Please Come to Gao Family Village

AD 1627, the Tianqi Seventh Year, Chengcheng County, Shaanxi.

Gao Chuwu entered the gates of the County Seat with three young men from the Gao family.

All four were country bumpkins who had never left their village. They had walked more than fifteen kilometers from Gao Family Village, relying entirely on sweet talk to ask everyone they met for directions. Several times, they took the wrong road and had to ask their way back.

By the time they entered the gates of the County Seat, the sun was directly overhead.

It was noon, the hottest part of the day, and the temperature outside had reached forty degrees Celsius. The four young men were panting like dogs, their heads drooping, their spirits flagging, their bodies feeling light and insubstantial.

"Brother Chu Wu, if we want to find the Secretary, we have to go to the County Yamen, right? I'm scared of that place!"

"I heard the County Magistrate eats people without even spitting out their bones."

"The bailiffs are just as bad. They're terrifying."

The three young men were utterly terrified.

Gao Chuwu was scared too. A country bumpkin who had never traveled more than five kilometers from home, he was visiting the County Seat for the first time. Its imposing gates and grand compounds had already intimidated him so badly that he was trembling.

He slipped a hand into his provisions bag and squeezed the pieces of giant white rice inside. Before they left the village, the Village Chief had given them these for emergencies, putting five pieces of broken rice into each man's bag.

Only after touching them did he steady himself. "What the hell are we scared of? We have the Heavenly Deity backing us!"

At the mention of the Heavenly Deity, the three young men perked up, recovering a little of their courage.

The four put their sweet tongues to work, asking everyone they met for directions. With guidance from passersby, they finally reached the County Yamen.

Upon reaching the entrance, they encountered a jarring sight. A middle-aged man with a pale, beardless face and a slightly plump figure stood outside in a long gown, wailing loudly. "County Magistrate, please don't dismiss me! I've always devoted myself to your service, ready to work myself to death. How can you simply cast me aside? This is what they call [cooking the hound once the hare is dead]!"

He emphasized that final expression, pulling an exaggerated face that made him look rather foolish.

The bailiff guarding the entrance shook his head. "Third Master, stop howling here. If the County Magistrate says he doesn't want you, then he doesn't want you. Shouting won't change anything. Watch out, or you'll anger him and get thrown into jail. Wouldn't that be even worse?"

Hearing this exchange, Gao Chuwu's eyes lit up. "Did you hear that? The bailiff called him Third Master. He must be San Shier, the County Magistrate's Secretary the Village Chief told us about."

The other three young men were astonished. "The Secretary's crying. Does that mean the County Magistrate doesn't want him anymore?"

Gao Chuwu said, "Who cares? We just need to bring him back. Keep an eye on him. Once he goes into an alley, we'll invite him along."

He pulled a thick wooden club from behind his back. He had picked it up on the way to the County Seat.

San Shier wailed outside the County Yamen, but it did him no good. County Magistrate Zhang Yaocai had long since grown sick of him and remained unmoved no matter how much he cried. He even sent out two bailiffs to give San Shier a thrashing, leaving his face bruised and swollen.

After that beating, San Shier knew the County Magistrate's mind was made up. With a long sigh, he left the County Yamen, walked some distance along the main street, then turned into an alley, intending to take a shortcut home.

He had barely gone a few steps into the alley when a young man appeared ahead of him, holding a thick wooden club. San Shier jumped in fright and hurriedly turned to flee the way he had come, only to find three more young men blocking that end of the alley.

San Shier was badly startled. His gaze swept over the four young men, and he immediately identified them as impoverished peasants. He hastily raised his hands and spoke in a rush. "Don't hit me! I'm on your side! It's the County Magistrate who keeps squeezing you for taxes. It has nothing to do with me! I... I've always urged him not to impose such heavy taxes. This is what they call [seeking justice for the people]!"

Gao Chuwu gave an honest, simple smile. "Huh? Really?"

San Shier hurried on. "It's true! He threw me out and refused to employ me anymore precisely because I spoke up for you. This is what they call [sacrificing oneself utterly]!"

Gao Chuwu scratched his head. "I don't understand what you're saying, but you certainly sound educated."

San Shier said, "Yes, yes, yes! I'm a learned man. You mustn't treat me so roughly. Put down that club, and let's talk this over calmly. This is what they call [laying down arms and dispersing the warhorses]!"

Gao Chuwu grinned. "Educated is exactly what we want. We're here to invite a learned man. Please come with us to Gao Family Village."

San Shier said, "Huh? Where's Gao Family Village? I... I'm not going! I don't want to go! This is what they call [going to-"

Thwack! A club struck the back of his head. San Shier collapsed without so much as a grunt.

The young villager behind him lowered his club. "I don't know why, but listening to him makes me want to hit him. Those expressions he keeps tacking on are so annoying. I can't understand a word of them."

Gao Chuwu grinned. "Yeah, I was just about to hit him myself."

The four chuckled. Two of them propped San Shier up between them, and they headed out of the County Seat as fast as they could.

As they walked, a squad of bailiffs approached along the street ahead. From a distance, they spotted four peasants supporting a "rich man" in a long gown. The "rich man's" head hung down, and he seemed to have fainted. The bailiffs immediately fixed their attention on them.

No matter how you looked at it, this seemed like poor men robbing and kidnapping a rich man.

One bailiff shouted, "You four! What are you doing?"

Gao Chuwu and his companions were in the middle of a kidnapping. The instant they saw the bailiffs, their courage deserted them. All four trembled, their first instinct to run.

Then something interesting happened. After taking a closer look, the bailiff actually recognized Gao Chuwu and recoiled in shock. "You... Gao... you're from Gao Family Village!"

Gao Chuwu looked closely and recognized the bailiff too. "You're the bailiff from yesterday?"

As it turned out, this was the bailiff who had gone to Gao Family Village to collect taxes yesterday, only for Li Daoxuan to pinch him between two fingers and lift him into the air.

Yesterday's events had scared him witless. He had not slept a wink after returning, terrified that the "Heavenly Deity" would punish him. He had been on edge and beside himself with fear ever since. Now he did not dare leave town at all, and only ventured onto the streets with several colleagues backing him up.

Behind him were the four bailiffs Li Daoxuan had blown away with a single breath yesterday. They were equally terrified. The five were walking together now simply to bolster one another's courage.

None of them had expected to suddenly encounter people from Gao Family Village on a street in the County Seat.

Could... could the Heavenly Deity have sent them to watch us and check whether we've told anyone about him?

All five bailiffs turned pale with fear.

Gao Chuwu was badly frightened too. He stammered, "Our... this... friend fainted from the heat. We're helping him down to the river to wash his face."

The five bailiffs stammered back, "Then... please... go ahead... About yesterday, we haven't... said a single word to anyone..."

Both sides shook and trembled as they passed each other in the street.

The moment they had passed, the five bailiffs took to their heels. Gao Chuwu and his companions did the same, the two groups fleeing in opposite directions and leaving clouds of dust behind.