Text/Kingdom Building
Wu Jiayuan, whose ancestral home is Shandong, (this Wu Jiayuan is a Beiyang official, not a revolutionary martyr) is an official under the Warlord Zhang Zongchang of the Beiyang Clan in the late Qing Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty.
After the end of the Second Zhifeng War in 1924, the victorious Fengzhi warlord Zhang Zongchang not only collected 80,000 troops of the direct warlords, but also seized the rich territory of Shandong. As a result, some frustrated warlords and politicians rushed to Jinan to join Lao Zhang. Zhang Zongchang did not refuse to come to him, so that he did not know how many people he had.
Wu Jiayuan was one of the Qing courtiers who defected to Zhang Zongchang at that time (that is, the disciples of the powerful in ancient times). He came from a bureaucratic family, went to college, and later encountered war, his family fell into the middle of the road, and when he defected to Zhang Zongchang, he was already a penniless and poor literati. But Wu Jiayuan has a stunt that is enough for him to survive in a chaotic world, and this stunt is to play mahjong.
How good is Wu Jiayuan playing mahjong? He is a master of card counting, not only can he remember the position of 108 mahjong cards in a short period of time, but also accurately calculate the cards that the opponent calls to eat, so that it is easy to play, and it is difficult to win money. But Wu Jiayuan is also a very bookish person, and does not want to make a fortune through this "skill", so every time he plays mahjong, he will deliberately release water to the loser, as long as he wins some pocket money.
Zhang Zongchang, the overseer of Shandong, also likes to play mahjong, and the stakes are extremely high, and the people who often play cards together are some rich and powerful dignitaries. Don't look at the old Zhang fighting set, but playing mahjong carelessly (not careless will not have the nickname of "three unknown generals"), often lose a mess. Fortunately, Lao Zhang regards money as dung, so he loses and loses, and he will not turn his face with his card friends. Anyway, in a word, some high-ranking officials and nobles in Jinan City at that time regarded Zhang Zongchang as an ATM and privately called him "the god of wealth".
Wu Jiayuan had eaten white food in Zhang Zongchang's mansion for more than half a year, and his heart was a little too unwilling to go. Seeing that the card partner took advantage of Lao Zhang, he was determined to use his "absolute learning" to help Zhang Dashuai. Once, Zhang Zongchang played mahjong three times missing one, and Wu Jiayuan took the initiative to ask for a kick. Zhang Zongchang did not feel that there was anything wrong, and gleefully beckoned Wu Jiayuan to sit down and start the war. The other two card friends are full of doubts, thinking that you have money to lose? As a result, in the first three games of the opening game, Wu Jiayuan won three consecutive games and won the capital for himself. Later, he helped Zhang Zongchang make a big card, let the other two people light the cannon, Zhang Zongchang won the eyebrows and smiled, and the other two people lost bitterly. After one night of fighting, Zhang Zongchang won a full house, Wu Jiayuan had a slight surplus, and the other two not only lost all their cash, but also left a hundred and ten oceans. Originally, if you suffer a loss, you should keep a long note and can't play anymore. However, the gambler's psychology was at work, the more he lost, the more he wanted to get it back, the two losers hurried back, did not have much rest, and then brought the principal to Find Zhang Zongchang to turn over the book. The result can be imagined, under Wu Jiayuan's calculations, the loss is more and more unbearable.
People's thinking is also strange. After the news of Zhang Zongchang's guest Wu Jiayuan playing mahjong, instead of intimidating those card friends who like to take advantage of small things, on the contrary, there are many mahjong masters who come to practice their skills. With Wu Jiayuan sitting with him, Zhang Zongchang was invincible and basically never lost again. After a long time, even Zhang Zongchang, who has always been headless and brainless, saw the hint and said, "Thank you Mr. Wu for your care, his grandmother's, I want to thank you very much!" "
At the beginning of 1926, Zhang Zongchang suddenly appointed Wu Jiayuan, the mahjong partner, as the director of the Qingdao Salt Bureau, which made his subordinates hungry. Why? Because the Qingdao Salt Affairs Bureau manages the production and sales of sea salt in most of Shandong, it is a fat and oily beauty. After Wu Jiayuan took office, the family lived a good life. Wu Jiayuan repeatedly patted Zhang Zongchang's ass in public, saying that Zhang Dashuai was the great benefactor of their family.
After Zhang Zongchang was assassinated by Feng Yuxiang and Han Fuqu in September 1932, Zhang Zongchang's eldest son was disobedient and wanted to avenge his father, and even Wu Peifu and Duan Qirui could not persuade him (mainly tens of thousands of Zhang Zongchang's old troops were scattered throughout Shandong at that time). Wu Jiayuan, who was still idle at home, found Zhang Zongchang's old mother and said that Shandong is now the territory of others, not to say that revenge is more difficult than ascending to heaven, and even if it is successful, it is inevitable that the family will be destroyed, which will prevent this reckless behavior.