Chapter 786: Chapter 597 Young Master, let’s start a rebellion!
In Yang Zhenshan’s heart, Yang Mingcheng was the most honest, Yang Mingzhi the most restless, and Yang Minghao the most carefree.
However, what Yang Zhenshan didn’t know was that the most unsteady of the second generation of the Yang family was actually Yang Mingzhao.
This wasn’t Yang Zhenshan’s fault, as Yang Mingzhao had always been very obedient from childhood to adulthood, going through life dutifully—growing up, getting married, having children, all while practising martial arts diligently. This gave Yang Zhenshan the illusion that his son was a filial and sunny young man.
Yet, this sunny young man had now run off to become a mountain bandit in Bashu.
In the northern part of Kui Prefecture, Bashu,
There was a valley hidden in the layers of mountains, where more than five thousand villagers lived.
These five thousand villagers had fled into the mountains over ten years ago during a severe drought in Kui Prefecture. When they first arrived, there were only slightly more than three hundred of them, and the valley was just a wasteland. After more than a decade of cultivation and development, they had grown to over five thousand, cultivating over twenty thousand acres of farmland.
Although the soil in the valley was infertile and didn’t produce much grain, making the days hard to get by, they were willing to hide and live in these mountains because here they had a meal to eat. Once outside, they might starve to death.
Without exorbitant taxes and corvée labor, they could survive even in poverty.
Mountains surrounded the valley, with only a shorter peak to the south. A small river meandered out from between the mountains, passing through the narrow valley and flowing into the hollows of the southern mountain.
The sides of the river had been cultivated into patches of farmland growing wheat, which was already a golden hue by now and nearing the time for harvest.
Yang Mingzhao and Chen Buyu walked side by side on the narrow paths between the fields, looking at the golden wheat, chatting in a relaxed manner.
Yes, the person with Yang Mingzhao was indeed Chen Buyu. As for how the two met,
This story began five years ago.
Five years earlier, Yang Mingzhao, twenty-one years old and married for four years with a three-year-old child, grew bored staying on Star Moon Island, so he set off for a journey in Da Rong.
The wish of a young man to travel was naturally not something Yang Zhenshan would refuse.
Yang Mingzhao landed from Fuhai Province, passing through Fuhai, Jiangnan, Yun Gui, and finally arrived in Bashu.
By that time, Chen Buyu and his father, Chen Ding’an, had been rebelling and killing officials for six years. But those six years hadn’t been easy; rebelling against the government would inevitably result in being hunted. Although they could hide in the mountains, they lacked everything and didn’t dare to enter the city. They had no choice but to loot some merchant caravans or goods escorted by government officers.
As a result, in one robbery, Chen Ding’an was severely injured and later died. With the death of his father, Chen Buyu continued leading a hundred clansmen as bandits.
Then, they robbed Yang Mingzhao. Needless to say, with the power Chen Buyu and his men had, they were no match for Yang Mingzhao, especially since Yang Mingzhao had several attendants and guards with him.
However, it seemed that Chen Buyu’s group only aimed to rob without killing. Seeing that they spared lives for goods, Yang Mingzhao did not strike to kill.
After being captured, Yang Mingzhao questioned Chen Buyu about his reasons for becoming a bandit.
After hearing Chen Buyu’s story, Yang Mingzhao deeply sympathized with him and eventually let them go.
Initially, Yang Mingzhao had no intention of becoming a bandit, but after he arrived in Kui Prefecture, he was extorted by government officers.
It didn’t anger him to be robbed by bandits, but being extorted by a government officer, did they really think he was easy prey?
An angered Yang Mingzhao killed seven or eight government officers, and afterward, he encountered many messy situations in Bashu. In one instance, he found a group of officials in a village strong-arming taxes.
More than twenty officials and constables were plundering in the village, and Yang Mingzhao ended up killing them all.
However, this presented a problem. He could leave after killing the government officers, but what about the remaining villagers?
These villagers couldn’t stay in the village; that would lead to only one path: death.
So, Yang Mingzhao brought hundreds of villagers to Chen Buyu and asked for his help to look after them.
At that time, he still hadn’t joined them. He simply had his attendants bring some supplies to Chen Buyu.
Yang Mingzhao returned to Star Moon Island and stayed for more than half a year. But he couldn’t stop worrying about those villagers; after all, they were implicated by his actions.
If he hadn’t killed, perhaps those villagers would have suffered some harm but wouldn’t need to flee their homes and become outlaws hiding in the mountains.
So he went back to Bashu again and found Chen Buyu.
In the subsequent years, he would visit Bashu annually, bringing supplies for Chen Buyu each time.
After going back and forth like this, he became familiar with Chen Buyu.
Before they knew it, five years had passed, and Yang Mingzhao had become the main shareholder of the valley, even rising to the position of the head of the bandits. Chen Buyu was even willing to acknowledge him as his leader.
Why was Chen Buyu willing to do so?
The reason was simple: Yang Mingzhao had given too much.
Over the years, Yang Mingzhao had provided Chen Buyu with supplies worth a thousand taels of silver.
It might not be much in Yang Mingzhao’s eyes, but for Chen Buyu, it was life-saving grace.
Without the supplies from Yang Mingzhao, they would have to go down the mountain to loot, but looting was a life-risking affair, with each plunder potentially bringing danger.
Chen Buyu’s father and many of his kin died fighting in robberies.
The supplies from Yang Mingzhao solved their survival issues in the mountains and spared them from descending to rob for meager spoils.