Chapter 137: The Gao Family Village Militia Instructor
Cheng Xu stared at the two massive characters in the sky, utterly dumbfounded.
It took him several seconds to snap out of it. He grabbed San Shier’s shoulders and shook him vigorously. “What was that? What in the world was that?!”
San Shier replied, “That was Dao Xuan Tian Zun, the celestial deity who protects us. He saved your life, and it was he who guided you to Gao Family Village.”
“A deity?” Cheng Xu was utterly astonished. He thought back to yesterday: the valley where he battled the Jinyiwei had suddenly collapsed, a torrent of mud and rock surging down. If a deity hadn’t protected him, how could he possibly have survived?
With that thought, he felt a flicker of belief. He looked up at the two enormous characters in the sky once more, and his belief deepened.
Cheng Xu couldn’t help but mutter, “So that’s it, so that’s it.”
San Shier asked, “You understand now?”
“I understand! I understand everything!” Cheng Xu declared. “Gao Family Village has deities stirring in the day and ghosts stirring at night.”
“Pfft!”
San Shier continued, “General Cheng, when do you think we should start organizing the militia?”
Cheng Xu considered this. “Things are chaotic out there right now. The whole of Shaanxi is festering, with rebels swarming everywhere. Training the militia shouldn’t be delayed; let’s start immediately. Do you have any cloth? Give me a piece to cover my face.”
San Shier fetched a piece of cloth. Cheng Xu covered his face, then turned to Gao Chuwu. “Idiot, come with me.”
Gao Chuwu was greatly surprised. “How did you know my nickname is ‘Idiot’?”
Cheng Xu turned to San Shier. “This... this caliber of person, do you really want me to teach him martial arts? I’ll die of exasperation.”
San Shier spread his hands. “The Heavenly Lord has spoken. It’s up to you.”
Cheng Xu shook his head. “Fine. From now on, don’t call me General Cheng. If anyone hears and spreads it, the Jinyiwei will swarm this place in the blink of an eye, sealing it off completely. Just call me He Jiu.”
San Shier smiled. “From now on, you’ll be our Gao Family Village militia instructor. So, I’ll call you Instructor He.”
Cheng Xu said, “Come on, take me to see the current Gao Family Village militia.”
San Shier spread his hands. “There isn’t one yet.”
Cheng Xu was speechless.
San Shier clarified, “Isn’t that why we asked you to do this?”
Cheng Xu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. *What the hell...*
Never mind, it wasn’t as if he lacked experience in this!
When he first arrived in Chengcheng County to take up his post as inspector, he had nothing but the clothes on his back. A lone man on a single horse, he rode into the guard station and saw at a glance over a hundred dim-witted soldiers, long accustomed to farming, idly tilling the earth.
It was only through his personal, patient instruction, one by one, that he transformed them into a proper official army capable of directly confronting bandit forces.
So what if he had to do it again?
“Gao Chuwu, from now on, you’ll be my deputy commander.”
Gao Chuwu was overjoyed. “Understood, Instructor He!”
“Take me on a tour of the village. I want to see all the able-bodied young men.”
“Alright! Let’s go see my good friend Zheng Daniu first. He’s really tall and strong, just as amazing as me.”
The moment Cheng Xu heard that, he felt something was off. “He’s not an idiot like you, is he?”
Gao Chuwu was taken aback. “How did you know *that* too?”
Cheng Xu clasped a hand over his face. “This is terrible! There are actually two such fellows. Dealing with these ‘Hum-Ha Generals’ every day, I’ll be meeting my great-grandmother at least twenty years early.”
San Shier burst into laughter.
Gao Chuwu led Cheng Xu and San Shier on a stroll through Gao Family Village. First, he called for Zheng Daniu, then continued searching for others. Before long, forty-six able-bodied young men had gathered.
These were all the able-bodied young men among the original Gao Family Village residents, plus the first batch of villagers who had sought refuge there.
Cheng Xu glanced at them, feeling the numbers were a bit low, but he’d make do for now, just to establish the most basic foundation.
“What equipment do you all have?” Cheng Xu asked. “Go home and bring out your gear. I want to see how many bows and blades Gao Family Village actually possesses.”
“Alright!” the crowd chorused, then dispersed to their homes.
Cheng Xu mused to himself, *This village looks quite prosperous. These fellows should at least be able to produce a dozen knives, a dozen bows, and a dozen spears with iron tips, right?*
As he mused, the young men returned and stood before him.
Cheng Xu’s gaze swept over them, and his jaw instantly dropped.
Among these forty-six men, over a dozen were wearing Cotton Armor, and two were even in Two-Plate Armor.
Cheng Xu pointed at them, stuttering, “You... you tiny village, you actually have over a dozen sets of armor? Are you out of your minds?!”
Gao Chuwu grinned. “Actually, there are more than just these few. There are another dozen sets at the blacksmith’s, but because there hasn’t been any fighting lately, they haven’t been issued.”
Cheng Xu was aghast!
Are you kidding me? What kind of logic did this little village operate on?
Cheng Xu started to feel an immense pressure.
“Alright,” he said, deciding to press on. “Where are your weapons? How can you have armor but no weapons?”
This time, Zheng Daniu grinned. “I have an axe, but there’s no fighting right now, so my dad took it to chop firewood.”
Gao Chuwu added, “I also have an axe. My dad took it to chop firewood.”
Another young man volunteered, “I have a machete. My dad took it to chop firewood.”
Yet another young man spoke up, “I have a pig-slaughtering knife. My wife took it to...”
Cheng Xu cut him off, “Stop! Let me guess, your wife also chops firewood?”
The young man replied, “She took it to chop meat.”
Cheng Xu exploded, “Argh! Everyone shut up! If anyone speaks another word, I’ll beat them!”
Everyone quickly fell silent, unsure how they had offended Instructor He.
Cheng Xu spread his hands, palms skyward, fingers splayed. “You clearly have so many sets of armor, so why haven’t you forged any proper weapons?”
Gao Chuwu explained, “Because we’re waiting for Blacksmith Li to forge Flintlock Rifles. Once he makes them, we’ll use those. But... Blacksmith Li is so slow; it’s been months, and he hasn’t even produced a shadow of a Flintlock Rifle.”
Cheng Xu suddenly felt his entire being unsettled.
“You... you tiny, decrepit village, you don’t even have a single decent weapon, not one good blade, not one iron spear, yet you prioritize making armor and then jump straight to Flintlock Rifles?!” Cheng Xu cursed, stamping his feet. “Privately owning iron armor is a capital crime of rebellion, and privately owning firearms is also a capital crime of rebellion! You don’t have a single legitimate, proper weapon, yet you’re barreling straight toward two charges of treason!”
Up in the sky, Li Daoxuan heard this and burst into laughter. *Haha, it’s hilarious to be criticized by a military professional!*
This truly wasn’t the villagers’ fault; he had only himself to blame.
At first, he had only wanted to save the villagers’ lives, so he prioritized providing them with armor. During battles, he would desperately offer them divine advantages, acting as a protective Heavenly Lord secretly intervening to always keep them safe. Thus, he hadn’t considered having them prepare transitional weapons.
Now that he thought about it, playing *StarCraft*, you couldn’t just rush for carriers without building any units. You needed some transitional unit types.
Haha, he deserved to be roasted!
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