Chapter 123: Gou Er and Hu Lanyan

Control over the population was paramount. Without local collaborators, it was impossible to establish effective rule. Unless the foreign invaders could bring in enough of their own settlers, they had to rely on the allegiance of the local people to build up their government, army, and police.

Liu Yichu immediately threw himself into his work. He spent his days in endless meetings and conversations, especially with the servants and advisors sent by the gentry and prominent families from all over the region to test the waters. Because of the Transmigrators’ reputation in Lingao and Chengmai, no one dared to directly oppose them anymore, not even through passive resistance. All the prominent families wanted to know was: what price would they have to pay to maintain the status quo?

The price was high, but not unbearable. Moreover, according to merchants from Lingao, life there was now very good. Not only was the market thriving, but the region was also peaceful. Bandits were either caught and beheaded or forced to build roads; no one dared to cause trouble.

The prominent families felt that if this was the case, things like conscripting labor and levying grain were manageable. As for the “land survey,” although it made them uneasy, they figured it was the new dynasty’s law. They would have to comply for now, and things would surely slacken over time. They had heard from their elders that when the Hongwu Emperor first ascended the throne, corrupt officials were cut down like leeks, but after the emperor’s passing, the officials became just as corrupt as before. As long as they could preserve their lives and property for now, they could plan for the long term later.

In this atmosphere, every single gentry family and village in Danzhou sent representatives to attend the “First Danzhou Political Consultative Conference” held at the Chaotian Palace.

At the conference, the Danzhou Rehabilitation Bureau was established. Liu Yichu appointed himself as the Director-General, with Yin Chengshi as the acting deputy. He also designated a dozen or so reputable and titled members of the local gentry as committee members. Furthermore, it was stipulated that every village and settlement must appoint a liaison officer to attend regular meetings in the county seat and receive orders.

Liu Yichu’s work progressed rapidly. He needed no trial and error, no discussion. He had the entire Lingao model to follow, a wealth of information provided by the Political Security General Bureau’s intelligence network, and immense help from the native cadres he had brought with him. As people of this era, they understood it better than the Transmigrators.

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Hu Lanyan stretched his arms. The sound of the rain outside was finally subsiding. He opened his drooping eyelids, one of which had been ulcerated by an eye disease in his childhood. The campfire outside the lean-to, extinguished by the rain, was emitting wisps of green smoke. A damp chill washed over him, and he couldn’t help but shiver.

“Dammit,” Hu Lanyan cursed, scratching himself all over. Around him, a dozen of his trusted men lay scattered like dead pigs, their snores thundering through the shelter.

He stood up. This was deep in the old forest. Apart from the nearby Li people, hunters rarely came here, and his relationship with the Li was not bad. Hu Lanyan never robbed or killed the Li people near his territory; their revenge could be quite brutal. Maintaining a peaceful relationship helped him survive comfortably in this area.

This was a branch of the Baoshe Mountains, more than twenty kilometers northeast of the prefectural city. In modern times, twenty kilometers was less than half an hour by car, but in this era, it was an extremely remote part of the county. The mountains were high, the forests dense, and the Li people were active here. Han settlers were few and far between, mostly living in fortified villages.

This was Hu Lanyan’s new base. When the bandit suppression campaign began in Lingao, the bandit chief had initially been dismissive. But as one gang after another was wiped out and more and more scattered bandits fled to him, Hu Lanyan knew he couldn’t stay. He discussed it with Gou Xunli: Lingao was no longer safe; they had to find a new place in Danzhou.

After fleeing to Luomao Mountain, Gou Xunli had become Hu Lanyan’s “dog-head strategist.” He was Hu Lanyan’s sworn brother, full of cunning ideas, and literate and numerate—a rare talent in a bandit gang. He quickly climbed to the position of second-in-command.

Gou Xunli had been dreaming day and night of a message from the mixed-blood “wanton woman” in Macao, giving him instructions to crush the “short-hair bandits” and avenge his family. But months passed with no word. Gou Xunli didn’t dare go to the county seat or Dongmen Market—he was too well-known, and many people in the county recognized him. He could only bide his time in the bandit lair, waiting for the day he could be part of a “returning legion.”

The news that the “short-hair bandits” were going to suppress them had already filled Gou Xunli with a secret dread. He knew their power better than anyone. So when Hu Lanyan suggested moving, he naturally had no objections. As long as he could stay alive, there was always a chance for a comeback. But he understood the rules of the bandit world: though it looked like a vast wilderness, every piece of it was someone else’s territory. The arrival of an outside gang inevitably meant a fight.

Unless the newcomers were exceptionally strong, they would likely lose such a fight—the local snake is stronger than the mighty dragon, as the saying goes. Hu Lanyan wasn’t worried. He was a Danzhou native, and more than half of his men were from Danzhou as well—specifically, from a few neighboring villages. Now, with the addition of scattered bandits, his gang had swelled to over two hundred men. With the support of his local kinsmen, taking this territory was not a problem.

So, he packed up his men, supplies, and valuables, abandoned his mountain stronghold, and set off for Danzhou. Along the way, he crushed a rival gang that tried to rob him, killed its leader, and absorbed his men. He also picked up many other scattered bandits. By the time he reached Danzhou, his force had grown to over three hundred. For a time, he was strong and well-equipped.

With his superior numbers and the support of local clans, Hu Lanyan quickly defeated and wiped out the bandits occupying the Baoshe Mountains, establishing himself as the local hegemon.

Although Hu Lanyan’s force was strong, a larger group meant higher expenses. He allowed some of the men who had families locally and didn’t want to be full-time bandits to return home and become “part-time bandits.” That is, they would be called upon for raids and to share the spoils, but would otherwise farm at home. He himself remained in the mountains with a core group of over a hundred men, occasionally descending to pull off a job.

But a few days ago, a scout brought news: a contingent of “short-hair bandits” had occupied Danzhou city. This made Hu Lanyan very anxious. The Australians were particularly zealous about suppressing bandits. If they started another campaign in Danzhou, he would have no choice but to flee to Changhua—a place full of sand, with a dirt-poor populace. If he went there, he wouldn’t even be able to feed his men.

Hu Lanyan yawned, picked up a bamboo ladle, and scooped some water from a rain-filled vat outside the lean-to. He rinsed his mouth and splashed some water on his face. Then he kicked the “sentry” sleeping soundly at the entrance.

“You, stop playing dead! Go get Strategist Gou!”

Gou Xunli lived in another lean-to nearby. He had it all to himself, which was both a special privilege and a practical necessity. His shelter was filled with the gang’s account books, rosters, and other documents.

Gou Xunli was meditating with his eyes closed. He had once had followers, but after his misfortunes in Guangzhou, his money had run out, and his men had deserted him. Now, he was well and truly alone. Though he tried to keep his spirits up, his hopes had been dwindling ever since the government army’s crushing defeat at Chengmai.

Gou Xunli’s only hope now was for his son’s safety—he hadn’t heard from him in a long time. He had sent someone to Qiongshan to inquire, but the man returned saying Gou Chengyun had left long ago.

“Brother, tell me, what should we do?” Hu Lanyan took a boiled taro from one of his men, sprinkled some salt from a bamboo tube, and began to eat heartily.

“For now, we can only endure,” Gou Xunli said with a bitter smile, peeling a taro for himself. Food wasn’t a problem in the mountains; they had plenty of grain and salt extorted from wealthy families and peasants, as well as a good amount of cloth, gold, and silver. But getting good food was difficult; they had to rely on hunting for fresh meat.

“I’m just afraid they’ll come to suppress us.”

“The bandits haven’t established a firm foothold yet; they won’t come after us for now,” Gou Xunli said. “We don’t need to be afraid. As is their custom, they will first give the local people some benefits, build roads, create markets, and train a militia. Only when all that is done will they come to suppress us. It will take them at least half a year, maybe a year, to do all that.”

“Half a year or a year is fine. We can survive even without any new business. But what about after that?”

Gou Xunli didn’t know what to do after that either. A sense of hopeless despair washed over him. The bandits’ ambition was probably to sweep across the entire island.

He sighed. “The government troops are so useless…”

When the government army had gathered in Qiongshan to attack the bandits, both he and Hu Lanyan had been excited for a time. Gou Xunli had suggested that as soon as the army entered Lingao, they would rally five or six hundred men in Danzhou, offer their services to the army, and not only get an easy amnesty but also likely a military title. They could also plunder their way to a fortune.

But the government army’s defeat had been so swift and so tragic. Now, whenever they brought it up, they could only sigh.

Gou Xunli thought silently for a long time before saying fiercely, “We can hide for a while, but not forever. In my humble opinion, we must strike them hard and show them what we’re made of!”

Hu Lanyan was taken aback. “Brother! Have you lost your mind? You know better than anyone how formidable these bandits are. It’s a blessing they haven’t come for us. Why should we go and poke the tiger’s whiskers!”

Besides, according to the scouts, the bandit force that came to Danzhou numbered nearly a thousand. All the bandit groups in Danzhou combined didn’t add up to that many.

“Brother,” Gou Xunli said, “The bandits’ firearms are powerful and their tactics are sophisticated. We are no match for them in a direct confrontation. However, their thousand men can’t stay clustered together all day. Eventually, they will have to send out small units ‘down to the villages’.”