Chapter 20 - Raising Private Army

When they finally rerurned to the farmstead, the weather had completely cooled. On the way here, quite a lot of people stuffed dry grass under their clothes for warmth. Luckily there were many of them so they can use body heat to warm each other at nights so no one came down with a cold. The boundaries between men and women were also put away and the women also sat close to the men at nights for sleep.

“Finally here.” Walking out of the woods they finally sees the farm fields. The crops that can be harvested in winter are few so currently only Chinese cabbage and spinach are planted.

These vegetables make up the rare greens that can be found in the table during winter.

But only for awhile as most of them will have to be pickled with the salt brother Dao buys from a private salt merchant which is cheaper than the salt sold by the government.

Sometimes brother Dao would also take the men to hunt in the woods——the only catch being a wild pheasant and a wild boar, both rather skinny but at least it is meat.

The farmstead does not raise livestock so there’s no meat to eat.

Seeing that Lin Yuan has returned with foodstuff, everyone sighed in relief. These laden filled carts contain quite a lot of foodstuff and in addition to the grains from fall harvest, it was enough for them to eat for one to two years.

This is the advantage of few people but there is also a negative side.

They don’t have weapons as they can’t even afford copper, let alone iron. The price for just one iron pot will take up an entire common family’s life savings.

Lin Yuan thinks on how to get his hands on some iron, but even if he has iron, without a bkacksmith it would be useless.

The sharpness and durability of knives and swords require a blacksmith’s work.

If the casting is not up to par then the weapons can easily break which can cause you to lose your life if it breaks in the middle of a fight.

Actually, axes can be a good option. Lin Yuan rubs his chin, axes are not easily broken nor does it require much training and has a heavy weight that can deal extensive damage.

The most important thing——they are familiar to people who farms the land.

Though they wield hoes easily as well.

Lin Yuan asks Jiang Gui who just got down from the ox cart:”Third brother, do you know where they sell axes?”

Jiang Gui:”Before when working in the city government I had the connection, but now…..”

That the city government still exists is still in question.

Lin Yuan sighs, he can only leave it for later.

“Axe?” Zhu Zhongba suddenly inserts himself into the conversation, smiling with white teeth, “No one is selling anymore?”

Anything related to iron is almost impossible to buy.

Lin Yuan sighs, his heart full of despair. Where do the rebel armies even get their hands on iron weapons, he really wants some too!

“But I know where an iron ore mine is located.” Zhu Zhongba says, “except it is heavily guarded by soldiers. Even if we were to steal, it likely won’t be successful.”

Zhu Zhongba:”But nowadays, everywhere is in upheaval, the armed soldiers should be less than before.”

Lin Yuan’s eyes lit up.

“Big brother! Second brother!” Lin Yuan calls to brother Dao and Yang Zi’an, “there’s something we need to discuss! To the meeting room!”

Meeting room as the name implies, is the place to hold meetings and was dubbed by Lin Yuan. He is not a real ancient person, he may have the original owner’s memories but memory does not mean he can remember all of the books the original owner has read. So it is best to stick with what he is familiar with.

Brother Dao leans on his hoe and rubs the back of his head:”Strange, not resting after a long travel but discuss official business, fourth brother is made from iron?”

Yang Zi’an ssys sarcastically:”Better than you swearing brotherhood all over the place.”

Brother Dao is not happy:”How can you describe it like that? I am making important brotherly ties. Let me tell you, the world will only worsen, with more brothers to have each othe’s back is better than fighting alone.”

Yang Zi’an:”Fine, fine, you are right, let’s go.”

Brother Dao does not move from his spot, shamelessly putting on an expression that says ‘if you don’t apologize then I won’t move.’

Yang Zi’an ignores him:”It’s up to you.”

Brother Dao follows along, crestfallen.

Lin Yuan first introduces Zhu Zhongba, not in detail but only saying that he has a beggar background and is trustworthy.

Brother Dao’s gaze when it settled on Zhu Zhongba changed——this is a good candidate for swearing brotherhood!

“Big brother, second brother, you both know what it is like nowadays. I predict that soon rebellion will sound, when the time comes even remote places like here might not be safe.” Lin Yuan says calmly. He can trust the people in front of him. Besides, if they aren’t where would they go to report? Wu city? No one would be that foolish, besides they all are aware of each other’s roots so there is no need to hold suspicion.

“Then what should we do?” Li Congrong is shocked.

Everyone else looked at Lin Yuan, they all understand the reasoning but they are still unsure how to face the situation at hand.

Lin Yuan only remembers that Zhu Yuanzhang joined the Red Turbans when he was 25 and the year is the 13th year of Yuan Shun. Therefore, the Red Turbans rebelled before the 13th year of Yuan Shun.

A rebellion that hasn’t made it past two to three years is not much of a threat, therefore the Red Turbans possibly rebelled in the 10th or 11th year of Yuan Shun.

The leaders of the Red Turbans are Han Shantong, Liu Futong and Xu Shouhui.

Han Shantong later proclaims himself the emperor of ‘Great Song’. He is not only a leader of the Red Turbans but also has connections with the White Lotus (TN: a religious and political movement that appealed to many Han Chinese who found solace in worship of Wusheng Laomu, who was foretold to gather all her children at the millennium into one family).

“Presently, we need more people.” Lin Yuan says, “this way we can have the ability to protect ourselves. These people must also have weapons, or else we would be just like a fish on the cutting board.”

Including Zhu Zhongba, everyone swallowed.

Jiang Gui:”This is….what do you mean? Raise a private army? This, this is something to be executed for, if the imperial court finds out…..”

Brother Dao also agrees:”Right, right, right. The imperial court has how many soldiers, what are we, something for them to pick their teeth with?”

But Lin Yuan shakes his head:”It’s not like we are going to be obvious about it. Here we are surrounded by mountains and rivers, away from the eyes of people. It is already hidden, we juat need to be careful then the imperial court will not discover us.” He did not mention that before long the imperial court would have their attention taken away by the other rebelling factions.

The death of Han Shantong was exactly because of the imperial court managing to encircle his troops and annihilate him.

“In order to have weapons, we need iron.” Lin Yuan looks at them, “big brother, second brother, third brother, please listen to little brother. No one can be exempt during turbulent times. If we do not rebel but follow the flow, this is one path, but when war begins will we truly be able to remain unaffected?”

“When the time comes and we can’t protect ourselves, we would be lamb for the slaughter.” Lin Yuan also says, “let’s put this aside for now but what about bandits? Can we hold up against bandits?”

The only weapon being hoes, but the bandits that can pose a threat all have weapons. Even if they are not of good quality but it is at least better than a few hoes used for farming.

Everyone looks down, raising a private army…..their ancestors have all been honest commoners, and have never done something that might as well be a rebellion!

Zhu Zhongba lost his entire family, so he says:”I think brother Lin is right, even if we don’t rebel but we still should have the means for staying alive. We need food to fill our bellies, weapons to fight off bandits. Only when there are more people can we have the ability to protect our livelihoods.”

Brother Dao says with an expression showing his world has just been overturned:”I….I need to think for a bit.”

Yang Zi’an also does not say anything.

Jiang Gui sits fidgeting as if he is sitting on needles.

No one wants to rebel, who would when they can have a safe and easy life?