Bandit Suppression Preliminary Meeting
Since that charity gala, it has been raining in Shanghai for three consecutive days. The rain outside the window is falling slowly, as if God is leisurely watering the flowers.
In the office, Lu Xian teased him with a newspaper, saying that the kid had been nagging about just one photo of him dancing with Miss He for days. Gao Junxiao couldn't stand it anymore; his adjutant Lu was just too idle.
After tossing a stack of documents to Lu Xian, Gao Junxiao pretended not to see the adjutant's furrowed brow and left the office without looking back.
In the large conference room, a portrait of Dr. Sun Yat-sen hung in the center, with a couplet beside it that read, "The revolution has not yet succeeded; comrades must continue to strive."
A group of officers in yellow-green military uniforms gathered around a long mahogany table, listening to a lieutenant wearing black-rimmed glasses explain the situation in East China. This lieutenant was Li Feng, courtesy name Shaofu, the company commander of the reconnaissance company of the Songhu Command.
Li Shaofu stood at the podium and introduced the three targets of this bandit suppression operation: one was Du Hanbin, the bandit leader of Chuansha, known as "Big Boss," and the other was Mr. Hai, the leader of the Hailou Gang, who roamed between Qidong and Chongming. Both of them controlled key roads leading to other provinces, robbing passing merchants and even government convoys and ships, causing a very bad influence.
Neither of them were easy to deal with. The big boss was elusive and a native of the area, possessing an intimate knowledge of the local mountains and underground rivers, making him difficult to capture. Moreover, Du Hanbin was a cousin of the notorious Mr. Du who dominated Shanghai, so the brothers had to consider the consequences before taking action.
Mr. Hai's real name and appearance are unknown. He is described as a scholar, and his accent suggests he fled from Xuzhou. He is extremely cautious. All this information was reported by one of Li Shaofu's trusted confidants who risked his life to return. Those who saw his true face were all killed. This man seems to possess a knack for divination, always managing to escape first.
But neither of them had as much trouble as the last bandit leader, Liu Shengqi, the biggest bandit leader in East China. He was from Zhejiang. He was originally a cowherd in a landlord's house. When he got a little older, he gathered a group of unemployed vagrants and committed all kinds of evil deeds, such as burning, killing, and robbing. Because of his notorious reputation, hooligans and ruffians from other regions responded and joined him.
After decades of development, he now commands approximately 40,000 rabble, roaming across Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, as well as Anhui and Shandong. In the past four years, over 150,000 houses have been burned down, more than 10,000 people have been murdered, and countless women have been raped. Because his men are all desperate criminals, even the major and minor warlords in power are powerless against him.
As the lights were turned off, everyone watched the black-and-white photographs flashing on the projector. Some villagers were barely clothed, others were burned to a crisp, charred state, some children sat weeping beside the corpses of their loved ones, and the streets were covered with bodies as densely packed as a carpet. Each photograph depicted a human tragedy.
The group of grown men present, accustomed to life and death, felt a chill rise from their feet, and a suffocating tightness in their chests, as if the surging blood was about to overflow. Living in this chaotic world was hard enough; with foreign powers bullying them and bandits constantly lurking within, it was truly unbearable.
"This is outrageous!" Someone in the audience spoke up, and then everyone erupted in an uproar, as if a floodgate had been opened. They began discussing the photos and the ruthless bandits' methods.
"Quiet, everyone, please quiet down. I know you're all feeling indignant after seeing this, but—" Commander Xiong, who was at the head of the table, paused deliberately, looked around at the indignant expressions of the people below, and continued, "These things have already happened, and what we need to consider is how to clean up that garbage in the future."
"Please advise on how to handle this, Commander Xiong." As expected of Commander Xiong's confidant, Brigade Commander Cao immediately paved a way out for Commander Xiong.
Commander Xiong nodded in satisfaction and said, "Good. Let me first give you all a brief overview. Du Hanbin is from Chuansha. He has been robbing merchants traveling between Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai for a long time and disrupting urban and rural transportation. Just last month, he blew up the railway and robbed the government's armored truck. The Nanjing government was furious. As for Mr. Du's attitude, which you are all worried about, you can rest assured. I had drinks with Mr. Du yesterday, and his attitude was very clear: if we fight, he will fully support us. He has even sponsored us with 500 new German machine guns and a number of rifles."
“Mr. Hai, there is very little information about this person. All we know is that he dresses like a scholar, speaks with a Xuzhou accent, and has a history of robbing passing trains and ships. Complaints from foreign chambers of commerce in Britain, Japan, and France, as well as our local chamber of commerce, have filled half of my room. However, we have no leads on this person right now, so let’s put it on hold for now.”
"The last one, Liu Shengqi, deserves to die to appease public anger. Before that, he fled to the vicinity of Hangzhou, where he privately raised troops, manufactured firearms, expanded his influence, and recruited several notorious bandits from the area, such as Wai Zui Zhang, Han Datou, and Lei Gongquan, to serve as 'regimental commanders,' while he himself called himself 'division commander.' That rabble was called the Loyal and Brave Army."
Upon hearing that a group of ruthless bandits were treating him like a military officer, the audience burst into laughter. Gao Junxiao, who was seated at the end of the table, also joined in the laughter.
"Quiet down, everyone, just laugh it off. We've received news that his escape route is towards Shanghai. I've already spoken with the Nanjing Command, and Nanjing has specially transferred the 11th Division from Hangzhou to support us. By the way, isn't Chen Yao, the commander of the 11th Division, your classmate, Inspector Gao?" Commander Xiong suddenly turned to Gao Junxiao and asked.
Gao Junxiao, who had been pretending to be clueless, immediately stood up and smiled when his name was called, indicating that he was right. Commander Xiong waved his hand, telling him to stay seated.
Back in his seat, Gao Junxiao roughly understood Commander Xiong's ulterior motives. The current officers were either from the Baoding or Whampoa military academies. Since the Whampoa academy was personally supervised and selected by the principal, some were considered his direct subordinates upon graduation. Moreover, the Baoding Military Academy had long since closed, and those still in office were mostly old-timers. Among the younger generation, the Whampoa academy seemed to be gaining more influence than the Baoding academy.
Commander Xiong, as a veteran of the Baoding clique, needed to promote its younger members to expand his network. Chen Yao suspected that Commander Xiong had deliberately used this opportunity; it was too coincidental that the main officers in this bandit suppression campaign were all young officers from the Baoding clique. He thought that if the campaign succeeded, the Baoding officers would surely regain their prominence and power within the military, and Commander Xiong would be smoothly promoted to Nanjing, with a bright future ahead.
"That's perfect. Young people are easy to talk to, and Nanjing has high hopes for you. From now on, the task of suppressing bandits will be entirely entrusted to Director Gao. You can move personnel around as you please. You don't need to report to me anymore; Director Gao will report to me regularly. That's settled then. Now, let's invite Director Gao to explain the task allocation. Everyone, please give him a warm welcome." Commander Xiong clapped his hands first, and the crowd below joined in with their clapping.
Amidst everyone's expectant gazes, Gao Junxiao walked confidently onto the podium. He didn't care what Commander Xiong's ulterior motives were; as long as he relinquished power, he could clean up that "trash." He had initially been quite worried about dealing with Liu Shengqi and his gang of thugs, but now that his good brother Chen Yao was there to support him, he felt much more at ease.
As a newcomer, Gao Junxiao naturally exchanged pleasantries. He then addressed his colleagues with a long speech, essentially saying that the ruthless bandits waited for no one, committing arson, murder, and looting against their own compatriots and challenging the credibility of the government. As soldiers, failing to protect the people would be a disgrace to our military careers. He concluded by saying he had said all he needed to say and hoped for their understanding.
After the pleasantries, Gao Junxiao got to the point: "Now, let's assign tasks. Company Commander of the First and Second Reconnaissance Companies, you will continue to be in charge of frontline reconnaissance missions. Report any movements to me immediately. Also, each of you should find three quick-witted young men to form a special reconnaissance team to specifically investigate Mr. Hai's whereabouts."
"Yes, sir." The two company commanders saluted and answered in unison.
"Since each brigade and company still has garrison duties in the city, I request that each officer allocate two platoons to form a special anti-bandit squad," Gao Junxiao said to the garrison commanders. The commanders exchanged bewildered glances, unable to respond for a moment.
These two platoons weren't many, only about 80 men. Gao Junxiao watched the brigade commanders' expressions shift between anger and uncertainty, a flash of disdain in his eyes that quickly disappeared. He deliberately didn't say who they would target first, wanting to see what these brigade commanders were planning. Due to the conscription system, any army has two types of soldiers: the so-called elite and the ragtag troops.
The elite troops were naturally composed of young talents who graduated from various military academies or regular soldiers who had fought in battles for many years. The composition of the miscellaneous troops was much more complicated, including thugs, vagrants, and all sorts of other characters. Giving them all to the miscellaneous troops would be a loss of face. But if they gave them all to the elite troops, there was still the troublesome Liu Shengqi, whose sending him would be tantamount to suicide, and they would suffer a huge loss.
Seeing that they had almost finished arguing, Gao Junxiao spoke up at the right time, and tapped his watch to indicate that time was of the essence: "You can discuss it first, and bring everyone to the playground before 4 pm tomorrow."
"Okay." Several brigade commanders spoke at the same time, but each of them had a worried look on their faces.
"Commander Xiong, is there anything else you'd like to add?" Out of politeness, Gao Junxiao still had to ask Commander Xiong, the "bandit suppression" commander-in-chief of the three provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui.
"No, those you sent should think carefully about the implications. Meeting adjourned." Commander Xiong adjourned the meeting after issuing his final order.
Upon seeing that the meeting was over, a soldier hurriedly ran to Li Shaofu's side and whispered something in his ear. Li Shaofu's expression immediately changed, and he grabbed Gao Junxiao, who was about to leave, and said in a low voice, "Supervisor Gao, please wait. We just received news that someone saw Liu Shengqi on Fourth Road."
Upon hearing the news about Liu Shengqi, Gao Junxiao's eyes immediately turned serious. Company Commander Li Shaofu continued his report: "This Liu Shengqi has a mistress in Huanyu Lane on Fourth Road, a courtesan named Xiao Qinghua. We've been keeping an eye on her for a long time, and this time we've finally made some moves. We just can't be sure if it's true or not."
"Whether it's true or not, we'll find out when we get there. I'm new here and haven't treated my brothers to drinks yet. Today, I'll treat a few of my brothers to drinks at Huanyufang." Gao Junxiao replied calmly, looking at Li Shaofu's surprised face.
"Commander Gao, with so few men, I'm afraid we can't handle this. How about I deploy my entire company outside?" Li Shaofu probably thought Gao Junxiao was going to arrest someone, so he quickly offered his suggestion.
"What are you thinking? We're just going for drinks. Let's go." Gao Junxiao smiled and patted Li Shaofu on the shoulder, then said to Lu Xian, who had just arrived, "Lieutenant Lu, reserve a private room at Huanyufang later."
“Okay.” Lu Xian immediately agreed, his eyes filled with anticipation for drinking with courtesans.
The twilight of night masked the daytime hustle and bustle, and with the rain falling, only a handful of people on the street held umbrellas. Only a cigarette vendor with a small suitcase hanging on his arm was still energetically calling out from his doorway. Inside the private rooms of Huanyufang, however, life was in full swing. After several rounds of drinks, and with beautiful women in their arms, the men were all getting excited. Some were playing drinking games, some were having drinking contests, some were talking nonsense in their drunkenness, and some were even going outside to vomit.
Lu Xian's alcohol tolerance was decent, but after drinking so much, his tongue started to slur. He lay down on the side, letting the pretty girls around him grope him. The only ones who could still speak coherently were probably Company Commander Li Shaofu and Gao Junxiao. Li Shaofu couldn't hold his liquor and, with a mission to complete, didn't dare drink a drop. As for Gao Junxiao, only he knew whether he was drunk or not.
Seeing that the situation was about right, Gao Junxiao slammed his hand on the table, frowned, and cursed, "Is this all the stuff your store has? I'm not satisfied."
"Oh dear, if you're not satisfied, sir, that would be too much of a burden for me. I'll arrange it for you right away." The pimp smiled obsequiously at the God of Wealth. "Girls, come and serve me."
After glancing at the girls who had just arrived, Gao Junxiao complained, "What kind of girls are these? Do they look down on me? I heard that the most popular one in your shop is... that one... what's her name... the woman with the blue and white porcelain tattoo on her hand."
"You mean Xiao Qinghua? Unfortunately, she's off to work as a prostitute." The pimp maintained his professional smile. "Judging from your accent, you're from Beijing, right? The girls in Jiangnan are different from those in Beijing. I'll find you another one with better looks, definitely no less beautiful than Xiao Qinghua."
"Where have all the prostitutes gone? Bring them all back to me." Gao Junxiao staggered towards the pimp, patting him on the shoulder as he asked.
"Oh dear, these prostitutes are out for several days at a time, only being brought back when the customers outside have had their fun. Little Qinghua is the top courtesan, and those who request her are all rich and powerful, so we dare not ask too many questions," the pimp said with difficulty.
"No, I've seen all kinds of women, but I've never seen one with a blue and white tattoo. Call your mother over." Gao Junxiao deliberately kicked the pimp, telling him to get lost. The pimp, used to being bullied, immediately ran away when he saw his sugar daddy lose his temper.
A moment later, the elegantly dressed madam appeared, curtsied, and asked, "What's wrong, sir? I am Wang Mama, the person in charge here. Please feel free to tell me what you need."
"I want to see the small blue and white porcelain!" Gao Junxiao threw down a wad of banknotes, which made Wang Mama smile amiably.
“Sir, you have a good eye. Xiao Qinghua’s tattoo is quite something. Her skin is already fair, and with that blue and white tattoo, she looks just like a blue and white porcelain vase.” Madam Wang stuffed the banknotes into her sleeve and said with a frown, “However, to be honest, Xiao Qinghua has a flaw. She has big feet. If you don’t mind, sir, I will personally inform you when Xiao Qinghua returns.”
"Of course I don't mind. I just heard about the strange things about Xiao Qinghua and came to see something new," Gao Junxiao said with a half-smile.
"That's how it is. Most people come to see what's going on after hearing some rumors. But once they've seen it, it's just so-so. Whether they can keep guests depends on the girls' service," said Madam Wang, flicking her handkerchief lightly.
"So, are all the customers of her prostitutes here to watch the show?" This time, Gao Junxiao didn't give her any money but instead slipped a few silver dollars to Wang Mama, hoping to get some information out of her.
Madam Wang was a seasoned veteran. She blew on the silver coin, listened to it, and said with satisfaction, "No, it's not that. It's been over two years since we got together. This time, we've come to discuss redeeming Xiao Qinghua. So, sir, you'd better hurry up and watch the show, or you'll miss it."
This Wang Mama was tight-lipped, so we had to hit her hard. Gao Junxiao took out a round brocade pouch, shook it, and the crisp sound of the silver coins made Wang Mama unsure where to put her tempting hand: "Wang Mama, how do we redeem Xiao Qinghua?"
Upon hearing this, Madam Wang was clearly flustered and declined, saying, "Sir, it's not that I don't love money, it's just that our boss can't afford to offend that gentleman. You should just watch the show. The other girls in our shop are all very understanding. You'll see when you compare them."
"Then I'll wait for Madam Wang's letter and watch the excitement first. My surname is Gao." Gao Junxiao ignored Madam Wang's greedy gaze and put away the money bag.
"Alright, alright, our shop has rules too, we won't be out for too long. Please leave an address, sir, so I can inform them." Mrs. Wang immediately nodded in agreement.
Seeing Lu Xian still sleeping, Gao Junxiao couldn't help but throw a cushion at him and sternly asked, "Lu Xian, what's the name of the hotel we're staying at?"
"Swelling up, big base (Central Asia Hotel)." Lu Xian was a little dazed from being hit by the pillow and said with a lisp. How could anyone understand that? Gao Junxiao glanced at Lu Xian with annoyance, then whispered a few words to Wang Mama before letting her leave.
Now that he knew what he wanted, there was no need to keep it. With that thought, Gao Junxiao dismissed the beauties as soon as he returned to the room. A moment later, several streaks of light flashed across the dark sky, followed by a deafening rumble of thunder. Lu Xian was so startled that he jumped up, and he sobered up considerably.
Li Shaofu, who was standing next to him, thoughtfully poured Lu Xian a cup of hot tea. Lu Xian took the teacup woodenly and took a sip. Perhaps he knew he was wrong, because he was so scared that he didn't dare to breathe. He turned his head away as if he was looking at the scenery, even though it was pitch black outside and he couldn't see anything.
Gao Junxiao planned to teach Lu Xian a lesson later, but for now, he cleared the area. He clapped his hands to wake everyone up: "Brothers, wake up! Those who can walk can go home on their own, and those who can't can call a rickshaw to take them back. I'll pay for all the fares, no matter what kind. As for those who want to stay overnight, that's up to them. It's none of my business."
After the others left one by one, Gao Junxiao pulled Li Shaofu aside and said, "Brother Shaofu, please wait a moment. I would like to have a detailed talk with you."
Then Gao Junxiao explained the investigation strategy to him. Brothels generally don't offer services unless the brothel owner is someone they can't afford to offend. Just now, Mama Wang said the mysterious customer was a regular at Xiao Qinghua's brothel, which is true. They can start by checking Xiao Qinghua's regular customers, especially those from out of town.
Those who can enter such places are either rich or powerful. Local dignitaries are familiar faces, making them relatively easy to investigate. If the customers are wealthy out-of-towners, they can even take the prostitutes out for fun. They usually have their own private residences instead of staying in hotels, as that would be very inconvenient. The most important thing is to find out-of-town customers with private residences, as they are very likely to be Liu Shengqi's den of thieves.
After sorting out his thoughts, Li Shaofu stared blankly for a long time before replying, "Supervisor Gao, you seem to be a little different from Bai Ri."
"I guess I'm more energetic at night," Gao Junxiao explained with a smile, admitting he was a night owl.
Li Shaofu was still somewhat skeptical, but that didn't stop Gao Junxiao and Li Shaofu from talking about work all night. Until five o'clock in the morning, it was still drizzling outside the window, and the fog was so thick that even the buildings in the distance lost their color. The drifting mist added a touch of ethereal beauty to the reinforced concrete buildings.
"Brother Zexiu, I must go back now. I'm afraid my wife and children at home will worry." Li Shaofu insisted on returning home after finishing his conversation.
"Wait a little longer, I've driven here. We'll go straight to headquarters in a bit. Let's not go back and forth." Gao Junxiao rubbed his face and kindly suggested.
Li Shaofu suppressed a laugh and said, "You don't understand now, so I can't explain it to you. There's another matter I must ask Brother Zexiu for help with."
After receiving Gao Junxiao's affirmative answer, Li Shaofu said very seriously, "If my wife asks you, you must say that we talked about work all night in the hotel."
"We were talking about work... Oh, I see, don't worry, Brother Shaofu." Gao Junxiao nodded knowingly, feeling a little amused and exasperated. He knew he was afraid of his wife.
After Li Shaofu left, Gao Junxiao was furious to see that Lu Xian was still asleep. Last night, this heartless man found an empty seat and fell asleep. Gao Junxiao slapped Lu Xian on the head, waking him up. Lu Xian covered his head and shouted, "Ah, I've been shot!"
"What are you talking about? Go get the car." Gao Junxiao tossed the car keys to Lu Xian and yawned as he lay down on the soft couch.
"Big brother, it's raining heavily outside." Lu Xian pointed out the window, and Gao Junxiao followed his direction, only to see that the drizzle outside had turned into a downpour.
"Fine, wake me up in an hour." Gao Junxiao said this and then closed his eyes. He didn't want to drag his tired body to work; he'd wait until dawn.
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