The Heroic Age of the Late Qing Dynasty

Zhang Yinghao reflected for a moment, then realized he'd been too extreme. Going from zero to one is difficult, but one begets two, two begets three, and three begets everything. He still needed to accumulate experience, but he also needed to make some preparations, otherwise he'd be in a state of turmoil again.

At this time, Zhang Feng returned and immediately reported, "Battalion Commander, landlord Zhang Youcai has a good reputation in this village. His ancestors were from this village and sometimes did some good deeds like building bridges and roads. But this time, his son gambled away and ran up a lot of debts. Liu Youcai refused to give his son money, so his son forced him to death. I asked him why he didn't hand over his son when we attacked him, and he said that even a tiger wouldn't eat its own cubs..."

Zhang Yinghao interrupted and asked, "Has Liu Youcai's son been arrested?"

"He was caught. When I heard he had forced someone to death, I immediately went home to ask Liu Youcai for help. We arrived quickly and didn't let him get away."

"Then drag Liu Youcai's son out and execute him after a public trial. Since Liu Youcai and his family members have a good reputation, take them back to Zhangjiagou for labor reform under public supervision. If they refuse to work or escape, they will be dealt with on the spot."

At this time, Bao Shilin came over with a group of people. Zhang Yinghao handed over the meeting to him, emphasized the discipline, and then said: "Before I attacked Liu Youcai, I promised to give each of the villagers I captured 50 kilograms of food. You will distribute it to them later. Count the other financial matters of Liu Youcai's family. Liujiazhai is not a big village, and it is located halfway up the mountain. There are no streams or waterways nearby to build a reservoir, but I observed that almost all the fields in the village are below the village and are irrigated with the well water in the village. Now the well water is almost gone. As long as we dig a large pond in front of the village, the irrigation water for the entire village will be almost enough, and the well water will not be wasted.

This year's harvest is almost gone. We already have some people from this village working with us, so we're organizing them to come back. Since so many people have come from our village, we can also organize some more to come over. The wages will be the same as when we build the reservoir. "You go down and see how the excavation is done, calculate the workload, and keep enough materials. The rest will be taken back to Zhangjiagou for storage." After discussing for a while, he took half of the team back, and the other half stayed here to help Bao Shilin open the granary and store the grain.

But soon, Bao Shilin sent someone back to report a situation to Zhang Yinghao. Zhang Yinghao immediately became anxious and rushed to Liujiazhai with all the soldiers with guns. It turned out that Liu Youcai's family only had a few able-bodied men, but when Bao Shilin was sorting out the property, he felt that Liu Youcai had too much money, which was not right. He immediately led the soldiers to interrogate the captured people and found out that Liu Youcai had an iron mine and an iron smelting furnace at home.

Because Liu Youcai's family had once held official positions and held considerable influence, but now they were in decline, they knew the principle of "possessing a treasure is a crime" and hid all their wealth from others. They rarely sold their refined products nearby but instead shipped them to Yuechi or even Shunqing. They even had a shop in Chongqing.

Zhang Yinghao was in such a state of mind right now that he just wanted to curse. This landlord was completely out of his mind, hoarding his wealth at home. He was so powerful, yet he still acted pretentiously. What was he supposed to do? The iron mine might not have many men guarding it, but they definitely had firearms. The servants had heard that his son had lost all his money transporting goods. Zhang Yinghao immediately interrogated Liu Youcai, his family, and the able-bodied men.

Finally, I figured out the whole story. His family had five guns that they bought in Chongqing, and a few shotguns that they bought from the Green Camp. Liu Youcai, realizing the situation was hopeless, hid the shotguns in the compartment of his room. The others were at the iron mine. There were bandits nearby, so they needed guns to deter them.

The man who was escorting the goods was sent away by his son to guard the mine, and he came back to ask for money to repay his debt. Otherwise, Zhang Yinghao and his men would not have been able to take down Liu Youcai's family so easily. The debtor was not worried that the young man would not pay, after all, his family had a shop there. And the landlord Liu was not in a hurry, after all, the family had no shortage of money. He just wanted to teach his useless son a lesson through this incident, but he didn't expect that someone would die. In the past, if someone died, it would not be a big deal. Because of the villagers, the worst that could happen was to pay some money. But he didn't expect that someone like Zhang Yinghao would appear, and he was completely ruined.

Hearing that the money was quite a bit, Zhang Yinghao became interested and asked, "How much money is there?"

"More than 800,000 taels."

Zhang Yinghao's heart skipped a beat. My goodness! This was several times more than the Zhang family, the landowners, combined, more than even Yang Tianxi, the salt well foreman, and his men. There were so many lords at the salt wells, so many temples to worship, all demanding payment from them. But Zhang Xianglong's family often used force and plunder, and the wealth accumulated by generations of talent couldn't match the unassuming Liu Youcai's.

Liu Youcai is always doing good things! To get rich, you have to develop industry. Relying on agriculture, even if you exploit the peasants to death, won't make much money. I finally understand why so many people insist on killing and arson to be recruited. It's true that killing and arson bring gold belts, while building bridges and roads leaves no corpses. I just casually beat up two landlords and got hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. What a shortcut to wealth! What could be faster than killing landlords and making money?

But it soon became clear that wasn't entirely true. Liu Youcai's ancestors had been officials, serving as prefects for three years and earning 100,000 silver coins. That's why he had so much money, which is understandable. But for Zhang Yinghao, the local tyrants still needed to be conquered, the reservoir still needed to be built, and the roads still needed to be repaired, so the more silver the better.

Zhang Yinghao wasn't truly happy until he heard that Liu Youcai actually had iron ore and an iron furnace. This was exactly what he needed right now, so after understanding the situation, Zhang Yinghao immediately began to make plans for the expedition. He then personally led the team on a forced march into the mountains. The mountains were a familiar place to Zhang Yinghao, so he quickly found the location using the map described by Liu Youcai's family.

Zhang Yinghao observed for a moment and figured out what was going on. They were in a valley, with a few wooden fences outside. But only two people were talking there, and the others were probably inside. The gun was just sitting there, probably because no one had been there for a while, and these people had lost their vigilance.

Zhang Yinghao slowly approached and heard one of them say, "Young Master Liu was bragging while dining in the city this time, and got tricked into going to the casino. He was like a possessed man, and we couldn't stop him. I heard he lost several hundred taels. I wonder if Master Liu will beat him to death."

Another said: "What do you know? A few hundred taels, maybe a thousand taels, but Mr. Liu has a lot of money. We bet so much iron, I don't know how much money we made..."

Zhang Yinghao retreated and ordered, "There is only one way out. There are only two people outside. Separate your guns and crawl to the shortest distance. If there is resistance, use bayonets. Those who rush in should not stop until they reach the mine. Control everyone and fasten their bayonets."

"Okay, take action."

Chapter 20: Occasionally Hearing Banditry at the Iron Factory

3753 words

Preparation alone is never enough. Only when you take action will you know what you are missing. — Quotes from Zhang Yinghao

Zhang Yinghao took the lead and crawled to the ground, slowly crawling to the bushes closest to the guards, then suddenly stood up and rushed in. The two guards saw so many people coming, and screamed, "Oh my God!" Then one ran inside, and the other wanted to grab a gun. Zhang Yinghao rushed over and saw that the guard was still frantically fiddling with the bolt of his gun, so he immediately rushed in front of the guard. The guard was also smart, and he knelt down immediately when he knew he couldn't resist. The battle inside was even simpler. No one dared to move after rushing in and holding them with bayonets, and the battle ended easily.

In fact, there wasn't much fighting. When Zhang Yinghao announced that Liu Youcai had been captured and that it wasn't a bandit attack, the entire mine surrendered. Since there was no danger to their lives, there was no need to fight to the death.

Zhang Yinghao looked at the iron smelting furnace and asked a master, "How much iron can be smelted in a day?"

The old master replied, "On average, several hundred kilograms of iron a day."

"Where's Fullmetal?"

"Over there, we'll process it separately."

"How much a day?"

"That's uncertain,"

“Can we increase production?”

"Yes, but we need to increase manpower. Master Liu didn't allow it before."

"Why not?"

"I'm afraid of death."

"Ha, that's pretty direct. This furnace is too small. Can you build a bigger one? I'll give you the manpower and money if you want it."

“We can build a bigger one.”

Zhang Yinghao walked around the furnace twice and said, "Don't you have a heat storage tank for this thing? Is it just a small space in the front to prevent the heat from escaping? I also heard that when you blow air in, you try to heat the air as much as possible before blowing it in, so the temperature inside will be higher."

The master craftsman, as expected of a master craftsman, immediately slapped his thigh and said, "Why didn't I think of that? That's it. Okay, okay, any more?"

Zhang Yinghao laughed and said, "I don't know much about iron smelting, I've only heard a little about it. We have these conditions."

Zhang Yinghao pointed around and said, "The higher the temperature inside, the better. Of course, the more iron the iron ore contains, the better, so ore dressing is necessary. I know why iron ore turns into iron, but I haven't done anything specific." As he spoke, he patted the furnace.

Seeing the masters' disbelief, Zhang Yinghao said without explanation, "I will send a few students to help you smelt iron. After they learn, you can go down the mountain to take courses for a while, and then come back here."

These masters fell silent instantly.

Seeing the atmosphere was cold, Zhang Yinghao thought about it for a few times, and then he figured it out. He immediately said, "Don't worry, I will increase your wages. If you are willing, you can work here for the rest of your life. If your family members are willing to come here to work, they will receive your current wages. If they don't want to come, I can arrange a job for them. Don't worry, I won't teach my apprentices to starve me to death. I will also pay you to learn. You are old masters, I will not let you go. Think about it, you don't know what I just said. If I want to build a furnace bigger than fifty or a hundred furnaces, can you do it? You can't do it either. So you can do better after you learn, and learning is earning. Even if you think my place is not good and want to leave, it means your skills have increased. That's it, don't worry, and you don't need to teach those students. Just guide them and do it once."

I thought about the few chemistry students who were good at it, and they knew the equations. With just a few practices, they should be able to figure it out. If not, then they would have to kidnap international students or hire foreigners.

At this time, a master said: "This..."

"Oh, I was so happy to see this stove just now that I forgot to introduce myself. I'm from Zhangjiagou, and my name is Zhang Yinghao. Everyone calls me Captain Zhang now, so you can call me Captain Zhang too."

"Captain Zhang, isn't it a bit dangerous for us to build here? There are bandits nearby. I heard that Liu Youcai used to send some money and goods there every now and then. I wonder if you know that building a large furnace here would be troublesome if bandits came to destroy it."

Zhang Yinghao then remembered that the guns were there to guard against bandits, but he hadn't expected Liu Youcai to be in contact with them. So he immediately asked, "Do you know how many bandits there are and where they are?"

The old master pointed and said, "Look, in the valley behind that mountain over there, there are men and women, about twenty men. I don't know about the others, but they have at least five guns."

Zhang Yinghao immediately became excited. He was desperate for a gun. But then he suddenly realized a problem: a veteran bandit couldn't defeat these newly minted hoes simply by having more guns. He had only fired a few rifle rounds since crossing over. While he knew about the three-point line, free fall, and observing wind speed, it was all nonsense without practice. He could only fight hand-to-hand.

Zhang Yinghao places great emphasis on bayonet fighting. He used to watch Chiang Kai-shek's army on TV, and they were always afraid of bayonet fighting, while the Eighth Route Army always fought to the last man. Even during the Korean War, there were still opportunities for large-scale bayonet fighting. Zhang Yinghao believed that troops afraid of bayonet fighting would easily become weaklings, so he had his men practice bayonet fighting every day, and he had also seriously practiced bayonet fighting in groups of three. It seemed that now was the time to put it to the test.

After thinking it through, he took the old master with him to fight the bandits. If Zhang Yinghao knew there were bandits but didn't fight them, he wouldn't be able to sleep at night. God knows when these bandits will come out. There is only a thief who can steal for a thousand days, but there is no way to guard against thieves for a thousand days.

Just as Zhang Yinghao was preparing to go into the mountains to suppress the bandits, a conversation was taking place in the Guang'an Prefecture government office. The person being spoken to was a local thug who lived near Liu Youcai's village and was now being questioned.

Then he said, "Sir, I can confirm that people in Zhangjiagou are gathering to rebel. They are doing drills and giving lectures during the day, and there are at least a thousand people gathered in Zhangjiagou. Just today, the people in Zhangjiagou killed Liu Youcai and his family in Liujiazhai without any reason..."

At this time, a deputy leader dressed in official uniform spoke up: "How many troops do they have now? When are they planning to start the rebellion? Have you found out everything?"

The man said, "Sir, I can only observe from the outside and don't know what's going on inside. The people in Zhangjiagou are not allowed to enter the village, but I can see that some of the people in Zhangjiagou are doing drills during the day, while others are building a reservoir. They also hold lectures every day and night, and they all know each other. I'm afraid I'd be recognized if I went in, and that would ruin your important work. And think about it, sir, why would someone lead these poor people to build a reservoir if they didn't have evil intentions?"

The captain immediately shouted, "How dare you! What crime have you committed without any real evidence?" The little man immediately knelt down and begged for mercy.

At this time, the governor of the prefecture who was sitting in the main seat spoke: "I understand what you reported. Go back and continue to inquire. If you have any news, report to me immediately. Now go out."

At this time, the captain spoke up. He said, "Your Excellency, I know something about the situation in Zhangjiagou. Building a reservoir in this disaster year must have bad intentions. However, your Excellency, so many disaster victims in the city have gone to Zhangjiagou. If we go there now, it will only backfire. If something goes wrong, your Excellency, we can't bear the responsibility."

The governor, dressed in animal clothing, sat at the center of the main hall. He sighed and said, "National affairs are so difficult! Now those foreigners have occupied Beijing, and we don't know how it will end. The Boxers are causing chaos in Zhili again. Li Zhongtang was unsympathetic to the court and established the Southeast Mutual Protection Agreement. If Zuo Wenxiang or Zeng Wenzheng were still around, the situation wouldn't have gotten this bad. You need to pay more attention to the situation in Zhangjiagou. Once the situation stabilizes, quickly disperse the rioters and capture the ringleaders and behead them in public. Go and make arrangements. Leave."

The captain uttered a word and retreated.

Zhang Yinghao didn't know if it was because someone was already targeting him, or if someone had sold him out for a quick buck. He was currently crouching on the ground with his men, watching the bandit stronghold. He didn't believe it was difficult to attack, because this wasn't the Republic of China era, with its rampant guns and warlords. Even the Qing dynasty, despite its rottenness, maintained a semblance of unity. These bandits still needed food and water, and they couldn't possibly have built their stronghold on a cliff. Furthermore, these people hadn't experienced the turmoil of war, so their vigilance wasn't high.

After watching for a while, Zhang Yinghao knew that if his men launched a surprise attack at night, they should be able to wipe out this group of bandits without any problems. So he led his men to retreat to rest and eat, and to recuperate!

That night, Zhang Yinghao camped on the mountaintop and slept for a while. It felt like it was almost five or six in the morning. Zhang Yinghao woke up the soldiers, and they reluctantly ate some dry food before heading to the flat land where the bandits lived. Zhang Yinghao had previously observed the area and knew that the spot in the middle was probably where the bandit leader lived. Those who had been watching the bandit stronghold had already said that now that the sentries had gone back to sleep, this was a godsend opportunity.

Zhang Yinghao didn't know why these bandits were so low on guard. But he had read a line from Sun Tzu's Art of War: "War is a matter of great importance to a state, a matter of life and death, a matter of survival and destruction, and must be carefully considered."

These bandits were constantly faced with the choice of life and death. It seemed they had been living in comfort for too long, feeling safe because the Qing dynasty ignored them. However, Zhang Yinghao knew the Qing dynasty wouldn't come in the dead of night to suppress the bandits. If they did, they would do so with great fanfare, wreaking havoc on the villages along the way. This bandit den would have gotten the message and fled long ago.

Zhang Yinghao still employed the old method of fighting as silently as possible. So, Zhang Yinghao and his men quietly arrived at the outskirts of the stronghold. The outer perimeter of the stronghold consisted of a fence, easily clambering over. Then, Zhang Yinghao and his men, without separating, advanced rapidly toward the center of the stronghold in battle formation.

Among those who arrived this time was Wang Daqiang, a hunter who had joined the class a few days earlier. Wang Daqiang wasn't educated, but his marksmanship was incredibly accurate. He was far more skilled than the battalion commander, Wang Yinghao. After listening to Zhang Yinghao and the other instructors, he understood more about the science behind firearms. It was through Wang Daqiang that Zhang Yinghao realized he had been mistaken, assuming that the proliferation of firearms in China began during the Republic of China. In fact, bird guns had already been prevalent among the Chinese people since the mid-to-late Qing Dynasty.

However, the Qing Dynasty had suppressed several rebellions in a bloody manner, especially the Taiping Rebellion, which reduced China's population by hundreds of millions. In addition, China's landlord militia had never disappeared and had always maintained the rule of the Qing Dynasty, so Zhang Yinghao had no idea that there were so many guns.

Wang Daqiang was now following Zhang Yinghao, observing his strange gait. Only now, in actual combat, did Wang Daqiang realize how beneficial this gait truly was. Previously, during training, everyone had set specific steps, with specific foot placements, and they were all supposed to follow a certain sequence. This meant they had to relearn how to walk, and no one thought it was necessary.

Captain Zhang clearly explained how to run when the enemy fired, what pace to use in different situations, and the most appropriate positioning. However, since no one had any practical experience, the training was extremely difficult. Because their mindsets couldn't adjust, some of them didn't take it seriously. That's why actual combat is the best teacher. Captain Zhang also patiently explained how to aim the gun, the trajectory of the bullet, and so on, and only then did everyone reluctantly continue the training. Some things require a loss before you know the difference.

When it comes to scientific knowledge about shooting, the first people to understand it are those like Wang Daqiang who had touched a gun before. They were also the first to understand the benefits of it, so he trained most seriously and became a squad leader after a few days.

Chapter 21: Kill the bandits, rescue the people and return to the village

3704 words

Fear itself is not scary; what is scary is constantly thinking about it. — Quotes from Zhang Yinghao

Zhang Feng and Bao Shilin had previously instructed Wang Daqiang to protect Battalion Commander Zhang. Usually when they went out, Wang Daqiang would stay by Battalion Commander Zhang's side, acting as a guard.

Zhang Yinghao knew the reason, but he had to acquiesce. When Zhang Yinghao and his companions rushed to the middle house, the door suddenly opened, and a man with his hand touching his belt suddenly appeared in Zhang Yinghao's sight. The man was obviously startled and tried to close the door quickly.

The man might have been surprised, but Zhang Yinghao wasn't. Without a word, Zhang Yinghao lunged forward with his bayonet, using the force of the bayonet to push him over and knock him to the ground, then covering his mouth with his hand. The others followed in and could vaguely see a woman on the bed looking at them. Wang Daqiang immediately wanted to go up and deal with her, but the woman didn't scream. She just said as quickly as she could, "I'm a good person!"

Zhang Yinghao also stood up at this time and said, "Daqiang, stop it."

Then Zhang Yinghao twisted his bayonet vigorously and pulled it out violently. Blood spurted out three feet high. Without even looking, Zhang Yinghao turned around and said, "Quick, form groups of three and resolve this battle quickly."

After giving the order, Zhang Yinghao turned around, pointed at the corpse on the ground, and asked the woman on the bed, "Who is he?"

The woman immediately said, "This is the village chief. He tied me up."

Zhang Yinghao thought to himself, "I guessed it long ago; it's always written that way in novels." A moment later, waves of screams and cries of killing could be heard from outside. Zhang Yinghao turned and left without saying anything else. The battle outside was resolved in no time.

As daybreak approached, Zhang Yinghao ordered the dead to be put aside, the captives to be taken to another, and the seven freed hostages, including the women, to stand on one side. He then instructed everyone to start reporting on each other. Because everything happened so quickly, many people were still confused and no one paid any attention to Zhang Yinghao.

Zhang Yinghao felt quite defeated. Sometimes, it was difficult to mobilize people without a positive atmosphere for ideological work. Furthermore, those who were persecuted were generally afraid to come forward and expose the persecution.

Zhang Yinghao didn't waste any words. He pointed at a bandit who looked relatively honest and said, "Who do you say has done something bad?"

The bandit didn't say anything, so Zhang Yinghao said directly, "Don't tell me, fine. If you don't tell me, it means you've done something bad. Wang Daqiang, pull this bandit out and chop him up."

Everyone was stunned. They had never seen such a brutal interrogation. The bandit who was pointed out also kowtowed and begged for mercy, shouting loudly: "My lord, please spare my life. I am innocent. I have done nothing wrong. The ones who did evil were those who followed the village chief."

Zhang Yinghao immediately said, "Oh, then who are the people following the village chief?"

The man hurriedly pointed out four people, and Zhang Yinghao ordered them to be pulled out. He then pointed at a man with a vacant look in his eyes who kept looking at him and said, "Have you done anything bad too? Someone, pull him out too."

The man also knelt down hurriedly and kowtowed, shouting, "Your Majesty, I did not do it. I report it, I report it."

Then two more people were pulled out.

Zhang Yinghao then said to the hostages, "Don't be afraid, everyone. I'm not some big shot. I'm from Zhangjiagou over there in the mountains. You've probably all heard of this village, right? I heard there were bandits here causing trouble, so I came here specifically to suppress them. Besides the six of you, has anyone else bullied you?"

At this time, a woman stood up and said, "My lord, this man has done nothing wrong. I have been watching him the whole time!"

"Judging from your accent, you are?"

"Zhuang"

"Oh, Zhuang girl, hello. Were you two captured and taken to the mountains together? Did he become a bandit?"

"Yes."

"Then take him to your side!"

With this woman taking the lead, the other women were not so afraid anymore. Some of them were so hungry that they wanted to struggle and vent the pain they were suffering.

Zhang Yinghao saw this and immediately said, "Is there anyone in there who has bullied us? Don't worry, I'll take care of everything for you today. Everyone, come down the mountain with me later. If you want to go home, you can go home by yourself. If you don't want to go home, Zhangjiagou is hiring people now. Those who can make clothes can make clothes, and those who can cook can cook. You can rest assured and live a good life in the future. Okay, if there are no others, then Wang Daqiang, kill these guys."

Zhang Yinghao saw that the women were not as eager to eat the bandits' flesh and drink their blood as described in the novel. Instead, their eyes were filled with tears and resentment, and some even cried bitterly after the bandits were beheaded.

Zhang Yinghao then spoke loudly, "We were all forced to come here. We can't blame you. If you have to blame someone, blame your families for not protecting you. If you have to blame someone, blame this bad world with bandits and bullies running rampant. Don't worry about anything else. As long as we are here, no one will be able to bully you anymore."

After that, he ignored them and whispered to Wang Daqiang, "You should pay attention to the movements of these women to prevent them from getting into trouble."

After saying that, he called a few soldiers to count the supplies together.

It was a year of disaster, and the bandit's nest had little food, but a lot of money. This used to make Zhang Yinghao happy, but now his appetite had become so pampered that he looked down on the lack of money. Of course, Zhang Yinghao wouldn't let go of anything, as even the smallest bit was still meat. Almost all the money in the entire stronghold was seized from the bandit leader, which made things easier for Zhang Yinghao.

When the cleanup was almost complete, Zhang Yinghao ordered the soldiers to use the cooking utensils in the bandit den to make a fire and cook, intending to transport all the items back home after eating. Suddenly, Wang Daqiang ran over and said, "Battalion Commander, someone wants to commit suicide."

Zhang Yinghao rushed over after hearing this. The women cowered in fear when they saw him, as if they were terrified of him. Wang Daqiang pointed at the two women and said, "They were about to commit suicide, but they were stopped."

"What the hell is going on!"

Zhang Yinghao thought to himself, feeling a slight headache, and rubbed his brow. How could he, a modern man, understand so much about the thoughts of women of this era? Feudal ethics had killed countless people. Even in the mid-to-late 20th century, before mobile phones and the internet became popular, he had heard of such stories, let alone more than 100 years ago.