Chapter 19: Aftermath (Part 1)

In later generations, Liu Yu, though just a lowly clerk, was used to dealing with leaders, so he waved his hand and said, “Let him in.”
A mere governor of Haiyang—something he dismissed given the overwhelming odds—his priority now was to reap as much profit as possible before leaving.
He could stay in Haiyang, but not for long. Under no circumstances could he allow the French to recover. By then, a river patrol boat along with a company of infantry would be enough to trap Liu Yu’s troops inside the city.
He had about ten to fifteen days to thoroughly plunder Haiyang and amass his first fortune.
Haiyang was the third-largest city in northern Vietnam, with a population of tens of thousands and a thriving economy. Just by entering the city that day, he had already gathered a large sum of money and seized considerable weapons, but this was still far from Liu Yu’s goal.
To raise funds smoothly, he needed the cooperation of the local authorities.
Although Fan Fushu was an incompetent official, his forty years in government had exposed him to many things. Having once served as an envoy to France, he also looked down on these bandits.
But as soon as he met them, he sensed something was wrong. Upon closer inspection, the bandits’ equipment was far too luxurious—out of barely a hundred men, nearly half were equipped with breechloaders.
Good heavens! As the governor of Haiyang, his own bodyguards only had a dozen or so breechloaders.
Even without breechloaders, they had various types of foreign guns, all of high quality, seemingly even better than his own bodyguards’ equipment—he didn’t realize these were all the same type of firearm. Now, Liu Yu’s troops were all armed with foreign guns, with a third of them using breechloaders.
But his shock didn’t end there. He immediately spotted Jing Shi Yi and Liu Suiyun carrying Spencer rifles. Both were only fourteen or fifteen years old, yet they too were carrying breechloaders.
He was stunned. As the governor of Haiyang, he commanded troops from two provinces, yet they only had twenty or thirty breechloaders. Yet these bandits alone had thirty or forty breechloaders, and even thirteen- or fourteen-year-olds could carry them.
He finally understood how his so-called “Great Wall” of five hundred soldiers had been wiped out—Liu Yu’s troops were terrifying.
His original ambitions were greatly diminished. If Liu Yu’s troops numbered in the hundreds, that meant hundreds of breechloaders!
At the thought of this, Fan Fushu broke into sweat. That scoundrel Ruan Youming still wanted him to suppress Liu Yu’s troops—those were numerous breechloaders, enough to easily invade Haiyang’s strong forces.
He resolved to be even more humble and cautious, to play it safe and act honestly, handling things carefully: “Brother Liu Suiyun, please lead the way.”
Liu Yu simply chose an official’s residence as their base. As soon as he saw Fan Fushu enter, he approached with a bandit-like attitude and asked, “Are you the governor of Haiyang?”
His tone was extremely rude. Fan Fushu initially thought it was just a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boy, which made him feel relieved, but upon closer look, his heart turned to ice.
Liu Yu liked the two Remington revolvers given by Deng Cunyu very much, so he immediately loaded them with bullets and hung them around his waist.

Fan Fushu saw two revolvers strapped to the young man’s waist. Having seen much of the world, he knew these were top-quality guns—capable of firing in rapid succession with great power. Even in France, such guns required a large sum of money to acquire, and only high-ranking French officers wore them. Yet this young man carried two of them casually, without even paying them much attention. Even more astonishingly, he had a breechloader slung on his back. No wonder he was so powerful. He even thought of a terrifying possibility: Why would the Liu Army come to attack Haiyang? It meant that under this young man’s leadership, despite having hundreds of breechloaders, they were ineffective and had always maintained peace with the official army. But how had he, Fan Fushu, been so foolish as to fall for the deception of the foreign missionary Ruan Youming and join their side? Upon hearing that the official army was attacking them, they must have been furious and rushed to attack, easily breaking through the defenses of Haiyang City with their hundreds of guns. What a huge mistake! Liu Yu’s arrogance earlier now seemed endearing. He dared not underestimate this young commander any further. If the young man decided to set fire to Haiyang City again, he and all the officials and civilians there would be doomed. “This Commander Liu, I am the acting grand secretary in charge of Haiyang and also the minister in charge of commerce. It is an honor to meet you, Commander.” As soon as Liu Yu saw him, he knew there was potential. For some reason, Fan Fushu seemed subdued, so Liu Yu easily found a chair to sit down. “Governor Fan, you have quite the audacity to trouble our Liu Army!” He sat cross-legged, looking relaxed, but Fan Fushu became even more nervous. He quickly tried to clarify, “This has nothing to do with me. It’s all the fault of those French missionaries, that French missionary Ruan Youming. It’s not our problem.” Liu Yu gave him a rude glance. “I heard Governor Fan has gathered ten thousand troops to suppress our Liu Army?” Fan Fushu was afraid Liu Yu would mention this. “It has nothing to do with us. It’s all Ruan Youming’s fault.” “Really?” “Absolutely.” Before Fan Fushu could relax, Liu Yu said, “It’s a shame Ruan Youming has already gone to Zuojin. Otherwise, I would have brought him here to confront you! Our Liu Army is not easy to provoke.” “Not easy to provoke, indeed.” Fan Fushu felt it was even harder to deceive his grandson. “Your army has traveled far. Everyone here is willing to contribute to the war effort. Could you please give us a figure so I can arrange the funds?” He was prepared to pay, but unexpectedly, Liu Yu said, “Contribute? If it weren’t for General Shi’s invitation, I wouldn’t have come to attack Haiyang City and offended the French for nothing.” He added, “A mere contribution—how can it compare to the position of a prince?” “Do you know what kind of prince? I don’t know either, but I do know…” As these words were spoken, Fan Fushu’s heart sank. He wasn’t a good official; he was just a short man stepping into someone’s shoes. Since Emperor Shide favored him, he never expected such a massive rebellion to occur. With at least hundreds of rebels armed with breechloaders involved, along with Qing dynasty guerrilla officers, the dynasty of the Ruan family was in danger.

This northern Vietnam was originally part of the Le dynasty, to which great favor was shown. Thus, throughout history, it was common for descendants of the Le royal family to rise up and attempt to restore the dynasty. Even now, people’s hearts still lean toward the past, and hidden tensions persist.
“Although the position of prince is prestigious, if the Le descendants rise up, they have no foundation, and the risks are too great. It would be better if we contributed some military funds instead—how about your forces withdraw?”
“Well… Shi Juyi said that with the involvement of a high-ranking Qing official, this plan will surely succeed?”
“Ah…” Fan Fushu opened his mouth wide: “How can we say that? Let’s talk things through properly; any conditions can be discussed.”
Note: After Nguyen Hoang wiped out the Tây Sơn dynasty, successive Vietnamese rulers often acted unethically, leading people to long for the old regime. Throughout the Nguyen dynasty, there were constant efforts by supporters of the Le royal family to restore the dynasty, with several large-scale uprisings. French diplomatic archives contain numerous records of northern Vietnamese officials and merchants contacting France to seek support for restoring the Le dynasty.