Chapter 28: Breaking the Stronghold

Another hour or so passed before Zhou Tong finally returned. "The bodies have all been dumped on the back hill, and the manor's been roughly cleaned up. Sir, please take a look at the qi — how's the blood qi inside?"

Cao Chuan made a show of sweeping his gaze over it, nodded, and started moving. As he walked, he asked, "A great victory, it seems?"

Zhou Tong's face was full of excitement. "A great victory indeed! We had twelve brothers dead and wounded combined — all thanks to your sharp weapons and armor, sir. The men leading the charge were impervious to blade and spear. Some of the White fellows were still planning to fight to the death, but once we cut a few down, the rest all scattered."

At this point, Master Zhou, who always put on airs, could no longer contain his surging emotions and burst into hearty laughter.

When they reached the gate of White Village, several dozen Hengtang villagers were hauling bricks and stones to block the entrance. Inside the village, one house had already been pushed over, and many people were carrying stone and timber toward the gate. As Zhou Tong led Cao Chuan inside, he explained, "We'll get the village gate blocked up before dark, and put in a new gate tomorrow."

Cao Chuan asked, puzzled, "The enemy has already been completely wiped out — why the rush to block the gate?"

Zhou Tong gave a cold laugh. "The tiger is gone, but the wild dogs will still bite. Sir, just watch — within two days, the Hu Family will send someone. If the gate is tightly sealed, the ones who come will be all smiles. If it's not, those five or seven hundred able-bodied men might just show up to 'uphold justice' on their behalf."

With that, Cao Chuan understood. He felt a little ashamed, sensing that his strategic vision was still somewhat lacking. These ancients were not stupid at all, were they?

White Manor was clearly a far higher class than Pingfeng Stronghold — you could tell just from the quality of the buildings. Most were brick and stone structures, with neat rows of tiles on the roofs. The White Family Manor at the center was even more imposing: white walls, gray tiles, hanging corners and flying eaves, much like the landlord estates he had seen in film cities.

Once inside, large bloodstains lined the entire path, and broken blades and spears were still scattered everywhere.

The White Family residence had three courtyards in total. The innermost was the inner courtyard; the middle one was more important — the storehouse was there. When they entered, they saw quite a few people in the courtyard. The doors to the side rooms on both sides were wide open, and Chu Jianli was leading men in taking inventory of the goods.

Cao Chuan glanced around and found nothing particularly interesting — just some porcelain, cloth, and salt goods. Seeing that the gentleman was not very interested, Chu Jianli led him to the door of the innermost side room in the courtyard, pushed it open, and walked in.

This time, Cao Zong perked up. Inside the room were over a dozen large chests, all with their lids flipped open. The big chests were full of silver ingots and copper coins, except for one unique one — inside it was a chest of gold bars.

He picked up a gold bar and examined it. It lacked the dazzling, luxurious feel of gold shop wares; the color was dull, and the purity was probably not high either. Seeing Cao Chuan's interest in the item, Chu Jianli quickly introduced it: "The total is six hundred eighty taels — roughly that batch of gold from Hu San, plus some of White Village's own savings. Sir, if you have a use for it, take it all. No need to stand on ceremony."

Cao Chuan smiled and nodded. "Only this gold is of some use. I can send it back to buy some things. Kunlun has no shortage of silver; I'll send a batch over later. It'll be worth more than this chest of gold anyway, so I won't put you in a difficult position."

Zhou Tong, listening at the side, grew extremely anxious and hurriedly said, "Taking this stronghold today was entirely thanks to the sharpness of your dharma artifacts, sir. Even by the rules of the Edo, you, sir, should take the lion's share alone — not a single brother in the stronghold would object. Not to mention those blades and armor are worth ten thousand gold and cannot be bought. Sir, please don't make things difficult for us."

Hearing this, Cao Chuan went along with the flow, laughed heartily, and put away the chest containing the gold. No longer disturbing their inventory of the spoils, he picked a side room and went off on his own to wander, leaving Zhao Si to clean and tidy up.

By lamplighting time, they began the meal, which was far more sumptuous today — generosity at others' expense, after all. Rice from the White Family granary, cured meat and wind-dried chicken from the eaves, all boiled together in a big pot. Even the villagers who had followed from Hengtang were given unlimited portions. Half the men could drink freely, and the other half, including those on night watch, each got a bowl as well.

A dozen or so candles lit the main hall brightly. Cao Chuan could intermittently hear faint sounds of rowdy drinking from outside, but his attention was focused on the battle summary Chen Erye was delivering before him.

Most of the people in White Village had been either killed or captured. Not a single one from Taihu escaped — mainly because they were unfamiliar with the terrain. A dozen or so of the village's old hands did flee via the back hill, though five or six fell to their deaths. Over a hundred survived. Seven or eight hostages were rescued, mostly traveling merchants; for now, they were all being given food.

Zhou Tong sighed at this. "How many days has it been since we last took hostages? Get all their backgrounds clear. Tomorrow, send men to take them to the official road. When merchants pass by, send them off."

Seeing Chen Huoding nod, Zhou Tong continued, "As for the rest who are locked up — don't feed them, just give them water. The Hu Family wants heads, don't they? Let them trade silver for them."

At this point, Zhou Tong glanced at Cao Chuan, coughed, and added, "Sir has also spent quite a bit this time. When the Hu Family people come, if we can ask for gold, don't take silver. We must make up for your shortfall, sir."

Cao Chuan, hearing this, opened his mouth and asked, "The bounties on these major bandits aren't low, are they?"

Chu Jianli explained, "Sir, you may not know, but the Great Lord and the Second Lord were both posted on official wanted notices years ago. These heads are not easy for us to turn in. Even if we handed them over to the authorities, after all the deductions and cuts, we'd get very little reward money. The Hu Family is different. The reward silver is a small matter; capturing so many major bandits in one sweep is a great merit. The Hu Family has people in the court — they can share in the credit on the official side and also build ties with the officials and gentry of Taihu. The benefits far outweigh the reward silver."

Seeing Cao Chuan nod, Chu Jianli then began his report — how much grain, how much official silver, how much copper coin, how much miscellaneous goods, and so on for a long while. Zhou Tong listened with keen interest, while the True Man and Chen Huoding grew drowsy.

After the report was finally finished, everyone began discussing the last agenda item: now that White Manor had been taken, how should it be dealt with?

Cao Chuan said nothing. He was a person who would be leaving soon; how this manor was handled had nothing to do with him. Zhou Tong and the others began a warm and enthusiastic discussion.

This time, Pingfeng Stronghold had mobilized everyone in the mountains capable of fighting. A group would soon be sent back; the remaining manpower was not enough to open a base.

The mountain fields near White Village had long since been ruined by floods, damaged for years, and could not sustain farming households. The terrain was strategically important — leaving it to others was definitely out of the question. In the end, the result of everyone's discussion could only be to tear it down.

The bricks, tiles, and timber in the manor were all good materials and all had to be dismantled and taken away. The remaining earth and stone would all be thrown down to fill in the gap between the stone path at the gate and the retaining wall, eliminating future trouble. Presumably, no one would set their sights on this place again.

Chu Maosheng calculated — the scale of this project was not small. Fortunately, the spoils this time were plentiful, which worked out cheaply for Hengtang Village. The materials would all be hauled back to renovate the village, and the grain would be used to conscript laborers for the work.

With the discussion reaching this point, the major matters were basically resolved. For the first time after a meeting, Zhou Tong proactively sought the opinion of Cao, asking if he had any further thoughts. Cao Chuan said that everyone was tired today, and there was no rush to discuss matters tomorrow. He said his goodbyes and went back to sleep.

Lying in bed, a certain someone's mind was in chaos. The blood on his own hands, plans for the future, these bizarre, far-sighted mountain bandits — these things intertwined and churned in his head, disturbing his sleep.

He did not wake until the sun was three poles high. By the time he reached the main hall, Zhou Tong and the others had already been busy all morning. The first batch of older mountain bandits returning home had already departed, carrying large loads on their backs for the return trip. Once they reached their destination, these men would still have to shoulder a portion of the grain and silver up the mountain — they were really going all out.

After that came a long process of transport. The civilian laborers and mountain bandits would have to toil until White Village was emptied and dismantled completely. Zhou Tong was also in high spirits. According to him, the situation at Pingfeng Stronghold was now excellent; in the future, everyone could take turns going into Lin'an County Town to seek amusement. This happiness had come too suddenly.

Cao Chuan was just about to criticize Master Zhou's mentality of resting content once slightly better off when a messenger arrived: Hu San, Chief Steward Hu, had come to the village gate with two companions.

Chief Steward Hu's lung power was as strong as ever. Before he had even crossed the second gate, his long laughter drifted over: "What a grand affair you gentlemen have accomplished! Only descended the mountain yesterday, and today you're drinking tea in this White Family main hall. My family's master still doesn't believe it even now. Had Hu San not come here in person, I'm afraid I wouldn't believe it either. Ha ha, ha ha."

Zhou Tong also rose with a loud laugh and greeted Chief Steward Hu, inviting him to sit. After Hu San sat down, within just a few words, he began fishing for how the men had taken White Village. Everyone present was a seasoned old hand of the Edo, and Hu San got nothing out of them. He could only formally begin explaining the purpose of his visit.