There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 313 Night Chaos
To appease the troops, Zhu Gui simply paid the soldiers their wages in advance and bought wine and meat to reward the army.

The effects of the silver, wine, and meat provided were immediate; after receiving the money, the Qing soldiers indeed stopped openly discussing the Han traitors.

Then, they discussed it privately...

The local militia in Anqing might still be unaware of the wine, meat, and silver rewards, but the Green Standard Army soldiers weren't stupid. They had seen all sorts of tactics and tricks. If the governor suddenly issued salaries ahead of schedule and offered wine and meat to reward the troops, something bad must have happened or something serious had occurred.

The news that the Han army was escorting Qing prisoners of war in a parade outside Anqing was not only seen by the Qing soldiers on the city walls, but also by the wealthy merchants inside the city.

That very night, they secretly made their arrangements.

Not only merchants, but also prominent families in Anqing City.

"The news must be correct; the government's reinforcements have definitely been wiped out by the Han army."

Wang Yu said with a solemn expression, "Now it depends on when the food in Anqing City will run out, or when the Han army will launch an attack on the city. Anqing City cannot be defended for long."

One businessman frowned and asked, "Then what do we do? Are we really going to risk everything and turn back?"

Another merchant quickly shook his head: "No, Governor Zhu may seem courteous to us on the surface, but he is actually wary of us. The local militia we recruited have been scattered and disbanded by him, and the surrounding defense zones are filled with government troops. Furthermore, the garrison is rotated every three days, and we are only informed of the location an hour in advance each time. We cannot contact the Han army outside the city. If we rashly defect, we may be suppressed before the Han army outside the city even enters."

Another merchant said, "But what if we just sit here and wait for Anqing to fall?"

A steward from a wealthy family in Anqing couldn't help but ask, "Anyway, it's fine, but the Han traitors want to divide the land. My master can defect and make meritorious contributions, but can the Han traitors guarantee that they won't divide our family's land?"

"..."

A month ago, these people had decided to side with the Han army, but because Zhu Gui was too vigilant, they had no way to make a move and started to waver again.

Perhaps the Han army will not be able to take Anqing, or perhaps the government will be able to defend the city?

The Qing Dynasty was a vast and resource-rich country, and even if the Han army was strong for a time, it could never defeat the imperial court.

This idea wasn't just shared by others; even Wang Yu, the investment leader, couldn't help but waver.

However, these guys were very cautious. Even if they wavered, it was just a wavering; they still wanted to continue observing.

Now, it seems there's no need to wait and see anymore. The Han army besieged the city and attacked the reinforcements, wiping out their reinforcements from Anqing.

The impregnable city of Anqing is about to fall!

Just as everyone was discussing and arguing, a young man suddenly spoke up and asked, "Why not launch it earlier?"

"Start ahead of schedule?" Wang Yu asked.

The young man was also from a prominent family in Anqing. He put away his folding fan and said with a sneer, "Anqing is now in imminent danger. Reinforcements have been blocked, and Anqing is about to fall. If we wait for Anqing to be captured by the Han army, we will not only have no merit, but our lives will also be in the hands of others."

"Instead of this, let's take a risk. Governor Zhu seems cautious and has 20,000 troops under his command. But most of these 20,000 troops are local militia from Anqing, and their fighting strength is almost equal to ours. We only need to set fire to the houses in various parts of the city at night, and the city will surely be thrown into chaos."

"We only need to take advantage of the chaos to launch a strong attack on one of the city gates. We don't need to actually capture it. As long as we create enough momentum, the Han army outside the city will definitely notice. Then, we can coordinate from the inside and outside to take Anqing!"

The series of plans sounded like something out of a fairy tale.

Most importantly, what makes the Han army able to cooperate with them and launch an attack on the city while they are creating chaos?
Unsurprisingly, the young man's suggestion was ignored and rejected by everyone.

The group continued discussing countermeasures, but after a long time, they couldn't come up with a solution. In the end, they could only decide to continue to sit on the sidelines and wait and see.

Ye Wenfu returned home and tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

He couldn't stand the fence-sitting attitude of the businessmen at the networking events, nor could he tolerate the shortsightedness of his fellow gentry.

Ye Wenfu took out a book, intending to calm down and read for a while, but the more she read, the more restless she felt.

Snapped!
After reading for only fifteen minutes, Ye Wenfu slammed the book she was holding onto the table, then dressed and went to the courtyard to urgently summon the servants in the middle of the night.

The butler rushed over and asked, "Young Master, has something serious happened?"

Ye Wenfu raised her hand: "Butler, bring over their indentures, as well as your own, and withdraw one thousand taels of silver from the accounting office."

The butler was taken aback at first, then turned pale with shock: "Young Master, you mustn't! The Master has entrusted this vast family business to you. You mustn't do anything rash or take such an extreme step. Otherwise, even in the afterlife, the Master won't be at peace!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Wenfu immediately rebuked, "If I don't do this, my father will truly have no peace. And you all, the corrupt officials in the world are tyrannical, oppressing the people. The fate of this pseudo-Qing Tartars is sealed, and Anqing City is about to fall. You should all join me in turning against the Qing. After the city falls, your indentures will be returned, and each of you will receive ten taels of silver as a resettlement allowance. The Han army will also distribute land to you afterward. Are you in or not?"

After these words were spoken, the servants looked at each other in bewilderment. Among the dozens of Ye family servants, at least half of them showed signs of interest.

The butler, his face filled with terror, was about to earnestly persuade him again: "Young Master, you..."

Ye Wenfu, however, was too lazy to listen anymore and angrily shouted, "Hurry up and get the silver and the contract. If you make another sound, I'll kill you on the spot and use you as a sacrifice to the flag!"

Before long, Ye Wenfu, accompanied by more than thirty servants, first set fire to his own woodshed, and then rushed towards the Huaining County Government Office with woodcutting knives, sticks, pots and pans.

As they charged, they shouted indiscriminately, "The rebels have entered the city! Fire! The rebels have entered the city..."

Whether the rebels entered the city is unknown, but the fire is definitely on fire.

The Ye family's old residence was very close to the Huaining County government office. The fire quickly panicked the nearby residents, who all thought that the rebels had really stormed into the city.

Although none of them knew what difference it made whether the rebels entered the city or not, or whether the city was set on fire, their preconceived notions still convinced them.

When the people started to panic, the Huaining County government office also fell into chaos.

As the magistrate of Huaining County, who was located in the provincial capital, he had no opportunity to embezzle. Moreover, the governor of Anhui, Zhu Gui, was fond of seeking fame and reputation, which made his job as magistrate quite uninteresting.

Now, upon hearing that rebels have entered the city, he doesn't even bother to verify it; he simply packs his valuables and flees.

Ye Wenfu took over the empty county government office with almost no effort, and then, without caring about anything else, he simply set it on fire.

The county government office was burned down!
All the merchants and gentry who heard the news were stunned, truly believing that there were Han army spies infiltrated into the city.

"Don't panic, don't run away! The Han traitors haven't broken in yet, so stop right there!"

Zhu Gui, with his personal guards, tried his best to maintain order, but this was a force of 20,000 local militiamen, while he only had 2,000 Green Standard Army soldiers under his command, who were scattered to guard various city gates.

"No one is allowed to escape! No... you scoundrel, you dare!"

(End of this chapter)