The Great Ming in the Box-Chapter 250: Return Our Hard-earned Military Pay!
Li Ying jumped in fright, kicking a fallen chicken leg into the air. “Why? How could the rebel band in Guyuan appear directly in Chengcheng County? Damn it! By any reckoning, they shouldn’t have come straight here—they should have gone to Jingyang or Fuping first!”
The scout whispered, “It seems they emerged from Huanglong Mountain.”
Li Ying’s face darkened. “Huanglong Mountain? That blasted hellhole.”
Huanglong Mountain sat where three counties converged. With its steep peaks and dense forests, it had long been a den for rogues and rebels. If the Guyuan rebels entered from Yan’an Prefecture and surfaced near Fengyuan Town in Chengcheng County—yes, that was possible.
“Are you certain they’re the real Guyuan rebels? Could they just be bandits disguised as rebels, putting on a show?”
The scout murmured, “I saw clearly. About five hundred rebels, all armored like us. Their leader wears Mountain-patterned Armor… All carry crossbows, waist knives, and spears. Top-notch equipment.”
Li Ying spat, “Stone and mud—five hundred border army soldiers?”
He turned and saw fear etched on the faces of his deputy and captains behind him.
A nearby local gentry—who’d provided lavish hospitality—spoke up: “Fengyuan Town has walls for defense! We can alert the County Lord and Patrol Officer Fang for reinforcements.”
Li Ying snorted silently. Fengyuan’s puny town walls? Useless! The border army wouldn’t even need siege weapons—with a single human ladder, they’d scale it instantly.
This is the border army we’re talking about!
Even two hundred could rout our thousand garrison troops. And what good are those two mad dogs from Donglin? The Donglin Party can’t fight worth a damn.
Shoving the gentry hard enough to make him stumble, Li Ying barked for all to hear: “We march out! Meet the Guyuan rebels head-on!”
But once beyond the town’s sight, he whispered to his deputy: “The moment Fengyuan vanishes behind us—run.”
……
Cheng Xu advanced his troops toward Fengyuan Town.
Mid-march, a scout from the Sharp Knife Troop ed, “Instruc—”
“Don’t you dare!” Cheng Xu cut in sharply. “Call me Captain Ghost or Old Ghost from Guyuan.”
Flustered, the scout stammered, “C-Captain Ghost… Guerrilla General Li Ying has left Fengyuan Town… He’s marching toward us.”
“Oh?” A flicker of panic stirred in Cheng Xu’s chest.
The Sharp Knife Troop drilled relentlessly—well-fed, well-armed, bursting with vigor. But they remained militia, untested against true warriors.
Bandits? No problem. But five hundred against Li Ying’s thousand officials? Cheng Xu tallied the odds: Less than 30% chance of victory. 70% chance I’ll meet my grandmother today.
He needed a morale boost—fast.
Glancing skyward, he spotted it: a low cloud hanging two hundred meters up. Perfect. The Deity watches. His confidence surged instantly. Victory? Guaranteed.
“Fear nothing!” Cheng Xu laughed loudly. “Li Ying’s nothing! We crush him!”
They marched onward until Li Ying’s force appeared in the distance. Still over 500 meters apart, neither side could engage yet.
Cheng Xu opened his mouth to rally his men—then froze.
Ahead, Li Ying’s troops suddenly milled about. Finding their eastward path blocked by a valley, they pivoted sharply—and sprinted west.
Cheng Xu: “???”
The Sharp Knife Troop behind him: “???”
Gao Chuwu: “Wow, they haven’t even started fighting. How did they escape?”
Ground Rabbit: “Haha, they were scared off by my imposing presence.”
Cheng Xu froze for a brief moment, then suddenly realized: “Damn it, I was still afraid of them, yet they’re afraid of us too. We’re now the border army. Hahaha, chase, chase, chase! Chase them and fight.”
The militia yelled and charged after Li Ying’s troops.
Li Ying was cursing furiously at that moment. After leaving Fengyuan Town, he had planned to flee instantly once out of sight, since he couldn’t run away openly before the whole town. If the gentry ed him to the magistrate, and the magistrate impeached him, that would be unbearable. So, fleeing had to happen in a deserted spot.
Unexpectedly, the militia instructor of Fengyuan Town didn’t get the hint and insisted on bringing the militia to “lend support,” trailing him like a shadow.
This made him uneasy!
Wanting to flee but unable to do so easily, he forged ahead north for a stretch and then clashed directly with the border army in Guyuan.
Li Ying just glanced and confirmed ahead was proper Ming army. Their orderly gear proved they weren’t bandits, and they raised two banners: one had the character “Ghost,” a nickname used to spare relatives blame. The other read “Return our Hard-earned Military Pay.” Wasn’t this exactly a rebel force demanding pay?
Couldn’t win!
Garrison troops absolutely couldn’t defeat border soldiers!
Li Ying decided instantly: “Run!”
He wasn’t concerned at that moment about whether the militia followed behind. If seen escaping, so be it; if impeached by officials, so be it. Escape first now, at least to live longer.
Looking east, a valley blocked flight, so he ran west.
The Ming army of a thousand men sprinted off.
This running left the militia behind bewildered: “They had a thousand against five hundred of us, with our militia backing them up; why did the officials run?”
The militia instructor gasped and retreated urgently backward.
Then, they saw the rebel band in Guyuan chasing fiercely. The leading general, clad in Mountain-patterned Armor, shouted at the commander ahead: “Guerilla Li Ying, where are you fleeing? Pay back the military wages you owe us.”
Li Ying, scared senseless, fled while yelling: “If you want pay, go to Xi’an. Why pursue me?”
Cheng Xu hollered: “I’ll demand it from whoever I encounter.”
Li Ying: “Don’t come any closer.”
Cheng Xu: “Leave everything valuable you have behind.”
Li Ying actually complied, tossing his heavy helmet to the ground and ditching the silver he had coerced from the gentry in Fengyuan Town, fleeing wildly.
Cheng Xu chased earnestly anyway, since the Deity was still overhead. Cheng Xu fought bravely as a tiger in victorious battles, disregarding dangers like chasing a fleeing foe. Could the Deity above cause him to be ambushed? Chase on!
As they pursued, he found Li Ying’s helmet on the ground. It seemed fine, so he picked it up, hung it at his waist, and continued chasing.
The officials fled ahead, with the rebel band in Guyuan behind. In an instant, everyone raced westward.
Only the militia instructor of Fengyuan Town remained, stiffly standing with several hundred militiamen: “What were we even here for?”
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Chapter 250: Return Our Hard-earned Military Pay!
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