Chapter Twelve: Opportunity! Here It Is!

Fan Fushu raised his eyebrows. As an official well-versed in the principles of moderation, he knew exactly when was the right time to make a decision. “Please go on!”
“Just a few days ago, over a hundred brave Vietnamese soldiers were attacked by the scattered Liu family bandits. Unprepared and outnumbered, they suffered heavy losses—one officer died, and several were injured. Now, I have secured solid evidence on behalf of the Vietnamese government: it was the Liu family bandits who did this!”
Fan Fushu remained calm. “I will report this to His Majesty the Emperor in Hue. But before that, is there anything I can do to assist you?”
Nguyen Youming knew he had finally reached this plump governor. “I hope you, in your capacity as governor, can mobilize as many troops as possible to eliminate these bandits. France is willing to exercise its right to protect and offer full support!”
At this offer, Fan Fushu was deeply tempted. There were many bandit groups operating in Haiyang, and the government troops were not effective in suppressing them, allowing them to operate freely.
The Liu family camp had hundreds of members, making it a significant force among bandits. If they dared attack government troops, it was an unforgivable crime. If he could take advantage of this opportunity to wipe them out at once, it would be a great achievement.
Thinking of this, Father Nguyen Youming added, “Once the Liu family bandits are eliminated, I will personally write to Your Majesty to thank you for your outstanding efforts.”
The various demands put forward by the French to Governor Fan, combined with the pro-French faction in the Hue court led by Hai Zaidou, kept him under constant pressure. This situation provided a perfect cover. Moreover, eliminating bandits was indeed a remarkable achievement, and with French assistance, it would be as easy as flipping one’s hand!
“This governor thanks Father for your kindness!” Fan Fushu finally agreed. “I will report this to Hue as soon as possible. In the meantime, I hope Father will assist us in our efforts to eliminate these bandits!”
As a professional bureaucrat, he was aware of the combat capabilities of the Vietnamese government troops. There were countless examples of their defeats, so he decided to go all out: “Let me inform you that for this operation to eliminate the Liu family bandits, our army will deploy—ten thousand officers and soldiers!”
……
The old camp of the Liu family camp.
Everything seemed different now.
In the old camp, rows of troops could be seen constantly changing formations.
“Turn left, turn right… Align forward, at ease!”
Regardless of age or gender, everyone was training in formation under the orders of their new commander. The recruits who had trained hastily for two days under Lian Jincheng were now instructors wielding foreign rifles, guiding the newcomers.
Everyone trained with meticulous attention, gradually transforming from civilians into soldiers.
It was all because of those seven consecutive shots fired by Liu Yu.
To Liu Yu’s frustration, according to Jiang Ningxue, people were not discussing his heroic feat of firing seven shots in a row and using a Remington rifle to execute enemies, but rather the Spencer rifle in his hands.
Firing seven shots in such a short time was far beyond the imagination of the people in the Liu family camp. What kind of firearm was this?

It could now be seen that the ones who fired shots were those twenty or thirty people, most of whom were instructors brought back by Liu Yu. Yet afterward, the entire Liu Yu Camp was in an uproar, with rumors spreading that Liu Yu’s miraculous gun could fire seven shots instantly, killing people unseen. The less people saw it, the more the rumors grew; from time to time, people would come to Liu Yu, asking him to demonstrate it again. Liu Yu had learned a bit of psychology and knew this mentality could be exploited. Not only did he firmly refuse, but he also ordered others not to fire the Spencer either. If even one bullet was missing during inspection, the gun had to be handed in for redistribution. Who wouldn’t want such a great gun? As a result, the power of this miraculous weapon, the Spencer, became even more exaggerated—some even claimed it could fire seventeen shots in a row if fully loaded. Although the Spencer carbine was also one that Liu Yu had discerned from a pile of scrap metal, he preferred them to talk about himself. At least a thirteen-year-old who could calmly shoot and kill a third-rank official of the Qing Dynasty was worth discussing! Yet not a single outcry arose; everyone simply accepted the reality, and Liu Yu even had more power than he had imagined. In the Liu Yu Camp, he held absolute dictatorial power, and any of his unreasonable orders were carried out strictly. Back in the day, when the camp was busy with drills but engaged in no productive activities or took on no work, elders would step forward to warn the leader: “We need to last!” But now, not even a hint of resistance existed; even Liu Haohao, who had failed to seize power, obeyed orders obediently. Everyone treated the trivial words of a thirteen-year-old as absolute commands: “This is what the leader wants!” After much thought, Liu Yu had to admit it had nothing to do with him but was due to the charm of those foreign guns. He had underestimated the impact of modern repeating guns on those old peasant soldiers; this incomprehensible shock allowed him to fully control the Liu Yu Camp. Twenty new foreign guns, along with hundreds of taels of confiscated opium, and the military advisor brought in, as well as Sima Tai who voluntarily joined the camp—all these added luster to Liu Yu’s rise to power. Yet Liu Yu knew he didn’t have much time left; he had to accomplish something before this brief honeymoon period ended. He needed to do something spectacular to show the Liu Yu Camp who the true chosen one was. Thanks to Shi Yujie. Liu Yu thought of that third-rank yujie whom he had flogged to death with a Remington whip. He had long become dust like history, but he had pointed out a bright path for Liu Yu. As he thought this, he inspected the old camp. “Salute!” From time to time, he could see camp members in various colored clothes giving him imperfect military salutes, to which he responded with the most standard military salute. These veterans, who had fought countless battles, were now gradually developing a military demeanor under Western-style drill training. As Liu Yu commanded them, he felt increasingly in control, as they slowly integrated themselves fully into the group, becoming screws in the massive machinery of the army.

The queue training in Lianjin City was very effective, but this time Liu Yu wasn’t there to oversee it. He quickly found Sima Tai: “Sima, come here!”
“Salute!” Sima Tai held himself to high standards: “Please give your orders, commander!”
“Sima, put aside what you’re doing! There’s an extremely urgent matter in our Liu Army that only you can handle!”
This was exactly what Sima Tai wanted. He gave another perfect military salute: “As ordered!”