Linxia

Chapter 248, Rebellion
Huai'an.

"Brother Dong!"

The paper with the information in Fang Lin's hand slipped, he took two steps back and sat down on the chair.

A few days ago, the person who went to pick up Dong Zugao came back and said that the other party was unwilling to leave. He had a bad feeling in his heart, but still held on to a glimmer of hope.

——Originally, Fang Lin instructed the people who were supposed to pick him up that if Dong Zugao was unwilling, he should be knocked out and taken away. However, Dong Zugao seemed to be on guard. You know, Dong Zugao is in charge of both military and political affairs in Jining Prefecture now. It would be difficult to do so when the other party is on guard.

In the past few days, Fang Lin was planning to dispatch a group of 1,000 people to the north, but he received bad news at this time.

call!
He took a deep breath, and scenes appeared in his mind: the first time they met in Wengtang, Dong Zugao's clothes were stolen, and he only wore a gauze hat, boots, and a ribbon to scold the bathhouse owner. He was still very young and immature at that time; in the Donkey Restaurant, the two hit it off immediately, and Dong Zugao talked about his studies, carrying the expectations of his family, and repeatedly failing the exams, which made him feel depressed; running the feces business, the two fought against Master Zhuo Sanye, and went to find Prefect Pu to talk; the Three Kingdoms novels were popular, and they swore brotherhood in Qingyun Pavilion...

The past events came back to his mind vividly, and Fang Lin couldn't help but close his eyes. He raised his face slightly, stood up after a moment, walked to the window, and pushed it open with a creak.

The wind whistled in, rustling the pages of books in the house. The trees in the garden swayed in the wind, and dark clouds hung low in the sky, covering it like a dome.

Fang Lin watched all this and felt a breath stuck in his heart, which he could neither spit out nor swallow.

"I thought I was indifferent enough and respected the fate of others, but I didn't expect... I still can't do it!"

Four years ago, Pu Yuanhao was pushed out by Emperor Chongxiang to take the blame and was sentenced to death, and he slammed the table in anger; last year, the capital was breached by King Chuang's army, which was something he had expected, but he still tossed and turned the night he received the news; today, the news of Dong Zugao's martyrdom came, which made him even more heartbroken.

"The country is ruined but the mountains and rivers remain, the city is overgrown with grass and trees in spring; the flowers shed tears when they feel sad, and the birds are startled when they feel sad when they leave."

At this moment, Fang Lin somewhat understood Du Fu's emotions at the time. The mountains and rivers were in ruins, his close friend was in trouble, and that feeling of powerlessness was suffocating.

Gurgling!

He turned around and poured a glass of wine, then poured it out in front of the window toward the north: "Brother Dong, seven years ago, you insisted on going to the capital, and you did achieve some results at first. Later, you were exiled to the countryside in the party struggle, and your attempt to save the country had already failed. In the past few years, I have asked you to go overseas many times, but you were unwilling to leave. I'm afraid you had already thought of this day... Now, you really got what you asked for."

"Compared to you, I escaped. I am not as good as you!"

At this time, Butler Deng suddenly came in and reported: "Master, Magistrate Liang is here."

……

"Please take a seat, Lord Liang." Fang Lin nodded slightly as a greeting. He was in a bad mood today and was too lazy to play along with the other party.

Prefect Liang noticed this, looked at the wine pot and wine cup on the table, bowed and apologized: "Sir Fang, were there guests just now? I am sorry for coming here."

"It's just a drink alone. Sir Liang, is there something that brings you here so late?" Fang Lin said calmly.

Seeing Fang Lin's cold attitude, Prefect Liang thought that he was worried about the current situation, so he did not keep him in suspense and asked directly: "Master Fang, what do you think of the current situation?"

"What does Lord Liang want to say?" Fang Lin narrowed his eyes.

"Some time ago, the Qing Dynasty marched southward with unstoppable force, leaving only Nanxia and the Qing Dynasty in the world. As far as I know, now that it is a matter of life and death, Nanxia is still fighting for power and infighting. I am afraid that the story of the Southern Song Dynasty will repeat itself in the future. This destiny may be..."

This prefect Liang is a smart man. In the past few years in Huai'an, he has been honestly using his own money to eat, drink, and have fun. It is precisely because he is a smart man that he wants to jump ship at this point. "Sir Liang, why don't you continue?"

"Master Fang is also a smart man. Since you want me to say it, I might as well say it more clearly. I think the one who will rule the world must be the Qing Dynasty. We might as well surrender early and get rich. I heard that Master Fang's Three Kingdoms story was deeply loved by the Regent of the Qing Dynasty. He regarded it as a military book and never put it down. If Master Fang surrenders, who knows..."

Prefect Liang became more and more excited as he spoke, as if he had already imagined a bright future.

He took many factors into consideration when bringing Fang Lin along. Firstly, he knew Fang Lin was a smart man who would know how to handle current affairs as well as he did. He wanted to make his attitude clear to avoid any misunderstanding and taking someone else's head as a token of surrender without knowing it. Secondly, he had no real power in Huai'an and Fang Lin had to make the decision on whether he should surrender. Thirdly, Fang Lin's Three Kingdoms novels were deeply loved by the high-ranking officials of the Qing Dynasty. If he surrendered, maybe the story of Emperor Hongtai would be repeated in the future and he would be glorious in the Qing Dynasty. This was an early way to establish a close relationship with him.

"Fuck you!" Fang Lin's face became more gloomy as he listened, and he threw the wine glass at him. "If you want to go to the Southern Xia court to seek wealth and fame, that's fine, but you actually want to drag me into being a traitor?"

Prefect Liang was stunned by the blow and didn't react for a moment. The wine dripped down his face. He paused for a few breaths before he said in disbelief: "Fang Lin, you, you dare to attack me? You are so brave, are you planning to rebel?"

"Rebellion? Are you talking about rebelling against Daxia? Or rebelling against the Qing Dynasty? If it's Daxia, I'm afraid you are a traitor; if it's the Qing Dynasty, oh, your master hasn't come yet!"

"You, you, you are so stubborn..." Prefect Liang realized that he had made a slip of the tongue and was about to leave in anger.

Seeing that Fang Lin was so confused and ignorant of the current situation, he secretly made up his mind to contact them on his own. When the Qing Dynasty invaded Huai'an in the future, he might be able to use the Qing Dynasty to take a big bite out of Fang Lin.

Fang Lin had an expressionless face as he watched Governor Liang turning around. He pulled out a pistol from his bosom and shot the man.

——Hand cannons are made by overseas arsenals. The technology is now capable of this, but it cannot be mass-produced. However, it is still possible to make a few for self-defense.

boom!
Governor Liang's head burst into pieces and his body fell straight down.

"Master!" Butler Deng came over.

"Cousin!" Fang Chuanhui came even faster, bringing two people armed with weapons and breaking in through the window.

"Master, this, this... Magistrate Liang..." Butler Deng's face changed and he became incoherent for a moment. On the contrary, Fang Chuanhui and the other two were only slightly startled and then regained their composure.

"It doesn't matter, just drag it away and deal with it!"

Fang Lin waved his hand nonchalantly. If it had been decades ago, killing a prefect would definitely have been a big trouble, but now, if he was killed, what could happen?

He also doesn't have the hobby of leaving hidden dangers and letting the other party do whatever he wants even though they have already broken off relations.

Fang Lin had the body of Prefect Liang dragged away and disposed of. He also comforted Fang's father, Fang's mother, Tian Xuan and others who had rushed over following the noise, and then asked Fang Chuanhui to come over and talk to him about a few things.

"Send a group of people to Qufu in Lu to blow up the Kong family's ancestral tomb. Then, use the caravan intelligence network to spread the word that the Kong family has lost their morals and that the heaven hates them... Pick up the people on this list one by one... Have the troops gathered yet? Mobilize five thousand-man regiments for me!"

Fang Lin took out a map and pointed at two places on it: "This and this are the only way for the Qing Dynasty to go south. We have fought with them here. You have been tempered overseas for a long time. This time, let's see how effective it is against tough guys... This is to buy time for the remaining hundreds of thousands of people, and also... to get back some debts from Brother Dong!"

……

(End of this chapter)