Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 352, Assassination of the Commander-in-Chief
As time passed, by late May, the temperature in the capital had become hot.

Several factories sprang up from the ground, and the work inside was in full swing.

The Beijing Steel Plant, the Beijing No.1 Rolling Mill, the Beijing No.1 Machinery Plant, the Beijing No.1 Gunpowder Manufacturing Plant, and so on.

A new class is quietly growing stronger.

Worker!

Workers nowadays need to have certain basic skills, otherwise they will not be able to operate the machinery.

Fortunately, Fang Yong had already developed basic education to some extent before, and the most basic "Elementary Education" and "Industry Treatise" were somewhat popular among the common people.

The most widespread area of ​​its popularity was in Fang Yong's hometown, near Huaizhou.

The people of Huaizhou were the first to accept Fang Yong's rule, lived the most prosperous lives, and had leisure time to learn. There were many retired soldiers from the Huaiyin Army in the area who would serve as village chiefs, hamlet chiefs, and other official positions, and would also take time to teach the people.

Under these circumstances, the basic quality of life of the people in the Huaizhou area is relatively high.

Fang Yong then arranged for some of the more educated people from Huaizhou to come to Beijing and work in factories.

In addition, many of Daehee's original craftsmen were also recruited into the factory.

The management level was filled by non-commissioned officers who were wounded and retired on the battlefield, or those who had made meritorious contributions and could voluntarily apply to return to the rear, but basically no one would do that.

Even a fool could see that the King of Wu is currently riding high, and the unification of the nine provinces is not far off. This is the perfect time to make a name for oneself. If one does not seize this opportunity to establish merit, it will be too late after the war ends.

Meanwhile, in Xiangyang, Hubei, today is the official handover of the city's defenses.

Jiang Feng was responsible for leading the handover of troops under Ma Laohei's command.

After the handover is completed, Hua Xiu and others will go to the capital to report on their duties as ordered.

The handover process went smoothly. The garrison of Xiangyang opened the city gates and voluntarily left the city, relinquishing its defenses.

Jiang Feng took over the city's defenses, carefully inspected them, and after confirming that there were no loopholes, notified Ma Laohei behind him.

Only then did Ma Laohei lead his army to Xiangyang.

From this point on, Xiangyang officially changed hands.

It is all the better that this ancient and fortified city could be handed over peacefully. If a siege were to be launched, given the strength of Xiangyang, even the most elite Huaiyin army would have left behind thousands of corpses.

After entering the city, Ma Laohei held a banquet to appease the surrendered Xiangyang garrison.

This is a common tactic used in accepting surrenders to stabilize public sentiment, and there's nothing unusual about it.

When the banquet began, many of the army's generals chose to attend.

In the dark.

"it's him!!!"

A somewhat older man with short hair muttered through gritted teeth in the shadows.

The man stared at a young general below Ma Laohei's seat, his eyes bloodshot. This was the man who had destroyed the mountain and temple, severing the century-old lineage of his Shaolin Buddhist sect.

"Zhiguang, Zhimou, Zhizhen, when we make our move, you three kill that man first to avenge the abbot. Senior Hong and I will be responsible for assassinating the leader of the hall!"

The man gave the order, and it was not hard to tell from his words that he was a remnant of Shaolin.

On the other side, the senior Hong mentioned by the man was still hesitating whether or not to make a move.

He is the leader of the Beggars' Clan, the largest gang in the world, and one of the Five Greats of the World, on par with Xiao Jueke.

Normally, Old Master Hong was used to wandering the martial arts world and didn't concern himself with the mundane affairs of the gang.

He was summoned because the Beggars' Sect was facing a life-or-death crisis.

With Fang Yong's rapid rise to power, the doubled food profits led to the swift disappearance of beggars. So-called poverty was actually caused by insufficient resource allocation, but Fang Yong, through his own efforts, nearly doubled the resources, naturally dealing a devastating blow to the begging profession.

Unless someone is born with a disability and cannot take care of themselves, any normal person with hands and feet can earn a normal life through labor.

In this day and age, people still hold morality, such as propriety, righteousness, integrity, and a sense of shame, in high regard.

Generally speaking, if one can live a normal life, very few people would choose to become a beggar.

The foundation of the Beggars' Sect was shaken, especially the Northern faction north of Shandong, which was almost completely wiped out. The remaining forces retreated to Xiangyang. Acting leader Lu Yuanyi was unwilling to have his power reduced. He joined forces with other Jianghu sects affected by Fang Yong, raised the slogan of "Support Xi and Destroy Wu", and convened a heroes' assembly to attack Fang Yong.

It just so happened that the defense of Xiangyang was about to be handed over to Fang Yong.

So these people discussed it and decided to take this opportunity to assassinate Ma Laohei, provoke conflict between the North and the South, and prevent Fang Yong from achieving peaceful unification.

Old Hong originally didn't want to come; he's a complicated person.

On the one hand, Fang Yong did indeed shake the foundation of the Beggars' Sect, and as the leader of the Beggars' Sect, Elder Hong should have maintained the sect's legacy.

On the other hand, Hong Lao has traveled all over the world over the years and has personally witnessed how the people have gone from poverty to prosperity under Fang Yong's rule. Although the Beggars' Sect has suffered losses, this may not necessarily be a bad thing for the world.

Caught between these two conflicting thoughts, Mr. Hong initially wanted to evade the matter and not get involved.

However, not long ago, Shaolin Temple was destroyed, and Master Huixing of Shaolin Temple, who had escaped by chance, sent someone to ask him to eliminate the thieves with the abbot's token.

In his early years, Master Hong had received help from Shaolin. Now that Shaolin has been destroyed, he cannot ignore it due to his chivalrous spirit.

"I'll only make this one move to repay the debt of gratitude from back then, and then I'll retire from the martial world..."

This is what Old Hong thought to himself.

The banquet in the army was accompanied by singing and dancing, and the performance was a traditional dance from Hubei.

Huixing and his companions disguised themselves among the performers, who wore face paint and strange hats to disguise themselves as monks.

Halfway through the performance, the comet changed positions with the music, and at this point it was closest to Ma Laohei, who was sitting in the main seat, at only about 20 meters away.

"Do it!"

Hui Xing roared and leaped forward.

The three disciples, Zhiguang, Zhimou, and Zhizhen, charged out together, heading straight for the young general from before.

Hui Xing pounced forward, startling everyone at the banquet.

The officers, especially those from Xiangyang, were caught off guard.

He just handed over his military power and was waiting for the future wealth and honor to enjoy his old age. Why is he doing this now?

Several local officers from Xiangyang were even more anxious than the Huaiyin troops. They rushed forward to intercept Huixing, shouting, "There's an assassin! Commander Qing, run!"

Huixing has been practicing at Shaolin for many years. Although he is now old and his martial arts skills are slightly inferior, he is still much stronger than ordinary people.

He swung out both palms, which were much wider than those of ordinary people, making them the unique Shaolin martial art, Prajna Palm.

With two palm strikes, the two Xiangyang officers who were blocking the way were forced back several steps, their chests wracked with pain.

It was a banquet, and none of them were wearing armor or weapons. They were no match for these martial arts masters with their bare hands.

Huixing strode forward; there were still ten meters to go.

The guards beside Ma Laohei immediately stepped forward to stop him.

These bodyguards of Ma Laohei all wore swords and armor.

Hui Xing stepped forward and struck out with both palms, his palms throbbing with pain. With his skill, he was far from being able to penetrate the thick iron armor.

(End of this chapter)