Witch Wind

Chapter 16: Forcing People to Do What They Want (Part )
In the small town, dozens of households hung white flags.

Li Kuisheng has been busy with this matter for two consecutive days.

Some families had relatives accidentally injured in the chaos, and several families, such as the owner of the old wine shop, lost their entire family in the chaos. The town elders came forward, and Li Kuisheng led people to help these families deal with the aftermath.

The third day after the chaos.

Early in the morning, several Taoist priests invited from an unknown Taoist temple outside the town had already started chanting scriptures and conducting a Taoist ceremony while beating gongs and drums. There were faint cries and shouts, and someone was burning paper money. When the wind blew, thick green smoke rolled up a lot of paper ashes into the air, like many black butterflies announcing a death circling over the town.

Xing Tianli stood on the dock.

The reinforcements from the Yingji people have arrived. The momentum is so great that the townspeople are all shocked.

There were two ironclad frigates with a total displacement of over 2,000 tons, six large-tonnage inland gunboats, and four tugboats towing a dozen sailing passenger ships, which were manned by nearly 500 young and strong British soldiers who were dressed in plain clothes but had a military air in their every move.

"Protecting overseas Chinese and maintaining the normal trade activities of our merchants is the sacred duty bestowed upon us by the Queen. We have obtained written permission from your country's Lifanyuan. Our country will build a trade transfer office in Xiaolongqiu Town, and the Chamber of Commerce will hire a certain number of armed guards to protect the normal operation of trade activities."

An English official in a tuxedo, a top hat and holding a walking stick, with a row of English soldiers in red and white uniforms standing behind him, gently shook a document with the official seal of the Lifanyuan of the Dayu Dynasty in his hand.

On the sailing passenger ship, the so-called "armed guards" lined up neatly and came ashore one after another. With the loud command, they quickly lined up neatly on the dock and began to "clatter" and organize the various weapons they carried in public.

Long and short firearms, heavy water-cooled machine guns, and even large-caliber mortars!

The corners of Xing Tianli's eyes twitched violently. These guys, and the ones they had in their hands, did they want to raze the entire Xiaolongqiu Town to the ground?

He couldn't understand at all. Did the British government and the Holy Mother Church's top brass have a lump in their heads? Why did they focus on this tiny place? Why did they not hesitate to tear each other apart and make such a big scene?
Several flat-bottomed cargo ships were towed by tugboats and slowly docked at the pier.

Strong laborers shouted orders and carried baskets of coal to the tugboat next door.

The boilers of the twenty or so tugboats that had been docked at the dock for several days finally had enough fuel. Soon, the tugboats began to make dull thumping sounds at the same time.

County Magistrate Ma was busy running around. There were always townspeople who wanted to make money in the town. They carried baskets of steamed buns made of grains and bamboo tubes of clean water and continuously delivered them to the cargo ship behind the tugboat.

After receiving supplies of coal, water and food, more than twenty tugboats slowly left the dock, towing the long fleet all the way south along the waterway.

The missionaries found a new base, and while the British were busy transporting the goods, not even a single priest appeared near the dock.

At noon.

A small steamer spewed black smoke and came from the direction of Dalongqiu County on the other side of the lake. The small steamer was very timid and made a large arc from a distance, avoiding the British warships that had formed a straight line of attack on Xiaoyandang Lake, and then carefully approached the dock.

The magistrate of Dalongqiu County, Lu Decai, was wearing a light green official robe and standing at the bow with a gloomy look on his face.

The steamer had been docked at the dock for quite some time. Lu Decai, who looked thin and energetic, like a pine or crane, shuddered at the reminder of his staff behind him. He came to his senses and slowly walked up to the dock with a look of confusion and melancholy on his face.

Li Kuisheng, who received the news, was already waiting at the dock with Xing Tianli and others.

Lu Decai seemed to be wearing new shoes as he walked beside the dirty and messy cesspool. He took small steps very carefully and frowned as he looked at the white flags flying high in front of the houses of the townspeople near the pier.

"Oh, how difficult people's lives are!" Lu Decai shook his head slightly, looked up and sighed, his virtuous and noble spirit of worrying about the country and the people burst out.

Li Kuisheng had already greeted him in a strange voice: "Oh, Lord Lu, it's rare to see you. You have been the county magistrate for five years. In these five years, this is your first time to our Xiaolongqiu Town, right? Oh, thank you very much, thank you very much!"

County Magistrate Ma had already rushed up and exchanged greetings with Lu Decai.

The two of them huddled together, talking in low voices.

Lu Decai looked at the unruly Li Kuisheng with a complicated expression. He coughed lightly and said quietly, "With such a capable person like Lord Li in Xiaolongqiu Town, why should our county worry about it? From now on, the governance and livelihood of the people in Xiaolongqiu Town will still require Lord Li and Little Lord Li to work hard!"

'Lord Li'?
Li Kuisheng blinked his eyes.

'Master Xiao Li'?
Xing Tianli raised his eyebrows, and suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart.

Lü Decai stretched out his hand and an aide handed him a box covered with red silk. Lü Decai opened the box and took out a document with a red sandalwood axis, a light red silk base, and the finest gold-sprinkled paper as the surface, and a bright red seal as big as a bowl.

"Li Li, the county magistrate is here to congratulate you!" Lu Decai glanced at Xing Tianli, whose eyes were empty and confused, smacked his lips, opened the official document, and began to recite it with his head shaking.

Official documents are written in ancient style, with parallel sentences and six-character verses, which are difficult for serious people to understand.

Xing Tianli had read some books, and he was able to extract the essence of the complicated, gorgeous and beautifully written nonsense of more than 2,000 words - there was a talented person named 'Li Li' in Xiaolongqiu Town, who was specially promoted to be the chief clerk of Dalongqiu County, stationed in Xiaolongqiu Town, in charge of all daily affairs.

"Master Li, congratulations!" Lü Decai read the document slowly and in a rhythmic manner, spending half a quarter of an hour. He bowed to Xing Tianli and said with a smile: "This is the decree personally issued by Governor Jin Santan of Jiangdong Province. Master Li has leaped over the dragon gate from a commoner, and has become a real official of the ninth rank!"

"Oh, by the way, did you understand the affairs that Governor Jin ordered Lord Li to handle?" Lu Decai asked Xing Tianli with a smile again.

Xing Tianli's face looked very ugly.

The old priest's words came true.

As expected, the document from Jiangdong Governor's Office directly promoted Xing Tianli to a proper court official. Moreover, the decree ordered Xing Tianli to "raise his own food and money" and "fully assist the Holy Mother Church in building the church."

Listen!

The governor of a province in the Great Yu Dynasty, a frontier official, ordered his officials to "assist" a group of foreign charlatans and "bring their own food" to build the foreign temple!
Xing Tianli even had an inexplicable sense of absurdity that "the whole world is crazy" - you, Lu Decai, are on good terms with the White Lotus Sect, right?
The White Lotus Sect was in collusion with the British, right?

The British people had just had a huge fight with the Holy Mother Church, and suffered heavy casualties, right?
Now, you, Lu Decai, the Magistrate of Lu County, actually brought the official document from the Governor of Jiangdong to appoint Xing Tianli as an official. You even instructed in public that Xing Tianli should help the missionaries of the Holy Mother Church to build a church!
Xing Tianli was in deep thought and said nothing.

Li Kuisheng had already strode forward and shouted, "Isn't this right? Lord Lu, aren't you in cahoots with the White Lotus Sect? Have you not heard about what happened two days ago? They were on our territory, their brains were beaten out, the decree in your hand is wrong, isn't it?"

Lu Decai's face suddenly changed. He pointed his right hand like a sword and pointed at Li Kuisheng fiercely: "Li Kuisheng, stop talking nonsense to this county. Who is in cahoots with the White Lotus Sect? Who? Don't slander me! I am an upright official and I handle things fairly. All my actions are in accordance with the national law and the will of the people. Don't talk nonsense!"

After glaring at Li Kuisheng fiercely, Lu Decai slammed the order in his hand into Li Kuisheng's arms.

"Anyway, this is what happened. Li Kuisheng, your nephew, has risen to prominence. In the future, your success will probably depend on Master Li. Well, I won't bother you any more. I'm going home!"

Lu Decai waved to County Magistrate Ma and said, "Master Ma, let's go. Let's leave the affairs here to Master Li and Little Master Li. Alas, these foreign affairs are not something that we 'serious scholars' can meddle in clearly!"

The two "serious scholars" boarded the small steamer with their heads held high and headed straight for the county town on the other side of the lake.

The sound of silver bells rang out, and the old priest, surrounded by six young nuns, appeared in public for the first time in the past few days. He slowly arrived at the dock and waved to the townspeople along the way: "Believe in the Most High Virgin Mary, and the merciful Virgin Mary will bless you." This old guy didn't pretend anymore.

When he rang the silver bell, a clear spiritual wave swept out. His voice also carried a strong sense of charm. Those believers who had been baptized and joined the Virgin Mary Church, as well as those ordinary townspeople who had not joined, all knelt on the ground as the silver bell rang, and chanted the name of the Virgin Mary with great piety along with the old priest.

Xing Tianli's pupils contracted, his five fingers tightly grasped the Tongtian Miaozhu, and his finger joints turned white.

"Master Chief Clerk!" The old priest came to Xing Tianli and bowed slightly to him: "Do you remember what I said?"

"The Governor of Jiangdong can actually be used by you?" Xing Tianli sighed faintly: "Amazing!"

"No, it's not just the Governor of Jiangdong, but the Queen Mother who is in charge of the government of your country." The old priest smiled and said, "The incident in Xiaolongqiu Town has alarmed His Excellency Cardinal Simone, the plenipotentiary envoy sent by the great Pope to the Dayu Dynasty."

"Mr. Simone met with your country's Queen Mother overnight. Her wise, intelligent, and outstanding Queen Mother personally issued an imperial decree to the Jiangdong Province." The old priest's eyes were very bright, like two cat's eye gems, sparkling in the sun.

He pulled out a long scroll from his sleeve and handed it to Xing Tianli: "Since you have received the appointment, please fulfill your duties. This is the design of the Xiaolongqiu Town Cathedral. We will need to occupy about 10,000 acres of land."

"What?" Xing Tianli rubbed his ears hard, he suspected that he had heard it wrong.

"Ten thousand acres of land!" The old priest said slowly, "We have already selected the land. We hope that you can cooperate with us and do a good job of expropriating the land. We hope that you can organize craftsmen to help us start construction as soon as possible!"

Xing Tianli grabbed the scroll that the old priest handed to him and handed it to Li Kuisheng who was cursing at the side.

Li Kuisheng opened the scroll, took just a glance at it, and started cursing.

Xing Tianli is still a blind man. He hurriedly came to Li Kuisheng, turned his head slightly, and listened to him gesture to explain the location of the 10,000 acres of land that the Holy Mother Church wanted to enclose on the design drawing.

Li Kuisheng's tone was angry, and Xing Tianli's face gradually became distorted.

Xiaolongqiu Town has more than 10,000 villagers and is considered a first-class large town. Although the town has a vast territory, it is mostly covered with hills, woods, rivers, wetlands, and a large number of economic crops such as mulberry and fruit forests. The real fertile land, the kind of paddy fields that can produce two crops a year, only adds up to 35,000 acres.

These more than 30,000 acres of fertile farmland are mostly divided and scattered due to hills and rivers, and are not connected into one piece.

The 10,000 acres of land that the old priest and his colleagues chose to enclose for building the church happened to be the only piece of fertile farmland in Xiaolongqiu Town. More than 7,000 acres of land, together with more than 2,000 acres of hills planted with mulberry trees, were all circled in.

Looking at the design drawings, the total area of ​​this planned church, including the main building and several auxiliary buildings, is no more than 50 acres!
In order to build a building on 50 acres of land, 10,000 acres of fertile land will have to be occupied!

"Do you think it's possible?" Xing Tianli asked the old priest seriously.

"As long as there is a request for the construction of the holy church, you should fully cooperate." The old priest asked Xing Tianli, "Isn't this the governor's instruction to you in your appointment letter?"

"Maybe or not, this is not what we need to worry about." The old priest said softly, "In short, when the church is built on 10,000 acres of land, the glory of the Virgin Mary will shine forever. The people living here are blessed!"

Xing Tianli clenched his five fingers again.

He wanted to strike the old priest's smug face with his sword.

Several young nuns sensed Xing Tianli's unrestrained malice, and they all stepped forward. Two of them even stood directly between Xing Tianli and the old priest, separating them.

Several Yingji people, protected by a group of soldiers, walked towards this side.

"So, young sir, you will be the administrator of this town from now on?" The Yingji man, wearing a tuxedo, a top hat, and holding a civilized cane, raised his hat to Xing Tianli and said, "I am Joems, the first secretary of the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Yingji in the International Concession in Pinghai City."

Joems once again took out the document with the seal of the Lifanyuan of the Dayu Dynasty and shook it at Xing Tianli: "I hope that our country's normal trade activities can get your assistance and protection."

"Now, we have a pressing problem."

Joms said, "Because our merchant Mr. Michel was attacked before, we thought that we needed to build a fortress with sufficient defense in Xiaolongqiu Town to maintain the safety of our trade route."

"The land for building the fortress, the craftsmen needed for building the fortress, and all the necessary logistical supplies all need your help." Joems handed the document to Li Kuisheng who was standing beside him, and said to Xing Tianli politely in a polite manner: "I think, young sir, for the sake of our diplomatic relations, you will give priority to solving our problems, right?"

The old priest took a step forward and confronted Joems head on.

"Worldly disputes cannot obscure the glory of the Most High Virgin Mary. Children, please do not use your dirty and filthy deeds to hinder us from spreading the grace of the Virgin Mary." The old priest's brows glowed faintly, and his voice carried an inexplicable depth and mystery. The silver bell in his hand vibrated gently, making a 'ding ding' sound, like a soul-catching rope, which made Joems' eyes scattered.

Joms opened his mouth, dazed, and was about to agree with the old priest's words.

'Buzz'!
On the ring finger of Joems' left hand, a thumb-sized ruby ​​ring suddenly burst into a faint light, and waves of extremely obscure mental fluctuations surged out from the inlaid gem, instantly enveloping Joems' entire body.

The spiritual fluctuations from the ring collided head-on with the sound of the silver bell in the old priest's hand. The weather was fine and the breeze was gentle all around, but in the ears of everyone nearby, it was as if a thunder had suddenly exploded.

Except for Xing Tianli who stood steadily, everyone else was swaying, and several of them sat down on the ground.

Joems' face turned pale. He took big steps backwards, staring at the old priest as if he had seen a ghost.

The old priest looked at the ruby ​​ring on Joems' finger with a cold and extremely serious look.

"Devil!" Joems shouted.

"Lost lamb, please take back your blasphemous words. This is the power bestowed by the Most High Virgin Mary to Her devout servants walking in the world." The old priest shouted coldly: "For too many years, you have forgotten the majesty of the Virgin Mary. How dare you mistake the power bestowed by the Virgin Mary for the power of the devil?"

The old priest pointed at Joms sternly and said, "Six hundred years ago, when the glory of the Virgin Mary covered all nations, your words would have been enough for the priests of the Judgment Hall to send you and your people to the stake!"

Joems looked grim.

He stroked the ruby ​​ring on his left hand with his right hand, and soon regained his composure. He gritted his teeth and said coldly, "But, respected priest, times have changed. When ordinary mortals like us master the power of technology, the glory of the Virgin Mary can only shine and be trapped in those ancient, dilapidated churches!"

The old priest shook the silver bell vigorously.

Several little nuns took a step forward together, their fair skin moving slightly, like the surface of a lake blown by a breeze.

The Yingji soldiers behind Joems all raised their spears.

On the lake in the distance, on the masts of two armored frigates, lookout soldiers shouted loudly, sharp whistles sounded on several ships at the same time, and a large group of sailors ran on the deck. They took off their gun covers, and the cannons turned one by one, with the black muzzles pointing at Xiaolongqiu Town at the same time.

(End of this chapter)