Chapter 22: Starve One's Parents, Never Eat Seed Grain
"Gao Yiye!"
With Li Daoxuan's call, Gao Yiye respectfully lifted her head, gazing at the sky.
As she looked up, Li Daoxuan could clearly see her face: delicate features, cheeks flushed a soft pink. She was truly a beautiful woman, yet barely a centimeter tall. No matter how lovely, she couldn't...
Ahem!
His thoughts had wandered!
Li Daoxuan instructed, "Have Gao Chuwu make a trip to the county town. Find San Shier and ask him to help us bring some skilled artisans back to Gao Family Village."
Gao Yiye quickly affirmed, then called Gao Chuwu over.
After a few brief instructions, Gao Chuwu and the three young men who had accompanied him to the county town before enjoyed a hearty meal, packed their provisions, and set off for Chengcheng County.
Li Daoxuan then picked up his Lego bricks, intending to construct a temporary defensive wall for Gao Family Village. There was no need for an intricate design; he simply connected the bricks piece by piece, forming a long, horizontal strip. He then carefully lowered this strip into the box, arranging it around the perimeter of Gao Family Village.
They looked up to see colossal, multicolored, strange objects descending from mid-air. These objects landed around the village, swiftly encircling the entirety of Gao Family Village, forming an immense "city wall," with only a gaping archway left for a gate.
This wall, astonishingly, stood two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) high, and its thickness was equally formidable. Only its material seemed odd, not as solid as stone; it almost appeared as if a knife could cut into its surface.
"Whoa, what's happening?"
"Does Gao Family Village suddenly feel like Gao Family City?"
"What kind of strange wall is this?"
"It's the color of a rainbow!"
Amidst the villagers' excited chatter, Gao Yiye ascended the "steps" to the top of the "city wall." Standing at the high gate, she proclaimed loudly to everyone, "This is a city wall bestowed upon us by the Heavenly Lord! In the coming days, many bandits might cause trouble. The Heavenly Lord commands us to build a wooden gate to seal this opening, and to assign people to guard it in shifts. If bandits dare to attack, we shall take up arms and don our armor to protect ourselves!"
The villagers quickly assented, "We respectfully obey the Heavenly Lord's command!"
Li Daoxuan watched quietly as the villagers swiftly allocated some of their numbers to cut down trees and construct the city gate. Their craftsmanship was rudimentary; they felled trees as thick as an arm, lopped off the branches, then laid them side by side, binding them with straw ropes.
At the same time, under the Village Chief's arrangement, the villagers also finalized the order of their shifts for guarding the wall.
Two villagers, carrying bows and arrows captured from bandits, stood atop the city gate, striking a "sentry" pose. They truly looked the part.
Good. Now the village possessed a basic capacity for self-defense.
As long as these people weren't foolish, if bandits arrived, they could blockade the gate and hold it fiercely. The bandits wouldn't be able to enter Gao Family Village, and as long as they held out until he arrived, everything would be fine.
Next, he could only hope that Gao Chuwu, sent to the county town, would return with good news.
——————-
Meanwhile, outside the county yamen in Chengcheng County.
San Shier had changed into a clean, neat long robe. He cupped his fists at the yamen runner guarding the gate. "I am..."
The yamen runner stated impassively, "His Honor, the Magistrate, has given orders: if it's you, you are not to be allowed in, under any circumstances."
San Shier smiled. "I'm not here to see His Honor."
The yamen runner was greatly surprised. "Then why are you here?"
San Shier said, "I merely want to inquire if there have been any major developments recently. When I served as the strategist here, I treated you fairly. It wouldn't be excessive for you to share a small piece of information with me, would it? This is called 'repaying kindness received!'"
The yamen runner considered this carefully. Well, it was true that the strategist's habit of ending every sentence with a four-character idiom could be annoying, but he was generally a decent fellow and had helped him before. Sharing a bit of news wouldn't hurt.
He lowered his voice. "Then I'll give you a heads-up. The day before yesterday, His Honor sent out several teams to collect grain from a few villages. Master San, you opposed it at the time and were dismissed by His Honor, remember?"
San Shier replied, "Of course, I remember it perfectly. It was 'etched into my very bones!'"
The yamen runner continued, "The teams were dispatched to Gao Family Village, Wangjia Village, Zhengjia Village... but the team sent to Gao Family Village didn't bring back a single grain of rice."
San Shier thought to himself: *With the Heavenly Lord protecting them, it would be a miracle if you collected any taxes. I imagine the yamen runners who went to collect taxes were thoroughly thrashed.*
The yamen runner went on, "The team to Zhengjia Village collected only a small amount, not even the full quota. The last team, sent to Wangjia Village, had the biggest haul. They gave those scoundrels in Wangjia Village a good beating, then set fire to an abandoned shack to scare them witless. Finally, under the cover of night, they forced their way into the scoundrels' homes and seized their seed grain as tax."
At this, San Shier's heart sank with a thud. He cried out, "Seed grain? You robbed them of their seed grain? Good heavens, is that something you can just seize? Haven't you ever heard the saying, 'Starve one's parents, but never eat seed grain'? How dare you steal something like that? You... this... this is simply 'acting against the natural order!'"
The yamen runner looked indifferent. "What do we care if they starve or not? The court is pressing us hard. If we can't collect the taxes, His Honor will be in trouble, and if he's in trouble, all of us brothers will suffer with him."
San Shier grew frantic. "It's over! Wangjia Village... I fear they're going to revolt."
The yamen runner sneered, "A bunch of scoundrels. What courage do they have to revolt?"
San Shier dared not waste any more time at the yamen gate. He quickly sprinted home, and upon arriving, he told his wife, children, maids, and household servants, "Quick, quick, quick! Pack your things. We need to leave the county town and go into hiding. This is called 'making a swift escape!'"
His wife, a plump middle-aged woman, was greatly surprised by his words. "Flee? Why should we flee?"
San Shier quickly explained, "Three years of severe drought, and the people are barely surviving. Yet His Honor the Magistrate sent people to seize the farmers' seed grain! This is bound to lead to major trouble. We must leave at once. If we delay even a step, I fear we'll suffer misfortune right alongside His Honor. This is called... ugh, no time to think of an idiom! Just pack your things quickly and let's go!"
Mrs. San, however, remained completely unfazed by this. "What's so scary about a few villagers revolting? Even if they do, they'll just become bandits. They surely won't attack the county town, will they?"
San Shier lowered his voice. "You don't understand! Wangjia Village isn't an ordinary village. There's a man there who came from Baishui County to rely on relatives, known far and wide as Wang Er of Baishui. He's a renowned hero; with a quarterstaff in hand, dozens of men can't get near him. His reputation in the surrounding villages is extremely high. If he leads a revolt, raising a call to arms... My goodness, it would be catastrophic! Chengcheng County and dozens of surrounding villages and towns would likely all face major upheaval. In short, 'a gentleman does not stand under a tottering wall.' I'm not working at the county yamen anymore anyway, so it's best to flee far away."
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