Chapter 14: The Righteous Village (Part 2)

  "...Alas, Master Kuai. It's not that the brothers aren't making an effort, it's just that recently, first the Southwest Wang family, then the Lu family, and the Liu family, the three most powerful families in Jiangxia County have all tightened their defenses. Each of these families has several hundred servants, although they can't compare to the Zhao family we wiped out before, but they're not easy to deal with either. Now, the brothers don't dare act alone, nor do they dare run far away, they're just afraid that on the road, they'll be blocked by someone and when they die, they won't even know where their bodies will be thrown..."

  Dào bāo dǎo yě suàn de shàng shì yī hào rén wù, ér tā yě zhī dào zì jǐ xiàn zài shí lì bǐ zhū kuì shèng hái chà le bù shì yī diǎn liǎng diǎn. Bié rén huò xǔ hái zhǐ shì zài cāi cè nà jiàn shì, dàn shì tā què shì tōng guò mǒu xiē shǒu duān, zhī xiǎo dé yī qīng èr chǔ. Suǒ yǐ, zhǐ shì yǎn zhū yī zhuàn de, tā jiù shuài xiān kāi le kǒu jiào yuān, fǎn zhèng nà bāng zǐ gēn tā yī yàng sī dǐ xia tiáo le bù shǎo yín zi de jiā huo huò xǔ tiào chū lái zhī chí tā de.

  "There's also that group of thugs, the other day our smokehouse in Xin Tan was smashed up, and recently there have been people going to Yan Chun Lou in Dong Hu looking for trouble. The Red Gang's people are getting bolder now that the new army has left Wuhan, it's not easy doing business these days..."

  "Yes... yes, Master Kuai. The work of brothers in recent days is really not easy..."

  "It is indeed... it is indeed..."

  "That's right..."

  As expected, as soon as he jumped out, the remaining few people who were obviously guilty also jumped out one after another, opening their mouths to shout grievances.

  "Hmph~~~" Kuai Sheng let out a cold snort, thinking to himself that you guys are really something, but as the saying goes, "the law does not blame the masses", and besides, at this moment he was in trouble because he had secretly embezzled the entire Zhao family's centuries-old savings, causing his subordinates to suspect him, and Knife Scar was trying to overthrow him.

  Thinking of this, his face suddenly eased a bit, compared to what he had gained, these were just minor setbacks.

  "Honk honk~~"

  Just as he was about to speak, a sudden and urgent knocking sound came from outside the grand hall!

  "Who's there? Come in!"

  Kui Sheng knew that if people didn't have urgent matters, they would never come to disturb them when they were gathering, so once someone came knocking on the door, it must be an urgent matter.

  "Xǔ is a clever guy, he should be back by now..." Thinking of the tasks he had entrusted to Xǔ, his mind was slightly at ease. It's good that he's coming back.

  "Master Kuai... it's me, Sanzi. The situation is a bit tricky... We had sent a cavalry squad to scout out the northeast direction earlier, and just now we received a burst of gunfire from that side, very dense, at least dozens of guns firing..."

  The rest is unnecessary, the few people in the house are not fools, and they immediately understood what he meant!

  "Some people are looking for trouble with our righteous village..." A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, it was unclear whether it was mockery or something else. "Scar, take a team of brothers to go and see which family is getting impatient... If they're from the Red Gang, catch one alive..."

  "Yes, Master Gui..."

  Scar's heart was filled with great joy, he originally had a ghost and more things to do, just wanting to take the opportunity to find an excuse to mix out, did not think that this Kui Sheng actually gave him the best excuse and opportunity! He picked up the teacup on the table and drank it in one gulp, clasped his fists at the remaining few people in the house, Scar picked up the fur hat he had thrown on the table, held his head high and walked out of the main hall...

  "This Lu Junhao is still somewhat capable..."

  He rubbed his slightly sour eyes and raised the night-vision binoculars in his hand to look at the advancing troops, who didn't even light torches, and gave a fairly objective evaluation. The horse's mouth was covered with a muzzle, and its hooves were wrapped with cotton-like objects, and the entire marching team made only a tiny sound from start to finish, it had to be said that although Lu's young master was somewhat arrogant in character, he also had some skills!

  He held the old-fashioned AK47 he had seized earlier in his hand, and for fear of any unexpected situation, he hung the QCW05 on his chest. Three grenades were all brought with him, one by one, carefully following behind Lu's family servants, slowly approaching the righteous village.

  His current state of mind is very poor, if it weren't for his previous promise to the old man, he might not have followed him back tonight! Because he thought about it for a while and still couldn't make up his mind, where should he go in the future!

  After wandering around Yizhuang in the afternoon, Li Han returned and carefully checked everything he had on him.

  One medium-sized printing press, one box of highly simulated counterfeit currency templates from World War I and II, four large boxes of materials for printing counterfeit currency, five rolls of printed outlines, a whole iron box of confiscated counterfeit currency, several old-style AK-47s with a small amount of ammunition, and the latest military-grade miniature solar-powered Lenovo laptop computer in his car. In addition to this vehicle, there were two barrels of gasoline and a set of special warfare equipment on him, nothing else!

  A faint pallor flashed across his face, although due to the darkness, it was impossible to see. However, at this moment, the panic and unease that had just surged in his heart as he crossed over slowly dissipated, leaving behind only a thrill of being on the verge of creating history and a hint of hesitation!

  The decline of the modern nation has always been a pain in the hearts of its people. It is expected that whoever returns to this era, where one can rechoose and change, will not go wrong in striving for the country's rise. However, Li Han hesitated - China, or rather, the China of this era that had already become corrupt, could it be saved by one person's power? Take Li Hongzhang, a high-ranking official of the Qing dynasty, as an example. His ability was not weak, and his approach to governing the country is still studied by people today, even after a hundred years have passed. Nevertheless, after decades of managing foreign affairs, he left behind only a shallow foundation for industry in China, and was repeatedly restricted, ultimately earning the reputation of a "traitor" at the end of his life, rendering his decades-long efforts to govern the country futile.

  Sun Wei was indeed a great man, who attempted to save this old and corrupt empire but fell into the Japanese people's calculations and became the vanguard of the Japanese people's sinister plot to seize power in China. The violent revolution thoroughly overthrew the Manchu rule over China, but also made the seeds of violence and division take root in this vast empire. China's thousands of years of history and the inferior behavior of its people determined one thing: without a strong central government, the vast empire would soon fall into division and internal strife.

  Who dares to say that the Great Sage Mao is not great, from a few millet rifles to the founding of New China, then to the explosion of atomic and hydrogen bombs, and then to the launch of satellites, the brilliant light shines all over the land of China. However, even if the Great Sage Mao's talent was slightly overwhelming, in the face of the domestic crisis of division and strife, he still spent decades searching and planning with a bitter heart, only gradually bringing China back to its place among the world's great powers after exhausting its blood and energy! The hardships in this process are not something that later generations who did not experience those years can understand.

  After the initial excitement of crossing over had passed, Li Han could no longer calm down and think about his future path.

  Facing such an extraordinary encounter, as long as one is still considered a Chinese person, I think whoever returned to this era would see the turmoil and darkness at home, the people struggling to survive, and foreigners roaming freely. The majestic Great China, once the world's only superpower, has become a colony of foreigners (don't even mention semi-colony, that's just something to deceive ordinary citizens, when have Chinese history books ever written anything accurate?). Any man with blood in his veins cannot ignore this!

  However, after a careful search, Li Han found that among the tens of millions of high-imitation counterfeit coins issued before and after World War I on his car, only two-thirds were usable in 1914 when World War I was about to start. Now there are less than one million left that can be taken out for use.

  He held in his hand a 1908 edition of the old ￡50 note, and he was one of the commanders of that counterfeit clearing operation. Beforehand, he had a good understanding of the strength of the counterfeit group. It was precisely because of this that he knew that this batch of highly realistic counterfeit currency, even if placed together with real money, could not be distinguished by the naked eye or by touch alone. Special machines were needed to identify some subtle differences. This black gold was his plan to guarantee high national development funds through black gold before the rise of the future state... Unfortunately, only these short-term and unmentionable means were far from enough!

  "Never mind, I won't think about it anymore. Being able to arrive in this era is already heaven's mercy towards me and my nation. Moreover, although I am the only one, I have caught up with such a good year for the country. However, since I am the only one who doesn't understand advanced science and technology, China's rise will at least be delayed by several decades... Alas..."

  He let out a deep sigh, Li Han put away the binoculars and placed them in his tactical backpack at his waist, then took out a pair of night vision goggles and put them on.

  "At their marching speed, I'm afraid that in just over ten minutes, they may encounter the first wave of guards from the Yi Zhuang. I'd better sneak in first and then take advantage of the opportunity to kill Kui Sheng and the others..."

  He turned and disappeared into the darkness, because in the afternoon, he had come to this area to survey the terrain, so although he didn't dare say that he could completely grasp the nearby bandit warning points, at least most of the hiding points he had found, and he could also take advantage of the darkness to sneak into the Yi Zhuang.

  The flexible passage through the darkness, it's not that the righteous village's horse thieves are not good at repairing, plus no one in Jiangxia County doesn't know that the current occupant of the righteous village is the ruthless and cunning Zou An, a horse thief who devours people without spitting out their bones. As a result, due to several years of neglect, the walls surrounding the mansion, except for the area near the main gate, are overgrown with lush weeds and shrubs. Furthermore, the location of Zhifang Town, situated near the Yangtze River, not only has ample moisture but also a unique geographical position, making the temperature here slightly higher than in the north. With no one to trim them for a long time, the surroundings of the righteous village are now densely covered with weeds.

  "Hmm..."

  Leaning against the wall root, panting heavily, the heat had not yet dissipated, and his body was still carrying nearly twenty kilograms of equipment. After a long sprint, when he arrived at the wall with several convenient holes to climb through that he had discovered in the afternoon, he was already exhausted and gasping for breath.

  Listening to the sporadic gunfire coming from afar, Li Han calculated the time and figured that Lujia's family guards had probably clashed with the horse bandits by now. They didn't have the equipment on them, which would inevitably lead to a commotion. It was just the right opportunity for him to sneak into the righteous village under the cover of chaos.