Chapter 15: Whatever Master Tells Us To Do, We Do

  （0015）

  It turned out that Yang Kun's arrival at Yangjia Village was known to Yang Guanglei, but he really didn't know that his son had been killed. He thought his son had gone to some other place to cause trouble again. Anyway, it was very common for Yang Kun not to be home for ten days or half a month in the past, and Yang Guanglei did not suspect anything at all.

  A group of poor devils in Yangjia Village, each and every one of them is so hungry that their eyes are dim, malnourished, what ability do they have to kill Yang Kun? In the past, when Yang Kun went back to Yangjia Village alone, he could stir up the whole village, making chickens fly and dogs jump. How about this time, with four followers in tow? Even if you gave that group of poor devils in Yangjia Village a hundred times more courage, they still wouldn't have the ability to do anything to Yang Kun.

  Zhang Zhun took advantage of this time to intensify training with Hao Linyong and eight others.

  The eight-man assassination action has already taken shape. Modern soldiers need to practice various aspects such as formation, discipline, internal affairs, and weaponry, but these eight men only practiced assassination. Practicing three thousand assassinations every day, the key to this move was naturally grasped extremely quickly.

  The last time they killed Yang Kun, four bamboo spears were actually blocked, which made the eight people feel very embarrassed. For this reason, the eight people practiced to death. Zhang Zhun appropriately added some assassination techniques, such as how to find the opponent's weakness and how to avoid the opponent's counterattack. After having actual combat practice, the eight people mastered the assassination technique, naturally becoming more rapid.

  The 15-day period passed quickly and the assessment began.

  Following Zhang's instructions, eight people stood in their respective positions, ready to accept the assessment.

  "Boom!"

  Zhang Zhun threw a stone into the water.

  "Whoosh!"

  Water splashes everywhere.

  The fish hidden under the water were suddenly startled and swam out in a hurry.

  "Stab!"

  Zhang Zhun sternly scolded him.

  Eight people immediately thrust down with bamboo spears.

  "Rustle rustle!"

  The sea water suddenly became even more turbulent.

  Blood seeped out and dyed the clear seawater red.

  Zhang Zhun glanced over and said: "Three were hit, one got away. Pick them up!"

  Eight people immediately raised their bamboo spears and indeed three of them were stabbed.

  Yang Zhiyuan, Hao Linyong and Yin Fengyi.

  Yang Zixuan's bamboo spear still had bloodstains on it, but there was no fish.

  Zhang Zhun said: "You used too little force, it's not fatal."

  Yang Zixuan was extremely disappointed.

  "Change places!"

  Zhang Zhun waved his hand and everyone immediately changed places.

  The surrounding area of Hongshi Beach is full of strange rocks and many shallow bays, and during this time, Hongshi Beach was completely occupied by Zhang Zhun and others, with no outsiders coming in. The fish resources are extremely rich. Soon, Zhang Zhun found another shallow bay.

  Eight people stood up again one after another, holding bamboo spears.

  "Boom!"

  The mouse dropped the stone down.

  "Whoosh!"

  Water splashes everywhere.

  The fish were startled and scattered in all directions.

  This time, Zhang Zhun did not give an order, it was entirely up to them themselves.

  Hutou Yang Zhiyuan made the first move, but didn't hit his target.

  Hao Linyong followed suit, also without hitting the mark.

  Others hesitated for too long, not knowing whether they didn't see clearly or had other reasons, in short, no one made a quick move, anyway, none of them hit the target, and by the time Zou Ming made his move, all the fish had escaped.

  In the end, not a single fish was caught.

  "Change places!"

  Zhang said with an expressionless face.

  Eight people deeply felt that it is much more difficult to catch fish than to catch man.

  Change places again.

  This time, all eight of them learned their lesson. As soon as the stone was thrown into the water, everyone focused intently on the movement on the surface. If there was an opportunity, they would immediately strike.

  "Hahaha!"

  Eight bamboo spears pierced into the water one after another, instantly turning it a bloody red.

  "I've hit it!" Yang Junjie exclaimed in surprise and delight.

  "I've also hit it!" Yang Zixuan shouted at the same time.

  "What's wrong with you? Pick it up!" Zhang Zhun shouted.

  Everyone hastily raised their bamboo spears and indeed, four more people successfully stabbed them.

  Let's count it again, and Zhōu Míngjiā is the only one who didn't even hit a single fish.

  Everyone's eyes were on him.

  Zou Ming felt a great deal of pressure and stiffened his scalp as he said: "Master, give me another chance."

  "Change places!"

  Zhang said with an expressionless face.

  Change places again.

  This time, Zou Mingjia stood in the most advantageous position. Everyone consciously kept a distance from him to avoid disturbing him. Zou Mingjia himself was also extremely tense, taking a deep breath, focusing his attention, and staring at the water surface without blinking.

  "Boom!"

  The stone fell down.

  The fish slipped away.

  Zou Mingjia hastily stabbed down again, but still didn't hit him.

  Failed.

  "Can even kill people! Still can't kill a single fish!"

  Zou Ming's face turned red with rage, and he stabbed down again with his bamboo spear.

  "Hah!"

  "Whoosh!"

  The water surface suddenly churned up, splashing water everywhere.

  "It hit!"

  "It hit!"

  "Got it!"

  The people around immediately shouted with surprise.

  Zou Ming's face turned red with excitement, and his hand holding the bamboo spear began to tremble involuntarily.

  "Calm down!"

  Zhang Zhun sternly shouted.

  Zou Ming's whole body stiffened, and he hastily waved the bamboo spear, dragging the pierced fish back and forth in the dark red seawater, exhausting its last bit of strength. Only when he felt that the lower end of the bamboo spear was no longer moving did he slowly lift up the big fellow that had been pierced.

  Wow, it turned out to be a belt fish over 10 kilograms in weight, with a width of about the size of a palm and a length of more than two meters! No wonder it's so fierce! This one belt fish is equivalent to two large yellow croakers.

  "Not bad!"

  Although he knew that Zou Mingjia was a blind cat catching a dead mouse, Zhang Zhun still did not hesitate to praise himself.

  Praise is more effective than criticism.

  Zou Ming suddenly beamed with joy and happily picked up the fish.

  "Good!"

  "I declare that your initial assessment has passed!"

  Zhang Zhun said in a low voice.

  The eight men were overjoyed and hastily straightened their backs, standing solemnly upright.

  Zhang Zhun paused for a moment, his eyes scanning each person, and slowly said: "Now, what are your thoughts?"

  Hao Linyong immediately replied: "Master, we'll still follow you. Whatever you tell us to do, we'll do it."

  The other seven nodded in unison.

  Zou Mingjia also said: "Master, teach us other skills."

  Zhang Zhun said calmly: "What skills do you want to learn?"

  Zou Mingjia said without hesitation: "Deploy troops and array formations, march and fight!"

  The other seven nodded in unison and said in chorus: "Right! The skill of fighting!"

  Zhang Zhun's gaze turned serious, and he said in a deep voice: "Deploying troops and arranging formations, marching and fighting, that is a very profound skill, requiring a lifetime of study, requiring you to devote all your energy and blood. Are you really willing to put your whole life into it?"

  Yang Zixuan said solemnly: "Master, we are willing!"

  He paused for a moment, puffed out his chest and said proudly: "I believe Master also understands that after killing Yang Kun, there is no way to retreat. What we need to do next is to accumulate more power and resist Wang Shixin. Only by eliminating Wang Shixin can our loved ones, our family members have a good life!"

  "But even if we get rid of Wang Shixin, it doesn't mean we'll have a good life. The imperial court won't just sit back and do nothing, the government will definitely send more troops to suppress us. At the same time, our supporters will also increase. I think in the future, our battle won't be just about this small group of people. We must form an army to counter the government forces. If we don't know how to deploy troops and fight battles, how can we be of help to Master?"

  The other seven people chimed in unison: "Right! The scholar is right! We also want to have our own army!"

  Zhang Zhun was originally worried that they would retreat in the face of greater difficulties, but unexpectedly, they were so proactive and progressive. This is absolutely a good thing. Although his military theories are mostly from the hot weapon era and may not be effective in the cold weapon era, most military principles are universal and can be easily taught to them.

  Ancient generals, most of them came from actual combat. If you understand the study of "Sun Tzu's Art of War", "Thirty-six Stratagems" and "Wujing Zongyao" and other military books, it is already very remarkable. To be honest, Zhang Quan was not very familiar with these ancient military books and had not studied them specially. However, modern military thought has already integrated the wisdom of the ancients.

  Especially Chairman Mao's military thought has undergone significant changes and development based on China's actual national conditions, with a high degree of adaptability to the current situation. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was also a warlord infighting, strong enemy invasion, and ultimately suffering, still the vast majority of poor people. In essence, there is not much change.

  At once, Zhang began to expound on some of the basic contents of Chairman Mao's military thought, focusing on why we fight. These were all things he had repeated time and again in his daily lectures, knowing which parts were most attractive and which parts the audience found harder to understand; now, as he spoke again, it was with a natural rhythm and full of tension.

  "What are we fighting for?"

  "For us to gain more wealth? For us to gain higher status? For us to gain more women?"

  "That's right! Our fight is indeed for such a purpose. Everyone has their own selfish desires, and it's only natural to want to gain wealth, status, and women through our own efforts. But that's not all there is to our fight. For example, we're all from Yangjiatun, do we want to see our fellow villagers continue to live in poverty and desperation? Do we want to see other villagers continue to suffer under the oppression of the officials? Do we want to continue seeing Wang Shixin and his minions act with impunity?"

  "No! We won't!"

  "The fundamental purpose of our struggle is to thoroughly change this society!"

  "The fundamental purpose of our struggle is to rebuild a better society!"

  "What kind of society should we build? We should build a Great Unity Society!"

  "When the Great Way prevails, all under Heaven will be as one family. The virtuous and talented will be selected for public office; mutual confidence and trust will be the rule; people will not love their own parents only, nor will they cherish their own children only. The aged will have their fixed incomes; the able-bodied will have their proper employments; the young will have their opportunities of growth. The widowed, the orphaned, and the solitary will all be well cared for. Men will have their appropriate places in society; women will have their homes. Goods and commodities will not lie idle on the ground; the talents and abilities of men will not be allowed to go to waste. Thus intrigues and party factions will cease to exist; thieves and robbers, and other lawless people will disappear; doors and gates will no longer be shut and barred. This is what we call the Grand Union."

  "In short, it's having food to eat, clothes to wear and a house to live in!"