Chapter 52: Having Backbone

Chapter 52: Backbone

While Zhang Wei was reporting to Hu Sheng about the army's arrival at Zhaojia Village, he felt a sense of relief.

Although they had all considered the possibility that the emperor might send troops to crush them, they never expected that the assassins would be followed so closely by the army. Fortunately, they had escaped quickly; otherwise, they would have been trapped like sitting ducks.

When Hu Sheng heard about the army’s arrival at Zhaojia Village, the first thing he did was grab Zhao An’s hand.

However, Zhao An did not lose his composure as Hu Sheng had imagined. He just looked back briefly before saying to Hu Sheng, "Let’s hurry back to the mountain stronghold and gather the remaining people. If they have other troops coming to surround the stronghold, we’ll have nowhere to escape."

The most anxious person present was Zhao Wencai, who had just followed Zhao An out. He paced anxiously, stomping his feet, and said, "Are we just going to abandon the village like this?"

His father had always been strict with him, but since he was young, any little treat was always saved for him. There was also his devoted wife and their young son, not yet three years old.

Thinking of this, Zhao Wencai’s eyes reddened, fighting back tears. However, Zhao An gave him no chance to give in to weakness. He said to Zhang Wei, "Take him away. Let’s pick up the pace."

With that, Zhao Wencai was roughly hauled over Zhang Wei’s shoulder like a ragged sack.

Although Zhao An’s physical strength couldn’t compare to Hu Sheng’s, he was just as capable as Zhang Wei and the others. The group moved at their fastest pace, reaching Daqing Stronghold in less than half an hour.

The lookouts spotted figures approaching from afar and grew tense. They had just caught a team attempting to sneak into the stronghold from the side of the mountain.

From the captives, they learned that the county magistrate planned to join forces with the garrison troops from the prefectural city to suppress Daqing Mountain. The reason they hadn’t panicked yet was simply that they hadn’t realized the gravity of the situation, thinking it was just a petty crackdown stirred up by the local magistrate.

Upon hearing that Hu Sheng had returned with the others, Ma Chuan rushed out to see him. He informed Hu Sheng that the magistrate had sent people to poison their well. "That damn corrupt official! Why are there so many like him? We’ve been minding our own business, causing no trouble, paying our respects and taxes, and yet they suddenly want us dead for no reason."

Hu Sheng, however, didn’t dwell on the magistrate’s petty schemes. He revealed the true situation: "The one trying to suppress us isn’t just the magistrate of Changxi County—it’s the emperor. Our numbers are too large; even if we do nothing, we’re a threat. Besides..." He glanced at Ma Chuan and added, "Most of us are fugitives from the law."

Of course, he didn’t want to unsettle Ma Chuan, so he patted his shoulder and said, "Haven’t we already secured a foothold in Nanyue? Now is the time to go there."

At that moment, Zhao Wencai, who had been set down on the ground, blurted out, "What about my parents? Are you just going to abandon them?"

Hu Sheng said firmly, "Of course not. You go ahead with our caravan. I’ll select a few skilled men to stay behind and scout the situation."

Zhao An tried to speak, but Hu Sheng cut him off, "You must leave too. I admit your strength, speed, and combat skills are on par with most, but you lack combat experience."

In truth, Zhao An did have combat experience, though it was rusty. But he didn’t mention it. His experience was against mutated plants and animals; his judgment and decisiveness in dealing with people weren’t as sharp, and he couldn’t compare to the battle-hardened soldiers trained on the battlefields of this era of cold weapons.

So he simply took out the revolver he carried on his back and handed it to Hu Sheng, saying, "Take this for self-defense."

Their workshops could now use the pudding process to cast cannons, but precision firearms like revolvers still had to be hand-forged and meticulously assembled. Thus, there were only three revolvers in total. The other two were in the hands of Li Dake and Uncle Hai, both of whom lacked combat skills and needed the firearms for protection.

Hu Sheng, of course, refused. He said to Zhao An, "You need it more. The journey ahead will be far from safe. Until we leave the border, you must be prepared for large-scale suppression at any time. As for us, moving in small groups, we can blend into the crowd and avoid detection."

Zhao An had nothing to say. He could only reholster the gun and say to Hu Sheng, "If the officials push too hard and the villagers of Zhaojia Village can’t survive, take them with you."

Hu Sheng chuckled, "You have quite some faith in me."

It was one thing to have a dozen men secretly protect the villagers of Zhaojia Village, but leading the entire village in a migration with just over ten men was a completely different level of difficulty.

Yet none of them had anticipated how severely things would escalate.

Even Hu Sheng underestimated this time. They all believed that the law wouldn’t punish the masses, especially since the villagers of Zhaojia Village hadn’t committed any crimes. Even if the emperor wanted to punish nine generations of families, the Liu-family villagers had no relation to Zhao An, and even the Zhao families were beyond the five degrees of kinship, well outside the scope of implication.

After seeing Zhao An and the others off, Hu Sheng led Zhang Wei and a dozen men back to the woods near Zhaojia Village, hiding in a spot with a clear view.

No sooner had they descended the mountain than they saw all the villagers of Zhaojia Village—men, women, young, and old—kneeling together on the dirt clearing at the village entrance. Surrounding them were over three hundred fully armored cavalry.

Though the number of cavalry was small, a force of just over a hundred could easily engage in a small-scale battle involving thousands.

Against fully armored cavalry, infantry were little more than wooden stakes waiting to be cut down. Each cavalryman could easily take on ten infantrymen, let alone these unarmed villagers. The cavalry sat relaxed on their horses, not even drawing their swords.

Also present was Zhang Hui, the newly appointed magistrate of Changxi County, surrounded by a group of constables. Standing before the villagers, he held a directive from the prefect and read aloud, "You rebellious commoners, gathering into bandits, forging weapons, harboring traitors—your crimes are too numerous to record. Henceforth, you are demoted to state slaves, never to be commoners again."

After reading the directive, Zhang Hui smiled at the villagers and said, "Those who know how to make cement, step forward. I can take you to work at the newly built kilns in the county office. There, though you will be criminal slaves, I guarantee you three full meals a day."

No one among the villagers stood up. Zhang Hui continued, "I didn’t expect you rebels to have some backbone. Let me make it clear: aside from those who can make cement and get three meals a day, the rest of the criminal slaves will be sent beyond the pass to build walls. I won’t even mention how hard wall-building is. The harsh lands beyond the pass can freeze people to death in winter. If the Xiongnu from the grasslands invade, you’ll be dragged into battle. Not to mention, half of you could die on the journey itself. Whether you choose life or death, you’d better decide soon."

Zhang Hui had studied relentlessly since childhood, wanting to change his fate. Back then, he thought being an official would be glorious. Now he knew it was even more glorious than he had imagined.

He didn’t really care what choice the villagers made. He relished this unparalleled feeling of controlling people’s fates, their lives and deaths.

Finally, an old man kneeling at the front crawled to his feet, kowtowing vigorously, and said, "Your Honor, I am the most educated scholar in the village. I know the entire process of making cement. I beg you to let me stay."

Most of the villagers, seeing Scholar Zhao betray them like this, gritted their teeth in hatred. Only Liu Huan’s eyes showed a trace of sadness.

He knew that despite Scholar Zhao’s many flaws and ill intentions, he was a man of pride. He would never grovel like this.

Just as Liu Huan had thought, when Scholar Zhao was permitted to stand by Zhang Hui, he suddenly pulled a pair of scissors from his sleeve and stabbed Zhang Hui in the stomach.

The stab was accurate and fierce. The constables around them didn’t react in time. But the cavalry commander riding behind Zhang Hui swiftly swung his long sword. Scholar Zhao tried to dodge but was still slashed on the shoulder. He laughed and said, "My scissors were dipped in waste. Zhang, you’ll suffer a festering wound and die in agony."

Seeing that Scholar Zhao could still speak, the cavalry commander turned to decapitate him. At that moment, a woman kneeling at the edge suddenly attacked a cavalryman on his horse.

Her weapon was a laughably sharpened chopstick. Her target wasn’t the cavalryman but his horse. With one thrust, she pierced the horse’s neck artery. Blood gushed out, drenching Liu Hu’s mother in blood instantly.

She was the wife of the hunter who had once killed a tiger with her father. Later, she became the canteen supervisor under Zhao An. Though she had never killed a person, she had killed countless animals and could pinpoint an animal’s vital points at a glance. She managed to kill a valuable war horse in one strike. The commander, distracted by the commotion she caused, momentarily forgot about the fallen Scholar Zhao.

It was only then that Zhao An and Zhang Wei led their men onto the clearing beside the field. Zhao An drew his bow and shot an arrow that pierced the commander’s chest armor. However, the commander merely pulled out the arrowtip, stained with a bit of flesh, and ordered the cavalrymen who had been about to attack the villagers, "Charge with me!"

The cavalrymen were well-trained. They immediately abandoned their original targets and followed the commander, charging toward Hu Sheng and his dozen men.

When the cavalry closed in to within ten zhang (about 100 feet) of Hu Sheng and his men, each of them pulled out a small bamboo tube with an iron head, lit the fuse, and threw it into the cavalry formation.

These were rudimentary hand grenades. Even if complex revolvers couldn’t be mass-produced, hand grenades were easy to make.

With a series of over ten loud bangs, the neatly charging cavalry formation descended into chaos. Horses in the center lost control, colliding everywhere. Soon, some were knocked to the ground and trampled into pulp. In such chaos, their heavy armor no longer protected them but became a burden hindering their escape.