The ninth year of Jinghan in the Wu Dynasty, August, early autumn, Jiangnan, Hangzhou.

The lake shimmered, and the mountains and rivers were initially calm.

Half a month had passed since the rebel army of Fang La took over Hangzhou, this crucial town in the southeast. From afar, the city walls that had collapsed in the earthquake and war disaster were being rebuilt, and the pavilions, courtyards, streets, and alleys within the city had begun to show signs of recovery.

The war disaster half a month ago had filled the entire city of Hangzhou with fear-inducing bloodshed and chaos, but recently, it had gradually begun to become lively again. Gathered from all directions, besides the soldiers and generals originally scattered everywhere under Fang La's command, there were also groups of travelers who looked like farmers or small vendors, some raggedly dressed, some with their families in tow. This became the most common sight on the roads leading to Hangzhou during this period.

The gorgeously dressed merchants and officials, and the high-spirited wealthy young masters and scholars, who used to travel on the post roads to Hangzhou, were naturally nowhere to be seen. At this time, the majority of those gathered on these roads were naturally farmers with family members serving in the army, who were bringing their families because Emperor Fang was about to ascend the throne. Among them, the raggedly dressed small vendors, the strange-looking burly men in groups of three or five, or the large and small troupes of actors and street performers, were somewhat different from what one would normally see.

Some of these people looked haughty and arrogant, while others were wretched and low-key, but many carried various weapons, made of gold, wood, iron, stone, and various other materials. On the journey, some ordinary people could notice that some of these people often greeted each other, clasped their fists, and said strange things after meeting. Those who really knew the ropes would know that these people from all walks of life were gathered together under the name of "Jianghu," and these people were what ordinary people called "Jianghu people."

Speaking of which, in the past two years, since Emperor Fang started his uprising, many people in the Jiangnan underworld had been responding. Some had been planning from the beginning and actively making contact, while others saw an opportunity after Emperor Fang's army arrived and thus raised troops to follow.

Of course, Jianghu and the underworld are not necessarily the same thing. Most of these underworld heroes who raised troops to follow were originally mountain bandits and robbers. Since someone was rebelling with great fanfare, they naturally followed suit. More Jianghu people, however, were practitioners hiding in the mountains or the city, or people with some strange skills. They came from all walks of life and usually did not break the law, living small lives, perhaps not even very well. But because they had skills, they might not have been without contact with those underworld figures.

Fang La relied on the influence of the Holy Sect of Manichaeism when he started his uprising, and it already had a considerable reputation among these Jianghu people in the gray area. But rebellion was, after all, a matter of losing one's head, so even if he desperately called for it, there would naturally be a limit to the number of people who would actively gather around him. But this time, under the planning of Fang Qifo, Emperor Fang's army captured Hangzhou. Subsequently, Shi Sheng, Lu Xing'er, Lu Shinaang and other people who already had a lot of prestige responded from various places, shocking the southeast all at once. As news spread that Fang La wanted to become emperor and was widely recruiting talents, many people who had been taking a wait-and-see attitude finally became tempted.

These Jianghu people usually did not live well. Although it was a little late this time, Fang La's ascension to the throne and subsequent opposition to the imperial court would naturally require a large number of talents. If they succeeded, they could always get the reputation of being founding ministers. Therefore, besides the numerous refugees who came to seek wealth for their families serving in the army, the most numerous were all kinds of strange people and extraordinary individuals. Around the time that Fang La was about to establish his kingdom, the entire city of Hangzhou also had a hint of the martial arts conference that had once only been seen in books.

The situation was chaotic, with a mixture of good and bad. After the great cleansing of Hangzhou during the city's capture, under the chaos of war, it could be said that most of Hangzhou's land and property had become ownerless. Although there had been some consultation beforehand on how to distribute the benefits after the city was captured, human desires were unlimited, and a Hangzhou city after the earthquake was not big enough. To put it another way, the formation of a new order would take more than ten days or half a month, which was really too little.

The gold and silver eaten into the stomach could be taken out again, and the real estate in the hands of some people could naturally be taken to the hands of others. At this time, the order in Hangzhou was still about who had the bigger fist. Not to mention the matter of superiors eating subordinates, after the fall of Hangzhou, according to the self-proclaimed "righteous army" of Fang La, there were still some surviving residents in Hangzhou who could legally retain their few properties.

These people had no support, and for more than twenty days, they had naturally become a sweet pastry that anyone could step on. Everyone wanted to eat the sweet pastry, and once people from this army came to bully them, people from another army would come to "protect" them, but the price was not cheap. When the interests of each other conflicted, the heads of the righteous army in Hangzhou had repeatedly pulled their troops to the streets or outside the city to fight.

Hangzhou was a place where the emperor was to be enthroned, and it could not be too chaotic. This was the basic tone set from the beginning. So Fang La gave the order, and the enforcement teams in the city began to work in batches. The leader was Fang Qifo's disciple, named Chen Fan. He was very powerful on the battlefield, but he was too young. He arrested several groups of people, did not interrogate them, and beat the leaders of both sides a few punches in the street in front of everyone. Most of them were beaten to death alive. Among them were also the nephew of General Zhang Wei, the cousin of Guo Shiguang, and so on. It is said that a group of people made trouble in the "imperial palace" and in front of Fang La, and then they had to fight each other. Fang La also had a headache. He was recently worried about the war in Jiaxing in the north, and he was also busy with the enthronement, and he couldn't help but roar, "What are you arguing about? Don't you see that I'm busy being the emperor here?" Then he drew his knife and killed all the groups of people. He dealt with it lightly and then left it at that.

The aftermath of the war had not subsided, a large number of distant relatives had entered the city, and then groups of strange people and extraordinary individuals had entered the city. When they saw benefits, they all wanted to get a piece of it. There was no place to live, so they went to rob it. "I have made great contributions to Emperor Fang, and now my family has come and has no place to live, so I have to set up a shop on the street." Chen Fan continued to lead the enforcement team to beat people on the street, and he would beat to death anyone he didn't like. And in the city of Hangzhou, some shops finally opened under such circumstances, and various waterways and land transportation that were more critical to the city also operated with difficulty in this kind of unreasonable situation, maintaining the basic operation of the city and starting to prepare for the autumn harvest.

The city was like an extremely dilapidated carriage, without a roof, with rotten beams, a decayed frame, and missing rivets. Under the burden of the last batch of skinny horses, it began to move forward with difficulty, waiting for someone to come in time and slowly repair everything before it completely fell apart.

Of course, where there are people, order will always be re-established...

**************

"Speaking of that Bloodhand Butcher Ning Liheng, who is eight feet tall and has a waist circumference of eight feet..."

Generally speaking, this kind of opening, which describes someone as a suspected cylinder, means that most of the following story is false. But even so, every time someone said it loudly, there were still many people around who were willing to listen. Right now, it was in a teahouse in Hangzhou that was still in good condition, where someone was pretending to lower his voice and telling everyone about what had happened not long ago.

"...On that day, at Shiqiao Ferry in Huzhou, this man reorganized a tired army and put them in a desperate situation, using the strategy of the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, who broke the cauldrons and sank the boats to show determination. First, he put thousands of his own people in a deadly place, and then...then he went back and forth twice near Shiqiao Ferry, breaking through the encirclement of Generals Lu Qiao, Yao Yi, and Xue Dounan in succession. If it weren't for General An Xifu's Black Feather Guards to mediate, I'm afraid Mi Quan and Shen Zhucheng would have been doomed...Damn, this person is simply a monster..."

In the teahouses of Hangzhou at this time, promoting how powerful the imperial court was would naturally be somewhat rebellious, but in Hangzhou at this time, first, there was no such regulation, and second, those who dared to blatantly say these things had some background. The group of people had just mentioned the still-deadlocked war in Jiaxing, and then they talked about the defeat in the Huzhou area some time ago. This person was probably a relative of a general in the army, and at this time, he pretended to be mysterious and said it. Of course, most people still didn't believe it, saying what Bloodhand Butcher Ning Liheng, the Jiangnan martial arts world had never heard of such a stupid name. For a time, some people ridiculed, some refuted, and some people took up their pipes, chuckled a few times, and counted the almanacs.

"What Bloodhand Butcher...If we talk about the martial arts world, I, Yan Qi, know it better than anyone else. In Jiangnan, Emperor Fang is the leader. After that, there is Liu Dabiaozi of the Badao Manor, Mo Choujian Bai Moyan, who always comes and goes alone. General Wang Yin's Soul-Locking Spear also has unpredictable power. Buddha Marshal can use eighteen kinds of weapons, but he is mainly good at boxing. His disciple, Chen Fan, is said to be able to pull out a willow tree! In addition, there are Deng Yuanjue, Deng Ruhai, the madman Shi Bao, Li Tianrui, Si Xingfang, and others, all of whom are masters, and now most of them are listening to orders under Emperor Fang. If we talk about tactics, besides Buddha Marshal, An Xifu is also a master. It is said that there is a person named Zhiduoxing Wu Yong in Liangshan in the north. As for what Bloodhand Butcher, who is said to be a scholar in his early twenties, you young man are really talking nonsense..."

The teahouse was noisy and smoky, and compared to the prosperity of Hangzhou before the arrival of Fang La's army, the leisurely scene in the teahouse, at this time, even if the people in this shop said how much background they had, all they showed was a sense of the market. At this time, a nobleman dressed person stood up on one side of the teahouse and said in a low voice, "A bunch of nonsense," and walked outside.

The nobleman did not speak loudly, but many people in the hall had heard it. Most of them were people from the Jianghu. When they arrived in a place, they always had the ability to see in all directions and listen in all directions. Although the nobleman had been sitting in the corner before, he was also very conspicuous. Some people frowned and were about to get angry, but when they took a closer look, as the nobleman stood up, several people at the surrounding tables also stood up. It seemed that they were all practitioners, protecting the nobleman's side and going out together. It seemed that the nobleman also had a lot of status, so they suppressed it.

After the nobleman went out, someone on the other side of the hall casually said his identity: "This guy is called Lou Shuheng. Hey, he is from the original Lou family in Hangzhou. After surrendering to Emperor Fang, he is very popular. He has Buddha Marshal backing him, and many people eat from the Lou family. He was trembling a few days ago, but he has learned to act like a tyrant in the past few days. I heard that he has also robbed several women... You should provoke him less..."

The person who went out of the teahouse was Lou Shuheng. After Hangzhou fell, in order to continue to maintain the operation of the city, the Lou family has now become one of the most important families of Fang Qifo and others. In just over twenty days, they have shouldered more and more burdens and also have more and more power. It is actually very easy to deal with these rebel armies. At least when Fang Qifo is not around, what they need is just not to collapse. You can make a lot of profits, but you don't need to be perfect. They can only rely on you and give you various powers. From almost the beginning, Lou Shuheng had already realized this feeling.

Whether forced or voluntary, the Lou family actually has not much retreat at this time. If they say they don't want to do it, it is impossible. They can't clear themselves from Fang La anymore. If Fang La is defeated, the Lou family may only have a dead end. Lou Shuheng is a very smart person. At first, he watched the soldiers in the city kill people and drag officials and rich merchants out to be buried alive and have their bellies cut open. He was so scared, but the same thing did not happen to them. People began to rely on them and protect them under the instructions of Fang Qifo. Help them do things.

In those days, he watched those scenes of killing, and he was protected and could walk around. More than ten days ago, he saw a group of soldiers raping a woman in her twenties. He just passed by. Several soldiers scolded him a few words, and then the guards who were with him beat them beyond recognition. The woman knelt on the ground half-naked and thanked him profusely. He thought about this for those few days. A few days later, he and the guards secretly went to the street and robbed a woman back home...

At first, he told himself that he was trying to find out how many privileges Fang Qifo had given his family, but this kind of thing was really exciting. He locked the woman up. A few days later, the woman was accidentally killed by him... The first time is always not very skillful... But that's how people are. Once some things are opened, they can never be closed again. In that Wu Dynasty, he could not experience this kind of naked pleasure of power. Although his family was also powerful and powerful at that time, this kind of feeling now is really too different... A few days later, he specially went to find the woman who was almost raped... After doing what those soldiers failed to do...

It was nothing more than that...

He was immersed in this feeling now. The city of Hangzhou now is really too interesting. But when he came out today, he suddenly heard that name that he didn't like to hear, which was really annoying. This thing made him feel a kind of gap. When he was doing these things in the city of Hangzhou, that guy was actually beating several generals under Fang La like dogs in Huzhou.

What is it then what he now holds?

The distance was instantly widened.

If that guy was still in Hangzhou, he must be killed! Just like those officials and rich merchants who were killed in this hell of Hangzhou twenty days ago, dying in unspeakable suffering...

He was thinking this way as he walked through the now decadent streets of Hangzhou with a few guards.

Then, a few days later, he really saw Ning Liheng. (To be continued. Voting for recommendation and monthly tickets is your greatest motivation for me.)