Chief Armaments Master of the Ming Dynasty

Pu County, Shanxi Province.

This small town, located on the east bank of the Yellow River, belongs to Pingyang Prefecture and is situated in the folds of the Lüliang Mountains.

Despite being called a county town, it was actually just an earthen city built against the mountain. The city walls were made of rammed earth and had fallen into disrepair over the years, with the highest point being only a little over two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters).

The city has fewer than two thousand households, most of whom are farmers, and a small number are merchants and artisans.

The magistrate of Pu County was surnamed Wu. He was a fat man in his fifties who had served in the county government for seven years. His greatest achievement was cutting down the largest ancient locust tree in the county and making a set of armchairs for himself.

The garrison commander, surnamed Liu, was a distant nephew of Magistrate Wu. He held a nominal position in the garrison and commanded less than a hundred soldiers—less than fifty of whom were actually capable of fighting.

That night, Magistrate Wu was drinking with his concubine in the back room.

He bought his concubine last year from a slave trader for twenty taels of silver. She was originally a respectable woman from Henan and was quite beautiful.

Magistrate Wu doted on her and specially set up a table of food and wine in the back hall for her to drink with.

"Master, I've heard the bandits in Shaanxi are causing quite a ruckus," the concubine said cautiously as she poured him wine. "Won't they attack our area?"

"What's there to be afraid of?" Magistrate Wu slurped down a mouthful of wine, his fat face glistening with oil. "Shaanxi is Shaanxi, and Shanxi is Shanxi. The Yellow River is a natural barrier between them; even if bandits had wings, they couldn't fly over. Besides, our Pu County has strong walls, well-trained soldiers, and ample supplies. Even if there are bandits, they'll just be coming to their deaths."

The concubine breathed a sigh of relief and poured him another cup.

Magistrate Wu picked up his wine cup, about to bring it to his lips, when he suddenly heard a commotion outside. People were shouting, running, and there were sounds of clashing weapons.

"What's going on?" Magistrate Wu frowned. "Where's Battalion Commander Liu? Send him to see who's causing trouble in the city—"

Before he could finish speaking, the door was flung open. A constable, his face covered in blood, stumbled in and collapsed to the ground.

"Master...Master! Something terrible has happened! Thieves...thieves have entered the city!"

Magistrate Wu's hand trembled, and the wine cup crashed to the ground, shattering into pieces. "What thief? Where did this thief come from?"

"I...I don't know! They were everywhere, a dark mass! Commander Liu...Commander Liu was hacked to death!"

Magistrate Wu's mind went blank. He stood up, wanting to run outside, but his legs were as weak as noodles, and he collapsed to the ground. The concubine huddled in the corner, trembling with fear.

"Quickly...quickly help me up!" Magistrate Wu shouted hoarsely, "Out the back door! Out the back door—"

Before Magistrate Wu could finish speaking, several men covered in blood rushed in. They were dressed in tattered clothes and carried blood-dripping knives.

The leader was a burly man with a blood-soaked rag wrapped around his left arm. His eyes, in the dim light, looked like two burning embers.

Magistrate Wu recognized him—this was the man depicted on the notice. Although the drawing didn't resemble him at all, he recognized those eyes. Those were the eyes of someone who had killed.

"Wang... Prince Shun!"

Wang Zishun lowered his head and looked at the fat man who was lying on the ground.

His gaze moved from Magistrate Wu's face to the silk robe he wore, then to the exquisite dishes and wine on the table, and finally to the trembling young woman in the corner.

Then he looked at himself—his tattered clothes, his bleeding wounds, and his hands covered in mud.

"Are you the magistrate of Pu County?" His voice was hoarse.

"Yes...yes...Hero, spare my life! Hero, spare my life!" Magistrate Wu knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly. "This humble official...no, I'm willing to offer up the county treasury's money and grain, just beg for your life!"

Wang Zishun didn't speak. He walked to the table, picked up the wine jug, and took a large gulp. The wine was strong, burning his throat.

He put down the wine jug, picked up a piece of meat, and stuffed it into his mouth. The meat was delicious; it tasted like something he had never eaten in his life.

"This whole table of food you've prepared," he mumbled, chewing on some meat, "could be enough to feed an ordinary family for a year if converted into grain."

Magistrate Wu's teeth chattered, and he was unable to speak.

Wang Zishun swallowed the meat and looked at him. "I'll take it from the county treasury myself. Your life..."

He paused.

A flash of light appeared.

Magistrate Wu's pleas for mercy abruptly ceased. The large head rolled to the ground, its eyes still wide open, filled with confusion and fear.

Wang Zishun wiped the blood off the knife from his body and turned around. The concubine in the corner had already fainted from fright.

"Don't touch her," he said to the brothers behind him, and strode out of the back room.

Pu County fell.

At daybreak, Wang Zishun stood on the city wall of Puxian, gazing at the rolling mountains outside the city.

The rising sun cast its golden rays upon the small town he had just conquered, as it rose above the eastern mountain ridge.

Miao Mei walked up to the city wall. "Brother, the county treasury inventory is complete. There are 800 shi of grain, 500 taels of silver, and 100 bolts of cloth. There's also the armory—50 knives, 100 spears, 30 bows, and 2,000 arrows."

Wang Zishun nodded.

These spoils were a considerable fortune for a force of over a thousand men.

But he couldn't be happy.

Pu County is the county seat. He occupied the county seat, and the government will not let it go easily.

"Brother, what's next?" Miao Mei asked. "Defend Pu County?"

Wang Zishun shook his head. "We can't hold it. The walls of Puxian are too low, and we don't have any cannons. If the government troops come, we'll be trapped like turtles in a jar."

"That……"

"Splitting up the troops." Wang Zishun turned around and looked at Miao Mei. "With our small force, if we stay together, the government troops will wipe us out in one fell swoop. Splitting up will make it easier for us to maneuver."

Miao Mei frowned: "Separate? Where to separate them?"

Wang Zishun pointed eastward. "You lead one group eastward, passing through Zhaocheng, Hongdong, Fenzhou, and Huozhou. I'll lead another group westward, passing through Shilou, Yonghe, Jizhou, and Xizhou. The two groups will not be under each other's command and will develop independently. If we encounter small groups of government troops, we'll wipe them out; if we encounter large groups, we'll retreat into the mountains."

Miao Mei pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. But brother, if we split up, how will we raise the banner?"

Wang Zishun gazed at the distant, rolling mountains and remained silent for a long time.

Then, he said something.

"From today onwards, I will be called 'King of the One Character Across the Sky'."

The one-word king of Hengtian.

He saw this name on the plaque of the Puxian County Government Office last night.

The plaque bears the inscription "Uprightness Across Heaven," left by the former county magistrate.

He felt that the two characters "横天" (Hengtian) suited his temperament perfectly.

If Heaven won't let me live, I'll just stand here under the sky and see what you can do to me.

Miao Mei silently repeated the name, a glint of light flashing in her eyes.

"Excellent! The King of One Characters Across the Sky! Brother, that's a resounding name!"

On that day, Wang Zishun officially raised the banner of "King of Hengtian Yizi" in Puxian County and announced the opening of granaries to distribute grain.

In the famine-stricken final years of the dynasty, grain became a magnet for the poor.

Most of the starving people who received the food did not leave immediately.

They carried heavy sacks, looking at the "King of the Horizontal One" banner fluttering in the wind on the west side of the field. Several wooden tables were set up under the flagpole, where people were registering their names.

Hesitant, looking around, and then, the first, the second... more and more people, dragging their families, headed towards that flag.

By noon, Wang Zishun received a report that the number of newly surrendered young men had exceeded five hundred.

He stood on the city wall, watching those new faces being simply organized into groups in the west field, and felt a deep sense of emotion.

---

The news of the fall of Puxian County shocked the surrounding areas.

The governor of Shanxi urgently reported to the imperial court, and the governor-general of Shaanxi, Hong Chengchou, also received the military report.

The local government troops were mobilized and surrounded Pu County.

After reorganizing the newly surrendered young men, Wang Zishun divided his troops into two groups, preparing to advance into the heart of Shanxi.