Jiang Daliang stood atop the walls of Jiangbei City, his fingers wrapped tightly around the crude long spear that foreman Wang Wen had shoved into his hands days ago.
The wood was rough. Poorly balanced. The iron tip slightly crooked.
It suited the militia well.
He stared northward.
Chongqing was called Mountain City for a reason. Hills rose and fell endlessly in every direction. Looking north, there was not a single stretch of true flatland. One ridge blocked the next, slopes overlapping like waves turned to stone.
But Jiang Daliang did not need to see Longtou Mountain.
He knew it was there.
Only a few miles away.
And on that mountain, Er Zhi Hu and his rebel forces were stationed, waiting.
Waiting for the right moment.
Waiting for him.
He had already agreed to it. When the rebels attacked, he would find an opportunity to open the gates. That would be his task. Nothing more. Nothing less.
After that, his role would end.
He understood perfectly well how dangerous this was. Once the rebels poured in, they might decide an insider was no longer useful. A quick slash across the throat would silence loose ends. A corpse thrown into the river. Another nameless body drifting downstream.
But Jiang Daliang did not care.
If he died, he died.
As long as Wang Wen went down with him, that would be enough.
If he could drag that bloodsucking foreman into hell, then even death would count as a kind of victory.
Just as this grim determination settled in his chest, shouting erupted near the docks.
A familiar coworker rushed past him along the wall, breathing hard.
"A fleet has arrived! A large one. Looks like militia reinforcements from somewhere else. There must be a thousand of them!"
Jiang Daliang snorted quietly.
Reinforcements?
A thousand men?
What difference would that make?
Ten thousand rebels were waiting in the mountains. If he opened the gates, those rebels would flood in like a black tide and chop these newcomers into minced meat before sunset.
The worker elbowed him.
"Daliang, why are you just standing there? Come help unload goods at the South Gate. We can earn some money."
Jiang Daliang did not even turn his head.
"Help Wang Wen earn money? I am not going."
The worker lowered his voice conspiratorially.
"It is different this time. I heard the wages will be paid directly to us. No foreman taking it first."
That finally made Jiang Daliang blink.
"Directly? Wang Wen is not fighting over it?"
"Oh, he is fighting," the worker grinned. "They are arguing right now. Come see the excitement."
Interest replaced indifference.
Jiang Daliang tightened his grip on the spear, then headed down from the wall toward the South Gate docks.
---
When he arrived, the scene before him was tense enough to snap like a pulled bowstring.
Two groups faced each other across the dock.
On one side stood Wang Wen and his people.
Wang Wen's name sounded refined, scholarly even, as if he had been born to hold a brush rather than a cudgel. Reality disagreed. He stood at the front like a street tyrant, surrounded by house guards, bodyguards, and hired thugs. They formed a tight, intimidating cluster, clearly accustomed to backing their master with force.
On the other side stood the newly arrived militia.
At their head was Cheng Xu.
He wore a faint smile that did not quite reach his eyes.
The confrontation had already begun.
As soon as Cheng Xu's fleet docked, he had begun unloading supplies intended to aid the local commoners, just as he always did in newly arrived territories. Naturally, moving those goods required labor. Naturally, he intended to hire local dockworkers and pay them wages.
When he announced the pay rate, cheers erupted from the workers.
That was when Wang Wen arrived.
"All workers on this dock belong to my Wang family," he declared loudly. "All wages must be collected by my Wang family and then distributed by us."
The moment those words were spoken, Cheng Xu understood.
Unified collection. Unified distribution.
It sounded orderly.
In truth, it meant taking a cut.
At first, Cheng Xu had not been overly concerned. Taking a small percentage was common practice in many places. He had even considered letting it pass.
But as he reached for the silver to hand over, he noticed something.
One worker nearby looked troubled. Not merely cautious, but bitter.
Cheng Xu paused.
"What percentage do you take?" he asked calmly.
Wang Wen smiled thinly.
"Eighty percent."
The number hung in the air like a slap.
Cheng Xu physically recoiled. The silver he had begun to extend froze midair before he slowly drew it back.
"Eighty percent?" he repeated.
He had seen greedy men before.
But this was not greed.
This was stripping flesh from bone.
Without another word, he withdrew the silver completely.
"I will distribute the wages directly."
Wang Wen's expression darkened instantly.
An outsider.
Daring to challenge him.
On his own dock.
With a shout, Wang Wen's men surged forward, filling the space behind him in a display of strength.
Cheng Xu did not retreat.
With a sharp barked order, his own militia closed ranks behind him, boots thudding against wood and stone.
The dock fell silent except for the creak of ropes and distant river water.
Jiang Daliang watched, heart tightening.
It was not as if no one had challenged Wang Wen before. Outsiders occasionally arrived full of confidence.
Without exception, they disappeared within days.
Wang Wen had protection.
Official backing.
And more importantly, local bandits.
Two to three thousand men, entrenched at Tieshan Ping not far from Jiangbei. A formidable stronghold. Brutal men who killed without hesitation.
Those who offended Wang Wen often ended up floating in the river.
That was why Jiang Daliang had agreed to help Er Zhi Hu. The authorities could not eliminate Wang Wen's backing.
Perhaps the rebels could.
Wang Wen sneered.
"All hiring here must go through me. Break that rule, and do not blame me for being ruthless."
Cheng Xu's voice remained steady.
"These rules of yours. Did the government issue them? Or did you invent them yourself?"
Wang Wen lifted his chin.
"My fists issued them."
Cheng Xu's smile widened slightly.
"Interesting. If the largest fist makes the rules, then I suppose I am making the rules now."
He suddenly turned and projected his voice toward every dockworker present.
"From today onward, the rules here change. Anyone hiring dockworkers will pay them directly. Wang Wen will not interfere. This is the new order. If anyone objects, they may come find me."
Wang Wen exploded.
"You bastard!"
Cheng Xu did not miss a beat.
"You think only you can curse? I will curse your entire lineage, eighteen generations deep, without sparing a single infant."
Wang Wen roared.
"Men! Attack!"
Two house guards lunged forward first, fists swinging toward Cheng Xu's face.
Cheng Xu moved lightly, almost lazily. Both fists cut through empty air. In the same motion, he hooked a leg behind them. The two guards lost balance and crashed onto the dock with heavy thuds.
Before they could recover, Cheng Xu stomped down hard on each of their backs, leaving clear boot prints pressed into cloth and flesh.
"Rebellion!" Wang Wen shouted. "You dare strike my men on my own ground?"
Cheng Xu laughed.
"Rebellion? Are you the emperor here?"
"Kill him!" Wang Wen screamed. "Kill this bastard!"
House guards, bodyguards, hired thugs surged forward together.
Cheng Xu's militia did not hesitate. They met the charge head on with a unified roar.
The clash was immediate.
Fists, sticks, boots. Shouting. Splintering wood.
Within five minutes, the difference in quality was painfully obvious.
Cheng Xu's militia had been drilled for years. They trained in formation, in coordination, in controlled aggression. Wang Wen's men were a mob used to bullying unarmed workers, not disciplined fighters.
They were driven back step by step.
Blow by blow.
In the chaos, Cheng Xu advanced with surprising speed.
In a blink, he stood before Wang Wen.
His fist came forward like a battering ram.
The impact landed squarely on Wang Wen's face with a sickening crack.
Wang Wen's refined name did not protect his nose.
His features burst open in a spray of blood, his face collapsing into a swollen, blossoming mess as he toppled backward onto the dock.
And in that instant, something shifted on the docks of Jiangbei.
Not just a man falling.
But an order breaking.