Chapter 774: What Do Jin Merchants Want With Us?
Padi Tu’s shouts, heard by the detained rebels, only struck them as absurd.
“What do the logistics team’s arrival have to do with us?” they thought. “They’re just hauling supplies for you higher-ups. We’ll still be barely getting a mouthful of gruel, just enough to keep us from starving, but never truly satisfied.”
The logistics team’s cart slowly approached Padi Tu.
The captain of the logistics team, leading the convoy, pulled out a manifest and handed it to Padi Tu. “Lord Rabbit,” he said, “please inspect the goods and sign for them.”
“Oh, come on, inspect what?” Padi Tu waved a dismissive hand. “We’re all brothers here. I trust them...”
Before he could finish, the logistics soldier rolled his eyes. “Lord Rabbit, even sloppiness has its limits. If you sign for it and then discover two carts of grain are missing, you’ll be the one compensating for them.”
Sweat instantly poured down Padi Tu’s face.
Other leaders in Gao Family Village might have been able to afford two carts of grain, but Padi Tu was truly incorruptible, a veritable pauper with barely a roof over his head.
Making him pay for two carts of grain would be worse than turning him into a spicy rabbit head.
Luckily, after joining the Gao Family Village Militia, he had been forced to attend some classes, picking up rudimentary literacy and arithmetic. Now, he could just about make out the words on the acceptance form.
He picked up a brush, drew a rabbit head on the form, and then pressed his handprint onto it. That finished the job.
The logistics captain couldn’t help but quip, “Lord Rabbit, don’t you even know how to write your own name?”
Padi Tu retorted, “Do you even know my name? If I signed my real name, who would know I was the one who signed it? But once this rabbit head is drawn, who in the world wouldn’t recognize this Lord Rabbit’s signature?”
The logistics captain was speechless.
His logic was sound and convincing.
The logistics captain sighed and cupped his hands in a respectful salute. “Alright, then I’ll head back. Next time I come, I’ll bring some Blue Hats skilled in building cement factories, agricultural techniques, and mining. Please make sure to prepare accommodations for these technical experts so they don’t have to sleep in tents when they arrive.”
“I know, I know!” Padi Tu exclaimed. “Stop nagging. Go back and bring the next batch. Don’t waste time here!”
The logistics captain didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but he saluted and departed.
Padi Tu gazed at the piles of supplies before him, like small mountains. His whole being uplifted, full of renewed spirit, he turned around and burst into laughter. “Hahahaha, you Henan labor reform prisoners! You’ve suffered enough. But from now on, you won’t suffer anymore! Lord Rabbit has you covered. As long as you study hard, work hard, and undergo proper labor reform, Lord Rabbit guarantees you’ll live like proper human beings!”
The detained rebels weren’t about to believe him. They’d heard him bragging like this plenty over the past few days and had no interest in his slogans. Their faces remained expressionless; they were too lazy to even respond with a sound.
Padi Tu didn’t take it to heart. He strode to a large cart, swiftly pulled open the tarpaulin covering it, revealing sacks of flour piled high. “Finally, grain has arrived today!” he announced with a booming laugh. “Everyone gets a jin! Once you’ve eaten your fill, we’ll sort out the rest.”
The detained rebels perked up. “Huh? A whole jin?”
Padi Tu, who had always been so tight-fisted, had suddenly become incredibly generous. The detained rebels were a little unaccustomed to it.
But soon, they realized Padi Tu wasn’t just talking empty words. He had truly provided ten thousand jin of grain, enough to give all the detained rebels a hearty meal.
The detained rebels were greatly shocked. Only then did they begin to feel that this fellow named Padi Tu seemed quite decent, actually.
“It seems we haven’t fallen into the hands of ‘evil government soldiers’ after all,” they murmured, “but rather into the hands of relatively normal ones.”
That evening, countless earthen pots and makeshift stoves were set up at the foot of Tianzhu Mountain. The aroma of flour drifted everywhere as the detained rebels all ate their fill. For these people, nothing could reassure them more than a full meal.
With full bellies, their ability to withstand the cold improved; that night, they no longer complained of the chill. The group slept curled up at the foot of Tianzhu Mountain. Early the next morning, Padi Tu once again provided ample grain for a hearty breakfast, then announced, “The first thing you’ll do is build your own prison cells and lock yourselves inside. Alright, let’s head up the mountain. We’ll find a sheltered valley and build some cells there.”
The detained rebels didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but since this “evil government general” had actually given them a full meal, they decided to obey. After all, listening to Yi Dou Gu was one thing, listening to Padi Tu was another—it was all the same, no matter who they listened to.
Wait.
Hold on!
The detained rebels suddenly realized something terrible: this “government general” was named Padi Tu, which sounded just like a bandit!
Could it be that they hadn’t been captured by government forces at all, but rather by another bandit group preying on its own kind? No wonder he wanted them to go up Tianzhu Mountain—this was a definite move toward becoming mountain bandits!
Well, in that case, there was even less to fear.
The detained rebels ascended Tianzhu Mountain, found a large, sheltered valley, and began felling trees and cutting wood, building their own prison cells using the methods for constructing a bandit stronghold...
A few days later, Gao Family Village’s second transport team arrived, delivering another large consignment of supplies. Accompanying them were many Blue Hats, tasked with guiding the detained rebels in building cement factories and establishing other industries unique to Gao Family Village.
At the same time, a large number of new militia recruits also arrived, assigned to take over the management of the labor reform prisoners. The arrival of these new recruits allowed the veteran soldiers to withdraw and return to the front lines.
With their forces replenished, the front-line troops regained the ability to push forward—
Yunxi County.
After routing Governor Jiang Yunyi of Yunyang, the bandits stationed themselves within Yunxi County.
The city’s wealthy households had been plundered clean, and the official treasury had also been emptied.
The bandit forces were currently dismantling the city walls and burning down houses.
Chuang Wang, the Dashing General, Lao Huihui, and the West Camp Eight Great Kings were currently holding a meeting in the commander’s tent.
News of Yi Dou Gu’s defeat in Shangnan County had reached their ears.
That “mysterious firearms unit” had now become a formidable enemy that turned the bandits pale at its mere mention.
Chuang Wang spoke, “That firearms unit is now stationed in Shangnan County, clearly intending to block our entry into Shaanxi. The path into Shaanxi is impassable, and the road into Sichuan is now choked by the White Pole Soldiers. Regional Commander Zhang Yingchang of Henan has also led his forces this way, and Eunuch Chen Daguan and Zuo Liangyu are pursuing us from the east... What’s our plan now? Where can we go?”
Hearing this, everyone’s expressions grew heavy.
With pursuers behind them and a firearms unit along with White Pole Soldiers blocking the way ahead, the situation was rather perilous.
Just then, a scout entered and reported, “Gentlemen, a subordinate sent by a Jin merchant requests an audience outside.”
“A Jin merchant?” Chuang Wang was momentarily bewildered. “What could Jin merchants want to talk to us about?”
Comments