297. The Bandits

Translator: Storm in a Teacup

After Yan Ziyan and the villagers settled down, they got bolder.

Yan Ziyan knew some martial arts. He organized the strong men to practice martial arts every day. After one or two months of training, the men managed some fighting techniques.

Yan Ziyan suggested that they go out of the mountains and sneak to Heihe city to rob.

In the beginning, the men were frightened after hearing his plan.

Yan Ziyan shouted, “What are you afraid of? Heihe city used to be ours, and it was taken over by Northern Qing. What’s wrong if we go back and take things that belong to us? Everyone, think about this. Why do we have to reduce to living in the mountains? They took our houses and livestock and killed our family. Our homes were ruined by them. Now that we have the abilities, we should go back and show them that we are not to be offended.”

The strong men were greatly encouraged.

Yan Ziyan added, “Don’t worry. I will ensure your safety. We act according to our capability, if anything gets wrong, we will retreat immediately.”

…

After Heihe city was looted by the Northern Qing army, the whole city was now empty.

It was universally known that a city needed people and trades in order to prosper.  However, quite many inhabitants had been killed in the city, and refugees had fled. The people of Northern Qing kingdorm had not moved over yet, so the city had become the garrison base of Northern Qing.

Yan Ziyan didn’t dare to make a rash move. He first went outside the city to explore with a few of his men. After a few days, he found some loopholes in the security.

Although Heihe city had city walls, and the city gates were guarded, there were garrisons in the villages and towns at the foot of the mountain.

Yan Ziyan and his men started sneak attacks at the villages outside the city.  They attacked one small place every day, and they repeatedly succeeded.

Every time they made it, they left a word “Yan”, making Northern Qing people wonder who did it.

Although Northern Qing was not seriously hurt by Yan Ziyan, they were annoyed by the repeated raids. Therefore, they blamed it on the Daqi Army.

Northern Qing sent people to Linglong County and complained, saying they had been harassed, but the city guards of Ling Long did not take this seriously.

‘Heihe city used to belong to Daqi, but now it is taken by you. You have been harassed, and you have the nerve to complain about it. Do you really think that everyone in Daqi Dynasty is a coward?

Northern Qing knew that its troops were attacked by the refugees from the mountains, so they sent soldiers to attack them.

However, Yan Ziyan and his men had prepared for this and set up many traps in the mountains. These soldiers were shot to death by the traps before they found the village.

Northern Qing troops came one after another, and all of them suffered great loss and went back defeated.

As a result, Yan Ziyan and his men became famous. They named their own mountain as Ziyan Mountain.

…

As Ziyan Mountain grew more famous, it attracted many heroes of the greenwood.

Similar to the Marshes of Mount Liang, people who were dissatisfied with their life or the imperial court all went to Ziyan Mountain.

According to the rules of the greenwood, the people who came to join them had to bring gifts to express their sincerity, such as the heads of some corrupt officials, or the pass of a Northern Qing army official as a proof that they had killed Northern Qing soldiers.

Yan Ziyan did not refuse to take any of them.

After Ziyan army grew stronger, they did not make small moves when they went out of the mountain. They attacked the city gate, killed the city guards, and then rushed into the city to mess up the garrison. They smashed things and looted, rescuing the captives of the Daqi Dynasty.

Northern Qing was annoyed and kept sending troops to fight back, but it failed every time.

In the end, a most incredible thing happened. Heihe city, which had been occupied for a long time, was actually reclaimed by a bunch of bandits.

The news reached Daqi Dynasty and everyone was laughing at the imperial court.

“To my surprise, Northern Qing Army is so weak that it is not the rival of a bunch of bandits. Back then the imperial court didn’t dare to dispatch troops to fight against Northern Qing. How ridiculous!”

“If this is written in the history, the court will be laughed at by the younger generations.”

“Are the heroes of the greenwood now living in Heihe city?”

“Of course not. The city was surrounded by Northern Qing army and Daqi Army, so they definitely wouldn’t live in Heihe city, which is now directly taken over by the Daqi Army.”

…

In the court.

Li Chengkun’s face was gloomy.

The atmosphere in the hall was tense, and the ministers were frightened.

An extremely sarcastic doggerel was spreading in the imperial city, ridiculing the incompetence of the Daqi Dynasty. Everyone knew how to recite it, including toddlers.

They didn’t dare to fight because there was no good general. In the end, a group of bandits drove the Northern Qing army out of Heihe city.

Yesterday, envoys from Northern Qing arrived, demanding Daqi Dynasty to get rid of the bandits quickly. Otherwise, their army would continue to go south and attack.

After sitting in the court for a long while, Li Chengkun finally spoke.

“I’m sure that everyone has heard about what happened in the north recently. The envoys from Northern Qing arrived yesterday, asking us to agree to their request. Otherwise, their army will go south to attack us. What do you think?”

Ever since Prime Minister Xun died, no one in imperial court dared to speak the truth, because it would get them in big trouble.

Some ministers said to themselves, ‘Why are you afraid of Northern Qing? Back then you didn’t dare to fight them, and Heihe city was taken. Now a group of brave men have helped you get back the city, why are you still hesitant?”

However, they didn’t dare to speak up.

Seeing that no one spoke, the state preceptor said, “Your Majesty, I think that Yan Ziyan and his men have committed a crime attacking Northern Qing army. After all, the imperial court did not give them the right to do so. They are bandits, who deliberately ignore the safety of our people.”

His words scared the ministers into silence.

‘It’s unusual to have a great general arising from the commoners. How can you accuse him falsely instead of taking him into the army and making good use of him?’

After a long while, a civil official stepped up and said to Li Chengkun, “Your Majesty, I think… although Yan Ziyan and his men have crossed the line, we can recruit them into the Daqi army and make them atone for their crimes. If they could drive the Northern Qing soldiers away, we will not fear Northern Qing’s invasion again.”

State Preceptor said sarcastically, “They’re just a bunch of bandits. How do you think they can help? These people are unorganized and undisciplined, and they have no morale. They are useless.”

His words frightened the civil official into silence.

Li Chengkun pondered in silence.

The current situation was becoming difficult for him.