The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 3 The Elixir from the Fish Belly
Dong Erzhu was stunned, his eyes widening: "Second Brother Han, are you crazy?"

Jiang Han's gaze was resolute as he growled, "No time for nonsense. If you want to get out, you'll have to fake an injury! Get to work now!"

He picked up the goose-feather knife from the ground, heated it over the campfire for a while, and then handed it to Dong Erzhu.

Jiang Han bit the hem of his clothes and instructed Erzhu:
"Pillar, watch your aim carefully, don't cut too deep, avoid the meridians!"

Dong Erzhu gripped the knife, his palms sweating, and hesitated to make a move.

Jiang Han urged anxiously, "Hurry up! The city gates will close when it gets dark!"

Dong Erzhu gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and stabbed Jiang Han in the calf.

The blade pierced the flesh, and blood gushed out instantly.

Jiang Han groaned, his face pale and covered in cold sweat, but he managed to hold back from crying out.

To prevent excessive blood loss, Jiang Han gritted his teeth, grabbed a straw rope, and tied it securely above the wound.

"Pillar, Blackie, quick, carry me out!"

Dong Erzhu and Hei Zi carried Jiang Han and rushed out of the tent.

Just as I stepped out of the tent, a familiar shout came from not far away:

"Stop right there! What do you guys think you're doing?!"

The two exchanged a glance, then steeled themselves, lifted Jiang Han, and stepped forward to explain:

"Brother, our squad leader is injured and urgently needs medical treatment. We'd like to go to the city to find a doctor!"

The armored soldier looked at the group suspiciously, then squatted down to examine Jiang Han's wounds closely:

"This is a difficult situation for you. There are orders from above not to leave the camp."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Han immediately understood and shakily pulled out a few taels of loose silver from his pocket, handing them to the soldier.

"We're all comrades, please do me a favor!"

The soldier took the silver, weighed it in his hand, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Okay, go ahead, but keep it quiet! Don't cause me any trouble!"

The group thanked the soldiers and hurriedly left the military camp, heading straight for Pingshan County.

"Young man, you'd better be careful in the future. Luckily, the cut didn't hit any meridians. You should be able to recover in a month or so."

In a simple clinic in Pingshan County, the doctor handed Jiang Han some wound medicine and gave him instructions.

Jiang Han quickly took the porcelain bottle, nodded repeatedly, and paid one tael of silver for the medicine.

After thanking the doctor, the group hurried to the market.

Jiang Han and his two companions had previously scraped together about eight taels of silver. They had given two taels to the armored soldier earlier, and spent another tael just now to treat the wounds, leaving them with very little.

However, during the Chongzhen era, there were consecutive years of famine and grain prices remained high.

The group gritted their teeth and spent four taels of silver to buy about ten bushels of mixed grains. They then hired a donkey cart, loaded the grains, and prepared to transport them back to the military camp.

Jiang Han, supporting Dong Erzhu with one hand, limped out of the market, cursing incessantly at the soaring prices:
"My goodness, these days are getting harder and harder. A bushel of mixed grains costs three qian of silver!"

Just as the group was preparing to return to camp, a man suddenly rushed out from the side of the road, carrying half a basket of fish. Without saying a word, he knelt down in front of Jiang Han and the others.

"Sirs, I just saw that you have bought a lot of grain. Do you also need some meat?"

"These are river fish I just caught. Please, gentlemen, have mercy and take them!"

Jiang Han and the others looked at the man kneeling before them, weeping and wailing, and exchanged bewildered glances.

Seeing that his path was blocked, Hei Zi frowned, took a step forward, and reached out to throw the middle-aged man aside.

"Wait, Hei Zi." Jiang Han reached out to stop him, his gaze fixed on the basket of river fish, clearly having made up his mind.

"We'll take this fish. How much?" Jiang Han asked the man.

"Sir, no money needed, a few pounds of grain will suffice!"

The fishermen were overjoyed and quickly responded, fearing that Jiang Han might change his mind.

Jiang Han nodded, signaling Dong Erzhu to take two bags of mixed grains and hand them to the fishermen.

The fishermen were immediately moved to tears and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "May you live a long and prosperous life, and may your descendants be noble and powerful for generations to come!"

After the fishermen left, Hei Zi scratched his head and asked with some confusion:

"Boss Qi, why are we buying fish? We're not really going to improve our meals, are we?"

"Besides, this basket of fish weighs no more than twenty pounds. It would be too much of a loss for us to trade it for grain!"

Jiang Han pointed to the river fish in front of him and asked Hei Zi:

Have you heard the story of the book written inside a fish's belly?

Hei Zi frowned, turned to look at Dong Erzhu, and the two looked at each other, their faces full of confusion.

Seeing this, Jiang Han shook his head helplessly and patiently explained:
"At the end of the Qin Dynasty, there were two rebel leaders named Chen Sheng and Wu Guang."

"In order to incite public sentiment, the two of them hid the silk brocade with seditious poems written on it inside the fish's belly, deliberately letting people discover it, in order to create the illusion that they were ordained by Heaven."

Upon hearing this, Dong Erzhu and Hei Zi were taken aback and quickly lowered their voices:

"Chieftain, we're just asking for our pay, there's no need for us to rebel, is there?"

Jiang Han rolled his eyes and whispered:
"Rebellion? Why use such a harsh word?"

"Failure is called rebellion! Success is called restoring the dynasty! Don't you understand the principle of 'the victor is king, the loser is villain'?!"

"Besides, Wu Zimian has a knife to our throats, are we not allowed to rebel?"

Even so, Jiang Han was still a little apprehensive. Raising a flag to rebel was no easy task.

If anyone dares to rebel in the second year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, they can expect the imperial army to come and suppress them.

Sun Chuanting, Hong Chengchou, Lu Xiangshan, and the two Caos chased away the various rebel armies, causing them to jump around in disarray.

On the other hand, the Ming Dynasty, this dilapidated ship, can only sail for about fifteen years.

If they kicked him a couple more times, they might be able to move things a few years earlier. Upon learning of Jiang Han's plan, Dong Erzhu and Hei Zi immediately became nervous and hesitated to move forward.

The two men originally thought that Jiang Han's trip was just to collect his pay, but how did he suddenly change his tune and say he wanted to rebel?
Seeing this, Jiang Han quickly tried to calm the two down:

"Don't be so nervous. I didn't say we'd rebel now. After we've done this job, let's find a place to hide and wait and see what happens."

"Besides, can you really bear to watch Wu Zimian slaughter all our border soldiers?!"

Mentioning their comrades in the rear camp who were still kept in the dark, the two men's expressions softened considerably, and they made up their minds, answering in unison:

"Alright! Second Brother Han (Chief Qi), I'll do whatever you say!"

Seeing that the team was on the same page, Jiang Han nodded, then pointed to the fish basket and added:
"I'll stuff a strip of cloth in there later to make it look more realistic. Those soldiers aren't very well-educated, so we'll have to use some tricks."

He looked at the basket of fish at his feet, his brow furrowed, and he fell into deep thought:
"Now that we have the elixir from the fish's belly, how about we add a fox's cry over a campfire?"

After thinking for a moment, he asked Dong Erzhu to go to the previous clinic and buy some borax.

"Brother Han, we don't have much money left, why are we buying this stuff?" Dong Erzhu handed the borax to Jiang Han, looking very puzzled.

Hei Zi, standing to the side, looked at the borax in Jiang Han's hand, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he said excitedly:

"I understand, Commander Qi! You're using magic tricks!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Han looked at Hei Zi, who gave him a smug wink and explained:
"I learned magic tricks for a few days before. When you put borax into a pot of oil, it will bubble even before the oil is hot. If you put your hand in at that point, it's no different from putting your hand in water!"

Jiang Han looked at the smug Kuroko, shook his head, and asked, "Do you know about flame reaction?"

Hei Zi was taken aback, scratched his head, and asked, "What the heck?"

Jiang Han weighed the borax in his hand and continued:
"If you throw this thing into a fire, it will produce green glow and ghostly flames. Isn't that much better than your magic tricks?"

Hei Zi scratched his head again, looking puzzled:

"Chief, why are we going through all this trouble? Why don't we just explain it clearly to the brothers?"

Jiang Han shook his head, his expression calm, and said lightly:
"How can we convince them with mere words?"

"If I hadn't studied a few books, I'm afraid I would have been tricked into going to the drill ground tomorrow, let alone those rough men?"

He paused, then spoke with firmness:
"The letter written in the fish's belly is meant to make them believe, while the fox's cry by the campfire is meant to make them fear!"

Jiang Han put away the borax and urged:

"Alright, stop talking nonsense. Go through everything. I still need to think of something to write and stuff into the fish's belly."

Jiang Han and his two companions drove the cart back to their rear camp in a great hurry.

Upon seeing a large cart approaching on the road, the guards at the rear camp immediately stopped it and demanded in a stern voice:
"What are you guys doing here? And what's in the car?"

Jiang Han explained calmly:
"By order of General Wu, we're exchanging a few bushels of mixed grains for the brothers to tide them over. The cart is full of grain; brothers, would you like to inspect it?"

Upon hearing that it was General Wu's grain cart, the soldiers' expressions changed, and they quickly waved their hands to let it pass.

The group returned to the rear camp and immediately summoned the cooks, instructing them to start a fire, cook, and make some mixed grain cakes.

The man in charge of the rations was a soldier in his forties, wearing a worn-out battle jacket with mandarin duck patterns. He rubbed his hands together excitedly when he saw several carts of mixed grains.
"Lord Jiang, may I ask where this grain came from? My brothers haven't had a meal in ages!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Han smiled faintly:
“I saw that the brothers had run out of food, so I bought some mixed grains to fill their stomachs.”

As he spoke, he pointed to the basket of fish beside him:
"There's also a basket of fresh river fish. Could you please make some fish soup? It's getting cold, so we can all warm ourselves up."

Upon hearing this, the cook's eyes lit up, and he nodded hurriedly, as he hadn't smelled meat in a long time!
Jiang Xiaoqi is actually a pretty good person!

Seeing this, Jiang Han cupped his hands in greeting and said with a smile, "Then I'll have to trouble you brothers from the cookhouse!"

After saying that, he walked to the side and made room for him.

The cook then instructed his soldiers to unload the bags of grain from the cart and start a fire to cook.

As for the fish in that basket, he had to prepare it himself.

Jiang Han leaned against the truck, closing his eyes as if dozing, but in reality, he was on edge, closely watching the cook's movements.

Before long, the aroma of cooking gradually spread, and the entire rear camp was enveloped in the fragrance of multigrain cakes and fish soup.

Many soldiers couldn't help but crawl out of their tents and peer towards the direction where the fire was being lit.

"What are you looking at! Go back inside!"

The guards shouted sternly, trying to disperse the gathered crowd.

"I want to eat! Get out of my way!"

The soldiers huddled together, ignoring the guards' shouts, and burst through the tent flaps, rushing towards the kitchen.

A large group of people huddled around the stove, their eyes glued to the bubbling fish soup in the pot, their mouths watering.

"Hey cook, how much longer until we get to eat? Is this grain that Commander Wang bought?" someone in the crowd asked impatiently.

The cook kept stirring the fish soup in the pot while smiling and saying:

"Brothers, don't worry, there will be plenty of fish soup for everyone!"

He looked up and gestured towards Jiang Han with his chin, then continued:
"Jiang Xiaoqi is kind-hearted, so he specially bought some food to help everyone in this emergency!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was extremely grateful and bowed to Jiang Han, who was pretending to be asleep next to the cart, to express their thanks.

Seeing this, the cook smiled, grabbed a large fish from the basket, and skillfully cut open its belly with a single stroke.

But as soon as the knife struck, it tore out a piece of cloth soaked in blood.

"Hey, why is there a piece of cloth inside this fish's belly?" the cook exclaimed in surprise, pausing in his work.

Jiang Han suddenly opened his eyes, his heart tightening – they're here!
He had deliberately placed the fish stuffed with cloth strips at the bottom so that he could wait for the crowd to gather.

The soldiers watching from the sidelines were instantly in an uproar. They all widened their eyes and crowded around, as if they had seen something extraordinary.

The cook carefully pulled the piece of cloth out of the fish's belly and slowly unfolded it.

The next moment, a line of large, blood-red characters came into view:

"Tomorrow, when the soldiers are paid at the drill ground, slaughter them all!"

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(End of this chapter)