Volume 1 Teacher Chapter 13: Taking a Concubine (Part 1)
"Zhixiang, you have done a good job in leading the soldiers in the past few months."
Lu Jianzhang closed the report in his hand. After two surprise attacks, he had obviously recognized Dai Jiliang's ability to lead troops.
"Except for shooting, which requires a lot of practice, other skills such as cross-country marching, assassination and combat have improved significantly."
In fact, Lu Jianzhang was more curious about the scientific nature of the quantitative indicators in Dai Jiliang's report. Don't say that the Beiyang warlords were all ignorant. At least the people brought by Yuan Shikai had a good sense of foresight.
"You did a great job on this month-on-month report. It's very novel and intuitive. If Commander Duan saw it, he might regret handing over such a talented general like you to the Guards."
"Thank you for your praise, Commander. Without the help of my brothers, Zhixiang would not have achieved this result."
Dai Jiliang had read Jin Yong in his previous life, so he naturally knew that a fancy sedan chair carrying someone is actually carrying himself.
"It's fine, there's nothing to be modest about."
Lu Jianzhang waved his hand.
"Now that all the troops are undergoing supplementary training, the Guards Army naturally cannot fall behind. You should do your best."
Mr. Lu made a big promise, so naturally Dai Jiliang acted like he was filled with gratitude.
"By the way, you nominated Li Guo as company commander and Chu Gan as deputy company commander. I have approved this. Ma Kang's promotion to major can also be processed immediately. If you have any other requests, please put them forward at the same time."
"Commander, can you find a way to get some grenades? They are useful for both offense and defense."
What worried Dai Jiliang was that the guards had no heavy weapons, which would be a big loss once a fight broke out. If each person could throw a few grenades, then at least they would be of some use.
"Hand grenades? The same thing as the Kuomintang's bomb squad. Got it, what else?"
Lu Jianzhang nodded and wrote something in his notebook.
"Ding Baonian and Sheng Baoting have both left the team. I want to replace them, but I need the boss's approval."
Dai Jiliang was a little greedy, and he wanted to take the opportunity to adjust the personnel and place a few people in the teaching team who could barely be considered his direct subordinates into each company.
"Write up a report and I'll review it."
Lu Jianzhang now responds to Dai Jiliang's every request, which is obviously the same as the boss's obedience to Tops.
"By the way, the President is hosting a banquet for foreign ministers at the Xinhua Palace tonight. Several of our Beiyang leaders will also attend. Go back and call E Tao to come with him. Come to my place at five o'clock. I will take you in to broaden your horizons."
State banquet? Let us go? Dai Jiliang was puzzled, but he did not hesitate and stood at attention.
"yes!"
"Why are the ministers not here?"
By the time Dai Jiliang and his party arrived at the Xinhua Palace, it was already six or seven in the evening. It was not because of the traffic congestion in Beijing at that time. The key point was that except for Lu Jianzhang and a few bigwigs, all other Beiyang officers of all levels who accompanied them had to be searched every time they entered a door. There were many people coming today, and by the time Dai Jiliang and his party went in, the dinner was almost over.
"I guess they are all having secret talks with the President in there."
After taking a few bites of rice, the waiters came to collect the plates.
"It looks like a few big guys are in other rooms. We are just small fry."
E Tao seemed very familiar with it, but it was probably just hearsay.
"According to tradition, there should be a dance party next. I heard that Zhixiang is a good dancer. We can see him today."
E Tao said in Dai Jiliang's ear with a smile, to be honest, with their status, it was already a rare event to be able to enter the Xinhua Palace. If they could hug a foreign woman and dance Western dance, if this got out, their colleagues would surely be envious to death.
"Forget it!"
Dai Jiliang glanced around and felt very disappointed. Not to mention the socialites around him who were all wearing makeup and looked like ghosts, even the military officers and politicians who were flirting with them did not look easy to deal with. And then there were the white women, who all looked down on him and spoke as if they were from a colonial country, which really turned Dai Jiliang off.
"I've been so tired lately. I don't have the interest or energy to dance this."
"Lieutenant Steinberg, oh, now you are Lieutenant Colonel. It's a pleasure to meet you here!"
Suddenly, a sentence in German rang in the ears of the two men. Dai Jiliang looked carefully and saw that the big German man Manhain suddenly appeared beside him.
Who said that only small people live here? It was really unlucky. I didn't expect that I would be discovered by this big guy even though I was hiding in such a secret place.
Dai Jiliang cursed his mother secretly, but a very sincere smile appeared on his face.
"I never expected to meet you here, sir. What a coincidence."
The two of them had a meaningless conversation in German, but after a while, under Mannhein's deliberate guidance, the topic began to deepen.
"No, no, no, I don't agree with you. Trench warfare is an outdated method of warfare in Europe. Bastion can no longer withstand large-caliber siege artillery."
Manhayn scoffed at Dai Jiliang's view that once the European war broke out, it would inevitably evolve into a bloody trench warfare.
"Barbed wire? Landmines? That's not a problem. Artillery can easily destroy everything."
"What about Qingdao? According to your opinion, is Qingdao's defense also vulnerable?"
Dai Jiliang used his own spear to attack his own shield.
"Can Japan's 280mm siege guns and 305mm and above naval heavy artillery easily tear through the defenses on Bismarck Hill and Moltke Hill?"
"Little Japan?"
Manhain said with disdain.
"Admiral Tirpitz once said that without an army's worth of troops, you can't capture these fortresses. I think if the Japanese want to take Qingdao, then we don't mind letting them enjoy the treatment of Port Arthur."
"But in the end, the Japanese had the last laugh in the Russo-Japanese War, and what Japan lacked the least was probably cannon fodder."
Dai Jiliang was sharp-eyed and immediately noticed a Japanese army lieutenant colonel walking towards him, so he immediately changed his words.
"And I personally don't think the German Far East Fleet has the ability to fight against the Japanese Combined Fleet. Without control of the sea, Qingdao is nothing but a dead end."
After these words were spoken, Manhain was like a bull with red eyes, panting heavily, but because what Dai Jiliang said was indeed reasonable, the atmosphere became silent for a moment.
"What are you two talking about?"
An expected voice finally interrupted. It was obvious that this patient listener had been listening a lot and only interrupted after the two sides had finished talking.
"Just now, I happened to hear you two talking about the Imperial Japanese Army. Can I join in this conversation?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Honjo Shigeru, we were just chatting for a moment."
As soon as Manhain finished speaking, Dai Jiliang's eyes fixed. The guy in front of him was the future commander of the Kwantung Army and the initiator of the "September 18th" Incident.
"Why? Is there anything you two cannot hide?"
Of course, at this moment Honjo Shigeru was only the deputy military attaché of Japan in China, so he was quite competent in using diplomatic rhetoric.
"What is the name of this lieutenant colonel? When did the Chinese army produce such a military genius that he could actually silence a lieutenant colonel in the great German Empire?"
Honjo Shigeru's words were quite vicious. If this was not a diplomatic occasion, Manhain might have jumped up and beat him up.
"Meet Mr. Honjo."
Now is the time to act like a grandson. One day I will settle accounts with you Japanese. With this in mind, Dai Jiliang saluted Honjo Shigeru coldly.
"I am a member of the 20th class of the Japanese Army Academy."
"So he's Lu Shi's junior."
Honjo Shigeru laughed, and in response to Dai Jiliang's Japanese, he responded in Japanese with satisfaction.
“No wonder they were able to overwhelm the Germans.”
"I'm sorry, Senior, I'm also a lieutenant in the German Army."
Honjo Shigeru's laughter suddenly stopped, and he stared at Dai Jiliang with an incredible look, but Dai Jiliang immediately decided to ignore it.
"Just now I was discussing some tactical issues with Commander Manhain, and I forgot to cite the example of the Battle of Port Arthur. Please forgive me, Senior."
Dai Jiliang knew that Honjo Shigeru could understand German, so he changed it back. These two words, which did not offend anyone, immediately eased the tense mood of both parties.
"I'm sorry, I have official business."
Seeing that more and more people in the hall were looking at him, Dai Jiliang decided to put his plan into action. He pulled E Tao's hand.
"I am so sorry, my two military officers. We will meet again later."
"An interesting Chinese guy, and a graduate of the Army Academy."
Honjo Shigeru looked at the fleeing Dai Jiliang's back with amusement, and seemed to be talking to himself while talking to the German beside him.
"It seems we need to investigate why another figure like Jiang Fangzhen has emerged among the Chinese."
However, what he got in return was a roll of the eyes from the big guy...
"Zhixiang, what did you say to the Japanese afterwards?"
Although he was dissatisfied with Dai Jiliang's hasty retreat, E Tao did not say anything, but just asked curiously about what happened next.
"Nothing, ah, brother Zhi, you understand German, good fellow, you are very good at hiding your talents!"
Dai Jiliang stood still abruptly and looked at E Tao in disbelief.
"Tell me, what else are you hiding from me?"
"I didn't learn in vain in the Noble Academy. What a pity!"
E Tao lowered his head dejectedly.
"I'm sorry, brother."
Dai Jiliang sincerely apologized, and seeing that they had already exited the Xinhua Gate, he waved his hand.
"Horse carriage, go to Qianmen Meishi Street."
"Don't send me off. I can walk back by myself."
As soon as E Tao heard it, he knew that Dai Jiliang was going to give him a ride. He must have known that he had no money and didn't know how to take a taxi, so he went in the opposite direction and went to Meishi Street first.
"Don't argue. It's not far to walk back, but it will take an hour. We have important things to do in the camp tomorrow, and I don't want you to be delayed because of your poor spirits."
Dai Jiliang insisted, and E Tao had no choice but to let it go.
"No money? Even if you sell your house and your family, you will have to pay off your debts.
I'm going to sue you. Your brother owes you a lot of money, and the interest is compounded.
If you don’t pay it back today , I will sell both of you sisters to a brothel tomorrow.”
As soon as he arrived at the entrance of the alley and opened the car door, he heard a noise not far away.
"what happened?"
Dai Jiliang also took care of the account.
"Forcing women of good character into prostitution, is this acceptable?"
Of course, he was just trying to show off in front of E Tao. After all, the people living here were either E Tao's relatives or people from the same banner. Otherwise, he wouldn't care.
"Let's go and have a look."
"Zhou Kuazi, what's going on?"
Two people squeezed over, and it was obvious that E Tao knew the debt collector.
"How much money does the Zieg family owe you? Why are you trying to ruin their family?"
"Hey, Master E!"
This Zhou Kuazi is obviously a tough guy.
"It is only natural to pay back debts. His eldest son has owed our Master Lu money for cigarettes for three months and he still hasn't paid it back. It's a good deal for him to ask his two sisters to pay off the debt."
Smoking opium? Dai Jiliang looked at the thin bamboo pole hiding behind him with disgust. This is a bottomless pit. It will hurt others and yourself.
"You're talking nonsense!"
Although she looked like a young girl of only sixteen or seventeen, with pretty features, she could be very fierce when she got angry, and she would pick up a broom and swing it across her face.
"Didn't you guys lure my brother to the opium den? Now you're plotting against my family. Tell me, are there any people who are so unscrupulous?"
"Okay, I'll pay whatever money the Zieg family owes."
E Tao's face was full of black lines. Although they were distantly related, the Bannerman had already done this to him. He didn't want to be bullied in front of him again.
"The interest is compounded, so I'll give you eighteen dollars in cash."
It is obvious that Lu Ye behind Zhou Kuazi is very powerful. Not only are there no traces of police on the streets, but Zhou Kuazi can also remain calm when facing E Tao, his nemesis.
"Eighteen dollars, come and grab it, Brother E, no, my brother only borrowed a little over one dollar."
The girl's face flushed red. If it weren't for her brother's incompetence, she really wanted to beat up the thugs in front of her.
"That's really splashy. I wonder if she'll splash it on the customers in the brothel?"
Of course Zhou Kuazi ignored the girl's excuse.
"Master E, if you really want to act like this, just give me the money. Otherwise, it won't be over."
"this?"
When he heard the price of eighteen yuan, E Tao was dumbfounded. He could squeeze out two yuan himself, but how could he come up with eighteen yuan?
E Tao looked at Dai Jiliang beside him.
"Captain, how about you lend me some money and slowly deduct it from my salary?"
"Brother Zhi, think carefully, this is a bottomless pit!"
Dai Jiliang pointed at the man hiding behind the girl.
"You paid it back for him today, but he might go back again tomorrow. Can you still help him again and again?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Dai Jiliang suddenly discovered a little girl of about eleven or twelve timidly coming out from behind and hugging the legs of the Manchu girl in front.
Dai Jiliang stopped talking abruptly. That little girl was too, too coquettish, with a small oval face and a pair of big electric eyes. Although she hasn't grown up yet, anyone with a discerning eye can tell that she will be a disaster for the country and the people in the future. No wonder these thugs set this trap, it turned out to be for this little girl. In his previous life, when he saw the photos of Guangxu's concubines, he thought there were no pretty ones among the Manchus. It seems that he was still blinded by his own shortsightedness .
Dai Jiliang was still thinking, but E Tao beside him started nagging.
"If you can help, you should help. Who told the old man to pass away so early? I am related to his family. Now that the matter has come to an end, do you think I can just ignore it? To be honest, it has not been easy for the brothers and sisters to survive until now. Although the salary of the bannermen was always deducted by the higher-ups in the past, there was still some hope. Now, the iron-clad crops are gone. The eldest brother couldn't figure it out and went to smoke a few puffs. Oh, what a sin!"
E Tao sighed. It was obvious that he was very familiar with the situation of this family. However, he soon discovered that something was wrong with Dai Jiliang. He glanced at him sideways and a thought popped up in his mind. It was heard that this guy was a famous figure in Japan.
He thought and did it, and pulled Dai Jiliang aside.
"Zhixiang, are you interested in that girl? Don't, don't answer me directly, listen to me. I know your wife is also in Beijing, how about letting that girl be your mistress? Even if you help their family, it's also a good deed!"
Dai Jiliang didn't know whether to laugh or cry, what was going on? But when he saw E Tao's eager eyes and then looked back at the pair of eyes in front of him, Dai Jiliang's heart moved. It is said that a sister-in-law belongs half to her brother-in-law, so he could kill two birds with one stone by spending a little money.
Thinking of this, Dai Jiliang finally couldn't suppress his desire and nodded.
"Being a mistress, I wonder if the girl is willing?"
"At this point, if you don't want to be a mistress, do you really want to go to a brothel?"
E Tao patted his chest, he was killing two birds with one stone, he solved the siege for this family and gained a good reputation among the neighbors, and by giving Dai Jiliang a concubine, he strengthened their relationship. How could he let such a good thing slip away.
So he first had a low conversation with Zhou Kuazi, then pulled the three siblings into the room and talked for a long time before returning to Dai Jiliang.
"It's settled, but this girl insists that you should support her brother and sister together. The money is not much, eleven or twelve dollars a month will do. What do you think?"
"Thank you, elder brother."
However, a down payment of 18 yuan and a monthly mortgage of 11 or 12 yuan is just a small amount for Dai Jiliang, who earns 51.48 yuan a month. He doesn't even have to use up his savings to buy a young wife and a promising loli sister-in-law. In any case, he's making a profit.
The evil old society was still better, otherwise how could such a good thing happen to Dai Jiliang.
"Okay!"
Dai Jiliang rummaged in his pocket and took out a twenty-yuan silver note.
"Let's finish this first. The rest of the work will cost money. I'll send another twenty dollars tomorrow. I'll leave the rest to you, brother."
"Don't worry, I will definitely help you do it gloriously!"
