Chapter 311: An Apple on Your Head
Upon hearing the voice, Bai Yuan turned and, seeing Padi Tu, couldn't help but beam with joy. "You're already up and moving? That's wonderful! You... wait... what was your name again?"
"Padi Tu!" the man replied.
"Ah, yes, yes, Padi Tu, I remember clearly," Bai Yuan affirmed.
Padi Tu simply looked at him.
"Last time, I owe you so much," Bai Yuan continued, "for defending the door to my room. Otherwise, I would have fallen victim to those ruffians."
While he often struggled to match faces with names, Bai Yuan was far from ungrateful. He genuinely remembered Padi Tu's actions and offered him a solemn, deep bow.
Padi Tu asked, "Is Master Bai researching firearms?"
Bai Yuan held up the flintlock rifle in his hand. "This is a bird-gun fitted with a flintlock mechanism, creating a flintlock bird-gun. According to Master Song, bird-guns are incredibly accurate, precise enough to shoot down flying birds, hence the name. However... no matter how much I use it, I can't hit a single flying bird. This thing has no accuracy at all! I'm truly vexed by this."
"Oh? You're speaking a language I don't understand," Padi Tu admitted.
Padi Tu's face instantly broke into a sweat. "Not even as accurate as your arrow? Then... then it's best not to use it..."
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"What's with that expression?" Bai Yuan demanded. "Are you implying my archery skills are lacking? How preposterous! Archery is one of the gentleman's Six Arts, and I am very particular about it! Do you believe me if I told you I could place an apple on your head, stand a hundred paces away, and strike it dead center with an arrow?"
Padi Tu was aghast. "That... that's something we absolutely must not try! Never!"
"You clearly don't believe me," Bai Yuan scoffed. "Someone! Put an apple on his head!"
Padi Tu was terrified. "Gouzi, quick, run!"
Zheng Gouzi swiftly pushed Padi Tu's wheelchair, and they sped away in a flash.
The two had barely escaped the firearms training grounds when the pounding of hooves echoed ahead. A cavalry unit of over a hundred riders, all clad in armor, wielding long spears, and carrying Kaiyuan bows on their backs, thundered past them. At the head of the charge was a female general, fully armored, looking truly... formidable!
Padi Tu gasped in surprise. "Who is that? Do we have such a woman in Gao Family Village? At first glance, I thought it was Xing Honglang."
"That's Zao Ying, the heroic woman who joined Gao Family Village when we were protecting the Saintess in the county town," Zheng Gouzi explained. "She now commands the cavalry battalion. She's incredibly skilled!"
Watching the more than a hundred cavalrymen gallop past with such imposing might, Padi Tu couldn't help but feel a pang of longing. "Ah, this bunny wants to join the cavalry battalion too! Lancer warriors are so cool! Don't you think that matches this bunny's aura?"
"You just said you wanted to join the Armored Grenadier Battalion," Zheng Gouzi reminded him.
"This bunny will join the Grenadier Battalion first, then the Cavalry Battalion," Padi Tu declared. "Then, this bunny will ride a horse and throw hand grenades! Wouldn't that make me utterly unstoppable?"
Zheng Gouzi stared. It sounded incredibly powerful, yet something about it felt off.
As the two pondered this, another group of cavalrymen rode by. This group, however, lacked the earlier unit's imposing presence. They looked "extremely nervous" on horseback, their faces a little green.
"These are the ones who were just promoted to the cavalry," Zheng Gouzi said. "Look at them, their souls practically leave their bodies if they speed up even a little. It'll be a long time before they're ready for mounted combat. If you joined the cavalry, you'd be just like them, unable to keep up with the front, let alone look majestic."
"Oh, well," Padi Tu mused, "the cavalry battalion isn't much use for mountain bandit suppression anyway. Humph, this bunny doesn't plan on joining the cavalry battalion."
Zheng Gouzi merely sighed.
***
In Mizhi County, Northern Shaanxi.
The unemployed youth Li Zicheng held a sharp dagger, blood still dripping from its blade. His wife, Han Jiner, had been having an affair, cuckolding him, and he had just personally stabbed her to death.
His nephew, Li Guo, pushed open the door, saw the corpse on the ground, and the dagger in his uncle's hand, and let out a surprised "Heh!" "Uncle, you killed the wretch?"
"Killed her!" Li Zicheng retorted. "What use was she alive?"
"Though she deserved death, the authorities won't ignore this," Li Guo said. "What should we do?"
"Run, what else?" Li Zicheng replied.
"Where can we run to?" Li Guo asked.
Li Zicheng thought seriously for a moment. "In the Huanglong Mountains to the south, there's a rebel army entrenched. Their leader is named Wang Zuogua. I hear he's a true hero with tens of thousands of brothers under him. Why don't we go join Wang Zuogua?"
"Good idea!" Li Guo agreed.
The two quickly packed their belongings, fled Mizhi County, and headed towards the Huanglong Mountains.
In the second year of Chongzhen, because his wife cheated on him, the unemployed youth Li Zicheng, enraged, killed her and embarked on a life of banditry...
***
Just as Li Zicheng killed his wife and fled to the Huanglong Mountains, A swift horse galloped into Gao Family Village, charging straight towards Bai Yuan. The rider was none other than Inspector Fang Wushang.
His sudden arrival genuinely startled Bai Yuan.
Li Daoxuan, who was sitting by the diorama box gnawing on a large beef bone, couldn't help but utter a soft "Oh?" Fang Wushang was riding alone again? Were there others following behind?
He glanced towards the southwest of Gao Family Village. Sure enough, over a hundred soldiers were still panting and struggling their way towards the village in the distance. Fang Wushang, in his impatient haste, hadn't waited for them.
"General Fang, what's wrong?" Bai Yuan asked.
Fang Wushang urgently cried, "Instructor Bai, what are you still playing around for in Gao Family Village? Quickly mobilize all the militia! Every village and town, war is about to break out!"
This pronouncement startled Bai Yuan. "What's happened now?"
Li Daoxuan also frowned.
Fang Wushang explained, "Just a few days ago, Wang Cheng'en, the Grand General of Shaanxi, following the orders of the newly appointed Governor Liu Guangsheng, decisively defeated the bandit chief Fan Shan Yao in Heyang County. After suffering such a crushing defeat, Fan Shan Yao chickened out and obediently accepted pacification."
"Oh? Pacification is a good thing, isn't it?" Bai Yuan remarked.
In his mind, Li Daoxuan thought: "Good thing, my foot! If there isn't enough grain to appease them after pacification, and no land for them to cultivate, then it's no different from not being pacified at all."
Fang Wushang continued, "Although the pacification was successful, Fan Shan Yao's subordinates are not content. On their way back to their hometowns, they occupied villages, allowed their followers to rampage and plunder the surrounding countryside, calling it 'collecting provisions.' When the imperial officials sent to question them asked why they were still causing trouble after accepting pacification, they claimed they had no food on the way home and could only steal it back."
Hearing this, Li Daoxuan sighed, thinking, "Just as I expected!"
Bai Yuan frowned. "This..."
Fang Wushang interrupted, "Now is not the time for sighing! Although Fan Shan Yao primarily operated in Heyang County, many of his subordinates come from our Chengcheng County, or the neighboring Baishui County. These individuals, on their way home, will also stir up trouble in our Chengcheng County."
Bai Yuan suddenly understood. "We need to organize the militia to subdue these fellows."
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