Luo Huai Yuan didn't come back within a few months like he originally said. He remained in the Fu Province without returning these three years. His fourth prince estate had basically been forgotten. Since Emperor Xi didn't recall this son of his, people in the palace naturally wouldn't bring him up.
During this time, he had sent several letters to Yan Yan. They were all just to report that things were peaceful. Only after things truly couldn't be concealed anymore did Yan Yan find out what he had experienced these years.
Luo Huai Yuan's group went all the way to Fujian. The closer they got to the coast, the more desolate the towns.
Only at this moment did he understand the suffering of those being plundered. The pirates came ashore to cause chaos by killing, burning and looting. The commoners who were able to move had all moved already. Those who couldn't move were the elderly or those without relatives in other areas.
In their situation, when they encountered pirates they could only give them whatever they wanted. It was fine as long as they kept their lives. Of course what happened next was left to chance. Some only wanted money but there were also quite a few terrible and malicious people. The households with daughters and women all left even if they had to resort to begging on the streets.
Nine out of ten houses were abandoned within their sight!
Since they couldn't continue onwards, Luo Huai Yuan could only turn around and head to the area around the Fu Province Estate. Only then did they seem to have returned to civilization.
Luo Huai Yuan's luck wasn't good. Having just gotten to the Houren County, he was wandering the streets observing the customs of the area when he encountered a pirate attack.
To call them pirates also wasn't too accurate. This was because apart from a few who babbled in Fusang language, the majority spoke Chinese and there were a few who spoke Korean, even though they all wore Fusang-style clothing.
There weren't that many pirates in this group, only around twenty people. But they were like wolves in a pack of sheep. The street immediately grew chaotic. Screams, curses and wails sounded everywhere.
Luo Huai Yuan had grown up listening to stories of the Japs invading China in the modern world.
Although this was no longer the world he was born in, hearing that damn language and seeing those short people's getup, he couldn't help his eyes from turning red and wanting to beat people.
Along with the tragic cries for help on the street, Luo Huai Yuan grew angry.
He grabbed a jug of wine or perhaps pickled vegetables from somewhere and threw it over, saying an extremely mighty line. "Fuck, grab something and get them!"
He thought he was using common jargon and that his orders would be obeyed without question. Unexpectedly, the four guards and Lady Hui all froze. Xiao An Zi had long since been frightened to tears, pulling at his arm with all his might to try and get him to run.
He pushed Xiao An Zi away and grabbed a stick. "Run your granny's egg. How can we outrun them under these circumstances? Stop running. Grab something and fuck them up!"
The chaotic crowd saw a little fatty around ten years old holding a long stick leading the charge in beating a pirate who had fallen behind. He cursed while beating: "Fuck your grandad. Why don't you learn to do good instead? Go reincarnate as livestock."
He then cursed and spat at the crowd: "All of you grab something and get them. They only have these few people, and not all of them have blades. We can drown them in saliva if everyone spits on them."
Actually these people were all instinctively frightened. They had heard how fierce these pirates were and that they killed people like flies. Seeing them appear, they didn't have time to react before trying to run. They ran around wildly, trampling and shoving others.
If they calmed down, they would see there weren't that many pirates. Apart from two of their leaders wielding katanas, the rest were using all sorts of weird weapons. Some used farming equipment and clubs. There were even some who used vegetable knives from some random households.
Luo Huai Yuan became calm after seeing the situation clearly. He even had the spare energy to teach others to grab sticks as weapons. He tore apart the peddler stands for the sake of a few bamboo rods.
With one person resisting, there would naturally be a second and a third. Some men felt they were too cowardly if they couldn't even compare to a child. They grabbed a basket from a nearby stand and started fighting with the stunned pirates on the spot.
Having been influenced, everyone stopped running. They threw whatever they could get their hands on at the pirates.
The guards who came with Luo Huai Yuan were long since stunned. They seemed to have forgotten they were experts in the eyes of commoners. But since they were disguised as commoners, their inaction would at most make others think these unusually buff looking people were idiots who didn't even know to run.
As for Lady Hui, a woman's mind was more attentive. She didn't help the crowd and instead headed towards the two people with katanas. People from Fusang with katanas were called Fusang Samurais, but were actually just refugees who weren't able to muddle about any longer. They were naturally no match for an expert like Lady Hui.
In one exchange, their blades were taken away. A couple of kicks later, their legs were crippled as they lay on the floor.
Then came the crowd of angry commoners who smashed all sorts of things onto their bodies. The two from Fusang cried out loudly in words no one understood, their expressions tragic.
The pirate being beaten by Luo Huai Yuan was also unlucky. He was in the middle of herding the crowd with his group and laughing cruelly when he was smashed in the head with a jug out of nowhere. Right as he recovered from his daze, he heard a child calling for him to be drowned in spit.
These people were used to people fleeing before them and doing whatever they pleased. Encountering this exception, especially since he was a little fatty, they suddenly froze.
This moment plunged them into endless hell. They were beaten by people with large sticks in turn until they wanted to cry for their moms.
Luo Huai Yuan gave a wild round of beatings before finally venting his anger. He threw his stick down and kicked the guards by his side. He pointed with his chubby fingers. Only then did the guards snap out of it. They stepped up and effortlessly dealt with the rest until they couldn't get up. They even tied them up in passing.
The curtains quickly fell on this scene. There weren't many pirates to begin with. Even if they couldn't win one on one, they could definitely win fifty or sixty against one. People hiding in the shops on the street also rushed out to help.
When the group of pirates were tied up on the floor, the crowd let out a resounding cheer.
At this moment, a group of soldiers came. From their getup, they seemed to be troops and bailiffs of the county yamen.
"You guys really came early!"
Why did these people only show up after everything was over? Was it to give the main character a chance to shine? Luo Huai Yuan's thoughts were extremely nonsensical.
The leader of the troops saw a child speaking up from the crowd. He then saw that despite not being dressed wealthily, his aura was different from normal people. He straigtened his attitude before speaking.
"This little brother, it wasn't that we delayed. The truth is several waves of pirates appeared in the county and we didn't have enough manpower."
Discussion broke out among the crowd.
"These pirates actually came over to Houren County?"
"Weren't they at the Changle County a few days ago? Why did they come over here so quickly?"
"What is the county yamen good for? You didn't even realize the pirates have entered the town?"
"This won't do, this won't do. I have to move away from here."
People were saying everything and there was a clamor.
The bailiff and the troops smiled bitterly. These pirate raids were all conducted with inside information. The pirates would first send spies inside before finding the opportune moment to invade and plunder. Such a thing naturally couldn't be said to the commoners. They could only do their best to protect them and get the wounded some medical attention.
Once the situation was cleared up, it turned out there were no fatalities!
They had hurried over from the west side of town, and along the way there were countless dead and injured. Only after asking about the situation did they understand how this came about. The people all looked at Luo Huai Yuan in a different light.
The leader of he troops stepped up and cupped his hands in salute. "This little brother is extraordinarily heroic. If all the people had your courage and valiance, we wouldn't have to worry about being plundered."
These words were heartfelt. Although the pirates invaded, the majority of their forces wouldn't be sent to small places like this. They would all be attacking and looting the county capitals. Those who ended up here were all scattered groups, and there were only a couple dozen each time. However, just these dregs were able to ruin the townfolk's lives.
The pirates were hard to track and engaged in guerrilla tactics. The troops of various areas were scattered and worn out, and weren't of much use. If the commoners could courageously resist, the losses wouldn't be as heavy.
Prior to coming, they had tallied up the numbers by the western gates. There were countless who were hurt or killed due to being trampled. Others were killed by the pirates. In less than fifteen minutes, there were hundreds of casualties. As for the pirates responsible, there were only around twenty people.
Seeing that this person's expression was off, Luo Huai Yuan couldn't help but ask: "Heavy casualties in other places?"
That person's eyes turned red. He stamped his foot and could only say it was tragic.
These troops were all born and raised in this area. The people who had been laughing and joking with them days before now suddenly encountered calamity. This wasn't even considering they had lost several among their ranks as well. How could their hearts not ache?
They heard Luo Huai Yuan's group was here looking for relatives and didn't have a place to stay yet. The county was currently a mess and all the taverns and inns were closed. These people invited him to stay at the county yamen.
Luo Huai Yuan didn't refuse. Since it was a mess everywhere, they might have to sleep on the streets if they couldn't find a place.
At the yamen, the reception was filled with injured citizens. Luo Huai Yuan's group only got two rooms. The troops that brought them there were ashamed but Luo Huai Yuan waved his hands and indicated he didn't mind.
In the past, having lived a life of luxury he naturally wouldn't have let himself suffer like this. But this wasn't like before and they were also out of options. Didn't you see the hall filled with people?
He and Xiao An Zi weren't that old, and thus stayed with Lady Hui in one room. The guards stayed in the other room.
The next day as they were about to leave, the soldier called Qin Shan suddenly came to see them.
After they arrived yesterday, Luo Huai Yuan also realized Qin Shan wasn't an ordinary soldier. He was the administrator of this hundred-household area. There were ten minor administrators under him, so he counted as a minor military official. However, Luo Huai Yuan was used to brushing shoulders with royalty so an administrator was just a minor soldier in his eyes.
The two of them chatted a little before Qin Shan brought up the reason for his visit.
It turns out the county magistrate Ruan Da Tong wanted to use Luo Huai Yuan as a role model and give him a commendation.
This idea was brought up by Qin Shan as well, so Luo Huai Yuan could only accept.
Qin Shan was responsible for the hundred households in this Houren County as well as the safety of the nearby villages. Unfortunately, there were only over a hundred or so people within these hundred households. In the area around the villages, a group of people can easily vanish within the crowd. Epsecially since the pirates raided randomly and it was impossible to know where they would appear next. They had spies for sure to be able to choose the areas with weakened defenses every time.
Qin Shan was very moved about what happened yesterday. He deeply felt the commoners' strength was more important. What he said yesterday was true. If everyone could be courageous, there was no need to worry about the pirates.
Especially since this was the right time to stir up people's hearts and motivate the commoners.
Luo Huai Yuan listened for a while before realizing they planned to "commend those who took the initiative" and set up a precedence. They wanted to use this to encourage the commoners to protect themselves and work with the authorities to repel the pirates?
As for why they chose him instead of someone else, Qin Shan also gave him an answer.
One was because there were many people at the scene yesterday who had witnessed Luo Huai Yuan's heroism. This young man had taken the lead in fighting it out with the pirates. Another reason was because of his age.
Fine, there were benefits to being young.
Think of it this way. If the people saw that a young teenager had the courage to fight the pirates, they would wonder what all the men were doing. They would definitely feel ashamed and call themselves cowards. They would also be stirred up by the success in the southern part of the town yesterday. The next time the pirates attacked, everyone would be a little less frightened and a little more courageous.
This was a good deed, and since it didn't cost him anything, Luo Huai Yuan accepted despite being embarrassed.