Chapter 27: The Calamity of Yang

  When Lin Chunhong expanded his power step by step, the entire Ming Dynasty became increasingly turbulent, and Yangxian County was at the forefront, on the eve of a storm.

  When Yang County is located in the extension of the Jing Mountains to the Jianghan Plain, the remaining veins stretch and undulate, forming a ring of mountains on all four sides. The terrain slopes from northwest to southeast, with the northwest being high and the southeast being low, resembling an incomplete river valley basin, hence the name "When Yang Basin". The landforms within the territory are complex and varied, with thousands of landscapes, including mountains, hills, ridges, and plains. The northwestern part of Lianfeng, Poshiyai, Zaolin Gang, Qingxi Mountain, and other areas have overlapping peaks, gullies, and valleys, belonging to the edge of the Jing Mountains. The northeastern and southwestern parts are low hills and ridges. The eastern and southeastern parts are open Shuizhao River alluvial plains, part of the Jianghan Plain. Dangyang County has been a strategic location since ancient times, being the only way from Xiangyang to Jingzhou. The story of Zhao Zilong saving the young master on horseback took place at Yuyang Changsha Slope. This land is rich in products and can be considered a fish and rice village, where the common people live and work happily.

  But Yang Zhi County Shen Wenrui obviously did not agree with this, since Wu Gan's occupation of the northeastern part of Dayang during the Tianqi period, several times he sent archers to eliminate him, but all were unsuccessful. Later, together with Jiangling Tiger Crossing Inspection, they made an appointment to attack Wu Gan, but unexpectedly Lin Dewen died before the war and disappeared. In the first year of Chongzhen, the defender of Jingzhou attacked Wu Gan, who dispersed into the forest, and the defender of Jingzhou wandered in the deep mountains for half a year without success. This move actually made Wu Gan's prestige rise greatly, and he gathered more than 2,000 people under his command, and for a time, there was a hidden threat to the city of Dayang County. Shen Wenrui had no choice but to ignore Wu Gan. Fortunately, Wu Gan only wandered in the mountains temporarily and did not harass Shen Wenrui much.

  However, the matter dragged on until November of Chongzhen 2nd year. Due to the abolition of the postal station, over a hundred poor and idle people in Dayang suddenly lost their jobs. These people had no way to make a living, so they gathered at the county government office to petition. Shen Wenrui indiscriminately ordered the yamen runners to arrest them and throw them into prison. Among them was Li Mazzi, who was dissatisfied and incited the postal soldiers to raid the prison, not only rescuing the postal soldiers but also releasing some habitual bandits and real criminals. After raiding the prison, Li Mazzi feared that the government would investigate, so he fled to Wu Gan. Shen Wenrui heard about it and immediately became nervous, ordering the archers to guard the city gate closely and prevent Wu Gan from attacking. The county of Dayang was in a state of panic, with an extremely tense atmosphere.

  But more than three months had passed, and Wu Gan was still quiet, all the residents relaxed their vigilance, and Shen Wenrui also secretly felt at ease, thinking that Wu Gan did not have the courage to attack the county after all. However, Shen Wenrui still dared not relax, and ordered Song Haitao, the commander of the bowmen, to lead his men in checking everyone entering or leaving the city gate, remaining vigilant day and night.

  Chongzhen 3rd year, March 1st, at the north gate of Yangxian County.

  More than 20 archers guarding the North Gate patrolled the city wall last night and then opened a night club. Of course, some families were happy and some were worried. Gao Xiaosong had bad luck yesterday, lost a lot, with red eyes, looking depressed. The archer next to him touched him and said: "Today it's your turn to open the city gate, it's already 4 o'clock, hurry up, don't let Song Dianshi scold you again."

  Gao Xiaosong slowly got up, dragging his almost exhausted body, and cursed: "Another day of not being able to sleep, damn Wu Gan is coming or not? It's tiring enough for Laozi." After finishing speaking, he slowly climbed up the city wall with another archer, looking outwards. Only to see that outside the city gate, there were more people making a ruckus, all waiting to enter the city. Some were carrying small vegetable baskets, calculating how much money they could sell today and how much grain they could buy with that money. Some were driving carts, with unknown contents, but always with a head of cattle in front, standing in the middle of the crowd, occasionally letting out a loud bellow. Some were holding a chicken, some were carrying several pears... People of all kinds were anxiously waiting for the city gate to open.

  Gao Xiaosong and the other person removed the thick wooden beam blocking the gate, pulled out the door pegs, and the city gate creaked open slowly. The creaking sound of the gate was like the drumbeat urging people to charge forward, and everyone involuntarily squeezed towards the gate. Gao Xiaosong scolded: "Don't rush, damn it! Don't rush, what's the hurry? Come one by one!"

  Gao Xiaosong's shouting had an effect, and the common people lined up in order. Under Gao Xiaosong's watchful eyes, baskets of goods such as chickens flowed in continuously. Before long, several mules pulling five large carts came rumbling towards the city gate, just about to enter. Gao Xiaosong hastily shouted: "Halt! Inspection!" The five large carts immediately stopped, and a man jumped down from one of the carts, smiling and saying: "General, five carts of grain, being delivered to Chen's Rice Shop."

  Gao Xiaosong didn't care who it was for, he picked up the long spear and was about to stab the sack. The man hastily grabbed Gao Xiaosong's hand, took out a few pieces of silver from his pocket, and said: "General, please show some mercy, these are all grains, if you poke holes in them, they will leak out, and I will be in big trouble. This is just a small token of respect from me, to buy the general a few pots of wine."

  Gao Xiaosong took the silver, turned it over in his hand, and a satisfied smile spread across his face. The other archer also nodded in satisfaction. Gao Xiaosong said: "You're a good citizen too, come on in!"

  The men were overjoyed and took the five carts of grain to Chen's rice shop. As soon as they entered the shop, they closed the big door tightly, and more than 50 people quickly unloaded the grain, suddenly pulling out knives and guns from under the cart. It turned out that among these 50 or so people, apart from the ten who were driving the carts, all were disguised as ordinary citizens entering the city, and had entered the city earlier.

  That man was Zhang Ren, and his years as a bandit had given him a ruthless air. Seeing the crowd carrying their weapons into the house, Zhang ordered: "Put them down, brothers, rest well, work at night!"

  As soon as everyone heard this, they all dispersed and found their own places to lean against or rely on, chattering and making a ruckus in groups of three or five. Zhang Ren couldn't help but speak in a low, angry tone: "All of you shut up! What are you muttering about?" The crowd slowly quieted down, casting glances at Zhang Ren that were tinged with dissatisfaction. However, the crowd only expressed their discontent through their gazes, after all, Zhang Ren's bravery was well-known to everyone, and he was also the younger brother of the great leader.

  Zhang Ren helplessly sighed, entered the house, took out his long gun, and silently wiped it. This was his habit, or rather a habit formed after following Lin Dewen.

  At first, at the Tiger Crossing Inspection Station, before the battle, the brothers were accustomed to checking the state of their own weapons. According to Lin Dewen's words, a weapon is part of one's body, and if you're not careful, you'll lose your life in the heat of battle. Lin Dewen absolutely forbade archers from making noise before battle, and also prohibited any matters unrelated to the formation. He said that moderate tension before battle can make people burst out with greater momentum, while chatting in small groups will only make oneself relax one's vigilance, and during battle, it is impossible to concentrate one's energy. Zhang Ren felt that this was reasonable, and following Wu Gan later, he also maintained this habit.

  As Wu Gan's cousin, and with his own bravery, he was able to remain calm and cautious in battle, which is a rare quality among bandits. Therefore, Wu Gan entrusted him as a leader of 300 men. At first, Zhang Ren led the 300 men according to his own habits, with strict discipline, and anyone who disobeyed his orders would be severely punished. However, the bandits were used to being lax, and many demanded to leave Zhang Ren's group. According to the bandit way of thinking: if one can't make a living, then become a bandit; if you've become a bandit, you should enjoy life; if this can't be done, then what's the point of becoming a bandit?

  Wu Gan saw Zhang Ren like this, and also thought about building his own team into an elite, dealing with several leading troublemakers, but soon a group of bandits escaped, seriously affecting Wu Gan's control ability, so he had to persuade Zhang Ren to give up this approach.

  Originally, if Wu Gan had the heart to do so, following Zhang Ren's method of training soldiers, there might be fewer bandits under his command, but their combat capabilities would definitely be stronger. However, Wu Gan was content with his current life and didn't have any great ambitions, so he just went with the flow. Zhang Ren could only follow suit, letting the bandits do as they pleased, occasionally pointing out their fighting skills and teamwork habits.

  The training was too little, Zhang Ren had no confidence in the fighting ability of these bandits. He even thought that if he hadn't been there himself, even if there were over a thousand bandits here, they would have been wiped out by Lin Dewen's hundred or so men.

  Due to the training, the bandits all looked at Zhang Ren with disfavor, causing Zhang Ren to be unable to integrate into the bandit group. Some even thought that Zhang Ren was a traitor who had surrendered and relied on his identity as Wu Gan's younger cousin to act arbitrarily and look down on him. Zhang Ren knew it in his heart and had always doubted whether betraying Lin Dewen was worth it.

  This time, Li Ma Zi came to invest and brought news that the number of archers in Dayang was only three hundred, and the officials and soldiers from Hubei and other places were busy going north to Beijing to defend the emperor, leaving the military power empty. This news deeply stimulated Wu Gan, and also made the bandits bloodthirsty, unable to help but want to swallow up the fat meat of Dayang County. Wu Gan immediately ordered an attack on Dayang. Zhang Ren bitterly advised Wu Gan that attacking the county city would only provoke the crazy revenge of the government, even if they could take down Dayang, it would be impossible to roam freely afterwards. The bandits blamed Zhang Ren for being a coward and having no guts, Wu Gan also couldn't resist the temptation, ignoring Zhang Ren's advice, and even thought that the officials and soldiers had come to suppress them many times before, but which time was not in vain? Even if a large number of government troops came over at that time, it would be fine to hide in the deep mountains and old forests, and the government troops would have no way.

  Zhang Ren retreated and sought a second opinion, suggesting that Wu Gan wait for some time before attacking Dangyang again. After taking Dangyang, they should immediately withdraw to their old nest, being careful not to be surrounded by government troops. Wu Gan followed Zhang Ren's suggestion and halted his troops for more than three months. These three months almost drove the bandits crazy with anxiety, and they cursed Zhang Ren, saying that he had ruined their good opportunity. Wu Gan was also quite clever and thought that Dangyang had city walls, and even if the brothers could take the county seat, they would suffer heavy casualties. So he came up with a plan to break through the city gate from both inside and outside. Considering Zhang Ren's cautious bravery, he chose more than 50 elite soldiers to be led by Zhang Ren to enter the city first, waiting for the troops to attack the north gate together at midnight. This is how Zhang Ren bribed his way into the city.

  The owner of Chen's Rice Shop, Chen Aishan, had been kidnapped by Wu Gan before and was released after paying the ransom. Chen Aishan's sense of smell was quite keen, and taking advantage of his acquaintance with Wu Gan, he started doing business to help Wu Gan sell stolen goods, which suited Wu Gan just fine. Wu Gan got what he urgently needed from Chen Aishan and also successfully disposed of the loot that he no longer needed. As a result, Chen Aishan accumulated quite a bit of wealth. This time, Wu Gan had devised an inside-and-outside plan and wanted Chen Aishan to assist him. Chen Aishan was almost scared to death and was unwilling to comply, but under Wu Gan's threat, he had no choice but to agree.

  Chen Aishan looked at the bandits squatting in the house with a bitter face, secretly making up his mind that if he could escape this time, he would never stay in Yangdu again and leave with his wealth. Zhang Ren's gun barrel was getting brighter and brighter, shining with cold light, making Chen Aishan's heart tremble with fear. Just thinking about the possibility of being stabbed by this gun barrel made him shudder uncontrollably.

  "Boss Chen, what time is it?" Zhang Ren asked casually.

  "What? Oh, it's three o'clock already." Chen Aishan replied hastily. Zhang Ren leaned his gun against the wall and stood up, saying: "Hurry up, go tell the others to get ready, we'll be leaving in half an hour!"

  "Zhang Touleng, this...this..." Chen Aishan had something to say but didn't dare, stuttering like a mute, sweating profusely. "Just say what you have to say, don't be nervous." Zhang Ren's order suddenly boosted Chen Aishan's courage, and he said: "If the good men come out of the rice shop together, they will definitely be watched by the government, then won't I be finished?"

  Zhang Ren was taken aback and smiled: "Don't worry, after tonight, the entire Dangyang County will be ours, what are you worried about?"

  Zhang Ren's words did not reassure Chen Aishan, who walked out of the house with a gloomy expression and ordered those old men to get ready. Chen Aishan now hated these bandits to the bone, and after entering the rice shop, they not only made a racket but also relieved themselves wherever they pleased, making the rice shop look like a vegetable market. Moreover, several bandits were ogling the women in the backyard with lustful eyes, showing no attempt to conceal their lecherous intentions, which made Chen Aishan worry endlessly.

  "Ah, it's almost over, just half a time unit left." Chen Aishan shook his head and sighed, "Leaving tomorrow."

  Chen Aishan barely endured for half an hour, and immediately reminded Zhang Ren that it was time. Zhang Ren's eyes were still closed, still in a meditative state. This made Chen Aishan resentful, but he couldn't express it, so he walked back and forth there. After a long while, Zhang Ren said: "Stop wandering around, you're dazzling my eyes."

  Chen Aishan had to stop, standing there with sweat in his palms. He didn't know where to put his hands, whether in front or behind him. Zhang Ren looked at him with a smile and said, "Big brother hasn't even started attacking the city, we absolutely cannot move."

  Two moments later, a sudden cannon shot came from outside, followed by shouting voices. This sound excited the bandits in the rice shop at once, and they all stood up, some of whom were about to rush out. Zhang Ren saw this and immediately shouted: "All of you be quiet! Now, whoever doesn't listen to my words, beware that I will shoot you with a gun!" After finishing speaking, he shook his rifle and stabbed it fiercely into the air several times. The bandits had always known that Zhang Ren's martial arts skills were pure and proficient, so they suppressed their hearts and kept looking out of the door.

  Before long, a gong sounded outside, and someone shouted: "There are thieves attacking the city. By order of Magistrate Shen, no one is allowed to go out. If anyone disobeys, they will be killed without exception." The sound of the gong gradually faded away, and Zhang Ren shouted: "Now let's set off and attack the North Gate!"

  The bandits got the order, opened the door, and rushed out in a swarm, rushing north towards the North Gate. Zhang Ren shook his head, sighed, and followed the bandits out of the door. Chen Aishan saw the bandits leave, hastily closed the door, inserted the door bolt, and still felt uneasy, adding several wooden bars to block the door before returning to the backyard.

  Chen Aishan thought that Dangyang was doomed this time, after all Wu Gan had more than 2,000 men, plus Zhang Ren's insider. He felt guilty in his heart, and whenever he thought of helping the bandits attack Dangyang City, he felt suffocated in his chest. He moved a ladder over, set it up against the wall, climbed up and kept looking north. The northern side was bright as day, with constant mournful cries coming from there, even accompanied by the sound of cannons and arrows piercing the air. After about half an hour, a long dragon of torches came in from the north gate and rushed straight to the county government office. Panic-stricken cries came from outside: "The north gate has been breached! The north gate has been breached!"

  The sound alarmed the timid villagers, who grabbed their long-prepared bundles and rushed to the south gate. Chen Aishan saw the panicked villagers stumbling and running south, unable to bear looking at them again, came down from the wall, sat on the ground with his head bowed, feeling as if his heart was being cut by a knife.

  The fleeing common people finally arrived at the south gate, only to find that the defending archers had long since disappeared. A group of bandits, numbering over 200, were blocking the entrance, and upon seeing someone approaching, they would raise their knives and slash. The fleeing crowd, seeing this, hastily retreated and stumbled towards other gates in a panic. The streets were in chaos, with thugs taking advantage of the situation to rob shops and fleeing common people, everywhere filled with cries for help and screams, blood flying through the air under the blades.

  Chen Aishan sat on the ground until a knock at the door came, and then he got up. The knocking sound was like a drumbeat, and someone shouted: "Open the door! Open the door quickly, or Grandpa will break the door!" Chen Aishan didn't dare to open the door casually, so he climbed up the wall to take a look, and found that it was Liu Hai from Dangyang, who was leading more than 20 people knocking at the door.

  Chen Aishan poked her head out and shouted: "Liu Hai, what are you doing?"

  Liu Hai smiled triumphantly and said, "I've long since defected to Wu Gan, the leader of the Wu gang. Now's the perfect opportunity to right the wrongs of heaven and eliminate you, this heartless and cunning merchant!" His underlings also joined in the jeering, with some people shouting, "Your family's young concubine is quite pretty, why not go in and have some fun?"

  Chen Aishan was furious, jumped down from the wall and immediately ordered two servants to go out of the back door to contact Wu Gan. He also ordered others to pick up bricks and throw them outside. A scream came from outside the door, it was one of the thugs who had been hit by a brick. The thugs retreated in a hurry, Liu Hai frowned and cursed: "Damn it, they won't open the door, let's break in, after we get in, brothers will get rich!"

  Before long, Papi brought a thick wooden stick and rushed towards the gate. The door was not solid, even if it was blocked by the stick, it made a creaking sound. Chen Aishan was anxious and hurriedly added several sticks to block the door. However, the door frame was not strong, after being hit a few times, the gate fell to the ground with a loud crash. The Papi people cheered and rushed in, grabbing Chen Aishan and beating him up mercilessly. Chen Aishan begged for mercy nonstop.

  There were still a few rascals who didn't turn around, and they rushed straight to the back house. All that could be heard was a burst of women's screams, and then Chen Aishan's wives and concubines were dragged out from the back house. The clothes of his one wife and two concubines had long been torn to shreds, faintly revealing their pale skin. What's more, some bandits even started groping them up and down.

  Chen Aishan was furious, his whole body trembling with rage. He used all his strength to break free from the bandits' grasp and picked up a wooden stick to strike Liu Hai. Liu Hai was caught off guard, and the stick hit him right in the chest. A mouthful of blood spurted out of his mouth. The thugs rushed forward to surround Chen Aishan, trying to capture him. Liu Hai took a deep breath and shouted loudly: "Beat him, beat him to death!"

  Although Chen Aishan's stick dance was vigorous and powerful, he couldn't withstand the large number of thugs, and eventually got hit on the head with a stick, causing him to faint.

  The same scene is being staged in every household in Dangyang County, it's really a chaotic world where humans are no better than dogs!