Chapter 121: Iron Armor Man

By Pearl Bridge, a ruined temple.

A beggar with hair tangled like a bird's nest leaned against the dilapidated wall, boredly rubbing the mud balls on his body.

He occasionally looked up at the sky. "Where did this bird come from, buzzing annoyingly? Shoot it down and roast it for food."

'Bang!'

A dull sound transmitted from not far away.

The beggar did not hear the sound.

Because his skull had already become a shattered watermelon, red and white matter smeared the wall behind him.

【7】 Because his skull had already become a shattered watermelon, red and white matter smeared the wall behind him.

A massive figure walked over with heavy footsteps.

It was indeed heavy; the newcomer wore a full set of heavy armor, wrapped in steel from head to toe.

The armor's workmanship was extremely exquisite, cloud patterns carved magnificently, color like deep ink.

Glancing at the beggar with his head blown open, the Iron Armor man slung the long spear in his hand behind his back.

He took out the Uzi and held it in his hand, striding into the ruined temple.

'Da-da-da-da~~~'

The beggars who ran out upon hearing the movement hadn't even figured out what happened before they all sprouted blood flowers on their bodies and fell to the ground.

The Iron Armor man changed the magazine according to standard procedure, his footsteps continuing to advance.

In less than an incense stick of time, the entire ruined temple fell completely quiet.

Besides the Iron Armor man, only a beggar wearing Hundred Patches Clothing remained.

The Iron Armor man stepped forward, looking down from above at the beggar collapsed on the ground, trembling in fear, and spoke his first sentence.

"Where are the children?"

"Like like like, like in the back, in the cellar~"

The beggar had not the slightest thought of resistance, even though he knew he still had a sharp dagger on his body.

But the person before him, from head to toe, was all heavy armor, a complete iron lump.

No matter how sharp the dagger, what use? It cannot penetrate the defense!

The Iron Armor man asked again, "Where is your Beggar Chief?"

"Li Ren Street, third house on the left of Ri Chang Grain Store, surnamed Jing~~~"

"Don't kill me, I'm just a little beggar, it's not my~ business~~~"

In the beggar's eyes, a pitch-black firelock pointed at his own head.

'Bang!'

The Iron Armor man took the Ram's Horn Hammer from his waist and patrolled the ruined temple.

He gave all the beggars a few extra blows of the sleeping hammer.

Returning to the palace interior, he turned on the flashlight, went around the god statue to the back, and opened the cellar's cover.

The flashlight's light swept across the cellar, over those terrified little faces.

There were both boys and girls, from five or six years old to over ten.

Most of the children had already had their limbs broken, or eyes gouged and ears cut off, their condition extremely miserable.

Harvesting the Living!

Artificially crippling children to beg for sympathy.

The most vicious thing in the world, nothing surpasses this.

Calming his mood, the Iron Armor man gently instructed the trembling, fearful children, "All of you stay here and don't move."

Finished speaking, he turned and left the ruined temple.

Before acting, he had already hired someone to report to Ying Tian Fu; the constables should arrive soon.

He waited outside for a while; the Iron Armor man occasionally raised his wrist wearing iron gloves to check the time.

Until he saw a squad of constables run into the ruined temple, only then did he turn and head toward Li Ren Street.

Ri Chang Grain Store had long since closed; the street with no nightlife was also cold and deserted.

A listless watchman, striking his watchman's clapper and straining his voice, shouted, "Third Watch of Xu Hour, dry weather, be careful of fire."

Walking along, the watchman suddenly felt a black shadow walking toward him at the street entrance.

By the moonlight, he subconsciously looked over, and suddenly his legs went soft.

The newcomer wore a full-body covering iron armor, the armor mostly dark in color.

On his face he wore a piece of ferocious face mask, extremely frightening.

Footsteps heavy as thunder, step by step as if treading on his heart.

The fearful watchman pressed against the wall trembling, wishing to fuse his body into the wall.

Fortunately the tall Iron Armor man ignored him, walking straight past his side.

When the Iron Armor man passed by, the watchman who was scared into closing his eyes only felt a thick bloody smell rush at his face.

The watchman could hold on no longer; his body slid down against the wall, collapsing onto the ground, a patch of wetness between his legs.

He dared not do anything, limbs powerless, only breathing heavily.

Yet his gaze involuntarily followed the Iron Armor man's figure moving.

He saw the Iron Armor man walk to Jing Da Shanren's home entrance.

Immediately, he kicked open the courtyard gate and strode inside.

Not long after, screams, shouts, and dull 'da-da-da' 'bang-bang-bang' sounds transmitted from inside the courtyard.

The watchman, suddenly having strength in his body, desperately crawled toward the street entrance.

Twisting all the way, like a snake shape.

"Someone come, someone come quick~~~"

The next morning, the Constable Chief of the Ying Tian Fu fast squad arrived at the Jing household.

"Last night, Master Jing celebrated his birthday."

A bailiff introduced, "The several sons' families, the married daughters and sons-in-law, all are at home, not a single one missing."

"This birthday has directly turned into a death anniversary."

The Constable Chief, face dark, walked a full circle around the inside and outside of the Jing residence.

Arriving in the courtyard, he sniffed his nose, "Gunpowder smell."

"What does the Coroner say?"

"All were shot dead by firelocks, and all received a finishing blow."

The bailiff lowered his voice, "This is no ordinary river-and-lake bandit."

"This matter, we cannot handle."

"Nonsense!" The Constable Chief scolded, "So many people moved so many firelocks, what kind of river-and-lake bandit could have such ability?"

"Such a hot potato, hurry and toss it to the Zhongjun Dushu Fu."

Unlike weapons such as sabers and spears, firelocks are proper military equipment through and through.

Those able to mobilize firelocks in large numbers must be military men.

These bailiffs of theirs, day to day, intimidating decent commoners is still fine.

Provoke military men?

Tired of living~~~

"Not that many people." The bailiff shook his head repeatedly, "According to the night watchman, there was only one person."

"Clad in heavy armor, like an iron-armored man, he kicked open the courtyard gate and entered the Jing household."

"One person?"

The Constable Chief's expression was like he had seen a ghost, "Is the watchman scared stupid or drunk?"

"That is what he said."

"Then teach him well how he ought to speak!"

Lin Dao, inside the Huangzhuang Military Camp outside the city, was distributing pay.

As the Scribes called the roll, squad after squad of military households stepped forward, received their military pay silver from the Pay Distribution Official, and after confirming no mistake, signed and affixed their seals.

Different from the silver ingots, silver pieces, and silver chips distributed in the past.

The military pay they now received was issued as round silver coins, piece by piece.

The silver coins had serrated edges to prevent clipping.

The reverse bore the two characters "One Tael," the obverse bore Lin Dao's half-length portrait.

This was mainly for convenience of use.

After all, in this era using silver, one still had to bring out the weigher to weigh the weight.

Quality-wise there were also disputes and calculations, often sparking disputes because value recognition differed, very troublesome.

Now directly issuing silver dollars like this, simple, hassle-free, and convenient.

During the Chongzhen period, large amounts of silver flowed in from overseas, among which were many silver coins.

For the Great Ming, silver coins were by no means some rare novelty never seen before.

The military households who received their pay all bowed deeply to Lin Dao sitting in the chair.

"Receive Training Instructor Pay~ For Training Instructor's soldiers~ Honor Training Instructor Order!"

After everyone had received their pay and assembled in formation.

Lin Dao rose, ascended the Jiangjiangtai, and raised the trumpet.

"You all train well, do not disappoint my expectations."

"From now on, all military pay shall not pass through the hands of the Generals, all shall be directly issued by the Pay Distribution Official."

"If anyone receives less pay, just report to me, the Pay Distribution Official shall be beheaded!"

Under the civil officials' frantic suppression, the Great Ming military's days were extremely bitter.

Arrears, deduction of pay — that was all commonplace.

Even if pay was truly given in full, from top to bottom, from the Commanding Officer to the Generals, then to the Qianhu and Baihu and so on, layer upon layer of downward distribution.

Every layer passed through, it would be deducted once.

Finally reaching the military households' hands, not one in ten remained.

The pay the military households received was not even enough to support themselves, let alone support their families.

Watching helplessly as their families starved to death, how would those military households serve the Great Ming with their lives.

Without the army's protection, the Great Ming's extinction was inevitable, and destined.

Lin Dao knew these military malpractices very well.

It just so happened this was a new army, the rules could be set by himself.

He directly stripped the military officers at all levels of the opportunity to reach out their hands, changing to direct pay issuance.

No one was to even think of reaching out their hands on military pay.

On pay distribution day, a one-day holiday was given; the military households returned home in high spirits, handing the pay to their families.

Although the shape was peculiar, the silver could not be faked.

These former refugees, not only did they get ration rice to feed the whole family, now they even had pay silver to take.

One by one, they were grateful to Lin Jiaolian.

They repeatedly urged the military households to definitely listen to Lin Jiaolian's words, and serve Lin Jiaolian well with their lives.

The military households also trained with greater dedication afterward.

As dusk approached, Lin Dao set out to return to the city interior.

Back at the residence he had purchased, Chen Yuanyuan and Dong Xiaowan served him his meal.

"There was quite a commotion in the city today."

While Lin Dao was eating, Dong Xiaowan couldn't help but say, "They say a major case occurred in the city; soldiers are patrolling every street."

"On Li Ren Street, there is a Jing Da Shanren."

"In the past he built bridges and repaired roads, distributed porridge and gave rice, and was praised by all the neighbors."

"Unexpectedly, when his birthday came, his whole family was gone."

"They say it was done by military households; all military camps inside and outside the city were searched."

"Master." Dong Xiaowan asked cautiously, "While you were in the camp, did you happen to know of this matter?"

Lin Dao lifted the soup bowl and drank the boiling water. "Yongwei Camp hasn't even had many knives and spears distributed yet; where would firelocks come from?"

He took a sip of soup, and as Lin Dao set down the soup bowl, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

His gaze swept over — sure enough, Dong Xiaowan was silently staring at him.

She never said the search of the camps was to search for firelocks.

"No speaking while eating, no talking while sleeping."

Lin Dao frowned. "Don't speak while eating!"

Dong Xiaowan smiled charmingly in reply, "Yes, Master~~~"

After the meal was finished, Dong Xiaowan called a maidservant. "Qiu Chan, properly thank Master."

Qiu Chan felt baffled, but hurriedly saluted and gave thanks.

"Her younger sister has been found."

"She has great fortune; her body wasn't ruined in time, and she was rescued and brought back."

"This is a Star Lord descending to the mortal world to help."

Lin Dao, eyes closed, raised a hand to rub his brow. "Enough."

Qiu Chan cleared the table, and Chen Yuanyuan spoke up. "Master, Ruan Dacheng sent a visiting card, wishing to pay a visit."

"Which Ruan Adult? From now on just say the name directly."

"Yes."

"It is Ruan Dacheng, Ruan Bao Qing, Ruan Adult."

Ruan Dacheng once served as Minister of the Guanglu Temple, and since the Guanglu Temple manages meals, he is also called Bao Qing.

"Did he say what it was about?"

"He didn't; he just said he wanted to come visit Master."

"Truly troublesome!"

End of Chapter