Chapter 14: The Assets of Emperor Liu II

  Li Enyi looked at the arrogant and domineering Liu Erhuang, who didn't think he'd have a day like this. He gave him a disdainful sidelong glance, then sneered with some contempt: "I didn't expect you, Liu Erhuang, to also have today. Don't call me 'grandfather', we can't take it from you, an old man who's been a scourge on many good families' mothers and daughters. Isn't it said that you're a new groom every night? You've also had a good death."

  He Tianci glanced at Liu Er, who was kneeling in front of him and almost prostrating himself on the ground, then said to Liu Dazi: "Dazi, take him away and settle it elsewhere, or he'll sully our eyes."

  Liu Erhuan Emperor fell to the ground, pulled away by Liu Dazi and several others. With a weak voice, he shouted: "Several grandfathers, give me a way out, I don't want to die! As long as you let me go, everything in Liujiabao will be yours."

  Liu Dazi raised his gun at Liu Er, but before he could fire, Liu Er suddenly fainted and urinated in his pants. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that he had been scared to death.

  He Tiandi took a look at Liu Erhuang, who was scared to death, and perhaps this is life. Although Liu Erhuang had enjoyed unparalleled wealth and glory when he was alive, and had been a newlywed every night, after his death, nothing could be taken away, and yet he died so miserably, just like Ben Shan said, "The urn is your eternal home!"

  After this fierce gun battle, especially where the Maxim machine guns had swept through, the cold snow was steaming with heat.

  Living in this chaotic world, anyone can be buried by the trajectory of history like Liu Bei, so one must toughen up. Perhaps his today will be my tomorrow. If I don't kill him, he'll kill me. I truly understand that phrase: "A person in the rivers and lakes is not free." So I must develop my own power, only then can I stand firm in this chaotic world. Shouldering the heavy responsibility of reviving the Chinese nation.

  But in a moment, Hu Er Dangjia from Liujiabao rushed over with dozens of brothers, hastily rushing towards He Tianxi. After seeing He Tianxi, Hu Wenyong and Hu Er Dangjia suddenly took a step forward, knelt down in front of He Tianxi with a thud, and trembled as he shouted: "He Da Ren, this has nothing to do with me! Those things were all stirred up by Liu Er Huangdi and his men! I've been advising him not to get too close to foreigners, to treat his subordinates better, but he wouldn't listen. Now that Liu Er Huangdi is dead, there are still many of his followers left, several hundred miners in the mine... He Da Ren, if you're willing to take us brothers with you, we'll follow you from now on. All the money, grain, and treasures in Liujiabao are yours, as well as the thousand mu of land that Liu Er Huangdi seized."

  He Tianxi thought for a moment, then smiled slowly at Hu Wenyong and said: "Alright! I know everything now. Since you are truly surrendering, hand over all your firearms. I'll observe for a few days before making a decision."

  "Those who are suitable will follow me and I'll take care of you. Those who aren't, I'll give you a small sum of severance pay and send you on your way, so you can find another partner!"

  Hu Wen-yong was overjoyed and kowtowed while loudly shouting: "Thank you, Lord He, for sparing my life!"

  Although He Tianxi didn't like him very much, he still put on a happy face and said seriously: "Get up, from now on we are all brothers of the same family, why be polite?"

  After saying this, He Tianci sent Zhiwu to take over Liujiabao. Zhiwu handled things steadily, in modern words, you handle things and I can rest assured, and he was also the big brother who had been with He Tianci from the beginning, and was loyal to himself.

  He Tianxi was about to sit down when Li Enyi burst out laughing and ran over to his side, then proudly said with a smile: "Fourth brother, this time we really made a fortune! Damn it, that Liu Erhuang Emperor is really rich, he stockpiled over 20,000 kilograms of grain in Liujiabao. It's just a pity that he's too stingy, if not for giving these brothers good equipment, we wouldn't be able to take him down."

  "What, over 20,000 catties of grain? Liu Er's old fellow must have gotten it from somewhere. Where did he get so much grain?"

  Hu Wenyong sighed and said angrily, "Alas, Liu Erhuang heard that the Russians and Japanese were going to fight in our Fengtian region, so he started hoarding grain. This has been going on for a year now. He's made a lot of ill-gotten gains from occupying the copper and gold mines over the years. Adding this time's forced purchase of grain, he has over 20,000 kilograms of grain, originally intended to be sold to the Japanese masters."

  After that, Hu Wen-yong took out a small booklet from his body and said with some shyness: "He Da-ren, actually I have a list of Liu Family Fortress's assets and materials here. Just now, I didn't feel safe enough to take it out. This Liu Er Huangdi has four domestically-made bronze cannons, five 4-pound field guns bought from Japan, 521 horses, and over 1,000 Village 22 rifles in the Liu Family Fortress. However, there are more than ten boxes of 8mm bullets for the Village 22 rifle, with over 45,000 rounds.

  As for the wealth, Liu Erhuang didn't take less these years (the concept of getting something in one's hands in Northeastern dialect), there were more than 300 taels of gold in the vault, 439,100 taels of silver, and countless jewelry, antiques, and ornaments in the warehouse. And, most importantly, Liu Erhuang also occupied many virtuous women and their daughters these years.

  He Tianxi smiled and said, "I really didn't expect this Liu Erhuang to be so rich, it's a pity that he can't bring it with him when he dies. What a shame, all of these will become dowries for the soldiers of our National Defense Army from now on, and they will belong to us brothers."

  He Tianxi looked up at the crescent moon in the sky and couldn't help but feel a hint of sadness, then turned to Liu Dazi and asked: "How are the casualties among our brothers?"

  "The casualties are not heavy, as we have controlled Liu Erhuang, the resistance inside is not intense, only a dozen or so brothers were injured, three of them were seriously injured, and it's estimated that they won't be able to fight again in the future,"

  He Tianci said to Hu Wenyong: "You go and prepare, take 200 silver coins from our treasury to distribute to them. For the seriously injured, each will get 30 silver coins, for the lightly injured, each will get 10 silver coins. Additionally, give 10 mu of land to each of the three seriously injured brothers. As for the virtuous women who were seized by Liu Er's emperor, those who are willing to marry can first be married off to our unmarried injured brothers. Those who do not wish to marry will be given a sum of money as severance pay and sent back home."

  He Tianci gathered the troops together and walked to the center of the formation. Due to this attack on Liujiabao, more than 1,000 soldiers were added, and the 2,500-strong team suddenly became much larger.

  He Tianxi stood upright in the center of the team, then quickly scanned the crowd with a face that didn't have a single expression. He shouted loudly to the crowd: "All officers and soldiers of the National Guard know that I, He Tianxi, am a person who rewards and punishes clearly. If you want to be a soldier in our National Guard, you must follow the rules. From today on, you brothers from Liujiabao are no longer a mob. I have three iron laws:

  Article 1: Soldiers must obey orders as their bounden duty, subordinates must resolutely obey the commands of superiors. From now on, you are my subordinates and soldiers of the National Revolutionary Army, and you must listen to my command.

  Article 2: The people are the objects of our protection and the foundation of our existence. From now on, you are no longer bandits or hoodlums. You are not allowed to rob, burn, kill, loot, rape women, or harass Chinese people.

  Article 3, you must remember that you are always Chinese. Our National Salvation Army was established to protect the peace of Fengtian, no matter whether it is an old devil or a little devil, as long as he dares to be arrogant in our Fengtian, we will make him go without return.

  "Those who are willing to follow me, He Tianxi, stay and follow me. I will ensure that the sky is peaceful on our side. Those who do not want to follow me, I will give you a sum of silver. Whether you want to stay in the stockade to mine or farm, or leave the stockade, I, He Tianxi, will not stop you."

  The soldiers who had joined the National Revolutionary Army early on were all stirred up by these words, but the bearded men from Liujiabao were different. In fact, they were a private army of Liu Er's imperial family, and they had long been accustomed to their days of doing evil. They looked at each other in dismay, hesitant for a moment, not knowing what to do or where to go.