Chapter 59: The Flower and Joy Sect

Although in the eyes of the French and outsiders, the Flower and Joy Sect and the Xiliu Camp were considered inseparable, in reality, there was still a certain distance between them. Thus, the sect’s main temple was located ten li away from the old camp of Xiliu Camp.

Though influenced and controlled by Xiliu Camp, the Flower and Joy Sect maintained a degree of independence in many aspects. In return, they did not recruit followers within Xiliu Camp but instead targeted Catholicism, taking advantage of its existing structure. By now, they had over two thousand believers in Shanxi Province, three to four hundred in Hanoi Province, and progress was also being made in areas such as Xuan Guang and Bei Ning. When Liu Yu arrived on his mule, he saw many believers from other regions coming to the main temple to pay their respects.

Along the way, the beautiful mountains and rivers were visible, and along the route, one could also see many Vietnamese village girls wearing conical hats and white clothes, playing in the water. Yet Liu Yu did not stop; he continued riding his mule toward the main temple.

The main temple of the Flower and Joy Sect was actually the result of Zheng Zhanque taking over a nest. It was originally a French-style Catholic church built with funds granted by the Shanxi Catholic Church after years of requests to the Archdiocese of Hanoi, along with donations from various local churches. However, just before its completion, it was damaged by the fire set by Liu Yu in Yuju Village. Some of the church members involved were forced to turn against their own sect, and they used this cathedral as a symbol of their allegiance. There were also several disputes thereafter. The French consul in Hanoi even pressured Huang Zuo Yan several times, but with the protection of Xiliu Camp’s bayonets and Li Yangcai’s ongoing chaos, Huang Zuo Yan could not afford to confront Xiliu Camp and could only reluctantly agree to let the Shanxi church rebuild elsewhere.

After renovation, this cathedral became the headquarters of the Flower and Joy Sect. After the renovations, it acquired a rounded, festive style typical of Eastern temples—green bricks and white tiles, upturned eaves painted red—yet its most distinctive feature remained its Western style, with stained-glass windows, pointed arches, and everything constructed entirely of stone.

This cathedral, blending Eastern and Western elements, served as the headquarters of the Flower and Joy Sect. Many believers came and went inside—some devout, some opportunistic—making it a major new religious movement in Northern Vietnam.

He dismounted from his mule, and someone immediately took the animal away. “General Liu, our sect leader has been waiting for you for a long time.”

As he entered the headquarters, sunlight streamed through the stained glass, accompanied by the beautiful voices of children singing hymns of the Flower and Joy Sect. A gentle breeze caused shells to produce pleasant melodies. Looking up, the grand architecture exuded a subtle sense of pressure, instilling a feeling of reverence in those who saw it.

On both sides, there were plaques with countless memorial tablets—this was also an idea suggested by Liu Yu to Luo Yanqiu.

Catholicism is a standard monotheistic religion. Its sacred texts prohibit the worship of the dead. The first two commandments state, “You shall have no other gods before me” and “You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of anything in heaven above, on the earth below, or in the water under the earth.” Thus, the first major cultural clash upon entering the East was the Eastern believers’ refusal to worship their deceased ancestors.

In the minds of Easterners, worshipping ancestors is an extremely important matter. Yet from the late Ming dynasty through the Republic of China, Catholicism repeatedly emphasized the strict prohibition of its followers from worshipping ancestors, urging them to forget their forebears and worship only God. It was not until 1939, under the pressure of the War of Resistance against Japan, that the Vatican was forced to allow Chinese Catholics to conduct ancestor worship. Now, Luo Yanqiu had to thank this conservative and foolish policy. She even found that using this issue to attack foreign religions was more effective than any weapon, even more powerful than Liu Yufang’s arson. Many former believers under him could use their own experiences to carry out attacks and brainwashing, and many loyal believers were drawn in precisely because of this. These ancestral tablets are those worshipped by believers everywhere; in the Flower Between Sect, they are also considered a type of lower-tier deity. They serve both as a means to attract wealth and as a way to establish faith. With the scent of sandalwood in the air, the guide said, “The sect leader is in the inner room.” This cathedral covered a vast area, so Luo Yanqiu had her own separate room, though it was very simple. When Liu Yufang pushed open the door, he saw her dressed in white, exquisitely pure. She was already extremely beautiful, and her male attire made her even more charming—her eyes like autumn waters, her face like peach blossoms. Holding a folding fan, she smiled at Liu Yufang and said, “Ah Yu!” Even in her smile, there was a hint of coldness. Yet Liu Yufang, smiling, took her hand and asked, “What brings you to see me?” “Let’s go inside and talk.” When they entered the inner room, sunlight still streamed in through the stained glass. There, Luo Yanqiu opened a secret door and said, “Go to the basement.” This basement was the most crucial secret chamber of the Flower Between Sect, containing many hidden secrets. Aside from Liu Yufang, no one else could enter it. Luo Yanqiu stepped in lightly, while Liu Yufang still patted her waist and asked, “What urgent matter is it?” Luo Yanqiu had already lit a kerosene lamp. Under its light, she appeared even more beautiful than usual. She said softly, “Stop being rude. There really is an urgent matter I need to discuss with you.” “What is it?” Luo Yanqiu replied playfully, “I still owe thanks to Brother Yu for his guidance. We now have some clues about luring the shepherd this time.” Seeing Luo Yanqiu’s cold demeanor and suddenly hearing this term of endearment usually used only in intimate situations—“Brother Yu”—Liu Yufang realized this matter was not just progressing; it was likely almost complete. Catholicism compares its followers to lambs, so stealing followers is called “luring lambs.” The most effective way to do this is to lure the shepherd, as then the entire flock under his care will be brought over as well. In the sect, such shepherds are clergy members. By winning over the clergy, the followers they oversee naturally become loyal lambs of the Flower Between Sect. Luo Yanqiu said proudly, “There’s a shepherd from Hanoi who has been part of foreign religions for over thirty years. He has raised hundreds of lambs for them, but he remains merely a minor shepherd for French missionaries. This time, when we went to lure the lambs, we originally only planned to bring back a few lambs, but unexpectedly, we managed to bring out the shepherd as well.”

At that time, all power within the sect was in the hands of foreign missionaries. It was almost impossible for a Chinese or Vietnamese person to become a priest. Many Catholics spent their lives serving foreign missionaries yet never managed to become even a pastor. Under such a system, it was only natural for some to harbor resentment.

The Huajian Sect offered them extremely favorable terms, and the two sides reached an immediate agreement.

“How did the talks go?” Liu Yu was concerned about this matter. “We need to treat them well.”

“It hasn’t been finalized yet,” Luo Yanqiu said. “With a large family and business, there are naturally many concerns. If it succeeds, we can bring over more than two hundred people.”

It wasn’t until she met Liu Yu that she realized the struggles between sects could play out in such a way.

Although the Huajian Sect currently had only a little over three thousand followers and was just an ordinary small sect in the Central Plains, it had grown to this scale in just two years with just over twenty core members in a foreign land—something truly remarkable.

Moreover, the quality of these three thousand followers was high. While half of them were fake believers, the other half included at least a hundred full-time clergy members, along with over two hundred part-time ones. Now, there were people spreading their teachings everywhere in Tonkin, showing steady progress.

She understood that once they passed this hurdle, they could experience explosive growth, soaring to become one of the top sects in the world. By then, her position within the sect might even surpass that of Luo Zu.

It was with this hope that she continued, “This is even better news for Brother Yu.”

“What good news?” Liu Yu knew this was by no means a trivial matter. “If it’s truly good news, I’ll reward you.”

As he spoke, his fingers played with the sharp peak. “Tell me!”

Luo Yanqiu felt a tingling sensation and softly said, “To show sincerity, that shepherd is willing to purchase for us some medicines that are unavailable. Then I thought of Brother Yu’s situation…”

She kissed Liu Yu’s face. “I asked him to buy five hundred jin of sulfuric acid and five hundred jin of nitric acid.”

Liu Yu was immediately excited and asked, “Has this succeeded?”

In Vietnam, people often faced the difficulty of not being able to buy things even though they had money. Chemicals like sulfuric acid and nitric acid could be easily purchased in Hong Kong, but not in Vietnam. To import them, one had to use the Red River route, and both Haiphong and Hanoi were under French inspection, with Vietnamese authorities also conducting checks in Hai Duong.

Yet Liu Yu’s military industry relied heavily on sulfuric acid and nitric acid. Especially now, although there was no progress in nitrocellulose research, the apprentices had invented something far more practical based on his guidance—fulminite.

Fulminite could not only be used as a primer, but the apprentices also invented more practical fulminite detonators under Liu Yu’s guidance. Yet all of this was built on the foundation of sulfuric acid and nitric acid.

To this day, importing sulfuric acid and nitric acid for Liu Yu was almost as difficult as importing weapons. The French conducted strict inspections, and the amount smuggled had to be calculated in twos, unlike Luo Yanqiu, who spoke of quantities in hundreds of jin.

Previously, Liu Yu had read a book written by a Japanese author titled “The Great East Asia Supply War,” which discussed how, due to Japan’s weak national strength during World War II, the army and navy often struggled to resolve disputes over steel allocation. Initially, the Planning Agency was in charge, but it too couldn’t mediate between the army and navy, so it simply gave up and said, “There’s only so much available. Please forgive us. As for the quotas, let the army and navy negotiate and decide.” In reality, it was the army and navy themselves who fought over these allocations. In 1944, over a 7,500-ton steel quota, the chiefs of staff of the army and navy argued behind closed doors for forty days. Even more extreme was the situation before the war between Japan and the United States: the navy’s condition for going to war was that the army increase its steel quota for the following year by 210,000 tons. When he first read these accounts, he thought they were just jokes, but he later experienced such situations firsthand. As a commander in charge of thousands of troops, he had to personally hold several meetings to decide how much sulfuric acid raw material to allocate. The amount of sulfuric acid requested by various units was more than what could be produced even by 1888. Despite strict controls, the sulfuric acid allocation plan had already been scheduled until July 1881, while the nitric acid allocation plan went as far as October 1881. At every military industry meeting, everyone stared at the small amount of strategic reserves in Liu Yu’s hands, demanding allocations. These were strategic reserves that Liu Yu had intended to use only during wartime—just 20 jin of sulfuric acid and 25 jin of nitric acid. Now, with 500 jin of sulfuric acid and 500 jin of nitric acid, he could finally decide to raise these strategic reserves to three digits—a rather pitiful figure, in truth. His concerned gaze made Luo Yanqiu feel embarrassed, and she snapped, “Brother Yu, you don’t even care about me. You only care about your Ningxue.” Liu Yu felt somewhat apologetic toward her. No matter how times changed, her status would never compare to Jiang Ningxue’s. “I’ll take good care of you later. Is it gone?” Liu Yu knew that engaging people in smuggling contraband gave them an inherent advantage over others, as they could operate above the law, outside Vietnamese jurisdiction. Even if someone was killed, the Vietnamese authorities had no right to intervene and could only seek help from the French consul. He even thought proudly, “I never expected that the system established by the French would ultimately cost them dearly…” Now, the military industry system Liu Yu had established in the old camp had grown quite large, with some products already moving beyond laboratory production. Especially last year, he received two waves of personnel: one group consisted of coin-making workers hired by Liu Da, who were skilled. When the counterfeit money factory shut down, they would come to his own armory to do odd jobs, and a few key members who were particularly useful were even forcibly borrowed by him. More importantly, many of the machinery used for counterfeiting was advanced equipment he urgently needed, which greatly improved the industrial level of the Xiuliu Camp, which previously had only a few lathes. The other group came from Ye Chenglin’s family, brought over from Shizhou. These hundreds of people, old and young, provided endless cheap labor, allowing Liu Yu to rely on a sweatshop model to increase production.

With the help of those counterfeit money workers, even that open-hearth furnace is now complete, and molten steel is just around the corner. Modern warfare is fought with silicon, while such contemporary conflicts are fought with steel. Once the molten steel is produced, military production capacity can increase by at least 30%.

But sulfuric acid and nitric acid were the biggest pain points for Liu Yu. Upon hearing this, he immediately asked, “Has it arrived?”

Luo Yanqiu smiled gracefully, her beauty breathtaking. “It’s here! It’s hidden behind the church. You can bring them back anytime. I’ve sent people to check—it’s all high-quality concentrated sulfuric acid and nitric acid.”

Heaven helps me! Liu Yu happily kissed Luo Yanqiu deeply. “Great Yanqiu, great Yanqiu! This saves me at least half a year of time.”

With the “mother of industry” available, nitrocellulose, nitroglycerin, fulminite, and even TNT could be produced in large quantities. “Great Yanqiu.”

Although kissed lovingly, Luo Yanqiu still reminded him, “If we need to import more nitric acid and sulfuric acid, we should do it soon. In a month or two, when it falls under their control, we won’t be able to import it anymore.”

She had made good use of a loophole—the French strictly regulated the import of chemical raw materials into Xiliuying, but turned a blind eye to Catholics importing small amounts of arms for self-defense, let alone these unimportant chemical materials. As for the Vietnamese, the French were completely powerless to control them.

Previously, Deng Cunyu and Liu the merchant had used this route to smuggle contraband. But now that their targets were bigger, they could only take risks by hiding goods among other shipments.

Over there, Luo Yanqiu continued, “Brother Yu, I’ve gotten you so much sulfuric acid and nitric acid. How will you thank me?”

Liu Yu smirked wickedly. “Keep calling me Brother Yu. Of course, I’ll thank you properly.”

With the important matters settled, looking at Luo Yanqiu in her white and silver combat suit, so valiant and striking, and thinking of her age and status, along with her usual claim of being an inviolable reincarnation of a sacred being, Liu Yu’s desire flared up intensely.

“Call me Brother Yu…” Liu Yu grinned wickedly, already taking off his coat and sitting on a chair to enjoy Luo Yanqiu’s services. “Call me Brother Yu properly…”

Luo Yanqiu’s mouth was filled by Liu Yu, her long hair held down by him, her delicate neck moving back and forth as he wished. She couldn’t even utter a word and could only focus on serving him wholeheartedly.

It was the first time for both of them to try such an intense experience. Seeing the usually imposing leader of the Flower Sect now kneeling on the ground, her head moving up and down, Liu Yu was enveloped in a soft, moist sensation—a truly exhilarating feeling that made him urge her forward again and again.

Soon, he tried an even more intense method.

In the secret room, the beautiful girl moaned on the chair. She didn’t care that she was in a highly embarrassing position; she could only keep shouting, “Brother Yu… Brother Yu… Slow down, Sister Yanqiu can’t take it.”

A youth who seemed much younger than her stood on two pillows, striving hard to strike from behind. He felt he had complete control over the pace of the day. After breaking through Taoyuan, Xiao Liu Yu was surrounded by layers of soft flesh in the muddy path, repeatedly striking at Luo Yanqiu’s soul.
“I can’t take it anymore…” Luo Yanqiu’s upper clothes hadn’t even been untied, yet in this state, she appeared even more endearing: “Brother Yu, Brother Yu, I’ll do whatever you say—let’s rest for a while!”
She felt as if her soul had flown away; it was an incredible sensation. But Liu Yu was truly extraordinary today, and she simply couldn’t withstand him: “Let’s do it again tomorrow…”
Liu Yu ignored her pleas, pushing Luo Yanqiu to orgasm again and again, giving her the delightful feeling of not wanting to move even a finger. Only then did they hold each other tightly.
“Brother Yu…” Luo Yanqiu knew this was what Liu Yu liked best to hear: “I’m absolutely beautiful today…”
The two lay in bed, savoring the aftereffects of orgasm, exchanging affectionate words: “Brother Yu, whatever your plans are, I’ll follow them.”
Although he was several years older than her, hearing her call him “Brother Yu” filled him with joy: “Of course, I have many plans…”
Luo Yanqiu avoided answering his question and instead asked, “Brother Yu, I’ve only seen the soldiers in Haifang River. Though few in number, they’re very strong. Since you say France has millions of brave soldiers, do you think… we can win?”
Liu Yu looked at the delicate Luo Yanqiu, whose eyes always held a hint of worry: “Silly girl! Don’t forget—you have Brother Yu! I already had 50% confidence, and with the nitric and sulfuric acids you brought, it’s now 70%.”
As they continued to exchange affectionate words, a silver bell beside the bed rang—its sound beautiful. Luo Yanqiu didn’t want to move and softly said, “Something serious has happened again.”
The intelligence teams of Xiliu Camp and the Flower Sect were independent yet cooperative. Unless it was an urgent matter, they wouldn’t disturb Liu Yu and Luo Yanqiu who were sequestered inside.
Luo Yanqiu forced herself to get up. She kissed Xiao Liu Yu before saying, “I’ll help Brother Yu get dressed. When you go out later, I’ll lie down for a while more.”
Liu Yu was still in high spirits. After getting dressed, he stepped out of the basement, out of the secret room, and opened a crack in the door to see a spy already standing outside: “What happened?”
The spy brought the most important news: “The Qing soldiers captured Li Yangcai at Zheyan.”