Chapter 12: Taking Advantage of an Opportunity

  Deng Zixuan smiled and said, "I think those opium might have been sold by the officials. Otherwise, why would Hu surrender so easily? Moreover, the gold and silver jewelry lost by the Hu family may be insignificant to them. Firstly, no opium was lost, secondly, no one died, therefore they must prioritize the safety of the opium and not report the case, but instead quickly transfer it, which is their top priority. So we can safely return via the official road."

  Deng Zixuan's analysis is well-founded. In the past, many officials' families were robbed but didn't dare to report it because they feared their corrupt behavior would be exposed. I recall a case where a high-ranking official's home was robbed and his wife reported that 3 million yuan worth of goods and cash had been stolen. Later, when the police caught the thief and searched him, they found a total of 15 million yuan in goods and cash. As a result, this high-ranking official's behavior was exposed, causing a huge scandal. The laws of history are similar, and during the Qing dynasty, officials who sold opium were also put to death.

  It seems that the government has not made any unusual moves in Yingde, and Hu will have to swallow his bitter pill and admit defeat. The crowd is even more impressed by Deng Zixuan's clever calculations, and from now on, no one dares to have a second thought, and they all show even greater respect for him. On the same day, they hired a horse-drawn carriage in Yingde and continued their journey. After staying overnight in Foshan County, they set off again, and this place is less than 100 miles away from Guangzhou City.

  After leaving Fugang County, the horse carriage had traveled less than 20 kilometers when the axle suddenly broke. The group was forced to continue on foot, and soon it got dark. This area has a complex terrain with dense vegetation, belonging to the hilly region. On the hillside to the left, there is a temple, Deng Zixuan looked at the sky getting late and decided to spend the night in the temple. Upon entering the temple, they found it was a Maiden Temple, which was dilapidated and had been abandoned for a long time. The group gathered grass, lit a fire, roasted the food they brought with them, ate hastily, and went to bed.

  The chirping of the early birds woke Deng Zixuan from his sleep. He opened his eyes to see that the bonfire beside him still had some warmth left, and his brothers were still asleep. Deng Zixuan rubbed his eyes and sat up, causing the straw under him to make a rustling sound, which startled Chen Jintan. Out of professional habit, Chen Jintan quickly drew out his pistol and checked around, saying: "Young Master Deng is awake!" "I was woken up by the birds and couldn't sleep anymore!" After speaking, Deng Zixuan got up and walked out of the temple gate. Looking down at the winding road beneath his feet, he took deep breaths of fresh air and stretched his limbs a few times.

  "Master Deng! What's the plan for next step?" Chen Jintan followed out and also started to move his hands and feet. "No plans for now, let's just wait patiently for the big ship to be built!" "Master Deng, is Qin Fan a reliable person?" "We are strangers in this place and have no way out, so we urgently need manpower. We don't know how to do business, so we can only follow the principle of 'doubting people but using them', Guangzhou will be our base for future development after a few days, so we must take root in Guangzhou." Deng Zixuan tried to dispel Chen Jintan's doubts.

  Chen Jintang looked at Deng Zixuan and mustered up the courage to ask, "Deng Gongzi, you and I are sworn brothers, and it was you who saved my life. Since we made our oath, I've handed over more than 100 catties of goods to you. I know you have grand ambitions, but can't you reveal some of your true intentions to me? I know your true purpose isn't just about wealth." Deng Zixuan looked at Chen Jintang's sincere gaze and asked, "Chen Dage, how is the revolver in your hand?" "Needless to say, no matter how high your martial arts skills are, one bullet can solve the problem. Now I'm convinced!" Chen Jintang said, subconsciously grasping the grip of his gun.

  Deng Zixuan turned his head and looked at his brother, who was still fast asleep. "Why did I travel thousands of miles to find treasure? Because I need a lot of silver! With silver, I can buy foreign machines, with machines, I can make guns and cannons, and with guns and cannons, I can create an invincible army! In short, power grows out of the barrel of a gun! But this requires time and money!" "Master Deng! I understand now. From now on, wherever you point, we'll charge in that direction!" Chen Jintan's eyes lit up with excitement.

  Deng Zixuan continued, "Brother Chen, what I'm about to tell you today cannot be shared with anyone. The slightest mistake will lead to complete failure!"

  "Master Deng, rest assured, I won't breathe a word!"

  Deng Zixuan seemed to remember something and said, "There's one thing I need to discuss with you."

  "Yes, Master Deng, please go ahead!"

  "I'm going to leave Pei Gejian and Wang Xia'er in Guangzhou. We're not just stabilizing our foothold in Guangzhou, but also need to expand and strengthen our base. I've observed that Pei Gejian has great abilities and can be entrusted with important tasks. Leaving him in charge of Guangzhou puts my mind at ease."

  "The young master's eyes are indeed discerning! Gejian is usually our military advisor, but since meeting you, he's been subdued! He often sighs and feels inferior. It's truly a case of 'heroes emerge in youth' - these words aren't empty!" The two couldn't help but burst out laughing after saying this.

  The sun rises, and the brothers get up one after another. The bonfire is lit again, and everyone gathers around to eat dry rations. Suddenly, a crisp horseshoe sound comes from afar, and Wan Chuan gets up to check. In less than the time it takes to smoke a cigarette, he runs back: "Young Master Deng, there's a pair of officials and two prison carts on the mountain road!" "Quickly extinguish the bonfire!" Deng Zixuan says as he gets up and runs out. The brothers also follow him out quickly. Hiding behind a rock to take a look, they indeed see a pair of officials escorting two prison carts approaching in the distance.

  The sedan chair arrived at the foot of the mountain, and the Niangniang Temple was about 50 meters away from the nearest point on the mountain road, so it could be seen very clearly. There were 20 Qing soldiers in the cavalry team, with five horses leading the way, and the rest following behind the sedan chair. The front sedan chair had a canopy, and a Qing soldier was driving the carriage, apparently there was someone inside. The rear sedan chair also had a Qing soldier driving the carriage, with a box on top that was elliptical in shape. Dajia held her breath, and Deng Zixuan stared intently at the box, judging that it must be filled with silver at first glance.

  "Follow them!" Deng Zixuan suddenly had the idea of robbing, and now was a rare opportunity. The brothers heard the meaning of Deng Zixuan and were immediately excited. After advancing for several miles, a small stream appeared on the right side of the mountain road. The Qing soldiers riding horses rushed to the stream to drink water, and many Qing soldiers dismounted their horses. At this time, the cart stopped, and the Qing soldier who was driving the cart in front said a few words to the people inside the cart, then he and the Qing soldier who was driving the cart behind carried buckets towards the stream, apparently the people inside the cart were officials, agreeing to stop here.

  The opportunity has arrived, Deng Zixuan said in a low voice: "Everyone listen, use guns only and do not use knives. Strike quickly and leave no one alive." As soon as Deng Zixuan's words fell, the brothers launched an attack. The Qing soldiers were completely unguarded, and several of them even took out their water pipes and sat by the stream, enjoying themselves. When the Qing soldiers realized something was wrong, gunfire erupted. By the time Deng Zixuan rushed to the stream, all the Qing soldiers had been knocked down, with those still alive wailing in agony.

  The brothers dispersed to reload their guns. Deng Zixuan walked up to the sedan chair and casually lifted the curtain. Inside, he saw a fat guy wearing an official hat, trembling with fear, unable to make a sound. It was clear that he had witnessed the terrifying scene earlier. Deng Zixuan carefully examined the official hat and exclaimed, "Haha! A 6th-rank official, not bad!" After saying this, Deng Zixuan put his gun to the man's head and pulled the trigger. "Damn, fire guns are so effective! It only took a blink of an eye to take them all out!" "Haha! I haven't even had enough fun yet and it's already all over!" The brothers cheered and jeered in unison.

  "Check carefully, see if there are any survivors!" Deng Zixuan shouted loudly. At this moment, Wan Chuan opened the box and exclaimed: "There is silver in the box! Haha! And gold bars!" Deng Zixuan walked forward and said: "You quickly count the amount of silver." "Master Deng, after careful inspection, there are no survivors. What to do with these corpses and horses?" Chen Jintan asked as he walked over. Deng Zixuan replied without thinking: "Load all the corpses onto the horse cart, then turn the cart around, let the old horse find its way back to report the news!" The crowd heard this and burst out laughing, seven or eight people lifted the corpses onto the cart, and then whipped the horses to make them run. At this moment, the ownerless horses that had been frightened also followed the cart and ran.

  "Master Deng, we have a total of 5,000 taels of silver and 100 gold bars!" Wan Chuan reported with a joyful face. "Take the gold bars away, bury the silver on the spot and mark it well, we'll come back for it later." Deng Zi Xuan ordered decisively. No one expected that this unexpected wealth was a birthday gift from the Shaozhou prefect to the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, as the Governor had just turned 66 years old last year. At midnight, the group quietly returned to the city wall. Then they followed the waterway into the city, the most dangerous place being the safest, which Deng Zi Xuan was very clear about, for nowhere was safer than Guangzhou City.

  It was the third watch of the night when they returned, and Qin Fan was startled. Deng Zixuan hastily explained that his brothers had entered the city at dusk and didn't return until midnight after drinking. Qin Fan believed him because everyone reeked of alcohol, but in fact, Deng Zixuan had splashed wine on each person's body, so the smell was overwhelming. The next morning, Guangzhou City was placed under martial law, but since the incident occurred tens of kilometers outside the city, the Qing soldiers did not search within the city walls.

  The sun rose a pole higher, Qin Fan pushed awake Deng Zixuan and hastily said: "Mr. Deng! A big case has occurred?" "What big case?" Deng Zixuan pretended to be confused. "The birthday gift sent by the Shaozhou prefect to the governor-general was robbed outside the city. Not one of the Qing soldiers escorting it survived, it's said they were killed by foreign guns." Now this news is spreading all over Guangzhou City. It turned out to be a birthday gift! Deng Zixuan feigned shock: "This is truly brazen, daring to rob the governor-general's birthday gift! The Qing soldiers were killed by foreign guns, could it be that foreigners did it?" "Everyone in the city is saying so, it's possible that pirates did it!" Qin Fan's eyes blazed with anger, clearly he was extremely hateful towards foreigners.

  Deng Zixuan was delighted, this was the effect he wanted. The purpose of using guns was to frame foreigners and confuse right and wrong. At present, revolvers were not something that anyone could get their hands on. Not even the governor had a revolver, let alone bandits. So the target could only be foreigners. Thinking of this, Deng Zixuan couldn't help but feel triumphant about his plan. Suddenly, he noticed Qin Fan's gaze was unusual and felt uneasy, saying: "Foreigners are detestable, they come ashore and kill people and set fires at will, this is a shame to our great Qing dynasty, it goes against heavenly justice!"

  After Qin Fan left, Deng Zixuan patted his forehead in self-reproach. He was still too young and inexperienced to control his emotions, and it seemed that he needed more training. The bullet head was confirmed to be from a foreign-made gun through the examination of the bullet heads found on the bodies of the dead soldiers. There were no witnesses or evidence, and it was impossible to investigate further with the foreigners. Moreover, there were no other clues, and since it involved the governor's reputation, the case had to be dropped as unsolved. Later, the Qing army strengthened their coastal defenses and after a period of turmoil, things finally calmed down.

  But the case of Hu Fu's mansion, Deng Zixuan was very puzzled. Logically speaking, at that time, not reporting the case, afterwards it could have been reported as a robbery case, but there was no movement. Was there really treasure? Or were there other changes? It wasn't until more than ten years later that this matter surfaced and Deng Zixuan finally knew the truth.

  The brothers hid in the mansion, lonely and idle. Deng Zixuan forced them to learn characters and was strict with his requirements, demanding that they learn 10 new characters every day. To help them learn quickly, Deng Zixuan wrote the characters they had learned on rice paper in the places where they spent their time, reminding them at all times. As a result, the effect was very significant.