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Chapter 79: Financing Difficulties

  Chapter Seventy-Ninth: Financing Dilemma

  Gu Lianyun's sudden poisoning made Ouyang Yun start to worry about the safety of the Ghost Mansion. Coincidentally, the defensive position of the Academic Army had already been determined, and after the flag-giving ceremony was held in two days' time, the entire army would set out for Renqiu. The next morning, he took Gu Lianyun and Bai Liusu to the hospital for a check-up, and after confirming that she was not seriously injured, he brought them and the Hu Xiang Special Operations Team to move to Wanping.

  That night, he brought several original three-connection students, driving five trucks from Wanping to Langwo. The next day, they asked a few local old men to help take care of the wolf's den, then dismantled the training equipment that could be taken away, and took all the members of the Wolf Tooth to Wanping - from now on, all personnel of the Student Brigade were concentrated together, starting preparations for the flag-giving ceremony on June 6.

  June 6th, sunny day, at 9:15 am, the founding and flag-giving ceremony of the Student Army Independent Regiment began on the No. 2 training ground of the Wanping Military Camp. The three big shots of the 29th Army, Song Zheyuan, Qin Dechun, and Zhang Weifan, all arrived at the scene, in front of the formation composed of student soldiers, under their solemn gaze, Song Zheyuan handed over a brand new flag of the Student Army Independent Regiment to Ouyang Yun, then delivered a speech titled "I will die for my country"

  "Soldiers of the Independent Brigade, today is a special day, the 29th Army's Independent Brigade has been established. From now on, China has an additional team that excels in both literature and martial arts, from now on, you have transformed from students to warriors! You will use the pen in your hand and the gun on your shoulder to defend national dignity and realize your personal value... One day we will face such a choice, either I perish or the country perishes, which one would you choose as soldiers?"

  "Our country may perish, but we will survive!" The students made their choice with a thunderous voice.

  Song Zheyuan nodded with satisfaction and said, "Very good, I'd rather die than be a traitor. If all my fellow descendants of the Yan and Huang Emperors had such determination, which country would dare to look down on us? Which bandit would dare to covet our rivers and mountains?"

  This flag-presenting ceremony was insisted on by Ouyang Yun - the military flag is the most important historical evidence in a unit's inheritance, carrying the spiritual strength of a unit and being its soul. Ouyang Yun wanted to make soldiers realize the importance of the military flag through the flag-presenting ceremony and establish a sense of honor.

  Song Zheyuan finished speaking, he ran to the front of the opposing side, stood at attention and saluted, then raised the military flag in his hands high with a loud voice: "The first commander of the Independent Regiment, Ouyang Yun, guarantees to the military seat that as long as people are under the flag, the flag is on the battlefield, the Independent Regiment has confidence to let our military flag forever fly high, forever only represent honor and victory, and forever be loyal to the people and the 29th Army!" Then he turned around and shouted loudly at the student troops: "The whole Student Regiment, at ease, attention, take oath! Welcome the military flag!"

  Ji Xingwen and Li Tieshu, standing at the forefront of the formation, ran forward, stood at attention, and saluted. Ji Xingwen took over the military flag and held it high, saying loudly with Li Tieshu: "Deputy Commander-in-Chief Ji Xingwen (Deputy Commander Li Tieshu) takes an oath to the military flag - as long as we are here, our flag will always fly high, forever representing honor, victory, and loyalty to the people and the 29th Army!"

  After them, the representatives of other officers in the Ministry of War, such as Ji Xingkai and others, took over the military flag and swore an oath, followed by Chen Shichang, representing the commanders of various brigades and special battalions.

  For this flag-giving ceremony, the student brigade had conducted two rehearsals. Everyone, whether in spirit or action, was very much in place, and Song Zheyuan and others couldn't help but nod their heads in approval, secretly praising them. They all exclaimed that Ou Yang Yun was deeply hidden and didn't expect him to lead his troops so well. Just through this one oath-taking and flag-welcoming ceremony, they clearly felt that the student brigade's nearly 600-strong team was gradually gathering into a strong fist like five fingers closing towards the palm.

  On their way back to Nanyuan, Zhang Weifan said: "Really can't see it, Ou Yang Yun this little guy is quite good at commanding troops!"

  Qin Dechun deeply agreed and said: "I think that next year's New Year's military exercise, the student battalion is very likely to take first place!"

  Song Zheyuan said: "I feel like it's too flashy, as if we're acting in a play."

  Qin Dechun said: "No, no, it's not acting, the soldiers' expressions are very solemn, and there is a clear display of strength inside!"

  Zhang Weifan ventured to say: "Song Gong, I think we should add some troops to the student brigade? Three battalions seem a bit few."

  "No rush, let's talk about it after the New Year's Day. Putting them in Renqiu has already caused a lot of gossip. At this time, if we give them more personnel, I think the Academic Battalion will provoke public outrage."

  "Yes, it's possible."

  After seeing off the three big brothers, the Academic Troop held a flag-giving ceremony under the host of Ouyang Yun. After the Academic Troop was officially expanded to a brigade, it now has three infantry regiments and one special operations battalion. The brigade also directly commands the Wolf Tooth Battalion, Special Operations Battalion, Fox Special Action Group, Communications Company, Medical Support Company, Guard Company. In addition, after entering Renqiu, a special police squadron will be established. The Communications Company, Medical Support Company, and some institutions of the brigade headquarters are currently only frameworks due to personnel shortages. The Renqiu Special Police Squadron will work with the Fox Special Action Group's counterintelligence department to take charge of the security work of the Special Operations Battalion in a overt and covert manner.

  The headquarters' flag-giving ceremony, Ou Yang Yun incorporated the new recruits into the program, completely copying the enlistment ceremony of Steel Seven Company in "Soldiers Sortie", with each company conducting separately. Because the original student brigade had only over 600 people including the new recruits, he sought Ji Xingwen's opinion and established the 2nd Student Brigade and the 3rd Student Brigade based on the 219th Brigade. Then, using the original student brigade as a framework, the 1st Student Brigade and the Special Operations Battalion were established. The Signal Company, Medical Company, and Guard Company could only be slowly established.

  Ouyang Yun, Ji Xingwen, and Li Tieshu, as the three big shots of the new academic battalion, stood at the front of the team with staff members, listening to the oath flags rising one after another: ... The Nth soldier of a certain company takes an oath to the military flag, people are in the flag, the flag is on the battlefield, swearing that our military flag will always fly high, always representing honor and victory, always loyal to the people and the 29th Army... Ouyang Yun was smiling, enjoying this scene; Ji Xingwen and Li Tieshu looked at him and then at those determined-looking academic soldiers, only to finally understand why he insisted on holding this oath flag ceremony - this is absolutely not something that can be summarized in a few words. When the soldiers took over the flag, their faces naturally became solemn and sacred, apparently, they had truly understood the honor represented by the military flag. There is reason to believe that in the coming years, they will use hot blood and life to protect the honor of being a soldier.

  They overestimated Ouyang Yun, he wanted to do this seemingly more flashy oath flag ceremony just to fulfill one of his own dreams. Before joining the army, he always thought that all troops would have an oath flag ceremony like the one depicted in "Soldier Assault", but after really joining the army, he realized that imagination is always more beautiful than reality, and that was just a joke opened by the screenwriter of "Soldier Assault" for the masses.

  Of course, in the 1930s, such an oath-taking ceremony had a different effect - the oath-taking ceremony of the student brigade was grand and caused a great stir among all units of the 29th Army. Many troops followed suit, and the oath-taking gradually became a necessary procedure for new recruits to the 29th Army, which was beyond the expectation of Ouyang Yun, the initiator. In the subsequent battles with the Japanese army, many touching stories emerged, making this oath-taking ceremony gradually legendary and establishing the reputation of the 29th Army as an iron army!

  After the flag-raising ceremony, marking the official establishment of the Student Soldier Brigade, they would set off en masse to Renqiu for garrison duty the next day. This was a big deal in Ouyang Yun's transmigratory career, and to put it plainly, from now on, he wouldn't be fighting alone. Originally, his plan had been to reorganize the Student Soldier Brigade, establishing a soldiers' committee with supervisory powers over officers, as well as a military police corps responsible for discipline supervision. However, due to the addition of the 219th Regiment, he decided to put it off for now. A soldiers' committee wouldn't work in the 29th Army, which still had warlord characteristics; if things went badly, it could even lead to him being labeled as a certain type of organization, and if that sparked public outrage, it would be disastrous. Fortunately, the secretariat and archives room had already been established, fulfilling the promise he made to the student soldiers in Tianjin during their training days.

  That night, after seeing Gu Lianyun off, he returned to the dormitory, sat at his desk, and was about to prepare lessons when a battalion commander on duty came knocking on the door, saying that someone outside the military camp was looking for him.

  At the entrance of the military camp, he met Jiang Shuren who was blocked there. He suddenly remembered the inspection team's affairs and couldn't help but slap his own head hard, saying: "Mr. Jiang, look at my memory, I actually forgot about the inspection team's affairs."

  The affairs of the inspection team have been handled by Jiang Shuren recently, and it's clear that he's exhausted. Ouyang Yun sees his sunken eyes, obvious lack of sleep, and says apologetically: "I'm really sorry, you've been working hard lately." He invites him to sit down in the military camp to chat again, but Jiang waves his hand and says: "Don't go in, Ouyang younger brother, today another person withdrew from the team. If this continues, I think by the time we depart, all the merchants will be gone."

  He was stunned and asked, "How can this be?" Since the news of penicillin was released, businessmen in Beiping had regarded him as a god of wealth, and even sending gifts was afraid of not finding a way. Now that the road to wealth has been paved, why have they retreated instead? He couldn't help but feel puzzled.

  "Merchants were initially enthusiastic, but upon hearing that they would have to take a boat ride of nearly a month, many people lost their courage. They said that while making money was a good thing, the risks at sea were too great. If one's life was lost in the process, it wasn't worth the profit."

  Ouyang Yun thought for a moment and seemed to understand what was going on, smiling: "This is strange, aren't merchants supposed to value money more than their lives? Hmm, it seems the temptation isn't enough. Let's first set up two factories, establish some models, and put the benefits right in front of them. I'd like to see if they're tempted or not."

  Kang Shuren shook his head helplessly and said: "It can only be like this. There's one more thing, the oil company still has a huge funding gap, should we increase the financing scale?"

  "How much is missing?"

  "Chen Hanlin holds 10% of the shares and invested 1.5 million, a few days ago, Vice Governor Gu gave me around 2 million, at least still short of 2 million."

  The oil company needed drilling and refining equipment, which was worth around $800,000. Chen Hanlin held 10% of the shares and paid $1.5 million. The 29th Army and Song Zheyuan, Xue Bing's brigade, and Ouyang Yun were the three largest shareholders. However, the first two were nominal shares, with the 29th Army and Song Zheyuan holding 35%, Xue Bing's brigade holding 15%, and Renqiu County Government holding 10% of the nominal shares. The remaining 40% of the shares were held by Ouyang Yun, who contributed 10% in technology and paid around $4 million in cash for the remaining 30%.

  Ouyang Yun considered that there were too many places where money would be needed in the future, so she didn't use that batch of gold. All the funds were raised by Gu Liyun through selling those antiques and paintings. But because her American boss's friend happened to return to China, there was no longer a big buyer, and relying solely on selling to some individual buyers, it was impossible to raise such a large amount of funds at once.

  "There are two ways: first go find Jun Zuo and see if he can help raise some funds; or increase the shares of Renqiu County Government by 20%, let them put out the money."

  Jiang Shuren saw that he never mentioned financing to the businessmen, knowing that oil is a strategic resource that must be firmly grasped in one's own hands. He nodded in agreement. Then the two of them rushed overnight to Nanyuan to see Song Zheyuan.

  Song Zheyuan had operated in Chahar for several years and must have had some money on hand, but it's unclear whether his experiences in Shanxi had stimulated him to be particularly stingy with his own family property. After listening to the two of them explain their intentions, he bluntly stated that he had no money and told them to think of another way.

  Jiang Shuren had expected this outcome before he came, and seeing Song Zheyuan's eyes already filled with blame, he secretly sighed and didn't say anything more.

  Ouyang Yun didn't know what was true or false, and thinking that Chahar wasn't a wealthy place, he proposed a second plan: to transfer 20% of the shares to the Renqiu County government, with the county government putting up the money.

  This plan sounds good in theory, but Ou Yangyun is about to take over as the administrative chief of Renqiu, and the shares controlled by the Renqiu county government are still in his hands. However, when Song Zheyuan heard this suggestion, he laughed and reminded him: "The National Government has just withdrawn from Hebei, do you think there's still money in local finances?"

  Song Zheyuan has been through officialdom for a long time and is very familiar with Chiang Kai-shek's usual tactics, this remark is not made without reason.

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