RPAGF Chapter 8 These bandits actually dared to be disobedient?
Chapter 8 These bandits actually dared to be disobedient?
While it's true that treating subordinates like brothers can quickly build rapport in the early stages of a business, it can also create hidden problems later on.
Take Lu Xiong for example. If Luo Ke really treats him like a brother and he can also keep his own position in the right place, then everything will be fine. But if he really treats Luo Ke as a brother and thus has some inappropriate thoughts, then that would be bad.
Many people are like this: because they can't distinguish whether they are someone's brother or subordinate, they end up with an unbalanced mentality. If that's the case, it's better to clarify the subordinate relationship between the two parties from the beginning.
After getting the clothes and changing into them, Lu Xiong also noticed the special features of the outfit.
He had originally planned to wear the padded jacket over the beautiful clothes he was wearing, and then take it off when he went to war.
To his surprise, the clothes seemed to generate heat on their own, and he couldn't feel the cold outside at all after putting them on!
"My lord, these clothes..."
Lu Xiong asked Rock in confusion, but Rock simply smiled and said:
"Hehe, that's our team's secret."
Lu Xiong nodded, guessing that there might be some kind of superhuman in Rock's team who could use special magic to make these clothes, but he didn't ask in detail.
After all, I've only just joined, so it doesn't seem right to pry too much.
But then, Lu Xiong suddenly remembered something and quickly asked Luo Ke:
"By the way, my lord, what's the name of our team?"
Rock was slightly taken aback by the question, because he suddenly realized that he hadn't actually thought about what his team's name should be.
Names are very important. A name can indicate a team's model and principles, and it can also raise their banner.
Otherwise, people can't refer to them as an unidentified armed force, can they?
Despite feeling a little flustered, Rock quickly thought of a name and calmly replied:
"The name of our army is the Broken Army, and our motto is to expel the Tartars and restore China! From now on, you don't need to call me 'Lord,' just call me 'Commander.'"
"From this day forward, whether they are Tartars or foreigners, these invaders are our enemies, and our mission is to drive them out!"
Upon hearing the name, Lu Xiong's eyes lit up instantly.
"What a great name! What a powerful slogan: 'Expel the Tartars and restore China!'"
But Rock immediately followed up with:
"However, we shouldn't use this name in public. It's enough for only our own people to know it, otherwise it could easily cause trouble."
"Old Lu, as you can see, I don't have nearly enough manpower right now. We can't possibly fight the Green Standard Army and the Eight Banners Army with just this few people. So we can't start a rebellion until our strength reaches a certain level."
"Therefore, when we announce ourselves to the outside world, it is enough to say that we are the Luo family army. We can disguise ourselves as bandits or security teams. You can call me the big boss in front of outsiders. Anyway, there are such teams everywhere outside the pass now."
After hearing Luo Ke's explanation, Lu Xiong naturally understood.
If they were just a band of bandits, the Qing dynasty would most likely have been too lazy to provoke them, since there were too many bandits outside the Great Wall.
Although the area outside the Great Wall was the birthplace of the Manchu Qing dynasty, they did not develop it very well. The territory that the Shengjing General could control was only Shengjing, and the other Green Standard Army soldiers were in a similar situation.
They had no control over the territory outside the city and could only let these bandits and local armed forces run rampant.
However, if these bandits openly raise the banner of rebellion and transform themselves into an anti-Qing rebel army, then their nature will completely change.
The imperial court wouldn't care if there were bandits in the territory governed by a general, but it would definitely care about rebels. For generals and local officials, the heads of rebels would be a sure-fire political achievement!
That is why they pretend to be bandits, which will not easily provoke the army outside the pass, but if they directly say that they are rebels, then the trouble will be endless.
After speaking these words to Lu Xiong, Rock then said to one of the cavalrymen beside him:
"By the way, take two people with you and follow that group of refugees at a distance. See where they eventually settle down or which village they go to, but don't let them find you."
The cavalryman nodded, then immediately took two companions and spurred his horse away.
Seeing this, Lu Xiong frowned slightly and said to Luo Ke with some dissatisfaction:
"General, are we really going to harm those refugees? To be honest, they're all living in poverty. They've barely eaten anything on their journey, let alone had any money. There's really no need to harm them!"
Lu Xiong did join Luo Ke's group, but he didn't want to really turn himself into a bandit; he still had a chivalrous heart.
Rock couldn't help but roll his eyes and asked Lu Xiong in return:
"Please, Lao Lu, what are you thinking? I just said we'd pretend to be bandits, you don't actually think we're bandits, do you?"
"The reason I had the cavalry follow them was to see what villages were nearby. When we come back, we can bring those villages under our control and collect security fees from them."
"This money isn't paid for nothing. They pay for our security, and our soldiers protect their area. What I want is to govern this land well, so that the people here can live and work in peace and contentment. It's also my base, not something I want to grab and run away with."
At this point, Rock recalled those so-called rebel armies of the past and said with some disdain:
"To be honest, most rebel uprisings made this mistake: they ended up as roving bandits, looting every place they went to without ever thinking about governing it!"
"But we can't do that. What we need to do is drive out the Tartars, not become like Zhang Xianzhong or Li Zicheng."
Lu Xiong quickly clasped his hands in a fist salute, lowered his head somewhat ashamed, and said:
"I'm sorry, Commander, I was judging you by my own petty standards!"
"It's alright, ignorance is no excuse. If you have any questions, just ask me. Don't keep things to yourself and overthink them."
Rock waved his hand and said, "To be honest, it would be a good thing if subordinates could ask directly if they really had any thoughts in their hearts, instead of keeping them to themselves."
As a leader, an honest person like this is definitely the kind of subordinate they dream of.
After running for quite some time, and with darkness approaching, Rock and his group finally arrived at the foot of the mountain where the bandits' stronghold was located.
Upon arriving here, Rock's eyes darted around, and he signaled to the cavalrymen to separate the three bandits who were leading the way, keeping each of them a distance away.
Immediately afterwards, Rock drew his pistol again and pointed it at Xu Mazi's head with a snap.
Before Xu Mazi, who had been pinned down by two cavalrymen, could figure out what was happening, a gun was already pointed at his head.
His expression changed drastically instantly, and he quickly asked:
"Your Majesty, what are you doing?"
Rock feigned anger and smiled coldly:
"Heh heh, what's up? Xu Mazi, I've heard you're not exactly honest!"
"Your two buddies already told me that there are supposedly a lot of traps buried around your stronghold, but you didn't mention a word about it. What does that mean?"
"So it turns out you weren't sincere all along, and were actually trying to trick me!"
Rock didn't know if there were any traps or anything like that around the stronghold, but he had heard that many bandits liked to set up traps around their strongholds, using them for hunting and defense in critical moments.
So he simply used this method to bluff Xu Mazi and see if the guy was hiding anything.
Hearing Rock's question, Xu Mazi, who was already terrified because of the gun pointed at his head, was completely frightened by Rock's words and his mentality collapsed.
He knelt down with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly as he said:
"Your Majesty, please don't kill me! I deserve to die!"
"There are indeed traps around this village, but... I completely forgot about that! Please don't kill me, I'll lead the way!"
Damn, this old guy really had something up his sleeve!
Rock took a deep breath. Luckily, he was quick-witted; otherwise, he might have really been tricked by these bandits.
I can't believe it! Even at a point like this, these guys are still not behaving themselves!
What are they thinking?
Rock couldn't quite understand their thought process. Did they think that since they had tricked him here, they would retaliate later?
So he pointed his musket at Xu Mazi and shouted sternly:
"Stand up and lead the way! Immediately identify any traps you find!"
"Don't stray more than five paces from my men. If you do, we'll open fire immediately. Of course, you can also gamble on your skills and see if you can escape from dozens of foreign guns."
Seeing a group of cavalrymen raise their guns and point them at him, and even the infantry who joined later all raising their guns, Xu Mazi's face turned green.
He didn't know why he had impulsively tried to fool Rock on this matter. Perhaps it was because the leader had instructed him never to reveal the traps in the stronghold.
Because this was their core defensive skill, they all kept their leader's instructions firmly in mind, and even genuinely believed that they might be able to use the trap to stop Rock's soldiers!
But he realized that even if the trap could stop Rock and his group, what good would it do?
If they block Roc, the people left in their village might be safe, but wouldn't Roc then take his anger out on them?
So Xu Mazi quickly stopped hesitating and immediately walked ahead properly, introducing the surrounding roads to Luo Ke as he went.