lovenovelstory Chapter 102 A Fake Act Turns Real
Chapter 102 A Fake Act Turns Real
Listening to Li Wanqing's account, Zhou Lun felt even more uneasy.
This so-called He family clearly has ulterior motives.
If they only wanted to curry favor with Li Wanqing and be opportunists, why didn't the He family offer their daughter when Li Wanqing first arrived at Gushan Fort? Why did they only come to propose marriage after the matter of pacification had made progress?
Of course, it could be said that the He family was only being polite to Li Wanqing because they were wary of his status as a rebel. Now that his status has changed, they are trying to curry favor with him.
But if that's all, how did they get this fine tea? How could a mere centurion like He Jia obtain such good tea?
As for Li Wanqing's claim that He's uncle was a businessman, even if it were true, it would still be quite difficult for an ordinary businessman to obtain such fine tea.
He pondered this in his heart, but his expression remained unchanged. Zhou Lun continued to inquire about the He family's situation from Li Wanqing with a smile. However, the more Li Wanqing talked, the more uneasy he felt.
Li Wanqing told him that the He family's daughter, who was to be his fiancée, was sixteen years old this year and was the He family's only daughter.
She was very pretty, well-educated, and skilled in needlework. He Baihu doted on this daughter, treating her like a precious gem from a young age. It was no exaggeration to describe her as the "apple of everyone's eye."
It was extremely strange that such a daughter would be offered up for marriage to Li Wanqing. Coupled with other illogical details, this made Zhou Lun even more wary.
As they were talking, before Zhou Lun could even think of any more questions, Li Wanqing suddenly spoke up and asked him a question. This startled Zhou Lun, who instinctively looked up at him.
"Brother! When did you come to have such thoughts?"
"What's wrong with that idea? It's not bad."
Li Wanqing made no attempt to hide his true feelings as he earnestly said to Zhou Lun, "Back then, we rose up in rebellion simply because we were driven to desperation by a few corrupt officials, which is why we became a righteous army. But things have changed, and today is different from the past."
He pointed to his chest: "This rebel army is called a rebel army, but in reality, they are still traitors! My Li family has been farmers for generations, and we are all subjects of the Ming Dynasty. If we hadn't been desperate to survive, how could we have done such a disgraceful thing to our ancestors? After the uprising, in order not to bring shame to our ancestors, I even changed my name and called myself 'Shooting the Sky'... Hehe, it sounds impressive, but only I know the true feelings in my heart."
"Brother, I won't lie to you. Don't be fooled by the current strength of the rebel army. Is it really that easy to overthrow the Ming Dynasty? You must know that the Ming Dynasty has two capitals and thirteen provinces, with more than a million troops stationed in various places alone. In addition, there are countless elite soldiers and fierce generals in the nine border towns."
"The dynasty's fate is not yet over. The reason we are able to rest and garrison in the Fugu area is because the dynasty has not yet fully responded. In addition, Chief Wang is causing trouble in the south, which is tying down the government troops and they cannot attend to us for the time being."
"If Chief Wang suffers a defeat in the south, or even is wiped out by the imperial court, what will become of us when the government troops march north? I recently learned that Chief Wang's detachment suffered a major defeat in Hancheng, losing many men. Even the progress at Heshui is going poorly. The brothers Shen Yiyuan and Shen Yikui have accepted the offer of amnesty from Governor-General Yang He of the Three Border Regions and are willing to abandon their allegiance to the Ming. As a result, Chief Wang's situation in Yan'an Prefecture is extremely precarious. If he cannot capture Yan'an Prefecture, I fear his fate is sealed!"
With a long sigh, Li Wanqing said, "Many of my fellow villagers followed us brothers back then, and many of our relatives are among them. Rebellion is extremely risky. I'm alone; I might as well die, but how could I bear to let my brothers die with me?"
"You're my brother, so I won't hide anything from you. Actually, I've had some plans for a while now." Seeing Zhou Lun about to speak, Li Wanqing waved his hand and continued, "You don't need to tell me what the 'pacification' matter is all about; I know. But brother, even though the Rebel King devised this plan, do you think the imperial court is so easily fooled?"
"As the saying goes, a person without integrity cannot stand!" Li Wanqing said solemnly, "If we deceive the court today, it will be tantamount to cutting off our brothers' escape route in the future. Once this is done, the court will be furious, and the consequences are unimaginable! I have thought about this a lot these past few days, and I still feel that we should take this opportunity to plan a way out and find a way out for our brothers. Now that the matter of being pacified has been settled, if we can use this opportunity to become officials instead of bandits, not only will we no longer have those worries, but we can also please our ancestors. What do you think?"
After speaking, Li Wanqing stared intently at Zhou Lun, awaiting his response.
Zhou Lun did not avoid his gaze, but looked back at him.
"Brother, what you're saying seems reasonable. But have you considered that once we accept the offer of amnesty, will we really have a way out with the imperial court?"
Zhou Lun said earnestly, "The Ming Dynasty is now beset by crises. The war in Liaodong has been ongoing, the northwest has suffered from drought for years, and rebel armies are rising up everywhere. As for the current emperor, some say he is a wise ruler, but in my opinion, he is even worse than the late emperor. He is nothing more than a foolish and incompetent ruler."
"The appeasement offer was originally a delaying tactic to ensure the safety and supplies of my troops in Fugu. You know this, brother, but now you want to make it real. If things change later, the imperial court is not like a rebel army! If they turn against us, the risks are..."
"What's there to be afraid of!" Li Wanqing waved his hand and said, "I understand what you're saying. But right now, the court is in need of capable people. As long as I have troops and power, what can the court do to me? Besides, don't forget the pacification you personally negotiated, Second Brother. I remember one of the conditions was 'obey orders but not summons'?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Lun was at a loss for words.
The condition of "obeying orders but not proclamations" did indeed exist. It was one of the conditions proposed by Zhou Lun on behalf of Gao Yingxiang, and Yang He readily agreed to it.
Now Li Wanqing is using this condition to talk to Zhou Lun about this matter. How is Zhou Lun supposed to explain this? Moreover, judging from Li Wanqing's expression, this matter is probably not an impulsive decision, but the result of a period of consideration, just as he said.
Zhou Lun never expected that his original intention of just tricking Yang He and buying the righteous army some time for peaceful and stable development would end up making Li Wanqing think that the charade was real. Could this be considered shooting himself in the foot?
"Brother, aren't you afraid that the rebel leader will find out about this...?"
"Others may fear him, but why should I?" Li Wanqing sneered. "Gao Yingxiang calls himself the 'King of Rebels' and commands a large army. But my side is no less formidable. Even if we are slightly inferior, Gao Yingxiang cannot suppress me with sheer strength! Besides, apart from Liu Zhe and Huang Long's confidants, Gao Yingxiang only has you, Wang Er, and Zhao Sheng under his command. Wang Er is arrogant and reckless, nothing to fear. As for Zhao Sheng and you, brother, the three of us are sworn brothers. As long as you don't all side with Gao Yingxiang, what can he do to me?"
Suddenly, Li Wanqing smiled and asked Zhou Lun, "Brother, you wouldn't abandon me, would you? Would you help Gao Yingxiang and then turn against me?"
"That's absolutely impossible!" Before Li Wanqing could finish speaking, Zhou Lun replied decisively, "Once a brother, always a brother! How can Gao Yingxiang compare to you, brother? Even if Gao Yingxiang held a knife to my throat, I would never lay a hand on you!"
"Great! Great!" Li Wanqing was overjoyed and patted Zhou Lun on the shoulder, grinning from ear to ear.
"Just listen to your elder brother on this matter. Once we've truly secured official positions, neither of us will have any worries. This way, we can give an account to our ancestors and also find a way out for our men. Isn't that a good thing?"
"Big brother, so you're planning to...?"
"There's no rush," Li Wanqing said slowly. "After all, Gao Yingxiang has nominally been appeased. As long as he doesn't turn against the court, this matter can be considered as if it never happened. If Gao Yingxiang rebels again, your elder brother will naturally not continue down this dark path with him. At that point, we might become enemies rather than friends..."
At this point, Li Wanqing looked at Zhou Lun and said, "Brother, you are highly valued by Gao Yingxiang, and your wife is Gao Yingxiang's niece. If that time comes, I hope you will make a choice and come to my side. In this way, we brothers can work together and support each other. Why should we worry about not being able to stand firm in the court? In the future, we might even be granted titles and hereditary ranks based on our military achievements. Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing?"
"Hehe, that makes sense..."
Zhou Lun nodded with a smile, seemingly having taken Li Wanqing's words to heart, but his mind was in turmoil, and he didn't know what to say.
Before he arrived, he was worried that Li Wanqing might have some ulterior motives. But the worst-case scenario he had anticipated actually happened.
Whether it was his own plan or he had been persuaded by someone, Li Wanqing was now obsessed with the idea of becoming an official while being a bandit.
Furthermore, with the appeasement now complete, although the official appointments from the imperial court haven't been issued yet, the rebel army has indeed been nominally appeased and become part of the government forces. Under these circumstances, Li Wanqing's idea caused Zhou Lun a major headache.
If he had known this would happen, he shouldn't have suggested to Gao Yingxiang that they accept the offer of amnesty. Now, the fake amnesty has turned into a real one. If they turn against each other and brothers turn against each other, how could Zhou Lun possibly imagine such an outcome?
More importantly, Zhou Lun had no trust in the current Ming Dynasty court.
Or rather, he simply didn't trust the current emperor, Chongzhen.
In Zhou Lun's view, Emperor Chongzhen, who was ambitious, stubborn, and lacked any sense of responsibility or ability, was a useless, incompetent, and mediocre ruler.
Compared to his elder brother, the previous Emperor Tianqi, Chongzhen was far, far inferior.
There's a saying that goes: "It's not the god-like opponents you should fear, but the pig-like teammates."
But this very Emperor Chongzhen was the biggest "pig teammate" at the end of the Ming Dynasty.
As long as he remained emperor, even the most capable civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty were useless. The disastrous actions of his incompetent ally not only failed to improve the situation but actually worsened it. Despite possessing overwhelming advantages and winning cards, Chongzhen squandered them terribly. Working under such a difficult ruler, the outcome was predictable.