Chapter 22: Dividing the Family

The northern Shaanxi nights in the second month were cold, but not as cold as the chill Liu Chengzong felt knowing his father had made up his mind to stay in northern Shaanxi.

Early the next morning after returning home, Cao Yao came to the door to discuss dividing the family property with the elder brother Liu Chengzu.

They were to split the money and grain seized from Bai Yingzi.

"Your family has no land we can farm. Sitting idle and eating through the stores won't do."

"Better I take the brothers out to find a livelihood. This trip also counts as getting to know the place. I haven't touched the money or grain — let's split it into two shares: one for you, one for me. We'll go back and divide it among the brothers who earned merit ourselves."

He had brought two squad leaders with him — one called Du Laowu, the other Feng Rang. Both had been well-known figures back in Yuhe Fort.

The former, horse-faced and skilled in disguise, specialized in altering female corpses to look male. When serving as a border soldier in Shanxi, this craft had helped Cao Yao and the others claim an extra three hundred taels of book reward silver for killing innocents to pass off as merit.

The latter was plain-looking. After the great rout at Sarhu, he had survived on human flesh along the road until meeting Cao Yao at Mengjin.

These two were Cao Yao's sworn brothers. After fleeing the Battle of Sarhu, seventeen deserters from the capital army's firearms battalion had sworn brotherhood. Drifting and wandering ever since, only these three remained.

Both brothers knew this was inevitable. Cao Yao would leave sooner or later, and the money and grain would be divided sooner or later — just a matter of a few days earlier or later.

Liu Chengzu, thinking this way of splitting the money and grain was fair enough, patted his hands, still wet from grooming the horses, and soaked them in the wooden bucket as he asked, "Leaving so soon? Won't you stay a few more days?"

"Five, I spotted a few spots along the road that could serve as a base. I'll send men to check them out. If suitable, I'll move over. There's no shortage of good mountains around here — any of the three counties will do. There are also two matters you two need to help me with."

The brothers said nothing. Liu Chengzong glanced around the courtyard and pointed at the wing room where they slept. "Let's talk inside."

Squad Leader Cao went inside with the brothers, leaving the two squad leaders at the door with orders to stand outside and stop anyone from approaching.

Though the two squad leaders were not much to look at, they handled people well. Unlike the two soldiers under Squad Leader Liu who wore stern faces all day, these two were rather cheerful, not fierce or menacing at all. They knew to greet people and to keep a smile on their faces.

If not for their skills and experiences, they would have seemed no different from the village uncles next door who lived by their strength — perfectly decent men.

As long as they could eat their fill, everyone was a perfectly decent person.

The distance between man and beast was never far — just three days apart.

Three days without food or water, and a good man either became a very good corpse or turned into a beast.

By the same logic, even a beast that had eaten and drunk its fill for three days would have little idle time to go biting people.

Cao Yao entered the room and dropped onto the kang. "I'll take ninety dan of grain and leave you over a hundred. For the valuables, I'll take two-tenths and you eight. The calligraphy, paintings, and porcelain all go to you two — but not for free."

"I made inquiries last night. Black Dragon King Temple has both carpenters and blacksmiths. I want ten carts, and also… weapons."

Squad Leader Cao punctuated each word by tapping the kang table. "Sabers, spears, arrow shafts, and armor."

The moment he finished speaking, Liu Chengzu was already shaking his head. "Armor is out of the question."

"We have blacksmiths at home who can make sabers and spears, and arrow shafts are easy enough. But privately forging armor — if someone reports it, it's your life. We can't offer anything that would make a blacksmith risk his neck."

"Grain isn't enough?"

"Not enough. Xingping Village still has food to eat. Grain won't buy a blacksmith. Unless you can find one from outside and send him over. I'll find a mountain hollow, dig a kiln, and get him settled. Then I'll have my younger brother Chengzu go to the prefectural seat to buy iron, and only then can we think about making armor plates."

Liu Chengzu sighed as he spoke and said to Cao Yao, "The household already shoulders enough risky matters. I was out drilling the militia again early this morning, and I even had Shizi come later to assist. Ten and eight — who drills every day?"

"Ten and eight" referred to the militia's ultimate ideal: in the first year of Tianshun, the government recruited them as battalion soldiers, providing three taels and six qian of silver for saddles, horses, and equipment, plus seven taels and two qian in hire silver, making them full-time city defenders and bandit suppressors who no longer returned to farming.

Ordinarily, militia did not enjoy such good treatment. Take the twenty-four registered ji-bing at Black Dragon King Temple Mountain now — the government collected taxes at the rate of seven taels and two qian per man, yet the work-and-food silver issued to them was only four taels.

Actually, that was already quite good. The militia ate from local finances and at least got some silver. The border troops could not even collect their military pay.

Moreover, compared to the regular army, militia only needed to drill two days a month. No one drilled every single day — except for the juren Liu Xiangyu of Black Dragon King Temple Mountain.

"Old Master Liu drilling the ji-bing to protect the region and keep the people safe — that's a good thing."

Cao Yao clapped his hands and said to the two brothers, "Then it's settled. If I find craftsmen outside, I'll send them over. Also, our families will be left in your care. You must look after the brothers' dependents well."

The so-called dependents were nothing more than the wives and children of a few squad leaders — fewer than ten people in total. Compared to privately forging armor and weapons, this matter was simplicity itself. Liu Chengzong naturally thumped his chest and agreed. "That's easy. Brother Cao, rest assured. The dependents can be settled in the cave dwellings near the compound. The older children can attend classes at our village school. However…"

Liu Chengzong had been speaking without thinking, and only after the words left his mouth did he realize the village school no longer taught lessons. He could only smile wryly. "Now the village school has switched entirely to martial training."

His casual remark stunned the previously enthusiastic Cao Yao on the spot. Liu Chengzong could not help but ask, "Brother Cao, what's wrong?"

"Your family's children… still attend school?"

The eyes beneath Cao Yao's scars held a bewilderment Liu Chengzong had never seen before, as if a boulder had struck his chest. He stared blankly for a long moment, then shook his head with a simple smile. "It's nothing. Having books to read is good. Having books to read is good."

He let out a long breath, his expression returning to normal. Sitting on the edge of the kang, he pursed his lips and sighed with emotion. "Ten years. Ten years since Sarhu. I've run clear across Beizhili, from Mengjin to Shanxi, and from Shanxi into Shaanxi."

"Everywhere I passed — famine, flight, slaughter, plunder. Man and beast indistinguishable. Good! Truly good. I never thought I'd see a place again where farmers till the fields and children study."

In Cao Yao's eyes, there was no civilization. Perhaps civilization had once existed before he joined the army at Baoding Prefecture, but after that, civilization gave way to savagery. The jungle was full of two-legged wild dogs.

They were not wolves — just homeless curs who bit wherever they went for a mouthful of food, with no regard left for propriety, righteousness, integrity, or shame, and no memory of loyalty, filial piety, duty, or fraternal love.

Ever vigilant, using the blade in hand to seek the meal in mouth.

The Liu brothers' hometown was to him like some incomprehensible Peach Blossom Spring, everything silently urging him to leave and be on his way as soon as possible.

This was no place for him to stay — it would strip away all his fangs and claws.

"Let's leave it at that. Once I've found a place, I'll come inform you. Watch out for Left Hanger — that lot headed toward Hancheng. If they stir up too much trouble, they'll inevitably be suppressed."

"A nest as good as Black Dragon King Temple Mountain — don't let Left Hanger's routed troops snatch it."

"Hancheng produces iron." Liu Chengzu nodded, though his face showed little worry. "The captives earlier said that Bai Yingzi, the one who died at Shizi's hands, was also one of Left Hanger's recruits. Against government troops, they're truly no match at all. But with their numbers, if they flee into these mountains, they'll be very hard to stop."

"Exactly what I was saying!"

Cao Yao slapped his crossed leg on the kang. "If they were even slightly more formidable, I'd have joined them. I'd just say Xingping Village at Black Dragon King Temple is my home, and keeping our families safe wouldn't put us at a disadvantage either."

"Damn it all. I wonder where Zhang Wu and those brothers went — your former squad leader, the one who ran off with a squad of border troops. I even played cards with that bastard. I hear he goes by the name 'Passing Heaven Star' now and has some men under him. Joining him would be more reliable than joining Left Hanger."

Strangely enough, Cao Yao seemed even more impatient than the brothers. He waved his hand and headed out, speaking as he walked. "I've got to push them to find another den quickly. That way, if you're attacked here, you'll at least have somewhere to flee!"