Chapter 14 of 100

Chapter 14

16 min read4,123 words

After gathering the emotionally agitated villagers who were eager to tear their throats shouting to go up the mountain and counting their numbers, Du Qian and Song Wan’s grinning mouths couldn’t close.

A total of 317 strong men! Almost the same number as the first batch of elite bandits who set out from the mountain tonight. It should be known that this was the maximum number of men Liangshan could mobilize for a mountain battle.

As the only two military leaders in the bandit camp, Du Qian and Song Wan were well aware that, apart from the more than one hundred water troops, the five hundred men who could be gathered for this expedition had almost emptied the mountain. The one or two hundred people left on the mountain to guard it with Zhu Gui were mostly old, weak, sick, or disabled. Even the two hundred men in the rear guard led by Song Wan were only slightly stronger than those left to guard the mountain. They could manage to pull a cart or transport grain, but if it came to a real fight, they could only be used to scare people and not much else, lest they be overburdened.

Looking at the young men in the ranks, their eyes burning with passion and their faces still bearing a hint of innocence, Du Qian and Song Wan’s admiration for Wang Lun reached an unprecedented level.

These villagers had just seen them as ferocious beasts, and even after killing the tyrannical village head and his son, they didn’t receive enthusiastic support from the villagers. Instead, the fearful and evasive looks in their eyes clearly showed their reluctance to get too close to the bandits. As seasoned veterans, Du Qian and Song Wan could see through this.

But who would have thought that once the chieftain distributed the grain, these originally indifferent and cold villagers would suddenly act as if they had been drugged, gathering in groups with their families, determined to join the bandits! The dramatic change in attitude left the two bandit leaders speechless.

These were all good seeds! There was no slickness in them that one would see in the bandits who had been on the mountain for a long time. Instead, they showed unwavering obedience. Coupled with their strong bodies forged by long-term physical labor, Du Qian and Song Wan, who knew the value, were delighted to the point of not wanting to leave the crowd. They kept patting the strong arms and broad shoulders, feeling the muscles. The children from the village, who had grown up understanding hierarchy, stood straight, showing the last capital that heaven had given them.

However, at this moment, Wang Lun stood aside, not as ecstatic as Du Qian and Song Wan. Instead, he felt a heavy burden. The scene before him reminded him of a passage he had read in a book, a memorial submitted by Minister Ding Du to Emperor Renzong, which he remembered vividly: “The poor have only three to fifty acres or five to seven acres, yet they must support a family of ten or more. If one harvest fails, they will die in the ditches.”

Thinking of the countless lives that would soon become the nourishment of the vast land that had once nurtured them, Wang Lun felt a lump in his throat, a deep unease in his heart.

This was just a matter from the early years of the Renzong era, when land consolidation was not yet severe. How much worse was it now? Wang Lun sighed, silent. He wondered how corrupt the government of the Song Dynasty had to be to force his people to the brink, to the point where they would take pride in joining the bandits. He couldn’t understand why this vast and wealthy empire couldn’t provide a little security to its lowest subjects, allowing them to prosper through hard work and build their families through self-reliance.

He shook his head helplessly, a sense of loneliness he had never felt before overwhelming him. He silently picked up the box copied by Zheng Qian, found a mound, and sat down helplessly.

Opening the box with the broken lock, Wang Lun saw it was filled with all the land deeds of the man killed by Li Si. He picked up a stack of deeds and sat there, carefully flipping through them. A clever little bandit held a torch beside him, lighting the way for their chieftain.

Wang Lun flipped through the scattered deeds of one, two, three, and five acres, as if watching the tragic scenes of farmers selling themselves as tenants unfold before his eyes. Looking at the various red fingerprints of the sellers on the deeds, the cruelty of land consolidation became clear to him tonight, as he saw it in the flesh from these native-born subjects of the Song Dynasty.

"Bring a brazier!"

Hearing the chieftain’s order, someone ran to the village head’s resting place. Soon, they returned with a brazier full of charcoal and respectfully placed it in front of Wang Lun.

One, two, three...

The red charcoal greedily devoured the excellent fuel, turning the deeds into ashes that scattered in the wind. In the end, only a yellowed, old deed for a hundred acres remained in his hand. Wang Lun hesitated for a moment, then set it aside and took out the high-interest loan notes left by the village head, burning them one by one.

"Chieftain! Chieftain!! You are truly a master of strategy, we found it! We found it!!" A sudden report came from behind. Wang Lun turned to see Zheng Qian running excitedly in front, with Du Qian and Song Wan following behind, overjoyed. It seemed Zheng Qian had some sense and, in his joy, remembered to inform Du Qian and Song Wan first. Seeing this, Wang Lun’s heavy heart lightened a bit.

"Chieftain, we found large gold ingots, each weighing five hundred taels, twelve in total, under the bed in the village head’s bedroom!" Zheng Qian, out of breath, added after a moment, "Thanks to Leon’s alertness, he noticed the village head’s wife’s eyes darting around, always glancing at the bed. He then led the boys to lift the bed and dig down more than two zhang, finding these twelve gold ingots! Hehe, if not for the chieftain’s orders, these six thousand taels of gold might have remained buried for many more years!"

"Little brother, you don’t know, who is your big brother? I’ve been to the capital and taken the imperial exams, even seen the emperor several times! Of course, I can predict and calculate! That village head’s tricks couldn’t fool me, and I quickly exposed them all, ha ha..." Du Qian laughed heartily.

The mood of the group gradually infected Wang Lun, lightening his heavy heart. Seeing Du Qian’s excited words, he shrugged helplessly. Song Wan, the third leader, was also visibly moved, nodding in agreement. The surprises of the night had left him almost speechless with joy.

"Yes, yes, yes... Leader Du is right! We also found over a thousand strings of cash. Chieftain, do you have any further orders? Should we continue the search?" Zheng Qian asked hopefully, his blind faith in Wang Lun growing.

Six thousand taels of gold, equivalent to sixty thousand strings of cash, plus the over two thousand strings of cash and grain found earlier, totaling eighty thousand strings of cash. That’s enough! Wang Lun decided, "The village head’s family has accumulated this much gold and silver over generations. That’s it! Everyone has worked hard tonight. Have the boys pack the grain onto the carts, and we’ll head back to the mountain!"

Du Qian quickly replied, "Brother, the carts are already loaded. We brought down large carts from the mountain, and we found over two hundred empty carts in the village, which we loaded with grain. Only a small portion of the grain is left. Why don’t you and Brother Song Wan return to the mountain first, and I’ll wait here to unload the carts and come back for the rest!"

"Second Leader, you don’t know! The villagers saw our grain carts were insufficient, so they pushed their own wheelbarrows to help us transport the grain. Now, not a single grain is left in the warehouse. We can deliver everything to the mountain in one trip! Hehe, only the water troops will be busy until dawn!" Zheng Qian added with a hint of schadenfreude.

Du Qian and Song Wan were stunned, their faces full of disbelief. After a long pause, they said, "What good people! Brother, we can’t borrow grain from Xixi Village again, or we’ll have no face to meet such kind-hearted villagers!"

Wang Lun nodded, waving his hand, "That’s right. When we reach the lake, give ten strings of cash to each household that provided a cart, and five strings to those who provided labor. It’s freezing, and we can’t let the villagers work for nothing!"

"That’s right, that’s right!" Du Qian and Song Wan agreed, no longer feeling the pain of losing gold as they had before. Instead, they wholeheartedly supported Wang Lun’s decision.

"Chieftain, what should we do with the village head’s family?" Zheng Qian asked.

Wang Lun thought for a moment and ordered, "One life for one life. Since the village head and his son have been punished, the grudge of Li Si’s parents is avenged. Now that the main culprit is gone, there’s no need to add more bloodshed. This hundred-acre deed is from their ancestors, along with the deed to the village house. Take them and give them to the family. Tell them to behave and not cause trouble again! If they have any grievances, they can come to Liangshan and find me, Wang Lun! As for the village head’s former henchmen, each will receive twenty lashes and be expelled from Xixi Village, never to return. If they resist, tell them to wash their necks and wait for our Liangshan blades!"

Du Qian and Song Wan laughed, "Our mountain doesn’t like to kill, but we know how to! If these scoundrels don’t see the light, we’ll take care of them without troubling you, brother!"

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