Chapter 42

Trying to explain the reasoning to Ge Wu and the others was too much effort and wouldn't have worked anyway, so Zhou Shixiang once again "tactfully" explained the point of bringing all the able-bodied men's families into the army.

"These old, weak, women, and children are actually hostages in our hands.

Think about it — with their wives and children held by us, will those men dare not listen to us, dare not follow us?

Now that we've taken Luoding and we're flying the Ming army's banner, the Qing army will absolutely not let us be, so all you brothers are bound to fight the Qing army sooner or later. When that time comes, these able-bodied men are our capital.

With their wives and children in our grip, we don't have to worry they won't fight to the death! With men fighting to the death for us, are you brothers still afraid you can't beat the Qing army?

Even if we truly can't win, with that many people covering for us, we can still get away, can't we?"

"Makes sense!"

Hearing this explanation, Ge Wu suddenly saw the light. So after all that, Brother Zhou's business was kidnapping.

"The reasoning holds, but the problem is there are more than eight hundred of them.

What are we going to feed them with? Today you publicly guaranteed them that everyone would have food to eat, clothes to wear, and meat to eat!

When the time comes and we can't produce the grain, what then?" Zhao Sihai's headache was this problem.

"I've already thought of a way to handle this."

At this point, Zhou Shixiang glanced at Song Xianggong. The latter knew what he wanted to say, but only moved his lips slightly without speaking.

Seeing this, Zhou Shixiang went on to the group: "I plan to strike at the rich households and gather all the money and grain in the city into our hands. That way we can feed these old, weak, women, and children who are following us."

Strike at the rich households?

Ge Wu and Ge Liu's eyes instantly lit up, and the rest of the men also gleamed with a strange light.

"And after that?

Luoding has only a few rich households in all, and we've already squeezed a batch of grain out of them. How much can they have left, and how long will it last?

Once the grain is eaten up, what do we do? Are we really supposed to feed them for nothing?"

Zhao Sihai still didn't think much of this plan.

"Of course we won't feed them for nothing. If they want to eat well, drink well, and dress warmly, they'll have to keep robbing with us."

"Keep robbing?" Zhao Sihai was taken aback. "Rob whom?"

"The Qing army."

"Rob the Tartars?"

Zhao Sihai, Ge Wu, and the others were all startled.

Zhou Shixiang stared at them. "What, are you afraid?"

At these words, Zhao Sihai immediately grew displeased. "Scholar, don't look down on us brothers. If we truly feared the Tartars, we wouldn't have risked our necks to fight our way into Luoding with you!"

Ge Wu spat and snorted.

"I was born a bandit.

Before, I did petty jobs like robbing houses and waylaying travelers. Now that Brother Zhou says we're following Brother Hu in a big business, we brothers will follow.

No argument — if we're robbing Tartars, then we're robbing Tartars! If the two of us so much as frown, we weren't born of our parents!"

"Brother Zhou, the Tartars aren't easy to rob.

This time we got lucky." Boss Hu, who had once been Li Chengdong's personal guard, was somewhat hesitant.

He knew how formidable the Qing army was. There was no doing the same thing twice in this world.

If they truly clashed head-on with the Tartars, their chances of victory were honestly very slim.

"I've heard Master Song say that apart from Guangzhou, where the Qing army is massed in force, the Green Standard troops garrisoning the rest of Guangdong are not many.

So I think we can very well start with the places these Green Standard troops are garrisoned. Rob them a few times, and won't we have silver and grain?"

Hearing Zhou Shixiang's plan, Boss Hu frowned. "If we make too much noise, the Tartars will surely send a large force to wipe us out. Then, dragging along a crowd of old, weak, women, and children, how could we possibly get away?"

Zhou Shixiang smiled. "That's why we'll fire one shot and move to another place, so the Qing army can't wipe us out."

"Fire one shot and move to another place?" Boss Hu was puzzled, not understanding what Zhou Shixiang meant.

Ge Wu, Zhao Sihai, and the others were baffled too. This was a strange saying.

Zhou Shixiang explained: "It means after we finish robbing one place, we immediately move elsewhere, so the Qing army can't figure out where we are or where we'll hit next. As long as every move we make is ahead of them, their noses will always be pinched by us.

Then we needn't worry about not getting anything, and we needn't fear being surrounded. If they can't surround us, we can naturally get away."

With this explanation, Boss Hu understood. He nodded, but still didn't fully approve.

He said: "By your account, wouldn't we become roving bandits? When the old prince was alive, he said that since ancient times the authorities have never feared roving bandits, only entrenched bandits.

Roving bandits always make a fierce stir at first, but as time passes, the authorities always find a way to deal with them, so roving bandits never amount to anything.

Besides, I've just received an appointment from the Yongli court, and Brother Zhou also said back at the stronghold that we should all rely on the Yongli court to win ourselves a future. If we go off doing roving-bandit work, what will the Yongli court think of us?

How can we still call ourselves the Ming army?"

Hearing Boss Hu's words, Zhao Sihai added: "Right. Yesterday the scholar told us that if we wanted to get rich, we'd have to become the authorities ourselves. But if we go off as roving bandits, won't becoming the authorities be out of the question?"

"Roving bandits and the authorities are not in conflict."

Zhao Sihai's question gave Zhou Shixiang a headache too, giving him the troublesome feeling of robbing Peter to pay Paul. But no matter how troublesome, he had to make his story consistent, or he'd be slapping his own face.

First he said he'd lead them to become the authorities and get rich, then the moment he turned around he said he'd lead them to be roving bandits and get rich by fighting the authorities. If you didn't give a reasonable explanation, what would people think of you?

"We have too few men under us, and our strength is too weak.

Moreover, a great enemy is right before our eyes. So even if we wanted to be the authorities of Luoding, we could only be them for a few days.

In a few days, how much wealth can you make? Therefore we must use these few days to expand our strength, and then go rob other places.

Once we've robbed plenty of money and grain and taken plenty of common folk captive, the able-bodied men who can fight will naturally increase as well. By then, with strong soldiers and sturdy horses, we naturally won't fear the Qing army coming to attack us.

Only then can we safely carry on the business of being the authorities. So I say roving bandits and the authorities are not in conflict.

The key is whether our strength can hold up the signboard of the authorities! By the same logic, if we have strength, the Yongli court will recognize us.

If we have no strength, they won't even give us a straight look!"

"Oh, right. Isn't that the whatchamacallit — sustainable development!" Ge Wu rubbed his head and finally managed to recall the term.

"Right, sustainable development!" Zhou Shixiang gave Ge Wu an appreciative look, and the latter at once felt the joy of being recognized.

"Then what's this about a public treasury? Do you really mean to store everything we rob in the future in one place and then distribute it to those people?" Zhao Sihai had been turning this question over in his mind all day, and only now did he spit it out to get a clear answer.

"Correct. I do intend to establish a public treasury. From now on, all money, grain, and supplies the brothers seize will be kept in one place and distributed uniformly."

In front of everyone, Zhou Shixiang would not deny what he had said, and establishing a public treasury was imperative. Otherwise, if every man had his own selfish motives and every man clung to the wealth already in his hands, no one would fight the Qing army to the bitter end with all his heart.

This time, without waiting for Zhao Sihai to speak, Ge Wu had already jumped up. "The brothers risk their lives to rob things, and now they have to share with others? Then what's the point of robbing at all!"

"Right, why should we share with them?" Baldy had been listening for half the day, and this was the one matter he understood most clearly. Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, he shouted out too.

Zhou Shixiang gestured for Ge Wu and Baldy to calm down. He shook his head at Ge Wu and said, "What Brother Ge Wu just said is not quite right."

Ge Wu was taken aback. "Not right? What did I say that wasn't right?"

Zhou Shixiang said: "May I ask, Fifth Brother, who will keep this public treasury, and who will be responsible for distributing the money and grain?"

"Well..." How would Ge Wu know?

Baldy said crossly: "No matter who keeps it, we can't let that bunch manage our things, can we?"

"There you have it!"

Zhou Shixiang clapped his hands sharply.

"As long as we hold the public treasury in our hands and keep the power of distribution in our grip, won't the things in the treasury still belong to us old brothers?

When the time comes, whether to distribute or not — isn't that still up to you? Besides, with so many people robbing for us, the problem won't be whether to distribute, but whether everyone can even carry it all away!"

"So that's how it is!" Ge Wu's dark face immediately glowed red again. "I said so — Brother Zhou is a hero with a good head on his shoulders. How could he come up with making wedding clothes for someone else... what was it again?"

"Wedding clothes." Song Xianggong coughed twice.

Ge Wu slapped his head and said excitedly: "Right, making wedding clothes for someone else!"

"If that's the kind of public treasury it is, then I have no objection."

Zhao Sihai mulled it over carefully. If the power over the public treasury really was held in their own brothers' hands, then setting up a hundred more treasuries would be no problem.

After all, the things were all their own, and when the time came, taking them would be a matter of a single word. Thinking of the benefits, he couldn't help smiling.

"Do the brothers have anything else to say?"

"No, nothing!"

Zhou Shixiang's arrangements were all made with the old brothers' interests in mind, and after such a thorough explanation, how could anyone still be dissatisfied?

Boss Hu smiled and shook his head. Song Xianggong had already told him everything Zhou Shixiang intended to do. Although some of these methods would not sound good if word got out, he was a bandit to begin with, so what did he care about a bad reputation?

Song Xianggong had put it most plainly: with men, grain, and territory, you're an official; without men, grain, or territory, you're a bandit. Those words made too much sense.

So as long as Zhou Shixiang's methods could let him, Hu Quan, quickly build up his own men and territory, he would support him unconditionally. Scholars, after all, had better brains than rough men like them.

Let them do the scheming.

"Since no one has any objection to my arrangements, then I ask everyone to pull yourselves together. For the next two days, train the men under you properly. In two days, we'll lead them to do something big!"

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