20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 853 Falling apart
The following morning, Warehouse No. 7 of the South Railway Estate.

A shout suddenly came from the watchman's room, startling several sparrows on the eaves.

"What?" Old Dou sat cross-legged on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), holding his pipe, his eyes wide open. "The Japanese are going to withdraw from the city?"

Hou Chuanyan nodded, looking rather helpless, and sighed, "I just received the news. The higher-ups have decided that, effective immediately, the Dongyang Police Department will no longer assist in maintaining order in the provincial capital."

Upon hearing this, Whistle Li immediately jumped up from the kang (a heated brick bed), tightened his belt, and cursed, "Damn it! What's the point of playing anymore? Let's get out of here, brothers!"

After saying this, he put on his cotton robe and prepared to lead his men to escape from Fengtian.

Although Skyhawk and Old Dou did not move, they remained silent, their concerns clearly showing in their eyes.

Seeing this, Hou Chuanyan quickly blocked the door and pleaded, "Brother Li, don't go!"

"Why aren't we leaving?" Whistle Li asked, picking up his cotton boots. "Are we just going to wait here for Jiang Lianheng to send men to hunt me down?"

"This is the concession, you are safe here."

"Safe my ass! You almost got kidnapped by the Jiang family yourself, and you still have the nerve to tell me you're safe?"

"But... you haven't finished the task Master Qin assigned you!"

"Fuck you!" Whistle Li waved his hand. "I quit, okay?"

Hou Chuanyan was extremely anxious and hurriedly said, "Brother Li, you are a well-known figure in Fengtian, how... how can you just give up halfway?"

Whistle Li remained silent, quietly packing his bags.

Hou Chuanyan then said, "Brother Li, think about it again. The three of you have dozens of brothers under your command. If you add Qin Ye's men, we can easily have a hundred or so people. It's not like we have no chance of winning!"

Whistle Li sneered, "The Jiang family has been established for over a decade. Did they think it was for nothing? A direct confrontation is hopeless. We can only launch a sneak attack while things are in chaos. Last time, when the Guanzhong region was in turmoil, we failed to take down Jiang Lianheng, and the plan had already failed. Now that the battle is over and Jiang Lianheng has recovered, trying to fight them again would be suicide!"

Old Dou nodded and said, "In recent years, the Jiang family has spent more money than we have earned. They have connections throughout the provincial capital, from the military governor's office to the government offices, and even with the foreigners. We can only rely on the Japanese for support. Now that they want to withdraw, how can we continue?"

Hou Chuanyan said, "The Japanese have only withdrawn from the city, but isn't this area of ​​the concession still our territory?"

"What's the use?" Old Dou said with a sneer. "Those seventeen shops on Bagua Street and Xue Street aren't in the concession area. The Japanese can't just come whenever we call. It's too dangerous."

"No! We still have a chance, a real chance!" Hou Chuanyan's tone was almost pleading. "As long as you follow Master Qin's arrangements—"

"Shut the fuck up!"

Whistle Li threw down his bundle, clearly having completely lost his patience, and immediately cursed, "Back when there was chaos in the border region, we listened to Qin Huaimeng's arrangements, and what happened? Jiang Lianheng got away scot-free! Later, you told us to give way to the Kaoshan Gang, and now there's still no sign of them. A couple of days ago you were saying you were going to make a big move soon, but where's the big move? The Jiang family's funeral is all over, and I haven't seen any big moves from you guys?"

Mentioning this, Old Dou was quite dissatisfied and couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "Until now, Qin Huaimeng hasn't even shown his face. It seems he's just using us as cannon fodder!"

"Who used you as cannon fodder?" Hou Chuanyan retorted. "Master Qin gave you all the guns, and you failed to take down Jiang Lianheng. How can you blame Master Qin for that?"

“Then you’ll have to ask Old Dou,” said Whistle Li. “He was in the commercial district and didn’t stop Jiang Lianheng, so it’s not my fault.”

"Hey, who are you talking about?" Old Dou immediately stood up and said, "If you had gone to smash the kiln earlier, Jiang Lianheng might still be alive!"

"Bullshit! I was fast enough, don't try to pin it on me!"

"Hey Li, are you even a man? Don't you have any sense of responsibility?"

As they talked, the two began to shift the blame onto each other.

The argument escalated, and Hou Chuanyan watched with growing anxiety.

Unfortunately, this half-witted fellow couldn't get a word in edgewise, so he sidled up to Skyhawk and whispered, "Brother, you used to be a tough guy in the mountains of western Liaoning, you've seen it all. You have to say something in this situation, advise everyone. We're all in this together now. If we work together, we might be able to turn the tide. But if we all fall apart, then it's all over!"

Spike clicked his tongue, slapped his thighs twice, and forced a smile. He said, "Brother, you know I'm a 'tough guy,' so I don't really understand things in the city. The reason I came all the way from western Liaoning to Fengtian was to escape the war. Now that the war is over... hehe, I reckon I'll have to go back to my old ways!"

As the saying goes: The world is bustling with activity, all for the sake of profit.

The group, which was not originally a blood alliance, immediately considered disbanding when they saw the winds were blowing against them.

If they were to find out that the Qin family's elite forces had already been wiped out, they would probably scatter like birds and beasts on the spot.

Hou Chuanyan had to remind everyone again: "Gentlemen, you have all offended the Jiang family. You all know what kind of person Jiang Lianheng is. We are now united or separated! To put it another way, we are all people of dignity. The brothers might be able to escape in the chaos, but can you?"

"That's better than waiting to die here!" Whistle Li slung his bag over his shoulder. "Anyway, I'm leaving. Do whatever you want with me!"

Seeing this, Sky Eagle and Old Dou also stood up to respond.

Seeing that everyone was about to part ways, Hou Chuanyan became anxious, and his words changed from persuasion to threats.

"Whistle Li, let me remind you one more time: you've already offended the Jiang family, do you want to offend Master Qin as well?"

"You little brat, who do you think you are?"

Whistle Li wasn't intimidated by him. He stepped forward and shoved him, cursing, "I've been putting up with you for a long time. I can't handle Jiang Lianheng, but I can handle you, right?"

Old Dou also sneered, "Hou Er, Qin Huaimeng isn't the boss yet. Aren't you showing off a little too early?"

Hou Chuanyan remained expressionless and said, "I'm not talking about Master Qin, but the Japanese."

"What?"

"Now that we're on the Japanese ship, no one's going to get off. You're afraid of Jiang Lianheng's retaliation, but aren't you afraid of the Japanese's methods?"

"Fuck your mother!" Whistle Li grabbed Hou Chuanyan by the collar, glaring at him and demanding, "You fucking threaten me?"

Hou Chuanyan said calmly, "I'm not threatening you. If you don't believe me, you can try it and see if any Japanese police will arrest you after you get to the train station."

"Damn it, I'm going to shoot you first!"

Whistle was someone who worked online, and although he couldn't stand up straight in front of the Jiang family, he was usually a tough guy on the street. He couldn't stand being threatened by a translator, so he immediately pulled out a Meiji Type 26 pistol, pressed it against Hou Chuanyan's chin, and pretended to pull the trigger.

Unexpectedly, at that very moment, a shout of cursing suddenly came from outside the door.

"Bagaya road!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned. Just as they were feeling bewildered, the door opened, and Saito Rokuro and Yamazaki Yuta slowly walked in.

Behind the two were three or five Japanese expatriates, it was unclear whether they were ordinary people or police officers in plainclothes.

"Sir, Konichiwa!"

It was as if some kind of switch was installed on Whistle Li and the others. As soon as they saw the Japanese enter, they immediately became obedient, standing properly with their hands at their sides, just like seven or eight-year-old children who were standing there waiting for the teacher's praise because of their good behavior at school.

Saito Rokuro's gaze swept across the room, and the room immediately fell silent.

He then inquired about the situation in Japanese, with Hou Chuanyan standing aside to provide simultaneous interpretation.

Having understood the whole story, Saito Rokuro's face darkened, and he sternly rebuked him: "Coward!"

Whistleman Li explained nervously, "Sir, we...we had no choice. If you withdraw from the city, how can we challenge the Jiang family?"

Saito Rokuro paced back and forth in front of the three men with his hands behind his back, muttering to himself, "I have said that as long as you serve me sincerely, the Empire will never treat you unfairly. Although the police department has ordered us to withdraw from the provincial capital, that does not mean that we cannot enforce the law in the Chinese territory."

"But...wasn't the maintenance committee already abolished?"

"The maintenance committee is only a temporary organization. The primary responsibility of the Oriental Police Department is to protect the personal safety and property of the Oriental residents."

Whistle Li and the others looked at each other, and due to their limited perspectives, they did not fully understand the meaning of these words for the time being.

Saito Rokuro turned around and briefly introduced the group of Japanese immigrants, saying, "These gentlemen are samurai who recently immigrated to Manchuria from mainland Japan."

"warrior?"

The crowd frowned and couldn't help but take a closer look. They saw that the group of Japanese immigrants were all dressed in tattered clothes and looked disheveled. No matter how you looked at them, they looked like refugees fleeing famine. That might be an exaggeration, but they didn't look like samurai at all.

However, when they talked about their backgrounds, sometimes mentioning Oda Nobunaga and sometimes Toyotomi Hideyoshi, their expressions were extremely proud.

Whistle Li and the others had never heard of such things before, and were completely confused, so they just nodded and flattered them.

Saito Rokuro continued, "Bagua Street and Xue Street are close to the concession. When you go to sign contracts with those seventeen shops, take these samurai with you. If Jiang Lianheng dares to cause you trouble, we can use the pretext of protecting our overseas citizens to quickly dispatch the police and arrest all those thugs."

Old Dou asked, "Sir... how long will it take you to get here?"

Saito Rokuro thought for a moment and said, "A few minutes, please!"

This speed of support was already quite fast, but Whistle Li and the others were still worried.

"Sir—" Skyhawk suggested with a smile, "It's such a short distance, why don't you come with us?"

Hou Chuanyan couldn't stand it anymore and interrupted, "How can you not understand? The Dongyang Police Department will no longer assist in the management of the provincial capital's security. This is the result of consultations between the municipal government and the Kwantung Government. It's a decision that has already been made, and it can't be changed arbitrarily because of a few of you!"

Whistle Li said, "But in those two or three minutes, my buddy might be completely dead."

"How stupid! Couldn't you have run? It's such a short distance, you could have run back!"

"Then you can come with us."

"I...I have something to do this morning."

"what's up?"

"Um... um..." Hou Chuanyan waved his hand impatiently, "Oh, don't worry about it, you wouldn't understand even if I told you! Anyway, I'll say it again, there's no turning back once the arrow is released. Since you've already joined the Japanese, then go all the way, otherwise if Jiang Lianheng catches you, you'll be dead for sure!"

The three of them were still reluctant.

The reason is simple: although Bagua Street is adjacent to the Japanese concession, what about other places?
Both sides need to cooperate in the long term. The seventeen shops on Bagua Street and Xue Street are just the beginning. They can't keep running back and forth to every place they go in the future, can they?
Yuta Yamazaki explained, “Once the transfer contract is signed, those seventeen shops will be the property of the Japanese expatriates. Our police force will then have a good reason to patrol daily and proceed cautiously. In the future, those shops can also be said to be your territory.”

"Oh--"

The three finally understood—this was the Japanese plan to gradually encroach upon their territory.

But how much benefit can one actually gain?
Although Saito Rokuro promised them gold notes and firearms, in the end, they were all just doing odd jobs and didn't own any businesses.

Whistle Li and Lao Dou both had their own territories in the city. Although their territories were not large, they were guaranteed a steady income by collecting protection fees, and they were in charge of their own affairs. Except for the Jiang family, they were always addressed as "Big Brother" wherever they went.
After thinking it over, I still feel like I've lost out.

It wasn't that the Japanese didn't offer any benefits, but according to the original plan, after Jiang Lianheng died, the south of the city would belong to Lao Dou, the north to Shaozi Li, the east to Zuan Tianying, the west to Huo Laogui, and finally Qin Huaimeng would be supported as the leader.

But Jiang Lianheng didn't die, so everything came to nothing.

Thinking of this, Old Dou rubbed his hands together and asked very carefully, "Sir, I want to ask... what about Qin Huaimeng? What benefits did he receive?"

Hou Chuanyan didn't translate, and suddenly scolded him harshly: "Old Dou, just do your own thing. Can you compare to Master Qin? Master Qin gave up the land, he spared no expense. Stop worrying about things that don't concern you!"

"What did he say?" Saito Rokuro asked in Japanese.

"It's nothing," Hou Chuanyan said in Japanese. "Commander Saito, business is important. I can't command them. You should hurry up and get them to negotiate the contract!"

Saito Rokuro didn't think much of it and immediately gave orders for the men to split up and get the shop transfer done as soon as possible.

Although the group still had some concerns, they were unwilling to offend either side. After thinking it over, they had no choice but to call their brothers, prepare enough guns and ammunition, and follow a few so-called Japanese samurai, bracing themselves for the journey towards the Chinese territory.

According to the plan, Whistle Li led his men to the Feng family branch on Snow Street, Old Dou led his men to "Shao's Hardware and Foreign Goods Store" on Bagua Street, and Sky Eagle led his men to other shops.

The three acted independently, unaware of each other's progress.

As Lao Dou led his twenty-odd brothers to Bagua Street, they approached the vicinity of "Shao's Hardware and Foreign Goods Store." Looking into the distance, Lao Dou's heart skipped a beat.

But then they saw about twenty Jiang brothers dressed in black shorts standing in front of the shop.

As luck would have it, the one leading the group was none other than Li Zhengxi, the third master of the Jiang family.

Upon seeing Xifeng, Old Dou felt a chill run down his spine, and his steps faltered slightly. He then noticed a person standing beside Xifeng who seemed vaguely familiar, but was neither Laizi nor Shitou. Squinting, he looked closer, only to be utterly bewildered.

"Isn't that... isn't that Zeng Shouyi, the second-in-command under Old Ghost Huo?"

(End of this chapter)