Chapter 2175 - Yang Juren's Ambition

Under his uncle's "guidance," Yang Erhu proved remarkably "incorruptible" as an officer. He never deducted his subordinates' pay and provisions—indeed, when subordinates faced urgent difficulties, he'd pay from his own pocket to help. Consequently, the dozens of soldiers under him were fiercely loyal, and he cultivated many "brothers" throughout the battalion. They proved quite willing to sell their lives for him in battle. On ordinary days, he liberally spent money flattering his superiors. After several years, he'd actually become a capable officer praised throughout the battalion. Had the Australians not attacked, promotion to Squad Leader was assured.

With favor came convenience. Cannons, bird guns, gunpowder, and other military equipment from the Zhaoqing Battalion migrated back to his home bit by bit, like ants moving house. Later, emboldened, he even brought back armor—which the Imperial Court strictly forbade private individuals from possessing.

Master Yang remained equally industrious. He built stockades, organized joint security pledges, forged weapons. Guangning was no peaceful county to begin with, and the trend toward establishing stockades and training braves thrived vigorously. Because Master Yang's village braves were well-equipped and he possessed a nephew serving as military officer, major households in neighboring villages all fawned over him, electing him head of the joint security encompassing surrounding villages. He became a Guangning hegemon.

In the battle where Zhu Mingxia attacked Zhaoqing, Yang Erhu's troops routed in chaos after a covering barrage from gunboat mortars—before even engaging the "Kun." They lost dozens of men, dead or fled. Having witnessed the Kun' formidable power firsthand, Yang Erhu dared not risk his capital in desperate combat. Knowing Zhaoqing's fall was imminent, he exploited the chaotic war situation to gather his own troops and absorb many routed soldiers. He looted several merchant shops and wealthy households in the city, then fled back to Guangning laden with valuables and weapons.

Though his return presented a sorry spectacle of thrown-away helmets and abandoned armor, he brought back over two hundred elite soldiers, dozens of armor suits, and abundant weapons. The prestige of Yang Family Village braves soared instantly.

The prestige boost was genuine, but gaining over two hundred "elite soldiers" overnight couldn't be sustained merely by providing rice bowls. Though these grunts currently felt "grateful" to Yang Erhu, a few months without pay would make village slaughter entirely plausible.

Yang Erhu grew nervous and hurried to consult his uncle.

Yang Juren was a well-read scholar who understood profoundly that in troubled times, having soldiers made one a Grass King. He sent invitations far and wide, gathering gentry, major households, and clan elders from various villages and towns at his village to discuss "countermeasures."

In chaotic times, people lived in constant anxiety. Everyone wished for someone to step forward, especially since Yang Jinghui held the title of Provincial Graduate. Once invitations were dispatched, more than a dozen local villages sent representatives immediately.

Yang Jinghui had Yang Erhu lead the village braves, "fully equipped with armor and weapons," to parade before the village. He also displayed the cannons his nephew had brought from Zhaoqing one by one. After this martial demonstration, Yang Jinghui became the township's Regiment Training Bureau leader without contest. Money and grain were apportioned to every village. Calculated carefully, not only was it more than sufficient to support the soldiers, but he also turned substantial profit.

"Uncle is truly a master!" Yang Erhu was sincerely convinced.

"Hehe," Yang Jinghui stroked his beard, smiling. "Since ancient times, if you have grain, you have soldiers; if you have soldiers, you have grain. In peaceful times, these soldiers would constitute a scourge, but right now they're capital. As long as we deploy this capital wisely, we can not only keep this area peaceful but also earn double profit! As long as we adapt to the times and accumulate more family property to guard this territory, no matter who becomes Emperor in the future, this fine family property won't disappear."

Yang Jinghui's calculation proved sound—he'd essentially decoded the fundamental laws of dynastic change. Soon, with the Great Ming's rule collapsing, the county's social order descended into chaos: bandits ran rampant, Yao people rebelled, locals fought with Hakka guest settlers. Chaos reigned for a time. Yang Jinghui exploited this turmoil to become a "hero created by the times." His nephew Yang Erhu followed his instructions to "conquer east and west." First, they broke a Hakka village that had fought with Yang Family Village over water rights previously, killing a hundred-odd villagers and seizing all their land, houses, and valuables. Then they attacked several neighboring villages that "did not obey orders," forcing them all to pay money and grain. As for villages that had disputed land and mountain fields with Yang Family Village, they now proved very "sensible" and obediently surrendered their land deeds.

Though local villages of any scale all trained village braves, their numbers were small and their weapons couldn't compare to the Yang Family Village braves, much less the core of over two hundred combat soldiers and various firearms the Yangs possessed. Winning every battle effectively, villages everywhere collapsed at first contact and surrendered.

Throughout this series of "conquests," the Yang Family Village braves also destroyed several small local bandit groups creating disturbances, annexed and expanded their power, even seized a mountain stronghold. Yang Jinghui felt his own village on the plain was insufficiently secure, so he planned to establish a new stockade there as a lair.

In less than a month, Yang Family Village's "prestige spread far and wide." Especially after Yang Erhu led regiment braves to Shijian Town and forced the town merchants to produce hundreds of taels of silver plus hundreds of cloth bolts, hundreds of shi of grain, and many valuables to "reward" them, many "heroes" within the county came to join one after another. The Yang Family Stockade braves expanded to over eight hundred men, becoming a major county power overnight.

However, good times proved fleeting. Before long, the magistrate appointed by the Kun arrived at the county seat with the National Army and raised the "Great Song" banner. Official roads and waterways leading to the prefectural city were restored, Senate patrols and gunboats patrolled everywhere, and social order improved. The Hair Rebel County Director also dispatched former yamen runners to the countryside to inform villages everywhere, requiring them to "train militia, guard their own villages, and not cross boundaries to cause trouble."

Villages and towns that had suffered from Yang Family Village's depredations sent people to the Australian Yamen to complain one after another. Before long, the Australian County Yamen sent someone to deliver an invitation, asking Yang Jinghui to "come to the Yamen for a chat."

Yang Jinghui knew that under current circumstances, "going to the Yamen for a chat" was impossible—impossible in this lifetime. The sole path forward was establishing a foothold through strength and forcing the Kun to acknowledge the fait accompli.

Though the Kun' firearms were powerful and their ships and cannons world-class, this location wasn't coastal and was mountainous. Cannons transportable here wouldn't be very large. Moreover, the Hair Rebel soldiers accompanying the County Magistrate to his post numbered no more than a hundred—no matter how capable, they couldn't split themselves or scatter beans to summon soldiers. These hundred-odd men were already stretched thin merely guarding the county seat and maintaining road traffic. Therefore, he feared no Hair Rebel "suppression." Following Master Bi's counsel, he employed the "delaying" tactic. He wrote a petition with humble words, the content being nothing more than that his family had always been "good citizens" and though they'd trained some regiment braves, it was solely for self-preservation in chaotic times. He harbored absolutely no disloyalty toward Great Song. As for accusations from various villages, they were pure slander—stale, rotten internal disagreements entangled for generations; acts of personal revenge, and specific reasons couldn't be explained briefly. Finally, he claimed poor health prevented distant travel, so he could only beg the County Magistrate's magnanimity to excuse him from appearing at the Yamen. If there were any instructions, just send a letter, and he would certainly comply, and so forth.

After writing, he asked Master Bi's son, Bi Xuansheng, to deliver it. Though Bi Xuansheng was as incompetent at studying as his old man, his lips were considerably more agile. He was naturally slippery, knew how to read situations and speak accordingly, and was young—presumably the Kun wouldn't make things difficult for him.

Aside from the petition, two gifts were prepared. One was pigs, sheep, wine, and cloth, meant to "reward the brothers." The other was three hundred taels of silver and a set of gold head ornaments—this was for the County Director.

Bi Xuansheng went to the county seat but brought no reply letter upon return. He only brought back the gifts, accompanied by an old yamen runner retained by the county. With much bowing and scraping and mouthfuls of "sent by superior orders, compelled by necessity," he said the Australian County Magistrate had already spoken: not only must he come to the Yamen for a chat by a set time, but he must also immediately surrender all armor and firearms, retaining only basic swords, spears, and bows. The village Regiment Braves must not exceed two hundred men. Otherwise, they'd be deemed an "illegal armed force."

Naturally, Yang Jinghui refused to surrender his capital. Furthermore, the Australians were weak in Guangning, and would likely find a punitive expedition beyond their reach. So he simply ignored it and sat back to watch developments unfold.

Sure enough, the County Director's arrival didn't immediately reverse the county's chaotic situation. Though mixed battles between local and guest villages were temporarily quelled, scattered rogue soldiers combining with bandits continued causing chaos. Just as the Hair Rebel "Director" of Guangning was busy rebuilding institutions, establishing militia, contacting the four countrysides, and attempting to restore social order, envoys carrying Xiong Wencan's handwritten orders sneaked in from Guangxi. These envoys were mostly locals who relied on local social connections to move around, visiting various major households and gentry, inciting them to "serve the Imperial Court" and promising all kinds of benefits when the Court fought back in the future.

As a local "powerholder," Yang Jinghui naturally received the treatment of an envoy visit. Provincial Graduate Yang didn't quite believe these promises—after all, his own nephew had witnessed how Master Xiong greased the soles of his feet and slipped away from Zhaoqing, and had seen the Hair Rebel shelling's power. For the Great Ming to fight back, they'd need to accumulate troops for at least three to five years—and might not even win.

However, even if the Great Ming didn't fight back, it didn't mean the Kun could sit securely on the throne. Even if they could eventually sit securely, it would probably remain chaotic for several years—Provincial Graduate Yang had received abundant news from friends and relatives fleeing chaos and knew that bandits were making trouble on both West River banks, and the Lianshan Yao people were also rebelling. Even this county's situation wasn't necessarily much better.

Exploiting this chaotic situation and the capital in his hands, his family could make tremendous profit! Yang Jinghui made up his mind and told the envoy he was willing to "serve the Imperial Court and spill his brains and blood on the ground," only asking Master Xiong to grant a title. The envoy immediately expressed: Master Xiong didn't have much else, but he had plenty of command arrows. Simultaneously, he hinted that if he could kill a few prominent Fake Aussies in the county or go a step further and recover the county seat—even for just one day—Master Xiong would claim merit for him. With his Provincial Graduate degree, he'd certainly be directly awarded an official position.

The accumulated prestige of the Great Ming's three hundred years still lingered, after all. Listening to these prospects, Yang Jinghui couldn't help being beguiled, especially by the four words "awarded an official position," which proved particularly moving. He immediately promised he would undertake a great endeavor and "not disappoint Master Xiong's hope."