Chapter 562: Riding the Wind and Breaking the Waves (Requesting Monthly Tickets)

Tian Heng and Tian Du stirred up the Qi men on the island to remonstrate by force with the demoralized Yongmen Sima, forcing him to agree to a counterattack on the mainland. The two Tians had effectively become the real controllers of these four thousand men, but they still disagreed on where to strike once the uprising began.

They were about to set sail, yet inside Tian Heng's cabin, the quarrel continued.

"Ye Yi! The first place we must attack is, of course, Ye Yi!"

Tian Du could not get Ye Yi out of his mind. His proposal was to drive straight for his family's former fief, seize it back from the Qin bandit invaders, and then use Ye Yi as a banner to sweep across the entire Jiaodong coast...

He declared confidently, "My family governed Ye Yi for three generations, over fifty years, and won the people's hearts deeply; the lingering prestige of the Lord of Anping still remains. My father was deceived and killed by that brat Heifu, and among the scholars of Ye Yi, many wish to avenge him. When they hear that Tian Du has returned, they will surely welcome us with baskets of food and pots of drink. Ye Yi has ten thousand households, every citizen a soldier; we can obtain six thousand men. Together with the men under our command, an army of ten thousand will be enough to contend with the commandery troops of Huang County and Chui County!"

Tian Heng, however, looked at Tian Du as if he were an idiot. "Heifu has laid nets on both water and land, wishing for nothing more than for us to attack Ye Yi. Do you know what the situation there is like now?"

Tian Du had not been back since his exile and naturally had no idea, but Tian Heng knew. Not long ago, he had personally led a raid on Ye Yi and returned empty-handed. In the half year and more since the Ye Yi Tian clan fell, their fief had undergone a tremendous transformation.

Tian Du's family lands had been completely divided up. A portion was designated as public fields, their produce supplying the Qin army with food and clothing. The other portion, according to the "Land Grant System," was distributed to the landless left-lane dwellers, hired laborers, and hired hands of Jiaodong Commandery, totaling over a thousand households.

This group had now become supporters of Qin rule in Jiaodong. To protect their newly acquired land, they were willing to be dogs for the Qin and underwent military training every month. Although the county troops of Ye Yi were not numerous, if the magistrate of Ye Yi opened the armory and mobilized these people, they would be enough to hold Ye Yi and withstand the sea bandits' assault.

Tian Heng said pessimistically, "Huang County and Jimo, where the Jiaodong commandery troops are garrisoned, are both just over a hundred li from Ye Yi and can arrive in a few days. If we cannot take Ye Yi quickly and fail to get the 'six thousand men' you speak of, we will be surrounded on three sides... no, with Ren Xiao's naval forces coming from Zhifu Harbor in Chui County, we will be surrounded on all four sides!"

"Should we then storm Huang County or Chui County by force? Wouldn't that be even harder? Or perhaps the salt fields of Xiami?"

Tian Du expressed his confusion. In his view, although the anti-Qin strength in Ye Yi was far less than before, it was still the best place in Jiaodong.

He understood very well that in a short time, the army Jiaodong Commandery could muster would vastly outnumber them no matter what, and that both the Governor Heifu and the Commandant Ren Xiao were extremely cunning commanders.

Tian Heng, however, revealed a hint of a smile. This young man, besides his bravery, possessed a bit of the uniquely sharp eye characteristic of the Qi people.

"We will not strike Jiaodong. No matter how formidable Heifu is, can he lay out plans in the neighboring commanderies as well?"

In his view, the most likely support for this uprising still lay with the various Tian clans. The Jiaodong Tian clans had all been relocated, the wandering swordsmen among the common folk were banned and suppressed, and even the hired hands and left-lane dwellers had been bought off by Heifu with a few acres of poor land, no longer resenting the Qin officials. Attacking Jiaodong would be gnawing on a meatless, hard bone — not worth it.

"Then where should we go?" Tian Du asked, greatly surprised.

Tian Heng did not speak. Instead, he went straight up to the deck, braced against the strong wind blowing from behind, and fixed his gaze to the west!

When Tian Du followed closely behind him onto the deck, he only heard Tian Heng's loud laugh: "The land of Qi — in the east it has the riches of Langya and Jimo, in the south the stronghold of Mount Tai, in the west the barrier of the Turbid River, in the north the advantage of the Lesser Sea. Its territory spans two thousand li, with a million halberdiers, isolated a thousand li away. The land is this vast, yet to undertake a great cause, there is only one capital city that can be called a place contested by all strategists!"

"Scribe Cao! The beacon tower from Huang County has sent up smoke signals!"

A few days later, Cao Can, who had been ordered to protect the military farmlands in Ye Yi and train the commandery troops and militia, received an urgent report from the scouts. He immediately pressed for details: "Is it white smoke or black smoke!"

Black smoke signals an emergency; white smoke signals an alert — this was the rule Heifu had established for the coastal beacon towers.

In the Qin dynasty's watch stations, the most important structure was the watchtower, two to three zhang tall, with a stove on the second floor that could be lit to produce smoke. The stations relied on this function to relay critical military intelligence...

In the past half year, similar incidents had occurred only twice, both times when the sea bandits from Shamen Island sortied in large numbers. Huang County, being closest to Shamen Island, would detect them and light the beacon fire, passing the message from one station to the next.

This time, the smoke rising was white, indicating that a fleet of sea bandits was heading toward Ye Yi...

Cao Can was a cautious man by nature, but he still sighed, "Good, just as the Governor expected. The sea bandits have been in dire straits these past six months, and hearing that the Emperor was assassinated, they finally could not hold back and want to make a big move. They have fallen right into our trap! Immediately summon the county troops and the military farmers — prepare to defend against the enemy!"

Ye Yi was the main area the sea bandits raided. Governor Heifu and Commandant Ren Xiao had stationed a thousand troops here. If this were Qin territory, they could also levy temporary conscripts, but the Qi people of Ye Yi could not be relied upon, so those thousand households of left-lane dwellers became the only auxiliary force. Fortunately, after half a year of drilling, Cao Can had trained them quite well.

At this moment, the commandery and county soldiers and the left-lane dwellers working in the fields also saw the white smoke rising in the distance. They put down their fishing nets and plows, assembled, and after the officials distributed halberds and spears, gathered outside the county town.

Because the response was timely, the sea bandits' previous two raids had been beaten back, but Cao Can dared not be negligent. He immediately donned his armor, grabbed his sword, and strode out — Old Cao was an all-rounder; he could not only judge cases and catch criminals but also had a knack for killing enemies and charging into battle.

Cao Can assembled two thousand men, left half to guard the city to prevent petty criminals from stirring up trouble, and took the rest with him to stand guard ten li from the coast. If the enemy was few, they would drive them back into the sea; if the enemy was many, they would retreat to the city, hold fast, and await reinforcements.

Reinforcements would certainly come. Of this, Cao Can was not worried at all. Heifu and Ren Xiao had stationed a thousand troops each in Xiami and Ye Yi in the north of the commandery, two thousand in Huang County, and a thousand infantry plus two thousand naval troops in Chui County — seven thousand in total...

One must know that the commandery and county troops in the commandery seat of Jimo and the remaining counties combined numbered no more than three thousand. They had truly emptied the interior to guard the borders. In short, the four counties along the northern coast of the commandery formed a mutual support network; if one place had trouble, the other three would come to its aid. The bandits had never once gotten the better of them.

But this time, things seemed somewhat unusual. The sharp-eyed lookouts Cao Can had posted saw from afar that a large number of boats, sails unfurled, were indeed moving along the coastline over ten li away. Seen from a distance, they looked like a few dots the size of beans, yet densely packed, in an endless stream...

Cao Can drew a sharp breath. From his experience, he could tell that the sea bandits of Shamen Island had probably sortied in full force this time!

Clearly, those boats showed no sign of coming ashore. Instead, with sails billowing, they rode the east wind and continued advancing westward. Cao Can guessed that their target was the salt fields of Xiami County!

He immediately had the Ye Yi watch stations relay the beacon fire westward. At the same time, he wrote an urgent report and sent someone to notify Governor Heifu in Jimo, while keeping his troops ready to rush to the rescue at any moment! Yet he also had to guard against the sea bandits doubling back.

"According to the Governor's plan, blocking them by water and land will surely strangle them completely and end this in a single campaign!" Cao Can thought to himself.

But a day later, as Cao Can led his troops on the road to Xiami, he received an urgent report from Xiami County. The commandant of Xiami reported the strange occurrence of the sea bandits bypassing the Xiami salt fields without attacking...

"They ride the wind, heading west..."

"Heading west?"

Cao Can was stunned, and then his expression changed.

"This is bad! The bandits are not targeting Jiaodong, but... Linzi!"

At the same time, along the coast north of Linzi Commandery, the fishermen at the seaside watch stations watched dumbfounded as over a hundred boats came riding the wind and breaking the waves.

Sails fluttered. The "bandits," long absent from this place, praised the strong wind even as they roared with laughter.

Tian Heng stood alone at the prow. He refused the conical hat and straw rain cape his subordinates handed him, facing the wind and waves directly, letting the layers of flying spray soak his beard and hair. His eyes stung and itched from the salt, but that could not stop Tian Heng from craning his neck to gaze at his homeland.

In Tian Heng's eyes, restoring the kingdom naturally meant restoring the capital for it to count! Jiaodong, Langya, Jibei — all were petty skirmishes. If they wanted to succeed, they had to go all out from the very start and seize Linzi!

But Linzi City did not border the sea, so Tian Heng chose Qiancheng County in Linzi Commandery as the landing point.

Qiancheng County was the throat of the sea route, the window of the Qi kingdom. According to the Tian brothers' plan, Tian Rong had already won over Prince Tian Jia in Qiancheng County, intending to use him as a figurehead.

Tian Dan, meanwhile, was planning an uprising in Di County. They would kill the Qin officials and, with the wandering swordsmen of the two counties, welcome Tian Heng and the four thousand stalwart men, combine their forces into an army of ten thousand, cross the Ji River, and drive straight for Linzi...

"Linzi, the metropolis between the sea and Mount Tai, with seventy thousand households. Even if each household provides only one man, we can still get a host of seventy thousand. If we can seize Linzi, the great cause will be accomplished!"

Compared to Linzi, a city of ten thousand households like Ye Yi was a little brother!

Even better, General Wang Ben, who originally guarded Linzi, was not in Qi territory at this moment because he had accompanied the First Emperor on his inspection tour. Linzi only had a deputy general in command. With a few thousand troops from Guanzhong and forty senior officials to control four hundred thousand people of Linzi, how easy could that be? Among the three hundred wards of Linzi, there was no lack of wandering swordsmen and remnant folk who had ties with the Tian brothers. With collaboration from within and without, breaking Linzi and holding it would not be difficult...

Once Linzi fell, the righteous banner would be raised high, letting the world know the news of Qi's revival. Heroes east of the Pass would surely gather like clouds and follow like shadows! Tian Heng believed that in this world, there were many who, like him, bitterly hated the Qin dynasty and longed to restore their kingdoms.

"Soon..."

Tian Heng wiped the salt grains from his beard and spat out the salty, bitter seawater from his mouth. Not only was their cause of restoring the kingdom and taking revenge about to be realized, but the coastline of Qiancheng County was also already right before their eyes!

This area would later become the mouth of the Yellow River, but for now, it was merely the mouth of the Ji River, with dense mangroves, clear and gentle currents, and a broad river surface full of treacherous hidden reefs and sandbars. But as a youth who had grown up along the lower reaches of the Ji River, how could Tian Heng not be familiar with this place?

After directing the fleet to dock one by one, Tian Heng was the first to jump onto a small boat. Accompanied by the rowing chants of his subordinates, he watched the coastline draw closer and closer to him.

Six and a half years. Although Tian Heng had frequently appeared along the Jiaodong coast, this was his first time returning to Linzi Commandery, to the banks of the Ji River.

After disembarking, Tian Heng trudged across the sand toward the shore, one deep step after another. When his feet met solid ground, he could not contain himself — he bowed low and pressed his forehead to this familiar earth, kissed the soil, and drank from the waters of the Ji River.

He had once played and splashed in this river with his brothers, catching the silver fish within; he had also stood at the stern, watching it recede further and further, watching the purple that symbolized Qi fade away as black clouds shrouded the land…

In that moment, this eight-chi man's face was drenched with tears! As if he were a wanderer long parted from home, finally returned to his parents' embrace…

"Qi, my homeland!"

Tian Heng raised his head and, weeping, let out a long cry to the heavens:

"Your son, Tian Heng, has returned!"

PS: Happy National Day, everyone. Chapter two in the afternoon, chapter three in the evening. Begging for monthly tickets.

(End of chapter)