Kaixian County.
In later generations, it would be renamed Kaizhou, but at this moment in time it was still known by its older name, tucked deep within eastern Sichuan.
The population here was a patchwork. Roughly forty percent were Han Chinese. About ten percent belonged to the Miao, Yi, and Zhuang ethnic groups. The remaining half were known collectively as the Ba people, most of whom were Tujia.
Yet the Tujia of Kaixian County did not fall under the authority of Qin Liangyu.
Qin Liangyu governed the Tujia of Shizhu. Her command did not extend here.
In Kaixian, the Tujia Pacification Commissioner was a man named Ran Ke.
Unlike Qin Liangyu, Ran Ke was no fiery general burning with loyalty to the Great Ming. He was the very definition of a small mountain chieftain, content to guard his modest territory and enjoy a quiet life. As long as his own lands were peaceful, he saw little reason to concern himself with the turmoil of the wider realm.
He believed firmly in sweeping the snow from his own doorstep and ignoring the frost on others' roofs.
When the rebel army first pushed into Sichuan and reached Daning Prefecture, he did not mobilize. When Kuizhou City came under siege, he offered no reinforcements. Even when Ma Xianglin led the White Pole Soldiers through Kaixian in pursuit of the rebels, Ran Ke stood aside and lent no aid.
Let the world beyond his mountains drown in chaos if it wished.
But now the flood had reached his door.
Clad in mountain-patterned armor, Ran Ke stood atop the battered walls of Kaixian County. Around him were Tujia soldiers gripping long wooden spears soaked in tung oil, each shaft tipped with a small iron spearhead. The weapons were similar in style to those of the White Pole Soldiers, though these men were not part of that famed corps.
The spear shafts were impressively long yet surprisingly light, designed for reach rather than brute force.
Facing the advancing rebels, the Tujia soldiers locked their spears together and thrust them outward, forming a dense bristling wall of iron points.
It might have worked against charging infantry.
It did not work against firearms.
The rebels brought forward a Three-Eyed Arquebus. Three sharp reports split the air in rapid succession.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The formation shuddered. Men collapsed where they stood. Blood darkened the stone beneath their feet.
Elsewhere along the walls, the county militia under the magistrate fared no better. Their casualties mounted just as quickly.
Kaixian's already modest walls trembled under pressure, looking as though they might crumble at any moment.
A Tujia soldier rushed to Ran Ke's side, panic written across his face.
"General, we cannot hold much longer. We must abandon the county seat and retreat into the Ba Mountains."
The Ba Mountains were the ancestral homeland of the Ba people.
In truth, Sichuan was filled with Ba Mountains. Every peak seemed to claim that name. Each rise in the terrain sheltered a different chieftain, each carving out a small independent domain amid the vast ranges.
Ran Ke let out a bitter breath.
"Have our reinforcements not arrived?"
"There are no reinforcements," the soldier replied desperately. "Hou Liangzhu is dead. The authorities will not come. We requested aid from Xinning County, but their magistrate has no troops. The other chieftains say that when the rebels attacked them, we offered no help. Now they refuse to help us."
Ran Ke cursed under his breath.
He looked out over the sea of rebels surging toward his walls and felt the weight of his earlier indifference press down on him.
"So this is the price," he muttered.
After a long pause, he said, "Very well. We retreat into the Ba Mountains. The magistrate has a duty to defend the county seat to the last. We chieftains do not."
Even as he spoke, his gaze drifted toward the city behind him.
Many Tujia commoners still lived inside these walls.
If he withdrew, the rebels would slaughter the inhabitants and burn the city. His mountain stronghold would lose access to trade and supplies. Food would become scarce. Daily necessities would vanish. Life in the mountains would grow harsh beyond measure.
He did not truly want to abandon the county.
But what choice remained?
He drew breath to issue the retreat order.
At that very moment, shouts erupted from the distance.
A thousand-strong force appeared as if conjured from thin air. At their head strode a figure with a gleaming blade raised high. In his left hand he lifted a strange iron tube to his lips and bellowed through it with astonishing volume.
"Your Lord Rabbit has arrived! Rebels attacking Kaixian County, prepare to die!"
Flat Rabbit charged forward without hesitation.
The rebels, fully committed to their siege, were thrown into confusion by the sudden assault from behind. They faltered, unsure whether to press the attack or turn to confront this new threat.
Their leader roared orders, but the command structure was clumsy. Half their forces wheeled around to face the newcomers. The other half stubbornly continued attacking the walls.
Then came the thunder.
Musket fire cracked in disciplined volleys.
Hand grenades detonated with deafening force.
From atop the walls, Ran Ke saw nothing but rolling white smoke and flashes of fire. The rebel formation dissolved into chaos.
Some screamed. Others turned and ran. Many were trampled by their own comrades in the scramble.
The pressure on Kaixian's walls eased almost instantly.
Ran Ke's eyes lit with relief.
"No retreat! No retreat!" he shouted. "Reinforcements have arrived. Hold the line. Hold fast!"
The rebels attempted to swing their Three-Eyed Arquebuses toward the newcomers, but before they could even close the distance, another volley of musket fire cut them down where they stood.
Realizing they faced a disciplined and heavily armed force, the bandits did what bandits did best.
They fled.
They scattered into the mountains with impressive speed, vanishing into ravines and forest paths as though absorbed by the earth itself.
Flat Rabbit's men pursued briefly, but musket-bearing troops were not well suited for extended mountain chases. After driving the rebels deep into the hills, they withdrew in orderly fashion.
Shortly thereafter, Flat Rabbit approached Kaixian County.
"Open the gates!" Ran Ke called.
The magistrate gave the order. The heavy gates creaked open.
Ran Ke hurried out to greet the savior of his city.
"This humble official is Ran Ke, Pacification Commissioner of Kaixian County. May I ask the esteemed general's name?"
Flat Rabbit grinned broadly.
"My name is Flat Rabbit, Captain of the Third Company of the Shaanxi Relief Militia."
Ran Ke blinked.
A militia?
He had heard of imperial armies. He had heard of provincial garrisons. He had never heard of a civilian militia charging across provinces to provide relief.
Flat Rabbit laughed at his expression.
"Look at that face. Can a militia not come to help? I just learned a particularly cool saying from a very learned fellow. Listen carefully. Every common man bears responsibility for the fate of the world. Impressive, is it not?"
Ran Ke's facial muscles twitched.
"It is… quite impressive."
Flat Rabbit beamed and slapped him on the shoulder.
"As long as it sounds cool, that is enough. Your Lord Rabbit is the coolest of all."
Ran Ke stood there, momentarily speechless.
The Pacification Commissioner, the de facto ruler of the Tujia in Kaixian, found himself utterly at a loss for words after only a few exchanges.
After a pause, Flat Rabbit asked, "How long have these bandits plagued you?"
"Half a month," Ran Ke replied. "At first they merely plundered the surrounding mountain villages. In the past two days, they turned their attention to the county seat."
Flat Rabbit nodded thoughtfully.
"They have likely stripped the villages of all food. With nothing left to loot, they had no choice but to attack the city."
Ran Ke sighed. "The county is now crowded with refugees from those villages. Others have fled into the Ba Mountains."
Flat Rabbit blinked.
"There is a Ba Mountain here too? I passed through a village earlier, and they told me their mountain was also called Ba Mountain."
Ran Ke gestured broadly toward the surrounding peaks.
"These are all Ba Mountains."
Flat Rabbit stared at the endless ridgelines, each rising like waves frozen in stone.
"Aaargh!" he groaned dramatically. "You cannot do this. Outsiders already get lost in these mountains. If every single peak has the same name, how are we supposed to navigate? Give them different names at least!"
Ran Ke had no immediate answer to that.
For the first time in days, however, the walls of Kaixian were no longer trembling, and the Ba Mountains stood not as a retreat of desperation, but as a backdrop to unexpected salvation.