62
Yan Yuan felt a sudden jolt in his heart as several names popped up in his mind. Suppressing his anxiety, he poured another glass of wine for the clerk and said with a smile, "I'm also out of touch with the news. I really don't know these things. Please tell me about them, sir."
Someone was flattering him discreetly, and the clerk sipped his wine with a delighted smile before speaking: "Do you know the Straw Coat Thief? He's the bandit who caused chaos along the Jinghu River and broke into thirty counties. A few days ago, the imperial court sent troops and won a great victory, capturing three big bosses in one fell swoop, two of whom are being held captive here. I heard they'll be taken to the capital soon, not to mention how many guards they have! Ha, I think you're making a big fuss about nothing. Do you think they'd dare to rob the prison again?"
The clerk sneered, but Yan Yuan felt like he had stepped on empty air and was a little confused.
Straw-coat bandits? When did this gang appear? How come he had never heard of it before?
After calming down, Yan Yuan feigned curiosity and asked, "I've never heard of this gang. Wasn't Jinghu peaceful and stable last year?"
"General Qiu was still around, the governor of four provinces. How could he possibly be unable to suppress a few petty thieves?" the clerk sighed. "Now, there are more mountain bandits than sea pirates! But there aren't many as powerful as the Straw Cloak Bandits..."
Yan Yuan's heart sank immediately. It turned out that bandits were everywhere and the court had no time to care about him, a resigned official.
But if that is true, would there still be any of the general’s former subordinates in the Panyu prison?
After a moment's hesitation, he continued, "This group of straw raincoat bandits is so powerful. Could it be that remnants of General Qiu's troops are mixed in with them? I remember that the imperial court also arrested people before. There must be some who slipped through the net, right?"
The clerk glanced at him and said, "You're woefully uninformed. Those of General Qiu's subordinates who survived were all exiled to the border counties, and no one's taking care of them anymore. And what about the remnants? Those who managed to survive are all eager to make meritorious deeds to atone for their sins. How could they possibly join a gang?"
Yan Yuan's breathing stopped for a moment. He said in disbelief, "Isn't General Qiu guilty of treason? Isn't the court afraid of those people rebelling?"
The clerk laughed heartily upon hearing this and nodded. "Only you seafarers would believe such nonsense. How could General Qiu possibly be plotting treason? He never rebelled until his death, so how could those people under him possibly rebel?"
The hands placed under the table squeezed the knees tightly, making the bones crackle.
It turns out that the court also knew that this was an unjust killing, it turned out that the military commander used his death to exchange for lenient punishment for them, and it turned out that those colleagues were "making meritorious contributions while serving their sentence"... The funny thing is that no one can wash away this injustice that is known to the world!
Noticing Yan Yuan's expression was off, the clerk then remembered his identity and wondered if someone close to him had died at General Qiu's hands, and that he didn't like what he was saying. After a moment's thought, he quickly added, "Oh, I remember there's another person in jail. It's said he's a finance officer under the general. He couldn't stand the torture and has gone a little crazy..."
Yan Yuan raised his head suddenly: "Really?!"
The clerk was startled. "What do you want to do? This man will be executed in the autumn. Are you trying to cause trouble for him? Hey, brother, I have to warn you. The dead cannot be brought back to life. The past is the past. The prison is really strict now. Even paying money won't work."
This "admonition" at least helped Yan Yuan regain some of his sanity. He forced a smile and said, "Sir, you're right. I'm just worried about you, my brother. I don't have the energy to care about anything else. Come, have a drink..."
Picking up the wine jug, he suppressed all his emotions. He had to find out the truth about this matter first and must not lose his composure.
…
As soon as the sky was getting light, there was a tinkling sound outside.
Ma Laoer stood up and walked into the yard, and sure enough, he saw that someone was busy again not far away.
Some are building houses, and some are leveling roads. The whole village looks like a big construction site, and everyone is busy.
This is not what he thought...
After watching for a long time, someone called out from behind: "Dad, breakfast is ready, come and eat quickly."
Ma Laoer turned around and saw his only son standing in the shadow of the corridor with his head lowered and his hands in his pockets, as usual.
He sighed, said nothing, and returned to the house. The meal was already on the table. Since it was just the two of them, there was no need to be reserved. The young man then reached out from his sleeve and took the bowl.
There were only three fingers left on his left hand, and there were large burn scars on his right hand and face, so bumpy that people dared not look closely.
Such a scary appearance made him an eyesore even on the street, let alone in the secluded military settlement. It was precisely because of this that he developed the habit of keeping his head down and his hands tucked in, and never leaving the house.
After taking two bites of the meal, Ma Lao Er couldn't help but sigh: "Ping'er, we have moved to the island. Don't be so restrained in the future. Go out for a walk when you need to. Don't let yourself get hurt."
Ma Ping nodded silently without answering.
Seeing his son like this, Ma Laoer didn't know what to say. He finished his meal in silence and put the bowl on the table. Ma Ping immediately got up to clean up the dishes.
Looking at the busy figure, Ma Laoer felt that he was having difficulty breathing.
This was all his fault. He passed the skills of making medicine to his son, but did not teach him the rules and let him know the importance of things.
An accident ultimately ruined him, leaving him destitute and unable to even earn his military pay. He had to be raised at home. He was such a bright and intelligent child, but who would have thought he would end up like this?
It was precisely because he was worried about his son's future livelihood that Ma Laoer gritted his teeth and followed the Lu family's instructions to fake his death and cancel his household registration. Only then did he leave the army and go out to sea.
The one hundred taels of silver for settling down is almost enough to find a wife for my son. If I work harder, I can save some money for the young couple so that they won't be helpless in the future.
Moreover, Manager Lu also said that people can farm and fish on the island, so he has to find a way to get a few acres of land. He also wondered if the taxes collected on the island would be too high.
He was sitting in the house thinking hard when someone suddenly knocked on the door. Ma Laoer looked up and quickly stood up: "Brother, why are you here? Come in and sit down."
Old Man Ding didn't hesitate to speak politely. He walked straight into the house, sat down next to him, and sighed, "Brother Ma, we've been on the island for five days, why haven't we been assigned any work yet?"
Ding Jiu is much older than Ma Laoer. He is 56 years old this year. He has a son and a daughter at home, and his granddaughter is 14 years old.
Logically speaking, no one would despise a skilled bow maker like him even if he worked until he was 65. His two sons had also learned the craft and were quite capable, so they could live a peaceful life in the garrison.
In other words, he was just unlucky and met with a fatal disaster. His granddaughter was actually noticed by a scoundrel from a captain's family, and caused a big fuss.
His sons were all beaten with sticks, his son-in-law was exiled to work as a government official, and he lost his position in the Ordnance Department. He was about to become a laborer for those superiors to make money through illegal means.
This was forcing them to surrender! But Ding Jiu wouldn't agree. The young master of the Qian family had already caused three or four deaths, and he loved to abuse his wives and concubines. If his granddaughter became his concubine, how could she survive? He was also holding on, trying to get through this, but unexpectedly heard that the Lu family wanted to hire a bow maker.
Ding Jiu thought about it for a long time, gritted his teeth, and went to visit Manager Lu in person, and only then did he rescue his entire family.
Now that I have been discharged from the military, I can finally escape from the sea of suffering.
But since I had just arrived and it was a gang’s camp, I couldn’t help but feel a little nervous.
Now that Manager Lu has left, why hasn’t anyone come to look for them?
Ma Lao Er also sighed: "Maybe we're too busy. What we do is not an easy job, and whether we have the materials or not is still a question."
Ding Jiu's heart sank at this. Indeed, bowmaking required so many things. A gang could just buy some crossbows, why bother looking for a bow maker? What if they didn't have enough materials or manpower to make the strong bows they wanted?
Glancing at the young man huddled in the corner, Ding Jiu advised, "Brother, now that we're on the island, let Xiao Ma go out for a walk. There are definitely fewer sarcastic people here, so don't get bored staying cooped up in the house."
Ma Lao Er smiled bitterly and waved his hand: "We just got here, wait a little longer."
He didn't know what to say to his son, so he could only endure it.
While we were chatting, someone suddenly called out from outside, "Are the two masters here?"
Ma Laoer and Ding Jiu stood up at the same time, stunned for a moment, but Ma Laoer reacted first and hurried out of the house: "Yes, yes, ah... isn't this the gang leader?"
He saw three or four people standing outside, all gathered around a handsome young man. Ma Laoer recognized him immediately and panicked, quickly bowing: "My humble servant greets the gang leader..."
This time, he couldn't kneel down. Cheng Xi held his arm and said with a smile, "I told you, no need to be polite on the island. Have you settled down at home these days? If there's anything you need, just ask."
Ma Laoer was completely shocked and said in a daze: "No, there is nothing missing. Everything is fine..."
Ding Jiu, standing by, reacted and quickly stepped forward, saying, "As long as we have a place to live, that's all that matters. Don't worry, boss. I just don't know when we can start working. My two sons can make bows, but we have to make sure all the materials are available on the island, otherwise we won't be able to start..."
He spoke out his words in a flash, and only then realized that he felt a little annoyed and regretful.
No matter how young he is, he is still the leader of a gang. If you despise him for not knowing his place in society, you might really chop off his head.
Before he could think of a way to remedy the situation, the young man opposite him spoke up: "It's not that I'm intentionally leaving you two hanging, it's just that the preparations take some time. Just like making the medicine, the workshop must be set up outside the village, so don't be careless."
These words startled both of them. Ma Laoer thought to himself, this kid really knows some tricks.
Making medicinal materials is always the most dangerous. No matter how safe you are, there is a chance they could accidentally explode, so you can't build a workshop in a crowded place. The fact that they thought of building it outside the village is extremely thoughtful.
Ding Jiu couldn't help but say, "We can make the bow in the house, but we need to prepare the materials first. Ox horns, bamboo and wood frames, tendons, glue, all of these take time to prepare. If the materials are not good enough, the bow won't shoot far and won't last. We can't be careless!"
This anxious look made Cheng Xi laugh. She shook her head and took something out from behind her back. "I heard that Mr. Ding is an expert in making bows. I'd like to trouble you to take a look at how long it takes to make something like this and how many steps it takes."
Ding Jiu frowned at what Gang Leader Cheng took out. He reached out to take it and said, "Hand crossbow? Why is it so crude?"
It was indeed a hand crossbow, but it was very different from ordinary crossbows. The crossbow bow in front was not made of ox horn, but was made of bamboo bent into an arc, just like the bamboo bow that children play with.
Reaching out and pulling the string, Ding Jiu's face darkened. "Boss, are you kidding me? What's the use of a crossbow like this? I'm afraid it can't even shoot thirty steps, let alone penetrate armor!"
This thing is just like a toy, not meant for battlefield use at all. Asking him about something like this is just a joke.
Cheng Xi asked in return: "What if the enemy is not wearing armor?"
Ding Jiu was stunned. He looked at the crossbow again and finally shook his head. "Even if it were made of better wood, this crossbow can only shoot twenty steps. Moreover, the arrows are extremely short. It can't penetrate leather armor, let alone iron armor."
"In a sea battle, how many can penetrate armor? They're meant for boarding, as long as they can injure within 20 to 30 steps." Cheng Xi answered decisively. This crossbow was modeled after a Western crossbow, except the steel bow was replaced with a bamboo one. While its power was certainly reduced, the manufacturing time and cost were dramatically reduced, making it a perfect fit for her impoverished fleet.
Seeing that the other party was so single, Ding Jiu didn't know what to say. He weighed the crossbow with disdain and said, "If it's something like this, one every three days will be no problem. But the crossbow needs to be made of new materials. It needs to be a little more durable."
This was exactly the answer Cheng Xi wanted. This kind of crossbow could only be used on the springboard or the enemy's deck. In close combat, one could just raise his hand and fire a shot, specifically targeting vital points such as the eyeballs, throat, and chest. Combined with a long sword, it should be quite powerful.
But after solving the problem of melee weapons, we still need long-range ones.
She added, "In addition to these crossbows, I also need a batch of longbows."
Old Man Ding suddenly became excited. "Then we need to prepare beef tendons and horns. There should be plenty of fish maw on the coast. Raw silk is also simple, but making the molds takes time. If the gang leader doesn't need too fine bows, we can make a batch next year."
"Cut wood in winter, take horns in spring, make sinews in summer, and combine them in autumn"—this is the rule passed down from our ancestors. Making a bow takes at least a year, and it should be stored for another year before it's ready for battle. But Gang Leader Cheng wasn't one for particulars; he simply assumed it was fine as long as it worked.
Unexpectedly, the young man still shook his head: "It's not this kind of bow. It's a real longbow, more than eight feet and five centimeters long, with a single hardwood bow, similar to the crossbow of this hand crossbow."
Old Man Ding's mouth dropped open. After a long moment, his hands began to tremble with anger. "Are you kidding me? You can even call that a bow?!"
"Why can't we scream?" Cheng Xi sighed. "A normal bow can only shoot fifty or sixty steps, but the sea is different from the land. How can we hurt the enemy at such a distance? Therefore, we must increase the bow's range so that it can still kill the enemy from a hundred steps away. How long would it take to make such a powerful bow using ordinary methods? I can't wait any longer."
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