Back to the Beginning of Ming to do Charity

Chapter 45: Hope

*Edited by LazyCat

Zhang Jiusi stood in the crowd. He originally only wanted to have his friends and neighbors live a good life, but he didn't know how it had turned into a rebellion. Now the arrow was on the string and there was no choice but to let it fly because if they retreat, the consequences will only be worse.

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The salt people have weapons in their handsweapons of all kinds, including wooden sticks, kitchen knives, and even a metal pot.

They rushed into the salt supervisor Qiu Yi's house, and in the midst of the fervor chopped off his head, and then rushed towards the government office collectively.

Zhang Jiusi didn't even know the name of the person standing next to him.

But the other person rushed to him and said: "Don't dawdle! Hurry up!"

Zhang Jiusi opened his mouth to speak, but the other said: "You actually have a knife! Do you still have more? Let me borrow one."

It took Zhang Jiusi a long time to find his voice: "This is a rebellion, are you not afraid?"

The other person: "What am I afraid of?! Either way it's death, death from exhaustion or death from rebellion. I would rather choose rebellion. If it succeeds, I will be able to live a good life in the future, and I will no longer suffer from abuse by the supervisors!"

The people around heard them and responded: "That's right, the damn court won't give us a chance at living. The government officials have meat and fish at every meal, what care do they have for the livelihood of the people? They are just a bunch of thieves and prostitutes. What about petitioning for the rights of the commoners?"

"Such an official! Deserve to die!"

"Yes! Deserve to die!"

The people were united and chanted at every step of the way. The people nearby heard that they were all followers of the South Bodhisattva, and they heard that they wanted to go to the government office to get justice. Many people also took to the streets, but most families only dare to send one representative or even none at all. There were also suffering people from the lowest class who rushed out of their homes to join in.

With such a big commotion, the city government naturally also called in personnel. Xinghua's permanent troops were only a thousand, and their equipment had not been replaced for many years. Ordinary soldiers have no armor, just plain cloth. Only the qian hu (TN: equivalent to a legatus legionis/legion commander in the Roman army) wore armor and an iron helmet.

"Qian hu! The people are here!"

Qian hu Tonglaga sternly said: "What are you afraid of! How can a bunch of insignificant worms be on par with the warriors of my Great Yuan!"

"Kill them all without exception!"

They stayed guarding outside the government office, waiting for the opponent to rush over.

Compared with the salt people, they have at least normal weapons, as well as a better physique.

However, there were a large number of salt people, and many soldiers were anxious.

The soldiers dared not speak loudly, only speaking quietly amongst themselves.

They came from military households and have not fought battles for so many years. Just like wolves who have never seen blood, their predatory nature had been obliterated, and there was more anxiety than excitement.

By this time, Lin Yuan and Yang Zi'an had joined up together.

Lin Yuan brought more than a thousand people, and combined with the salt people and common people, at least three thousand upwards, but there was no time to count the exact number of people at this time.

After the two sides merged, the momentum became even greater. Everyone on Lin Yuan's side was wearing vine armor and holding long knives in their hands. They knew what they were going to do now. Everyone had a solemn expression. The salt people followed behind them and could naturally feel a sense of security.

They stood outside the government office, and the people on Lin Yuan's side blocked the salt people who wanted to rush past.

Yang Zi'an shouted towards them: "Disarm and surrender, and those who follow will not be killed!"

Tonglaga yelled angrily: "You group of treasonous thieves! This qian hu will take your life!"

The soldiers did not dare to move, standing on the spot, holding their weapons, and waiting for the battle to start.

After a stick of incense, Lin Yuan ordered: "Do it."

In the dark night, relying on torches and candles was not enough to illuminate everything clearly. Tonglaga was currently waiting for the other party to attack, but only a dozen sparks flew towards them. Before they could recognize what it was, they saw fire falling to the ground, and a loud noise echoing in their ears.

The flames exploded, the roar was harsh, and the iron pieces shot out in all directions. The soldiers in plain clothes became targets of the iron pieces, and the screams resounded into the night.

Yang Zi'an shouted again: "Surrender or die!"

The soldiers were frightened by this development and dared not move.

Tonglaga was also hit by the iron pieces, and said with a grim look: "Who dares to retreat! Whoever retreats will die! Punished by military law!"

Chen Baisong raised his knife and shouted: "Brothers, follow me!"

Zhu Yuanzhang kept up with: "The old and new hatred will all be settled today!"

Everyone could see that the opposite side was at a disadvantage, and it was time to take them down in one go. At this time, the emotions of the salt people and the common people were already extremely high, and they all rushed forward as if they were injected by chicken blood (TN: term to use for extremely excited or energetic).

Xinghua was after all a small city with not much armed forces. They say the forces number more than a thousand people but in fact, it was not bad if there were even 500 people.

The battle could only be a one-sided beating.

When everything subsided, the sky was already bright and the streets foggy.

Lin Yuan had people cook porridge directly on the side of the road, mixed grain porridge, with beans and wild vegetables, and some aged rice. The cooked rice was more like a mash, but no one complained about this. In a world where many people were hungry, having food to eat was already very good.

"All in one go." Lin Yuan said, "take Taizhou directly."

Taizhou's military strength was originally not much, so it was more convenient to take advantage of this opportunity to capture the whole of Taizhou.

Chen Baisong thought so too: "We line the people up at noon, gather the troops and issue weapons."

Zhu Yuanzhang also said: "If we let them rest after this victory, I am afraid that they will slack off."

People were talking in a low voice while collecting their porridge.

"No wonder he is the Southern Bodhisattva. I saw a flash of fire just now, but I didn't expect such a big commotion."

"It all exploded!"

"My heart is now more at ease."

"The South Bodhisattva also had people cook porridge. How much grain is needed, there are so many people here."

"So I said, it is definitely better to follow the South Bodhisattva than to follow the damn court!"

"Now there is porridge mash to eat, maybe in a few years, we will have meat!"

They were looking forward to a bright future, although this bright future may only be able to feed their stomachs and eat meat in a few years.

After the discussion, Lin Yuan stayed in Xinghua City to soothe the people, while Yang Zi'an and the others led people to directly attack the provincial government office in Taizhou.

"You must be careful in everything." Lin Yuan said, "If the enemy is too strong, don't force yourselves."

Yang Zi'an smiled and said, "This is natural."

Most of the people left in Xinghua were children and women. They all took to the streets after things calmed down. They heard that porridge was being handed out, so they brought their bowls and walked to the porridge place to get a share and drank it immediately on the side.

Most of the wealthy households dare not go out and only stayed at home. But there were also smart wealthy households who came out and voluntarily brought with them their food supply.

The food was equivalent to guaranteeing the safety of their lives.

One wealthy household came out, and soon a dozen households came out.

But there were also people who didn't want to move. These kinds of wealthy households were rather unlucky. Lin Yuan sent people to guard at the door of such wealthy households. They didn't do or say anything, just guarded the residence until the other party handed over the grains.

Lin Yuan also knew that at this time he absolutely cannot turn a blind eye to these wealthy households. According to historical records, Zhang Shicheng and his men broke into the wealthy households and murdered and set fires, stealing all the money and food.

It was conceivable just how much the salt people hated the rich households. Now he only asked the rich households to hand over the grains. On one hand it was to calm the anger of the salt people, and on the other it was to protect the lives of these rich households.

Xinghua couldn't get in or out now, and the wealthy people with a bit of brain knew that it was time to bow their heads.

Not only did some send food, but they also sent people, handing over all their servants to Lin Yuan.

Among them, there was a family surnamed Zhao, who was especially courageous, and had almost handed over all his belongings.

Zhao Zirong stood opposite Lin Yuan. He had just handed over all the food, valuables and servants at his home to Lin Yuan, and finally got the opportunity to talk to Lin Yuan.

"I never thought that the South Bodhisattva was a young man." Zhao Zirong appeared very cultured and elegant with a smile on his face.

Lin Yuan also laughed: "Zhao Gongzi is noble and righteous."

Zhao Zirong also said: "Zhao is not talented, but he has a few close friends. Whatever the South Bodhisattva wants, just open your mouth, and I will have it sent to you."

This was a person who knew the current affairs and knew when to hug whose thighs.

Lin Yuan nodded and said, "I won't be courteous with Zhao Gongzi."

Food and money were of course necessities.

Lin Yuan would naturally not refuse these people who send them.

As for the ones who don't send themdid they have the ability to not do so?

The wealthy families in Xinghua all bled heavily (TN: expression for their material losses). Lin Yuans people were at the door and they were constantly frightened. But soon they found that as long as they gave money and food, nothing happened, and the people at the door also left.

Naturally, they also started to send on their own.

But some people only gave a little.

People outside also took it, but they continued to stand at the door.

There was no way but to continue to hand over everything until their stores were emptied.

It was quite an eye opener for Lin Yuan when he saw the food delivered by the rich.

Adding these grains together, it was enough food for four to five thousand people to eat for half a year.

The wealthy households have already started to store grains. These grains included coarse grains and fine grains, as well as new and old grains.

And this was only the wealthy households in Xinghua.

What if it was all the wealthy households in Taizhou?

Lin Yuan felt that he could now see the signs of being able to collect all the food he will need for his plans.

He did not hate the rich, nor did he think that the rich should bear the responsibilities that others do not have to bear.

But now he was no longer alone and only needed to care for himself. There were so many people under him who needed to eat, and the crops in the ground will not grow in a day.

The only way now was to search and seize from wealthy households to support his own people.

What he could only do was to protect the lives of these wealthy households.

The side he was standing for was that of the salt people, not that of the rich.

The salt people believe in him and were willing to support him because he could provide benefits to them.

If he couldn't

Lin Yuan had been busy soothing the people's hearts all day.

Even Er Liang was sent out to deal with the people.

"The South Bodhisattva is here, so you definitely don't have to endure hardship in the future. You all don't have to worry, this is the intention of the heavens."

"That's right, if we don't rebel, we would still be living a hard life, without enough food or warm clothes, and with just a word from the officials and lords above you could lose even your life."

The women were still a little worried. They sat together, waiting for their husbands, brothers, and fathers to return.

"We will be a family from now on, so don't worry."

"That's right, you must have not seen the battle just now. The dogs of the court have no power to resist."

As they talked back and forth, the people's hearts also slowly settled.

In the evening, Lin Yuan and the others moved into Zhao Zirong's house. This Zhao Gongzi had great wealth and was also excellent at socializing and presenting himself. It was the first time that Lin Yuan had seen a traditional manor this large.

The words richly ornamented were used for talking about such a house.

Sure enough, no matter what era or world, rich people will still have a good life.

Everyday leading a luxurious lifestyle, ordinary people couldn't even imagine what it was like.

He didn't know how long it would take to fight over there. The essence of war was simple to describe, it was but two groups of people fighting back and forth, and whoever was the stronger will win.

But when one look into the details, either winning or losing would still result in having to pay the price of human life. It would always be a cruel matter.

This had been the case since ancient times.

Every dynasty was filled with the sacrifice of countless lives from beginning to end.

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Yang Er was an ordinary salt miner, and his parents were also salt miners. From birth, his fate had been decided.

He had been boating salt since he was a teenager, relying on his meager wages to make a living. The salt supervisors deducted his wages, but he could only endure it as well as the beating and scolding. He sold salt privately with his brothers to the big households in the city. They took the salt, but were unwilling to give the money, threatening that they were going to report to the court for theft. If he did not agree they would beat and scold him.

It was often the case he did not have enough food to eat, and sometimes had to rely on his brothers for relief.

Yang Er didn't believe it when he first learned of the South Bodhisattva.

If there were gods and Buddhas in this world, why have they suffered for so many years, but the gods and Buddhas have turned a blind eye to them and never listened to believers?

But the people around slowly believed.

He asked them: "If there is a South Bodhisattva, why doesn't he show up in front of us at this moment and come to help us?"

Those people said: "There are so many people in the world who are suffering. Even if he is the South Bodhisattva he will also have moments where he cannot tend to all. And now that he has thought of us and came to save us how can you still blame him for not coming fast enough?"

As he asked, he gradually felt that what the others said was reasonable. He also began to hope for the arrival of May.

Yang Er had been waiting like this, and then he heard someone say that from the Yellow River someone had dug out a one-eyed stone person. This was the heavens telling them to rebel against the Yuan.

One-eyed stone person! Yang Er remembered the rumors.

Provoke the Yellow River, the world rebels!

This was the heavens telling them to rebel!

If they rebel, they would no longer need to listen to the court, no more struggling to survive, and no need to suffer abuse.

They could live a good life.

But Yang Er didn't dare to speak out, he only dared to think about it in his heart.

After all, rebellion was a serious crime punished by decapitation.

But at this time, Yang Er stood in the crowd with an axe in his hand and felt very calm.

The day originally envisaged had finally arrived.

Finally, he no longer had to worry about whether there will be food in the pot tomorrow, and whether he will survive next year.

"Charge!" Someone in front was shouting.

Yang Er rushed out.

He brandished an axe, wondering if he hit anyone.

There were screams and shouts in his ear, and he didn't know if it was from the person on the opposite side or from their side.

When swinging the axe, Yang Er didn't think about anything.

There were more and more people in front of him.

He felt a pain in his chest, but he still raised his axe and hit the opponent.

The person in front of him fell down, and he also fell down.

The blood in his chest flowed all over the ground, and Yang Er's eyes could only see black spots, groping for his axe on the ground.

That axe was the only valuable thing in his family.

He was a little panicked and opened his mouth to talk, but vomited a mouthful of blood.

It was a bit painful.

Yang Er touched his chest.

His chest felt wet.

Yang Er suddenly realized, he was stabbed in the chest.

Yang Er lay on his back on the ground, looking at the sky above his head.

Was he going to die?

Yang Er thought.

He had not eaten a few meals of meat, hadn't worn good clothes, hadn't married a wife, and hadn't left a descendant. Will he just die like this?

He thought again, fortunately, he didn't marry a wife, or she would be a widow.

He thought about a lot of things, and gradually lost consciousness.

He hoped that in his next life, he could be reborn in a good family and live a good life.

"Kill! Kill them!"

Chen Baisong was raising a long knife in the crowd. The knife was stained with blood. His own face was covered with blood, and there were large and small wounds on his body. His expression was cold and stern, like a Raksha who came up from the underworld. His whole person exuded a savage aura, and the people next to him seemed to have been infected by him, and they all rushed forward as if they had no care for their lives.

He had been a bandit, and the people around him were originally from his villa.

Although these people were not wicked men, but they could also be considered as having experienced many battles. Compared with the salt people and the common people, they knew better where the enemy's vital points were and how they could protect themselves to the greatest extent.

Especially since they were now wearing the vine armor that they did not have before and holding knives in their hands that were also very sharp.

The team led by Chen Baisong was like a hungry evil spirit.

They cut a gap in the court's army and opened a way for those behind.

Once the gap was opened, it was difficult to close it again.

Zhu Yuanzhang rushed in with more people.

When the battle ended, it was already the next night.

The ground was covered with corpses. They cut off the head of Zhao Lian, the provincial head, and announced that Taizhou had changed ownership.

When Lin Yuan learned the news, he immediately got up from his chair and asked the person who sent the message: "How many people died?"

The person quickly said: "It hasn't been counted yet."

"Take a good inventory, and bury the bodies. Don't let them lay out in the wilderness."

"Yes!"

Lin Yuan's mood was a bit complicated. He sat in his seat and fell motionless into thought.

After capturing Taizhou, the next step was to capture Gaoyou.

There will be sacrifices at every step, but there will also be gains.

"There is a lot of grain in the granary of the government." Chen Baisong drank a sip of cold tea and said to Lin Yuan, "Zhu Yuanzhang and the others are still taking inventory, I arrived back ahead of the others."

Lin Yuan frowned and looked at Chen Baisong's injuries: "You haven't dealt with these injuries yet?"

Chen Baisong: "I won't die."

Lin Yuan choked speechlessly, and said after a while, "Take off your clothes, I will apply the medicine."

Chen Baisong smiled and said, "Young master, I have received more serious injuries, this is nothing."

Lin Yuan rolled up his sleeves: "Am I the young master, or are you the young master? Are we listening to me or listening to you?"

Chen Baisong: "Listening to you, listening to you."

So Chen Baisong stood up and took off his clothes.

Fortunately, it was already May, and had entered summer. Although it was not too hot, it was still warm, and one won't catch a cold when unclothed.

Lin Yuan held medicated powder in his hand and had Er Liang get a pot of hot water.

Chen Baisong was tall and had hard muscles, but he didn't appear to be rough or boorish looking. The muscles were solid and powerful but also lean, don't know how he got them.

Lin Yuan looked at it and felt very envious, almost drooling at Chen Baisong's muscles.

He had trained for so long on his own, and now he only had four pack abs, and they weren't that obvious either.

Just as Lin Yuan wiped the wound on Chen Baisong's shoulder with a cloth moistened with hot water, Chen Baisong's body began to tremble.

Lin Yuan: "What are you shaking for?"

Chen Baisong coughed: "Itches."

Lin Yuan: "Did I touch your tickle spot?"

Chen Baisong said: "You can continue, I can bear it."

Lin Yuan switched to his arm this time.

Chen Baisong continued to shake.

"Still itchy?" Lin Yuan asked strangely.

"Do you have tickle spots all over?"

Chen Baisong said: "It won't be itchy if you wipe a little harder. You are too light so I feel itchy."

Lin Yuan: "You have an injury, and if I put pressure on it, you will feel pain."

Chen Baisong: "I have rough skin and won't feel any pain."

Lin Yuan had no choice but to wipe a little harder, and Chen Baisong stopped shaking.

"Are you afraid when you fight?" Lin Yuan asked.

Chen Baisong shook his head: "What's so scary about this, I'm used to it."

"When was the first time you murdered?" Lin Yuan spilled the medicinal powder on the wound.

Chen Baisong took a breath: "Three years ago, I met a robber on the road."

Lin Yuan: "Were you afraid?"

Chen Baisong rubbed his neck: "I had a nightmare for a few nights, and I always felt that he was coming to me in the middle of the night."

"Later, after killing more, I didn't feel afraid anymore. If I don't kill them, then they will kill me."

Lin Yuan looked at the scars on Chen Baisong's upper body, both on his chest and back. Except for this new injury, almost all of them were old scars.

The image was quite ferocious looking. Chen Baisong didn't even need to exert any force but the muscles on his arms were still visible.

He still had a thin sweat on his body and his hair was slightly wet.

"You can take a good rest during this time." Lin Yuan said, "We will wait two months for the attack on Gaoyou to stabilize Taizhou first."

Some people were already cleaning up the government offices, and most of the salt people also came back, gathering together to share in the porridge.

Because the weather was getting hotter, the food would get rotten if left out for a long time, so it was all eaten before cooking a new pot. The new batch had to be waited on for a while.

But no one rushed them. They were all sitting on the ground, some were drinking water, some were resting on the ground, and the injured were all indoors.

The women Lin Yuan had brought along had also been taken into the city after the battle. They were used to helping take care of the wounded, and their hands and feet were very quick.

At this time, no one paid attention to the social separation of men and women.

Among the poor people, men and women lived under one roof, so it would be a joke to pay attention to such social etiquette.

That was something only wealthy households could pay attention to.

"Those women, they move really fast."

"Yes, my hand was bandaged by them, and they even used medicine."

"What medicine?"

"How do I know? But it doesn't hurt as much after taking the medicine."

When it came to talking about women, they seem to have more energy.

"Those women were brought by South Bodhisattva. They are really energetic. I asked before. They said that they had never been hungry when they were in the farmstead. They had steamed buns every day, and sometimes they could even eat meat."

"They have a really good life."

"You don't know, they eat fish every day, even if there is no fish, there is fish soup."

"There is no shortage of salt either."

"Now that the South Bodhisattva has come to us, can we live like this in the future?"

"Sure! You see, now the South Bodhisattva have people making porridge for us, all hefty portions too! How long has it been since you ate your fill?"

"Before I couldn't even eat one full meal in a year, and lived everyday with my belt tightened. If the hunger got too much, I would drink water, it's just that if you drink too much you would vomit it out, or keep peeing."

When they talked, they all felt that the future was bright.

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As long as there was hope, they could continue to persevere.