Hearing the words "urgent military report," Li Daoxuan's gaze sharpened, and he followed the messenger's progress.
The man soon galloped into the county magistrate's yamen.
Magistrate Liang Shixian was in the main hall dealing with a pile of mundane matters when the household guard charged in, shouting frantically, "Master! Terrible news! Terrible news! A mutiny in Guyuan! The rebel troops are killing their way towards us..."
"What?!"
Liang Shixian shot to his feet. "What exactly happened?"
The guard gasped out the report: "The frontier troops haven't been paid. The court has owed their salaries for three years. The Guyuan border army has rebelled. Some have joined the roving bandits. Another portion are clamoring for their back pay and are marching towards Xi'an."
Liang Shixian felt his hair stand on end. Border troops! Those were border troops!
The combat prowess of border troops was on an entirely different level compared to roving bandits. The thought of them rising up was terrifying!
Liang Shixian pressed, "What did the Provincial Governor say?"
The guard replied, "This lowly one inquired in Xi'an. The Shaanxi Provincial Governor, Hu Tingyan, and the Yansui Provincial Governor, Yue Hesheng, are blaming each other, each saying it's the other's responsibility. The two governors are busy wrangling and pay no heed to the rebels."
Liang Shixian: "..."
Li Daoxuan: "..."
One on the ground, one in the sky, both were rendered speechless.
The Shaoxing advisor scurried over, face pale with fear. "Patron, will the Guyuan rebels come to our Chengcheng County?"
Liang Shixian: "This official needs to consider this carefully."
The erudite Liang Shixian immediately entered strategic analysis mode in his mind. The positions of Guyuan, Xi'an, and Chengcheng, the intervening terrain, the official roads—all flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern. Suddenly, a ding went off as he reached a conclusion.
Guyuan was northwest of Xi'an, while Chengcheng was northeast of Guyuan. The three locations formed a triangular configuration. If the Guyuan rebels headed straight for Xi'an, they could not possibly pass through Chengcheng.
Liang Shixian relaxed. "Rest assured. The Guyuan rebels will not come."
At that very moment, another fast horse charged into the yamen. The rider dismounted with agile, fluid movements, practically flying off the saddle, and strode into the main hall. It was Patrol Officer Fang Wushang.
He burst in, roaring, "Terrible news! Guyuan mutiny! Rebel troops are heading for Xi'an!"
Liang Shixian: "Officer Fang has also received the news?"
Fang Wushang nodded, his expression grave. "Border troops are not bandits. This is truly a dire situation, Magistrate Liang. We must seriously consider how to resist them."
Liang Shixian: "Officer Fang, do not panic. This official has just calculated it. The rebels will not come to Chengcheng County. There is no need for alarm."
He briefly explained his triangular theory.
Fang Wushang was furious. "Magistrate Liang, do you recall the bandit Fan Shanyue from Heyang? Back then, you drew a straight line between the two county seats and rashly concluded Fan Shanyue would enter Chengcheng from Quangou Village. And what happened? Fan Shanyue attacked Chengcheng via the Zheng Village and Gao Village route! Thankfully, Gao Village's militia was well-prepared and held him off with logs and stones, or the consequences would have been unthinkable!"
Liang Shixian: "Ah!"
Fang Wushang snorted. "Hmph! Marching and fighting wars is not about drawing lines on a map for fun."
Liang Shixian was momentarily speechless.
(Ming Context: The Guyuan Mutiny of 1629 was a pivotal event. Years of unpaid wages, coupled with harsh conditions, pushed the elite northwestern border troops—veterans of the Manchu wars—past their breaking point. Their rebellion and subsequent merging with peasant armies dramatically increased the military threat to the Ming heartland.)
Li Daoxuan, now also interested, wondered: Would the Guyuan rebels really come? Better check online.
He quickly found a line on a search engine: "Guyuan troops attacked Jingyang and Fuping..."
The two place names meant nothing to him. He opened a mapping application, entered "Jingyang," and was startled. It was extremely close to Xi'an, practically right outside the city's northwestern gate.
He then checked Fuping County and frowned.
Fuping County was northeast of Xi'an. Only one county seat lay between it and Chengcheng—a county with a rather famous name: Baishui County.
That's right. The hometown of Baishui Wang Er.
A sense of foreboding rose in Li Daoxuan's heart.
The historical records only mentioned the rebels attacking Fuping County. But could historical records be fully trusted?
Fuping was so close to Chengcheng. Was it possible the rebels also rampaged into Chengcheng, but because the damage wasn't severe, the historians omitted that part?
Historical records from the late Ming peasant wars were a complete mess.
Li Daoxuan shifted his view to the rear courtyard of the Chengcheng Bookshop, where Gao Yiye was still temporarily residing.
Life here was dull and boring for Gao Yiye; she spent her days listless and dispirited.
Li Daoxuan spoke softly, "Yiye, return to Gao Village immediately."
Gao Yiye jerked her head up, overjoyed. "I can go back?"
"Mn," Li Daoxuan said. "Go back quickly and inform Drillmaster He. There's a mutiny in Guyuan. Tell him to prepare the militia for battle at any moment."
Gao Yiye had no idea how serious the Guyuan mutiny was. Her face showed no fear, only delight. "Haha, I can finally go back to Gao Village!"
She dashed outside. Flat Rabbit and a squad of militiamen were practicing martial arts. Gao Yiye ran out and called, "Let's go, let's go! We're going back to Gao Village!"
Flat Rabbit was ecstatic. "We can go back?" It turned out the rabbit also found the county town boring.
The group hurried out. Shopkeeper Wang and a few others were still selling books outside, joined by the two men who had stolen steamed buns and were sentenced to work there. Gao Yiye approached and whispered a few words to Shopkeeper Wang.
Shopkeeper Wang was also startled. He waved at the two former thieves. "Alright, you can leave. The work you've done these past few days has repaid the two buns."
Hearing they were to leave, their faces twisted in anguish. Although they had been sentenced to work here, the bookshop fed them every day. Fed them! Fed them! Fed them! Important things must be said three times.
Being told to leave now was unbearable.
The two men knelt with a thump. "Master, take us with you! We'll be your oxen, your horses, anything! We just beg for a mouthful of food."
The people of Gao Village were accustomed to this by now! They once found it amusing that "people came willingly to be penal laborers," but now they only felt heartache, no laughter.
Shopkeeper Wang helped them up. "Very well, come with us."
The group hurried out… soon passing through the city gates and leaving the town.
The old soldier guarding the gate immediately ran to the yamen. "Reporting to the County Magistrate! The Li family members from the bookshop have all left the city."
Magistrate Liang's face darkened. "The Li family's information network is truly fast. This official just received the news, and they already have it too. I was still hoping to seek their help, but they just ran off like that… Truly…"
Fang Wushang's mind flashed with the image of Flat Rabbit. He snorted. "What's coming this time are border troops. Those misfits from the Li family might barely manage against bandits, but against border troops, they'd only meet their death. We never needed to seek their help in the first place."
Liang Shixian sighed. "That's not the way to put it. More people mean greater strength. Ai… I still hope they can lend a hand."