The Great Rebel at the End of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 077 Entering the City

Zhou Lun arrived in Fugu on the third day.

Because of the delay caused by dealing with the prisoners, he did not set off with the main force. Fortunately, this time he was assigned to the rear guard and walked at the very back of the column.

By the time he arrived in Fugu, the entire area had been pacified. Thanks to Zhao Sheng's skillful deception and the cooperation of Liu Balai, who was defending the city, the rebel army easily captured Fugu without much trouble.

In fact, the government had not been in control of Fugu for very long.

Wang Jiayin's troops had occupied Fugu County for a period of time before, and Fugu County had long been "cleaned up" by Wang Jiayin and his gang—those who should be killed were killed, and those who should be driven away were driven away.

When the government regained control of the grain reserves, the officials there had either been beheaded by Wang Jiayin or had long since disappeared. The only ones left were the yamen runners and servants who were just scraping by in the yamen.

Later, when Wang Jiayin led his troops south, many able-bodied men from Fugu followed him. After the government reclaimed Fugu, they couldn't even find a single proper official. Considering the local area couldn't be left unmanaged, Lu Jinchun and Mai Danian had to take over Fugu as garrison commanders and border soldiers, and managed to find a few lucky clerks who had escaped with their lives to help with administrative affairs. As for proper officials, those had to be appointed by the imperial court; they couldn't make that decision and could only wait for the court to assign them to other posts.

But before this matter could be properly arranged, Fugu changed hands once again.

Now, not only has Fugu City fallen into Gao Yingxiang's hands, but the complete annihilation of Lu Jinchun and Mai Danian's armies has also created a power vacuum around Fugu.

After Gao Yingxiang captured Fugu, he immediately sent troops to patrol the surrounding area. This was partly to intimidate all sides and partly to declare the rebel army's sovereignty over Fugu. Seeing the overwhelming strength of the rebel army, and with news of Lu Jinchun and Mai Danian's defeat and deaths, the local people and even the garrison troops had no choice but to accept Gao Yingxiang's rule over the region.

Zhou Lun entered the city, where Wang Tieniu was already waiting. Upon seeing Zhou Lun, he immediately came forward to greet him warmly.

"Have the rebel leader and my elder brother been settled in?"

"Everything's settled in." Wang Tieniu said with a radiant smile, "By the way, the King of Chuang arranged a house for you, Brother Lun. Come on! I'll take you to see it."

Zhou Lun did not refuse. He summoned a subordinate and asked him to lead the troops to the camp. He himself, along with Gao Guiying, Gao Yigong, and several guards, followed Wang Tieniu to the residence that had been arranged for them.

Upon arriving at the location, Zhou Lun was struck by the size of the mansion. From the outside, it clearly belonged to a wealthy family, with an imposing facade and gray-tiled roofs—no ordinary household could afford it. Zhou Lun inquired with Wang Tieniu, and it was indeed true. Apparently, this mansion had previously been the residence of the magistrate of Fugu County. Later, when Mai Danian came to Fugu, he stayed here. Now that Fugu had been reclaimed, Gao Yingxiang had specially given the mansion to Zhou Lun.

He walked around the house; it had three courtyards, a spacious layout, and a small garden. Zhou Lun was very satisfied with the accommodations and casually asked Wang Tieniu how the others were being accommodated.

From Wang Tieniu, Zhou Lun learned that Gao Yingxiang had moved directly into the county government office. Li Wanqing and Li Shoutian, as well as Wang Tieniu himself, lived not far from Zhou Lun. Their residence was the former residence of the county magistrate.

Wang Er lived in the registrar's residence, while Zhao Sheng's residence was specially chosen for him by Gao Yingxiang; it was the former home of the instructor of Fugu County. After all, Zhao Sheng was a student who had passed the imperial examinations, and although he had now rebelled and joined the righteous army, the instructor's residence had a strong scholarly atmosphere, and it was not as suitable for others to live there as it was for Zhao Sheng.

These people all lived not far apart, and were also very close to the county government office. Zhou Lun nodded after listening, without saying anything.

By this time, Gao Guiying was already leading people to clean the courtyard. Gao Yigong was also helping out, some fetching water, others sweeping the floor, making a lively scene. Zhou Lun stood in the courtyard, watching this scene, and suddenly felt a sense of home in his heart.

To be honest, since arriving in this era, apart from the initial period when I lived at Li Wanqing's house, ever since Li Wanqing was imprisoned, I have risked entering the city to save Li Wanqing, and subsequently been forced to start an uprising due to the situation...

Now, half a year has passed in the blink of an eye. In these six months, from Bao'an County to Anding County, then from Anding County to Qingjian County, and then all the way north, passing through Suide, Mizhi, and then Shenmu... Zhou Lun can be said to have been constantly on the move, spending far more time in wilderness camps than in cities. Even after he married Gao Guiying, he followed the rebel army on its campaigns.

It wasn't until he arrived in Fugu today and stepped into this house that Zhou Lun truly felt a sense of "home" for the first time.

Just as Zhou Lun was lost in thought, footsteps sounded outside the courtyard. Then a subordinate came to report that the rebel leader knew Zhou Lun had just entered the city and wanted him to meet at the county government office.

"Go ahead, don't keep your uncle waiting. I'll take some people to settle things here," Gao Guiying said to Zhou Lun with a smile.

Zhou Lun nodded, leaving Gao Yigong and a few of his men to help, and then turned and left with Wang Tieniu.

Before long, they arrived at the Fugu County Government Office.

Gao Yingxiang was currently staying at the county government office. Four militiamen were standing guard at the entrance. Upon seeing Zhou Lun arrive, they quickly bowed and saluted. Zhou Lun greeted his brothers at the entrance and then stepped inside.

Once inside, after taking only a few steps, one could hear Gao Yingxiang's hearty laughter coming from within.

Zhou Lun followed the sound and soon arrived at the main hall. He immediately saw Gao Yingxiang sitting in the main seat, chatting and laughing. To his left and right, Li Wanqing, Wang Er, Zhao Sheng, Huang Long, Liu Zhe, and even Li Shoutian were already seated.

Because of the meeting, the desk in the main hall of the county government had been removed long ago. Gao Yingxiang sat in the seat that the county magistrate usually sat in, with a plaque hanging above his head that read "A Clear Mirror Hangs High" in large characters.

To his left and right were two rows of chairs, where Li Wanqing and the others sat. At first glance, if this were not still a county government office, or if the plaque that read "A Clear Mirror Hangs High" were replaced with "Acting on Behalf of Heaven," it would look more like the Hall of Righteousness of Liangshan Marsh from a folk tale.

"King Chuang! Fellow leaders!"

Stepping inside, Zhou Lun first bowed to Gao Yingxiang, who was seated in the main seat, and then greeted the other leaders present with a smile.

"Brother Zhou is here! Come, come, take a seat!" Gao Yingxiang beamed with joy when he saw Zhou Lun arrive, and pointed to the empty seat that had been specially reserved for Zhou Lun.

The seating arrangement below Gao Yingxiang had already been decided long ago.

The first seat on the left was naturally Li Wanqing's; the first seat on the right was occupied by Wang Er. Li Wanqing's left-hand seat was occupied by Zhao Sheng, and the seat to Wang Er's left was empty, reserved for Zhou Lun. Next were Huang Long, Liu Zhe, and Li Shoutian, among others.

This ranking clearly demonstrates Gao Yingxiang's high regard for Zhou Lun.

It should be noted that in their rebel army, Gao Yingxiang was the leader and Li Wanqing was the second-in-command.

Before joining forces, Wang Er and Zhao Sheng were both leaders of their own rebel armies, carrying considerable weight. While Zhou Lun was Li Wanqing's sworn brother and second-in-command, based on this status alone, he was roughly on par with Huang Long and Liu Zhe. In terms of seniority, Huang Long and Liu Zhe were old comrades who had followed Gao Yingxiang in the uprising, and should logically be ranked ahead of Zhou Lun.

However, Gao Yingxiang placed Zhou Lun in a position second only to Zhao Sheng, which is enough to prove that Zhou Lun is no longer just Li Wanqing's subordinate.

Especially due to the two vanguard actions, plus the battle at Gaohanling. Although the righteous army won this battle and the primary credit went to Wang Er, in truth, the real credit for this decisive victory should belong to Zhou Lun.

The plan for the Battle of Gaohanling was devised by Zhou Lun for Gao Yingxiang. If Zhou Lun had not taken advantage of Wang Jiayin's troops marching south, cleverly used the Shenmu incident to lure the government out, and set up an ambush at Gaohanling, how could this great victory have come about?

It was precisely because of this that the rebel army not only annihilated the government troops that posed the greatest threat from the north, but also seized Fugu County. With Fugu County in hand, and with no government troops in the surrounding area capable of resisting the rebels, and with Wang Jiayin's southward advance keeping the southern government troops hundreds of miles away while also drawing the court's attention, they were now virtually secure in Fugu, with no immediate worries about their rear.

Zhou Lun thanked him and walked towards his seat. After sitting down, he smiled and nodded slightly to Li Wanqing and Zhao Sheng opposite him, while also nodding to Wang Er, who was seated to his left.

Li Wanqing and Zhao Sheng also smiled and nodded to Zhou Lun.

However, Wang Er's attitude was not so good. He glanced at Zhou Lun sideways, his face devoid of any smile, seemingly still harboring resentment towards Zhou Lun for stopping him from killing prisoners. He snorted coldly and turned his head away, no longer looking at Zhou Lun.

Zhou Lun didn't care about Wang Er's attitude. He knew exactly what this brute was thinking. Besides, while Wang Er looked down on Zhou Lun, Zhou Lun looked down on him in return. Whatever!

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