Bringing the Railway to Daming

Jack was a baron whose estate was near London, but it was very small.

And when Jack inherited the title more than twenty years ago, he had spent almost all of his family's wealth to bribe royal officials and church personnel. Later, he had to engage in commercial activities as a nobleman.

Perhaps he had a knack for business. Over the course of twenty years, he grew his business from small to large, becoming a well-known merchant in London. He even bought a house in the city, though his reputation among the aristocracy wasn't very good because of his business dealings.

With a title and money, Jack naturally started a family early on and currently has two daughters and one son.

The eldest daughter had already married a baron in the north, while the second daughter, now fifteen, remained unmarried. Because the second daughter was exceptionally beautiful, and Jack's status was now slightly higher than before, he was considering arranging a marriage for her with a count or a powerful baron.

As for his youngest son, who is only eight years old, he is still at home receiving education from the tutors he has hired.

Some time ago, Jack heard that the Ming army from the mainland had landed in southern Great Britain and attacked the kingdom, so he decisively moved his wife, daughter and servants from the suburban manor to London.

In his mind, London was so large, with a king and many nobles, and tens of thousands of troops stationed there. No matter how powerful the Ming army was, it would be impossible for them to conquer London.

So, after moving to his house in London, he felt relieved for the time being and even thought about whether he could expand his business and make more money while many minor nobles, merchants and commoners were gathering in London.

Who knew that the situation would take a sharp turn for the worse in less than half a month.

He first heard that the Ming army had successively captured four major cities along the southern coast, and then a few days later, the Ming army captured two more major cities in the east, making it seem as if they were going to attack London from the Thames.

Subsequently, even more people flocked to London for refuge, and the streets and alleys were filled with people.

Jack estimated that the city of London previously had a population of only around 100,000, but after this period of time, more and more people have come to the city to seek refuge, and the population is estimated to be close to 200,000.

As too many people flocked to the city to seek refuge, the prices of food, vegetables, fish, and meat began to rise rapidly.

Fortunately, he had anticipated this and had his family buy up a lot of flour and other grains when he first fled to the city with his family.

So, when grain prices soared, his family not only had no worries about food and drink, but even took the opportunity to make a large sum of money.

However, Jack was not happy about this at all, because according to the news from the royal court, the army at the front had suffered one defeat after another, and even with the fortresses along the Thames, they could not stop the Ming army's advance.

This made Jack lose faith in the royal court and doubt whether London could be defended.

His worries were short-lived, for he heard that morning that the king and the nobles were packing their belongings and preparing to flee London.

At first, he didn't believe it, so he went to the house of an earl he knew and saw the earl organizing his servants to pack up his valuables, looking very hurried and flustered.

He then asked whether London was truly beyond defense.

The earl did not hide it from him, telling him that the king had already ordered the abandonment of London and that they would find an opportunity to fight back in the future.

After receiving the confirmation, Jack was distraught and quickly returned home. He also organized his family to pack their belongings and prepare to escape. The legendary Mingren was a descendant of the demon race, with black hair and black eyes, who could control fire and lightning, and even eat people. He dared not stay with his family to verify whether the rumors were true.

However, he couldn't help but feel heartbroken when packing up his belongings.

After years of hard work in business, most of his assets were in several shops and two estates outside the city, mostly real estate. In particular, the gold and silver coins he brought into the city were even less—most of them were buried underground in the estates.

Now it's impossible for him to go back to the manor and dig out those buried coins. I wonder if those coins will be discovered after the manor was occupied by the Ming army.

Just as Jack was feeling anxious and uncertain, a chaotic cacophony of shouts suddenly erupted outside—curses, screams, and maniacal laughter—a sound that was terrifying to hear.

Just as Jack was about to send a servant to see what was going on, the gate was suddenly kicked open, and several men who looked like militiamen rushed in.

The butler immediately stepped forward and scolded, "What are you doing? Don't you know that trespassing on someone else's property is against the law..."

Before the steward could finish speaking, the militia leader thrust his spear into the steward's stomach. Then, several other men who looked like militiamen also drew their weapons and began killing anyone they saw.

"what!"

A maid screamed in fright at the sight, but a militiaman lewdly pounced on her and began to do the deed on the spot.

Seeing that his servants couldn't hold off the militiamen, Jack snapped out of his daze and ran to the main house. Without a word, he slammed the door shut and yelled, "Quickly close all the windows! Bring things over to barricade the door!"

Inside, his wife Anne and daughter Diana were directing two maids to tidy up when they heard this, and they were all taken aback. Diana reacted quickly and ran to close the window first, which brought the others to their senses, and they followed suit to close the other windows.

Jack, along with a maid, struggled to carry a dining table to block the main door.

At that moment, the door was slammed shut a few times.

Anne, Diana, and the others shuddered in fright and hid against the wall. Jack was also covered in sweat and pale-faced—he dared not think about what would happen if these militiamen rushed in.

He will most likely die, and his wife and daughter will probably suffer the same fate as the maids outside—they won't survive either. "How could this be?"

"The Ming army hasn't even arrived yet, and these militia have already rebelled?"

"Where is the royal army? Are they really abandoning us?"

Jack murmured, bewildered and fearful, while feeling a deep disappointment in the royal court.

Just then, the shouts and curses of the militiamen came from outside.

"You filthy bastard, open the door right now, or we'll kill your whole family when we get in!"

"You sons of bitches, you swindlers! If you know what's good for you, open the door now and hand over all your money. Maybe we'll spare your lives!"

"Not coming out? If you don't come out, we'll set this house on fire!"

"···"

The militiamen outside were shouting more and more fiercely, and their emotions seemed to be getting more and more agitated.

Anne, who was also pale, came over and asked, "What do we do now? Should we give them some money?"

"Foolish!" Jack said angrily. "If we dare to open the door or window, they will definitely take the opportunity to break in, and we will only be killed!"

Anne frowned and said, "But what if they really burn the house down?"

"Burn the house down? This house isn't so easy to burn down... Let's stall for a while."

Before Jack could finish speaking, a window on the first floor was smashed open and started shaking violently. Seeing this, he quickly said, "Quick, grab something and block the window!"

But when he looked around, he found that there was nothing suitable to block the window.

Although the window was positioned high up, making it difficult for the other party to smash it, it had already loosened under impact and was about to break.

Seeing this, Jack could only say, "Quick, let's go up to the second floor!"

So he led the group upstairs in a hurry. Just as they locked the door, they heard the sound of a window breaking and someone jumping in, followed by the sound of footsteps going upstairs.

Jack, of course, didn't sit idle. He had already moved a table to block the door to the second-floor room, and then moved two chairs. He then asked his wife and maid to help carry the cabinets, and soon the door to the master bedroom was blocked.

Outside, there were sounds of soldiers ransacking the place, pushing open doors and breaking windows, and shouting and cursing.

Soon, the rioting soldiers found the master bedroom where they were hiding and started banging on the door again. In just a few blows, they smashed a hole in the wooden door and stabbed it with their spears!

"what!"

The women screamed in terror, while his son George hid in Anne's arms and cried.

Jack took out a precious sword hanging on the wall of the master bedroom and slashed at the spear that had been thrust in, cutting it in half. Seeing that the other party couldn't push open the blocked door at all, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"You sons of bitches, you unscrupulous businessmen! I don't believe you can hide inside forever and never come out!"

The soldiers outside were cursing and swearing, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps, as if they were going downstairs.

Jack dared not open the door—he feared they might be up to something, having someone hide outside and rush in when they opened the door.

After some time, the sound of footsteps approached again, followed by the sound of liquid being splashed outside the door, and the smell of grease wafted out.

Immediately, the soldiers shouted, "You sons of bitches, if you don't come out, we'll set the house on fire!"

The other person said, "Come out and give us all the money, then we'll leave!"

Immediately, all the women and children in the room looked at Jack, waiting for him to make a decision.

For a moment, Jack was torn between his own mind and his own thoughts, unsure of what to do.

He looked at the master bedroom window, ran over and looked down, and saw a riotous soldier guarding the area below, which made him feel even more desperate.

Just then, he heard the sound of gunfire coming from outside.

Immediately following was a panicked cry: "It's terrible! The Ming army has entered the city!" (End of Chapter)