Chapter 1643: The Heavenly Kingdom Attacks

Hearing the gunshots, hearing the shouting and killing, and seeing people holding weapons launching an attack on Wang Yan, after a very short moment of astonishment, these displaced common people panicked.

They were afraid of being involved in the battle, afraid of losing their lives for nothing, and instantly scattered.

Wang Yan ignored the people holding knives and coming to hack him from all sides, but went straight for those who fired the black guns. These people were all damned, but there was also a priority order...

And while Wang Yan was surrounded and killed, the patrol personnel walking around to maintain order, as well as those participating in training on the drill ground, all discovered the movement here and immediately took up weapons and ran over to rescue.

Thus, two layers of encirclement were formed: Wang Yan's subordinates surrounded the assassins, and the assassins surrounded Wang Yan. It was also at this time that the assassins had been killed by Wang Yan by more than ten. This was still him holding back; otherwise, the time just now would have been enough for him to kill all these assassins.

"Want to commit suicide?"

Wang Yan stood in the field with his knife, looking at the leader of the assassins. "It's not worth it. What secrets do you have? Those who come to kill me

I won't torture you either. There's plenty of work to be done in Huoshan, and you all have good bodies. After training for so many years and eating so much grain, it would be too wasteful to die. Just live."

With just this simple sentence, these assassins, who still had some desire to resist, became obedient.

Although they had come with the determination to die, they weren't true dead soldiers after all. Seeing Wang Yan display his might and kill over a dozen people by himself, they sobered up. They were surrounded by heavy layers of men outside, with absolutely no possibility of escape. Wang Yan gave them a way out, and they accepted it.

At this moment, Zhao Erhu ran over in a panic and kicked an assassin away.

"Big Brother, it must be the damn White Lotus Sect! We have a deep grudge against them."

Wang Yan walked over and personally helped the person up: "If you want to talk, just talk; why are you kicking people? Do you think I don't know it's the White Lotus Sect? Their army has already attacked; can you defeat hundreds of thousands of people?"

"Then we can't just let them be so arrogant, can we?"

"Of course not. As the saying goes, one or two times is enough, but not three or four. The White Lotus Sect keeps pushing their luck; we have to give some reaction, otherwise, they'll really think we're made of mud. Go, pass on my order to organize five hundred men and come with me to Liu'an, Shucheng, and Hefei for a trip."

Wang Yan had tolerated them twice, which was already enough. He didn't want to delay his own development because of endless fighting with the White Lotus Sect. Now that he had a considerable foundation, it was time to start acting, and of course, he wouldn't hold back anymore.

Over the next half month, Wang Yan split his forces into three routes and personally led one route straight to Hefei. Just as he had said before, he searched for officials and merchants in the city, found traces of the White Lotus Sect from them, and then caught one to pull out a whole string, killing the hundreds of people the White Lotus Sect had deployed.

Unlike the previous retaliation in Xinyang, which was for the merchants to see, this time it was for the Qing Court and the Taiping Army to see.

Splitting into three routes, each route completed its mission with minimal casualties, almost completely eradicating the White Lotus Sect's presence in the area. The combat power displayed during this process, the strict discipline of the personnel, the disregard for the laws of the Qing Court, and the fearlessness toward the Taiping Army were all things that made people take notice.

Especially after such a long period of peaceful development, Wang Yan already had thousands of men under his command. The escort agency had branches in several major cities in the Central Plains, and its logistics routes almost covered the major cities north of the Yangtze River. Every day, over a thousand people were escorting goods across the land north of the Yangtze.

In fact, their reputation had long been established, because all the forces that had robbed their goods or killed their people had suffered even more intense retaliation, acting simply without restraint. Just at the end of last year, a group of bandits in Shanxi hijacked their goods. Wang Yan personally led the team, mobilized nearly a thousand men, surrounded a large bandit den of over five hundred people, and the two sides fought in the mountains for ten days until all the bandits were killed.

And this group of bandits had been entrenched there for several years, and the government had suppressed them more than once, only for the bandits to grow stronger with each suppression.

Right now, in such chaotic times, Wang Yan personally taking action to hunt down the White Lotus Sect had a considerable impact...

After killing a circle outside, he returned to the peaceful Huoshan to make various arrangements.

Although he had built a bandit den in the mountains, he couldn't really just shrink into the mountains.

Especially since his investment in Huoshan was not small; there were steel mills, gun and artillery workshops, and other chemical plants, all of which he had built up bit by bit with great difficulty. Of course, he didn't want these foundations to be damaged.

So right now, he first had to make some arrangements on the main roads and small paths around Huoshan. Whether it was the Qing Court or the Taiping Army that came to kill, they would have to fight a few battles first to see.

Of course, he didn't only have factories in Huoshan. After all, he had long known that this area would definitely be a war zone and that he would definitely be beaten, so how could he put all his hopes on Huoshan? He had always made as many preparations as possible.

That bandit den was a retreat left as a last resort, but it was also an open investment shown to others, to make the enemy hesitate, to make people calculate whether this account was worth it; this was also part of pressuring the enemy.

If he could avoid entering the mountains, of course, it would be better not to. After all, the mountains weren't as beautiful as the Huoshan county seat...

Just as he went out to retaliate against the White Lotus Sect and returned to set up defenses, an even more earth-shattering piece of news arrived.

Jiangning had fallen.

From the fall of Wuchang in January to the fall of Jiangning, it took less than three months...

Also, upon receiving this news, a subordinate came to report that someone from the Taiping Army had come to visit, and Wang Yan did not refuse to meet.

The visitor was a woman with a graceful figure and exquisite features, but dressed as a man.

"Little girl Su Zixuan, greets Master Wang."

She cupped her hands in a very worldly manner and smiled, "Master truly has a good mood; the world outside is in chaos, yet you are here eating hot pot."

"It's raining today, so eating something hot is more comfortable. It's just that your Taiping Army people never pick a good time; the last time I was assassinated it was raining, and today when you come to see me, it's also raining."

"Is that so? Master Wang might not know, but it was sunny all the way from Jiangning, but after crossing the river, it has been raining continuously. If you ask me, it's because the Qing Court is devoid of virtue and not tolerated by the Heavenly Dao. Master Wang is a hero of his generation; you should make plans early."

While speaking, Su Zixuan sat down directly opposite Wang Yan, adjusted the dipping sauce with the bowls and chopsticks, and started eating the mutton hot pot.

Wang Yan asked with a smile: "Is the Taiping Army out of people? Or did they send you to use a beauty trap on me?"

"Oh, little girl thought you, Master Wang, were different from those men and had no prejudice against women; I didn't expect you to be a vulgar man too."

"Don't you know that the farm women in my Huoshan can all read and write? There are even women who study well and work as accountants. And foot-binding, that rotten thing is gone too; whoever dares to bind their child's feet will have the child's parents hung up and whipped."

Su Zixuan smiled noncommittally and turned to say: "Master says little girl is here to use a beauty trap, but to tell you the truth, compared to the Heavenly Kingdom, Master Wang's power is probably not worth the Heavenly Kingdom's effort to this extent."

Wang Yan fiddled with the meat slices and put them into the pot: "You just sent someone to assassinate me, and now you've come to mock me; don't you really think no one dares to kill you?"

"Master certainly dares to kill, but haven't you already dug out and chopped up the White Lotus Sect people in Liu'an, Shucheng, and Hefei? I assume you've already vented your anger and won't make things difficult for a little girl like me."

"In the previous sentence you were talking about who says women are inferior to men, and in the next sentence you're using the fragility of women as an excuse?"

"Little girl just wants to gain a few advantages and get things done."

Wang Yan sneered: "Stop selling your tongue; let's talk business."

"The business is that Master needs to think carefully about the future. The Qing Court is unreliable; look, in less than three months, the Heavenly Kingdom has fought from Wuchang to Jiangning. You might not know yet, but Jiangning has been renamed Tianjing, and from now on, it will be the capital of the Heavenly Kingdom."

Su Zixuan said with certainty, "Right now, an army of five hundred thousand is stationed in the south of the Yangtze River and will soon cross the river to march north, conquer the Central Plains, drive out the Tatars, and restore China. The grand trend is unstoppable; Master Wang, you must think clearly. If you make a wrong move at this time, even the best situation will be ruined in an instant!"

"Do you think the so-called Heavenly Kingdom can last long?"

"Do you think it can't last long?" Su Zixuan stopped just as she was about to eat meat and looked up at Wang Yan, wanting to hear what high-minded views Wang Yan, who came from a humble background, could have.

Wang Yan's rise was too rapid, and as an opponent with a grudge, the White Lotus Sect had long been investigating Wang Yan's information. But in such times, separation and chaos were common occurrences. Wang Yan first appeared in Yangzhou snatching a woman, which was confirmed to be for Zhao Erhu. There was no information before that.

But precisely because there was none, it proved that Wang Yan's background was poor and he was a homeless refugee. Otherwise, if he had even a house, traces could have been found.

So they guessed that Wang Yan had learned skills from somewhere, was born with great strength, knew how to hide his edge, and was bold and daring. So once his strength grew, he couldn't bear to be lonely anymore...

"I saw your contempt for me in your eyes."

Wang Yan glanced at her, "I heard that a large pile of those Kings are people who failed at their studies, and there are quite a few who are illiterate. You despise me, so why do you believe they can succeed? Want to say that the same rice feeds a hundred kinds of people and that people are very different, right?

Do you know how many men I have under me? Nearly five thousand. More than three thousand of them have learned to read, practiced martial arts, and some have learned to draw maps in this drill ground of mine... You should be clear about these things; after all, there are your people among them. If these three thousand people scatter, they are officers. The Taiping Army does nothing more than sweep up commoners; can't I sweep them up? Can't I sweep them up? Look at the refugees outside.

I've digressed. Let me tell you about the Taiping Army again. From their uprising until now, it's been less than three years, and they've fought all the way from Guangxi to Jiangning, claiming an army of five hundred thousand. Although the south of the Yangtze River is not yet pacified, there are no opponents left, so it can be considered occupying half of the country. Reaching this point can be considered very successful, and their names will inevitably remain in future history books.

Do you think they will become complacent, start enjoying wealth, and even start grabbing power, being dissatisfied with each other, leading to civil war, and finally collapsing from within?"

"You haven't seen them; you don't know. I watched them fight all the way from Guangxi. They are all heroic figures; I dare not say what will happen in the future, but at least for now, I don't think they have any problems. I won't hide it from you; right now the Heavenly Kingdom is planning to march north and west, and they will pass through your area."

Su Zixuan ate the hot pot freely, and she raised her eyebrows in surprise, "The taste is very good; Master knows how to eat."

Wang Yan shook his head: "I just want to stay here and earn silver peacefully, live a good life with my brothers, and I don't want to fight the Taiping Army, nor do I want to fight the Qing Court. I can even buy some grain for you all, and we can all get rich together. But if you insist on forcing me, then I have no choice; we'll have a real fight.

Go back and convey my meaning clearly. If you want to attack me, you are welcome at any time; let's see if the Taiping Army has such good teeth."

"Master's subordinates are indeed seeds for officers, but in the end, don't they lack guns, cannons, and armor? The Heavenly Kingdom has marched north all the way, and they lack nothing. Once the war starts, it won't be something that can stop just because you want it to. Master, please think twice."

"How do you know I lack guns, cannons, and armor? Taking these things out is rebellion, and then the Qing Court wouldn't be able to stop attacking me even if they wanted to. Whether I have them or not, you'll know when you come to attack. At worst, I'll take my people and run into the mountains, and when we run out of food and drink, we'll fight the Taiping Army. Anyway, if few come, the Taiping Army is no match for me, and if many come, it's not worth it; it just depends on who can't hold on."

"Master Wang is truly straightforward and speaks clearly. Don't worry, I will report it truthfully to the Heavenly King."

Su Zixuan said "Oh," shook her head repeatedly, looking like she had more to say, and continued eating meat.

However, she didn't wait for any further questioning, only seeing Wang Yan eating meat and drinking wine in large gulps.

"Why are you looking at me? Want to drink? Pour it yourself; it's authentic Shaoxing Daughter Wine. I don't know what it's been ruined into by the Taiping Army over there."

When war breaks out, the evil of human nature is stimulated to the maximum, with large-scale and organized looting and harming of people. Whether it's the Taiping Army or the Qing Court, they have committed many tragic deeds.

Su Zixuan poured herself a drink, took a small sip, and said to herself: "Master, now is the right time. Even if you don't join the Qing Court and don't join us, wouldn't it be better to raise your own troops and occupy a piece of land than it is now? The Qing Court's fate is exhausted; it's time to send it on its way. Once the Qing Court is destroyed, we two families can discuss how to proceed."

"Stop trying to bewitch me; I have my own plans for what to do." Wang Yan waved his hand, "If you have nothing to say, get out quickly."

"Master is truly heartless; you won't even let little girl finish this meal? Is little girl not pretty?"

"Then don't leave."

"Uh..."

Hearing Wang Yan's words, Su Zixuan didn't know what to say for a moment, just looking at Wang Yan eating meat, trying to analyze from Wang Yan's expression whether this was true or false...

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