After receiving the intelligence brought back by Zhu Laosan, Zhu Xiaosong, who was pondering how to improve the hand grenades, also felt a headache.
The prototype of Fu Er Kang was Fu Kang An, but Fu Kang An was not Fu Er Kang.
If one were to speak of it, Fu Kang An's personal conduct and style were actually very close to his other cinematic image – Er Duo, the commander of the Nine Gates, who almost beat Fang Shiyu like a dog. They were both equally arrogant and ruthless.
If Fu Kang An, that scoundrel, were to know about the existence of the Yimeng Base, the entire Yimeng would likely be slaughtered by him.
The problem was that the Yimeng Base did not have the strength to confront Fu Kang An head-on.
From Liu Miao Village all the way to Menglianggu, Zhu Xiaosong couldn't remember how many corrupt gentry he had dealt with, nor how many corrupt officials he had killed. All he knew was that currently, the able-bodied men on Menglianggu, plus the villagers of Liu Miao Village, totaled about fifteen hundred people. Among them, only about three hundred and sixty were incorporated into the anti-Qing righteous army.
Three hundred and sixty people were roughly equivalent to the strength of three companies. Relying on these three companies to confront Fu Kang An head-on…
After pondering for a long time, Zhu Xiaosong simply summoned the leaders of Yuhuang Mountain.
After briefly relaying the intelligence about Fu Kang An's arrival in Sishui, Zhu Xiaosong said, "Whether the Tartars will target our Menglianggu, no one can say for sure. And Fu Kang An is not like Ming Xing, that idiot. If he finds out we are in Menglianggu, the subsequent battles will likely be very difficult."
Liu Er Niu directly shouted, "All of our brains combined are not as sharp as yours, Boss. Just tell us what to do, and we will all listen to you!"
Zhu Xiaosong glared at Liu Er Niu and rebuked, "Then if I tell you to die, will you go? You have no brains!"
Liu Er Niu stood up and said without hesitation, "Yes! I said before that I would give this life to the Boss. If the Boss wants me to live, I will live; if the Boss wants me to die, I will die!"
Zhu Xiaosong's face immediately turned dark, and he reprimanded, "Sit down!"
After Liu Er Niu sat down, Zhu Xiaosong continued, "Everyone, feel free to share any thoughts you have. This is not a time for politeness like when we're getting food, where you defer to each other."
Despite Zhu Xiaosong's seemingly casual joke, no one could manage a smile.
After a long silence, Liu Huaiwen took out a fire starter, lit his tobacco pipe, and said, "Since no one else is speaking, I will.
"Which one of us has not been oppressed by the Tartar government? Which one of us has not been bullied by the corrupt gentry? We work ourselves to death all year round farming that little bit of land, only to find that we can't even support our wives and children.
"To be honest, it hasn't snowed much this winter. What this means, even if you young people don't understand, you can go back and ask your elders and see what they say.
"The great drought of the forty-ninth year of Qianlong is almost a foregone conclusion. And Emperor Qianlong only cares about traveling south to enjoy himself. Will he care about the lives of us commoners? Even if the court wants to intervene, the local officials will not. They will only find ways to exchange the grain provided by the court for money.
"Don't even think about impeaching those officials. They collude with the corrupt gentry, and we can't fight them. Even if we are lucky enough to escape their surveillance, we actually can't win against them.
"Once, when there was a disaster in Henan, someone went to Emperor Qianlong to lodge a complaint. As a result, Emperor Qianlong handed the case over to the very official who was accused of the crime, and the scholar who advised the disaster victims to lodge the complaint had his property confiscated."
Liu Huaiwen took a deep puff of his pipe, exhaled the smoke slowly, and then continued, "In my opinion, since we have already rebelled, let's do it with all our might! At worst, it's death, but it's better than living like this, completely dejected!"
Liu Er Niu slammed the table and shouted, "Right! Uncle Huaiwen is right! Let's fight the Tartars! At worst, we'll be good heroes again in eighteen years!"
Among those present, if anyone held a deeper hatred for the Tartars, it was probably Liu Er Niu. Others might have had their land occupied by corrupt gentry, but Liu Er Niu's fiancée was snatched away by a Manchu official!
With the endorsements of Liu Huaiwen and Liu Er Niu, the other small leaders immediately shouted, "Fight! Let's fight those damned Manchu Tartars!"
"Drive out the Tartars!"
"At worst, it's death, and we'll be good heroes again in eighteen years!"
"Even if we die, we must take a piece of flesh from the Tartars! We must let them know that we men are not to be trifled with!"
Zhu Xiaosong patted the table, signaling for everyone to quiet down, and said meaningfully, "Fight, we definitely must. The Tartars have invaded the Central Plains for a hundred years, and we have been oppressed by them for over a hundred years. It's time for it to end.
"If we don't drive the Tartars out of the Central Plains, then it will be our descendants who have to drive them out. Either that, or our descendants will continue to be oppressed by the Tartars and will never be able to hold their heads up.
"However, to drive the Tartars out of the Central Plains, mere talk here is not enough. And our Menglianggu cannot resist so many Tartar soldiers right now. We need to find a thorough plan."
Hearing Zhu Xiaosong's words, the room fell silent again. Of all those present, only Zhu Laosan had some education. He considered himself unable to recognize the character for "one" even if a carrying pole fell over. The rest of them couldn't think of any good ideas, so they simply turned their gaze to Zhu Xiaosong, waiting for the leader to make a decision.
After secretly pondering for a while longer, Zhu Xiaosong said to Liu Er Niu, "Er Niu, I have a task for you that might cost your life. Do you dare to accept it?"
Liu Er Niu immediately stood up and shouted, "I say the same thing! If the Boss wants me to die, I will go. Who's afraid is a cowardly grandson and a bastard!"
Zhu Xiaosong nodded and said, "In that case, you and Laosan, take your platoons and head to Xuzhou. Along the way, continue to attack the corrupt gentry as we did before. While attacking the corrupt gentry, also attract able-bodied men to join your ranks.
"But you must pay attention. Attacking the corrupt gentry must only be against the corrupt gentry; do not set your sights on ordinary people.
"Also, if you can take the county towns, do so, but don't fight them head-on if you can't. The most important thing is to strengthen your team as much as possible.
"When you reach near Peixian, stop heading south. Immediately turn west, towards Yan'an Prefecture. Once you reach the vicinity of Yan'an Prefecture, turn towards Sichuan and strive to create a significant commotion there.
"If anything happens along the way, you and Laosan should discuss it. I will pick two craftsmen who can make hand grenades for you later."
Liu Er Niu first agreed, then asked, "What about you, Boss? If Laosan and I lead our men away, won't the manpower on the mountain be even less?"
Zhu Laosan also said, "Brother, isn't this too dangerous? Why don't you lead some people away, and I and Brother Er Niu stay on the mountain?"
Zhu Xiaosong waved his hand and said, "It's not about danger or not. Even though you will take people away, our manpower on the mountain will not decrease. After you depart, I will have your second brother lead people to the manor at the foot of the mountain to bring the villagers up to the mountain, and then mobilize some able-bodied men.
Zhu Laosan said, "But there's no need to bring all the villagers from the nearby villages up to the mountain, is there? We are just starting out, and we have to deal with the Tartars' attack and also accommodate the villagers. Can we handle it?"
Zhu Xiaosong shook his head and said, "We have to handle it even if we can't. This time, it's Fu Kang An, that dog Tartar, leading the army. This person is cruel and ruthless. It's hard to guarantee he won't act against the villagers, so it's safer to bring them up to the mountain." xxs壹贰
"Of course, after you go down the mountain, I will also lead the brothers on the mountain to attack in all directions. We will create some disturbances for the Tartars in places like Yanzhou, Taishan, and Qingzhou, to prevent them from noticing the mountain."
Since Fu Kang An's arrival was unavoidable, the only way was to try to divert Fu Kang An's attention and shift his gaze elsewhere.
Seeing that Zhu Xiaosong had made up his mind, Zhu Laosan no longer tried to persuade him. He only refused Zhu Xiaosong's suggestion of bringing craftsmen: "We won't take those craftsmen. Brother Er Niu and I also know how to make hand grenades, and it's inconvenient to make hand grenades on the road."
"Everyone has a head and two hands. This time, we will fight the Tartars with real swords and guns!"
...
Fu Kang An had already guaranteed to the old dog Qianlong that he would annihilate Zhu Xiaosong before the twenty-first day of the first lunar month, and would absolutely not delay Qianlong's inspection of river engineering projects in the south.
However, the guarantee made by Fu Kang An placed all the pressure on Ming Xing, the Governor of Shandong, and Wu Zude, Zhan Hongbo, and others.
There was no choice but for Ming Xing to hastily reorganize his personal guards, and then join forces with Chen Tailin, the Governor of Jining River Affairs, to prepare to go to Yimeng to find traces of Zhu Xiaosong.
Ming Xing said, "Doesn't that traitor Zhu claim to act on behalf of Heaven? This time, we will slaughter every village one by one, and then send people to publicize that these villages were slaughtered because they colluded with Zhu. This will force Zhu to show himself."
If it were according to Ming Xing's idea, since you claim to act on behalf of Heaven for the common people, then this governor will slaughter every village one by one. Either you yourself will appear, and this governor will only suppress you, the traitor Zhu, or this governor will kill all these wicked people. Not only will your reputation be ruined, but you will also become a rootless wanderer!
Chen Tailai was startled. Ming Xing was a Manchu noble, but he was not! Even if Ming Xing made a grave mistake, it was his own business as a Manchu noble, and it was very likely that he would be the scapegoat!
Thinking of this, Chen Tailai stopped Ming Xing and said, "If Your Excellency the Governor wishes to find traces of the traitor Zhu, there is no need to slaughter villages one by one. If you slaughter villages one by one, even if you eventually suppress Zhu, it might be difficult to explain to His Majesty. If you can suppress Zhu without slaughtering villages, wouldn't that further showcase Your Excellency the Governor's ability?"
If Chen Tailai had said other reasons, Ming Xing probably wouldn't have taken it seriously. But when Chen Tailai mentioned that it would be difficult to explain to the old dog Qianlong, Ming Xing frowned and asked, "Then what good method do you have?"
Chen Tailai pondered and replied, "In the Yimeng area, only Mount Meng and Mount Yi can hide several hundred rebels without being discovered. Among them, the terrain of those 'Gu' is the most perilous.
"Doesn't the traitor Zhu kill gentry and distribute grain wherever he goes? We will send people to investigate the villages around those 'Gu' one by one. If we find that the gentry and baojia (local security organization) in a village have been killed, it means that village has been raided by bandits. In this way, the scope will naturally be much smaller.
"The villages around those 'Gu' add up to only one or two hundred. Investigating them will only take a day or two, and it won't delay too much time.
"As long as Zhu's approximate location is determined, the subsequent matters will be easier to handle."
Ming Xing then grunted and said, "Then two days. If after two days, Zhu's traces are still not found, then we will slaughter villages one by one. In any case, we cannot delay His Majesty's important matter of going south."