Chapter 4: Meeting a Wise Teacher

  Li Quanyou sighed and said: "He's not an ordinary person, Liu Laoyezi was the Grand Minister of Agriculture in the Sui Dynasty, holding a first-class official position. He could have enjoyed wealth and glory in the court, but this old man was straightforward by nature, and because he couldn't stand Yang Guang's tyranny, he submitted a memorial to the throne, which severely criticized the current situation. Yang Guang was furious after reading it and wanted to execute Liu Laoyezi's entire family. However, the officials petitioned for mercy, and Liu Laoyezi had an excellent reputation as an official, plus he was one of the old ministers left by his father, so Yang Guang didn't kill him, but instead demoted him to a commoner."

  One year later, the emperor was going to make another tour, and when he arrived at the city gate, he found Old Man Liu hanging upside down from the top of the gate, holding a tablet in one hand and a short sword in the other, and began to write a letter.

  This time the writing is ten times more powerful than last time, I still remember the opening sentence: "When the former emperor passed away and handed over the throne to Your Majesty, the treasury was full and the army was strong, no one in the world could match it. However, Your Majesty has not governed with virtue and politics, causing all the people to complain. Internally, you have used treacherous and corrupt officials, leading the country to collapse. Now that many heroes have risen up, they all say that Your Majesty is a ruler like Jie and Zhou. I really don't know why Your Majesty has done this and doesn't know the harm it causes..."

  That tyrant coldly laughed after listening and ordered his concubines to take bows and arrows with broken heads to shoot at the old man. The old man was so grief-stricken that he swung his knife to cut off the rope, but unexpectedly, due to excessive excitement, the short knife fell to the ground. That tyrant then ordered people to capture the old man's entire family, beheaded them all in front of the old man, leaving only the old man's nine-year-old granddaughter alone, and then left with a flourish.

  Up to this point, the old man was thoroughly disheartened and lived with his granddaughter by cutting firewood and fishing, no longer asking about worldly affairs. Unexpectedly, two years later, that foolish ruler found him again, wanting him to write a congratulatory essay for the tenth anniversary of his ascension to the throne, and even took his granddaughter hostage. The old man was so angry that he took up his long gun alone and went to the great prison to rescue his granddaughter. The result can be imagined, he was also caught by others.

  Magistrate Ong knew about this matter and personally led the Dragon Squad to rush out of the cave, turning Jiangzhou City upside down, rescuing the grandfather and grandson duo and bringing them here. As for that set of shooting techniques, it was learned from an artist after Mr. Lao resigned, and it's said that this set of shooting techniques cost 500 taels of silver. This shooting technique is called "Bai Zhan Shen Qiang" (Hundred Battles Divine Gun), a name given by Old Master himself, who said he would use this technique to kill all the rebels in the country.

  I asked: "Doesn't he know this shooting technique is used for embroidery?"

  Li Quanyou shook his head and said: "He doesn't know, when he first came, he went to find Wu Jiao to try out his skills, Wu Jiao said that his gun technique wasn't very good, just this one sentence caused a big mess, this old gentleman even compared gun techniques with Wu Jiao for 3 months, in the end Wu Jiao admitted defeat and was also punished to write "The Analects" 5 times before it was over. Think about it, now even Officer Guan doesn't dare not say something good, we are even more so, not daring to fart." Just then, this old gentleman who intimidated the whole camp walked towards us with big strides.

  The two of us looked at him with desperate expressions as he walked closer and closer, when suddenly Li Quanyou shouted: "Liu Jiao Tou, this is the new one, called Yan Jiulang, you'll have to teach him well later!"

  The old man walked up to us with a stern face and said: "I'm here looking for him."

  Li Quanyou said: "Well, I'm leaving then, kid, quickly thank the old man for his favor towards you." After finishing speaking, he turned around and ran off.

  I viciously bit his back and hastily bowed my head saying: "Thank you, Mr. Liu, for teaching me."

  The old man waved his hand at me and said: "Follow me, no need for formalities." He then took off in a hurry.

  Like a lamb to be slaughtered, he followed him to the front of a large tent. The old man pointed at the big tent and said: "From today on, you must come here every day at noon. I will teach you how to read alone. If you are lazy, military law is merciless."

  I plucked up the courage and said: "Thank you for your kindness, sir, but all along it's been Madame Zhu who has been teaching me, so..."

  Before I could finish speaking, the old man flew into a rage and shouted loudly: "How dare that woman teach others! Call her here, I'll have her copy 'On Encouraging Learning' ten times as punishment. Go quickly!"

  These words nearly scared me to death, I hastily said: "Old master, you misunderstood, Zhu Danni repeatedly told me that you are a contemporary literary and martial arts master, the old lady asked me to come here to learn from you as soon as I arrived, what I just said was that it was all the old lady who taught me on my way here, of course, now that I'm here, it's naturally for you to teach me."

  The old man burst out laughing after hearing this and said: "A young one who can be taught! Alright, I'll first teach you how to read and write, then pass on my shooting skills to you. Follow me!" He strode into the tent with big steps.

  I hastily said behind him: "If Mr.'s divine gun is passed on to me, it's my good fortune, but I'm a person who likes to use knives, so I'm afraid I won't learn your gun skills well and tarnish your reputation."

  The old man listened to this and said after a moment of contemplation: "Alright, it's also good that you don't like guns, it can't be helped, when two armies face each other, they should use the most suitable weapons. I won't force you on this matter. However, as the saying goes, 'a skilled soldier must have multiple skills', it's right for you to learn more at your young age. Now, how many characters do you recognize? How far has that woman taught you?"

  I said: "I can write more than 2,000 characters now. I have memorized the Small Ya of the Book of Songs."

  The old man nodded at me and said: "You were found by Zhu Danni yesterday when you returned to the camp, she said you are very smart and a good material. Since you have become a soldier, you should read military books now, I will teach you 'Sun Tzu's Art of War'. Follow me, 'The art of war is an art of deception...'".

  Like this, I paid homage to this famous teacher. Two hours later, I stumbled into the kitchen with a dizzy head.

  It's about time I came, Madam Zhu has saved my life before, it's only right that I should pay my respects to her. Her husband, Old Man Zhu, is the quartermaster of this entire camp and is said to be a master chef with exceptional skills. I've long had plans to apprentice under him, learn how to cook, and if I'm not a soldier in the future, become a chef myself.

  As soon as I entered the main hall, I could tell at a glance who was Zhu Dajie. He was wearing a white apron unique to chefs, with a sturdy build similar to that of his wife, except he was about one head taller. What surprised me most was that he had two knives hanging from his waist - one resembling a fan but unusually large, and the other a sharp ox-horn knife. Behind him, he even carried a huge black stick over 5 feet long. Seeing me enter, he narrowed his small eyes to size me up.

  I hastily walked up to him and saluted, saying: "Today I came especially to thank you two. Please accept my bow." After finishing speaking, I knelt down and was about to kowtow.

  Old Zhu didn't wait for me to kowtow before pulling me up and saying: "As soon as my wife got back, she told me about you. I've been wanting to meet you too, good kid! I heard you single-handedly killed over 30 bandits? You're not simple at all! Since it's our first meeting, let me give you a gift"; he then took out a small rectangular box from behind his back.

  I took the box and opened it to find a small copper tube about half a foot long inside, with 12 small arrows neatly arranged under the tube. Old Master Zhu said: "This was given to me by a barbarian, it's called a blowpipe. You're young and weak, if you have this thing when the two armies clash, you won't be at a disadvantage."

  I bowed deeply to Old Man Zhu and said: "I really don't know how to repay you two for such good things." As I spoke, my voice became a little choked.

  Old Zhu saw I was about to cry, and hastily grabbed my shoulder, shaking it as he said: "Don't be like that, kid! I heard from my wife that you want to learn how to cook? Alright, I'll teach you. Later on, when you're not a soldier, you'll have a skill to make a living with, won't you?" As he spoke, he pulled me by the hand towards the kitchen.

  As I walked, I asked: "Where did the old lady go?" Mr. Zhu said: "She's in Zhujieying, she won't be back until later. Why don't you stay here and have dinner with me tonight? I'll make a few of my specialties for you to try."

  I asked again: "What's this black stick for?"

  Old Zhu took it down and threw it at me, saying: "This thing, I use it to sharpen knives, but it can also do other things."

  I took a look and found that this thing is a pipe, hollow inside. It's similar to the sharpening steel used by butchers I've seen before, but this one is made of iron.

  I asked: "Can this be used to sharpen knives? Won't it ruin the blade?"

  Old Zhu smiled and said to me: "Look at you, so young and yet you know a lot! Don't worry, my two knives won't be worn out. Come on, I'll teach you how to make the first dish, scrambled eggs."