Chapter 1015: I'm Only Going to Deal With You
Ding Qirui, leading his troops, had just emerged from Yinchuan City when he saw a strange figure standing ahead, dressed in the garb of a martial artist, his back to the rebels and facing Ding Qirui's forces.
This peculiar stance was baffling to onlookers.
However, Ding Qirui understood his next action: the man raised one hand, pointed it towards Ding Qirui's side, and lit a fuze.
The fuze hissed as it burned, sparks visible even from a considerable distance.
Ding Qirui gasped, "That couldn't be a cannon, could it?"
His subordinates on either side exclaimed, "How is that possible? How could a cannon be mounted on an arm? Even if it could, wouldn't the explosion from firing it shatter a person to death?"
No sooner had they spoken than a cannon boomed—the strange figure had fired.
Ding Qirui jumped in alarm, and all the soldiers under his command were equally startled.
Then, far ahead of them, another "boom" erupted, a second explosion. It turned out the cannonball fired by the strange figure had a secondary detonation.
Ding Qirui demanded, "What is this person doing?"
From the city gate behind him, Wang Ji, the Governor of Yinchuan, rushed out, bellowing urgently, "That's one of ours! Just two days ago, he helped persuade the rebels to halt their siege."
Ding Qirui frowned, "Hm? Then what is he doing now? What's his intention?"
Wang Ji declared, "I will go ask him."
He ran to the front; Li Daoxuan's earlier shot had clearly had an effect, and Wang Ji dared not advance too far, only able to shout from a distance, "Young hero, what is your intention with this?"
Li Daoxuan replied, "To protect these border troops, of course."
Everyone gasped in unison!
Both sides were slightly taken aback.
Zhao Bazong, who had just been cursing Li Daoxuan as a liar, was also dumbfounded.
Li Daoxuan lowered his still-smoking left hand, first glancing at the border troops, then turning to face Wang Ji and Ding Qirui. "Do not advance your soldiers! If you take another step forward, don't blame me for firing a cannon directly into the midst of your crowd."
Having said that, he then turned to Zhao Bazong and his three thousand border troops. "You also, stand still. Wait patiently for another hour."
Zhao Bazong retorted, "We've waited two days and haven't received the supplies you promised, but instead, imperial soldiers have arrived."
Li Daoxuan stated calmly, "The supplies are en route and will arrive in another hour."
Zhao Bazong demanded, "How can I trust you again?"
Li Daoxuan replied, "Whether you believe me or not, you must. Otherwise, you'll have to fight Ding Qirui right now."
Zhao Bazong scoffed, "With my three thousand border troops, why would I fear a mere Ding Qirui?"
Li Daoxuan sighed faintly. "Do you truly believe all three thousand border troops under your command are willing to rebel with you? One promise from Ding Qirui of 'no repercussions for followers'... and they'll drop their weapons and simply watch."
Zhao Bazong's face instantly turned pale.
The other six commanders who had joined his rebellion also froze simultaneously.
It had to be said, this scenario was highly probable.
Li Daoxuan truly wasn't bluffing them. In the past few days, he had already researched history outside the box, and in the original timeline, these seven men were indeed beheaded by Ding Qirui.
Li Daoxuan continued, "None of you genuinely want to rebel. Otherwise, would you have given me these two days? Your willingness to wait is precisely because none of you seven truly desire rebellion; you simply want to reclaim the military pay the court owes you. Since that's the case, give me a little more time. It's also giving yourselves a chance."
Zhao Bazong and the others fell silent.
Li Daoxuan then turned to Ding Qirui. "Commissioner Ding, the words I just spoke to the border troops were quite loud; you heard them, didn't you?"
Ding Qirui replied curtly, "I heard them."
"Good that you heard," Li Daoxuan said. "Then you also know they aren't truly rebelling; they merely want to reclaim their overdue pay. Their methods might be a bit extreme, but if they weren't extreme, how would they ever get the court's attention?"
Ding Qirui fell silent.
High officials usually knew deep down that they couldn't be bothered to listen to the voices of the common people; before things escalated, no one would care, everyone just passed the buck.
Who didn't know about the overdue pay for the border troops?
But knowing was one thing, and no one was willing to intervene.
If not for the seven border garrisons causing trouble simultaneously this time, Ding Qirui still wouldn't have mobilized.
Otherwise, why would the ancients have coined the phrase, "A bird that calls gets worms?"
Ding Qirui understood everything, but understanding didn't mean he had to listen to Li Daoxuan. A high official's prestige was extremely important; how could he allow some inexplicable martial artist who appeared out of nowhere to cause him trouble?
Ding Qirui remained silent for a few seconds, then looked up. "So, you believe you can threaten this official?"
Li Daoxuan retorted sarcastically, "Oh? Are we putting on high official airs now?"
Ding Qirui sneered, "Having a cannon on your arm is certainly novel, but it won't intimidate this official. With one command from me, thousands will charge at you. How many shots can your cannon fire? How many men can it kill?"
Li Daoxuan pondered, "Hmm, you have a point! In that case, I won't use my cannon. Your soldiers are also unfortunate border troops. It's entirely possible their pay is also overdue. They're just more obedient and don't cause trouble. With one order from you, they'd have to charge, even if they didn't want to. If I were to blast them with a cannon, I'd actually feel a bit sorry for them."
The moment these words left his mouth, the soldiers behind Ding Qirui showed strange expressions on their faces. They seemed on the verge of tears, yet couldn't cry.
Li Daoxuan declared, "Then I'll just deal with you alone."
Having said that, Li Daoxuan raised his foot and began walking towards Ding Qirui.
Ding Qirui blinked. "Hm? This man... he's coming at us alone?"
Wang Ji was startled and urgently warned, "This man is incredibly strong, or rather, incredibly strange. Commissioner Ding, you must be careful."
Ding Qirui didn't take it seriously. While it was unsettling that this man had a cannon on his arm, the closer he got, the less useful that cannon would be, won't it? What's there to fear? If he's coming here to die, then we'll simply apprehend him. After that, dealing with the rebels will be easy.
He waved his hand. "Take this man down."
It was just one man, so no one took the matter seriously. Only the few dozen personal guards around Ding Qirui stepped forward a few paces, while the thousands of border troops behind them couldn't even be bothered to move.
But on the opposite side, the men with Zhao Bazong suddenly grew excited.
Two days prior, the memory of seven commanders attacking Li Daoxuan and failing to harm him in the slightest was still vivid. Zhao Bazong and the others were all thinking: "Is he really going to charge into the army formation alone this time? If we see whether he can handle Ding Qirui, we'll know if his words last time were just empty boasts."
The two armies, six or seven thousand strong, thus watched with wide eyes as Li Daoxuan walked step by step towards Ding Qirui, drawing ever closer.
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