Chapter 5: Absolutely Not

"Sifting" is a torture inflicted on kidnapped hostages, beating them until they cannot endure the suffering and falsely exaggerate their family wealth; often, a single ransom demand will leave the family bankrupt and drowning in debt.

Upon leaving the water prison, he discovered that besides the seventeen young men captured yesterday, there were two others, plus the six men already imprisoned with Li You in the water cell.

All twenty-five were barely clinging to half a life; especially Wu Dading, whose foot was originally injured, had traveled all the way, and soaked in water for half the night, now burned with fever and his mind was somewhat clouded, causing Li You extreme anxiety in his heart.

At this moment, he unconsciously touched the lining of his clothes, feeling slightly reassured.

Walking along the goat path, here on the mountainside, there were more than a dozen simple cave cells emitting waves of foul stench; the commotion just now must have come from the hostages being dragged out from here.

Soon the group ascended to a valley in the mountain hollow; the valley was extremely flat overall, covering an area of more than ten mu.

At the deepest part against the rock face stood three rows of earthen houses arranged in a "gate" shape, with a simple earthen platform in the center.

On the platform now sat four chairs with five people seated; the one in the center Li You had seen before, the man in his forties or fifties who had ridden the black-spotted horse yesterday.

Sitting on his large chair was also a plump, voluptuous young woman, round and charming.

She wore a wide-necked robe underneath; the swelling of her chest pushed the neckline out so tightly it looked ready to burst at any moment.

To his left sat a man in a cross-collared robe with a white protective collar, holding a sandalwood fan; from afar he looked like a wealthy master, surely the Second Master, Cao Er.

To the right, two men sat; one with a pointed face and monkey-like features sat cross-legged on the large chair, surely "Heartless Liang" Zhang Zhuanggen.

The other, a burly man with a "Shen" character-shaped face, sat upright, yet held a jar of strong wine in his hand, drinking carelessly; this must be the drunkard Fourth Master, Shi Dayong.

Below the earthen platform lay a simple training ground, the place where the bandits usually practiced and performed tricks.

On both sides of the training ground stood nearly a hundred people, each with messy hair and beards, either sitting or leaning against the eaves; on the outer edge of the training ground stood a large stone roller, surrounded by sparse woods, and just a few meters beyond the woods lay a mountain ravine ten or so meters deep.

When Li You arrived, they were in the midst of "sifting."

"Spit, damn it... the main target has arrived! Drag them up!" 【Note】

As soon as Li You and the others arrived, Wu Zhuge sat up, scratched his neck vigorously, spat on the ground, and with a wave of his large hand, several half-grown boy soldiers marched toward Li You's group.

Li You's heart jumped; suddenly the "Cold Patrol" of the mountain fortress rushed over, shouting loudly before even reaching the training ground...

"Great Master, a letter arrived from Guanzi Mountain, demanding we quickly decide to join forces with them, then march west out of Chadianzi, set out east together with them, and coordinate with the Eight Great Kings to capture the southeastern gateways of Pingli and Xing'an."

"The Eight Great Kings? Heh, capture what? Zhao Guangyuan is indeed a straw man, but do you really think He Renlong and Li Guoan are straw men too?" Wu Zhuge laughed arrogantly, taking a date-sized object handed to him by the bearded man.

This was a wax-sealed letter containing a very thin sheet of white cotton paper.

While pinching the wax seal open, Wu Zhuge asked, "Where is the messenger?"

"Didn't stop; rode off, saying he was heading to Flagpole Mountain!"

"Flagpole Mountain? Going to Pig Boss's place?"

Wu Zhuge's face immediately darkened; Flagpole Mountain was a gang of big gangs north of Longmen Mountain near the Han River, stronger in power than their Longmen Fortress.

Instantly feeling irritable, he had been unwell lately, suffering from excessive thirst and unbearable skin itching; looking at the ants that had gathered around the spit he had just spat on the ground, he disgustingly stomped on them several times before stopping.

Li You had been standing quietly aside, his gaze fixed on Wu Zhuge's face and the saliva on the ground, lost in thought for a moment.

Wu Zhuge muttered to himself, "If Flagpole Mountain and Guanzi Mountain join forces, then our Longmen Fortress will likely be bled dry."

He then handed the letter to Cao Er beside him, saying, "See who the messenger is; I simply don't believe those two bumpkins from Guanzi Mountain truly have such dog courage!"

North of Guanzi Mountain were the remnants of "Contending World King" Liu Xiyao and "Passing Star" Zhang Tianlin from the eleventh year of Chongzhen, mostly injured soldiers who had broken through the imperial army's encirclement while marching north out of Sichuan at that time.

Later, when the peasant army fell into a low tide, Li Zicheng retreated to Mount Shangluo, and Zhang and Luo successively surrendered; they had been holed up here ever since, led by "Brave General" Bai Huixi and "Rice Chaser" Mi Jinshan, but in the past two years, the one who truly rose to power at Guanzi Mountain was a salt peddler nicknamed "Pig Boss."

Cao Er tore open the wax seal, pulled out a sheet of white cotton paper, glanced at the signature, and said, "Zhang Sihu!"

"Ah, it really is Zhang Sihu, the top adopted son of the Western Camp Eight Great Kings... No wonder Guanzi Mountain made such a big move this time, daring to massacre the Linyang county seat; it turns out they were clinging to a thick leg behind the scenes..."

Zhang Zhuanggen also leaned over and added, "Better to join forces; what if the Western King can truly coordinate with them to break the Pingli Pass? Then we would definitely face bitter days sitting on the radish."

Cao Er frowned, pondering silently for a moment without speaking.

Since the second year of Chongzhen, rebel armies everywhere had been as numerous as cow hairs; these rebel armies mostly used the name of peasant bandits, but their actual backbone was mostly border troops from Shaanxi.

Their original intention for rebellion was not firm, so they deliberately adopted nicknames.

Their titles were influenced by the popular culture of this era, such as "Heroes of the Jianghu" (Water Margin) and "Journey to the West: The Liberation of Suffering" (Journey to the West), so they were all aliases, numerous and repetitive.

For example, "Chuang King" Gao Yingxiang, "Five Chuang Kings" He Shuangquan, "Chuang World King" Wang Rugui, "Little Chuang General" Zhao Yunfei, and so on; the common people all called them "Chuang King," and in the Huguang region, many were simultaneously called "Leveler King" or "Poverty-Relief King."

Just the "Eight Great Kings" included "Southern Camp Eight Great Kings," "Northern Camp Eight Great Kings," and "Western Camp Eight Great Kings," among which the "Western Camp Eight Great Kings" was Zhang Xianzhong. 【Note】

Shi Dayong took a swig of wine and suddenly spoke up, which was rare: "Joining forces isn't bad; this world should change long ago!"

Wu Zhuge immediately felt uncomfortable in his heart; naturally, he did not want to join forces. What were Zhang Xianzhong and Zhang Sihu up to?

They were engaged in a business so huge it warranted the extermination of nine generations, a life-or-death deal; whereas he was merely a mountain bandit, or more accurately, a hereditary bandit passed down through generations...

Nowadays, he was even an official bandit, so he did not want to wade into these waters, yet he feared that if Zhang Xianzhong really attacked, he would be the first target to be reckoned with.

"Your Majesty, absolutely do not join forces!"

Suddenly a high-pitched voice rang out, startling everyone into a moment of silence as they all turned to look toward the sound...

The speaker wore a Cheng robe, his appearance slightly disheveled, yet unable to hide his tall figure like a white poplar tree; on his pale face, a pair of starry eyes still shone brightly; simply standing there quietly gave people a feeling of cleanliness and etherealness.

"Hmm? Your Majesty?"

The plump young woman half-sitting on Wu Zhuge's leg, named Dayun'er, was Wu Zhuge's wife of the fortress; she glanced at Li You, feeling that the young man possessed an indescribable aura, and said softly, "A scholar? Ah, so handsome..."

"I am Li You, courtesy name Hanchen, a Xiucai from Qingjian County; I have long admired Your Majesty's prestige and have long had the intention to submit."

"Submit to mountain bandits? Did everyone hear that? Calling me 'Your Majesty'... Haha... A Xiucai actually wants to submit to our Longmen Fortress... Hahaha..."

Wu Zhuge laughed wildly, saying, "Then why were you locked in the water prison?"

Immediately, the many bandits burst into uproarious laughter.

In the feudal history of farming and studying as a family tradition, the status of scholars was always extremely high; especially in the early and mid-Great Ming, the status of scholars reached its peak; whether among ordinary people, swordsmen, or the Jianghu, the reverence for scholars was deeply ingrained through constant exposure, carved into the bones, instinctively evoking a natural awe.

Li You was not at all intimidated; he took out his household registration certificate and said, "If Your Majesty does not believe me, you can fully examine my student certificate!"

Having said that, he slowly walked step by step toward the earthen platform.

In a flash, he thought of Jing Ke's assassination of the King of Qin with the map concealing the dagger; taking this opportunity to approach Wu Zhuge was truly a good idea, but the problem was he had no dagger now, only black fingernails... uh, one infection spreads to two...

When he had passed Li Qinxiang and the others by about a step, he stopped, and threw the household registration certificate in his hand forward.

Cao Er caught it in one hand, glancing roughly at the several tears on it and the many bloodstains, which were the wounds Li You had received from the fight at the East Gate of Linyang, slashed by a trident.

The first thing he checked was the seal bearing the characters for Confucian Academy and Instructor; seeing nothing unusual, he then began to read it carefully...

"Zhang Suomin, Principal of the Qingjian County Confucian Academy, regarding the issuance of a license: It has been verified that Li You□ (missing character), a student of the Qingjian County Academy, courtesy name Hanchen, possesses upright character, diligent study, and earnest practice, with outstanding academic achievements, making him suitable for selection as a stipendiary student. Besides compiling a detailed register and requesting registration with the Ministry, this license is hereby issued for the student to keep. This license is issued to Li You□ (missing character), aged nineteen, a native of Qingjian County, residing at Xiao Chaze. Three generations: Great-grandfather Tai, Grandfather Feng{fng}, Father Ji{ji}. Given to be kept. Issued on the sixth day of the tenth month of the □ (missing character) year of Chongzhen. Zhang Suomin, Principal of the Academy. Instructor Li Qian."

Due to the bloodstains and knife marks, the second column containing the name and date was precisely cut by the blade of the tangpa, missing two characters, but the overall text remained readable without hindrance.

After Cao Er finished reading, he handed it to Li You with a half-smile and asked, "Who are your early teacher, your formal teacher, and your master teacher?"

【Note】: The term "bi" already existed in the Ming Dynasty; its usage and meaning are the same as today. In "Zhiyanzhai," an old woman came out, and Bei Ming went up and said, "Second Master Bao is waiting in the study for clothes to go out; please go in and send a message." The old woman said, "*** bi! Wang Xifeng's daughter is weaving a flower crown, and she cursed: 'You are weaving your mother's bi.'"

【Note】: During the Hongwu reign, the "Chanping Wang" uprising occurred in Guangdong. Although it was quickly suppressed by the authorities, the name "Chanping Wang" was passed down through generations. During the Zhengtong and Jingtai reigns, miners and peasants in the three provinces of Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi, under the leadership of Ye Zongliu and Deng Maoqi, rose up again under the banner of "Chanping Wang."

The creed of Chanping Wang was very simple and clear, spreading extremely widely.

During the Wanli reign, in the areas of Taihu and Susong in Southern Zhili, Liu Ruguo styled himself "Jipin Wang."

In the first year of Chongzhen, the "Duotian Wang" appeared in Yuanan County, Jiangxi... They all shared roughly the same creed.

In the ninth year of Chongzhen, a miners' uprising broke out in the southern Hunan region. Liu Wenhuang, in the Shihan Mountain in the middle section of the Luoxiao Mountain Range located at the junction of western Jiangxi Province and the two provinces of Hunan and Jiangxi, where a peak known to all women and children in Huaxia three hundred years later stands at its northern end, organized a force marked by "red cloth headbands" named the "Red Camp."