Chapter 652: Rescuing the Rebels, Part 1

Tactics serve strategy.

When the decision-makers in the halls of power resolve to advance a strategy, every subsequent action by their subordinates will revolve around executing that established strategy.

In fact, the original destination for Nan Wang — a veteran of merit in the Intelligence Bureau who had been awaiting assignment in the capacity of Section 7 Section Chief — was to establish a branch station in Xuzhou, with his second choice being Jinan in Shandong... in short, under no circumstances would it have been Wuhan.

As it turned out, after the decision-makers were swayed by one GDP data sheet after another and consequently revised the nation's long-range strategic planning, Nan Wang's fate shifted accordingly, sending him to Wuhan, a backup option very far down the list.

The grand strategy put forward by the Transmigrators this time was to alter the course of history, striving to replace the Ming Dynasty with the Great Yan Dynasty as quickly as possible, shorten the period of collapse in the Late Ming, and free up time and human resources for the future colonization of the globe.

Under this grand strategy, how to bring the Ming Dynasty to an early, natural end became a task that tested one's craftsmanship.

There were, naturally, difficulties.

Although with the Transmigrators' current strength, organizing a surprise attack with strange troops to raid Beijing and slaughter the Chongzhen Emperor and all the officials and generals below him was an operation entirely within their capability, it would not solve the problem.

A decapitation strike seemed the fastest, yet a Great Ming suddenly bereft of its central authority would inevitably fall into the old routine of the Han People — overnight, rebels would rise everywhere, and the chaotic patterns of the Late Han... Late Tang... Late Song... and so on would be paraded before your eyes in a matter of minutes.

This outcome — massive, disorderly population die-offs, followed by the enormous time cost required to pacify the entire map in the aftermath — was what the Transmigrators found most unacceptable.

If a decapitation strike won't work, what about a Northern Expedition?

No, sorry. With the meager strength of the current Yan, they could hold their territory and develop, but an offensive to swallow the entire nation would certainly lack the necessary force.

Whether in terms of the number of industrial workers, the number of regular troops, the overall scale of industry, the able-bodied young adults that could be mobilized from places like Fujian, Guangdong, and Taiwan, or even popular morale, none were sufficient for Cao Zong to plant a banner, draw his sword, and swear an oath before the Supermarket, leading a 100,000-strong army on a Northern Expedition... in short, their war potential was insufficient, and this group still needed time to develop.

Going back and forth, after a series of deliberations and arguments, the Transmigrators ultimately turned their gaze back to history — if forcing change was too hard, then they would go with the current and borrow strength to strike.

And so, Nan Wang came to Wuhan.

The true purpose of his journey: while establishing the Wuhan Station, to seek an opportunity to establish communication with the peasant armies, to support (with priority given to Li Zicheng's forces), guide, and strengthen them, so that the peasant armies would take fewer detours and quickly acquire advanced combat capability.

By doing this, compared to the same period in history, the peasant armies would certainly be able to destroy the Ming Dynasty's heavy troop concentrations ahead of schedule, and then smoothly occupy Beijing.

The outcome was certain; it was only a matter of time.

For the Transmigrators, even if the peasant armies occupied Beijing one year earlier, that would save a year's time. However, with a wealthy backer supporting them, in this timeline, one imagines the peasant armies would save far more than just that little bit of time.

Of course, no matter which Great King it was, the moment they entered Beijing would also be the moment Cao Zong swore his oath before the Supermarket.

This grand strategy had many advantages.

First: the northern provinces like Shaanxi and Henan had already been ravaged to ruin during this period, so a bit more devastation later wouldn't matter. If the future Wuhan Station could play its role and confine the civil war between the Ming Dynasty and the peasant armies to north of the Huai River, that would be even more in line with the interests of the Great Yan.

Second: once the Great King entered Beijing, the blame for extinguishing the Ming Dynasty's dynastic line would not fall on Cao Zhongchen's shoulders. On the contrary, Cao Zhongchen could weep bitterly and then step forward to contend for the realm under the banner of avenging the Ming Dynasty... here, he could copy Liu Huangshu's homework.

Furthermore, if the Great King who entered Beijing also happened to carry out a round of torture and plunder, that would be best of all — Li Zicheng's round of torture and plunder would thoroughly and irrevocably offend the entire landlord class of the realm.

So much so that after Li Chuangwang lost power, no matter where he fled, local landlord groups would organize militias to fight him to the death without end... a rat crossing the street under nationwide prevention and control, Brother Zicheng's health code would definitely be red.

At that moment, the wealthy and generous, amiable and kind Cao Zhongchen, marching under the banner of avenging the Ming Dynasty, would step out to clean up the situation; whether in the competition for the moral high ground (having a just cause for war) or in the intensity of resistance from the landlord class, one believes there would be a satisfying answer.

Therefore, Comrade Nan Wang's mission this time was still very important. He not only had to open up a line of communication between power bases but also establish a prohibited goods logistics route from Shanghai to Wuhan, and from Wuhan to Henan — a heavy responsibility indeed.

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Five days after Nan Wang and Zhou Yi held their secret talk in the study.

Hanyang City, Zhou's Inn, Jiazi No. 3 Courtyard.

Zhou's Inn, situated at the head of Five Kui Bridge, had been passed down for two generations. It was a hotel of little renown but considerable good reputation.

Today, Jiazi No. 3 Courtyard was livelier than it had been a few days ago. The two merchants who had rented the small courtyard had apparently invited colleagues for a gathering, ordering wine and meat, and bursts of hearty laughter occasionally rang out from within.

One hour past noon, when a waiter knocked and entered to clear away the aftermath, he found that aside from the tenant Old Wang, the other three were already sprawled across the bed, dead drunk.

Even Old Wang himself was slumped drowsily in a chair, mumbling, looking on the verge of passing out drunk as well.

The waiter thought nothing of it, cleared away the mess, closed the courtyard gate, and left.

Yet no sooner had the waiter stepped out than the courtyard full of drunks all woke up. Apart from the team member assigned to keep watch in the courtyard, the other three quickly gathered in the main room.

These three were the core members of the "Anti-Rebel Rescue Team": temporary Deputy Team Leader Zhou Yi, temporary Action Team Captain Mao Tai, and temporary Communications Team Leader Huang Zhong.

The Team Leader was, naturally, Master Nan, who was directing matters from the rear.

... The official gazette Nan Wang had previously sorted through contained information that was already four months out of date. If they intended to act based on that, they would certainly need to do some groundwork first.

However, such public information was very easy to verify. After sending someone to the yamen to investigate, feedback came quickly, and the results were a mix of good and bad.

First, the bad news. Four months ago, the Patrol Inspector of Xiaogan County had indeed captured three rebel spies. Due to the gravity of the matter, these three spies were subsequently sent to the Hanyang Prefectural Office for trial... Xiaogan County at this time fell under the jurisdiction of Hanyang Prefecture.

Afterwards, through a series of severe tortures to get to the root of the matter, the authorities ultimately confirmed that these three criminals were indeed rebel spies... they had been sent by the rebels to Wuhan to arrange grain purchases, but failed to conceal their activities and were seen through by the men of the Inspection Office.

Subsequently, these two spies were thrown into death row by Hanyang Prefecture, awaiting only a report to the Ministry of Justice for execution after the autumn assizes... one could not endure the torture and died in the Criminal Division before the trial had even gone on for two days.

This was the bad news before Zhou Yi and the others: had the two remaining death row prisoners, after four months, long since perished in the harsh conditions of death row?

Even if they were alive, could these two still walk and talk? How could the two sides establish communication?

Of course, with bad news came good news: the two death row prisoners had at that time been confirmed to be held in the Hanyang Prefecture prison.

This was the reason Zhou Yi and the others were gathered today in Hanyang City.

Hanyang Prefecture, one of the Wuhan Three Towns, was not far from Xiakou (Hankou) Town, where the Wuhan Station headquarters was located — a mere ten or twenty li by the official road.

If the death row prisoners had been held in Wuchang Prefecture, separated by a single river, the difficulty of this rescue operation would have increased immensely: Wuchang was the provincial capital, and within Wuchang City, the yamens of various governors, ministers, and provincial officials were as numerous as hairs on an ox.

Whether by day or night, the security checkpoints within Wuchang City were extremely tight. Trying to rescue someone from Wuchang Prison would cause the difficulty to rise exponentially.

Hanyang Prefecture, however, was much better. Compared to Wuchang, the Hanyang Prefectural Office was the highest-level yamen in the city; the rest were merely county yamens, and the security was not strict... this was a piece of news that didn't seem so bad.

In the next moment, a hand-drawn floor plan of the prefectural office was spread across the table. Huang Zhong, wearing an old felt hat, said smugly, "Take a look, it's all here. I went in personally and took a walk around."

The moment the mission was assigned, the small intelligence network Huang Zhong had organized and developed during his undercover period revealed its usefulness.

Shortly after confirming the death row prisoners' location, Huang Zhong, through his subordinate intelligence network, first arranged several temporary lodgings and safe houses for the rescue team within Hanyang City.

Not only lodgings, but Huang Zhong himself had also sought connections, spent silver, and, posing as a bricklayer repairing a roof, took a tour of the Hanyang Prefectural Office.

Although he did not enter the rear offices, the bustling front offices and the outer terrain of the prison were all thoroughly scouted by Huang Zhong and rendered into a drawing.

Although he hadn't entered the rear offices, the front offices bustling with people coming and going, as well as the terrain surrounding the prison, had all been thoroughly scouted by Huang Zhong and drawn into a map.

Zhou Yi, who had been bent over the table studying the map for a long time, finally said this one sentence.

When Zhu Yuanzhang took power back in the day, he had standardized the structural design of all government offices across the realm. Thus, throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties, whether a county yamen or a prefectural yamen, all were constructed according to the Ministry of Works' standard blueprints. The internal buildings might differ slightly in size, but their positions were all rigidly fixed.

After Zhu Yuanzhang took power, he standardized the architectural form of all government offices across the realm. Thus, during both the Ming and Qing dynasties, whether a County Yamen or a Prefectural Yamen, all were constructed according to the Ministry of Works' standard Blueprints. While the internal buildings might differ somewhat in size, their positions were all rigidly fixed.

"The discrepancy isn't large."

Huang Zhong, however, reached out at that moment and tapped a spot on the diagram: "Here, there is an extra Ceremonial Gate, connected to the Second Hall, and it's locked."

"A lock means one more checkpoint."

"No matter." At this, Mao Tai, usually a man of few words, spoke up in a muffled voice.

Mao Tai himself was the official Action Group leader of Wuhan Station. He had a well-proportioned build, a horse-like face and long eyes — his features alone gave him a ruthless look.

Mao Tai, like Zhou Yi, was an early member of the Deer Valley Training Class. Proficient in firearms, close-quarters combat, demolitions, kidnapping, tracking and counter-surveillance, he was an elite product turned out by Deer Valley.

After saying this, Mao Tai immediately added an explanation: "It's not necessarily the case that we have to enter the prison through the Second Hall... Actually, entering the prison from inside the yamen is a bad approach to begin with. It would be better to go in from the outer street."

"Enough."

Before the Action Group leader and the Communication Group leader could continue their discussion, Zhou Yi rapped his knuckles on the table: "For now, forget how to get in. Tell me what we know about the situation inside the prison. I urgently need real information on the 'target's' condition before I can decide the next step."

As the Communication Group leader, this was Huang Zhong's responsibility. Yet at this moment, his face showed difficulty: "The time you've given is too tight. If I'm to quickly get a clear picture of the situation in Death Row and the target's condition, I'm afraid I'll have to expose our undercover operatives... In that case, I'll need authorization from the station, and an extraction route arranged."

The next moment, Zhou Yi said flatly, "Granted."