Li Yan's words instantly put Chuang Wang in an awkward position.
Not just him.
The entire army of one hundred thousand rebels froze.
Suspicious glances flew in every direction and eventually converged on Chuang Wang like arrows.
Chuang Wang felt a chill in his heart.
This was bad.
But showing weakness now would be fatal. He quickly arranged his face into an expression of sincerity, warmth, and righteous humanity.
"Mr. Li," he said gently, "you are wronging me. Of course I support the policy of no taxes. I have always respected your ideas. Whatever you suggested, I followed."
Li Yan looked straight at him.
"Then why did you send Niu Jinxing to kill me?"
The words floated across the battlefield.
Yet they struck like thunder.
The hundred thousand rebels erupted into restless movement like waves on the sea.
Chuang Wang opened his mouth.
Then closed it again.
He simply did not know how to respond.
After all, he was a rough man with little education. Even the most eloquent scholars might have struggled to answer such a question on the spot.
And Chuang Wang was no scholar.
But a rough man had rough methods.
Suddenly Chuang Wang roared.
"Fengtian Changyi Battalion! Attack!"
"Do not let him continue spreading nonsense and shaking our morale!"
The Fengtian Changyi Battalion would never be shaken by Li Yan's words.
Because they had never followed Chuang Wang for the "no taxes" policy in the first place.
They followed him for something else.
The ancient dream of rebellion.
"Are kings and nobles born to rule?"
They wanted glory.
They wanted to become ministers of a new dynasty.
More than a hundred core veterans from the old Eight Companies immediately rushed forward.
Their charge ignited the entire Fengtian Changyi Battalion.
One thousand men surged toward the city wall.
Then the momentum spread further.
More rebel soldiers joined.
Soon nearly ten thousand men were advancing toward Zibo City.
---
On the city wall, the county magistrate's Zibo barbecue skewer fell from his hand.
Clack.
He was completely stunned.
But the militia and townspeople beside him showed a very different reaction.
They shoved their skewers into their mouths, stripped the meat off the sticks with their teeth, chewed quickly, and shouted while chewing.
"The liars are attacking!"
"Defend the city!"
From within the crowd, Liu Maopao's head suddenly appeared.
"We only need to hold for a short time!" he shouted.
"Sun Chuanting's reinforcements will arrive soon. Do not panic!"
The defenders immediately began preparing.
"Bows!"
"Rolling stones!"
"Logs!"
Someone suddenly shouted in panic.
"Hey! Do not take that oil pot! I still need that oil to grill skewers!"
Another man cursed.
"Damn it, the oil pot is a defensive weapon! Stop thinking about barbecue!"
"But today is the Heavenly Festival Barbecue Day!"
"You idiot! Even the festival name is wrong!"
"It is the Dao Xuan Tianzun Zibo Barbecue Festival!"
The militia and civilians fell into a chaotic argument.
---
Li Yan watched the scene from the wall.
Despite the noise, anxiety still filled his heart.
These militia and civilians were brave.
But how could they possibly resist a hundred thousand rebels?
Just as fear began creeping into his mind…
Something moved.
The statue of Dao Xuan Tianzun that had been placed in the city for the festival mascot suddenly shifted.
In fact, that statue was not a statue at all.
It was one of the mass-produced Tianzun avatars.
Li DaoXuan stretched his arms and legs and stood up.
Liu Maopao's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Dao Xuan Tianzun personally joins the defense!"
"This battle is secure!"
He had barely finished shouting when Li DaoXuan casually grabbed a barbecue skewer and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Hahaha!"
"Zibo barbecue! Smells amazing. Fantastic."
Liu Maopao fell silent.
Li Yan also fell silent.
After finishing the skewer, Li DaoXuan finally looked around.
He saw everyone rushing toward the wall carrying stones and logs.
"Oh?"
"Is there a battle happening?"
Liu Maopao jumped over quickly.
"Dao Xuan Tianzun, the rebel army is attacking!"
"What?"
Li DaoXuan exploded with anger.
"Can they not let people enjoy Zibo barbecue in peace?"
"Do they know how hard it is for someone from Chongqing to eat authentic Zibo barbecue?"
Liu Maopao scratched his head awkwardly.
"Dao Xuan Tianzun… with respect, you are a deity. Not a Chongqing resident."
Li DaoXuan ignored him completely.
With a leap he landed on top of the city wall.
He faced the rebel army outside the city with the posture of a lone warrior guarding the pass.
"Damn it!"
"Hurry up and fight!"
"Once the battle is done, we can go back to eating skewers!"
Liu Maopao was still confused.
But his mind was quick.
In that split second he suppressed every question and immediately performed his role as Tianzun's hype man.
He took a deep breath and roared.
"Divine decree from Dao Xuan Tianzun!"
"Finish the fight quickly and then eat barbecue!"
The militia and assisting civilians were instantly swept up in the momentum.
They shouted together.
"Finish the fight and eat barbecue!"
"Finish the fight and eat barbecue!"
The entire city of Zibo echoed with the chant.
The sound shook the sky.
---
The rebels outside the city stared in disbelief.
"What kind of slogan is that?"
Meanwhile the Fengtian Changyi Battalion continued their charge.
"Attack!"
Li DaoXuan calmly removed the palms from his hands.
Two small cannons emerged.
Boom.
Boom.
The thunderous blasts marked the beginning of the siege battle.
The rebels soon discovered something terrifying.
The figure on the city wall was a monster.
He was completely fearless.
While arrows and gunfire flew through the air, he leaped around the wall as if dancing.
His arms were equipped with small cannons.
After firing them he casually reattached his hands.
Then he pulled out a matchlock gun and fired randomly.
A moment later he grabbed a huge log and threw it down at the attackers.
If he did not fear death…
Then the ones who feared death became the rebels.
The soldiers of the Fengtian Changyi Battalion were brutal bandits who normally feared nothing.
Yet watching this inhuman creature jumping around on the wall destroyed their morale.
Their attacks grew weaker.
Even climbing the wall felt exhausting.
Soon the first assault was completely repelled.
---
The rebels paused to rest and recover morale.
Suddenly voices rose from the western horizon.
Reinforcements had arrived.
Sun Chuanting was leading the Capital Army.
At the front rode a general with a terrifying face that looked born for killing.
He roared and charged directly toward the rebels.
Even from a distance his face alone was enough to frighten them.
Not a single rebel commander dared challenge him.
Behind him marched six hundred elite soldiers.
Their combat power was extremely fierce.
At a glance one could tell they were frontier veterans.
More frightening was their equipment.
Lightweight aluminum alloy armor.
New matchlock guns with bayonets.
Grenades.
And red tassel broadswords hanging at their waists.
They were armed from head to toe.
Six hundred men looked like six hundred iron juggernauts.
Behind them followed five thousand soldiers from the Capital Army.
Most were newly recruited rookies.
But their presence alone was impressive enough.
When this force entered the battlefield and swept across the flank…
The rebel army began collapsing.
If all one hundred thousand rebels had fought together, they could have easily overwhelmed a few thousand enemies.
But at this moment only ten thousand were actually fighting.
The other ninety thousand were still stunned by Li Yan's earlier words.
Ten thousand rebels against Sun Chuanting's forces were simply not enough.
The result was immediate.
The rebel army collapsed.
Soldiers scattered across the mountains and fields in complete chaos.
The hundred thousand army had arrived quickly.
And now it disintegrated just as quickly.
In the blink of an eye, the battlefield turned into a cloud of fleeing dust.