Chapter 298: Setting the Fires

Around the Hai hour that night, fires broke out one after another at the two grain shops, two silk and satin cloth stores, one salt shop, and two general stores that the Four Seas Trading Company operated within Yangzhou city.

The street toughs under Boss Huang's command had poured large amounts of tung oil over these wooden structures and piled up straw and dry firewood to help the flames spread. Once the open flames caught, the fire blazed fiercely.

The scorching flames devoured everything without restraint. Crimson tongues of fire leaped and danced, and the glow illuminated the dark night sky as if it were broad daylight.

"Fire!! Put it out quickly! Flee for your lives!"

A night watchman was the first to spot one of the shops ablaze. He threw away the wooden clapper in his hand and ran toward the fire, shouting at the top of his lungs.

The watchman's cries roused the households and shopkeepers around the grain stores. In an instant, the wailing of children, the shrieks of women, the shouts of men, and the barking of dogs mingled into a cacophony. People sound asleep were startled awake from their dreams. One after another, the gates of many households swung open, and men, women, old and young, in disheveled clothing, rushed frantically out of their homes. Those quick to react grabbed wooden buckets or copper basins of water and ran toward the burning shops. All manner of cries pierced the night sky.

While people were busy fighting the fire and fleeing for their lives, the four-courtyard compound of Boss Huang on Sweetwater Lane was brightly lit. Lanterns hung in every corner of the main courtyards, and from several spacious rooms came the sounds of howling and raucous laughter. Gamblers inside, bare-chested and exposing their bellies, were locked in fierce battles over silver on the tables.

The third courtyard was Boss Huang's private residence. At this moment, he was drinking and making merry in the flower hall with several trusted subordinates. Four or five seductive women in thin gauze sat clustered around the men. The fragrance of cosmetics, the smell of wine and meat, and the stench of men's sweat mingled together in the flower hall, enough to make one want to vomit.

Boss Huang, a man in the prime of his life, was born Huang Zhi, originally a down-and-out nobody in Yangzhou city. Having learned a few martial arts moves as a child, he had developed the vicious habit of loving to fight and bully others. In ordinary times, he specialized in the lowly trades of oppressing men, abusing women, and extorting money. He counted as a figure of some note in Yangzhou city.

Huang Zhi was the sort who wallowed in every vice imaginable. Silver that came into his hands never lasted the night—either it went to wine tables and women, or he lost it all gambling. Though he had done plenty of heaven-defying, conscience-betraying secret work for wealthy households and received no small amount of reward money, he quickly squandered every bit of it.

Over time, Huang Zhi's reputation for ruthlessness, clean and efficient work, and a tight mouth gradually became known to those who paid attention. More and more thugs from around Yangzhou city gathered under his command.

Once more silver began flowing in, Huang Zhi bought the compound he now occupied. He relocated the surrounding households by half-paying, half-coercing them, then expanded and renovated the property. By threats, he brought all the unlicensed prostitutes in the city under his control and directly opened a gambling den and brothel within his own courtyard.

Since ancient times, no trades made money faster than these two—one could call them ventures with no capital and infinite profit. Though Huang Zhi was greedy and vicious in his dealings, his head was shrewd indeed. He knew that to survive over the long term, he absolutely could not offend the authorities or the gentry-officials. He ordinarily maintained good relations with the powerful clerks and officials in both the prefectural and county offices. After growing rich from the gambling den and brothel, he lavished large sums of silver bribing everyone up and down the Yangzhou prefectural office, binding himself even more tightly to those in government. His little life grew ever more comfortable.

That day, the steward of the Xu household had come calling. After explaining the matter his master was plotting and promising that a heavy reward would follow, Huang Zhi gave it a moment's thought and agreed readily.

He knew the backgrounds of every gentry family in the city like the back of his hand, and of course understood who stood behind Xu Qiming. Add to that the promised heavy reward, and a man as practiced as he was in the arts of murder and arson had no reason to refuse.

Huang Zhi had heard rumors of the Four Seas Trading Company's origins—said to be run by some noble from the palace in the capital—but he paid it no mind. The county magistrate is not as good as the one who currently manages you. Offending some big shot in the capital was no big deal. Even if news of the incident reached the capital afterward and some high official sent men down to investigate, wouldn't they still have to go through the local authorities? By then, the people in the prefectural office would surely send him away to lie low until the matter blew over, and then he could come back. Even the greatest affair, under everyone's buck-passing and perfunctory compliance, would eventually just fizzle out, wouldn't it? The high and mighty of the capital seemed untouchable, but in truth they were easy to fool.

But offend the local gentry and officials in the city, and his good days would be blown away by wind and rain in an instant. Those people were all one family. Though he ordinarily kept close relations with the various officials large and small, when true interests were at stake, they would still side with their own.

A county magistrate can ruin a family; a prefect can wipe out a clan. Huang Zhi had been in the underworld for the better part of his life and knew very well whose was the blade pressed against his neck.

After giving the orders, Huang Zhi gave the matter no further thought. He had done these things so many times that his men were thoroughly skilled at them. Besides, with people in the government shielding them, the curfew was as good as nonexistent to them. They could simply set the fires and come straight back.

"Boss, Zhou Min and the others have all returned! Everything is done—several of the shops are all ablaze. Though there's no wind tonight, with the tung oil poured on, even the fire brigade couldn't do anything about it. In less than half an hour, those shops will burn to bare ground!"

The one who came from the front courtyard to report was Huang Zhi's trusted man, Gan Ji. Entrusted by Huang Zhi, he had been waiting in the front courtyard for news. Seeing the men sent to set the fires return one after another, he came specially to inform Huang Zhi.

"Good, good, good! Since it's all done, let them drink! Come, come, come—there's a seat saved for you over here. Sit down and drink! Tomorrow you take a few men and drive a cart to the Xu mansion's back gate to collect the reward silver! This time the Xu family has been quite generous—a full two thousand taels! Hahaha! Drink, drink!"

Huang Zhi cheerfully beckoned Gan Ji to sit down. The painted girls beside him, hearing of so much silver, immediately began acting coy and coquettish, pestering Huang Zhi for reward money.

Huang Zhi, hazy with drink and in excellent spirits, was just about to open his mouth and agree to hand out rewards when suddenly several loud bangs came faintly from the front courtyard. They sounded like the firecrackers set off during the New Year festival, but much louder. Along with the bangs came the clamor of shouting voices.

"Damn it! It's not New Year—who's setting off firecrackers! Which bastard has nothing better to do! Yelling like ghosts in the middle of the night!"

"That doesn't sound like firecrackers! Let me go check!"

Gan Ji, who had not touched a drop of wine, felt something strange in his heart at the sounds. He stood up and was about to walk out of the flower hall when several more loud bangs came, this time from the second courtyard ahead. Several screams of agony and shouts of reprimand followed, clearly audible inside the hall. Huang Zhi and the others froze for a moment, then quickly rose to their feet. Each man drew the short blade hidden on his person, ready to fight at any moment, most of their drunkenness gone.

Before they could make a move, a clatter of chaotic footsteps came toward the flower hall's courtyard. In an instant, under the bright lantern light, a dozen or more warriors in blue armored vests and wrapped brown caps burst into the courtyard. Seeing the crowd in the flower hall, they quickly split into three teams—two to flank from the sides, one charging straight at the hall.

"Which blind bastard is this! How dare you barge into Boss Huang's—"

"Bang!" A thunderous report. This small leader, still carrying his drunken swagger as he strode toward the door, seemed to be struck head-on by a giant hammer. His body staggered backward several steps before toppling straight to the ground. The short blade in his hand clattered away. His mouth gaped wide, his face twisted in a ghastly expression. A large hole had been blown through his bare chest, and blood gushed forth, winding slowly across the floor in rivulets. Several paces before him, a thick plume of smoke rose, then slowly drifted away.

In the misty Jiangnan of long peace, street ruffians like Huang Zhi and Gan Ji had heard of fire lances, but had never actually seen what one was, nor could they distinguish the sound of one. The loud bangs from the front courtyard had been the reports of the flintlock pistols in the hands of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

"Kneel! Drop your weapons! Hands on your heads! Anyone who moves will be killed without mercy!"

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard is conducting official business! Resist and die!"

"Silence!"

After several cold-blooded shouts, the women's screams stopped abruptly. Huang Zhi, Gan Ji, and the others quickly stole glances around. Warriors holding long sabers and crossbows stood at the front and back doors and outside the latticed windows. Fighting their way out was no longer possible. The men swiftly dropped their short blades and knelt. The women had long since collapsed to the floor in terror, trembling in a heap.

"Who is Huang Zhi?"

The Squad Leader leading the team, imitating the manner of his superiors in ordinary times, clasped his hands behind his back and strolled slowly into the flower hall before asking.

"Honored officer, it is I, it is I! This humble one is on good terms with Constable Li of the prefectural office. Might the honored officer be acquainted with Constable Li?"

Huang Zhi had dealt with officials for over a decade. Though he had never seen such a grand scene as today's, he was not scared out of his wits. Following the common sense he used in dealing with officials in the past, he crawled forward a bit on his knees with a face full of smiles, then brought out his connections within the government.

He had heard of the Embroidered Uniform Guard's fearsome reputation, but in his understanding, the Guard operated only within the capital, arresting high officials—people with no connection to the likes of him. Moreover, the Yangzhou Chiliarchy had only recently been established, and Liang Qi and his subordinate officers were busy gathering information on the connections of every official and gentry member in the prefecture, with no time to spare for the likes of them. So he was not particularly afraid.

"Smack!" A sharp crack. The Guard Squad Leader casually pulled his scabbard from his belt and struck Huang Zhi across the left cheek. Huang Zhi screamed and toppled sideways, blood and several broken teeth spilling from his mouth.

"A name fit for pigs and dogs, and you dare speak it—it dirties my ears! Found the right man, that's all that matters. Take him away!"

Without even glancing at Huang Zhi sprawled on the ground, the Squad Leader reattached the scabbard to his waist, turned, and strode off.