Period drama: Old Cao's carefree life

Chapter 262 He didn't lose out from beginning to end.

I've never heard of this before; it must be a high-end product with a very high price tag.

"It's alright, not too expensive."

For him, it really wasn't that expensive.

At that time, air conditioners sold for around $60 in the United States, but due to various import tariffs, transportation costs, market supply and demand, and other factors, the price soared to several hundred to a thousand dollars.

This amount of money is just a drop in the ocean for Cao Wei Da, who is now very wealthy.

Leaving aside the tens of thousands of silver dollars and more than a hundred small and a hundred large croakers that were originally lying in his space, the fifty tons of gold he obtained by robbing the Japanese was an astronomical figure.

Money isn't the problem; the main issue is that they're hard to buy.

He hadn't seen a single air conditioner shop in the entire outer five districts of Beiping.

"."

That evening, Cao Weida went out for a stroll again and seized an air raid, killing another squad of Japanese soldiers.

The next day.

The Japanese garrison soldiers finally couldn't take it anymore and refused to patrol anymore.

Major Zhan Tai Bo Neng went straight to the military police headquarters and said to Miyamoto Ichiro in a righteous and indignant manner: "Our garrison will no longer be responsible for night patrols. Please find someone else!"

Without waiting for Miyamoto Ichiro's reply, she turned and left.

Regardless of whether it was the work of evil spirits, twenty people disappearing in one night—who can stand that?

If this continues, their garrison will be wiped out in less than two months!
Moreover, his soldiers were already showing signs of rebellion. If he dared to send people to patrol, who knew if they might follow their fine tradition and stage a mutiny against him?

Miyamoto Ichiro was in a bind. The garrison refused to take over the patrol duties, so he had no choice but to let the military police take over.

However, this order was met with strong opposition from all the military police.

Are you kidding me? They know all too well that there have been evil spirits in Beiping these past few days. Even the regular army is too scared to patrol. You want them to go?
Isn't this ridiculous?
Anyway, whoever wants to patrol at night can do it; they won't!

This really put Miyamoto Ichiro in a bind. Although he was the highest-ranking officer in the Military Police Headquarters, he was also afraid of being overthrown by his subordinates!

Having no other choice, he had to assign the task to the puppet troops.

One of his trusted confidants asked hesitantly, "Commander, are we really going to give up the curfew authority over Beiping?"

Miyamoto Ichiro glanced at him sideways and said, "Why don't you take charge of patrolling?"

The confidant immediately fell silent. What a joke! He was afraid of dying too!

He asked that question simply to express his loyalty and resentment at the decentralization of power; it was the kind of talk that comes from someone who doesn't understand the situation.

Should we assign him to patrol duties?
He won't go!
He is not stupid!

Miyamoto Ichiro was already in a bad mood, and seeing this, he couldn't help but snort coldly and slap him across the face, angrily shouting, "If you don't want to take on this, then don't spout nonsense at me!"

"Stop with your pathetic little schemes, I don't have time for your flattery right now!"

"Hai! Please forgive me, Commander!" The confidant felt a chill run down his spine, his face red from the slap, and bowed respectfully to receive the reprimand.

Leaving aside the military police headquarters, after the order was issued, this time it was the puppet troops in Beiping who were dumbfounded. What the hell? Are you afraid of ghosts, so you're sending us to our deaths?!

Just because you're afraid doesn't mean we aren't!

Do you really not treat us like human beings?!

The puppet troops were naturally extremely resistant and absolutely refused to go on patrol.

The matter eventually reached Cui Qi, the brigade commander of the security brigade.

Faced with this situation, Cui Qi was also extremely troubled. Watching the battalion and regimental commanders in front of him argue back and forth, each sentence filled with resistance, he rubbed his aching head, slammed his hand on the table, and roared:
"Alright! What's all the noise about! It's driving me crazy!!"

The office fell silent. The battalion and regimental commanders wisely shut their mouths and stopped making noise, but the resistance on their faces did not diminish in the slightest.

If the enemy were a visible and tangible foe, these men, who had been through countless battles and were licking blood from the edge of a knife, wouldn't be too afraid. After all, this was Beiping, the territory of the Japanese.

But now that enemy is invisible and intangible, how can they not be afraid?
Even so many Japanese soldiers have gone missing, what are these puppet troops compared to them?

Sending them on patrol is like sending our brothers to their deaths.
My men absolutely refused to go on patrol. If they pushed too hard, who knows if they'd get shot in the back!

It could easily escalate into a mutiny!
After a moment's hesitation, Zhang Pinghe, the commander of the Third Regiment, forced himself to speak:

“Brigade Commander, it’s not that the brothers don’t want to cooperate, but the ghost story in Beiping is making headlines, and everyone’s on edge knowing they’re being assigned to patrols.” “I’m worried that if we push too hard, it could destabilize the army!”

He used rather tactful language, and Cui Qi naturally understood.

In truth, wasn't he afraid too?

but
He sighed and said helplessly:
"Alright, alright, stop complaining. Do you think I don't understand what you're saying?!"

Do you think I wanted to agree to this?

He stood with his hands on his hips, panting heavily, and said:
"What could I do if I didn't want to agree? Do you think I didn't refuse?"

"But Commander Miyamoto Ichiro has already given the order, what can I do?"

"Can I say no?"

"How could I dare refuse?!"

As the saying goes, when you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head.

"They've given us a direct order, so we have to obey! We have to patrol whether we want to or not!"

"Otherwise, how can we expect to have a good life in the future?"

"But..." Zhang Pinghe's face turned anxious, and he was about to speak when Cui Qi waved his hand to interrupt him.
"Alright, alright, I understand your concerns!"

"But I didn't say we had to be mindless and do things blindly. Can't we use our brains a little when we do things?!"

The battalion and regimental commanders exchanged glances, then all turned their gazes to Cui Qi: "Brigade Commander, what do you mean???"

"Idiots! Can't you be flexible?!" Cui Qi slammed his fist on the table in exasperation. He had made it so obvious, yet these brainless bastards still hadn't grasped it. It was infuriating!

"If you don't dare to go out, then those little devils will?"

"We'll build a checkpoint at regular intervals along the main roads, and then just patrol around within that range to make a show of it, just to get by. We'll make a bit of a commotion so the Japanese devils know we're on patrol, and that'll be enough!"

"If you're scared because there are only a few of you, then we'll make groups of fifty or eighty. With so many of you together, what are you afraid of?!"

The officers exchanged bewildered glances, then couldn't help but grin: "That's right! How come we didn't think of that? Okay, we understand, Brigade Commander, let's do it that way!"

They were all beaming with joy; if this arrangement was made, they had no objections.

"Oh, right, brigade commander, this is for you." Zhang Pinghe suddenly remembered something and took out a folded piece of yellow paper from his pocket.

"What is this?" Cui Qi frowned as he took it, examined it several times, and then squeezed it. He was certain that it was just an ordinary piece of yellow paper.

"Commander, this is an exorcism talisman I obtained from Longquan Temple. It's said that the abbot of Longquan Temple personally blessed it, and it's said to be very effective!"
"These exorcism talismans are in high demand and short supply lately. I only managed to get one after spending a hefty five silver dollars—it's quite rare!"

"Ahem, stop with all this fancy stuff. Leading the troops well is more important than anything else." Cui Qi calmly put the exorcism talisman into his pocket. Although he didn't really believe in ghosts and gods, the events of the past few days still made him uneasy.

Anyway, keeping it isn't a bad thing. What's that saying again? You've already begged for it, right?
"Alright, I've already told you the plan, so hurry up and go back to prepare. Let me tell you, this is also an opportunity for us!"

His gaze swept over the crowd, and he said with a serious expression:

“In the past, the Japanese army always held the power over the defense, garrison, and curfew of Beiping, and we government officers could only be relegated to the position of assistants.”

"Now that the Japanese have voluntarily given us this power, we must seize this opportunity and hold onto it firmly!"

"As long as things are done well, I will ask my superiors for military pay, equipment, and supplies. You will all be in need!"

"But if you mess this up for me, I'll beat you all to death!"

Upon hearing this, the officers' eyes lit up, and they replied with high spirits, "Yes, sir! Please rest assured, Brigade Commander!"

"Commander, time is of the essence, so we'll head back now. We need to set up the pavilion quickly and divide the area into sections!"

"Get out of here!" Cui Qi cursed and waved them away. After they all left, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and sat down in a chair.

"Finally, we've dealt with them. Hopefully, that so-called evil spirit won't actually target my security brigade."

The long list of reasons he just gave was mostly an excuse to appease the bunch of brutes underground. Otherwise, no matter he was a brigade commander, if his subordinates didn't listen to him, he would be a commander without troops, an empty shell!
As for what would happen if something like what happened to the Japanese devils did...
Then he would have a reason to complain to that old devil Miyamoto Ichiro, saying that he had done his best, but there was really no way to force the frightened and terrified soldiers to patrol, and he was powerless to do anything about it.

He simply refused to believe that if that were the case, Miyamoto Ichiro would dare to force the soldiers to go on patrol again!
If it was truly coercion, then it had nothing to do with Cui Qi. He could simply tell the soldiers that it was all Miyamoto Ichiro's doing that forced him, and that it had nothing to do with him!
Anyway, he didn't suffer any losses from beginning to end, and he has given an explanation to his superiors and subordinates, so he can protect himself.

Having considered all of this, Cui Qi was in a good mood. He took out a cigar from the drawer, lit it, and puffed on it with relish, humming a traditional opera tune: "I, Xu Jie, as the Grand Secretary, am adept at political maneuvering, keeping my mouth shut to avoid trouble and prioritizing caution."

(End of this chapter)