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Ch66 - Nearing
The wind was fiercer today. The ground was white with frost. But sitting inside, Guo Jiao was warm all over. His brocade clothes were stuffed with down, his legs were covered beneath a thick woolen blanket, and his room was warmed by a brazier burning with fine, smokeless coal. How could the cold possibly get to him through all that? He was finally living in the kind of luxury that, before, he could only dream about. He’d earned all this!
Taking another sip of steamy milk, he flipped another page in his ledger, his mood soaring as he scanned line after line of figures. He’d had his servants take the discounted sutras he’d bought from the Liang Estate and sell them in Si Province. Unlike Liang Zixi, who only took payment in grain, he’d sold all his stock for twenty thousand apiece.
His merchants had brought back just about another hundred thousand. Now, he had winter clothes, fine coal, and even a couple more servant girls. Of course he was content.
Ah, Liang Zixi really was a person worth knowing.
After he finished going through the accounts, Guo Jiao closed his eyes and fantasized about next year’s business. As long as the Liang Estate started printing books once spring came, he could buy a few more and have them shipped beyond Bai Pass to Ye City. They’d surely sell well over there as well. A few back and forths, and he’d have another hundred thousand.
He was abruptly woken from his riveting daydream when his door slammed open and a petty official scrambled in, “Magistrate! There, there, there’s trouble!”
After nearly dropping his earthenware bowl in fright, Guo Jiao roared, “Insolence! Have you any decency?! Just what trouble is it?”
“Rebels!” The petty official dropped to his knees, “The Xiongnu mustered up a rebel army again!”
“My god!” The bowl clattered on the tabletop, its contents staining the entire surface, but Guo Jiao was of no mind to care. He jumped to his feet, “Where did they come from?! How many are there? Where’re they at now?”
“Xi County! It should be Xi County! There’s at least four or five hundred. They’ve already run over several villages and it won’t be long before they get to the county town!” The petty official stammered, nearly crying with terror.
“Damnit! Get Colonel Wu over here now!” Guo Jiao shouted.
There were soldiers stationed in Gaodu year-round, as it was right next to Taihang Pass. One of their officers was Colonel Wu, who had a thousand men under his command. With how cold it was, Colonel Wu spent most of his time in the city, but it just so happened that he wasn’t here at the moment. The petty official dashed off immediately.
Guo Jiao paced anxiously inside. Xiongnu rebels! The Shangdang Commandery had experienced an uprising just a few years ago. The Xiongnu Hao San and his troops had assailed the commandery capital, not only breaking in, but even killing off all the senior officials and leveling half the city! Tens of thousands of Xiongnu, Qiang, and Lushui rebels had run amok in the Bing, You, and Qin Provinces, making everyone’s life difficult. The unrest lasted a whole six years before it was fully suppressed.
If it happened another time, what would become of his puny Gaodu City?
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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The aide scurried away. A moment later, a man with thick sideburns came in and barked, “There are rebels advancing on Gaodu?!”
“Colonel Wu, you’re finally here! There is a troop of rebels heading for Gaodu, from Qi County apparently – they’ve revolted! There’s nearly five hundred of them!” Guo Jiao blurted.
“Qi County? Isn’t that under the Eastern Xiongnu Division’s authority?! These damned barbarians!” Colonel Wu roared. “No matter, I’ll mobilize the armies at once to defend the city. We only need to last a couple days before the Xiongnu should send forces to suppress these rebels.”
“But what if the Eastern Xiongnu Division has revolted as well?” Guo Jiao trembled. This wasn’t a simple uprising, what if this was the Xiongnu army’s vanguard?
“Isn’t Liu Yuan still in Ye City? How would the Eastern Division dare to revolt!” Colonel Wu growled.
“Ah!” Guo Jiao remembered now. Of course, the East Division Commandant, Liu Yuan, was still under the Prince of Chengdu’s control. The Xiongnu couldn’t afford to act recklessly. Somewhat relieved, Guo Jiao said, “I’ll leave the city to you then, Colonel Wu!”
Colonel Wu nodded and took his leave.
※
A woman’s chilling, high-pitched wail came from far away. With the iron scent of blood in his nose, Lu Ge swung his saber and cleaved another head. He casually wiped the flecks of viscous fluid from his face and walked towards the storehouse.
This small estate had only had a hundred private soldiers. It’d taken them just about an hour to barge through their gates and rush in. They killed the men, used the women, and spared any servants that were willing to join them. All they had to do was give them some wine and meat, some women, and those idiot men would take up arms and follow behind them. In this way, his numbers would grow with each battle until they were in the thousands. Then, like Hao San, they would trample the northern regions beneath their feet!
The door of the storehouse swung open with a bang. Lu Ge let out a breath of relief at seeing how much grain and cloth there was inside. “Men, get all this stuff onto the carts!”
It was this food, this money, that would allow them to push forward. Several footsoldiers rushed in and excitedly began hauling away sacks of rice. Of course, they took the hundreds of arrows and dozens of sabers stashed inside as well.
After taking care of the most important matter, Lu Ge left the storehouse and strode through the corridor back to the main hall. Along the way, people were stripping the corpses of their thick brocade clothes. Some, dressed in rags, raised their machetes and cackled. Some scoured the naked cadavers for rings, necklaces, and other accessories to stuff their pockets with.
Lu Ge didn’t spare them a single glance as he entered the main hall.
“Ah-Long, how much longer till the dry rations are prepared?” Lu Ge asked.
“In another two hours,” Lu Long answered, his face aglow, “Boss, we seized so much this time!”
“Hmm, that’ll last us another ten days. We can’t waste any more time here. Once mealtime’s over, we’ve gotta hit the road,” Lu Ge said coldly.
“Do we have to raid Gaodu? Can’t we just raze another few villages? It’s unbelievable how much food they’ve got!”
“The big tents won’t let us go after we’ve killed the thousand horse-master.”
Ah-Long’s expression sank, “Well, what do we do then?”
“We sack Gaodu, hide in the mountains to pass the winter, then go to You Province. The Han are still waging war – they’re too busy to deal with us.” Lu Ge had it all planned out. Sima Teng wasn’t in Bing Province right now, and as it was winter, it’d take him a long time to get his troops here. As long as they dodged the big tents’ pursuit, they’d have a chance of survival. But they didn’t have enough stolen grain to last that long – unless they conquered Gaodu.
“We’ll follow you, boss!” Lu Long had utter faith in him. His cousin was just as good as Hao San. Shangdang still hadn’t recovered from the last uprising; they didn’t have any troops to spare.
“Send scouts to observe the soldiers at Taihang Pass. If any of them come to Gaodu’s rescue, we’ll kill them all first!”
“What about the grain?”
“Have a few trustworthy people keep an eye on it. Everyone else will join in the ambush. Those Jin soldiers will crumble before us,” Lu Ge grinned viciously, “If we kill the reinforcements, the city will be defenseless and ours to take!”
“Haha, that’s right! The Jin army’s not even as tough as these private armies!” Lu Long laughed heartily as well.
Four hours later, the fed, rested, and bloodied rebels mounted their horses again and galloped towards Gaodu. Their other comrades, leading a convoy full of gold, silver, silk, and grain, followed far behind them.
※
“What did you say? There are rebels marching in on Gaodu?! How many of them?!” Liang Feng questioned urgently.
“Around four or five hundred. They’re all horse-riding Xiongnu. The magistrate said you should be careful, Marquess Liang,” the petty official answered.
“You can leave now. LĂŒzhu, have Yiyan see me in my study!”
Liang Feng went to his study without further delay. The tactical sand table was already taking shape. Liang Feng looked at it closely. Gaodu and the Liang Estate were far too close; they were as close as lips were to teeth. With the new gatehouse and newly reinforced walls, the estate should have the ability to resist the rebels. But could he really abandon Gaodu and let them raze the land, leaving the common people at their mercy? Allow the critical Taihang Pass to fall into enemy hands?
“My lord!” Yiyan strode into the room, “Are rebel armies approaching? The new gatehouse is sturdy enough to withstand even the Xiongnu!”
“They intend to attack Gaodu,” Liang Feng said severely. “If Gaodu is lost, the Liang Estate will be endangered.”
“Gaodu has defensive forces! They should be able to hold out!” Yiyan, hearing Liang Feng’s undertone, frowned.
“Assemble the militia as fast as possible. Prepare for battle. Send out the scouts to reconnoiter the enemy’s situation!” Liang Feng shook his head and commanded decisively, “A thousand things can change in an instant on the battlefield. We can’t just sit here and wait for them to come to us. We have to get as much information as possible!”
Yiyan only frowned before nodding crisply, “I understand your meaning, my lord. I’ll send the scouts out.”
“Good.” Liang Feng nodded and looked to the sand table once more. Gaodu – could it be saved? Did it need to be saved? A Xiongnu cavalry half a thousand strong was no comparison to a ragtag motley of mountain bandits. Just what impact would his hundred or so people even have in this small war?
Amidst anxiousness and worry, a day and night flew by. The next day, the scouts came galloping back at full speed. One of them tumbled to his knees before Liang Feng and shouted, “Master, the bandits intercepted the reinforcements and defeated them utterly! Gaodu is in a state of emergency!”