Chapter 105 Bandits Attack

"Miss Xu Liu keeps talking about industry, but what exactly is industry? How is it different from agriculture?"

"For thousands of years, society has had only one form of production: agriculture. Our economy is a small-scale peasant economy, a model that barely allows ordinary people to get by. Industry is the next step in building upon agriculture. This concept may be difficult to grasp, so how should I put it..."

Xu Qingying was genuinely hesitant, pondering it over. "Take soap, for example. Soap can barely be considered a form of industry. You can understand it this way: using cheap raw materials and the most advanced technology to create something that sells for a high price is industry. Of course, this advanced technology doesn't refer to craftsmanship like carpentry, but rather requires years of study and the ability to understand and utilize the laws of nature. For example, making a carriage move without human or animal power, or increasing grain production through grafting, breeding, and hybridization, can all be considered industry."

Someone immediately chimed in, "I understand. What Miss Xu is talking about must be some magical technique from heaven!"

Everyone burst into laughter, not taking Xu Qingying's words seriously.

Xu Qingying was not discouraged. After all, this was ancient times when productivity was backward. She said that she was lucky that she was not dragged away and burned to death because of what she said.

She smiled and said, "Think about it. We should always be full of imagination. Who knows, maybe one day it will come true. A thousand years ago, people had never seen water wheels, stone mills, wooden plows, and other agricultural tools. Look at us now. Compared to a thousand years ago, the grain yields from the fields have increased so much. Who can say for sure what the future will hold?"

When everyone heard this, no one objected this time.

Miss Xu is right. Just think about it. There is nothing wrong with thinking about it. What if we can really achieve a yield of 1,000 kilograms per mu in the future?

Then can't they eat white rice and have a full stomach every day?

That... is really a life like a god's!

Grandpa Fang excitedly shouted, "I think Miss Xu is right! As long as we learn math well and grasp the laws of nature and its rules, why can't we take advantage of the laws of nature? Take that math problem we learned a few days ago about storing and releasing water. If it were applied to water conservancy issues, Jinzhou wouldn't have suffered floods this year, and so many people wouldn't have been displaced!"

As soon as Uncle Fang finished speaking, he was kicked in the back by Old Man Fang. Although Old Man Fang was old, he was still in good health. He didn't give Uncle Fang any face at all and just grabbed the back of his collar and walked away.

"Nonsense! Is the way of heaven something we mere mortals can possibly glimpse? You've studied the sage's books for so many years, but what have you learned?" Old Master Fang, carrying Grandpa Fang, was about to leave. Before leaving, he glanced at Xu Qingying with a hint of warning. "If you continue to spread rumors and mislead the public, I'll break your legs!"

Everyone knew that the eldest master of the Fang family was a dissolute person. When they saw that when Mr. Fang got angry and scolded his son, he behaved just like ordinary people like them, they couldn't help but find it funny. For a while, they were all busy watching the fun and no one took these words to heart.

Xu Qingying frowned slightly, wondering what was wrong with what she had just said. Xu Huiming leaned over, his face filled with worry. "Qingying, this so-called Heavenly Dao is the art of the emperor. How can you speak nonsense like that? Fortunately, there aren't many scholars in our team today. If someone with ulterior motives overheard us, they'd accuse us of treason at the very least! Your words are too shocking. Never mention such things again!"

Xu Qingying suddenly realized that in ancient China, the emperor was considered the man of destiny in the universe, possessing supreme authority and ruling status.

They are regarded as representing the destiny of heaven and carrying the will of heaven. Confucianism emphasizes the unity of heaven and man, and believes that heaven is the highest being that governs all things in the world.

The Way of Heaven is the moral law of Heaven and the great way of the universe. It is the wisdom and power that transcends human beings.

The Emperor ruled the world with the Way of Heaven, representing the will of Heaven, yet she actually openly advocated the use of the Way of Heaven—

I really spoke out of turn.

Xu Qingying quickly said, "Thank you for the reminder, brother. I will definitely remember to be more careful with my words and actions in the future."

"We should thank Mr. Fang. If he hadn't caused such a scene just now, everyone would only remember the jokes about him and Mr. Fang tonight, and no one would remember what you said."

Xu Qingying appreciated Mr. Fang's kindness, but she suddenly realized something in her heart. She secretly thought that she must sing the right song in the next mountain to avoid accidentally causing murder.

Xu Qingying suffered from insomnia that night.

She tossed and turned, unable to sleep, not knowing whether it was out of anxiety, uneasiness, or fear and unwillingness.

She knew very well that she did not have the ability to change the world, but she did not want to become numb to the current situation. She was distressed by her own weakness and the cruelty of reality, and she just asked herself over and over again.

What can she do?

Everyone was asleep and everything was silent. Xu Qingying was lying on the kang on her side, her thoughts racing, when she suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves coming closer and closer.

The sound of horse hooves was far away at first, but it got closer and closer, accompanied by a vibration on the ground. Xu Qingying's face changed, and she almost jumped out of bed immediately. Gathering all her strength, she screamed outside: "Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Enemy attack!!!"

As Xu Qingying screamed a warning, the other armed men, including Zhao Bantou and Dazhuang, had already noticed something was amiss. They were the first to jump over, grab their knives, and rush out of the room, shouting, "There are bandits! Kill them now!"

Xu Qingying glanced out the window and saw a group of thirty or forty refugees a hundred meters away. They were holding weapons made of sharpened bamboo poles and were rushing towards their yard silently!

This time everyone woke up.

Someone was beating a gong, making a "dong dong dong" sound to warn people.

There were people running around screaming.

Some people called their friends and rushed out with weapons.

Fortunately, during the day, when Zhao Bantou and his men went up the mountain to look for Liu Jieshi, they cut a lot of branches and sharpened them. They originally wanted to make weapons to deal with bandits on the road, but they didn't expect to use them now.

Xu Degui grabbed his weapon and protected his wife and daughter behind him. "Huiming, protect mother and sister. Qingying, follow me and fight!"

Xu Huiming grabbed Xu Qingying and refused to leave, shouting, "Dad, are you crazy? I'm weak, how can I charge into battle?! I'm a man, let me go! Sister, take mother and hide!"

"Stop arguing! These guys attacked us while we were asleep. They're clearly well prepared. They're determined to take us, and none of us can escape. Instead of running away in pieces, we might as well give it a try!"

Xu Qingying threw Xu Huiming aside, ignoring Xu Degui's shouts. She swiftly picked up the bedside book and rolled it up into a megaphone. She quickly climbed onto the carriage roof and waved her arms at the crowd. "Don't be afraid, everyone. There are only forty of them, and we have a hundred. We can take three against one. The situation is in our favor! Everyone, listen to my orders. The escorts with swords will be in the front. The young and strong will be the second group, assisting the escorts! The women will be at the back—"

Although these more than one hundred people looked like a lot, most of them were just show-offs. In addition, they were suddenly attacked, so they were naturally scared and ran back, and the team was broken up in an instant.

Seeing that just a few dozen bandits rushed into the main courtyard, hacking and killing all the way, they were invincible and forced the more than one hundred people to flee in disarray.

Xu Qingying couldn't help but panic, "Hold steady, don't let the formation get disrupted! Don't be afraid, everyone. They are refugees who haven't eaten for days. They have no strength left, and they rely on their blood! Aunt Zhao, Sister Ma, Sister Feng, Aunt Liu, don't run, it's useless. They will not only kill your men, but also your sons, and later they will rape your daughters. They only have two hands and two feet, and you also have two hands and two feet, so why are you afraid of them?! If you don't want your sons and daughters to end up like this, pick up your weapons!"

"A fight is all about who's willing to die. Hit their vital points! Three women in a group. One will poke him in the eyes, one will kick him in the back, and one will find a way to poke him in the stomach or heart. I don't believe that the three of us can't beat one!"

Zhao Bantou also yelled at the top of his lungs: "Damn it, why are we afraid of them? There are more than a hundred of us and we can't beat forty people! We are all just eating for free! Charge! "

Xu Qingying stood at the highest point, constantly cheering everyone on. The crowd was panicked for a while at first, and then they heard Xu Qingying's shouts.

Madam Fang was still strong and healthy. Although she had lived a life of luxury, she had the fierceness of a daughter of a general. While protecting her two frightened granddaughters behind her, she took up her weapon and shouted, "Come on, if you want to kill me, come and take it if you have the guts!"

Fang Ruyu was already terrified. She stumbled and fell heavily as she ran. Fang Ningmo supported her and shouted, "Sister, let's hide over here, in the water tank!"

"But grandma... grandma is still ahead. What if she gets hurt?!"

Fang Ningmo turned pale with fright, but suddenly he saw several girls of the same age as them forming groups of three.

Li Zhaodi ran past them, leaving behind two bamboo poles. "Miss Xu is right. We can't escape. There are mountains all around us. We'll die if we flee to the mountains. We might as well give it a try!"

Feng'er also shouted, "Why are we afraid of him? There are so many of us fighting them. Three women, can't they beat one man?!"

Fang Ningmo picked up the weapon with tears in his eyes.

Feng Er said, "Second Miss Fang, don't be afraid. The worst that can happen is that we all die together!"

It was unclear whether Qian Zhenniang was crying or laughing at this moment. She was trembling all over, and she didn't forget to add: "I don't want to die——"

Huang also took a bamboo pole and chased after them. The women were so frightened that they kept shaking, but they couldn't stand the refugees rushing out from the side. Huang closed her eyes and shouted to cheer herself up: "Damn it, I will fight you to the death!"

"Mrs. Xu, as the sixth girl said, we should form a group of three women! I used to farm, I'm very strong, and I've even beaten up the little hooligans in the village!" Two women ran over, aimed at one of the refugees and stabbed him with a fork.

Meanwhile, Xu Qingying was still shouting, "Remember what I said. There's no use retreating. There's no use running away. Poke the eyes! Kick the party members! Stab the stomach!"

"Damn it! I'm trying my best to save my old bones!"

"Grandma, I'm coming too!"

More and more people mustered up the courage to stop running, picked up their weapons and joined the queue.

The women, their voices trembling, weapons raised, surrounded the lone refugees. Then, to embolden themselves, they shouted, "Poke their eyes! Kick their leaders! Stab their stomachs!"

The refugee panicked and prepared to break out of the encirclement, but Huang raised her hand, found a gap, and inserted the sharp end into the refugee's eyes. The refugee screamed, covered his bloody eyes, and ran out without any protection.

The women were both disgusted and excited at the sight, and they cheered, "We've got one! Grandma Xu is so powerful! She's a tough character!"

"Xu girl is right. What's there to be afraid of? We are all born of our mothers and raised by our parents. We are all mortals. It just depends on who is braver! I am already old. How can I be afraid of a few boys who haven't even grown all their hair yet?"

Soon, with the participation of the women, the situation was reversed. Previously, the exile troops were torn apart, but now it was the refugees who rushed in who were surrounded and beaten.

In the whole battle, the strong and sword-wielding escorts were in the first echelon, responsible for killing a large number of vanguard troops. Then the young and middle-aged men were responsible for cleaning up the scattered bandits who had passed through the first line of defense. Finally, the women were responsible for catching the lone bandits.

The three lines of defense complemented each other, instantly turning the situation around and forcing the bandits to retreat step by step!

Xu Qingying jumped up and down in the team, cheering everyone up while negotiating with the other side: "Brother, you have been scouting for a few days, you should know that we are all exiled prisoners. We don't have any extra food. We are almost starving to death. What can you rob? I advise you to leave quickly. So many of your brothers have died, are you really going to do it for the few melons and dates in our carriage? It's not worth it-"

"Damn it, kill that woman! Everyone, kill the woman on the carriage--" The leader of the bandits shouted, and several skilled bandits holding knives quickly passed through the crowd and rushed towards Xu Qingying.

My goodness, the war is concentrated on her.

Although Xu Qingying had learned a few moves from Old Man Xu, they were mainly close combat, which emphasized speed, ruthlessness and accuracy. Where had she ever seen a scene where someone was directly chopping with a big knife?

This... Old Man Xu never taught her how to deal with it!

"Miss Xu!"

"Sixth girl!"

Someone in the crowd shouted in fear.

"Go and save Miss Xu!"

Miao cried, "Ying'er——"

Zhao Bantou was riding a horse, which gave him an advantage in speed. Furthermore, he was quite skilled in martial arts, and with his sword, he killed many people covered in blood. Seeing several bandits rushing towards Xu Qingying with swords, he immediately shouted, "Whoever dares to kill my sister will be killed!"

Xu Qingying estimated the distance and knew that it would be too late for Zhao Bantou and the others to break through the encirclement and rescue her. She could only say to Liu Dazhuang, "Brother Dazhuang, give me Huang Yazi's knife. I'll delay for a while, and you rush out to save me immediately!"

Huang Yazi left behind a knife when he left. Considering the problem of bandits these days, Zhao Bantou temporarily gave the knife to Dazhuang to use.