Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 81 The Ever-Evolving Red Girl
Many people come to Moyanling to make a fortune. Yun Ce didn't go looking for Hong Guniang, nor was there any need to. They just happened to be making a fortune together. If they met, they might fight over the division of the spoils.

Although it's not uncommon for people to fight over the division of spoils before they've even received the money, it always seems rather foolish.

Yun Ce knew he was smart enough not to fight over the unequal distribution of spoils beforehand. However, the people on Hong Gu Niang's side were a bunch of people who were desperately poor. In addition, they must have been tricked by Hong Gu Niang and Pei Chuan, and their expectations for the money they were about to get were very high. The probability of them doing something like this was too high.

Therefore, it's best if the person disappears.

The rocks, eroded by the glacier, were strangely shaped and riddled with holes. Yun Ce had found a hole to hide in and planned to try to kill Zhao Ling, the military officer, when the imperial convoy passed by. If he couldn't kill him, he would sneak into the convoy, steal some treasures, put them in the Dragon Ball, and run away.

As a result, someone always wanted the pit where he was hiding. When their eyes met, there was an indescribable awkwardness. Yun Ce still had his pride, so he gave the pit to them.

Since it was clearly stated that it was Miss Hong who assigned him the pit, Yun Ce had no choice but to leave.

Yun Ce stood on the high ground and looked around. He found that there were a lot of people who came to rob the imperial convoy this time. Judging from their appearance, many of them were not refugees or slaves. On the contrary, they were dressed in fine clothes, and the weapons they carried were something that poor people could not afford.

Looking at the people filling the mountains and valleys, Yun Ce suddenly felt that something was not quite right.

He wanted to discuss it with Miss Hong, but ultimately gave up the idea. Everyone had finally gotten a chance to rob the imperial convoy, and if he said something like it might be a trap, he would likely be disliked.

There wasn't a single person to be seen on the other side of the Gaoliang River. Yun Ce decided to ambush them on the other side. If he was ambushed instead, he planned to watch a grand spectacle so he could tell Eji a bedtime story when he got back.

Finding a secluded spot, Yun Ce stepped across the river using the stones that had emerged from the water. The soil here was soft and covered with many towering trees. Yun Ce climbed up a tree, cut some branches with his knife, and built a small platform at one of the branches.

Sitting on the platform, he finally got a clear view of the entire Moyanling area, or rather, he got a clear view of the crowd that had come to participate in the robbery. After a quick count, he estimated that there were probably more than 10,000 people there.

After counting the number of people, Yun Ce felt a chill in his heart. If he had known that so many people were involved in the robbery, Hong Gu Niang's mysterious behavior that night would have been completely unnecessary.

Yun Ce understood that it was difficult for the poor to get rich, but this was no way to do it. More than 10,000 people knew about it, so how could he expect to keep it from the government?

He pulled out his binoculars and desperately searched for Hong Guniang and Pei Chuan in the crowd, but to no avail.

Do your best and leave the rest to fate. If you've done your best, whether Hong Gu Niang and Pei Chuan can live or die depends on fate.

It was still early, and the government's encirclement should not have been formed yet. Yun Ce set up the small tent, took out a sleeping bag, crawled in, zipped it up, and prepared to have a good night's sleep. Last night, he hadn't slept well because of E Ji's disturbance.

I don't know when I woke up. I crawled out of the tent and glanced at the opposite Moyan Ridge. There was no one there. That makes sense, they should all be hiding by now.

Looking towards the entrance of Moyan Ridge again, and not seeing any sign of Huang Gang, Yun Ce decided to cook first.

The Dragon Balls are extremely rich in supplies, because whenever Yun Ce buys vegetables or meat, he throws a portion of the good stuff into the Dragon Balls. So, he plans to have hot pot today to give his body some extra calories.

The bright sunlight shone on the earth, but it wasn't very hot. On a cloudless day like today, it wasn't suitable to use firewood as fuel, so he took out smokeless fuel.

Just a small piece of this is enough for him to cook a hot pot meal.

The hot pot was boiling, the red oil bubbling, and a piece of perfectly frozen mutton landed in his hand. He held the meat in one hand and a knife in the other, and with a few quick slices, the pink mutton pieces fell into the pot. No need for any special sauces, the red oil broth was perfect. The mutton rolled around in the boiling pot, curled up, and he picked it up with chopsticks and immediately put it in his mouth. Although it was scalding hot, it was the mutton at its most delicious.

After finishing a large piece of mutton, Yun Ce found some wild vegetables to eat, and finally soaked the flatbread that E Ji had prepared for him in the soup as well, waiting for it to boil.

A deep horn sounded from the entrance of Moyanling. He quickly picked up his binoculars and looked in that direction, thinking that the government officials would not come. Unexpectedly, they really did come, and they brought five or six hundred carts loaded with imperial cargo.

There were only about three thousand soldiers in charge of escorting the goods. The general in charge was tall and rode on the back of a white thunder beast. He was as tall as an iron tower. After magnifying the telescope, Yun Ce saw the burn marks on his face.

Looking at the flag behind him, Yun Ce was certain that this man was Zhao Ling, the military commander of Chuyun City.

Watching Zhao Ling lead his team into Moyan Ridge, and then stop himself in the middle of the ridge, Yun Ce knew that this guy was definitely a tough opponent. Knowing there was an ambush, he still put himself in the most dangerous place, which meant that he was very confident in what he was going to do.

On the other hand, some people eager to make a fortune, like Hong Guniang and her friends, have already started to show their faces.

"Liu Chang'an, Liu Chang'an." Yun Ce heard someone calling him, looked down, and saw that Hong Guniang was climbing a tree.

She looked quite attractive climbing the tree; at least, from Yun Ce's perspective, the way she arched her backside and used both hands and feet to climb was rather alluring. Yun Ce packed up the tent and sleeping bag, and Hong Guniang climbed onto the platform. Seeing that the hot pot had just been boiled, she broke off two tree branches to use as chopsticks and eagerly began to eat.

Yun Ce turned to look at the tense atmosphere at Moyan Ridge, then at the girl Hong who seemed to be eating with a pot in her mouth, and couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing?"

The young woman put a cooked flatbread into her mouth and mumbled, "There's no meat at all."

Yun Ce coughed and said, "I've been feeling irritable lately, so I'm eating vegetarian food."

The girl in red was startled by the scalding wild vegetables. After swallowing them, she looked at Yun Ce and said, "We don't have enough strength, so we can only spread the news as much as possible, hoping to attract the heroes of Chuyun City to join us in this great undertaking."

"Aren't you worried that the people you've managed to gather will suffer the same fate as those in Sheyang City? I've heard that you lost more than 7,000 people in Sheyang City."

The young woman in red smiled and said, "To weed out the dross and retain the essence, one must go through blood and fire."

Yun Ce pointed to the group of people on the opposite bank and said, "Are they still weeding out the bad and keeping the good?"

Red Girl shook her head and said, "This time, we're choosing brothers who can share joys and sorrows."

"Didn't you say before that anyone who is poor is your natural brother?"

Red Girl raised her sleeve to wipe the grease from her mouth, sighed and said, "I didn't understand back then, but I do now. I understand that even the poor need to be careful to find our true brothers. If you choose carefully among the rich, you can also find true brothers."

Yun Ce looked at the girl in red with surprise, thought for a moment and asked, "Pei Chuan shouldn't have this level of skill."

Hong Guniang had a big appetite. She took out two flatbreads from Yun Ce's backpack, tore them into pieces while the soup was still hot, soaked them in the soup, and continued eating.

It seems we've stumbled upon some confidential information.

Suddenly, a commotion arose over Moyan Ridge. Yun Ce glanced at it and then looked away. The group was throwing stones haphazardly, causing almost no damage to the army in the canyon. This attempt to rob the imperial convoy was probably doomed.

While waiting for the pancakes to soften, Hong Guniang said again, "I used to look down on the rich people who were bloated with fat, and I thought they were the root of our suffering as poor people."

Now, we don't see it that way anymore. Whether it's the poor or the rich, we all have partners among them. It's just that the poor naturally have more partners because they are poor.

However, these people are not resolute. Once our rebellion achieves some success, such as capturing some cities, they will forget the reason for their rebellion and only think about getting rich as soon as possible.

In Pingyuan City, their treatment of the poor and slaves who did not participate in the rebellion was even more brutal than the exploitation of the rich by the former rich.

Liu Chang'an, I understand now why you were unwilling to join us. It was I who destroyed Pingyuan City. Do you know that Pingyuan City has now become a dead city?

Although the rich are despicable, there is a group among them who sympathize with us. If we can win over these people, their will to rebel will be even stronger than that of the poor.

Liu Chang'an, I know you look down on us. You think we're just a bunch of brainless idiots, and you think we'll be suppressed and wiped out by the government sooner or later.

Perhaps this is our destined fate, but you've forgotten one thing: we are human. We learn from our failures and persevere in our studies. No one is born with innate knowledge.

Look at the scene before you. We haven't sent a single person, yet we've instigated internal strife in Chuyun City. Look at these people; they are the main contributors to this batch of tribute. They want to reclaim their rightful wealth, and they're willing to fight to the death for it.

Yun Ce asked in surprise, "You mean, everyone here is a wealthy man from Chuyun City?"

The girl in red opened her mouth, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, and said: "The city lord of Chuyun City, Pang Bei, and the governor, Han Du, are on the surface two people who are irreconcilable enemies, but in reality, they have long been colluding together to do evil."

They told the people of Izumo that the emperor's tribute this year was 100 million coins, 50% more than in previous years. In order to alleviate the burden on wealthy households in various places, they decided that the city lords of each city in Izumo, as well as the top wealthy households in each city, would contribute 50% of the total amount, and the rest would be borne by wealthy households and free people.

For this, the wealthy households and free citizens were deeply grateful. After all, although they were rich, their numbers were small, and according to the amount they contributed in previous years, the city lord and the top wealthy households should only have contributed 20%.

Seeing that Miss Hong was not going to continue, Yun Ce sighed and said, "Those city lords and top wealthy families are not even willing to contribute 20% this year."

(End of this chapter)