Chapter 2256: Shaken Morale
The order to abandon Qinglian Market and flee was issued quickly. Though Feng Haijiao had established a Central Army and an Old Camp following the style of government troops since receiving the title of "Squad Leader," and had selected more than twenty trusted minions as "personal guards" while randomly bestowing titles like Team Officer on his subordinate leaders, in reality, he still operated in the old style of a water bandit. Everything was done by directly dispatching his personal guards, while the leaders below were not trusted. The only force he could truly control was his original group of a hundred or so men. When this "moving" order was passed down, the entire Qinglian Market immediately bustled with chaotic activity, but it was busyness without order. By the afternoon of the next day, more than half the people still had not packed their luggage.
His subordinates harbored doubts, not knowing what awaited them at their destination. Many people's homes were in nearby villages. Hearing they had to leave, they were naturally uneasy about abandoning their families—but the hardships of fleeing with families in tow were obvious. Not to mention that whether there would be houses to live in or grain to eat upon arrival remained unknown. Inevitably, people were panic-stricken, crying and shouting.
The bandits who had recently defected to join were originally there to take advantage of favorable circumstances. Now that the wind had shifted, they were not optimistic about Feng Haijiao's prospects. Hearing he wanted to abandon Qinglian Market and run made them feel even more panicked. Some minions whose homes were nearby thought to themselves: they were just ordinary minions who had become bandits to make some extra money. Now that Feng Haijiao's "wind" was no longer favorable, why follow him to abandon home and property and flee? Immediately, people used excuses like "going to pick up family members" or "going back to arrange family affairs" to slip away home in twos and threes.
Feng Haijiao couldn't concern himself with these matters—his family had been entrenched locally for many years and had accumulated enormous wealth. Just packing luggage and valuables kept them incredibly busy. At this moment, the residence was shrouded in an atmosphere of panic. Stewards shouted, directing servants to carry heavy valuables in and out. The spirit screen outside the gate was piled high with boxes and cages; piles of things were arranged in the courtyard, waiting for porters to load them onto boats. Female dependents and maids were busily packing gold, silver, and valuables in the rooms.
Feng Haijiao sat in his study, appearing calm amid the chaos. Occasionally, stewards came to ask if a certain item should be taken or how to dispose of it, and he answered them one by one, like a most astute and capable housewife.
Over years of business, the wealth accumulated in the residence was vast. Some items were his beloved possessions, but many objects were either bulky or fragile, inconvenient to transport. He could only painfully part with them, abandoning them in the residence.
"Master, this jewelry-inlaid screen..." The steward came to ask again.
Feng Haijiao knew what he was asking about. This screen had twelve panels in total, very large in size, made of red sandalwood, inlaid with islands, sea fish, and sailing ships crafted from various precious materials. He had robbed it from a merchant ship in his youth. It was said to be a treasure ordered by a foreign noble for use in a palace.
Since this item fell into Feng Haijiao's hands, he had loved it too much to put it down and displayed it at home. Strangely enough, since robbing this screen, his "business" had been smooth sailing, growing ever larger. Feng Haijiao had always regarded it as his "lucky object," placing it in the center of the main room of his study. As long as he saw this huge screen that made the room feel congested, he felt that his fortune was still flourishing.
Now that he had to run, this huge and very heavy screen was obviously difficult to transport. It would be fine on the boat, but once off the boat and onto mountain roads, not only would transportation be difficult, but bumps and collisions along the way would be unavoidable.
Feng Haijiao pondered for a moment, looking at the huge screen for a long time without speaking. The steward tentatively said, "Master! This small one will call people to prepare more reed mats and straw ropes. How about we wrap it carefully and hide it in a cave by the river, seal the outside with loose stones? I guarantee no one will be able to tell..."
Feng Haijiao thought it over, then stomped his foot. "Find more straw mats for wrapping, grab more porters, and take it!"
No matter how difficult the current situation was, he couldn't lose this "lucky object" that brought him fortune. Bandits were often very superstitious and attached great importance to such things; Feng Haijiao was no exception.
The steward opened his mouth but dared not say more. He knew how much this item meant to Feng Haijiao and naturally dared not defy the decision of this murderous demon king. He withdrew to call people to find porters and scrounge for materials.
After arranging this "lucky object," Feng Haijiao let out a breath of turbid air, feeling less irritable and uneasy. The screen was still there—his "luck" was still there. As long as he could safely reach the mountain stockade, maybe there was still a chance to turn the tables! The Australians surely wouldn't chase into the deep mountains and old forests. When the government troops returned, he would come down the mountain to assist in the battle, and would still have this good family business—of course, by then he would probably have received the imperial court's title and become a proper gentry master...
While Feng Haijiao was immersed in this beautiful dream, someone suddenly burst in, flustered and frantic.
"Master!"
Feng Haijiao frowned and turned his head. "Why so panicked?"
The person who entered was his personal guard leader Mo Chong, who was somewhat related to him by marriage. Though not much good at fighting, he had always been skilled at fawning and liked to slander others behind their backs. Thus he had won the favor of this "cousin-uncle" and was regarded as a confidant. He became even more reckless in prying into others' privacy and eavesdropping on scraps of conversation. Because of this, he had harmed many people. Not only did the commoners suffer deeply from him, but quite a few people in the bandit gang had tasted his bitterness as well.
Mo Chong let his hands hang down and said, "Just now I was watching outside and saw many family members of the brothers coming... They said they wanted to migrate with the team, but they didn't bring luggage or dry provisions. They came empty-handed and stealthily, found their relatives, pulled them aside to whisper, hiding from others so they wouldn't hear. There's probably a big scheme in this..."
It turned out that at noon on the second day after the order to pack luggage was given, new chaos appeared in Qinglian Market: family members of the bandit gang entered the town one by one. Wives sought husbands, parents sought sons. Some pulled, some pleaded, some made scenes, some wept. Feng Haijiao's group was originally a mob. Many people were quickly affected by this huge wave, becoming fragmented and chaotic.
Thus various rumors spread on invisible wings: "Going home you can live—if caught, you'll surely be killed!" "The barbarian female magistrate is transferring tens of thousands of Li and Miao soldiers from Qiongzhou Prefecture; there'll be soldiers everywhere in the mountain gullies." "Can't even eat rice a few times—officers eat the good stuff, we small soldiers eat the scraps!" "At home you get spanked by landlords for owing rent; here you get beaten with military cudgels by leaders for being late to roll call. Poor people get bullied everywhere!" "Government, government my ass! Xiong Wencan himself is going to be beheaded—why go die with them officials!" The bandits' hearts wavered. The originally sneaky running away turned into open action. Many bold ones had already taken their things and left with their relatives...
Hearing his words, Feng Haijiao flew into a rage. "This is outrageous! If I don't kill one to warn a hundred, do they think this place is a playground?! Kill! Kill! Kill!" Saying this, he reached out and grabbed his waist saber, intending to go out and see clearly.
Just as he reached the door, he encountered Bi Xuansheng. Seeing him angrily taking his sword to go out, Bi Xuansheng pretended surprise. "Master, why the anger?"
"These brats who newly joined the dock haven't fought a battle but ate my grain for months for free. Now that we need to move, each one runs like a rabbit!" Feng Haijiao said hatefully. "I have to let them see what military law is like."
"Yes, without this we cannot awe the military's heart." Bi Xuansheng hurriedly fawned. He watched Feng Haijiao go out, glanced at Mo Chong following behind, and nodded slightly.
Carrying a whip and leading a dozen personal guards, Feng Haijiao rushed angrily to the market square. It was piled chaotically with sundries, with bandits and family members shuttling back and forth—a noisy scene of busyness.
He looked around and indeed saw quite a few women in the market, old and young, some dragging children—mostly unfamiliar faces, obviously family members of minions who had recently sought refuge. Seeing them pulling and pushing with the minions, weeping and wailing, Feng Haijiao became even more annoyed, feeling these family members were here to ruin his business.
"Unfamiliar faces—arrest them all!" He waved the whip in his hand and shouted the order.
The personal guards beside him acted like wolves and tigers, instantly binding more than ten female family members with ropes, escorting them to Feng Haijiao, and shouting, "Kneel!"
Feng Haijiao raised his horse whip and scolded, "You bold demon women! With a big battle imminent, you dare infiltrate the camp and confuse the crowd with rumors! Speak: who told you to come!"
Those arrested were all rural women. Because they had heard Squad Leader Feng's team was moving, they had hurriedly come to visit their men at home. Naturally, some advised their men to run, but most women were timid and afraid of trouble, not daring to instigate their men to go home. They had just brought some clothes and dry food to send them off, to avoid freezing and starving on the march—and also to say a few intimate words. If the man had a few taels of silver in pay or a few pieces of looted valuables to bring home, that would be best.
Unexpectedly, before saying more than a few words, they were bound and escorted to Feng Haijiao.
Who Feng Haijiao was, no one in Yangshan County didn't know. Seeing this evil star looking fierce, the family members were all scared out of their wits. Letting him scold for half a day, finally someone tremblingly responded:
"We slaves heard Master Feng's team was moving, feared our men would be short of clothing and food in the team, so came to send clothing and food."
"Nonsense! I see you are spies, here to bewitch the military heart." Feng Haijiao stomped in fury. "Drag them down—kill them all!"
The market square instantly went into an uproar. A dozen minions busily came over, knelt together before Feng Haijiao, kowtowed and wailed, saying these were their old mothers and wives coming to send clothes and dry food, not daring to instigate desertion. To show what they said was true, they took out the tattered clothes and black, hard miscellaneous grain cakes they had brought.
"Master!" One of the minions said, "If they told the small ones to flee, why would they send clothes and dry food? This small one's home is just ten li away. If I really wanted to run, I would run empty-handed. Please investigate clearly, Master!"
Next Update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Part 461 (End of Chapter)