Chapter 330: This Was Impossible!
Chapter 330: This Was Impossible!
Li Daoxuan’s vision followed Bai Yuan walking…
Bai Yuan was strolling through Heyang County.
The situation in Heyang County was now a complete mess compared to Chengcheng County. Here, there was no Deity sending rain, nor did the Deity distribute grain. Instead, there was Fan Shanyue rampaging everywhere—robbing, killing, burning, and forcibly recruiting commoners. He had been causing chaos since the early years of the Chongzhen era, up to now, for nearly two full years.
Over these past two years, Heyang County had suffered devastating blows.
The term “productive forces” need not even be mentioned. Half the county lay in ruins, with deserted houses and empty rooms everywhere. Skeletons littered the roadside. Only the eastern area near the Yellow River’s edge retained some semblance of life, while the western part bordering Chengcheng seemed like the end of the world.
As Bai Yuan journeyed along, he sighed at what he saw.
Watching through Bai Yuan’s eyes, Li Daoxuan sighed as well.
“Now that we’ve connected with the Heyang County Magistrate, it’s time to help the commoners here,” Bai Yuan said to himself. “Liang Shixian can’t intervene openly, but we can easily work through private channels.”
Li Daoxuan nodded in agreement. This made sense. Bai Yuan having this idea showed he was starting to align with Li Daoxuan’s own problem-solving methods.
Li Daoxuan’s way of helping the commoners had always been to bypass the authorities and build solutions independently. Unless encountering an official like Liang Shixian, he had no intention of dealing with government personnel at all.
The reason was simple: the Ming court was beyond saving. The rotten giant empire was riddled with deep-seated festering sores—so bad that scraping its bones couldn’t cure it, let alone repair it.
It would be better just to tear it all down and start over.
Bai Yuan advanced northward along the dilapidated yellow earth official road. He passed Yongning Village, North Yongning Village, Yang Village… then crossed a stretch of forest, trekked along a ridge for a while, and finally reached Xiniuzhuang ahead.
Upon arrival, both Li Daoxuan and Bai Yuan understood why Fan Shanyue had chosen to station his troops here.
It turned out… directly north of Xiniuzhuang lay the towering, continuous Huanglong Mountain again.
This spot was at the southeastern corner of Huanglong Mountain. Fan Shanyue stationed himself here so that at the slightest sign of trouble, he could lead his men into Huanglong Mountain and revert to being untraceable roving bandits.
Clearly, he knew his deeds were unscrupulous and that the court might send forces to suppress him again. If General Wang Chengen of Shaanxi hadn’t been recalled to defend the capital, Fan Shanyue would likely have fled into Huanglong Mountain by now.
Bai Yuan scoffed twice. “On my way here, I was worried I wouldn’t find a spot to ambush him. But he’s camped right at the foot of Huanglong Mountain! Ha ha ha! This actually gives me the perfect place to strike. Come on, let’s head up Huanglong Mountain.”
He led the servants around half the mountain and slipped into Huanglong Mountain.
Climbing halfway up the slope, he hid amidst a pile of boulders. Peering down at Xiniuzhuang Village below from his vantage point, he grinned. “Alright. Starting now, we just have to wait patiently for the opportunity.”
He unslung the large wooden box from his back and carefully lifted out a long flintlock firearm. Deftly loading it, he chuckled. “Time to show what real marksmanship looks like.”
The two servants sent by County Magistrate Feng Jun to guide him watched Bai Yuan with skepticism. They thought to themselves: Wasn’t that a firearm? Though nicknamed as such, and often boasted to be capable of shooting down flying birds, anyone who knew the slightest bit about it understood its accuracy was utterly abysmal.
Was Mr. Bai planning to kill Fan Shanyue with this?
The two servants glanced downhill at Xiniuzhuang. It was so incredibly far away! How could anyone possibly hit a target at this distance? No, they needed to return and report this to their master immediately.
They clasped their fists. “Mr. Bai, we’ve brought you to the location. We’ll head back now to report to our master.”
Bai Yuan waved dismissively. “Go on then. Tell Lord Feng to await good news.”
The servants exchanged awkward looks. They doubted good news was forthcoming.
After bidding Bai Yuan farewell, they quickly descended the mountain. Circling around Xiniuzhuang, they hurried to the opposite hillside. There, a plainly dressed Feng Jun had already arrived on the flank. Spotting the two servants returning, Feng Jun urgently asked, “Well? What plan does Mr. Bai have to deal with Fan Shanyue?”
The servants wore embarrassed expressions. “Mr. Bai brought out a firearm. He seems to intend to shoot Fan Shanyue down from Huanglong Mountain with a single shot.”
Feng Jun’s face instantly contorted into an unmistakable “That’s impossible!” look.
“Master, your nose… your nosebleed…” one servant cried out in alarm.
Feng Jun wiped his nose—blood immediately smeared a diagonal streak down his face. Panicked, he exclaimed, “With the accuracy of a firearm, how could that possibly work?! All this will do is alert the enemy! If Fan Shanyue catches wind that we’re trying to take him down, he’ll only wreak even greater havoc—maybe even storm the county town itself!”
The servants shifted uncomfortably, “Mr. Bai seemed very confident, though…”
Feng Jun retorted, “Utter nonsense! Impossible! Disastrous! Take me to him immediately. I must stop this foolhardy plan!”
Just at that moment…
The gates of Xiniuzhuang swung open. Fan Shanyue trotted out, riding high on a tall horse, looking immensely pleased with himself. Surrounded by a large entourage of fierce bandits—still dressed haphazardly in chaotic equipment—they flew a large banner bearing an enormous “Zheng” character, with a smaller inscription at the bottom right reading “Defender of Heyang”.
Turns out, his real name was Zheng Fan Yue. A former bandit whose name couldn’t be spoken openly, he had embraced the court’s appeasement, making his identity public.
Whereas raiding commoners once meant clashing with militia, now, under the guise of an imperial military officer, robbing the people went uncontested. Wealthy families and local gentry had no choice but to obediently hand over their valuables. It made for truly exhilarating looting.
Fan Shanyue beamed smugly. “Men! Whose turn is it to be raided today?”
A trusted subordinate grinned. “That Squire Zhang in the Lower Village. He always organized militias against us back in the day. Fought us several times before we accepted appeasement—an annoying fellow. Let’s go extort a hefty fee from him today.”
Fan Shanyue burst into laughter. “A splendid idea!”
Then his expression abruptly darkened. “By the way, have you gathered any news on that Yongji Xing Honglang? I haven’t forgotten the losses of my second and third brothers. Now that we have imperial standing, eliminating a salt smuggler is perfectly justified!”
The trusted underling responded, “Yes, it’s confirmed. That Xing Honglang has been active lately between Xi’an and Chengcheng County.”
Fan Shanyue snorted. “Chengcheng? I despise that place the most. One of these days, we’ll shed these uniforms and sneak into Chengcheng… plunder the place thoroughly…”
His words were abruptly cut short.
From a distant slope came a loud “BANG!” followed by a puff of white smoke swirling upwards.
The sound was tremendously loud!
But though they heard the blast, no one fell.
Fan Shanyue and his band of fierce bandits all spun their heads toward the direction of the noise. “Huh? Wasn’t that a firearm shot? What happened over there?”