Chapter 26 Chapter Twenty-Five

On the second day after Zhou Lide returned from visiting relatives, the troops went to Taibai County to suppress the bandits.After the Fengxiang battle, the national army only rested for three days, and Song Zheyuan ordered to march.This is because Feng Yuxiang's war on the eastern front was tight, and he repeatedly urged Song Zheyuan to divide his troops to support him, but Song Zheyuan didn't dare to delay.The second is Fengxiang's new victory, and the troops are in full swing, which is a good opportunity to use troops. Although the Taibai bandit Huabaozi is not as powerful as the Fengxiang Party kidnappers, Taibai is located in the deep mountains of the Qinling Mountains. The terrain is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack. However, the people feared him like a tiger, and it was impossible to provide any assistance to the bandit suppression troops. Song Zheyuan expected a fierce battle to be inevitable.

Unexpectedly, however, when the army arrived at the city, the gate of Taibai County was already open. Hua Baozi led his brothers to kneel at the gate to welcome Song Zheyuan, which made Song Zheyuan overjoyed.It turns out that Hua Leopard already knew about Fengxiang's tragedy of killing prisoners, and he was quite frightened. He weighed it over and over again, knowing that he was no match for the National Army, and even if he refused by danger, he would not be able to fight for a long time. Once the county fell, they would surely follow in Fengxiang's footsteps and die If there is no place to be buried, it is better to surrender voluntarily. This will not only save one's life, but may also lead to promotion and fortune.Of course Hua Baozi knew the risk of surrender, and the officers and soldiers might kill him.But he felt that the chances of this were not high. He was the first to surrender to the officers and soldiers. If they killed him, they would cut off the way to peacefully suppress the bandits. There are many bandits in Shaanxi. If they fight to the end with the national army, they will pay a high price.On the contrary, he felt that Song Zheyuan was the most likely to treat him favorably. Not only was he fine, but he would also be promoted.Although Hua Baozi is illiterate, he has heard the story of Shuibo Liangshan to death. He admires Song Jiang's cleverness and knows that recruiting security is the ultimate shortcut to promotion and fortune.Of course, this is a bit of a life gamble, but being a bandit is a life gamble, so what if you gamble again?

Facts have proved that Hua Baozi's bet was right.Naturally, Song Zheyuan would not let go of this opportunity to sing red faces.Originally, to suppress bandits is to use both soft and hard methods, and to suppress and comfort, with comfort as the top priority.Caressing can not only avoid bleeding, but also expand your team, which is the best policy.He started killing in Fengxiang with the purpose of killing chickens for monkeys to force other bandits to submit. Now it seems that this method has an immediate effect.Now that we have achieved initial results, we should take advantage of the momentum and consolidate our performance.Song Zheyuan decided to reward the leopards and set an example for all bandits.He appointed Hua Baozi as the deputy head of the colonel, rewarded him with a thousand dollars, and entertained him at the headquarters every day, and put his arms around his shoulders when he came in and out, so that Hua Baozi earned enough face.

That day Zhou Lide was on duty outside the headquarters, suddenly a few villagers came to complain.They knelt on the ground and wept bitterly, and they kept saying that they wanted to see the commander-in-chief.Seeing them crying pitifully, Zhou Lide thought that they must have suffered a great injustice, so he went in to report.As soon as Zhou Lide entered the door, he saw two people lying on a couch in the southeast corner of the room, smoking clouds and smoke around a smoke lamp on one left and one on the right.He was a little surprised, who is so presumptuous to eat opium in the headquarters blatantly?When he got closer, he was even more surprised. It turned out that it was Song Zheyuan and Hua Baozi.They squinted their eyes intoxicated, and didn't notice Zhou Lide's arrival.Zhou Lide had previously heard that Song Zheyuan was a drug addict, but today he witnessed it with his own eyes.He felt uncomfortable for a while, unable to accept this fact for a while.Song Zheyuan is a senior officer of the National Army, Feng Yuxiang's right-hand man, how can this be good?Zhou Lide was unhappy, and the voice of shouting the report became louder unconsciously.

Song Zheyuan was startled by the sudden voice, and was shocked, feeling unhappy.He opened his eyes and saw that it was Zhou Lide, and asked impatiently, what's the matter?Zhou Lide reported the situation outside to him, and he said angrily, these idiots really watched too many Qin opera operas, stopped sedan chairs everywhere to file a complaint, tell them, now is the Republic of China, the military and government are separated, and they should file a complaint with the government! Zhou Lide came out to convey the commander-in-chief's instructions. These people knelt on the ground and couldn't get up, saying that they had approached the county government, but the county magistrate refused to accept it, so they went to the commander-in-chief.Seeing these people crying like tears, Zhou Lide couldn't bear it, and wanted to help them, so he said you all got up, the commander-in-chief told you to go to the county government, they dared not ignore it.Those people still didn't move. They knew it was perfunctory, so they went to the county magistrate with empty words. How could the county magistrate believe that this was an instruction from the commander-in-chief?Zhou Lide said okay, I will take you there.After hearing what he said, these people stopped crying and got up from the ground.Zhou Lide did this not only to help these people, but also out of his own responsibility.If the complainant kept crying at the door and annoyed Song Zheyuan, he, the duty officer, would have nothing to do with it.

After Zhou Lide arranged the security work, he brought these people to the county government office.When the county magistrate saw the complaint, he yelled, why are you here again?It's endless!Zhou Lide stood at attention and saluted the county magistrate, revealing his identity and explaining his purpose of coming.The county magistrate saw that he had made a mistake. He was a member of the officialdom and knew what the people in the pistol camp did.Since it was the commander-in-chief's personal soldiers who conveyed the oral order, how dare he not carry it out? But he really didn't dare to accept the case, because these people sued Hua Baozi.Hua Baozi is now the commander-in-chief's favorite.This county magistrate was just appointed the day before yesterday. Taibai County used to be ruled by bandits and had no government.The new county magistrate was born as a scholar. He has a conscience, but he is very slippery.It's not that he doesn't want to make decisions for the people, but that he doesn't have the guts, so he repeatedly kicks those who complained out of the yamen.Now that the commander-in-chief asked him to take over the case, he had no choice but to proceed first. As for how to deal with it, let's play it by ear.

The county magistrate asked Zhou Lide to sit down first, and then sent someone to call the police chief to let the chief handle the case. He would not go directly to this muddy water.The county magistrate told Zhou Lide that the government of the Republic of China separated the police from the administration, and handling cases was the job of the police, and the county magistrate could not do it for him.He smiled and said, I'm the same as you, let's listen here. The bureau chief asked the names and addresses of these complaints, and the clerk recorded them one by one; he also asked who they were suing, and they all said in unison: "Hu pigs!"

Zhou Lide thought to himself, who is this hog egg that is so frightening that the county magistrate dare not mess with him? The director then asked them what they were suing Hu Zhudan, and the crowd was furious, and they rushed to sue, and the courtroom was in chaos.One by one, the dog snatches shit!the chief scolded.Zhou Lide glared at the bureau chief, but the bureau chief didn't notice.Those who complained were frightened by the director, and dared not say anything again.The director said impatiently, open your mouth, do you have feces in your mouth?Zhou Lide saw an old man, he was crying just now when everyone was rushing to talk, and he is still crying now, the front of his clothes is wet with tears.He went to help the old man up and said, old man, you speak first.The old man stood up tremblingly, probably kneeling for too long, his legs were numb, and he wobbled and couldn't stand still.Before Zhou Lide could give up his stool to the old man, the director hurriedly stuffed his stool under the old man's buttocks.Seeing that the officer was so enthusiastic about the old man, the director thought they had something to do with each other, so he immediately changed his attitude.

You say, don't be afraid, there is me!The chief encourages the elders.The old man glanced at Zhou Lide and the director, and spoke.As soon as he opened his mouth, Zhou Lide was taken aback: You bastard, you murdered people for courage, my son told him to kill him alive! what!Zhou Lide screamed, but the county magistrate remained calm.The director said, this is not bad!Speak carefully, speak carefully.He turned his head to greet the clerk, stretched his ears, and took notes carefully. The old man said carefully, Zhou Lide's hair was all up, there are such villains in the world!This Hu Zhudan has vitiligo, and various treatments are ineffective. A quack doctor prescribed a folk prescription for him, using human gallbladder as a primer for the medicine, so he asked his brothers to take the quack doctor to look for people outside. The old man's son saw that the son was strong and strong, and he was a good material for a medicine primer, so he caught him, forced him to the side of the road, and disemboweled him.Passers-by on the side of the road saw it, and hurried to tell the old man that when the old man arrived at the scene, the bandits had already left, and his son was already dead.The old man was in great pain, but he had no choice but to take his son's body back for burial.Who would have thought that a group of bandits came roaring in just after they were buried in the tomb? It turned out that it was the first time for this charlatan to harvest human gallbladders. They recognized human gallbladder, so they dug the dead out of the grave and took the gallbladder again...

Zhou Lide's fists were clenched, and he suddenly realized who this piggie was. He is a bandit leader and has vitiligo. There won't be another person in Taibai County, right? Leopard?he asked the old man. The old man nodded. The county magistrate also nodded to Zhou Lide, showing that he already knew it well.Zhou Lide was filled with anger but he couldn't help but have some scruples. Seeing that he had asked a question but there was no more to say, the old man knelt down again with a plop.The old man said, we used to not be able to offend others, but now that the army to suppress the bandits has come, the government has been established, and the bandits have surrendered, we dare to sue him and ask Master Qingtian to make the decision for us!

The other complainants also kowtowed like garlic. They accused Hua Leopard of murder, arson, kidnapping, extortion, and bullying men and women.The more they talked, the more sad they became, and there was a lot of crying in the county government. Dog days!This time the police chief couldn't sit still at first.Issue an arrest warrant and take this thing to death!He spoke to the clerk. Don't worry!The county magistrate spoke at this time, he stopped the bureau chief, saying how to arrest people, we have to discuss a plan.He asked the clerk to bring the record to the complainant, and asked these people to sign one by one, and then said, elders, we have accepted the case, you go back first, and wait for the result.Those who complained didn't get up immediately, they felt that there must be an explanation anyway, they can't just go back so vaguely, right?The county magistrate said that you should trust the government and Commander-in-Chief Song. He has already sent an adjutant to try your case. What are you afraid of?Will definitely give you a satisfactory answer! These people looked at Zhou Lide, Zhou Lide didn't know how to answer them, so he nodded indiscriminately.Those people left hesitantly. The county magistrate asked the bureau chief, where are you going to arrest people?Do you know where the leopard is?He's in the bandit suppression headquarters!Can you catch the people there casually?Zhou Lide blushed a little after hearing this, the county magistrate didn't look at him, but he felt that there was a thorn in the county magistrate's eyes. After the county magistrate finished training the bureau chief, he turned to ask Zhou Lide with a smile, Adjutant Zhou, do you think the arrest warrant will be issued soon? Zhou Lide hesitated.He thought to himself that once the arrest warrant was issued, it would be impossible to cover up the matter, and it would not be good for the commander-in-chief or the bandit suppressing army if it spread.After all, Hua Leopard is now highly praised by us, even if he is to be arrested, at least let the commander know first, and give him a chance to maneuver.Zhou Lide believed that the commander-in-chief would not tolerate villains.He said to the county magistrate, I think it is better to let the commander-in-chief look at the case first! It was so well said, the county magistrate said to the bureau chief, look how thoughtful Adjutant Zhou is, how can he be so careless like you!He told the clerk to submit the case record to Adjutant Zhou. It was already afternoon when Zhou Lide returned to the headquarters.He asked the guards on duty and learned that Hua Baozi was still in the headquarters, so he could only wait for it to be inconvenient to submit the case records.But he was also afraid that if Hua Baozi left the headquarters, he would learn about the complaint. There is no impenetrable wall in this world. What if Hua Baozi escaped or turned against him because of this?The bandits have many eyes and ears and are well-informed, so they have to guard against them.Zhou Lide was restless and hesitated for a while, and finally made up his mind to call the report outside, and then went in.Song Zheyuan and Hua Leopard were admiring a tiger skin. When they saw Zhou Lide coming in, they said to him, "Commander Zhou, please come and see the gift that Commander Hu gave us. This is a rare and rare South China tiger. It hit the muzzle of Commander Hu. up.As the saying goes, brothers who fight tigers are brothers, and father and son fight in battle. It's a pity that I wasn't there when Captain Hu fought tigers!The commander-in-chief compared Leopard to his own brother, which made Zhou Lide's heart tighten, but he fought it out, he couldn't tolerate the devil who eats human flesh.Zhou Lide stood at attention, took out the case record, and reported to the commander, the official document from the Taibai County Government! After reading the case record, Song Zheyuan passed it on to Hua Baozi with a blank expression on his face.Hua Baozi was overwhelmed by the flattery, how much trust this is, he pretended to take a few glances, and said triumphantly, brother, I am illiterate, and I listen to the commander in everything!Song Zheyuan smiled and said, this official document is related to Head Hu, let me read it to you.He picked out a few important places to read, and Leopard's face turned from red to white, from white to gray, and beads of sweat came out of his forehead one after another. Zhou Lide put his hand on the handle of the gun, and only waited for Song Zheyuan's order to take down the leopard in one fell swoop.He knew that the commander-in-chief had always hated the bandits and would not let this beast go, and that the commander-in-chief would take down the leopard and hand it over to the Taibai County Government, which would further demonstrate the reputation of the National Army's reputation for punishing and punishing evil. But Zhou Lide never expected that Song Zheyuan would tear up the case record in a flash, cursing, talking nonsense, making something out of nothing, is Head Hu such a person?Is this Commander just blind-eyed like that? Hua Leopard wiped off his sweat, his face changed from cloudy to sunny, he stammered, Commander... his eyes are bright, they are giving me shit! I know, Song Zheyuan said with a smile, I believe in you, you go back and prepare, we will return to Xi'an tomorrow, you can go there with me to enjoy the blessings. Song Zheyuan sent Huabaozi out of the headquarters, and Zhou Lideci was there. Song Zheyuan felt Zhou Lide's surprise, but he ignored him.This is politics, and politics only recognizes interests, regardless of right and wrong.Politics is a long-term investment, not just for immediate enjoyment.Whether to kill or not to kill has to be considered in the long run. Zhou Lide's ignorance of this shows that he is still young, and it also shows that he is still a talented person.He won't explain to him that the unpredictability of the holy will is the strategy of the master, and it's ridiculous for a commander-in-chief to look at the faces of his guards.He thought that Hua Leopard's final outcome might make Zhou Lide understand his intentions. He was going to let Hua Leopard be the vanguard to attack the next bandit nest. This guy would either die from the enemy's bullet or the black gun behind him. Anyway, he would not let him A good death, no one has anything to say when he dies and gives him the title of a hero. But Song Zheyuan underestimated Zhou Lide's inner emotions.He was not only surprised, he was filled with righteous indignation.He didn't expect Song Zheyuan to be so indiscriminate between right and wrong!He had only seen the stories of gouging out people's hearts and eating people's galls in books before, and those books were all about legends and novels, which were absurd and unbelievable, but now he encountered them alive beside him.It is such a demon, but Song Zheyuan respects him as the guest of honor. Could it be that he is blind?When Fengxiang killed the prisoners last time, Zhou Lide's affection for Song Zheyuan disappeared. He tossed and turned in bed at night, thought over and over again, and finally decided to leave Song Zheyuan and not stay by his side, so as not to worry about seeing him every day.He also thought about the reason for leaving, which was to ask the grassroots company to train and go to the combat troops to charge the front line, which was what Feng Yuxiang warned him back then.He guessed that Song Zheyuan would not let him go easily, and might even turn against him. If it didn't work, he would bring out Commander-in-Chief Feng. He raised this request the next day, but Song Zheyuan agreed very happily, which surprised Zhou Lide.In fact, Song Zheyuan has his own little plan.He has a distant relative's son who is doing business in his team. This time when he returns to Xi'an, the bandit suppression team will be transferred eastward to the Henan front to support Feng Yuxiang.The Eastern Expedition was a bloody battle, and he didn't want his relatives to take risks, so he decided to keep him in Taibai for garrison.Every time the national army regains a place, it must leave a number of troops to garrison it to help maintain law and order in the place.This messy relative was a battalion commander. Song Zheyuan knew that he was not qualified for this position, so he had to be equipped with a right-hand assistant.After much deliberation, he thought of Zhou Lide, no one is more suitable than this young man.Song Zheyuan didn't expect that Zhou Lide would propose downgrading the company, how many people would be greedy to be a guard for the chief!Of course he felt a little uncomfortable, knowing that Zhou Lide had a problem with him because of the Leopard, but he was about to use him, so he didn't get into it.Song Zheyuan immediately appointed Zhou Lide as the deputy battalion commander of the Taibai County Garrison, and he was ordered to report on the same day. Song Zheyuan led the bandit suppression army to Xi'an, and the fathers and elders in Taibai County saw him off with loud gongs, drums and firecrackers.Hua Leopard, who had already changed into a regular military uniform, also joined the team on a tall horse, with a very reluctant face.Yesterday he offered to let him lead his team to garrison Taibai on the grounds that he was familiar with the ground and had prestige in the local area, but he was rejected by Song Zheyuan, and his team was dispersed into the National Army. Zhou Lide and all the officers and soldiers of the Taibai Garrison stood at attention on the city wall, saluted, and bid farewell to the army.He looked down at the farewell crowd from a high place, but he didn't see the old man who complained. Did he not come, or was he blocked by the crowded flow of people?