C165

Chapter 165 - Misfortune

Xiao Letian was indeed putting on a show, he was just trying to win the hearts of others, there was no doubt about it. But Xiao Letian believed that in the end of the dynasty, where he was too lazy to show off, his actions would not be in vain. As long as you work hard enough, the people will always be touched.

Actually, when Xiao Letian had left, he had already seen the kindness in the eyes of countless villagers. Although it was hidden very deeply, he could still feel it.

It was a pity that this was a good villager who was taught by the Confucians. Huang Liu's threat was extremely terrifying, no family dared to take the risk of being abandoned by the imperial examinations, because that was the dream of all Chinese.

Xiao Letian left, Scholar Huang also left, all the gathered at the entrance of the village looked at the mountain of firewood and grass, and shook their heads and sighed. When some chatty kids secretly took a few pieces of dried wood and carried them home, what they got in return was a chorus of scoldings from adults.

"F * ck you, did you want to go to school or not? Didn't the Elementary Scholar say he wasn't allowed to touch the firewood?" "Throw it back quickly …" Countless of parents were guarding against these firewood like they were against tides and beasts, afraid that the Scholar Huang's spies would notice.

The sky gradually darkened, after Xiao Letian performed two more rounds in the other two villas, the northwest wind was already bigger and bigger. By the time they were ready to return home, the sky was already filled with tiny snowflakes.

"Looks like what I said wasn't wrong. There's going to be heavy snow tonight. I hope these villagers won't be too stubborn, or else they'll suffer tonight …" Xiao Letian rubbed her hands together with her numb ears.

"Sir, why are you wasting your breath on them? This bunch of ignorant fools, their brains are filled with water. They deserve it even if they get frozen …" The guards said unwillingly.

The bald guards by Xiao Letian's side had all fought alongside him in the Ryukyu, and during the two months of reconstruction, they had received quite a bit of new education. Especially since these people had seen the sea and the world outside the country, their horizons could be considered very wide.

These guards snorted at the Tanggu people's superstitious legends. This group of ignorant bumpkins were full of nonsense.

Xiao Letian slapped the guard's head, which was full of nonsense. "Bullsh * t!" You think you're good? Who was it that was so scared that his legs were trembling the first time he boarded the ship? When the typhoon didn't you also shout, "Bless you, Dragon King"? "You've seen the world, and are beginning to laugh at people who are not as good as you. Look at how great you are …"

The guards burst into laughter, and the kid who was beaten blushed. Xiao Letian looked at everyone and said, "Wanting to let the people accept new things is something that they cannot rush. It cannot be beaten, scolded, or panicked, and does not allow them to change their thoughts from the bottom of their hearts.

"Today's snow, I hope for a bigger snowfall. The bigger the snow, the higher the success rate of my plan. Let's see …" Come, let's go back and eat. Tonight, everyone will have a catty of good wine.

Xiao Letian had gone home to eat, but these three dejected villas were still shrouded in desolation. There were no more than ten households in the village that could open fire to make dinner. The people helped each other and finally managed to make up for a half-warm dinner. However, when the northwest wind grew larger, people finally knew how hard winter was going to be.

As the north wind blew, snow began to fall through the cracks in the doors. People huddled together in the blankets, trying to keep out the cold. At this moment, people were extremely nostalgic about the hot brick bed. If people stuffed a handful of straw into the furnace, as long as the fire burned down, the entire room would warm up.

But today, the villagers of the three villages were guarding the small mountain of firewood. No one dared to use it, as they were all scared, and no one dared to disobey Scholar Huang's threat. Facing the cold night, all the villagers chose to endure.

In the Huang Clan Manor not far away, Huang Liu was holding a cup of warm yellow wine and watching the wind and snow outside the window with his concubine beside him.

"According to Young Master's orders, I sent someone to check again this evening. No one dared to secretly use those firewood, and I've just seen it. There's no smoke coming out of these villages. They probably won't have a hot bed to burn tonight …" "Look at how difficult it is to get these people to set fire to the fire, don't you think the blizzard will be too much for them to bear …"

The steward seemed to be rather shrewd and actually knew how to persuade her. But Huang Liu became angry upon hearing that, "What are you talking about? Spreading the net aside, dreaming! If I burn the fire today, wouldn't I have to sell the land tomorrow as well? "You must remember, this is a battle of life and death for our Confucianism …"

"In the face of western learning, we have to not let a single inch, starving to death, big trouble. Let me tell you this, if we can successfully create the Tanggu, then we will have to double the size in less than two years. At that time, our home will have to be surrounded as well. What are we going to wear? "Confused …"

Huang Liu scolded the butler, causing him to sweat profusely. In the end, he nodded his head and left the room, leaving Scholar Huang and his concubine behind. "Come, come, little darling, come and get this grandpa a leather cup …" Then, the sound of a woman laughing and kissing came from the room. The fire from the brazier was burning in the corner of the room. It was so hot that the apron could not be worn anymore.

The deeper the night went, the harder the snow got. Xiao Letian who had enjoyed delicious food and wine sat in his study, and the person kneeling in front of him was the Jiao Si'er who had come to perform.

"Greetings to old master..." This was the land deed that he had received today. The three manors had a total of 300 mu of land, it was a perfect start! "Master, don't worry. Within a month, you'll definitely get your hands on one thousand mu of land for the old master …"

Xiao Letian nodded his head: "Not bad, although you were a little arrogant before, but you still have to put in effort when doing things, go find Dragon Lord later to get the 300 mu of silver!"

"Many thanks for the lord's reward. This servant has kowtowed to you …" Jiao Si'er could be considered as having milk as his mother. Now that Xiao Letian had a large amount of silver in his hands, he was even more intimate than his own father. What kind of bullsh * t Ministry of Internal Affairs mission was this?

Xiao Letian smiled obsequiously, then asked, "There's still the seven hundred mu of mission later, I wonder if you have any miraculous methods?"

"This grandpa will watch. Against these lowly commoners, we'll have the complete set of family heirloom …" Jiao Si'er reported to Xiao Letian in a flattering manner.

Just as he was betting with Xiao Letian, the henchmen from Beijing had already started their second step of their plan. A few figures within the snow and wind were stealthily approaching these ice-cold villages.

"Quick, quick, quick..." The snow was too heavy. If he didn't hurry up, the road would be sealed. When that time came, he wouldn't be able to run even if he wanted to … "You two village's east, you three west, and the rest come with me. We will follow the courtyard we identified earlier in the day, and after we succeed, we will each run away and return to the city to meet up …"

Under the command of the leader, these figures disappeared into the darkness of the village. At almost the same time, the village watchdogs started barking. Perhaps because they were cold and hungry, the dogs could not even bark.

The wealthier families in the village, with oxen and horses tied up in the barns, became the target of the attacker. A few figures flashed on the walls of the barns, followed by several rays of black light that flew out.

The flying Wu Guang was as fast as snow as an axe. The high speed spinning axe was directly aimed at the large animal, the heavy iron weapon instantly cut through flesh, the blade edge embedded into the bone.

This time, the pot exploded. The docile old Yellow Ox snapped the rope with a 'moo' and smashed its head into the room. Half of the mud wall had collapsed from the impact. Some of them had their necks cut off by blades, while some of them had their heads hit, causing chaos in the fleeing village.

"Retreat …" "Hurry up and retreat …" The ambushers didn't hesitate to run outside the village. When the villagers came out from under the hot blankets, only their backs were left standing.

The village was already in a complete mess. The cries and curses from the village shot up into the sky, looking at the dead large animal s. Many of the elderly couldn't take the blows and fainted right then and there in the snow.

"What a wicked person, what a wicked person …" "Is this still letting us live? Animals, even animals are worse than animals …"

"Let's report it to the officials, we can only report it to the officials. It must be those foreigners from this morning, let's go to the The yamen of the same knowledge to report to the officials, those bunch of rascals!"

The hot-blooded youngsters took up hoes, forks, sickles and the like and were about to rush towards the Tanggu City, but the Village Chief stopped them.

"What do you all want? What do you all want? Do you want to rebel? Since it's already curfew in the city at night, you guys are planning to rebel by raiding people into the city. When that happens, the Old Master can send troops to suppress you.

"Those bastards are waiting for you to cause trouble. After that, they can naturally arrest you. At that time, you guys will also have to sell your houses and land …"

The village chief's words were reasonable, but youngsters were not someone who could be stopped with a word or two. Looking at the large animal twitching in its pool of blood, all of them cried in pain.

"These animals are the life of our entire village. Big fellows depend on these animals to plow the ground in the early spring. Killing them is like killing my family. Without them, what should we do?" "How can we live next year …"

In the time of late Qing, there were not many doctors who could treat humans, let alone veterinarians, even if there were veterinarians, it would still be useless for them to do so. This kind of deep, bone-deep wound could not be treated at all.

"I won't be able to live this long …" Finally, someone broke down. A woman in the crowd ran out like she couldn't take the blows anymore. "I'm going back to my parents' home. I can't live anymore. How can I live …" In the end, he tripped over something and fell flat on his face.

The woman sank into the snow. She didn't get up, but continued to cry. Soon after, the crowd began to cry as well.

"The old people and the children and the women all go home and all the men form a team... Tomorrow morning, I will enter the city. I will go to The yamen of the same knowledge to complain, I don't believe that there is no law under the heavens! " The Village Chief said harshly.