Chapter 64: Turmoil in the City

The tens of thousands of people rescued in Liangxiang city, upon learning that His Highness the Crown Prince had personally led a great army to drive off the Tartars and would soon be entering the city, many of them surged to the city gates to welcome him.

The people waiting at the city gate with longing eyes finally saw a large body of troops marching in through the gate — cavalry and infantry, along with several dozen cannons gleaming with a faint light.

In the eyes of these people, this army was completely different from other officers and soldiers. Although many bore bloodstains, and some even had badly damaged armor, their ranks were neat and orderly, each one striding proudly with heads held high and spirits brimming.

Zhu Cilang, surrounded by the many officers of the Yongwei Camp, rode a snow-white warhorse, clad in golden battle armor that cast a dazzling, brilliant gleam under the sunlight.

"His Highness the Crown Prince has arrived!"

Seeing the Crown Prince beneath the great red dragon banner of the Ming, all the people knelt prostrate on both sides of the road, worshipping with utmost reverence.

Only at this moment did the people finally confirm that the court's great army had defeated the Qing army and recovered Liangxiang city.

When Zhu Cilang drew near, the people's cheers merged into one chorus: "Long live His Highness, long live His Highness!"

Zhu Cilang wore a beaming smile, riding on horseback and waving repeatedly to the people, his heart filled with boundless emotion — this, perhaps, was what it felt like to defend one's home and country.

Accompanying the Yongwei Camp into the city were also a dozen or so large carts, all loaded with the severed heads of Qing soldiers. Behind the carts trailed a line of Qing prisoners with their heads hanging low.

Zhu Cilang had originally planned to take no prisoners, but on Sun Yingyuan's advice, he kept some captives to present in the capital as war trophies, to boost the morale of the people of the capital.

Every person in Liangxiang city had suffered at the hands of the Qing soldiers. The moment they saw the Qing troops with their money-rat tail queues, their anger flared uncontrollably, and they picked up stones and dirt, hurling them fiercely at the Qing soldiers' heads.

The Qing soldiers were beaten into dodging left and right, some clutching their heads. Had it not been for the Yongwei Camp soldiers on both sides holding them back, they would likely have been beaten to death by the furious mob rushing in.

Amid the people's enthusiastic cheers, it took Zhu Cilang and the Yongwei Camp nearly half a shichen to squeeze through the crowd and reach the Liangxiang county yamen.

The July weather was extremely hot and muggy. The moment Zhu Cilang arrived at the county yamen, he ducked straight inside — men and horses alike were exhausted, and he wanted nothing more than to rest for a while, unwilling to deal with anything.

Just as Zhu Cilang was half-reclining in a grand master's chair, eating fruit to beat the heat, a major incident soon occurred in Liangxiang city.

The Longxiang Night Scouts were pacifying the populace, but with too few hands they were unable to maintain order. Just as Yang Qili was fretting over this, among the rescued people of Liangxiang city, a Company Commander leading over a hundred officers and soldiers found Yang Qili, claiming they could help manage the people.

Yang Qili saw that among them were also quite a few yamen runners — officers who had originally maintained local law and order — so he let this Company Commander lead them in helping to pacify the people.

However, the moment this group of officers took over the security of Liangxiang, the situation changed completely.

These officers had no real ability in fighting, but they knew every trick in the book for putting on airs. At first they did do some pacification work, mainly by helping ladle out porridge during the gruel distribution.

During this time, quite a few officers helped themselves to two extra bowls. One officer downed six bowls of porridge in one go and was so stuffed he rolled his eyes back.

Shortly after the Crown Prince entered the city, most of the Longxiang Night Scouts had been sent out to gather intelligence. These officers grew bold, first searching for valuables left behind by the Qing army.

They soon discovered to their dismay that the places where valuables were stored were all tightly guarded by the Crown Prince's soldiers. Naturally, these officers dared not clash with the fierce, terrifying soldiers of the Yongwei Camp, so they turned their eyes to the common people instead.

Of the nearly a hundred thousand people rescued in Liangxiang city, half were locals, and the other half were people the Qing soldiers had plundered from nearby towns, intending to haul them all back beyond the passes as labor.

Some of the city's people had gone to welcome the Crown Prince, but more were searching everywhere for their own relatives.

Throughout the great streets of Liangxiang city, men and women mingled together. Women who normally never showed their faces in public had also come out to search for their loved ones, their anxious expressions pitiful and forlorn.

Seeing this, some officers conceived wicked intentions. Under the pretext of conducting searches, they grabbed and pulled at some women, taking the opportunity to fondle them, and helping themselves to any valuables on their persons.

The families of some women were furious. Having just endured enough abuse from the Qing army, and having only just gained their freedom only to suffer oppression from these officers, many could no longer bear it, and conflict immediately broke out between the two sides.

The officers began shouting at the people arrogantly and shoving them around, but soon blows were exchanged. The officers' behavior roused the anger of the surrounding people, and many stepped in to help.

At first, a few troublemaking officers were beaten into fleeing with their heads in their hands by a crowd of people, and they hurried off to find help. The people likewise called on fellow townsmen for aid. As a result, both sides swelled in numbers, and a melee of several hundred people broke out.

Large numbers of local ruffians and scoundrels, in groups of three or five, took advantage of the chaos to loot valuables throughout the city and violate women in broad daylight. In a short time, chaos quickly erupted across Liangxiang city, with screams and wails sounding everywhere.

Once the matter escalated, word first reached Yang Qili, who was preparing to leave the city for reconnaissance. He was greatly alarmed and hastily led his squad of Night Scouts to the scene of the conflict, sending someone to notify the Yongwei Camp.

By this time, the officers and the people were already locked in a fierce brawl that his few dozen Night Scouts could not possibly separate.

Yang Qili raised his musket and fired into the air, but it had no effect whatsoever. Many people had no concept of what a musket was. Apart from those pulled apart by the Night Scouts, several hundred others continued to fight in the melee.

That gunshot, however, alarmed the nearby Yongwei Camp. Before long, Huang Degong arrived at the scene with several hundred Yongwei Camp soldiers.

Several hundred Yongwei Camp soldiers marched in neat steps at a trot, the clanging of iron armor ringing out sharply. The sound grew louder and louder, immediately drawing the attention of both sides of the fight.

Huang Degong bellowed: "Everyone, stop right the hell now!"

His voice exploded like a clap of thunder, causing many to involuntarily stop. Looking at this man with glaring eyes and brows, backed by several hundred soldiers radiating murderous intent, the people grew even more worried — would these soldiers help the officers against them?

The people and officers had been fighting fiercely, with several dozen people already beaten to the ground. Although Huang Degong and the Yongwei Camp had stopped most of them, some were still fighting with bloodshot eyes, locked in grappling struggles, refusing to let go no matter what.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

At Huang Degong's signal, a row of musketeers fired into the air. The tremendous roar immediately jolted those still locked in combat back to their senses.

Seeing row after row of dark gun muzzles pointed at them, they finally glared at each other with red faces and thick necks, then released their grips and scrambled to their feet, standing off to the side.

The soldiers of this army each looked fierce and terrifying, their bodies covered in bloodstains, leveling their muskets coldly at the crowd like asuras emerging from hell, sending chills down everyone's spines.