Chapter 75: Don't Quarrel with the Dead

Liu Laoye being hauled into the county yamen was like a joke.

Thousand-Household Zhang came to the door demanding grain, still putting it in very pleasant terms.

He said that when the government troops marched, he would be maintaining order in Yan'an Prefecture, and he hoped a local gentry like Liu Laoye could provide grain and fodder in support.

The Old Temple Village affair had only passed three months ago; Liu Xiangyu no longer believed him.

Furious, but these days it was scoundrels who held sway.

Furious, yet there was no way to deal with him.

At most, the Black Dragon Mountain township soldiers formed ranks, the northern township militia fired their arquebuses into the sky — no grain.

Thousand-Household Zhang left, and the mountain folk thought the matter was over.

Who knew that a few days later the county yamen's Clerk would bring men into the mountains, claiming Liu Xiangyu had ordered the militia to beat and injure one of Zhang Xiong's subordinate hundred-households.

For a moment, Black Dragon Mountain seethed with outrage — they hadn't beaten any hundred-household, yet they nearly ended up keeping the Clerk in the mountains.

The Clerk was frightened too, and his tone softened considerably.

He only said that Liu Xiangyu should come to testify; if that hundred-household hadn't been beaten by the militia, then the matter would be settled.

Liu Xiangyu was by nature an honest and rigid scholar — a bit cunning, but timid, afraid of trouble, and upright.

He did not want to see the common folk, in a fit of rage, beat the Clerk to death in the mountains; then the matter would truly blow up.

Liu Chengzu, worried for his father's safety, went along to the county yamen.

The County Magistrate, as if some screw in his brain had come loose, kept praising Thousand-Household Zhang Xiong inside the yamen.

The two sides argued back and forth, and in a fury, Liu Xiangyu blurted out the matter of the Old Temple Village commoners' heads being used to fraudulently claim merit.

That was bad — the head-counting inspection at the time had been handled by the magistrate's yamen, so the magistrate had a share in the fraud too.

Actually, even at this point things were still manageable; it was just that the magistrate and Zhang Xiong had taken a one-sided dislike to Liu Xiangyu, but they still couldn't do much to him.

But as it happened, the honest man was pushed past his limit, and Liu Xiangyu, his words running away from him, cursed the County Magistrate.

"Insulting one's own supervising official — a hundred strokes of the rod." Liu Chengzu's face was grim, and the more he spoke the more agitated he became, until he finally said bluntly: "Cheng Yun went to his father-in-law. Cheng Yun, you tell it."

Cheng Yun, with a steelyard and abacus hanging at his waist, squeezed out from a crowd of burly, rough men, straightened his clothes, composed his expression, and began.

"My father-in-law says that for insulting one's own supervising official, a hundred strokes only applies to officials of rank six and above. The County Magistrate is rank seven, so the penalty is reduced by three degrees. Second Uncle holds an honorary cap-and-sash rank, which reduces it by one more degree. In the end, it's probably thirty strokes?"

Liu Chengzong's anger had already flared up inside. He tugged at the corner of his mouth, a smile that didn't reach his eyes: "Thirty strokes, huh…"

His gaze slowly swept across the face of every person gathered around him.

Here were his brothers and teachers, his comrades-in-arms, his new friends and old, and even followers who had come to join him.

They sought a place of refuge, sought to no longer suffer hunger and cold. Apart from being unable to realize higher personal aspirations, this plain, simple life was what they cherished and longed for.

It was as if a great hand rose up in his heart and forcibly smothered the flames of rage.

He asked: "What do they want? If the County Magistrate feels wronged and insulted, Big Brother, you and I will go apologize in person, and we'll wrap up some silver. If Thousand-Household Zhang has pulled strings and he wants grain, then we'll give him grain.

Spend money, deliver grain, kowtow.

All fine, right? As long as we can get Father out."

Several people were about to speak, but Liu Chengzu, visibly suppressing his fury too, slammed his left fist against the earthen wall: "If it were that simple, you wouldn't even have heard about this — I would have already fished Father out.

They want a hundred dan of grain."

A hundred dan of grain — what did that mean?

A full month's rations for the entire Black Dragon Mountain clan, their family's entire annual harvest.

Liu Chengzong laughed in sheer fury: "Did this bastard hire an actuary at the county yamen?"

Had they not plundered Wangzhuang Fort, the yamen's demand for this much grain would essentially mean bankrupting them completely and saddling them with enormous debt.

They hadn't even given him the option of swallowing his anger. It was very simple — they'd already made an enemy of him, and the goal was to beat him down so he could never get back up.

Either deliver the grain, go bankrupt, take on massive debt, and flee into exile.

Or don't deliver the grain — never mind whatever litigation master, even if the sentence was reduced to thirty strokes, even if reduced to ten, it wouldn't matter against professional yamen runners who were all Sun Wukongs.

One stroke cripples you, three strokes send you to the Western Paradise.

Liu Chengzong stood up, smiling, and cupped his fist in salute to everyone in the room, one by one.

"Alright, the county yamen and this Thousand-Household are something else — they've calculated this pretty shrewdly.

I've always wanted to delay a little, slow down a little, enjoy a few days of peace, but they won't allow it. If they won't, then forget it.

Everyone has been very good to us brothers. Let us two brothers say what comes next — we don't want to drag you down."

At these words, everyone began chattering at Liu Chengzong in reproach; not a single one showed any sign of wanting to leave.

Even Liu Chengyun, the most timid of them all, stepped forward and said: "Brother, in the second year of Tianqi my father passed away, and it was Second Uncle who raised me. In Second Uncle's matter, even if the sky falls, I won't hide."

Gao Xian was about to say something when Cao Yao yanked him back. The old scoundrel stepped forward and said: "Lion, you…"

Liu Chengzong, not about to let this chaos-lover speak, spread his hand: "Alright, Brother Cao, I know. Don't worry, count you in."

"That's not what I — I was…"

Before Cao Yao could finish, Liu Chengzong had already turned to Cai Zhongpan: "Uncle, you're wanted everywhere — Yan'an Prefecture is the only safe place for you. You…"

"Oh, spare me. Your uncle's already a wanted man, what's there left to fear? Besides, if you two brothers pull off something big, me being family, I can't run either. Just one thing!"

Cai Zhongpan raised a hand: "By my reckoning, my brother-in-law should be bringing your aunt back in the next couple of days. Stall the yamen a bit, and take your aunt with us when we run."

After that, Guo Zhashi and the others also declared their intentions in turn — all men who did not fear trouble.

Li Wanqing even thought this was a good thing.

He wanted to send someone to bring Liu Guoneng in on it too; he'd gotten a taste for profit the last time he did a big job with Liu Chengzong.

Only when it came to Yang Yanchang did things stall.

The Probationary Hundred-Household from Yan'an Guard kept rubbing his hands together, looking as if he were locked in an inner struggle.

Liu Chengzong urged: "Brother, I won't force you. It's fine."

The impassioned atmosphere in the room was broken. Everyone looked at Yang Yanchang.

Yang Yanchang's eyes were unfocused. He sat on the bench, hands braced on the table, teeth biting into his clenched fist.

A moment later, he dropped his hand and slapped the table, righteous and indignant, and said to Liu Chengzong: "I'll sell you the blades, spears, bows, and arrows — all eight loads of munitions — but you'll have to pay extra!"

Pfft.

Liu Chengzong couldn't hold it in. He spread his hands and asked him: "What's more important, money or your life?"

This man seemed to have no idea what kind of mess he was about to get tangled up in — still thinking about his arms deal.

Who would have guessed Yang Yanchang would be dead serious: "If I weren't so poor, I'd have filled a substantive post long ago. Money matters a great deal.

If I lose my life, I can always try again in the next one. But if I can't earn money, I won't rest easy even in death!"

"Fine. You seek wealth — that's easy. I'll take the cannonballs and the weapons."

Liu Chengzong braced himself against the table and said: "But you'll also have to help me get the weapons into the prefectural city."

With that, Liu Chengzong placed a hand on Yang Yanchang's shoulder: "I'll pay extra."

Then he walked over to Liu Chengzu, clapped both hands on his elder brother's shoulders, and said: "It's fine, brother, don't worry. We grew up in the yamen — I could find where Big Quilt Pass is with my eyes closed.

And don't be angry. It's not worth getting worked up over dead men.

Everyone, I'd like to ask — are there any good people living in the prefectural city?"

Smack!

Cao Yao clapped his hands, so delighted he nearly jumped up: "This is exactly the kind of big thing I've been wanting to do!

Lion, what I didn't want to say earlier — I just wanted to tell you, our thunder doesn't need a pole anymore, and you won't get your ears shaken bloody either.

Lodestone — hahaha! There's no iron gate left in this world that can stop you. I fitted it with lodestone!"