There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 263 Big and Small Wujing Mountain

Chen Younian lingered in the Lotus Hall for three whole days before finally managing to appease the local people.

This is the bridgehead for the Han army to enter Jiangxi from Hunan. It must be properly settled, otherwise Chen Younian's army will be isolated deep in the country and the supply lines will be easily cut off by the enemy.

After calming down the Lotus Hall, Chen Younian left 500 Han soldiers to garrison it, and then split his troops into two groups, one heading east to sweep away the enemy and the other heading south to sweep away the enemy.

The Eastern Route Han Army was led by Lin Zhen, Chen Younian's deputy general, and wherever they went, the bandits almost fled at the mere sight of them.

Even though King Shajin had already reached an agreement with the Han army and invited them to join forces, these bandits were still so frightened by the sight of genuine Han characters on the flags that their organization collapsed.

Within just a few days, the Eastern Route Army captured Yongxin and Anfu counties.

The number of officials in charge of land distribution and town administration accompanying the army was somewhat insufficient, so they had to be temporarily distributed equally, with a few remaining in each county. At the same time, a telegram was sent to General Chen Younian that the Eastern Route Army was approaching the city of Ji'an.

The Eastern Route Army advanced rapidly, and the Southern Route Army did much the same.

The Southern Route Army was still led by Chen Younian. Whenever the bandits saw Chen Younian's Chinese flag, they would either abandon the city and flee or simply open the gates and surrender. No one even thought about defending the city or bargaining.

Chen Younian swept southwards, and in just a few days, he reached Wanyang Mountain, the border between Yongning County and Longquan County.

"Is this the Big and Small Wujing Mountains?" Chen Younian asked the local guide.

The guide quickly corrected him: "General, you misunderstand. The Five Wells Mountains do not refer to a single mountain, but to a whole area of ​​mountains, which is divided into five parts: Dajing, Xiaojing, Shangjing, Zhongjing, and Xiajing. I am a herb gatherer from Xiajingshan Village."

Chen Younian suddenly realized, "So that's it! I was wondering why I couldn't see any connection to the name. But this place really does look quite ordinary! Why did the King specifically send me here to take a look?" After pondering for a long time without finding a clue, he could only ask the guide, "Is there any significance to these Five Wells Hills, Big and Small?"

The guide was also somewhat puzzled. After thinking hard for a while, he finally replied, "As for the explanation, there is indeed one. The old folks in our Xiajing Village once said that decades ago a fortune teller came here and said that there was a dragon vein in these mountains..."

"Is there a dragon vein in the mountains?" Chen Younian exclaimed.

Good heavens, no wonder the king insisted that he come here specifically to see this; now I know what's going on!
Although the king has already declared himself king and possesses the jade seal bestowed by the immortals, this does not prevent him from continuing to occupy a piece of land with a dragon vein!

Hehe, my great Han Dynasty is indeed destined by Heaven, and the King is indeed the legitimate ruler appointed by Heaven, destined to overthrow the pseudo-Qing Tartar dynasty. Even the fact that Jinggang Mountain in Jiangxi has a dragon vein is something the King knows, and he even hinted that I should come and see for myself.

As for why he didn't say it outright, Chen Younian had already figured it out himself. The older generation had all said that dragon veins were related to heavenly secrets. In the past, fortune tellers who came to the village always said, "Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed!"

Chen Younian had no idea that the so-called Big and Small Wujing Mountains would have a particularly famous name 130 years later.

Jinggang Mountain!
Nie Yu, far away in Jingzhou, had no idea that he had only seen the Five Wells Mountains in Jiangxi by chance and wanted Chen Younian to pay homage to the red holy land of later generations. In the end, the scoundrel had overthought things.

Chen Younian was thrilled and patted the guide on the shoulder: "You did a great job, kid. We agreed beforehand that we wouldn't treat you any special treatment. So you'll just follow us for now, and we'll report your merits and ask for rewards later. Whether you join the army or become a clerk in the government office, you can choose for yourself after we take Ji'an Prefecture."

"Thank you, General." The guide was overjoyed upon hearing this.

Chen Younian left 500 soldiers around the mountain to guard this dragon vein, and then continued to lead his army on the expedition. He had not forgotten his main mission this time.

Upon hearing that Chen Younian's army had arrived, the bandits of Longquan County immediately fled without a second thought, leaving their appointed magistrate, Shen Jing, to oversee the handover of the city.

Magistrate Shen was indifferent to this; he had already been forced to join the bandits, and the bandits had even cut off his queue. Whether the bandits or the burly men came, it didn't matter.

Upon entering Longquan County, Chen Younian frowned upon seeing the dire state of the county's inhabitants: "What's going on in Longquan County? Why are there so few people, and why are they so emaciated and pale? This is quite different from the people of Lianhua Hall!"

Shen Jing smiled wryly, "General, you may not know this, but the bandits in Ji'an Prefecture, though seemingly all one group, are actually divided into factions and cliques. Lotus Hall is the territory of the 'Killing King,' while Longquan County is the territory of the 'Chaos Demon.' I've heard of Lotus Hall, General. The 'Killing King's' name sounds terrifying, but he's actually quite good to the people, so the people of Lotus Hall can survive. But this 'Chaos Demon' lives up to his name; he and his bandits are like demons who wreak havoc on the world. The people can't endure it; they either starve to death or flee into the mountains, naturally leading to widespread poverty." Chen Younian understood and was too lazy to be angry anymore. He simply shook his head and said, "Bandits are bandits. They may seem to have improved, but they're still rotten to the core."

Shen Jing remained silent, but inwardly he wanted to retort, "Aren't you rebels too?"

Chen Younian then asked, "Your fake magistrate position was also appointed by the bandits. Have you ever harmed the people?" Shen Jing frowned and said, "General, please don't humiliate me. Although I am poor and have no money, I will not collude with the bandits who harm the people."

Upon hearing this, Chen Younian carefully examined the man's figure. He noticed that the man's clothes were tattered and his body was thin. Suddenly, he said, "That's good. We don't have enough officials with us. You haven't harmed the people, so you can be the fake magistrate for now and help us sort things out in Longquan County. If you do a good job, this fake magistrate position might become real."

Shen Jing was greatly surprised. He hadn't expected that simply by not harming the people, he would gain their trust. Moreover, they promised him a real magistrate position if he could pacify Longquan County.

Shen Jing hadn't heard much about the situation with the Great Han, but he had seen it firsthand. The previous puppet Qing government in Jiangxi always portrayed the Great Han as a rebel, cruel and tyrannical, and Shen Jing, as a native of Jiangxi, had once believed it himself.

But now that he had seen it for himself, Shen Jing realized that the government had been talking nonsense all along. (Han Army)

Upon arriving in Longquan County, the first thing they did was not rape and plunder, but instead help the people repair their houses and clean the streets.

Now, the Han army's general, a fierce-looking fellow, is actually asking me to help the land distribution officials distribute land to the local people, reduce taxes, and open granaries to provide relief to the people.

After these several maneuvers, even government officials and soldiers probably couldn't do it.

Shen Jing even thought that the troublemakers who occupied Longquan County had once been driven to Jiangxi by the Han army.

Shen Jing had previously thought that the Han army was so ruthless that they couldn't even defeat such fierce bandits.

But now it seems that the Han army was not cruel at all, but rather benevolent and loving towards the people, while the bandits were cruel and tyrannical. As the saying goes, those who follow the righteous path will find many supporters, while those who stray from it will find few.

Perhaps the reason why killing all the kings allowed for lighter taxes and levies, leaving the people a way to survive, was because they were terrified of the Han army.

mid-September.

Chen Younian traveled north along the Suijiang River and arrived at Wan'an County, where the bandits fled without a fight.

The Han army captured Wan'an County and then dispatched 500 soldiers to garrison it.

More than half of the Southern Route Army's forces had already been deployed, and the main force was clearly insufficient, so they had no choice but to pull civilian laborers into the defense of the city.

These laborers were mostly local militia trained in towns and villages of the Han Dynasty. Their combat strength was certainly not as good as that of the regular army, but they had been trained in cold weapons and had regular monthly training sessions. They also had plenty of food.

In terms of cold weapon combat capabilities, they are far superior to the local militia recruited by Zhang Chengji, and could even put up a fight against the Qing army's Green Standard Army in Jiangxi.

Zhu Wu, the King of Slaughter, who was in Ji'an Prefecture, was furious at this moment. He had given a clear order that all the old thieves under his command in various cities should take as much wealth and food as possible and leave.

Even if they were to leave, they wanted to make sure they had enough before they left. But they didn't expect these guys to be such a mob. Most of them didn't even see the Han army before they fled at the first sign of trouble.

Damn it, we've already reached an agreement, so why are you all so scared?
Zhu Wu looked back at Winged Tiger and Chaos Demon; their underlings were even more despicable than him.

At least the bandits under the King of Slaughter withdrew in an organized manner, but the men of Winged Tiger and Chaos Demon either got separated or didn't even come at all, and just became outlaws in the mountains of Ji'an Prefecture.

(End of this chapter)