Republic of China, 1922: Rise from the Post-Zhili-Fengtian War

Gu Cheng looked at him, first inviting him to sit down, and then calmly said, "Min Gong, after such a big incident with the building materials, I must be more careful in the future. How can I feel at ease with the Chamber of Commerce being controlled by outsiders?"

He looked back at Wang Yongjiang and said, "Min Gong, I hope you can understand that this is all for the future of Jinzhou... I am definitely not what you think, acting for my own selfish interests."

Wang Yongjiang frowned deeply: "But no garrison commander in the past has ever interfered in the Chamber of Commerce! You're in charge of troops; just manage your men. Chamber of Commerce affairs are handled by Liu Chen and me. Aren't you afraid of gossip if you meddle?"

Gu Cheng was silent for a moment: "Min Gong, I'm not asking for help. I just think—it's better this way."

Wang Yongjiang stared at him without saying a word.

Gu Cheng continued, "Why did Lu Shoulian's incident happen? It wasn't because the Chamber of Commerce had problems, but because the Chamber of Commerce was being managed by people who shouldn't be involved, and associating with people who shouldn't be associated with them."

Military supplies procurement, building material allocation, and food supply—none of these could be done without the Chamber of Commerce. If the Chamber of Commerce produced another Lu Shoulian, the Jinzhou camp would never be built, and the brothers of the 11th Mixed Brigade would never have enough to eat.

Min Gong, I'm not going to get involved in the Chamber of Commerce's affairs, much less make money from it! The Chamber of Commerce's accounts, personnel, and daily affairs will still be managed by Li Mao and overseen by Mr. Liu Chen.

I only do one thing—keep an eye on those who are eyeing the Chamber of Commerce. The Japanese who want to infiltrate the Chamber can't bypass me. Anyone trying to make money through the Chamber can't bypass me either.

Wang Yongjiang leaned back in his chair, his gaze shifting between light and shadow.

"Aren't you afraid people will say you're trying to seize power? And if the Chamber of Commerce runs into problems in the future, all of this will be blamed on you." Wang Yongjiang finally spoke, his tone a little softer than before, but the scrutiny in his eyes was no less.

Gu Cheng smiled slightly: "Min Gong, I don't care what others say. What I care about is whether the affairs in Jinzhou can be handled well, whether the camp can be built, and whether the brothers can have enough to eat."

As for those gossips—once the markets in Jinzhou are bustling, once the barracks are filled, and once the brothers of the 11th Mixed Brigade don their new uniforms and pick up their new rifles, those gossips will naturally disappear.

Wang Yongjiang stared at him for a long while, then sighed: "From what you're saying, you should know that Yang Yuting reported you, right?"

Gu Cheng was taken aback.

Even if he hadn't heard about it, it wasn't surprising that Wang Yongjiang brought it up now.

"Min Gong, what do you mean? What did Chief of Staff Yang accuse me of? Everything I, Gu Cheng, did in Jinzhou Qian was aboveboard; there was nothing shameful about it."

Wang Yongjiang stared at him for a while, then shook his head and said with a wry smile, "Yang Yuting relayed a message to the Marshal, saying that you used the opportunity of reorganizing the army to place your cronies, used the name of the Chamber of Commerce to amass wealth for yourself, and that you were trying to establish independence in Jinzhou... You have no respect for Fengtian or the Marshal."

He couldn't help but sigh again as he said this, "You make it sound so convincing. If I didn't know what you were doing in Jinzhou, I almost would have believed you too."

Gu Cheng asked in a deep voice, "What exactly does Yang Yuting want to do?"

Wang Yongjiang snorted: "You think your uncle came to Jinzhou to support you? He came on the orders of the commander-in-chief."

The commander-in-chief didn't say it aloud, but he knew what was going on. He sent Third Master Feng to see what kind of mess Feng had made in Jinzhou. When Feng arrived, he only said one thing to the commander-in-chief: "If Jingchuan wanted to make money, he wouldn't have waited until today."

Gu Cheng felt a surge of warmth in his heart.

Seeing the emotion on Gu Cheng's face, Wang Yongjiang continued, "Regarding the Chamber of Commerce, I have already relayed your message to the Commander-in-Chief. The Commander-in-Chief's meaning is very clear—the brothers have worked hard for several months, and now that the Zhili army has withdrawn, the affairs in Jinzhou have been handled quite well. As long as things are done well, making some money is not a big deal, as long as it's not excessive."

As he spoke, he leaned forward, his tone somewhat confiding: "Jingchuan, tell me the truth, what exactly do you want?"

You say it's not for money, not for power, then what are you after? Don't give me that "for the future of Jinzhou" nonsense, I don't believe it... I want the truth.

Gu Cheng remained silent for a moment, then reached into his pocket, took out a cigarette, lit it, and slowly smoked it.

The smoke slowly dissipated between the two, carrying that familiar sweet scent.

He didn't rush to answer, but looked into Wang Yongjiang's eyes through the thin layer of smoke.

Gu Cheng exhaled a puff of smoke: "To tell you the truth, when I came to Jinzhou, I just wanted to do this job well and live up to the General's trust and Hanqing's expectations."

But as I continued working, I realized—the situation in Jinzhou couldn't be handled by me alone. I needed someone to keep an eye on the main camp, someone to train the troops, someone to manage the chamber of commerce, and someone to keep an eye on the Japanese.

He took another drag of his cigarette and continued, "Min Gong, Li Mao committed a crime, and my first reaction was to execute him. But if we kill everyone, who can handle things? Admittedly, I wanted to make some money—"

But my brothers still need to eat... and there's the military pay, building a large camp, organizing the army, recruiting soldiers, and I also want to build factories and modern schools in Jinzhou. Where will the money come from? I can't keep asking the commander-in-chief for it.”

He stared into Wang Yongjiang's eyes and continued, "Min Gong, I need a lot of money. I want to develop Jinzhou and make those damn Japanese dare not run rampant in western Liaoning... The commander-in-chief wants results, and so do I. As for what others say, I don't care."

Wang Yongjiang stood up and stared at Gu Cheng: "What can I say to you? Jingchuan, it's good that you have lofty ambitions, but the way you're doing, I'm afraid you'll offend a lot of people."

Gu Cheng smiled, but his eyes remained calm: "From the day I decided to do these things in Jinzhou, I knew I would offend people... Even my uncle told me that I would definitely offend a lot of people."

Now I've offended Tang Yulin, Yang Yuting, the South Manchuria Railway, and Kikuchi. In the future, even more people will dislike me, and even more will badmouth me to the Marshal.

"But so what? Jinzhou doesn't belong to them, it belongs to the people. The beneficiaries of this grand camp won't be me, Gu Cheng, but the people of Jinzhou and the brothers of the Fengtian Army."

Wang Yongjiang stared at him and smiled knowingly: "I knew I hadn't misjudged you—alright, like I said, no matter what, tell me a few things, don't act recklessly on your own, Liu Chen and I will do everything we can to help you."

Gu Cheng was very grateful, but he felt that nothing he said could express his gratitude.

In the end, he simply nodded solemnly, followed Wang Yongjiang, pushed open the door, walked through the corridor, and headed towards the front hall.

The sunlight was perfect outside the corridor, and the shadows of the pomegranate trees fell dappled on the bluestone path.

The banquet in the front hall was in full swing, with toasts clinking and voices mingling, creating a stark contrast with the tranquility of the side hall.