The Reversal of the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 195: Where Are the Rebels? “Yes, General.” ” The messenger replied with his head bowed low. He lay motionless on the ground, not daring to move a muscle, for fear of displeasing the man seated before him and bringing disaster upon himself. “Damn it.” After hearing the messenger’s reply, Fu Heng clenched his teeth, gripped his fists tightly, and slammed them hard against the armrests of his chair as he muttered. “These rebels have gone too far. I haven’t even moved against you yet, and you’ve come to attack us first. And what’s with this ‘Bandit Suppression Army’? What does that even mean? Do you take us for bandits? Even if we were bandits, we’re the kind you can’t afford to provoke.” Recalling the name “Bandit Suppression Army,” Fu Heng’s anger boiled over, and he shouted furiously. However, Fu Heng hadn’t yet had time to vent all his inner fury. Just then, a guard’s announcement came from outside the door: “Report! An urgent dispatch from Fujian, six hundred li away.” The guard’s words caused Fu Heng’s heart to tighten involuntarily: “Could there be trouble in Fujian again?” “Send for him at once,” Fu Heng ordered urgently. “Aye!” The guard rose immediately to relay the order. Before long, a disheveled messenger from Fujian arrived, knelt before Fu Heng, and cried out: “Your servant pays his respects to the General of Pingnan.” “Hmm. An urgent dispatch from Liuli in Fujian—what is the matter?” Fu Heng replied and asked. “I report to the General, the rebels entrenched in Meizhou, Guangdong, number 150,000 troops and have divided their forces into two columns to attack Fujian. The rebels are numerous and powerful; one column has been capturing cities and strongholds, and their advance is now directly aimed at Longyan and Zhangzhou.” “Although General He Zhang has done his utmost to hold them back, his forces are insufficient. Therefore, he has ordered this servant to seek reinforcements from General Pingnan. General He Zhang’s letter is here.” Having said this, the messenger held a letter high above his head. Su Yunting, standing beside Fu Heng, stepped forward naturally to take the letter from the messenger, opened it, and handed it to Fu Heng. Fu Heng took the letter from Su Yunting and skimmed it. After verifying the seal, he found that the contents largely matched the messenger’s account. Furthermore, He Zhang mentioned in the letter that he had originally planned to deploy the Fujian Navy to Guangdong to launch harassment operations. However, he had not anticipated that after the Guangdong Navy defected to the enemy, its strength had significantly increased with the rebels’ support. Now, the Fujian Navy, hampered by a shortage of warships, was trapped in the harbor and unable to venture out to repel the enemy. The more Fu Heng read He Zhang’s letter, the darker his expression grew. The plans he and the other generals in Nanchang had devised had all turned out to be nothing but empty talk. In the council hall of the government office, two messengers from different regions lay prostrate on the floor, not daring to move. Anyone with half a brain could tell that the current atmosphere was not conducive to rash action. The generals in the hall, whether seated or standing, saw the grave expression on Fu Heng’s face and could not help but feel a heavy weight in their own hearts. Suddenly, Fu Heng cast a brief glance at the generals below. As he set down the letter in his hand, his previously grave expression instantly softened. “Very well, gentlemen, there is no need for concern. General He Zhang has already stated in his letter that everything is under control. Though these rebels claim to number 150,000, in reality they are little more than 20,000. Moreover, only a few thousand of them are actually fit for battle. The rest are nothing but peasants who have just laid down their hoes—they know nothing of fear,” Fu Heng said with complete confidence, appearing utterly untroubled. “Not only that. With such a small force, the rebels have actually split their troops into two columns. It’s nothing short of courting death. Haha…” Fu Heng even laughed as he spoke. “The General speaks the truth. These rebels are far too arrogant; in the end, they will be no match for the soldiers of the Great Qing…” The generals and officers in the hall seemed to be infected by Fu Heng’s optimism, and they all chimed in to agree. Fu Heng looked at the two messengers who were still kneeling on the ground and spoke with a rare gentleness: “You two, get up! You’ve worked hard on the journey. Go downstairs and get some rest.” “Yes… Your servant thanks the General for his kindness.” Hearing Fu Heng’s words, the two messengers breathed a sigh of relief. They hurriedly kowtowed and bowed their heads in gratitude. Just as the two messengers were rising to leave, the guard outside the hall’s entrance entered once more to report: “Report! I have an urgent message from Jingzhou, General Pingnan.” “Jingzhou? Could it be that Shang Jiabao has sent someone again to seek reinforcements?” Fu Heng wondered. Fu Heng had already decided on a “besiege Wei to rescue Zhao” strategy, so naturally he would no longer accept any requests for aid from Shang Jiabao. After all, receiving a plea for help and failing to send troops to the rescue would ultimately violate the most basic principles of morality, and he would inevitably face criticism from the imperial court in the future. However, the guard had already publicly stated that the urgent dispatch had come from Jingzhou. If he refused to receive it, who knew what rumors would spread among the assembled generals. If Shang Jiabao truly could not hold off the rebels’ assault and were killed by them, even if Fu Heng enjoyed the Emperor’s deep favor, he would still be liable to face charges and would also offend Shang Jiabao’s faction. “If all else fails, I’ll send a few thousand troops to Jingzhou to relieve the siege! That should silence the critics.” Having made up his mind, Fu Heng immediately ordered the guard who had come to report: “Bring him in.” “Yes, sir. I’ll do as you command.” The guard knelt once more and then left. Although the messengers from Jiangxi and Fujian were eager to stay and hear the intelligence from Jingzhou, the atmosphere in the entire council hall was deathly quiet. Deeply aware of their lowly status, the two had no choice but to follow the guard out. The two knew full well that if they failed to read the room and offended anyone in the hall, they would be executed, and no one would speak . A short while later, another messenger entered through the hall’s doorway, knelt before Fu Heng at the foot of the dais, and cried out, “I report to the General of the South: urgent military intelligence from Jingzhou, eight hundred li away.” As he spoke, the messenger raised the military report in his hand above his head. When Fu Heng took the intelligence report to examine the seal, he discovered it was not Shang Jiabao’s. “What’s going on? How could this not be a distress call from Shang Jiabao?” Fu Heng secretly breathed a sigh of relief. However, as he came to his senses and glanced at the brief contents of the letter, his breathing became unnaturally rapid. It was April, and although the weather had warmed up, the temperature in Nanchang was by no means hot. Yet Fu Heng now felt a cold sweat breaking out on his back. Su Yunting, standing nearby, watched Fu Heng seated in the main chair, his expression even more grave than when he had just received the military intelligence from Fujian. Fu Heng didn’t even realize that beads of sweat had formed on his forehead. Su Yunting had served under Fu Heng for several years, yet he had never seen him look like this before. Witnessing this scene, Su Yunting could not help but feel a sense of anxiety and unease. Suddenly, Fu Heng stood up. His hands, which had been clutching the paper tightly, seemed to lose all strength, allowing the intelligence report to fall to the ground. Just moments ago, Fu Heng had been speaking and laughing with the messenger from Fujian. Now, his face was filled with astonishment, and even a hint of fear as he asked the messenger kneeling before him, “Do you know the exact situation in Jingzhou? Has General Shang truly died for his country? Where are the rebels now?”