Chapter 245: The Guyuan Mutiny
Hearing the words "urgent military dispatch," Li Daoxuan's gaze sharpened, and he found himself following the sprinting messenger.
Moments later, the man burst into the county magistrate's yamen.
Liang Shixian was in the main hall, sifting through a stack of petty grievances, when a house servant burst in, his voice raw with panic: "Master, this is dire, truly dire! The Guyuan mutiny has erupted, and the rebel army is slaughtering its way toward us...."
"What?!"
Liang Shixian sprang to his feet. "What in the heavens is going on?"
The servant stammered, "The border troops are without pay! The imperial court has withheld their wages for three long years, and now the Guyuan border army has mutinied! Some of the frontier soldiers have joined the roaming bandits, while others are clamoring for their overdue wages and marching directly towards Xi'an!"
Liang Shixian's scalp prickled with dread at those words. Border troops! These were no ordinary rebels; these were battle-hardened frontier soldiers!
The sheer power of the border army was in a league entirely separate from that of common bandits.
The potential havoc they could unleash was truly frightening!
The servant reported, "I made inquiries in Xi'an. Governor Hu Tingyan of Shaanxi and Governor Yue Hesheng of Yansui are busy shifting blame, each insisting it's the other's responsibility. The two governors are embroiled in a petty squabble, completely disregarding the rebel army."
Liang Shixian could only stare.
Li Daoxuan, too, was speechless.
One on the ground, one in the heavens, both were rendered utterly speechless.
The Shaoxing secretary sidled closer, his face etched with terror. "Esteemed Master," he whispered, "will the Guyuan rebels march all the way to our Chengcheng County?" Liang Shixian replied, "This official must thoroughly ponder this matter."
Liang Shixian, a man of profound learning, immediately engaged his strategic analysis mode. The precise positions of Guyuan, Xi'an, and Chengcheng, along with the intricate terrain and official routes connecting them, flashed through his mind like a rapid kaleidoscope. Then, with a sudden, decisive clarity, the answer clicked.
Guyuan lay to the northwest of Xi'an, while Chengcheng was situated to Guyuan's northeast. The three locations formed a distinct triangle. If the Guyuan rebels marched straight towards Xi'an, they could not possibly pass through Chengcheng.
Liang Shixian let out a relieved breath. "Rest assured, the Guyuan rebels will not reach us here."
Just then, another swift rider galloped into the county yamen. The horseman, agile and swift, dismounted with the fluid grace of a soaring bird, then strode purposefully into the main hall. It was none other than Military Inspector Fang Wushang.
As soon as he entered, he roared, "Disaster! The Guyuan mutiny has erupted, and the rebels are marching straight for Xi'an!"
Liang Shixian asked, "General Fang, have you also received word?"
Fang Wushang nodded, his face etched with grim concern. "The border army is far from mere bandits. This situation is truly perilous, Magistrate Liang. We must carefully deliberate on how to defend against these rebels."
Liang Shixian sought to calm him. "General Fang, there's no need to panic. This official has just deduced that the rebel army will not march on Chengcheng County. There is no cause for alarm."
He then concisely laid out his 'triangular theory.'
Fang Wushang bristled with indignation. "Magistrate Liang, do you still recall 'Mountain-Leaping Moon,' the bandit from Heyang? When he advanced from Heyang County, you simply drew a straight line between our two counties and rashly assumed he would enter Chengcheng via Quan'gou Village. What was the outcome? 'Mountain-Leaping Moon' burst into Chengcheng through the route passing Zhengjia Village and Gao Family Village! It was only by the grace of Heaven that the Gao Family Village militia was well-prepared, holding him back with rolling logs and boulders. Otherwise, the repercussions would have been unimaginable!"
Liang Shixian let out a deflated sigh.
Fang Wushang scoffed. "Hmph! Conducting a military campaign isn't simply a matter of drawing lines on a map."
Liang Shixian was left momentarily speechless.
Li Daoxuan was now thoroughly intrigued. Would the Guyuan rebels actually arrive in Chengcheng? He decided to search for information online.
Within moments, he found a passage on Baidu that read: "The Guyuan army attacked Jingyang and Fuping..."
These two place names were utterly unfamiliar to him, leaving him completely clueless as to their location. He quickly opened a mapping application, and upon entering "Jingyang," he was stunned. This place was astonishingly close to Xi'an, practically just beyond its northwest city gate.
When he looked up Fuping County, a frown creased his brow.
Fuping County lay northeast of Xi'an, separated from Chengcheng by only a single county. What's more, the name of that intervening county was quite well-known: Baishui County.
Indeed, it was the ancestral home of Wang Er of Baishui.
A growing sense of foreboding began to stir within Li Daoxuan.
Historical records only indicated that the rebels attacked Fuping County, but could such accounts be entirely reliable?
What if the rebels' presence there wasn't considered significant, leading to its omission in historical accounts?
Fuping County was so close to Chengcheng—was it possible the rebels had actually infiltrated Chengcheng too, but it simply wasn't recorded? After all, the historical documentation from the late Ming peasant wars was notoriously disorganized and unreliable.
Li Daoxuan shifted his perspective, focusing on the back courtyard of the Chengcheng Bookstore, where Gao Yiye was currently residing.
Gao Yiye's days there were undeniably monotonous and dull, leaving her feeling listless and uninspired.
Li Daoxuan's gentle voice spoke: "Yiye, return to Gao Family Village immediately."
Gao Yiye's head snapped up, her face lighting with joy. "I can go back now?"
"Indeed!" Li Daoxuan affirmed. "Hurry back and notify Instructor He Jiu about the Guyuan mutiny. Tell him to reorganize the militia and prepare for battle at a moment's notice."
Gao Yiye had no inkling of the true gravity of the Guyuan mutiny. There was no trace of fear on her face; instead, she beamed with delight. "Haha, I can finally go back to Gao Family Village!"
She dashed out quickly. Padi Tu and a squad of militiamen were practicing their drills outside. Gao Yiye rushed out, calling, "Come on, come on! We're heading back to Gao Family Village!"
Padi Tu was ecstatic. "We can go back?"
Apparently, even this 'rabbit' found the county town's charms lacking.
The group continued their hurried departure. Mr. Wang and a few of his associates were still selling books outside, and the two fellows who had stolen steamed buns and were serving their punishment doing odd jobs were also there. Gao Yiye approached and quietly murmured a few words to Mr. Wang.
Mr. Wang was also taken aback. He gestured to the two men who had stolen the steamed buns. "Alright, you are free to go. The work you've performed these past few days has more than made up for those two steamed buns."
The moment they heard they were to leave, their faces instantly contorted in dismay. Though they were here under punishment, the bookstore provided them with meals every single day! Meals! Meals! Meals! —important things, after all, must be repeated thrice.
Now, to suddenly be told to depart—how could they possibly bring themselves to leave such a sanctuary?
Both men dropped to their knees with a resounding thud. "Sir," they pleaded, "please take us with you! We'll toil like oxen and horses, anything, just for a mouthful of food!"
Such desperate pleas were, by now, a common sight for the people of Gao Family Village.
They had once found it almost amusing to see "people willingly volunteer for labor reform," but now it only stirred a pang of sorrow, the humor long gone. Mr. Wang helped the two men to their feet. "Very well," he conceded, "come with us."
The group hurried onwards, quickly passing through the city gate and leaving the county town behind.
The old guard at the gate immediately sprinted towards the county yamen. "Reporting, Esteemed Magistrate! The Li family from the bookstore has all departed the city!"
Liang Shixian's face tightened as he spoke. "The Li family's intelligence is truly swift. This official just received the news, and they already knew. I was counting on seeking their assistance, but they've simply fled... What utter..."
Padi Tu's figure flickered through Fang Wushang's mind. He let out a dismissive "Hmph!" and declared, "This time, it's the border army that's coming. Those 'crooked gourds and cracked dates' from the Li family might barely be useful against roaming bandits, but against frontier soldiers, it's a guaranteed death sentence. There was no need to seek their help in the first place."
Liang Shixian sighed, "That's not how it works. There's strength in numbers, after all. Alas, I still hoped they might lend a hand."
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