Chapter 86: Westerners

Inside the screen wall of the Ye family's old residence stood a pitch-dark brick house — the former gatehouse. When the civil unrest broke out, it was the first thing set on fire. The roof and windows burned away completely, but brick walls don't burn, so the shape of the building still held, though two of the walls were now only half standing.

Before the Zhuang Squad moved in, this compound had no one guarding it. The bricks and tiles here were better than most — the Ye family had used top-quality blue bricks — so the surrounding common folk came in every few days to scavenge bricks and tiles for their own homes. They didn't just strip the house bricks; they tore down the courtyard wall bricks too. Pang Yu had seen peasants from outside the city hauling whole loads of them out at the city gate. If the Zhuang Squad hadn't arrived, the place would probably have been picked clean by now.

After the Zhuang Squad moved in, they set a sentry post at the entrance. This gatehouse at least offered some shelter from the wind, and they'd put two chairs inside so visitors could rest a moment when they came.

Today, over twenty people were standing inside that gatehouse. Pang Yu sat high in the seat of honor, while the men standing behind him were all subordinates from the Fast Squad. After Pang Yu acquired this large compound, he'd found handling matters from that Duty Room at the county yamen terribly inconvenient, so sometimes he even ran Fast Squad business here too.

Pang Yu fixed his gaze on the crowd below and said, "Which of you are the blacksmiths?"

The words had barely left his mouth when a burly, bearded man dropped to his knees with a thud and wailed loudly, "Spare me, sir, I beg you! I'll confess everything. I only took thirteen taels and five Mace of silver from Zhang Ru, all told. He insisted I forge him a great blade. I honestly forged it, but then he couldn't even lift it and turned around and blamed me for shoddy work. That's the only silver I ever took. The looting and burning of the Ye estate — I truly dared not take part in that. I'm willing to hand over the silver. I only beg you to spare my life, sir…"

Pang Yu stared blankly for a moment. He hadn't expected one question to flush out an accomplice to the civil unrest. He looked up at the empty roof of the Ye family gatehouse and figured the peculiar setting of this meeting must have given the blacksmith some unfortunate associations.

Pang Yu cleared his throat. "Your dealings with Zhang Ru — I, Ben Squad Leader, have long been fully aware of them. You committed no major evil, and today you've confessed honestly. The matter of you forging that great blade for Zhang Ru — I, Ben Squad Leader, will cover for you."

In truth, how could Pang Yu possibly know about such a trivial matter? During the unrest, Huang Wending's gang had forged quite a few weapons, all done at the blacksmiths'. Pretty much every blacksmith in Tongcheng had a hand in it, and the county yamen had no intention of pursuing any of them. But Pang Yu's bluster came out so smoothly that the blacksmith now inexplicably owed him an enormous debt of gratitude.

The bearded man, knowing nothing of the real situation, stayed on his knees and thanked Pang Yu profusely. The other blacksmiths behind him, seeing this, hurriedly knelt as well and confessed their errors. In the end, every one of them owed Pang Yu a favor.

"All you master smiths, please rise." Once they were up, Pang Yu continued, "I've called you here today because I also need weapons forged — but these are for my Zhuang Squad. Mainly spearheads, great blades, hook spears, great axes, and iron spikes. Which of you can make these? If your quoted prices are fair, I'll purchase from you."

The blacksmiths kept their heads down and stayed silent, exchanging glances. They were trying to gauge whether this was just another He Mai by the yamen. But from what Pang Yu was saying, the Zhuang Squad seemed to want a fair transaction — otherwise, why ask them to quote prices?

The bearded man, feeling indebted to Pang Yu, was the first to bow and speak. "This humble one can make long spears and great blades. Hook spears I cannot make, but I can also make snake spears, meteor hammers, crescent blades…"

Pang Yu quickly waved his hand. He had seen the weapons of Huang Wending's gang — all manner of bizarre and grotesque shapes, even a Sky-Piercing Halberd. Most of them had clearly come straight out of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Nanzhili, deep in the interior, had enjoyed peace for so long that it had lost all military tradition. Since the early Ming, no proper battles had been fought here. Some Guard Posts could manufacture arms to official specifications, but civilian blacksmiths could basically only make common self-defense weapons — mainly swords and blades. When it came to military-grade weapons, they veered straight into fantasy territory.

"Those later items aren't needed for now. When the time comes, I'll place an order with you, master smith. I still don't know how to address you."

The bearded man had never met a Constable so courteous. When things were this out of the ordinary, there had to be a catch. He hastily knelt again and said, "This humble one is Zhang Manshou, of Zhang's Forge in South City."

Pang Yu stood and helped Zhang Manshou to his feet, then looked at the other blacksmiths. "First, my Zhuang Squad is purchasing these weapons to defend Tongcheng — to protect the lives and property of everyone here. There will be no tolerance for half-measures. Second, my dealings with you are fair trade. You will earn the silver you deserve to earn, and not a single coin will be shorted. But the weapons you forge must meet my specifications exactly. Form, weight, and materials — no cutting corners, and delivery must be on schedule. Otherwise, the matter of you all forging weapons for the rebels and abetting their crimes — that I will find hard to cover for."

Once the men had mumbled their assent, Pang Yu said to Zhang Manshou, "Now, each master smith, one by one, go to the back and give your prices to the gentleman doing the writing. Master Zhang, you go first."

The blacksmiths withdrew to one side. Pang Yu wasn't worried about them conspiring — there were plenty of forges both inside and outside the county seat. Whether in villages or towns, iron goods were always in demand, so any sizable market town had a forge.

Pang Yu turned to the remaining people and asked, "Which of you make firecrackers?"

Two men stepped forward. Pang Yu addressed them politely. "I hear your shops are already preparing firecrackers for the New Year. I, Ben Squad Leader, will pre-order all the finished goods and raw materials you have on hand. Once the blacksmiths produce the iron spikes, you'll start making what I need."

One of them said cautiously, "My shop has a batch of goods already ordered by Kongcheng Town…"

"Tell them to come directly to me, Ben Squad Leader, for it."

The man was instantly speechless. Though Pang Yu's words were polite, his tone left no room for negotiation. For a material as essential to city defense as gunpowder, Pang Yu was ready to impose military control at any moment — he naturally wasn't going to bargain with shopkeepers.

"Which of you are from the grain shops?"

Only three people stepped forward. Pang Yu swept his gaze over them — neither of the shopkeepers from the two shops run by Liu Xiucai and Fang Yingqian had come.

Pang Yu suppressed his displeasure, cleared his throat, and continued the business negotiations.

……

By the time the merchant assembly ended, Jiang Fan was already standing outside the gatehouse with two mounted constables. Each of the two constables held a horse by the reins, saddlebags and waist sabers laid across the horses' backs. They had all come over from the county yamen.

Though Pang Yu had just finished sparring with a crowd of merchants, his energy showed no sign of flagging. Seeing the three of them, he smiled and said, "So these are the two you're sending to Qianshan as scouts?"

Jiang Fan quickly answered, "These are the two. One used to be a Relay Courier, the other an Auxiliary at Lüting Post — both are skilled riders. I've arranged for them to go as far as they can. If they don't encounter a large band of Roving Bandits, they'll go all the way to Huangmei before turning back."

"Well arranged." Pang Yu walked over and stood before the two mounted constables. "This is the first time the Tongcheng County Yamen has gathered intelligence beyond the County Boundary. With the Roving Bandits running rampant, you two have stepped forward without hesitation — you deserve to be called models for Tongcheng. On this journey, stay extra vigilant. Don't let yourselves fall into a Danger Zone."

One of the mounted constables flushed red. He glanced at Jiang Fan, then turned to Pang Yu and asked, "When you assign this humble one a task, this humble one will carry it out. But with Roving Bandits out there, if by chance I'm killed by them, what about my family…"

Pang Yu felt a slight headache coming on. He had still been thinking of soldiers in far too simple terms. For a mere Squad Leader like himself to run the Zhuang Squad like a military unit — what he lacked wasn't just rations, pay, and equipment.

Jiang Fan was also stealing glances, observing. Pang Yu guessed that these two mounted constables had already asked Jiang Fan this question. Jiang Fan, naturally, had no way to resolve it, so he'd used this departure moment to let them ask directly. Pang Yu knew he couldn't dodge this now. Even if he had to pay out of his own pocket, he had to accept it — otherwise, what little cohesion he'd just managed to build would scatter again.

Pang Yu looked at the two mounted constables and said, "If what you describe comes to pass, your families will receive fifty taels of silver in a lump sum. Thereafter, so long as your parents live, or until your children come of age, your families will receive ten taels of silver every year."

The two mounted constables were straightforward enough. They exchanged a glance, then clasped their fists in farewell to Pang Yu and led their horses off toward the south gate.

Watching their retreating figures, Pang Yu asked Jiang Fan, "Has there been any conclusion about that broken building of Liu Xiucai's from yesterday?"

Jiang Fan shook his head. "They came to the county yamen first thing this morning. Magistrate Yang discussed it with them in the Second Hall. Later, Mr. Sun came out and said that Fang Yingqian and Liu Xiucai are demanding one thousand three hundred taels of silver. Where is the county yamen supposed to come up with that?"

"So that means it can't be torn down just yet. Have the Fast Squad store some tung oil at the south gate and Xiangyang Gate. If there's confirmed warning of bandits closing in on Tongcheng, go burn that broken building down immediately."

"But what if, after it's burned, Liu Xiucai comes after our Fast Squad for compensation…"

Pang Yu walked toward the back of the screen wall, hands clasped behind him, and said casually, "Just don't admit it was you who did it. We're soldiers. If Liu Xiucai runs into us, he won't be able to get a straight word out of anyone."

Jiang Fan froze. It hadn't occurred to him that they could be this direct. Seeing Pang Yu heading into the inner compound, he hurried after him.

"Squad Leader, Mr. Sun also left instructions about one other matter. He said the Fast Squad needs to assign men to handle it."

"What matter?"

"Have the Fast Squad send men to keep watch on all Westerners sojourning in Tongcheng."

"Westerners?"

Jiang Fan hastily explained, "'Westerners' is what they call people from Shanxi and Shaanxi. Mr. Sun said it was raised by those gentry yesterday." (Note 1)

"Even in ancient times they had regional prejudice? What the hell kind of nonsense is this." Pang Yu rubbed his chin, pondered a moment, then murmured, "Seems Zhou Yueru is a Qin person too."

……

Note 1: In the late Ming, "Westerners" primarily referred to people from Shaanxi. Because the Roving Bandits originated in Qin Land, as they spread, various regions grew wary of sojourning Qin People, and many Qin People suffered undeserved calamities as a result. Contemporary records note: "The bandits arose in Qin; thus all Shaanxi people sojourning far and wide, whether traveling merchants or settled traders, could not escape the realm's suspicion… Westerners became the target of the whole world's pointing fingers. When the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer…"