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

Yang Song had just started a fire outside the main room and brewed tea long ago, waiting for his master's instructions.

He responded loudly and quickly entered the room, carrying the heavy copper teapot.

Besides bank drafts and calligraphy and paintings, Feng Delin also had his steward prepare many fine things for Gu Cheng, including this excellent Biluochun tea.

The aroma of tea immediately dispelled the dusty smell in the hall. Then Yang Song brought over two bulging coarse cloth bags, which, when opened, contained top-quality dried beef.

Mu Haisheng hurriedly said, "Look at my brain, you've come to Jinzhou, I should be the one preparing food and drink for you."

Gu Cheng gestured for him not to stand on ceremony: "Hey, it's just some local specialties from my uncle, nothing special. Come on, have some tea and meat, and we'll talk slowly."

In fact, he had already noticed that the two of them were craving meat, especially the younger Yang Hao, who was already secretly swallowing his saliva.

Seeing that the two were still reserved, Zhang Tingshu grabbed the cloth bag and stuffed a few sticks into each of their hands: "Hehe, the regimental commander is a good person, but I never hold back when it comes to my words—"

"Brother Mu, this is incredibly rude of you. We've come all the way from Fengtian, our throats are practically parched, and you haven't even offered us a sip of hot water. If a regimental commander's deputy were to die of thirst in Jinzhou, Wu Peifu and his cronies would laugh their heads off."

This joke made Mu Haisheng blush, while everyone else laughed, and the atmosphere quickly eased.

"I'm so sorry, Haozi and I have been extremely busy and haven't been able to properly entertain our distinguished guests..."

At this point, Mu Haisheng sighed again, "I'm not afraid of being laughed at by you, Young Master Zhang, but I can't find a single decent tea in this batch."

Gu Cheng seemed oblivious to his embarrassment: "Since we're sitting together and are comrades-in-arms, there's no need for such a distinguished guest. Actually, the Marshal is aware of the difficulties in Jinzhou... But speaking of which, I just saw those brothers building the wall; they probably haven't had a bite of meat in a long time, have they?"

These words struck a chord with Mu Haisheng.

He lowered his head, fiddling with the glistening, dried beef, then sighed, "To be honest, Commander Gu, since the Battle of Dalinghe, the entire regiment hasn't had any proper meat. Luckily it's summer, so the brothers can still find sweet potatoes and wild vegetables to fill their stomachs..."

A middle-aged man who is not afraid of sacrifice and can risk his life on the battlefield can so frankly admit his family's predicament, which shows that he has been driven to the brink of despair.

Gu Cheng took a sip of hot tea, his tone becoming more understanding: "In the Battle of Dalinghe, Brigade Commander Sun led you to defend the position to the death. The battle was extremely difficult, and the entire regiment suffered heavy losses, but they managed to prevent the Zhili Army from crossing Dalinghe and defend Jinzhou, the gateway to Guandong. This is already a great achievement."

As a member of the Army Reorganization Department, my purpose in coming to Jinzhou this time, besides reorganizing the entire regiment, is naturally to petition the Marshal's Office for commendation on your behalf, so that the blood of our brothers cannot be shed in vain.

Mu Haisheng kept his head down, his fingers twirling the piece of dried beef: "Most of our brothers were killed or wounded. Even if we managed to hold Jinzhou, I still feel terrible. The commander-in-chief didn't punish us for the defeat, which is already a great act of mercy. I dare not ask for any more credit. I only hope that the remaining brothers can have a full meal."

He spoke calmly, but Yang Hao beside him glanced at Gu Cheng twice, as if he had a lot to say, but he swallowed his words back because of Mu Haisheng's suggestive gaze.

Gu Cheng saw all of this but didn't expose it on the spot. Instead, he raised his hand and rubbed his temples: "Alright, alright, the brothers have come all the way from Fengtian by fast horse and they're all tired... Now that we've had tea and meat, we can talk about the details of the regiment in the next day or two."

Mu Haisheng immediately stood up, his face full of remorse: "It was my oversight! Commander Gu, you must be tired from your journey. I'll have Haozi quickly tidy up the west wing and then go to town to find some food and wine to welcome you and your officers back!"

Having said that, he gestured for Yang Hao to hurry up and go.

"No need."

Gu Cheng stopped him, "Let's skip this kind of pomp and circumstance for now. Brother Haisheng, you should know the situation in the regiment better than I do... Instead of all this fuss, let's use the money to buy some fine grains for the brothers."

After saying that, he turned to Gao Tianqi and said, "Tianqi, go and make arrangements: move half of the military rations that came with the vehicle and give them to Brother Haisheng."

Mu Haisheng was greatly shocked and quickly stepped forward to decline. Gu Cheng smiled and shook his hand: "This time when we came to Jinzhou, the Marshal approved a note that the military rations in Jinzhou will be replenished one after another. As for the military pay and equipment, they will also be replenished one after another."

As he spoke, he pushed the dried meat towards the two men, "Listen, give priority to the wounded and the brothers on night watch. Tonight, everyone in the regiment will have a good meal and a bowl of hot soup!"

…………

By the time Gu Cheng and his group settled in, it was nearly evening.

Although it couldn't compare to the conditions in Fengtian City, this was still a wing room of the old county government office, spacious and cool. In addition, Mu Haisheng knew they were coming, so he cleaned and tidied it up in advance, changed the bedding, and provided all the necessary living supplies.

"Commander, you've had a long day, let's soak our feet to relax."

Yang Song carried a bucket of hot water in, and Zhang Tingshu, who had just finished unpacking, immediately turned around and laughed, "Hey, why is it only the regimental commander who gets hot water? My legs have been running all day, they need to relax too!"

Upon hearing this, Gu Cheng shook his head and smiled at Yang Song: "Look at our deputy regimental commander, so pathetic, he's even eyeing a bucket of hot water. Go, boil another bucket for the deputy regimental commander."

Zhang Tingshu raised his hand to stop Yang Song, walked over and sat down next to Gu Cheng, then said seriously, "A bucket of hot water is not worth mentioning, but what about the grain supplies?"

Gu Cheng glanced at him and understood what he meant, but did not reply immediately. Instead, he took off his military boots and immersed his feet in the warm wooden basin.

Once his weariness had subsided somewhat, he feigned ignorance: "I didn't understand. What happened to the supplies?"

Zhang Tingshu curled his lip and gestured with his chin toward Gao Tianqi beside the document desk: "Still playing dumb with me? When we set off from Fengtian, the Marshal didn't approve any provisions or pay. You've given away more than half of the grain; what are we going to eat next?"

Before Gu Cheng could speak, Gao Tianqi, who had been checking the accounts, stood up and echoed, "Ting Shu is right. I just did the math; our supplies were originally only enough for seven days. Now that most of them have been given away, how are we supposed to survive? Did the Commander give you some other kind of guarantee?"

Zhang Tingshu leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed: "Did you hear that? We've done the math for you. Besides, you promised to pay the back wages. Everyone knows Wang Yongjiang is short of money and can't squeeze out any extra funds. If word gets out that you can't deliver on your promise, morale will collapse."

After wiping his feet and changing into cloth shoes, Gu Cheng looked at his two worried companions and suddenly laughed: "I thought it was something big, but it's just money and food."

The Feng family has been operating in western Liaoning for many years, and they always have a saying: "Anything that can be done with money isn't a problem."