There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 213 Easily Taking a County

Puqi County Town.

"Brother, the Han army has really arrived! What should we do now?"

"Yes! The Han army is formidable; even government troops are afraid of them. We can't defeat them!"

"More than that, I heard that it's Yang Fang who came this time. He's a tiger general who defeated tens of thousands of government troops with only a few thousand men. The Qing governor died at his hands. Our small force is probably not even enough to fill his teeth."

"Brother, you'd better make a decision quickly!"

"..."

A group of Puqi rebel leaders surrounded their leader, Zhang Guang, chattering and arguing incessantly.

They had all raised the Han flag to surrender to the Han Dynasty, only to find that the Han's offer was to distribute their land to the people. This was unacceptable to them. Coincidentally, their leader, Zhang Guang, also wanted to become a local tyrant in Puqi County, so he rallied the others to cut down their flags and rebel again.

I thought that sending a letter of surrender would ensure peace, since we were all in the same righteous army and no one was more noble than the other. But I never expected that the Han army would be so unethical and attack!

A mob is still a mob. Even though they've rebelled, they still insist on that old code of honor. If they want to talk about honor, then only the King of Han can explain it to them, not the other way around.

Annoyed by the noise, Zhang Guang snapped, "Shut up, all of you!"

"..."

A shout silenced the leaders.

Zhang Guang then softened his tone and said, "The Han army has returned, but we still have a chance, as we control Puqi County. When General Yang Fang of the Han army arrives, I will personally write a letter to negotiate with them. We are all righteous armies, so I don't think they will dare to make things too ugly. As long as they agree to our conditions and allow us to withdraw with our troops and provisions, then we can simply give up Puqi County. It's not shameful that we can't defeat them; we can always come back and fight them again in the future!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Guang's trusted cousin immediately chimed in, "Brother is right. We are all in the same righteous army. I don't believe they can really make such a mess of things. We can give up our territory and land, but they have to let us go. It's not shameful to lose. When we come back in the future, we'll settle the score with the King of Han."

"That's right. We can surrender, but we have to be allowed to leave with our men."

"And the money and grain we've looted, we have to take those with us too, otherwise we'll fight to the death and burn the city down, leaving nothing for these Han soldiers."

"My two wives in Puqi County..."

"What time is it, and you're still thinking about your wife?"

"..."

Since they all agreed, Zhang Guang reacted quickly and immediately sent a trusted confidant out of the city with a basket to the Han army camp to deliver a message to Yang Fang for negotiation.

Yang Fang had just arrived here from Jiayu County yesterday when he saw that the rebel army in Puqi County had actually sent a messenger to deliver a letter. After reading what the letter said, he was so angry that he almost laughed.

He's already at the city gates, and these Puqi rebels are stuck inside the county town, too afraid to come out. Yet they still dare to negotiate with him, demanding this and that. He wants them to leave, but also wants them to take money, provisions, and troops with them. Why don't they just take the county town with them?
Yang Fang didn't mince words with the messenger: "Go back and tell those bandit leaders in the city that if they want to surrender, they'll have to obediently tie themselves up, open the city gates, and kneel down to surrender. Perhaps, seeing their sincerity, the King of Han will take pity on them and forgive their crimes!"

Yang Fang's words were too arrogant, and he certainly had the right to be arrogant. Although the puppet Qing governor-general of Huguang, E Hui, did not die at his hands, the rumors were true; E Hui was defeated by him and later died from a betrayal in a local county town.

If he hadn't already divided his forces into two groups before heading south to Puqi County—one heading north to take Xianning County and the other heading south to attack Puqi County—it would have been different.

Xianning, Puqi, Tongcheng, Chongyang, Tongshan, Daye, Xingguo Prefecture, and Wuchang were all under the jurisdiction of Wuchang Prefecture.

If the Han army hadn't been short of troops and busy governing and suppressing Hanyang, as well as controlling Anlu Prefecture and connecting Jingzhou, Jingmen, Anlu, and Hanyang into one area, they probably would have taken over the area east of Wuchang long ago.

However, although the Han army did not have time to take over the entire Wuchang area for the time being and only occupied the Wuchang prefectural city, the corrupt officials such as Huiling, the puppet Qing governor who retreated to Huangzhou, did not dare to raise troops to cross the Yangtze River and move south. They did not even dare to touch Wuchang County on the other side of Huangzhou.

The magistrate of Wuchang County repeatedly crossed the river to send messengers to request Huangzhou Prefecture to send troops to rescue them, but the messengers either ran away or were detained by Huangzhou.

As a side note, Jiangxia was the county attached to Wuchang Prefecture. Wuchang County shares the same name as Wuchang Prefecture, but they are not in the same location. Wuchang Prefecture is located at the confluence of three rivers in the upper reaches, while Wuchang County is located across the river from Huangzhou Prefecture.

Yang Fang showed no respect to the rebels in Puqi County, which naturally enraged the rebel leaders. However, their anger subsided and that was the end of it.

They could either surrender and be disposed of at will, leaving their lives entirely to the King of Han.

They either refused to surrender, and no one could predict what would happen if they didn't, but it was highly likely that they wouldn't have a good ending. Don't be fooled by the fact that the Han army outside only numbered a few thousand, less than the number of people in the county town. Yet, at a glance, the Han army's military bearing was impeccable, with uniform red uniforms and large red banners with Chinese characters fluttering in the wind.

The sheer imposing presence of this army made the Puqi rebels feel suffocated.

Their most elite old thieves may not even be as elite as the Han army, able to stand so upright and straight. If such an army were given to them, they could go anywhere in the world.

Zhang Guang and several other rebel leaders discussed and argued for several days, but none of them could convince the others, so they could only stay in the city and worry anxiously.

Outside the city, Yang Fang was in no hurry to attack, but the land distribution officials and town heads he brought with him had already begun to organize the land distribution work and establish village and town districts in the local area, while also encouraging the villagers to establish farmers' associations.

The work was quite lively, with land outside the city being measured and subdivided acre by acre, and people settling down every day.

Zhang Guang and his rebel leaders watched anxiously from the city walls. During this time, they sent several messengers to negotiate, offering to make concessions and not bring too much money, food, or manpower, only the other party's personal wealth and guards.

Then, the messenger delivered the letter and was subsequently driven away by the Han army.

In the following days, the messengers did not enter the camp. The letters were returned less than half a minute after being delivered, with a message instructing the messengers not to bother their general anymore.

Zhang Guang was furious and wanted to fight the Han army to the death, but no leader was willing to listen to him anymore. They were all thinking about what to do.
Should we force our way out or sit and wait for death, hoping for a turnaround?
This evening.

Several low-ranking rebel leaders gathered together: "Brothers, that Zhang fellow is disloyal. He promised that after we killed the officials and rebelled, he would lead us to occupy the county town, live a life of luxury and wealth. But now they are drinking and eating heartily up there, while we have nothing. We were starving before, and we are still starving now. What's the point of this rebellion?"

"But Boss Zhang still has his old guard around him, and those old guards have all taken bribes from Boss Zhang..."

“He has his main camp, and we have several thousand brothers who are starving. We don’t need to fight them head-on. We can set fire to the camp at night, and then open the gates in the chaos to let the Han army in.”

"Liu Zi is right. We're going to starve either way, and we're trapped in the county town. The ones coming from outside are those ruthless generals who killed the corrupt governor. We definitely can't beat them. It's better to surrender and save our lives."

"Then...when will we make our move?"

"When? Let's wait until it's dark and windy tonight, when those bastards upstairs are asleep, then we'll just set it on fire."

"Row!"

"..."

That night, a fire suddenly broke out in Puqi County. Countless militia soldiers on patrol and guard duty saw the fire and immediately joined the local people in fighting it. This was their hometown; they were all locals, not outside bandits.

The soldiers, unaware of the situation, were busy putting out the fire. The remaining rebel leaders, who had set the fire in the hopes of surrendering, saw that most of the people on the city wall were gone, so they rushed up and opened the city gate.

The other rebel soldiers had no time to react and never expected that there would be a traitor among their own comrades.

"The Han army has entered the city!"

"The city is broken!"

After a few shouts, chaos erupted in Puqi County.

Yang Fang, who was outside the city, reacted quickly. As soon as he saw the chaos in Puqi County, he immediately led his troops to seize the city.

The rebel leaders, including Zhang Guang, reacted quickly and fled with their money the moment the fire started, leaving their personal guards behind.

The unrest in the city was quelled by dawn.

Zhang Guang and his fellow rebel leaders managed to escape in the chaos, as the main force of the Han army was helping to put out the fire after entering the city.

If this fire were to really start, its destructive power would be no less than that of a war.

The Han army captured several thousand prisoners. All the leaders were beheaded, while the remaining ordinary soldiers were pardoned. A battalion of Han soldiers was left behind to guard the area, and a letter was sent to Jiayu County, requesting the magistrate to send a few people to help manage Puqi County.

(End of this chapter)