Chapter 9

  Seven brothers gathered at a small shop called Ga Dian outside the South Gate of Xining, Ma Zhongying said: "The opportunity to leave Uncle and create a career has arrived, Black Horse is here, let's see if we dare to ride! Genghis Khan's riders all have two horses, one carrying the rider, the other carrying the rider's fate."

  Seven brothers: The main backbone of Ma Zhongying's rebellion, younger brother Ma Zhongjie, sister's husband Ma Hushan, Ninghai Army officer Ma Yi and others.

  Seven sons suddenly stood up, walked to the horse's side, drew out a knife, and with a few swift cuts, stabbed it into the warhorse's round buttocks. The warhorse let out a long whinny, broke free from its reins, and galloped out of the city gate, kicking up clouds of yellow dust as it went. The horse carried their lives away to distant lands.

  Before a rider goes on an expedition, he must release his horse once. The empty horse carries the saddle and steel knife, galloping in the wilderness for seven days and seven nights, before returning to the rider's side.

  The saddle is too desolate, and the riders can't live long.

  All seven brothers entered a trance state, and the boss delivered dry rations and water on time. On the seventh day, Ma Zhongjie, the youngest, said: "My blood is responding, like river water." The commander said: "That's your final ocean, where all riders' blood will flow."

  The shop owner ran in and said: "Your horse is back."

  The war horse, carrying a steel knife, galloped through the city and arrived at the general store. The seven brothers saw the hilt of the knife, but the blade had been melted away by the blood of the war horse. They didn't know where the war horse went, but it must be somewhere with deserts, plateaus, snowy mountains, and grasslands; the wind and sun would grind the rider's life into a sharp edge.

  They returned to the barracks, and the officer of the day knew they were no longer soldiers. The war horses had taken their lives away, and they had become real riders. The officer did not enforce military regulations.

  On Friday, the officers of the Ninghai Army went to worship at the Dongguan Mosque in Xining. Ma Zhongying spat out some blood and told everyone that he was ill and could not worship, so he left the temple and rushed to the Gan store to meet with his seven brothers. They mounted their horses, galloped through the city, and cut off the telephone lines along the way.

  "Where is Colonel Gare?"

  Arrive at Luoyang and cross the Yellow River.

  "It's too dangerous there."

  "Have you ever heard of Sala's oath? He vowed that even if his head were cut off, he would still walk to the Yellow River and take a sip of its water."

  From Xining to Hualong, there are many high mountains. The seven brothers and their horses were not afraid of the high mountains and galloped all the way. One day and one night, at dawn, a bright light came from afar, an incredibly bright light.

  "See? That's the Yellow River."

  Everyone knows that's not the light in the sky, it's a big river shining among the mountains. They rushed over, and they almost flew up. The horse also saw that magical white light, the horse lowered its head and ran wildly, as if it had grown wings. They smelled the unique fragrance of the Yellow River with a hint of placental scent. The Yellow River originated from the snowy mountain grassland, still an infant, flowing very clearly among the mountains. The seven brothers rushed to the water's edge like infants, recited scriptures, and then calmly scooped up the Yellow River water to drink, shouting "ah" non-stop in their mouths, making themselves bigger by drinking, growing into a robust man, standing up to touch his neck, that head was still there, they were much stronger than the legendary headless men, their heads were still there.

  They looked up and saw the Jishi Mountain, a large mountain piled up with reddish-brown giant rocks. The Yellow River began to roar in the Grand Canyon. There is the Yuwang Temple here, which is said to be the giant axe of Da Yu that split open a passage, and the Yellow River rushed out of Jishi straight into the sea.

  "Go up the mountain, go to the top of the mountain."

  They put their horses at the foot of the mountain and climbed to the top of Mount Taihang.

  "This is where Da Yu Wang's divine power resides, with his ancestors' protection, we will surely succeed."

  Seven brothers can see the town of Jishi at the foot of the mountain from the top of the mountain, and the county government of Xunhua is located in Jishi Town. On the other side of the mountain is the left bank of the river, which is the home of the Dahir River. A team of National Army soldiers led by cattle walked from the direction of Dahir River to Xunhua County. They were a transportation team, escorting guns and ammunition. As soon as they reached the depths of the Yellow River Grand Canyon, the waves of the Yellow River made people's scalps numb. The sound of gunfire on the mountain was inaudible, and the bullets seemed to have been rolled out of the river waves, splashing onto the soldiers' bodies, making them all wet with a bright red color, as if they had been smashed by the giant waves of the Yellow River. Some other soldiers cried out, "Oh my god, the Yellow River has burst its banks!" Those were several Henan soldiers who fell to the ground after running for only a few steps.

  Seven brothers seized the transport team and rushed to the county town of Xunhua. The commander was riding a horse outside the city, shouting wildly like an eagle. The county magistrate said: "Who is making trouble outside?" The county magistrate looked up at the city wall and laughed, "Whose little kid is this? Be careful not to fall off the horse." The little kid asked the county magistrate to open the door, and the county magistrate said: "I'll pinch your ear, see if you listen or not." The county magistrate shouted for several policemen to go down and catch the kid, and teach him a lesson. The police and the kid came in together, with the police's guns slung over their shoulders, and the police were huddled and timid. The county magistrate jumped up, and the kid pointed his gun at him, so he had no choice but to jump.

  "County master, give me the key."

  The bandits seized the police's guns, opened the prison and released the prisoners, and opened the granary to distribute grain.

  The first to respond was Sala Hui, who came with 500 people. Everyone knelt down and said, "Without a leader, it's not worth rebelling. You lead us to overthrow the officials and destroy the Han!" The commander was furious upon hearing this, his face turned black as coal, and he waved his hand to issue an order:

  We rose up in arms and rebelled against the National Army, but you Han people are not even worth mentioning, killing officials, looting soldiers, and robbing wealthy Hans.

  Don't associate with poor people, we want to be heroic men. Poor people's dignity should not be offended. One person kills a hundred people, one person is worth ten lives.

  The commander's order was written as a post and immediately spread throughout Jishi Mountain and Taizi Mountain.

  A large group of poor men from the surrounding areas of Jishan Mountain rushed over. The wealthy owners were furious and shouted, "The bandits are robbing people, hurry up and run!" The wealthy owners ran towards Hezhou City, like livestock running and shouting: "My grandfather, the Hui people have risen up, Li Xiangzi has arrived, it's all over."

  Li Zongzi: Also known as Li Zicheng, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Li Zicheng's troops once marched to the area around Jishishan and Taizishan.

  "I am Li Mangzi." The general rode a tall horse, waving his whip and shouting loudly: "You all see, am I blind? I'm not blind, it's this world that's blind!"

  The general improvised a folk song: Riding a big horse with a steel gun on his back, demanding grain and supplies in front of the rich man's gate, and the big girl is tied up on the horse.

  The general arrived at Longhua County and disarmed the police, but the people following him were no longer the seven brothers. Instead, there were hundreds of tough young men, including Tibetans, Hans, and Sala people. Everyone was hot-blooded, and the cableway in the Yellow River Canyon had been destroyed. The Yellow River had just come from the snowy mountains, and its icy waters chilled to the bone. But the Sala men were not afraid of the cold water of the Yellow River. They used sheepskin rafts to cross the river, and at the most dangerous points, they got into the water and pulled the rafts along. The general did not dismount his horse or get on a raft. Instead, he backed away with his horse, retreating to the foot of the mountain, where he let his horse run fast, like a gust of wind. The horse could no longer see the Yellow River, which was surging with waves one after another. The horse treated them as piles of stones and trampled on them with its hooves, making a loud crashing sound. On the riverbank, people shouted, "Hey, the General is breaking through the Yellow River Array! Jiang Ziya has come to our aid!" The general sat calmly on his horseback, very stable, with his back straight and his shoulders slightly shaking. Everyone said, "This is what they mean by 'a general does not dismount.' Can a mere river stop the general?"

  Everyone was anxious, waiting for the sheepskin raft. Everyone stripped off their clothes and tied them up, carrying them on their backs, with guns slung over their shoulders, their bodies gleaming in the sunlight. The brave ones jumped into the Yellow River like fish, holding their breath without a sound, one after another, until everyone on the shore had gone down.

  On the other side of the river was the wealthy household of Dahuajia in Gansu Province. The security guards and Han people from Dahuajia gathered on the riverbank, watching with curiosity. News of Commander Ke's arrival had spread to Dahuajia earlier, so the wealthy masters fled, but the poor Hans were not afraid, gathering on the riverbank, clenching their fists and rolling up their sleeves to confront Commander Ke. An old man from Dahuajia, a veteran fighter, began singing loudly on the riverbank, singing about the security guards' knives. From Hezhou to Qinghai and even Tibet, the best knives were those of the security guards from Dahuajia. Commander Ke had liked these knives since his time at the Xining Military Academy. He owned a waist knife made by the security guards, which he considered a genuine Hezhou knife.

  There was a security guard named Bo Ri Ji, who had the best knife-making skills in the world. He made knives not for money but to help poor people. The wealthy couldn't stand it and advised Bo Ri Ji not to give away his wealth to the poor. Bo Ri Ji refused, so the wealthy hired an assassin to cut off Bo Ri Ji's right hand, making him disabled. To commemorate the good man Bo Ri Ji, security guards engraved a picture of a single hand on their knives, which were called Bo Ri Ji knives or One-Handed Knives.

  General Gao led a team of seven soldiers, seized the city of Xunhua, opened the granary and distributed grain to rescue the poor. The wealthy called him a bandit, while the poor hailed him as "Number One! Number One!"

  On the riverbank, everyone was in an uproar, like thunder in the sky, and Gala Commander became very excited. Gala Commander tightened his horse's reins and shouted loudly, "I, Gala Commander, am the commander of the people of the northwest. I will use this dagger to kill warlords and wealthy landlords, so that poor people can live a peaceful life."

  The troops of Khoja Niyaz became a large army of several thousand people. Khoja Niyaz established a law enforcement team and ordered the whole army, "Kill one Hui civilian for one life, kill ten Han civilians for one life." Strictly prohibit ethnic revenge killings.

  The army arrived at Liujiacun, first taking the old nest of Ma's army to start the battle. The manor of Ma Fuxiang and his son Ma Hongkui, the governor of Suiyuan, was seized, and the grain and fodder were returned to the people. The relatives of Ma Qi who lived in Qiu Cang fled with a loud cry, and the family property accumulated by the elderly over several generations was looted clean.

  The news reached Xining, and Ma Qi was so angry that he jumped up and down, "This blind fool has ruined me, this is a living Li blind child, our Ma family has produced a bandit's son, we are ashamed of our ancestors." Old Ma Qi's beard shook with rage.

  Ma Bufang said: "He should have been eliminated from the beginning."

  "Are you going to let Ah Dai leave a bad name for harming his nephews?"

  "He's a bandit, he's not one of our Ma family members. Don't treat him like your nephew either. Haven't you seen what a real nephew looks like? Our Ma family isn't short on people anyway."

  Ma Bu Fang showed off his authority in front of Ah Da for the first time. Ah Da didn't mind, after all, he was still Ah Da, and he stroked his beard thoughtfully.

  Ma Bufang said: "Wait until his wings are not hard, broken, and if it's late, it will be too late."

  Ma Ke said: "Let him first fight Feng Yuxiang, bandits are always bandits."

  "After taking down Hezhou City, it's hard to put up with this anymore."

  "Can he take Hexi?"

  "Taking down Hezhou will make you king, Ahda, have you thought it through?"

  "Don't be afraid of him, Ah Da has a way, he'll never let him enter Hezhou City alive."

  "Hand him over to the National Army and see what he does?"

  "It can be done like this, it's a good method, we won't show our face, let the National Army take the lead."

  The father of General Ma was captured by the Nationalist Army in Lanzhou and executed by firing squad.

  General Ka's troops marched in an orderly manner towards Hezhou City, the law enforcement team rode high-headed horses back and forth, whoever disturbed the people would be beheaded and displayed to the public.

  The news reached Xining, and Ma Bufang and his son were frightened.

  "Even a vendetta against one's own father can be tolerated, but what is this guy trying to do? What do you think he wants to do?"

  Old Ah Dai asked her son, and her son Ma Bu Fang didn't even blink an eye. "With the bandits outside the pass and the heavens upside down, what else do you want to do? He's got our Ma family army and Feng Yuxiang in the same pot, he wants to rebuild the stage and reenact the play."

  "Can he handle Feng Yuxiang? The Japanese are all afraid of Feng Yuxiang."

  "There's no one in his eyes, not even the Japanese, Germans, British or Americans. The Eight-Nation Alliance can't even be placed in the corner of his eye. His eyes are big and deep, I've seen it clearly from a young age. Old Ma strokes his white beard, twists it into a rope, opens it up and twists it again, doing this three times, then pats his thigh, 'Haha, don't worry, Ah Da has thought of a good plan. A few thousand people can't take down Hezhou City, at least tens of thousands are needed, the commander is just a young and inexperienced commander, but leading ten or twenty thousand soldiers is just like being a commander.'"

  "Ah Dai?"

  "Get the bandits from our camp to go over, call down the bandits on the mountain, release the prisoners in jail, and let them follow Commander Xia to make a fortune."

  "A-Da, he took over Xunhua County and did it like this."

  "The head of Luhuaxian told me that the child is not stupid, the prison door is open, and the child only wants good people, not bad ones."

  "He's opening the lock differently than us."

  "Ah Dai, you're still the most formidable one."

  "Going with the flow, following the trend, and taking advantage of the situation."

  Ma Bufang nodded without stopping.

  Ma Qi said: "What is the biggest thing on a person's body? The ball is not as big as the gall, and the gall is not as big as the head. When encountering things, use your brain more, and we can solve even the biggest difficulties."