Afraid of Them, My Hammer!

San Shier was a little rattled. "Hundreds, even a thousand? What band of outlaws could be that large?"

Mister Bai shook his head and sighed. "Just over half a month ago, Wang Er of Baishui rebelled and stormed the County Seat. You knew about that, didn't you?"

San Shier said, "Of course. That's why I'm hiding in Gao Family Village."

Mister Bai said, "After rebelling, Wang Er immediately took several hundred rebels into the nearby mountains to hide. Patrol Inspector Cheng Xu led his troops after them, but after roaming the mountains for days, he couldn't find so much as Wang Er's shadow."

San Shier said, "..."

Mister Bai heaved a long sigh. "His uprising set a bad example. Riots broke out everywhere, one after another. Many peasants who couldn't pay their taxes followed Wang Er's example and rebelled. Patrol Inspector Cheng Xu has only a hundred or so soldiers under him, and he can't split himself into copies. How could he deal with peasants rebelling in so many places at once? He runs himself ragged all day long. When he presses down the rioters in the east, those in the west rise up; when he presses down those in the west, those in the east rise up... They say he's been sighing a lot lately, saying he's so exhausted he can see his great-grandmother beckoning to him."

At this, Li Daoxuan let out a snort and nearly laughed aloud. Cheng Xu was the military officer I scared off with that female ghost's laughter last time, wasn't he? So he's been playing whack-a-mole everywhere these past few days.

San Shier said, "I've been hiding in this little village lately, cut off from the news, so I hadn't heard. With the commoners rebelling and Patrol Inspector Cheng short of troops, surely he should petition the Imperial Court to send an army to suppress them?"

Mister Bai didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "They did petition! Many officials, local gentry, and members of prominent families jointly submitted petitions. Even I signed one. But Shaanxi Governor Hu Tingyan is old, muddleheaded, and negligent. Afraid his superiors would punish him if they learned about this, he's done everything he can to conceal it. Why would he report it? He had everyone who petitioned for help given twenty strokes of the rod and driven out of the governor's office. He even said, 'These are merely starving commoners. Let them plunder until next spring, and they will settle down of their own accord.' Does that sound like something a human being would say?"

San Shier froze, at a loss for words.

Beside him, Gao Chuwu asked curiously, "'Let them plunder until next spring, and they will settle down of their own accord'? I didn't understand that."

Mister Bai glanced at Gao Chuwu. Seeing a young peasant with thick brows and large eyes, he couldn't be bothered with him.

San Shier, however, explained quietly, "It means letting the rebels rob whoever they please. Once spring comes next year, they'll naturally stop robbing people and go home to plant their crops."

Gao Chuwu said, "!!!"

The villagers beside him said, "!!!"

Everyone was instantly speechless...

Several seconds later, Gao Chuwu flew into a rage. "So if I grab a knife right now and go out robbing everyone I see, nobody will stop me? I'll rob people until next spring, come back to plant crops, and be a law-abiding citizen again?"

No one answered him, but the grim expressions on San Shier's and Mister Bai's faces gave him an affirmative answer.

Gao Chuwu said, "Then I might as well fucking rebel too."

With a smack, Gao Yiye slapped Gao Chuwu. "Brother Chuwu, snap out of it! Has your anger cooked your brain?"

Gao Chuwu said, "..."

After that slap from the Holy Maiden, Gao Chuwu calmed down. The people of Gao Family Village didn't need to go out robbing anyone. They had the Heavenly Venerable's protection. Besides, the Heavenly Venerable disliked burning, killing, and pillaging. His attitude toward outlaws was to flatten them into meat patties, one slap apiece.

If Gao Chuwu became an outlaw himself, he might well be the next meat patty.

With a dark expression, Mister Bai said, "The governor won't deal with it, won't report it, and won't send troops. Word soon spread, and once the rebels heard, they grew even more brazen and their numbers kept swelling. In just half a month, several bands of roving outlaws have sprung up, each numbering hundreds, even a thousand, rampaging through all the surrounding villages. Anyone willing to join them gets swept along, while anyone unwilling is slaughtered and robbed of everything."

Everyone said, "..."

Just as their conversation reached this point, the bandits outside the walls suddenly began clamoring.

Before long, a man emerged from the crowd of bandits, craned his neck, and shouted toward Gao Family Village, "What rich man built this walled town? Tell him to come out and talk."

The villagers all turned their eyes toward Gao Yiye.

Seeing this, Gao Yiye was about to step forward, but San Shier blocked her. "Miss Gao, you are the Holy Maiden. Speaking to these people would demean your standing, and demeaning you means demeaning the Heavenly Venerable. We mustn't do that. Let me do the talking. You need only relay the Heavenly Venerable's commands."

Gao Yiye said nothing more and stood quietly.

San Shier stepped to the front and called loudly, "What insolent rabble dares encroach on our Gao Family Village? Get lost!"

Having served as a secretary for many years, he carried a natural air of authority when facing ordinary commoners.

The outlaws didn't know San Shier either. Assuming he was the wealthy gentleman who had built this town, they shouted, "You're the one in charge here, then? Good! You have one hour to hand over ten shi of grain, and we'll spare your worthless life. Otherwise, every brave man in our stronghold will come, and we'll make this little town crumble into dust just like White Family Fort."

Li Daoxuan was amused. These fellows aren't charging straight in. They're threatening and negotiating instead, which means they're already afraid of this wall. They know breaching a wall twenty feet high would be difficult, would cost them heavy casualties, and might even be impossible. So rather than attack outright, they're trying to get grain through intimidation.

This was what people meant by, "When your fist is big enough, others will listen to reason."

Gao Family Village's great wall had turned outlaws who never listened to reason into outlaws who did.

San Shier turned to Mister Bai. "Do they really have that many men?"

Mister Bai said, "A great many. Hundreds, even a thousand. I don't know the exact number. All I know is that when they attacked, they covered the earth and blotted out the sky. My White Family Fort couldn't hold them off at all."

San Shier said, "What do you think, Mister Bai? Should we give them grain or defend the walls?"

Mister Bai paused, looked outside, then turned to survey Gao Family Village. The towering wall gave him a little confidence, but the villagers defending it didn't look very capable. One glance told him they had little combat experience. They weren't even as good as his own few dozen household guards.

After thinking for a few seconds, he said quietly, "If you have grain to spare, give them ten shi and avert the disaster. That would be the best course. Once this storm has passed, I'll send you twenty shi of grain as thanks from the Bai family. As you know, of the Six Arts of a gentleman, I'm particularly attentive to propriety."

San Shier didn't answer him. Instead, he turned toward Gao Yiye, his eyes plainly asking for her decision.

Mister Bai was slightly taken aback. Eh? Third Secretary isn't in charge here? This young woman is? Who on earth is she?

Gao Yiye tilted her head to listen, then raised her voice. "The Heavenly Venerable says, 'Afraid of them, my hammer!'"

Everyone said, "..."

Third Madam wiped the sweat from her brow and said quietly, "Holy Maiden, when speaking on the Heavenly Venerable's behalf, you ought to choose more refined wording."

Gao Yiye said, "Those were the Heavenly Venerable's exact words. Afraid of them, my hammer."

Third Madam said, "..."

An uncanny stiffness hung over them. Several seconds later, Gao Chuwu suddenly threw back his head and roared with laughter. "Hahahaha! Hahahaha! The Heavenly Venerable has spoken! Afraid of them, my hammer!"

Zheng Daniu laughed loudly too. "Exactly, exactly! Afraid of them, my hammer!"

The two blacksmiths raised their sledgehammers. "Afraid of them, my hammer!"

The villagers dropped to their knees with a series of thuds, bowed toward the sky, and shouted in unison, "Afraid of them, my hammer!"

Over a hundred people shouted the same words together, their voices ringing so loudly that every bandit outside was stunned. What's wrong with this village? They're spitting on the respect we're offering? Refusing a toast only to drink the wine of punishment?

Mister Bai was utterly dumbfounded too. "What... is going on? This village of yours... isn't there something a little strange about it?"