Novels online

Chapter 795: I'm Just a Hanger-On

Lian Guoshi suddenly recalled that during his previous visit, former Assistant General Luo Xi, accompanied by his household guards, had decisively crushed the rebel forces here, capturing over ten thousand surrendered rebels. At the time, Luo Xi had declared his intention to use these captives for arduous tasks like constructing roads and bridges.

Now, it appeared these individuals were indeed constructing roads for Wuguan Pass. "Well, well," he thought, "a truly benevolent policy."

However, the cement factory seemed familiar. There was a similar one in Xi'an, both built by Li Daoxuan.

Now that Li Daoxuan’s cement factories had reached Wuguan Pass, the sheer scale of his operations was truly immense.

Such powerful merchants were indeed formidable!

Lian Guoshi continued his journey, and as he approached the outskirts of Shangnan County, he suddenly spotted a massive factory rising ahead, bristling with countless chimneys and blast furnaces...

He had once witnessed such a sight at the Zunhua Iron Smelting Plant in Shuntian Prefecture!

These were blast furnaces, nothing but blast furnaces.

Outside the factory gates, numerous carts ferried iron ore into the complex.

Lian Guoshi felt a jolt of alarm. "Shangnan County is already producing these?" he wondered.

Once inside the city, he realized that in a remarkably short time, Shangnan County had been rebuilt with impressive order. The city walls were more than halfway repaired, the streets were pristine, and most of the common folk he saw wore smiles, their lives clearly far from hardship. It was a stark contrast to the ravaged state of the city when he had last seen it, after Yi Dou Gu and Wa Guanzi had swept through.

"Your Excellency, Governor, you've returned!" Luo Xi appeared on the street ahead, leading a group of his subordinates to greet him.

Lian Guoshi clasped his hands in greeting. "General Luo," he remarked, "you've truly managed Shangnan County with impeccable order, even surpassing the efforts of a civil official."

Luo Xi chuckled. "It’s not this humble general’s achievement, but thanks to the immense help from Li Daoxuan. And the staunch support of Lord Lu Xiangheng, who handed over all the roving bandits captured in Yunyang for me to put to hard labor. Naturally, the work here has progressed at an exceptional pace."

Lian Guoshi couldn’t help but exclaim in wonder. "With General Luo overseeing Shangnan County, this official feels a considerable weight lifted..."

Meanwhile, Henan Governor Fan Shangzheng was feeling anything but relaxed.

Days earlier, Fan Shangzheng had received orders from Chen Qiyu, Supreme Commander of Five Provinces, to hold Lushi County and prevent roving bandits from fleeing northeast.

Fan Shangzheng immediately led Henan Commander-in-Chief Zhang Yingchang to Lushi County to take command.

Lushi County was rugged and mountainous, its county seat nestled precariously between two peaks, the terrain exceedingly complex.

No sooner had Fan Shangzheng and Zhang Yingchang arrived than they were met with a fierce ambush from the roving bandits.

The roving bandits had acquired a large number of firearms and repeating crossbows from an unknown source. Using the treacherous mountain terrain and dense forests to their advantage, they unleashed a barrage upon the government troops, scattering Zhang Yingchang’s forces, who scrambled for cover, heads bowed in fear.

Fan Shangzheng couldn't even enter the county seat before the roving bandits drove him back.

It was hopeless; the Henan garrison troops were utterly useless.

But he carried the Supreme Commander’s orders; Lushi County had to be taken. What was he to do?

Fan Shangzheng was beside himself with anxiety, nearly ready to resign on the spot.

"What are we to do? What are we to do? Your Excellency, Governor, we're doomed!" Zhang Yingchang cried, shaking Fan Shangzheng frantically. "Your Excellency, we simply cannot take Lushi County. If the roving bandits escape the encirclement from Lushi County when the four government armies converge, then both of us will be guilty of a grave crime, a grave crime indeed!"

Fan Shangzheng, equally panicked, said, "Don't rush me. Let this official think, think carefully."

Zhang Yingchang urged, "Your Excellency, Governor, when you were defending Luoyang, didn't you have a formidable firearms unit? Deploy them! If not now, when? Are we to wait until we've been dismissed before using them?"

A realization struck Fan Shangzheng. "Ah, yes! Bai Yuan! I can still seek help from Master Bai Yuan!"

Bai Yuan's militia was, at that very moment, frantically expanding.

After the last roving bandit attack on Luoyang, Zhu Changxun, the Prince of Fu, had been scared out of his wits. He had voluntarily offered funds to increase the militia's numbers, all to save his own skin.

And he deliberately steered clear of power, for he certainly didn't want to be accused of plotting rebellion.

Thus, the militia, nominally funded by the Prince of Fu but in reality backed by Gao Family Village, embarked on a frantic recruitment drive.

Recruiting soldiers in Henan proved far easier than in the Heavenly Lord's territory.

The common folk there lived in profound misery, slammed by consecutive floods and droughts, perpetually hungry and cold. They cared little for the saying, "Good men don't become soldiers, just as good iron isn't used for nails."

Anyone who offered them a mouthful to eat would find them willing to do anything.

Besides, "joining the militia" wasn't seen by them as formally joining the military register.

Militia members were still considered commoners.

This removed any lingering reservations.

As soon as Bai Yuan’s recruitment notices for the militia were posted, refugees swarmed to participate, almost trampling the recruitment office’s threshold within minutes.

Bai Yuan effortlessly recruited a full ten thousand Henan soldiers.

However, these new recruits could not be deployed immediately.

Soldiers who hadn't undergone ideological training, if rashly armed, might wield their weapons to ruthlessly exploit their power and bully the weak, just like the government troops themselves.

These ten thousand soldiers were first sent to the Yellow Turban Fortress in Xiaolangdi. There, they drilled formations daily, studied the Three Main Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention, and trained with wooden dummy firearms...

One day, as Bai Yuan watched a squad of new recruits practicing bayonet drills with their wooden dummy firearms and bayonets, a messenger rushed over. "Master Bai," the man said, "I am a household guard for Governor Fan, and I have an urgent request."

"Oh?" Bai Yuan replied, "Governor Fan and I are old friends. Speak freely, there's no need for ceremony."

The household guard quickly recounted the situation: how the roving bandits in Lushi County were armed with firearms and repeating crossbows, and how government troops were suffering continuous defeats.

Bai Yuan listened, a pang of bewilderment stirring within him. "Hmm? How did roving bandits also get their hands on firearms and repeating crossbows? Could they afford such weapons?"

As he remained uncertain and suspicious, the Heavenly Lord, resonating from the gold coin medallion on his chest, spoke: "Something is amiss!"

"Ah, the Heavenly Lord has arrived?"

Bai Yuan’s spirits lifted. "This humble one also senses something amiss. Firearms require vast amounts of ammunition, and repeating crossbows consume arrows at an alarming rate. These two weapons are simply not something roving bandits could manage; they are constantly on the move, lacking any manufacturing capability. It’s impossible for them to sustain this."

The Heavenly Lord commanded, "Agree to it. Go reinforce them! Find out who is secretly supplying these materials to the roving bandits."

"This humble one understands," Bai Yuan affirmed.

The Xiaolangdi barracks immediately buzzed with activity.

With two thousand veterans and two thousand new recruits, Bai Yuan mobilized four thousand militiamen. They departed Xiaolangdi, hastily advancing southwest towards Lushi County. Upon reaching the Luo River, they followed its course downstream for several days.

They soon reached Liucun Village, where an army had appeared: the battered and bruised Henan garrison troops, led by Fan Shangzheng and Zhang Yingchang, who had been soundly defeated by the roving bandits.

These garrison troops were a rather pathetic sight, their combat effectiveness barely on par with the new recruits from Xiaolangdi. Seeing the reinforcements arrive, the garrison soldiers cheered joyfully, immediately adopting the posture of "We're just hanger-ons."