Chapter 120: I'll Buy You Books
“The bandit army has been routed!”
“They’ve fled!”
“Haha!”
The sentry burst into excited laughter: “They’ve retreated! Back into the mountains! Hahaha! They arrived so brazenly, only to flee in such disarray.”
The people inside Bai Family Fortress cheered in unison.
Especially the twenty-four teams responsible for loading the cannons, who laughed heartily.
Undoubtedly, they were the greatest contributors in this battle; no one else had even lifted a finger, so no one could steal their glory.
Cheng Xu, his eyebrows dancing with delight, also let out a few hearty laughs. He pointed towards the dust-shrouded hillside and declared, “Lads! Keep a close watch on that hillside! Once the bandit army has truly retreated, send a few swift runners to check and confirm they won’t return. Then, organize the laborers to retrieve those cannon shells.”
For such trivial matters, he merely needed to issue a command; his vice-inspector and the archer squadron leader would handle the details. As for himself, he would naturally draft a memorial to report his achievements.
As he wrote, his brush froze.
He had heard the word "missile" from Young Master Bai. This term had never before been heard. If he were to include it in his memorial and submit it to the imperial court, would His Majesty understand it?
His Majesty would certainly ask, “What is a missile?”
And then all the civil and military officials would undoubtedly be utterly bewildered. His Majesty would certainly grow curious and might even issue an imperial decree to Chengcheng County: “Send that ‘missile’ thing to the capital for Us to see.”
Such a development would entail enormous implications. At that point, the origin of the missile would have to be explained clearly, without the slightest concealment. Then, the fact that these missiles came from the “ghost village” would be exposed. His own achievement of “single-handedly resisting the bandit army” would vanish, entirely snatched away by those unknown spectral beings in the ghost village.
Cheng Xu quickly put the memorial he had just written to the flames, burning it to ashes. Then he picked up his brush anew. The beginning remained unchanged, but when he reached the sentence about chopping down trees and felling timber, the tone shifted dramatically: “Your humble servant personally led the charge, plunging into the enemy lines, single-handedly slaying several fierce bandits and striking terror into the Huanglong Mountain forces. The bandits’ courage was so shattered by Your humble servant that, though ten thousand strong, they dared not face me, and could only flee in disarray. Your humble servant tirelessly pursued the bandit army for over thirty li under the cover of night, only recalling the troops for fear of falling into an ambush.”
He reread it, thoroughly pleased, and couldn't help but burst into laughter.
With this great achievement, those stinking civil officials won't be able to topple me now, will they?
Hahahahaha!
----
“Bai Family Fortress has won again!”
A swift horse galloped into Gao Family Village, the Bai family attendant on its back shouting excitedly from afar, “Many thanks to the Heavenly Lord for bestowing the celestial missiles! Bai Family Fortress has won again!”
The villagers of Gao Family Village heard this and burst into joyous laughter once more.
A cheerful atmosphere echoed above the village.
Madam Bai and Young Master Bai ascended the corner tower, bowing deeply towards the heavens. The attendant scrambled up the city wall to report the detailed battle conditions to Madam Bai and Young Master Bai, while San Shier, Gao Yiye, and others also came to listen.
As for Li Daoxuan, outside the box, he had ordered a 29-yuan Leshan Bo Bo Chicken today. While savoring various skewers of chicken offal, he kept one ear perked to listen to the news from inside the box.
When the attendant described the power of the celestial missiles, his eyes gleamed with excitement, adding his own embellishments. He spun a tale, extolling the power of the celestial missiles to the skies, claiming that a single shot annihilated over fifty bandits, and another shot leveled a mountain. Li Daoxuan, outside the box, laughed so hard he almost knocked over his Bo Bo Chicken. It was just a plastic toy cannon; as if it could level a mountain! No matter how much it was shrunk, Huanglong Mountain wasn’t something a mere plastic shell could bring down. What a load of baloney. In reality, let alone Huanglong Mountain, a plastic shell couldn't even budge a small pebble. In the future, these plastic missiles wouldn't be much use against fortified cities.
After finishing his boastful account, the attendant performed a deep bow towards the sky: “My master said that the bandits were utterly shattered this time and should not dare to attack Bai Family Fortress again. He will make some arrangements and then come to Gao Family Village to thank the Heavenly Lord.”
Li Daoxuan didn’t care much for thanks or gratitude, but Bai Yuan coming for a visit to Gao Family Village would be nice. That fun-loving man was very amusing, like a husky at home; it was incredibly entertaining just watching him act silly.
Young Master Bai, having heard the attendant’s report, also puffed up with pride: “Haha, since it was the celestial missiles that repelled the bandits, I must have made a significant contribution in this battle, right? Achievements should be rewarded! Mother, that talking bird I mentioned last time, can you buy it for me now?”
Madam Bai gave him a sharp slap across the back of the head: “Indulging in trivialities and losing ambition! What kind of behavior is that? This is your time for diligent study! Don’t think that just because you made a contribution, you can buy that wretched bird.”
Young Master Bai covered his face, speechless.
Madam Bai added, “How about this? I’ll reward you with a set of ‘Taiji Tongsue,’ ‘Xi Ming,’ ‘Zheng Meng,’ ‘Jiali,’ and ‘Huangji Jingshi Shu.’ How does that sound?”
Young Master Bai let out a "pffft" and collapsed, unable to get up.
Li Daoxuan heard that string of book titles and had no idea what on earth they were, but judging by Young Master Bai’s expression, they didn't seem like good things at all, more like giving a child a stack of remedial textbooks. Tsk, tsk, he felt for Young Master Bai, the poor kid.
All this commotion reminded him: lately, his attention had been solely on the battles, constantly worrying if his little people would die in combat. He had actually forgotten to pay attention to his little people's education. Tsk, tsk, this was something that absolutely must be monitored!
If they didn't study diligently, master new knowledge, and awaken new ideas, they would never be able to break the old system and embrace a new life.
Just like the peasant armies of the late Ming Dynasty such as Wang Er, Bu Zhan Ni, Zuo Guazi, Li Zicheng, and Zhang Xianzhong, they lacked guiding ideology. Their fight against the landlord class could not be considered a "revolution," only a "seizure of power." After successfully seizing power, although they might change the dynasty name and seemingly establish a new nation, they could only adopt old systems.
They would merely kill off the current landlords, then turn the peasants into landlords, who would then oppress the next generation of peasants. Ultimately, nothing would truly change. To alter this cycle, new ideas had to be injected.
Li Daoxuan let out a long sigh, shifting his attention from them to the School Well. A group of children were reciting the "Hundred Family Surnames" before Master Wang: “Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li; Zhou, Wu, Zheng, Wang...”
Would it have to start with these children? How many years would that take?
Just as he was pondering this, he saw a young man, shabbily dressed and looking utterly impoverished, approach Scholar Wang: “Scholar Wang, I heard you were looking for me?”
(Note: I chose to keep the book titles in pinyin, as they are specific classical texts and direct translation can sometimes lose nuance or be too lengthy. The context makes it clear they are academic/classical in nature and not what a boy would want for a "reward.")
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