Chapter 59: Entering the City

A few people thought about it and indeed there was no good way. They talked idly and wandered aimlessly on the street. It was still early, and the idle class in Guangzhou was still in bed. Not all the shops on the street had opened for business. Only the snack stalls along the street were steaming, already selling all kinds of snacks to the people who came out early to work hard.

Li Ziyu said, “What are we doing today? No studying. How about we go read comic books?”

Zeng Juan was not interested, “The latest volume of ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ hasn’t arrived yet, and I’ve already read the previous ones.”

Li Ziyu said, “Why don’t you choose a few others to read? ‘Chronicles of the Eastern Zhou Kingdoms’ is not bad either.”

“The stories are not connected, there are too many people, and the names are hard to remember,” Zeng Juan was not interested in this. “There are too few stories about strategies. The advisors are just talking, and a few words can make the enemy retreat. It’s so fake…”

“You don’t understand this. Strategy, strategy, you have to look at it from the perspective of the world situation. It’s much more complicated than any fire or water attack…” Li Ziyu was older and had more reading experience, and he had a lot of ideas about this. He wanted to take the opportunity to sell his “knowledge.”

However, Zeng Juan and Zhang Yu were not interested in this. Zhang Yu then suggested going to the Grand World to see what “new things” had been added.

“Recently, the river is full of Australian ships. It is said that they have brought many new things. By the way, we can also see if there are any opportunities for Brother Zeng to make a fortune.”

Zeng Juan was young after all, and his low spirits were only for a moment. Hearing that there were new things to see, he became energetic again.

The three of them went to the Great East Gate together, talking idly along the way. Li Ziyu talked about Senior Wu in the community school, saying that he hadn’t been to the community school for a long time recently. It was said that he had made connections with a noble person.

“Him, he has now attached himself to a fake short-hair young master, a young master Huang, and has become a talent in short-hair studies. Not only is he very close to the people of the Yuyuan Society, but he has also become a guest of honor of Young Master Liang.”

“It is said that the people of the Yuyuan Society have already helped him pull some strings. He has won successive victories in this year’s boy’s examination, and he will probably become a scholar this year.”

“It’s not easy for Senior Wu either…” Zeng Juan said casually, but he felt very uncomfortable in his heart. Wu Ming had a good relationship with them, and logically he should be happy for him to hear this news. However, his heart was inexplicably blocked.

“In this world, you still have to cling to the powerful and noble!” On the contrary, Li Ziyu suddenly became indignant. “What moral articles are all bullshit and deceptive things!”

Li Ziyu’s sudden cynicism surprised Zhang Yu a little. But Zeng Juan knew that Li Ziyu’s uncle had originally found a job for Li Ziyu in the local garrison—to get a salary for doing nothing. Unexpectedly, someone else got there first by going through official channels. Li Ziyu was resentful about this and had been cursing “the end of the world” behind his back for several days.

The three of them sighed and walked slowly to the vicinity of the Great East Gate. Suddenly Zhang Yu said, “Strange, why are there so few people on this street?”

After he said that, they realized that the street was very deserted. They didn’t see many farmers who had come into the city to sell vegetables and take out manure early in the morning—it was supposed to be the peak time for these people to enter and leave the city.

Just as they were wondering, the street in front of them suddenly became chaotic. Someone ran back towards them with a nervous expression, and the street was a little chaotic for a while. The three of them thought that a high-ranking official was entering the city and clearing the way. However, there was no sound of gongs for “military and civilian personnel to avoid.” Just as they were hesitating, they heard someone shouting in a low voice, “Get out of the way! Get out of the way!” Then there were chaotic footsteps. It sounded like there were many people. Then they heard someone shouting anxiously, “Quick! Quick!”

Zhang Yu could understand this voice clearly. It was the “new language” spoken by the Australians!

In Guangzhou, the common language was Guangzhou official language. Most of the officials from other places spoke official language. Only the “Australians” and their subordinates spoke the new language. But these few new words were spoken with a standard accent, which was definitely not something that the people who worked for the Australians on the construction sites and in the shops could say!

Li Ziyu and Zeng Juan also realized that something was wrong, and their faces turned pale. Li Ziyu reacted quickly and said in a low voice, “Let’s go, let’s hide in the alley!”

The few of them didn’t care about their scholarly dignity, lifted their robes, and rushed into a shabby alley next to them in a few quick steps. Zeng Juan still wanted to go deeper, but Li Ziyu grabbed him and said in a low voice, “Don’t run! Let’s hide for a while!”

The three of them squatted down, ignoring the stench, and hid behind a few urine buckets at the entrance of the alley to watch.

They saw the sound of hurried footsteps on the street gradually approaching. Listening to the footsteps, there were at least a few hundred people. What was going on? Could it be a mutiny of the government troops? Mutinies were not a rare thing in the Ming Dynasty. When they became chaotic, they would burn, kill, and plunder without restraint, and they would become demons in an instant. At the thought of this, Zhang Yu felt his whole body tremble, and the hand he touched Li Ziyu’s was also ice-cold.

A moment later, the street was empty, leaving only some discarded vegetable baskets, manure buckets, and a few shoes. They saw troops in blue-gray short jackets running past the alley entrance with muskets. The muskets were all fitted with shining short swords, which glinted with a chilling light in the sunlight. The soldiers wore iron helmets, and their faces could not be seen clearly, but in Zhang Yu’s eyes, they all had fierce eyes and were extremely ferocious. Zhang Yu felt a sudden heaviness in his bladder and wanted to urinate. He heard the chattering of teeth, which turned out to be Zeng Juan. Li Ziyu’s face was pale.

The soldiers on the street passed for a long time before they were all gone. Li Ziyu gave a look, and the three of them scurried along the base of the wall into the depths of the alley.

They ran for more than two li before they stopped, still in a state of shock. Li Ziyu stammered, “It’s, it’s, it’s the short-hair thieves!” In his panic, he couldn’t even speak clearly.

The soldiers on the street were Australians. They had no objection to this: the people who came were all with short hair and short clothes. The few commands they occasionally heard were also in the new language. The most crucial thing was the muskets with bayonets in their hands. This was a military weapon that no one else had!

Zhang Yu was still in a state of shock, “The Australians… the Australians… aren’t they… doing business in the Grand World? How… how…” It had not been many years since the Australians had besieged the city and burned the Wuyang Posthouse, but in the past few years, their image had always been that of peaceful and friendly merchants. Now they suddenly showed their claws, which really made them a little uncomfortable.

“I think they have long had disloyal intentions…” Li Ziyu wanted to say a few more words, but was interrupted by Zeng Juan, “Don’t talk about this! What should we do now? The… the… the soldiers are in the city!”

The three of them were suddenly panicked: once the short-hair thieves entered the city, it was hard to guarantee that they would not “let the soldiers plunder for three days.” This was the only way for rebels since ancient times to win over their subordinates. And what the Australians had done in the various townships during the Battle of the Pearl River Estuary a few years ago was really not “not taking a single needle or thread from the people”—at that time, there were not a few ships carrying the spoils of war and prisoners plundered from the four townships passing by Bai’etan.

At the thought of the legendary “rows of corpses hanging from the trees,” the three of them couldn’t help but lose their courage. Zhang Yu was at a loss, “Why don’t we go home first and see…”

When Zeng Juan heard this, he also said, “Yes! Let’s go home first and see what’s going on. My father probably doesn’t know yet. I saw him just putting down the shop boards when I came out…” At this point, his face turned pale—once the city was broken, it was often not the soldiers who came in who started looting and raping, but the various rascals in the city.

“Yes, yes, let’s go back first!” Li Ziyu said and suddenly thought that his family was a hereditary military household, and his uncle still had the title of a thousand-household commander of the Guangzhou Front Guard—wouldn’t the short-hair thieves come to ransack his house and exterminate his family? He trembled like a sieve and muttered, “If only Shixin could come back! He has joined the short-hair thieves!” As he said this, he suddenly thought that Zhang Yu was an “imperially appointed supplier” of the Australians and should have a good relationship with the Australians. He couldn’t help but give Zhang Yu a big bow and pleaded, “Brother Zhang, save me!” This startled the unprepared Zhang Yu, who said, “Brother Ziyu! What’s wrong with you?”

“I beg you, brother, for the sake of our being classmates, save me, save my whole family!” Li Ziyu pleaded sincerely, almost kneeling down on the spot.

Zhang Yu was confused for a moment. In terms of connections, status, and wealth in Guangzhou, Li Ziyu was the leader among them. Being friends with them had a bit of a “condescending” meaning. Usually, it was only the classmates in the community school who asked him for help, not him asking others. His sudden humble plea surprised him.

“Brother, you also know that my family is a military household of the Guangzhou Front Guard…” At this point, Zhang Yu suddenly understood: he and Zeng Juan were both common people. As long as they survived the chaotic situation in the first few days, the Australians would never make things difficult for them. But the Li family was a hereditary military household, and his uncle was still a thousand-household commander… After the Australians entered the city, they would inevitably have to “cleanse,” and they had all heard about the methods the Australians used in the countryside.

“…Brother, you are now a supplier for the Australians, and you are favored by the real short-hairs. When the Australians enter the city, they will definitely not take anything from the people…” It turned out that Li Ziyu wanted to take his whole family to take refuge in the walnut crisp shop.

In the past, Zhang Yu would have been bursting with vanity, but at this moment, how could he dare to agree: his family was just a supplier for the Australians, and he had no special relationship with that real short-hair—he had never seen Chief Hong again after that time.

Zhang Yu hesitated, “This, my family is just a supplier for the Grand World… and has no deep friendship with the Australians…”

Li Ziyu still wanted to say something, but someone else ran over from behind, shouting as he ran, “Quick, put up the shop boards! The soldiers are passing through the street!”

Before he finished speaking, the originally quiet street suddenly became chaotic. The shops that had already opened for business were all in a mess. The owners stumbled out of the shops, repeatedly calling for their assistants and apprentices to come out and pack up the stalls and signs that had already been set out. There was a sound of clattering on the street, and the shop boards that had just been taken down were put back up again. The three of them were so scared that their souls flew away. They could no longer care about any “countermeasures” and ran for their lives.