Starting from 1618 of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 56 The Uprising Breaks Out

May 11th, the second year of the Tianqi reign (1622), night.

Yuncheng County, in southwestern Shandong Province.

This night was destined to be recorded in history, becoming the bloodiest page in the prelude to the collapse of the Ming Dynasty.

The sky was a sickly dark red, as if reflected by the murderous aura emanating from the ground. Xu Family Village, the headquarters of the Fragrance Cult, had now become an erupting volcano.

Thousands of torches converged into a winding fiery dragon, flowing towards Yuncheng County. There were no war drums in the procession, only a deep, rhythmic, and chilling chanting of scriptures:

"The red sun's calamity ends, the white sun shall rise... The eternal mother, the true homeland..."

Leading the way were three thousand "death warriors" dressed in white robes and with white headscarves. They had just drunk "divine water" mixed with hallucinogenic herbs and talisman ash; their eyes were vacant and fanatical, their pain receptors numbed by the drugs. In their hands, they tightly gripped the batch of "specially supplied broadswords" and spears produced by Lu's Company.

Xu Hongru sat on a sedan chair carried by eight men, wearing a Taoist robe and holding a peach wood sword, looking down at the frenzied procession like a god.

"Break down the city! Kill the officials! Sacrifice the flag!"

At his command, the crowd accelerated and charged toward the low-lying county town.

On the city wall of Yuncheng County, the magistrate was trembling as he drew his sword, attempting to command the two hundred garrison soldiers who were already terrified.

"Fire arrows! Fire arrows now! Shoot these traitors to death!"

A sparse rain of arrows fell, felling a few believers at the forefront. But most ignored the corpses around them, stepping over the flesh and blood of their comrades, continuing to climb like tireless zombies.

"Sorcery! They have sorcery! They're invulnerable to swords and spears!"

A garrison soldier screamed in terror. He had seen an arrow pierce the chest of a man in white, who merely swayed, pulled out the arrow, and grinned as he continued his charge.

Fear instantly spread among the defenders.

"Bang!"

With a loud bang, a cloud of black smoke rose from the city gate.

It was a group of believers carrying earthenware jars filled with inferior gunpowder who launched a suicide attack. Although the gunpowder Lu sold them was greatly reduced in power, mostly just exploding rather than detonating, it was still enough to blow open that dilapidated wooden door that had been in disrepair for many years.

"The city has fallen!!"

With a desperate roar, a white torrent surged into the county town.

What followed was a one-sided massacre.

It was also a brutal real-world test of "inferior industrial products".

In the street fighting, a minor leader of the Fragrance Cult wielded a large sword, fiercely slashing at the iron helmet of a government army officer. His strike was powerful and heavy; if it were made of good iron, it would have been enough to cleave the helmet and head in two.

"when!"

A crisp sound.

The broadsword snapped in two the instant it touched the iron helmet. The severed blade flew out and slashed the face of one of their own men nearby.

The squad leader froze, staring blankly at the broken knife handle in his hand.

"This...this is a divine weapon?"

Before he could react, the government troops' spears had already pierced his throat.

But this did not change the course of the battle. There were simply too many people. Ten believers attacking a single government soldier, even if they used their teeth or their hands, would be enough to overwhelm the government troops.

The musket team suffered an even more devastating defeat.

A group of believers raised their homemade muskets (using Luk Kee's brittle iron pipes) and pulled the triggers at the government troops.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

There was no volley of gunfire as expected. Instead, a series of muffled explosions followed.

At least 30% of the muskets exploded upon firing. The brittle iron tubes simply couldn't withstand the chamber pressure of the black powder and shattered into pieces. The believers holding the guns screamed and covered their faces; their fingers were blown off, and their faces were mangled and bloody from the shrapnel.

"Is this divine retribution?!"

Someone shouted in terror.

But soon, the fanatical supervisors rushed forward, cutting down several who retreated: "This is disloyalty! Mother is testing us! Charge! Hand-to-hand combat!"

That night, Yuncheng turned into hell.

The county magistrate was hacked to pieces, and his head was hung on the city gate tower. The county treasury was looted, and all the account books and documents were burned.

At dawn, Xu Hongru stood in the blood-stained hall of the county government office and announced the founding of the nation, "Zhongxing," and proclaimed himself "Emperor Fulie of Zhongxing."

……

Three days later, in Jinan Prefecture.

The news of the fall of Yuncheng was like a bombshell that exploded in the provincial capital.

The once bustling streets instantly descended into chaos. Wealthy families frantically loaded their gold, silver, and valuables onto carts, attempting to flee to Dengzhou by sea; rice and salt shops were emptied by panicked citizens; government officials wielded fire and water sticks, indiscriminately beating people in the streets, but were utterly unable to maintain order.

"Have you heard? Xu Hongru has the sorcery of conjuring soldiers from beans! Even the government troops' swords spark when they strike him!"

"It's over! It's over! They say they have an army of 100,000 and they're going to slaughter all the wealthy families in the city as a sacrifice to the heavens!"

Rumors travel faster than chaotic armies.

Lu Ji's camp, atop the watchtower.

Lu Yan, still dressed in a blue robe, stood with his hands behind his back, coldly watching the chaos in Jinan in the distance.

"Master, the battle report from Yuncheng has been verified." Zhao Changying handed over a bloodstained secret letter, a strange expression on his face. "The effects of our 'product'... are astonishing."

"The rate of barrel explosions was 30%, and the rate of broken knives was 20%. But it was precisely because the weapons were so bad that the believers were forced to fight hand-to-hand, which terrified the government troops."

"This is 'reverse selection'."

Lu Yan took the letter, glanced at it, and smiled slightly. "Inferior weapons eliminated those with weak wills, leaving only lunatics. Although this team is poorly equipped, their hearts have already hardened."

"Next, they will grow like a snowball. Juye, Tengxian, Zouxian... these unsuspecting counties will all be their prey."

"Then let's..."

"Keep waiting."

Lu Yan turned around and looked at the army behind him, which was already fully equipped and armed to the teeth.

A thousand soldiers, all in plate armor, armed with rigorously inspected flintlock muskets, and with finely crafted steel sabers at their waists. Four 3-pound field cannons were polished to a gleaming shine.

This is a force that can be described as a "dimensional reduction attack" in this era.

"Jinan Prefecture is not chaotic enough right now. Zhou Daodeng and his gang still harbor illusions and are hoping for reinforcements from the imperial court."

Lu Yan sneered, "They don't know that the imperial army is filling in the pits in Liaodong. Only we can save them."

"Report—!"

A scout rushed upstairs, "Master! The staff of the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's Office are requesting an audience outside the camp! They say... they say Lord Zhou wants to invite you into the city for 'tea,' and incidentally to discuss... the matter of borrowing troops!"

Lu Yan and Zhao Changying exchanged a glance.

"Look, the fish are starting to bite."

Lu Yan straightened his clothes, and a predator's sharpness finally appeared in his deep eyes.

Tell him that Mr. Lu has recently caught a cold and is unwell, so he probably can't make it.

"but……"

Lu Yan paused, his voice becoming meaningful:

"If Lord Zhou is willing to temporarily entrust the defense of the three city gates in the south of the city, as well as the keys to the Ever-Normal Granary in the city, to Lu Ji for safekeeping... then my illness might be cured immediately."

"Go. Deliver these words to Zhou Daodeng verbatim."

"Tell him that Xu Hongru's striker is only three days away from Jinan. His time is running out."

The wind blew in from the north, carrying a strong smell of gunpowder.

Lu Yan stood on high ground, looking at the "Imperial Timber Bureau" banner fluttering in the wind.

His era finally began amidst these ruins and bloodshed.