Chapter 85: Three Hundred Long Spears

As night deepened, the weather turned cold, and those living in the horse stable began to shiver from the chill; at this moment, they missed their homes more than ever, for although they went hungry and were exhausted every day at home, at least they were home.

The dilapidated thatched huts they lived in were crude, but at least they were a shelter from wind and rain.

Just as they were falling into a drowsy sleep in the cold, stinking horse stable, the relay station suddenly burst into raging flames.

Two black shadows landed before the stable; one of them kicked the stable door open. It was none other than Zhang Chu'an and Zhang Xiaofan.

Seeing the two, everyone felt a wave of confusion, but realizing the situation, they knew they must escape first.

Following the two men, everyone fled to a forest some unknown distance from the relay station before stopping to rest.

"Huff, huff, two Mr. Zhangs, I must ask: didn't you already leave? Why did you come back to save us?" The stopped crowd began to ask.

"What else could it be? Didn't I say it? The Jurchens will not miss any opportunity to use slaves to reclaim land, so we came to check, and incidentally to rescue you?" After Zhang Chu'an finished speaking, the others could not help but sigh.

Zhang Chu'an had already told them the consequences of staying in the village, but they would not listen, and now they had ended up in this situation.

"Two Mr. Zhangs, may I ask why you would help us mud-legs? You are all cultured, knowledgeable, and capable people; with your abilities, even if you cannot secure official titles or noble ranks, you could at least live in wealth, with three wives and four concubines as a matter of course."

"Yet helping us mud-legs brings you nothing but hardship and no reward at all; indeed, you became wanted criminals precisely because of helping us. May I ask why?" A young man named Zhang Shun in the crowd asked.

Zhang Chu'an, lost in thought, said, "Why? Actually, I don't fully understand myself. Yes, I admit that the way Li Bapi and others live suits this world better, but can one live like that with a clear conscience? Although helping you may make my life very hard, I have no regrets in my heart, and that is enough."

"No regrets in the heart?" The crowd present, after a moment of reflection, bowed together to Zhang Chu'an and Zhang Xiaofan: "Two Mr. Zhangs, though the world is vast, there is no place for us to belong; please take us in. Hereafter, we will serve the Mr. Zhangs, front and back, without hesitation."

"Very well. Since you are willing to follow me, I will not refuse. But here I must establish one rule: no kneeling. Do not kneel to others, nor force others to kneel to you. If you cannot abide by this, then leave." After Zhang Chu'an finished speaking, everyone rose to their feet.

"Good. Let me ask another question: do you miss your families? Do you hate those landlords who drove you to this desperate end?" After Zhang Chu'an asked, everyone present exchanged glances; according to this situation, shouldn't they be trying to escape as much as possible to avoid capture?

It seemed Mr. Zhang intended to lead them back.

"I ask again: do you want to go back to see your families? Do you hate those landlords who drove you to this point? Answer me." Zhang Chu'an asked loudly once more.

"Yes, we hate them."

Their earlier silence was merely helplessness in the face of reality; how could they not miss their own kin, and how could they not hate the landlords who had driven them to this plight?

"Since you hate them, since you miss them, then let us return. If we do not return to deal with those landlords, who knows how they will continue to harm your wives and children?" Zhang Chu'an sneered.

Hearing this, everyone's faces changed instantly; Zhang Chu'an's reputation for foreseeing events had already taken deep root in their hearts. Doubting nothing, they set off for home without resting.

After traveling for several hours, several hundred people returned to the village at noon. An elder at the village entrance, seeing them, was greatly startled and hurried forward, saying, "Didn't the Jurchens capture you? How have you returned?"

Just as someone wanted to explain, the elder waved his hands anxiously and said, "Never mind, I won't ask. Hurry and go over there. Right after the Jurchens took you away, Li Bapi somehow gathered some hooligans who claimed to be your relatives and are trying to sell your wives."

Hearing this, the three hundred villagers who had just escaped death instantly burned with rage; the resentment accumulated over these few days erupted at once.

Just as they were about to rush out and fight for their lives, Zhang Xiaofan shouted sternly to stop them: "Return! Fighting with bare hands against them is no different from suicide. Follow me to get weapons, then go fight."

Everyone followed Zhang Xiaofan to a field where red-tasseled spears were densely arranged. Before providing ideological education and training instructors and political commissars, they did not intend to exchange for firearms.

After all, once a person obtains a powerful firearm, it is difficult not to develop other thoughts.

Each person took a red-tasseled spear, and the group marched grandly into the village. Zhang Chu'an led these three hundred people straight toward the landlord Li Bapi.

As a landlord, and moreover an oppressive one, Li Bapi naturally kept many courtyard guards, scattered and totaling several dozen; otherwise, how could he have roamed the countryside with impunity?

However, when these guards saw three hundred villagers holding red-tasseled spears rushing toward them, they were instantly terrified and fled in panic; after all, the money the master gave them was not worth risking their lives for.

Seeing the guards flee in terror before even engaging them, everyone felt great contempt; so arrogant and domineering in ordinary times, yet they turned out to be bullies who only bullied the weak and feared the strong.

The crowd ignored these people, for the one they truly intended to settle accounts with today was the landlord Li Bapi. As for Li Bapi, he was currently with his young concubine, engaged in intimacy, and unaware of the situation outside.

The crowd broke down the door and dragged the naked Li Bapi from his bed. Dragged out, Li Bapi saw the three hundred villagers he had sold to the Jurchens as slaves, holding long spears and glaring at him with cold fury; he nearly fainted from fright.

"Heroes, all heroes, spare our lives! Everything was instigated by Yisupu. I did not want to force you or sell you to the Jurchens as slaves, but he forced me to do so in order to buy slaves and reclaim land. I had no choice." Li Bapi, terrified, kowtowed like a pestle pounding garlic, begging for mercy.

"Oh, then why did you collude with a gang of hooligans to sell their wives to brothels?" Zhang Chu'an asked with a smile on his face.

Facing Zhang Chu'an's question and the killing intent in the eyes of the three hundred villagers, Li Bapi broke out in a cold sweat and his speech began to stutter.

"Let me say it. The reason is very simple: you wanted the remaining villagers to see what happens when they cross you, Li Bapi. The men are not only sold to the Jurchens as slaves, but their wives are sold to brothels as well. Am I right?"

Zhang Chu'an's smile filled Li Bapi with terror; how did this young man see through their intentions with a single sentence?

Zhang Chu'an ignored Li Bapi, stood up, and addressed the three hundred villagers behind him in a cold voice: "Now, we will go house by house and kill those hooligans who ate your families' inheritance. Then we will take Li Bapi and parade him around the surrounding villages. We have three hundred people holding three hundred long spears."

An honest farmer is easily bullied by landlords and hooligans, but what about three hundred farmers holding long spears and ready to fight for their lives? The hooligans colluded by Li Bapi soon experienced this answer firsthand.

The landlords in the surrounding villages soon learned the answer as well.