mage in the late qing dynasty

Chapter 1119 These days, everything is in chaos

Li Guangzong is not a person who is easily influenced.

If someone asked him for help, he would not be so embarrassed as to refuse and would help him eagerly.

He has his purpose.

He told Zhao Chuanxin about Bai Lang and his story.

Like many people of that era, Bai Lang was forced into this difficult situation.

He was from Henan, and his original name was not Bai Lang. No one had ever determined his specific name.

Anyway, everyone calls him Bai Lang now.

The Bai Lang family was not wealthy, but they had enough food and drink.

He has a generous and righteous character, a bit like Song Jiang.

This is the qualities of a leader among the poor people.

As a result, he gained some fame in his hometown and was able to win the support of the people.

In his village, Da Liu, the most common surname is Wang.

People from the same village are bound to have conflicts.

The Wang family was large and they took advantage of their power to bully others, and it would often be more than a dozen people beating him up.

As time went by, he couldn't beat the Wang family, so he tried his best to make friends.

Who doesn’t know how to form cliques?
There are many mountain roads in the area, and bandits often appear on those rugged and ravine-filled paths.

When people encountered bandits, Bai Lang dared to stand up, protect the coachmen and clear the way for others.

Sometimes, he would be beaten for standing up for others.

His altruistic character of helping others solve their problems made him more and more famous. Many business teams joined Bai Lang's team, allowing him to gradually become more powerful.

Everyone calls him "Brother Guan".

There was a local landlord named Wang Qi.

In 08, Bai Lang once again had an argument with the Wang family.

The Wang family, who usually bullied Bai Lang, gathered more than 20 people and wanted to beat Bai Lang up as usual.

As it turned out, Bai Lang at this moment is no longer the same Bai Lang as before.

An arrow pierces the clouds, and thousands of troops come to meet you.

Dozens of people rushed into Da Liu Village and surrounded the Wang family.

Wang Qi got scared when he saw this and quickly ordered someone to close the door.

I can’t beat him. I really can’t beat him.

After closing the door, Wang Qi couldn't swallow this humiliation, so he asked Wang Zhen, an 80-year-old elder in the clan, to go out and negotiate.

Wang Zhen, an eighty-year-old man, is also a prestigious elder in the village.

It would have been fine if the old man had just admitted his mistake and apologized, but he relied on his old age and the Wang family's accumulated prestige to start a dispute with Bai Lang.

Bai Lang thought, times have changed now, how dare you, Wang Jiaan, bully me?
Immediately, he pushed Wang Zhen.

Wang Zhen was eighty years old. He suffered from osteoporosis and weak internal organs. He fell to the ground and died soon after.

The Wang family bribed the county magistrate to arrest Bai Lang and put him in prison.

In prison, the bribed jailer hung him up and beat him severely.

During his one-year prison sentence, Bai Lang suffered a lot.

In order to get him out, the family spent all their money.

Having offended the Wang family again, Bai Lang could no longer settle down in the local area and had to leave.

After he was released from prison, he wanted to go into the mountains and become a pioneer.

Bandits are called different names in different places. In Shandong, they are called "Xiangma", outside the Great Wall, they are called "Lianzi", and here they are called "Tajiang".

There were many disasters in the late Qing Dynasty, and the people could not survive so they went into the mountains and became bandits.

The original word for "Tajiang" was "Tajiang", which describes a craftsman who runs errands.

These craftsmen became bandits, and the people called them "Tajiang".

But Bai Lang's family did not agree with him going into the mountains to be a trekker. After much persuasion, Bai Lang had to give up the idea and found a job raising horses.

When he went, he brought a good horse with him, which was strong and handsome.

After arriving at the place, the rich landlord became greedy and, relying on his large number of people, forcibly exchanged his old red horse for Bai Lang's good horse.

Anyone would be furious!

Not only that, the landlord even asked Bai Lang to pay him 50 taels of silver.

Bai Lang was almost furious, so he took the old red horse home and swallowed his anger.

That’s not all. The other party actually brought the thugs who were guarding the house to Bai Lang’s house and snatched the old red horse away.

This is really going too far!

In the second year of the Xuantong reign, soldiers and officers robbed Bai Lang's property on trumped-up charges and confiscated his sister's home, accusing her of collaborating with bandits.

This was the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Bai Lang simply became a bandit.

Go to hell, there is no way for good people to survive in this world.

Local proverb: If you want to be an official, go and pull the lever; if you think your position is too low, you have too few men and horses. Pull the bolt of a quick rifle and you will get two or three thousand silver dollars; pull the lever early in the morning and you will be an official in the evening.

Pulling the lever means gathering together as bandits and looting.

It can be seen that the local people can no longer survive, and everyone wants to become a bandit.

You can't spill the oil if you can't topple the gourd.

Bai Lang decided to go all out and became a bandit.

He first wiped out the Wang family who had harmed him, killed the jailer, and then massacred the landlord who had extorted his horse.

Bai Lang has means, and under various circumstances, his team gradually expands.

They robbed houses and occasionally helped the poor.

But he had few guns, but many cannons and swords, so he was not yet a powerful force.

At this time, the dynasty changed.

When Yuan Weiting came to power, he began to "reduce the power of the feudal lords" and ordered local governments to reduce their military forces.

In many places, soldiers are not good people to begin with. They are from all walks of life, and some are bandits who have been recruited.

Now that the army is being disarmed and there is nothing to do, I will go to Bai Lang.

This group of people did not come here for nothing, they even brought guns.

Bai Lang's back suddenly stiffened.

The dynasty changed, the slogans were shouted loudly, we had democracy and a republic.

But guess what?

The people found that there was no difference from the Qing Dynasty. The authorities were extremely poor, but they collected all the taxes they should have, and in some cases even more. Those who should not have food to eat still did not have food to eat.

Bai Lang has the greatest power, and those who can't afford to eat flock to Bai Lang.

The situation was unstable as the dynasty had just changed, so the local government turned a blind eye to Bai Lang and others.

With semi-tacit approval, Bai Lang's team expanded rapidly.

Yuan Weiting was born in Henan, where he had an old friend named Zhang Zhenfang.

As everyone else was rising, Zhang Zhenfang also stood up.

Yuan Weiting asked him to suppress the bandits.

Zhang Zhenfang had many crooked ideas. He imitated Zhang Zuolin's tricks outside the Great Wall. He lured all the generals into the city under the guise of recruiting them, saying that he could be a platoon leader among ten men and a company commander among a hundred men...

As soon as these people enter the city, we will close the door and beat the dog.

Bai Lang didn't fall for Zhang Zhenfang's tricks, so he didn't go and escaped the disaster.

At the same time, I also realized that Yuan Weiting was not a good person.

Fuck it, keep doing it.

Moreover, all the generals were killed by Zhang Zhenfang, leaving only Bai Lang in power.

Bai Lang temporarily avoided the limelight and developed quietly, breaking up into smaller units, doing everything from kidnapping landlords to robbing wealthy people and robbing trains.

It also absorbed the remaining troops of the annihilated generals.

If someone comes to invest, we will give them a lot of money first.

Later, Sun Gongwu and his men made a fuss.

When Bai Lang saw that the two sides had started fighting, he felt that his chance to become more powerful had come, so he went to contact Huang Xing.

When Huang Xing saw that this man was sensible and willing to bow down to him, he thought that he was someone worth winning over, so he gave him 20,000 silver dollars and several hundred guns.

Moreover, Sun Gongwu appointed Bai Lang as the vanguard commander of the joint forces of Hunan, Hubei and Henan provinces, a title that was terrifyingly powerful.

But Bai Lang still felt that it was not enough, so he proclaimed himself the commander-in-chief to support the Han and fight against Yuan Shikai, determined to be as famous as Zhao Chuanxin, who had his own army in the north.

Without the title of governor, it would not be enough to show one's power.

Yuan Weiting was confused.

Zhang Zhenfang had told him before that Bai Lang and other generals had been destroyed, so how come they were resurrected in the blink of an eye?

So he said to Zhang Zhenfang: "You have three months to wipe out Bai Lang. Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

As a result, although Sun Gongwu and his men made a lot of noise, it was just a lot of noise and little action, and the fire was quickly put out.

Bai Lang, on the other hand, traveled across states and prefectures. Wherever he passed, some government offices fled in fear, and those who could resist were no match for Bai Lang. After three victories, the morale of Bai Lang's army was greatly boosted.

The defenders in various places were made of paper and were easily broken by a single attack.

The Bailang Army was not only good at fighting, but also at running, covering a distance of 130 miles a day.

As a result, Zhang Zhenfang's army lagged behind and could not catch up with Bai Lang no matter what.

Bai Lang rushed in front and Zhang Zhenfang chased behind.

From then on, Bai Lang was nicknamed White Wolf.

Bai Lang took a look and thought, great, great, this battle is too easy as the more we fight, the more troops we have!

So they boldly divided their troops, one route from Xinyang to the west, directly capturing Suizhou, Zaoyang, Xinye, and Guanghua, then turning north to Dengzhou, passing through Xixia, and fighting all the way to Lushi; the other route went east, capturing Luoshan, Guangshan, Huangchuan, and finally reaching Gushi.

He chopped melons and vegetables with ease along the way.

Because there were many foreign churches wherever they passed, Bai Lang remembered how Zhao Chuanxin dealt with those missionaries who occupied land wantonly, so he did not tolerate them at all. Whenever he saw a church, he would rob and kill the missionaries and open the warehouses to release the grain.

This made Yuan Weiting lose face internationally and he was very angry.

After many twists and turns, Sun Gongwu and his men were completely defeated, but Bai Lang was still fighting.

But at this time, Yuan Weiting can concentrate on encircling and suppressing him.

The situation suddenly became serious.

That's why Huang Xing and others were anxious.

This thing is just like love and the stock market. Once you give your money, you will put your hope on it and you will be trapped.

Li Guangzong was not considering Huang Xing and others, but considering Bai Lang's background and his amazing military record.

This Bai Lang is awesome.

Sun Gongwu and his men are nothing, and Yuan Weiting's Beiyang Army can't even do anything to Bai Lang. Isn't this a real talent?
That's why he called Zhao Chuanxin.

"Master, if we recruit such a talent, wouldn't he be another Liu Yonghe?"

Liu Yonghe was also a member of a gang. Later, he led people to fight against the Russians. They fought back and forth in a very capable manner.

After Liu Yonghe led the Backwater Army, although he made many mistakes in the early stage, he managed to gain a firm foothold later and finally died on the battlefield.

Zhao Chuanxin smiled and said, "There are all kinds of people in his team, which doesn't match our style."

He could figure it out with his toes that wherever Bai Lang's men went, they would burn, kill, loot and commit all kinds of atrocities.

Bandits are just bandits, a mob.

On the surface, Bai Lang made quite a big fuss.

But in reality, they were all snatched away along the way and are nothing but rootless duckweed.

I estimate that he can still be arrogant for another half a year before he is completely wiped out by Yuan Weiting.

The Beiyang Army's morale was low at this time, but it was not really without combat effectiveness.

Zhao Chuanxin looked down on this ragtag team.

Li Guangzong hurriedly said, "Master, I'm not talking about his team, I'm talking about Bai Lang. He can lead a mob of people to victory again and again, so he must be an incompetent person."

Zhao Chuanxin realized that Li Guangzong really admired this man.

He thought for a moment and said, "How about this, I'll go meet him in a few days. Tell Huang Xing and the others not to worry. Newspapers like to exaggerate. I think Bai Lang is at his peak right now and is in high spirits."

The reason why Huang Xing and others were anxious was that the Beiyang Army sent by Yuan Weiting to encircle and suppress Bai Lang lied about their military achievements.

If they killed ten people, they would report a hundred or even a thousand.

If you kill a thousand of Bai Lang's men, you can say there are 50,000.

If what was reported in the newspapers was true, at least a million people had died in the battle under Bai Lang's command...

But according to Zhao Chuanxin's estimation, there were only about 10,000 people at most, otherwise Bai Lang's troops could not have marched so fast.

Newspapers often said that Bai Lang was dead. According to reports, Bai Lang was estimated to have died ten times.

That's why Huang Xing and his men were so anxious. In Zhao Chuanxin's opinion, Sun, Huang and others were nothing when it came to fighting.

The soles of each shoe were greased with oil, so they skated very fast.

If it weren't for the right opportunity and the fact that the Qing Dynasty had run out of luck, it would have taken who knows how many decades for the rebellion to succeed.

It would be a pipe dream to rely on reputation to bring down Yuan Weiting at this time.

With the change of dynasties, the road ahead is unclear. From top to bottom, everyone is groping for how to move forward.

Then Yuan Weiting died,
Warlords fight.

After experiencing the pain, the people may not yet understand what is good, but at least they understand what is bad.

According to him, this farce would end around 1920.

As for the future, who cares?

Zhao Chuanxin used to only consider gains and losses from the perspective of the common people, but now he considers issues from the perspective of those in power. He is now in a serious state of confusion.

It's really sad.

Zhao Chuanxin took a deep breath.

He spoke a few more words to Li Guangzong before hanging up the phone.

The room had floor heating and was clearly already quite warm, but Zhao Chuanxin still lit the fireplace.

Zhao Nianzhen was only wearing a thin skirt in the house, running happily with her classmate Xiao Nian.

Zhao Chuanxin saw a suspicious puddle of water on the floor.

When Zhao Nianzhen ran there, he slipped and was about to fall.

Zhao Chuanxin appeared in a flash and hugged his daughter when her head hit the armrest of the chair.

Zhao Nianzhen's mouth pursed and he burst into tears.

Zhao Chuanxin sniffed and found that the liquid on the ground indeed had a fishy smell.

"Good boy, he's still drawing maps all over the floor even at this age."

Zhao Chuanxin picked up his daughter with one hand, ignored her crying, and went to mop the floor with her.

Zhao Nianzhen bounced up and down in Zhao Chuanxin's arms. He howled for a while, but then felt bored, so he waved to his little classmate on the ground, "Come here quickly."

Zhao Chuanxin was mopping the floor in front, and the furry bear was running behind.

Zhao Lingjun looked jealous.

After mopping the floor, Zhao Chuanxin waved his hand and the water vapor evaporated.

He changed Zhao Nianzhen into a pair of cotton socks, and then put her back on the ground: "Tell Dad if you want to pee, don't pee on the floor."

Zhao Nianzhen turned a deaf ear.

Another hour passed, and Zhao Lingjun howled miserably: "Zhao Nianzhen, look at what you have drawn on my notes..."

Zhao Chuanxin stretched his head and took a look, and saw that the notebook was indeed a mess.

He raised his eyebrows. This didn't seem to be homework.

He picked up the notebook and looked at it: "What is this?"

"This is the wireless science that Nicholas taught at Lugang Town University."

"..." Zhao Chuanxin was speechless: "Why are you learning this? When you become a queen in the future, are you going to send and receive telegrams yourself?"

Zhao Lingjun bared his teeth with pride: "When traveling in the martial arts world, it is always good to have many skills."

Yao Bing was still flattering her: "Junior sister, you have great ambitions and you have something important to do!"

Zhao Chuanxin: "..."

The layout of Zhao Chuanxin's home has now changed.

A wall was added in the middle of the living room, separating the study half.

The floor here is wiped clean and sparkling. Please take off your shoes when you enter the house.

The other side is not so particular and you can walk with shoes on.

The reason is that there is a teleportation array in the study.

Originally, the door was locked at home at night.

Now the gates are still wide open at night, but a sentry box has been built at the entrance of the villa, and two guards who are good at martial arts and guns have been hired to take turns to guard the gate.

As they were talking, the door that separated the living room was pushed open, and Benjamin Goldberg, who was outside, shook off the snow on his body, took off his shoes and came into the house.

"Senior Brother." Yao Bing and Zhao Ling called out in unison.

Benjamin Goldberg smiled and said, "Hello, junior brothers and sisters."

Then he said to Zhao Chuanxin who was smoking, "Master, you have to quit smoking. I deliberately smoked a cigarette that day and found that cigarettes have a great impact on various functions of the body."

He learned the food-transforming rune and possessed a stronger inner vision ability than Zhao Chuanxin. He could classify food and regularly take in necessary substances to strengthen his physical fitness.

In a short period of time, he became strong and healthy, unlike a carbon-based creature.

He also used the food-transforming runes and the various plant herbs grown by Zhao Chuanxin at Peace College to make various medicines and provide free medical treatment.

Mr. Tianshangfei's prestige is ridiculously high.

Zhao Chuanxin flicked the ash off his cigarette: "Next time, for sure. What are you doing here?"

Benjamin Goldberg went over, hugged Zhao Nianzhen, kissed her and said, "I just miss you all."

Suddenly, Xingyue whispered in Zhao Chuanxin's ear: "Ask Benjamin if cells from different organisms can fuse?"

This sentence without any beginning or end made Zhao Chuanxin stunned.

But I asked Benjamin anyway.

Benjamin Goldberg rolled his eyes and thought hard: "I have studied toads and saw polynucleus in their blood cells. But the fusion of cells from different organisms requires experimentation."

The questions raised by Zhao Chuanxin aroused great interest from Benjamin Goldberg.

Xingyue said a few more words into Zhao Chuanxin's ear.

Benjamin Goldberg suddenly came over and whispered to Zhao Chuanxin, "Master, who is talking in your ear?"

"..." Zhao Chuanxin looked at him in surprise: "Have you become so sharp-eyed and sharp-eared?"

Under normal circumstances, when Xingyue speaks in his ear, only he can hear it.

"Yes, Master, I can fall asleep within ten seconds, I can control whether I dream or not, I can hear the slightest sound, and I can see places that ordinary people cannot see."

Zhao Chuanxin didn't answer him. He took out a divine consciousness tablet and two test tubes from the secret realm and handed them to him: "Take this back and study it carefully."

Benjamin Goldberg stayed for lunch and then hurried back.

After returning to Peace College, he went to the dean's office, took out the tablet of spiritual consciousness and placed it on his forehead.

After reading it, the tablet of spiritual consciousness shattered.

Benjamin Goldberg was shocked: "Transparent life form? Why have I never seen one?"

He took out two more test tubes, and sure enough, the contents of the test tubes were invisible to the naked eye.

But when he looked carefully, he discovered that the light was refracted abnormally.

The two test tubes contain the body tissues of Xingyue and Zhao Chuanxin's limbs respectively.

Benjamin Goldberg followed the method taught in the Book of Divine Consciousness and used electricity to charge the transparent life tissue in one of the test tubes. The tissue changed from completely transparent to translucent like a gel.

“Is this an atmospheric creature?”

Benjamin Goldberg was excited and decided to do some research...

……

On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhao Chuanxin took Zhao Songzhen, Yao Bing and Zhao Lingjun to the grain store to buy flour, and then went to cut a pine pole and dragged it back with a sled.

As soon as he dragged it home, he saw someone coming home. It turned out that it was Badanga who sent someone to deliver a little wild boar to Zhao Chuanxin.

The man told Zhao Chuanxin, "General, our chief steward said that Miss Zhao asked him for a wild boar last time. Wild boars usually give birth in May or June, and he happened to encounter an unusually large wild boar that didn't give birth on time, so he sent it to her."

Zhao Chuanxin glared at Zhao Lingjun: "You are just making trouble and causing trouble for others."

In the past, the five-wing general managers had to capture wild boars and pheasants for the Qing court every year.

After Zhao Chuanxin took over the grassland, he directly abolished this old custom that was costly and labor-intensive.

He took out a wad of silver dollars and handed it to the visitor: "It's freezing in this snowy weather. Whoever participated in the hunt, please share the money with everyone. Thank you for your hard work."

The visitor was flattered and waved his hands: "I dare not, I dare not..."

Zhao Chuanxin stuffed a large sum of money into the man's hand and told the guard, "Old Zhou, entertain this brother."

If he entertained them personally, it would inevitably make people uncomfortable.

This man appeared to be extremely terrified, but when Zhao Chuanxin left and was received by the security guard Lao Zhou, he looked much calmer.

Although it is just a sentry box at the entrance of the courtyard, it is fully equipped with tables, chairs and benches, and there is also a small room for rest.

The fire is burning brightly and it is warm as spring inside.

This man was drinking tea with Lao Zhou inside. Looking out the window, Zhao Chuanxin and three children dressed like balls were setting up lantern poles in the yard. He sighed, "Doctor Zhao is doing this work himself?"

Old Zhou drank tea and ate some cakes and said, "That's right, the governor is at home, doing everything himself. He bought New Year's goods and brought some for us."

That person was envious.

Zhao Chuanxin, wearing a coarse cloth work suit, put the bottom of the pine pole into the dug hole. With the strength of his arms, he easily erected the pine pole and filled it with a shovel.

A tripod was nailed to the top of the pine pole, with a pulley installed and a rope passed through it. He hung the lantern on the rope.

Zhao Lingjun shouted: "Let me do it, let me do it."

Zhao Nianzhen also joined in the fun: "Let me do it, let me do it."

Zhao Chuanxin asked the two sisters to hold one end each and raise the lantern.

Big red lanterns are hung high.

The little wild boar was untied and followed Zhao Lingjun closely, grunting and shaking from the cold.

Zhao Lingjun yelled again: "Dad, turn on the light quickly."

"Why turn on the lights in broad daylight?"

"Hey, why isn't it dark yet?"

The two people in the sentry box heard it vaguely and couldn't help but laugh.

Where there are children, the New Year is especially lively.

This is probably how the New Year atmosphere comes from.

During the New Year holidays, if Zhao Chuanxin was not busy with official duties, he would be busy traveling around.

Lubinfu, Lugang Town, Hong Kong Island, flying in the sky...

He erected lantern poles from all over the place, made a big circle, and temporarily placed the fourth teleportation array at his home in Hong Kong Island.

At night, the lanterns of Lubin Mansion were finally lit up.

Perhaps because Zhao Chuanxin often went back to The Hague, or perhaps because Wilhelmina was pregnant again, she was not as restrictive on Zhao Lingjun.

Anyway, all the eggs are not in one basket now, so he is somewhat tempted to give up on making Zhao Lingjun the crown prince.

This child is so difficult to discipline.

Zhao Lingjun was extremely happy when she saw that many families had hung up big red lanterns, forming a long red dragon in Lubin Prefecture.

She counted on her fingers and said to Yao Bing: "Brother, look, I spent Christmas in Noordeinborg, and then came to Lubinfu to celebrate the Russian Christmas, and then we celebrated the New Year, it's great!"

Christmas in the Netherlands is December 12th, and Christmas in Russia is January 25th.

Not long after that it was Chinese New Year.

This winter, it was lively three times.

It’s the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, and Zhao Chuanxin is steaming buns at home after the dough that he fermented yesterday has froze.

Three children were making dough figures at the side, and the dough crumbs that fell on the ground were eaten by the little wild boar with a grunt.

"Xiao Ling, be careful not to get stuck in your intestines when eating raw noodles."

Because Zhao Chuanxin gave puppet dolls to Zhao Nianzhen and Zhao Songzhen respectively, and named them Xiaonian and Xiaosong.

Not willing to be outdone, Zhao Lingjun got a little wild boar and named it Xiaoling.

Benjamin Goldberg injected Xiao Ling with several drugs to eliminate parasites, viruses and bacteria.

Now he starts to feel his chest pounding whenever he sees Benjamin.

Zhao Lingjun would take it back to Noordeinborg at night and put a cotton vest on it...

The steamed buns made by Zhao Chuanxin are in various shapes, some look like flowers, and some have dates embedded in them.

As the steamed buns were put into the pot, he said, "You guys watch the fire, I'll be back soon."

However, he used this time to teleport back to the underground fortress of Quetshalan to collect the steamed buns made by the puppet slaves. After coming back, he used the teleportation array to go to Lugang Town and Hong Kong Island to continue steaming buns.

Some of the steamed buns were placed on the altar as offerings, and the rest were placed in a large outdoor vat which was covered with a curtain and soon froze.

During the Chinese New Year, people visit relatives frequently and there are many people around, so there is no need to cook every day. You can just take the steamed buns out of the jar, heat them in the pot and eat them directly, which is convenient.

When Tang Qunying came back from work, she smelled the aroma of steamed buns as soon as she entered the house and went into the kitchen to take a look.

When other people worship their ancestors, they put up portraits of their ancestors on the altar.

There is a tablet here for Zhao Chuanxin, on which it is written: May our ancestors be safe and sound.

Tang Qunying was stunned.

Ancestors, ancestors, must be the ancestors who have passed away. What peace are you guaranteeing? Is the underworld also in chaos these days?

(End of this chapter)