Colonial Era: From Remnants to European Dominator

"You traitor, when the Qing army arrives, you will surely die a horrible death!!"

The newly appointed magistrate of Weinan County, Zhang Chengde, fell off the desk, staring intently at the short-bearded man before him. Although he was shouting, the trembling of his legs betrayed him.

The short-bearded man's eyes were like an eagle's, and his upper lip twitched slightly.

"And tell Grandpa what other wealth is available in the county. If there's enough silver, it can even buy your dog's life."

"You scoundrel, bah!!"

Glancing sideways at the drool on the ground, the short-bearded man narrowed his eyes, his calloused hands gripping the hilt of the knife at his waist and shifting slightly.

"Skin the dog and hang it above the county government office as a target."

At a command, several men rushed forward, pulling Zhang Chengde up from the ground. After several tugs, his official robe embroidered with beasts fell to his feet. The short-bearded man's boots rubbed together a few times, ignoring the constant pleas for mercy, he only muttered:

"First, shoot a hundred arrows to show the people of the county what to do."

Before long, the screams grew louder and louder, then quieted down, until only the laughter of the men and the timid mockery of the onlookers remained, along with their fear of the bandits.

"Come here—"

In the backyard of the county government office, the scholar, who had not yet escaped, knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly:

"Grandpa, spare me! Grandpa, spare me! I'm just a student here to take the county exam. I've never harmed anyone. I still have an elderly father in his sixties to support. Please let me go home."

The short-bearded man sitting on the stone bench looked at the scholar opposite him, who looked no more than twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, dressed in plain brocade, grinning as he smacked his lips at a fresh peach, not caring at all as juice dripped onto his clothes:

"I can let you go back, but you can go back if you give me some money."

"silver----"

The scholar took out several pieces of slightly tarnished silver from his person and presented them to him with both hands:

"I spent all my money on books and writing implements when I came here. If you don't mind, Grandpa, these few taels of silver can buy a few jugs of wine."

"The clothes were rented, weren't they?"

"Uh," a hint of embarrassment flashed across the scholar's originally respectful face, and then he bowed even deeper:

"Grandpa has a good eye. My family is poor. In order to make a good impression on the county magistrate, I have to rent clothes and hire a carriage to pretend to be from a scholarly family so that I can earn a degree and support my father."

"Father----"

The short-bearded man, munching on a peach, squatted playfully in front of the scholar, his hawk-like eyes fixed intently on him.

"When I was killing that corrupt official, why did you head straight for the inner courtyard instead of scaling the wall to escape? Why did you get caught by me here?"

"Could it be that they want the exam papers back?!"

"Grandpa has a keen eye. That's exactly what I was thinking. I was planning to take the test paper back and switch it with another one."

The scholar's face showed disappointment at being caught, and he had no choice but to tell the whole story. But as soon as he finished speaking, the short-bearded man grabbed his collar:

"The clothes weren't rented; they were taken from a dead person. There was no old father, and no switched exam papers. You dog mouth, you're here to steal my food!!"

The scholar's pleading hands trembled a few times on the short-bearded man's clothes; though only twice, it was still noticed.

"I just killed the county magistrate, the county assistant magistrate, the registrar, the clerk, and those constables who beat anyone they saw, but the clerk is nowhere to be found. Do you agree?"

"Secretary—the county magistrate has just arrived, where did this secretary come from?"

The scholar lowered his head, trembling, and cried after explaining, as if he had truly been wronged. But the short-bearded man ignored him, only grabbing the back of the scholar's head by the tail:

"But I've heard that there's a clerk named Qian Gu in Weinan, who's also a servant."

The scholar's legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground without uttering a sound, simply lowering his head and waiting for the knife to fall.

As soon as the short-bearded man pulled the steel knife from his jaws, the scholar immediately grabbed his leg:

"Please spare my life! I know where ill-gotten gains are. My grandfather is a true god descended to earth. He must need this money to help the people or to expand his army."

The short-bearded man sheathed his steel sword without uttering a word. Seeing this, the scholar sighed inwardly and got up to lead the way.

They stopped when they reached a woodshed:

"This is my secret hiding place. Underneath the woodpile is a cracked stone brick, and under that brick is a jar of silver."

The short-bearded man ordered his men forward, and sure enough, they found a jar resembling a container for pickled vegetables under the broken bricks beneath the woodpile. The jar was quite large, and upon opening it, they estimated it contained about a thousand taels of silver. However, as soon as the silver was in hand, the short-bearded man's knife was pressed against the scholar's neck, terrifying him so much that he begged for mercy repeatedly. But the man retorted:

"What about the rest?"

The scholar kept explaining, but the short-bearded man wouldn't listen. Only when the knife was about to fall did he tell the truth:

"I hid the rest in the latrine's cesspool."

The short-bearded man immediately sent someone out to call several farmers who were doing farm work. In less than an hour, the cesspool was cleaned up, revealing several boxes. As soon as they were opened, the smell of sewage mixed with metal made everyone cover their mouths and noses, and their gazes toward the scholar gradually turned "resentful".

"You're damn clever! If I'm not mistaken, you dog thief knew we wouldn't stay long. The silver hidden under the firewood and broken stones was just a cover to fool us. We were just waiting for you to find it yourself, then we'd search again using the same method. If we didn't find it, we'd leave. After all, who would think the money was in the outhouse?!"

"Even if that corrupt official backs down and reveals how much it is, it won't be found immediately. Once the reinforcements arrive, the money will still end up in your hands."

After receiving the cleaned official silver, the short-bearded man praised the scholar squatting on the ground. The scholar tilted his head and said somewhat dejectedly:

"Aren't you afraid the county magistrate will implicate me?"

The short-bearded man grinned and bit into the cleaned official silver, seemingly to test its purity.

"If you were afraid, would you have secretly hidden all your money while the magistrate was guarding the city?"

The scholar felt as if his throat was choked. He squatted on the ground without saying a word, his eyes lifeless, waiting to die. After all, since ancient times, honesty has not been something to be said to bandits.

Sure enough, the blade struck precisely, and in just a few strokes, a considerable amount of hair was gone. Just as he was about to close his eyes, he felt something missing from the back of his head. When he opened his eyes, a braid that he had kept for nearly thirty years appeared before the scholar, piercing straight to his heart:

"I'll spare your dog's life, but you'll have to settle accounts with me and tell me your story."

The scholar's body swayed back and forth, then he closed his eyes and prostrated himself on the ground.

"Student Song Ying thanks you, my lord. From now on, I will follow you without any disloyalty."

Upon hearing the change in address, the short-bearded man's eyes flashed with disdain. He simply said "Settle the accounts" and hurriedly left, leaving Song Ying staring blankly at the excrement and urine.

---------

On the rugged mountain path, a group of about a hundred people were moving slowly forward, stopping every now and then as if they were observing something.

The horses' hooves pounded on the hillside, leaving a few marks, but the trail behind quickly smoothed them out. Although somewhat clumsy, it was still a workable method.

Holding the reins, Song Ying carefully urged the fast horse beneath him. This horse had been stolen by the county government and was originally used for communication between officials. Later, it was given to him, but his horsemanship was too poor. He had fallen countless times along the way and had been ridiculed by those rough bandits countless times.

But upon seeing the figure ahead, that calculating thought resurfaced. He urged his horse onward, cutting to the front of the column. As soon as he approached, he cupped his hands in greeting and said:

"Our army obeys orders without question, unlike ordinary government troops, but ultimately there is no future to be gained."

The short-bearded man, Cai Hao, with a pipe dangling from his mouth, shook his hand and spoke in a Huaibei dialect that was completely different from what he had heard before:

"You, a mere accountant in the county government, think you know anything about future prospects??"

Song Ying awkwardly gave a fawning smile:

"I am a scholar with the title of Xiucai, and a native of Guanzhong. I know everything. Although my lord has repeatedly thwarted the pursuing government troops, he is still outnumbered and outgunned. If he makes a wrong move, then—"

"Our army has just crossed the Weinan border and should head straight for Pucheng, then up the Beishan Mountains, through Baishui County into Yijun. The central part of the area is the Ziwu Ridge, a region crisscrossed by ravines and with barren land. If the government troops pursue us here, they will surely turn back."

[The central county was later known as Huangling.]

"If we proceed in this manner, we can advance along the north side of the Great Wall into the Helan Mountains, which will allow us to avoid the Ningxia garrison troops, observe the northern border, and rest, since there is only desert ahead."

"If they retreat, they can occupy the mountains and become kings, using the terrain to maneuver against government troops, or they can retaliate against counties and villages, plundering money and valuables."

Song Ying went on and on, elaborating on the language, while Cai Hao exhaled smoke, his brows relaxed, and he slowly uttered a sarcastic remark:

"You coward, you're nothing but a desolate desert, what are you afraid of?!"

"Tell me, what lies beyond the desert?"

"This is a border post guarded by Qing troops along the Hami line. If we advance, we will surely die!!"

Song Ying's body swayed precariously from the fast horse. He grabbed the reins in a disheveled state, afraid that he would show his fear in front of these damned bandits from Huaibei and be ridiculed again.

"What's on the other side of the border?"

"ah----"

"Speak quickly!!"

Song Ying cursed him inwardly as a "brute," then replied sadly:

"These are the Dzungar barbarian tribes; going there would be a nine-out-of-ten chance of death!!"

"Barbarians are good, barbarians are better than Qing dogs, let's go to that damned Dzungar Khanate."

Cai Hao patted the horse's head happily, accompanied by a neighing sound. Song Ying hurriedly shouted to dissuade him:

"My lord, you mustn't! You've fought your way all the way from your hometown in Huaibei, plundering so much treasure. If you go to Jungar, all our brothers will have worked for nothing! Our wives, children, and elderly parents are waiting for the money!"

Song Ying intended to use his subordinates' families as a warning to Cai Hao, but after hearing this, he said:

"What family do bandits have? They were forced to their deaths by corrupt officials long ago. Otherwise, what would I have used to kill my way here?"

"Never mind that, just lead the way to Junggar, and be a carefree chieftain. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Song Ying's lips were chapped, her head drooping, and she shook her head as she spoke:

"If we are to go to Jungar, we should retaliate and kill another wave of government troops."

Why??

"The journey is fraught with hardship, poverty, and danger, with a near-death experience. If we don't grab some more, the students fear they will starve to death. Even if they are to die, they should die well-fed."

"Ha ha----"

Seeing that dejected look, Cai Hao couldn't stop smiling. The distrust in the corner of his eyes gradually disappeared. After all, if he didn't live to see Junggar, this plan wouldn't work, and there would be no point in scheming against others.

Hearing the laughter, Song Ying could only accept and hope that this ruthless man who had fought his way out of the famine years in Huaibei would allow him to live. If he couldn't survive, he could only accept his bad luck.