Republic of China: My great warlord, many children, many blessings.

The dissatisfaction that many patrol officers had felt disappeared.

Of course, it's already quite generous of ordinary patrol officers to be given a banquet.

The bureau chief and several team leaders, along with Shen Hao, had another new program arranged: the Eight Great Hutongs.

10. Police station surrounded

That evening, Shen Hao invited the bureau chief and several team leaders to the Eight Great Hutongs, and he returned alone.

When he returned, Shen Hao brought roast duck and wine.

The other people in the courtyard looked at Shen Hao carrying so many bags and drooled with envy.

However, Shen Hao ignored them and went straight into the house.

Bao Shuang was sitting on a stool washing clothes when she suddenly saw Shen Hao come in with bags and packages, and she was overjoyed.

She hurriedly and happily exclaimed, "Husband, you're back!"

Shen Hao laughed heartily, picked up Bao Shuang, kissed her, and said, "I already told you, just call me husband from now on."

"Mmm, husband," Bao Shuang said, her face flushed.

Although she didn't understand why Shen Hao kept insisting on calling her husband, she still didn't object.

"Let's eat roast duck. After we finish, we'll buy a courtyard house to live in tomorrow," Shen Hao said.

Bao Shuang exclaimed in astonishment, "Buy a yard? Honey, where would we get the money?"

Shen Hao said, "You don't need to worry about that. We have plenty of money. I promised you a good life, and I won't go back on my word."

A hint of worry flashed in Bao Shuang's eyes. She was afraid that Shen Hao might do something bad, but she didn't say anything.

"Honey, let's just keep things normal. Life's good enough now, don't take any risks."

Shen Hao understood Bao Shuang's concerns and took a deep breath, saying, "In this day and age, ordinary people are like weeds, unable to withstand even the slightest storm. Only by making our ship bigger can we weather the storms."

Bao Shuang shook her head, not understanding.

Shen Hao said, "Alright, this isn't your concern. Hurry up and eat."

"Um"

That evening, Shen Hao happily enjoyed Bao Shuang's pampering.

Meanwhile, in Zhujia Hutong, a brothel within the Eight Great Hutongs.

Several soldiers, drunk, asked the madam to find some young girls.

But to everyone's surprise, business was booming today, and all the young ones were snapped up.

The madam found several old, faded women and covered their faces with rouge.

As a result, the soldiers discovered it.

Then, they led people to search other rooms.

They happened to bump into the bureau chief and several team leaders having a good time.

As a result, the two sides got into a verbal argument, which eventually led to a gunfight.

The next day, as soon as Shen Hao arrived at the branch office, he heard a crying sound.

Shen Hao frowned, somewhat puzzled.

Once inside, the entire branch office had practically turned into a funeral home.

Paper wreaths were everywhere, and dozens of men, women, and children dressed in mourning clothes were gathered around.

Everyone was crying.

Shen Hao was puzzled and pulled one of them aside to ask, "What's going on? What are these people doing?"

"Captain, it's a good thing you didn't go to the Eight Great Hutongs last night, otherwise you probably wouldn't be here either," a team member whispered.

Then, he asked Shen Hao to explain everything about making the sound.

After figuring out the reason, Shen Hao felt a wave of fear and gained a clearer understanding of the cruelty of this society.

The five men who had just become team leaders yesterday, along with the bureau chief, a total of six people, were all killed by soldiers.

Peng Zhongsheng and Zhou Zhenhao were also beaten to death.

Shen Hao sighed with regret. He had just recommended Peng Zhongsheng and Zhou Zhenhao to be team captains when they died. They were truly unlucky.

"That soldier is so arrogant, daring to be so arrogant in the capital," Shen Hao said.

The others shook their heads, their eyes flashing with fear.

They clearly knew who it was, but neither wanted to cause trouble.

Seeing this, Shen Hao gave the guy a pack of cigarettes and pulled him aside.

Only then did the other party tell him the background of those soldiers.

"Captain, you don't need to get involved in this matter. The other party is Lu Chengwu, and we can't afford to offend him."

Shen Hao asked in confusion, "Who is Lu Chengwu? Is he very powerful?"

"Captain Lu Chengwu, you don't know?"

He was a soldier in President Yuan's guard and staff.

More importantly, his father is Lu Jianzhang, the commander of the Presidential Guard and the director of the Beijing Military and Political Law Enforcement Office.

"They could kill a few patrol officers, or even the city police chief, and nothing would happen to them."

Upon hearing this, Shen Hao suddenly realized what was going on.

He didn't know Lu Chengwu, but Shen Hao did—the famous military governor of Shaanxi Province.

Currently, it is one of Yuan Shikai's four police dogs.

Among the warlords of Beiyang, Lu Jianzhang was not a particularly outstanding figure. Apart from his ignominious death, his only notable trait was his ruthlessness, earning him the nickname "Butcher Lu".

His ancestors were well-off small landlords, but Lu Jianzhang developed vices such as drinking, gambling, and whoring when he was seventeen or eighteen.

In the winter of 1881, Lu Jianzhang was imprisoned for plotting to seize the property of a peasant widow and forcing her to remarry by violence.

In 1895, he trained the newly established army under Yuan Shikai's guidance.

He was later transferred to serve as the General Commander of Caozhou Town in Shandong Province, the General Commander of Gaozhou Town in Guangdong Province, the General Commander of Beihai Town in Guangdong Province, and the Seventh Brigade Commander of Gaozhou Town in Guangdong Province.

He is currently the commander of the Presidential Guard and the director of the Beijing Military and Political Law Enforcement Office.

This guy became famous when he was the military governor of Shaanxi Province.

In 1915, he was promoted to General of Might and Military Affairs and took charge of military affairs in Shaanxi Province.

From then on, Shaanxi Province became a territory directly controlled by the Beiyang warlords.

They can be said to have committed all sorts of evil deeds in Shaanxi Province.

Lu Jianzhang reduced the size of the Shaanxi Army in Shaanxi and appointed most of the personnel in the General's Office and other agencies to be from Anhui.

At that time, a folk rhyme circulated in society: "He can speak the dialect of Mengcheng, and he carries a foreign knife at his waist."

To consolidate his rule in Shaanxi, he engaged in large-scale espionage and terrorist activities, closely monitored the people, and often mobilized several battalions of troops to search for and arrest revolutionaries. Wherever he went, he committed robbery, plunder, and all sorts of other crimes.

They established numerous brothels in Chang'an, lifted the ban on opium, increased taxes, and wantonly extorted and plundered the people of Shaanxi.

In order to amass wealth, he sold precious cultural relics such as "Sa Lu Zi" and "Quan Mao Gua" from the "Six Steeds of Zhaoling" to American cultural plunderers for 24 silver dollars.

In order to curry favor with Yuan Shikai and restore the monarchy, Lu sought out scholars in Chang'an to write letters urging him to ascend the throne, and ordered people from various counties who were traveling to the province to impersonate representatives of their respective counties and sign them.

In December of the same year, Yuan Shikai declared himself emperor, and Lu was granted the title of First-Class Earl for his meritorious service in persuading him to ascend the throne.

Lu Jianzhang's actions in Shaanxi aroused dissatisfaction and indignation from all sides, and the people of Shaanxi launched several "anti-Yuan and expel Lu" movements.

This also led to the uprising of Chen Shufan, the former military governor of Shaanxi, in Fuping, which drove him out of Shaanxi Province.

After Fu Ping's mutiny, Lu Jianzhang was enraged and indiscriminately killed innocent people. He even went so far as to burn Chang'an City to the ground, but he was stopped by opposition and obstruction from many sides.

Subsequently, Lu became even more vicious and ruthless, massacring more than 300 people in Chang'an Model Prison, turning many innocent civilians into wronged souls and creating an unprecedented bloodbath.

In order to take Lu Jianzhang's place, Chen Shufan threatened Lu Jianzhang with the life of his son Lu Chengwu, forcing Lu Jianzhang to agree to give up the position of military governor of Shaanxi.

He recommended Chen Shufan to succeed him to the Beijing government.

In May 1916, when Lu Jianzhang left Shaanxi, Chen Shufan summoned provincial officials to the Baxian Temple in Xi'an to see him off.

More than 500 large trucks were lined up in front of the Baxian Temple, all loaded with the wealth that Lu had plundered from the people of Shaanxi.

According to statistics, the value of his cash, antiques, opium, calligraphy and paintings, furs and treasures is approximately 3000 million taels of silver.

This guy was assassinated by Xu Shuzheng while he was in the concession.

The split between the Zhili and Anhui factions was caused by Lu Jianzhang's death.

Lu Jianzhang's virtues were even more numerous. This "director of the law enforcement department" was not good at solving problems, but he was good at dealing with the people who raised them, which made Yuan Shikai very fond of him.

Thinking about this, Shen Hao realized that he couldn't afford to offend this guy right now.

I already have a plan in mind.

Soon, the sound of horses' hooves approached.