Chapter 4: Old Man Fang

  "Excuse me, sir, but who are you..."

  Although his complexion had become somewhat unsightly due to the date, Li Han still understood the minimum courtesy. Looking at the white-haired old man who was supported by a short and thin girl with a face full of black soot, Li Han frowned and asked a question.

  "Cough, cough..." The old man with white hair coughed, and a few strands of blood appeared on his mustache. His face was also bruised in several places, apparently having suffered greatly during the bandit attack earlier. However, unlike the timid villagers behind him, he took the lead and stood up, with a grateful expression, letting the girl whose face was already completely swollen help him to Li Han's side. He suddenly knelt down and kowtowed three times!

  "Oh dear... sir, what's this? No need for that, come on, get up quickly..."

  Li Han was stunned, letting an old man who was almost as old as his grandfather kneel down to him. He couldn't bear such a big courtesy, and his face turned slightly awkward. He hinted at the girl next to him, who had also knelt down, to help him lift the old man up!

  "No... no... no, you're a true hero, a true hero! If it weren't for you, my precious granddaughter would have been doomed today. You're a true hero... a true hero..."

  The old man spoke with clear logic and elegant language, giving the impression that he had received a good education. Li Han took a closer look at the fabric of his clothes, which was just ordinary hemp cloth. However, judging from the old man's demeanor and tone, it seemed likely that he had attended a private school or something similar, and must have come from a distinguished background!

  "I, on behalf of all the villagers and fellow townspeople, once again express our gratitude to the brave scholar for his rescue. Earlier, it seemed that the scholar was unaware of the current year and date, so I reminded him. Today is indeed the 19th day of the 8th month of the 3rd year of Xuantong in the Great Qing dynasty, which corresponds to the 9th day of the 10th month of the year of Gengzi, according to the Western calendar, it should be October 9th, 1911!"

  The old man, although he managed to stand up with the support of his cane, still insisted on having a young servant kneel down and massage his feet for a while. However, this old man's eyesight was sharp, and at a glance, he noticed that he might not be very familiar with the Qing dynasty calendar, so he immediately converted it into the commonly used Western calendar.

  Actually, the old man was being overly cautious. In the third year of Xuantong (1911), not to mention Li Han, who had scored full marks in history exams, especially modern history, even an ordinary high school student from a later generation could have told you about that year. It's just that too many events that left their mark on history took place on this ancient land of China during that year. Just talking about the recent days, he was originally from Sichuan and naturally knew that Sichuan had been very lively recently.

  Due to the need to pay huge indemnities for the First Sino-Japanese War and the Boxer Rebellion, as well as to train new troops and suppress the growing unrest of secret societies and peasant uprisings, the Qing government's treasury was severely depleted. In order to borrow money from European and American banks, a group of officials who only knew how to sell official positions and engage in internal strife came up with a bad idea.

  In May 1911 (the fourth month of the third year of Xuantong), the Qing government announced its "Railway Nationalization Policy", attempting to forcibly take over the railways built by Sichuan people at a cost of tens of millions of taels and declare them "national property". They then signed a loan contract with four European and American banks, totaling 60 million pounds. The news caused widespread outrage among the people of Sichuan.

  On June 17th, more than 2,000 people from various organizations in Chengdu gathered at the railway company to form the "Sichuan Railway Protection Association", electing Liang Qichao and Luo Lun as president and vice-president respectively. They put forward the slogan "Break the contract and protect the road" and published several declarations and reports, posting them everywhere to promote the protection of the railways.

  Members were sent to give speeches along the railway lines, and representatives were dispatched to Beijing to petition the government. The whole province responded enthusiastically, with the Sichuan Women's Railway Protection Association, the Chongqing Railway Protection Association, and various local branches being established one after another, with membership reaching tens of thousands.

  In July, the Baolu Comrades Association in Sichuan sent a special envoy to Beijing to appeal, but was met with a cold reception. In early August, the Qing government, fearing that the people of Sichuan would riot, appointed Zhao Erfeng, who had made contributions in Tibet and Kangding, as the acting governor-general of Sichuan, ordering him to suppress any civil unrest with force at all costs. It was precisely this order that completely destroyed the Manchu Qing dynasty's rule over China, which they had seized from us Han people for hundreds of years!

  On September 7, the newly appointed Sichuan Governor Zhao Erfeng arrested Pu Dianjun and Luo Lun, the chairman and vice-chairman of the Advisory Bureau, as well as the leaders of the Railway Protection League and the Sichuan-Hankou Railway Shareholders Association. When news spread, tens of thousands of people came to petition for their release. Zhao Erfeng ordered soldiers and police to open fire on the unarmed crowd, killing over 30 people instantly in what became known as the "Chengdu Bloodshed". That night, Cao Du and Zhu Guoqian cut hundreds of wooden boards, wrote "Zhao Erfeng first captures Pu Luo, then wipes out Sichuan, fellow comrades from all regions rise up to protect themselves" on them, applied tung oil, and threw them into the river. The wooden boards, known as "water telegrams", spread the news throughout southern and eastern Sichuan, further stirring up revolutionary sentiment among the people in various regions.

  On September 8, the Railway Protection Army marched to surround Chengdu, and nearby prefectures and counties responded en masse, establishing their own Railway Protection Armies. Within a few days, the army grew to over 200,000 people, forming a massive uprising of the masses. The Railway Protection Army besieged Chengdu for over ten days but failed to capture it due to lack of unified organization and command, combat experience, and insufficient weapons and equipment. They then dispersed into various prefectures and counties.

  On September 25, Wu Yu-zhang and Wang Tian-jie, members of the alliance, declared Rong County's independence. This was the first revolutionary regime established by revolutionaries during the Xinhai Revolution period, becoming the center of anti-Qing armed struggle in southeastern Chengdu.

  After the uprising of the Tongmenghui in western Sichuan, the masses in eastern Sichuan also responded and occupied the county seat of Dazu. At this time, the Yi people in Xichang and the Tibetan and Qiang people in northwestern Sichuan also joined the ranks of the Tongmenghui to fight against the Qing army. By early October, the flames of the Tongmenghui uprising had spread throughout Sichuan Province. After learning that Chengdu was besieged and that uprisings by the Tongmenghui had broken out in various parts of Sichuan, the Qing government panicked and hastily dispatched troops to Sichuan. In less than half a month, Duanfang led his New Army from Hubei into Sichuan (Duanfang was beheaded by his own soldiers when he arrived in Zizhong, Sichuan), and Cen Chunxuan, who had previously served as the governor of Sichuan, was ordered to proceed to Sichuan to coordinate with Zhao Erfeng in suppressing the uprisings. Troops were also dispatched from Hunan, Guangdong, Shaanxi, Gansu, Guizhou, and Yunnan to reinforce Sichuan. However, the deployment of Hubei's New Army into Sichuan left Wuhan undefended, providing a perfect opportunity for revolutionaries in Wuhan to launch an uprising.

  If Li Han didn't remember wrongly, it was at noon today that the revolutionary martyrs Sun Wu and others accidentally triggered an explosion while making bombs in the Russian concession in Hankou. The Russian police arrived upon hearing the sound, seized the list of names of revolutionaries, and subsequently handed it over to the Qing government, causing the revelation of the uprising proclamation and other secrets. The Governor-General of Hubei and Hunan, Rui Cheng, immediately ordered the closure of the four cities and the arrest of revolutionaries everywhere. In desperation, the revolutionary party decided to launch the uprising on October 9th at midnight. However, Wuchang city was heavily guarded, and the revolutionary troops in various battalions were unable to make contact, so the plan for that night fell through.

  On the morning of October 10, Zhang Biao, the governor of Hubei and Hunan provinces, ordered his troops to arrest revolutionaries, making the situation urgent. Revolutionaries secretly contacted each other and agreed to launch an uprising at the sound of gunfire on the evening of October 10. At 7 pm, Huang Xing and Yu Zhitang, members of the New Army's Engineering Eighth Battalion, fired the first shot of the Wuchang Uprising, occupying the Chuwangtai military arsenal near Zhonghedian Gate, seizing tens of thousands of rifles, dozens of cannons, and hundreds of thousands of bullets, laying the foundation for the victory of the uprising. The rest of the battalions rose up to occupy key locations such as Fenghuang Mountain and She Mountain, marking the beginning of the Xinhai Revolution.

  Next... will be the revolutionary beacon fire sweeping across the entire Chinese land!

  "Excuse me, sir, could you please make some space..."

  Although he had some fear and unease in his heart, Li Han also knew that this was not the time for fear and unease. He quickly took a roll of rope from the horse closest to him, and without paying attention to the pain on the face of the bandit whose hand he had injured, he directly tied him up and threw him aside. Then, he gathered all the guns and ammunition from the dozen or so dead bodies, and found that he had collected thirteen old rifles and a Japanese-modified C96 (box gun). Moreover, he had also gathered nearly a thousand rounds of ammunition. What a haul! He really didn't know what they were doing bringing so many bullets with them when they came out.

  "Two of you come and help deal with these corpses. Given the weather, it's better to burn them to prevent the plague. Also, keep an eye on him!"

  After seeing the white-haired old man bow his head and entrust a few words to his granddaughter, she ran back into the crowd and whispered a few sentences to several elderly people who looked very old. Suddenly, the villagers who were originally forced to gather in the village square by the horse thieves with guns found their looted property one after another, shouting and cheering, and returned home.

  Only twenty or thirty robust young men were left!

  "First... sir... what are your orders for us?"

  A group of people followed behind the little girl, stumbling and staggering all the way to his front. Just as he was frowning, thinking about his future path, the young man at the head of the group had a purplish-green face and swollen mouth corners, and asked him with some trepidation. Li Han saw that he walked with a limp, obviously having suffered a severe beating recently.

  "Wait, you guys first take all the useful things from the corpse, then just burn them... Also, that live mouth, you deal with it, but don't kill him, I still want to ask about Yi Zhuang and his so-called 'Kui Ye' later, anyway, temporarily leave me something useful..."

  When he saw a group of young villagers staring at the injured horse thief, their eyes full of anger and hatred, Li Han frowned and reminded them that he didn't want to be beaten to death by the crowd before he had even figured out what was going on.

  Li Han turned around and ran back to the village, driving the bulletproof armored car he had hidden in a thatched hut into the village. As expected... it caused another commotion, including the old man who first talked to him, whose eyes now showed seven points of respect!

  "The thing that heroes use is probably just those cars from Texas..."

  The old man seemed somewhat uncertain, after all, he had seen cars before in his earlier years. But the car Li Han was driving was a 21st-century military armored transport vehicle, and its model, size, paint job, and everything else were far beyond what people from the late Qing dynasty to the early Republic of China could have imagined. It was a top-notch vehicle that would cost nearly two million yuan in later years!

  "That's right, old sir is indeed knowledgeable and well-informed..."

  Li Han nodded and replied, he took down a first-aid kit with a large "ten" character on it from the car, gesturing to the old man not to move. Then he poured some disinfectant alcohol on the old man's injured face and applied it several times. After that, he took out a bottle of military-grade single-soldier spray and evenly sprayed a layer on the old man's several wounds. The medicine quickly turned into a thin yellow gel-like substance at the wound sites.

  "Old sir, remember that the place where I applied medicine to you these past few days cannot get wet. The wound may itch a bit, but don't worry, it will scab over within a day and heal in three to five days at most!"

  Li Han reminded himself and saw that many people around him were injured, so he simply took care of each person, applied medicine, but unfortunately his first-aid kit's fast-acting bandages had all been given to other colleagues who had taken care of the two seriously injured brothers earlier. If not, the villagers' injuries could have healed faster!

  "This strong young fellow, thank you so much! Without your great help today, oh dear, our village would have been finished off. It was all because of that villain Kuisheng... Ah, sir, please come in and let's talk, Malan, go invite the village head and the two clan elders to come..."

  "It's... Grandpa..."

  "The old gentleman was being polite, seeing injustice and drawing his sword to help is what should be done. Alright, I can help deal with some minor injuries, but if it's a bit more serious, I'm out of my depth..."

  Seeing a group of horse bandits' corpses that had been shot in the head were thrown on the ground with no one taking care of them, Li Han furrowed his brow. Hadn't he told someone to get rid of them?

  The old man seemed to have noticed his confusion and hastily explained: "Don't worry, young man, someone will come to deal with these beasts later. Our village has been plagued by the evil deeds of their leader, Gui Sheng. He was once the most notorious bandit in the Wuhan area, committing all sorts of atrocities such as robbery, rape, and kidnapping. Even after being pardoned by the imperial court and given an official position as a paper factory guard, he still uses his power to bully men and women, and tyrannize the countryside. Alas, what evil deeds... Since May, when the imperial court had that incident, Wuhan has become a powder keg, filled with explosives waiting to be ignited. The regent really made a wrong move this time. The imperial court is out of money... but they can't use our people's hard-earned railway as collateral for foreign loans! Before the new Hubei army entered Sichuan, Gui Sheng was somewhat restrained, but now... alas, no one can control him and his gang anymore!!"

  "Why didn't you resist then?"

  "It's not that I don't want to resist, it's just that there's no way to resist... Alas, let alone the fact that he has thousands of brothers under his command now, even if he didn't, just his current position as the seventh-rank official in charge of the Wuchang Pacification and Defense Battalion is enough to intimidate most villagers... Since ancient times, ordinary people don't dare to fight against officials, let alone a military officer from a noble family..."

  "In the past, some of our fellow villagers who had been wronged joined together to go to that town to file a complaint. Unfortunately, even the county magistrate from Jiangxia County was afraid of the power of the Yizhuang family and, on top of that, had accepted bribes from them, so he claimed that those villagers were troublemakers and falsely accused them of being litigious, beating up several of them and throwing them in jail. The old man may have had some connections in Sichuan before, but they no longer carried much weight. So we could only let the girl's father take a letter to Chengdu City, but going back and forth like this would take at least two or three months. Although judging from the date, news should arrive any day now... Alas, it seems someone leaked the information, and as a result, Gui Sheng falsely accused our Fang family of owing money to Yizhuang, wanting to seize her as collateral for the debt and force my poor granddaughter into marriage! I hope that when her father returns, he will take action and the villagers won't let him get away with it. His henchmen even opened fire and killed four people in the forest... This dark world is indeed a mess - the government doesn't care and has become just like bandits, plundering our ordinary people's belongings. Being a thief is better than being human... Alas..."

  A moment of silence passed between them as they spoke, and before long, they had arrived at the entrance to a rustic yet elegant residence built by the water's edge on the eastern outskirts of the village.