanghai asked:

"Can't you hire a few people to make trouble?"

Mei Youde's face changed: "Those people are very fierce. We can't beat them."

"Don't they sell any grain to outsiders at all?" Zhang Xiaolin asked.

"That's right! We invited them to discuss the price of grain today,

But they didn't send anyone.

They just brought a message: no price increases!"

The others laughed: "Who are they to dare to say such a thing?"

Zhang Xiaolin thought for a moment: "Let's mind our own business.

They can sell theirs, and we can sell ours.

Since they only sell to old customers, then we'll just do business with fewer people."

Mei Youde said with a mournful face: "If we don't follow their lead,

We won't be able to get any grain. Our grain comes from Guangde.

Mr. Zhang, you're now a man of your word.

You can talk to them.

If the price can be raised, we're willing to give you 30% of the profits as a reward."

This was the idea behind these dozen or so grain merchants gathering together and visiting at the same time.

They wanted Zhang Xiaolin to use his means, preferably to make it so that the Special Operations Brigade couldn's keep their grain stores in Suzhou and Hangzhou open.

Only then could these people raise prices.

In fact, those grain stores didn't belong to the Special Operations Brigade. It was just that the merchants all came from Guangde,

And they had to follow the Special Operations Brigade's arrangements in some matters.

Zhang Xiaolin said coldly:

"Six-four split!"

The grain merchants looked at each other. They hadn't expected Zhang Xiaolin to have such a big appetite.

He wasn't spending a penny, but he wanted to take 60% of the profits.

Mei Youde thought for a moment and said to the other grain merchants:

"When the time comes, we'll be the only ones with grain in our hands.

If we raise the price by a large margin, we'll make the profits back."

The grain merchants thought he was right.

So everyone laughed and reached a consensus.

Zhang Xiaolin waved his hand, and his servants brought up red wine.

This was imitating the Western style,

Raising their glasses to celebrate the success of their cooperation.

Everyone in the room began to fantasize about how they would control the grain prices in the Jiangzhe area,

And further control the national grain prices. The financial prospects were broad!

Even the old merchants had excited expressions on their faces.

Just then, there seemed to be a few explosions coming from the front gate.

Followed by continuous gunfire.

Zhang Xiaolin's face changed:

"Who dares to fire guns here?"

Mei Youde and the others were still calmly staying in the room.

They believed that the master of the house would be able to settle things quickly.

After all, this was Zhang Xiaolin's home ground.

Before a minute had passed, a person ran in in a panic:

"Mr. Zhang! A group of bandits has come from outside.

..."

Before he could finish speaking,

Zhang Xiaolin sneered: "Am I a good person?"

The person who had come in didn't know what to say.

"Go on!" Zhang Xiaolin was a little angry.

His good mood had been ruined.

"The people outside have machine guns and grenades!

The brothers at the gate can't hold them back."

"Where's my machine gun team?

Are they eating dry rice?