Chapter Sixteen: Each Takes What They Need

  Lin Chunhong arranged for the dead and wounded officials of Si Nan to be escorted by Peng Xin and others to a major road, where they would be left, and people from Si Nan would come to collect them, so there was no need to worry. In the evening, all the woodcutters looked gloomy and didn't even have the spirit to eat. Lin Chunhong saw this and loudly said: "Today we won a great victory! Although two brothers were lost, we also defeated the people of Si Nan and made them flee in disarray! Brothers, are you all afraid now?"

  Most people remained silent, with only a few shouting: "Who are we afraid of? If you're scared, get out of here!"

  Lin Chun-hong stared at these people and loudly praised: "Great! You are all men, no more than dying in the morning. Now everyone also understands that the people of Si Nan will definitely retaliate against us, are you afraid?"

  Still only those few people shouted: "Don't be afraid!"

  "Don't you all have eggs? Speak louder, I can't hear!"

  "We're not afraid!" more people shouted.

  "Afraid? Speak louder!"

  Everyone stood up and shouted loudly: "Don't be afraid!" Several others were so excited that they jumped onto the tables, beating on wooden basins.

  The thunderous howl sent everyone's blood surging, and for a moment they forgot their sorrow.

  "Alright, today we're going to select the men with blood and guts. From now on, no more chopping wood, just specialized training. We'll go up against the people of Si Nan! Those willing to fight, take one step forward!"

  A dozen or so people took a step forward without hesitation, and others, fearing to be looked down upon, also hastened to take a step forward.

  Lin Chunhong saw everyone take a step forward, with a satisfied smile on his face, and said: "Everyone is a good fellow, a real man. But we also need to live, and we need people to cut wood, so we can only select a batch of people from inside to specialize in killing the enemy. Zhou Shu, you choose."

  Zhou Wang saw Lin Chunhong's morale-boosting methods and thought they were worth learning from, although his own methods were more effective. However, he let Lin Chunhong do things his own way, after all, an eagle must learn to fly on its own. At this moment, he heard Lin Chunhong's order, responded with a "Yes", and then selected 24 people based on their performance in today's battle and their physical condition.

  The twenty-four selected people all felt proud, which meant they were better than those who weren't selected. Lin Chunhong saw more than 20 people standing there and shouted: "From now on, everyone's safety will depend on us brothers!" Then he turned around and shouted to everyone: "From now on, we're all in the same boat, and we absolutely won't let the people from Sichuan take our rice bowls!"

  Below the thunderous applause, no one considered that Si Nan's strong team had more than 3,000 people.

  Including Lin Chunhong, Zhou Wang and six hunters, as well as the 24 selected men, there are now 32 people who can fight. With the addition of the knives and guns captured last time, they can barely give each person an iron weapon, but it is still very chaotic, especially lacking shields. Zhou Wang and Lin Chunhong found in battle that the protective soldiers of the three-man combat unit held a knife in one hand and a shield in the other, also known as a knife-shield soldier, which was the most effective. Li Shu saw the lack of shields and suggested using the specially treated rattan woven shields from the mountains, Lin Chunhong was overjoyed and immediately ordered Li Shu and Zhang Xiaocheng to specialize in making rattan armor. Lin Dehai, Lin Deshao, and Guo Mingyan still led three logging teams, only with fewer people in each team.

  Although everyone didn't know that Si Nan had more than 3,000 strong men, once they took revenge, it would be a thunderstorm. But Lin Chunhong and Zhou Wang were very worried. Lin Chunhong and Xiao Daili didn't delay for a moment, bringing the prepared gifts to Da Tian Qianhu's place.

  All the way, Lin Chunhong was a bit uneasy, after all, he had never been in contact with Ruan Zhihuan before, and didn't know if Ruan Zhihuan could put aside past grievances for the sake of silver. If Ruan Zhihuan was ruthless, it would be difficult for him and Xiao Dailin to escape with their lives.

  Lin Chunhong turned his head to look at Little Dai, and found that this young man was jumping around, seemingly not worried about the danger ahead. Lin Chunhong secretly admired him and couldn't help but ask: "Little Dai, we're going to Da Tian, the road ahead is fraught with difficulties, aren't you afraid?"

  Xiao Dai Zi didn't think twice and opened his mouth to say: "Following Lin San Ge, what's there to be afraid of?"

  Lin Chunhong was at a loss for words, what is going on here? He himself felt a bit uneasy. Is this the so-called power of idol worship?

  Lin Chunhong patted Xiao Dazi's shoulder and said, "When we arrive at the big field, you don't have to go inside the fort. Hide yourself outside and if I don't come out within a day, you can leave immediately!"

  Xiao Daizi was quite unwilling and was about to retort, but Lin Chunhong said decisively: "This is an order, if you don't obey, then don't call me Brother Lin San from now on!"

  Xiao Dai had no choice but to agree to Lin Chunhong's request, and finally sensed a hint of danger in his heart.

  The Qianhu Village is about 70 or 80 miles away from the Dahe River Rock, Lin Chunhong and Xiao Daili traveled over mountains and ridges for two days before they arrived at the village. They found that the village was located in a typical river valley, with a crystal-clear river running through it, and many Diaojiaolou buildings were built on the slopes of the valley, with hundreds of them rising and falling with the terrain, forming a magnificent view.

  Lin Chunhong left Xiao Dazi behind, carefully examined the fort and found no abnormalities, then knocked on the gate to request an audience with Commander Ruan Zhihuan. A personal soldier led Lin Chunhong to the reception hall of the official residence, where he waited for the commander's summons.

  This made Lin Chunhong extremely surprised, could it be that Rang Zhihuan didn't know he had injured a hundred households?

  Time passed minute by minute, and half an hour had already passed, but Ruan Zhihuan still hadn't appeared. Lin Chunhong's heart was racing with anxiety, unsure of what situation he would face.

  After waiting for nearly an hour, Lin Chunhong finally waited for four personal soldiers. The personal soldiers didn't say a word and rushed up together, tying Lin Chunhong up. While tying him up, they scolded: "Where did this evil commoner come from? He actually dared to hurt our hundred-household lord! You don't want to live!"

  Lin Chunhong did not resist either, but calmly said: "Where is Lord Qianhu? I want to see the lord!"

  "A personal guard cursed: 'You prisoner! How dare you think you can see Commander Qian?'"

  Lin Chunhong guessed that Rang Zhihuan must be nearby, so he shouted loudly: "I was just about to bestow a great wealth and honor upon the Thousand Households' Lord, but you've ruined his good fortune. Can you take responsibility for this?"

  Ran Zhi Huan still didn't appear, Lin Chun Hong was not giving up, he glared at his personal soldiers and intentionally shouted loudly: "Great wealth and honor! You've messed things up, Commander Qian must kill you all!"

  As expected by Lin Chunhong, Rang Zhihuan finally couldn't bear it and brought a clerk in, walking to Lin Chunhong's side, staring at him with an intimidating gaze. Lin Chunhong looked at Rang Zhihuan, who had a handsome face, a majestic appearance, and a strong beard that accentuated his heroic aura. Lin Chunhong thought to himself: Even if he has a good-looking face, it's still just a silver-plated gun head!

  Ran Zhi glared at Lin Chunhong for a long time before speaking in a cold voice: "You stole trees from the thousand households, resisted arrest with knives and injured imperial officials. You're a daring rebel who deserves to be beheaded. What else do you have to say?"

  After finishing speaking, Ruan Zhihuan sat down on the main seat with a loud noise, and his eyes never glanced at Lin Chunhong again.

  Lin Chunhong's mind was racing, and in an instant he decided to downplay the situation. He said: "The common people under my jurisdiction are all rural villagers who don't know the boundaries. It's possible that they really did enter the territory of Commander Tianqian by mistake, and it was unintentional. I hope Commander Tianqian will forgive us. As for the trees that were mistakenly cut down, we are willing to compensate at a high price."

  Lin Chunhong deliberately emphasized the words "high price", hinting to Ruan Zhihuan that he would accept his extortion. Lin Chunhong knew that the matter of injuring the imperial court officials and soldiers could be big or small, and even if Ruan Zhihuan used this matter to kill him, it would still be justifiable from a legal standpoint. It was better not to mention this matter at all, as long as he accepted Ruan Zhihuan's extortion, this matter would naturally become unimportant.

  As expected, Ruan Zhihuan exchanged a glance with the clerk after hearing the two words "high price", and said with satisfaction: "In that case, how do you plan to resolve this matter?"

  Lin Chunhong took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, and stepped forward, asking: "I have a question for the Thousand Households, sir. If a military household cuts down trees on their own land, do they need to compensate?"

  "The official shouted loudly: 'The military household has cut down the wood, we will handle it ourselves, it's none of your business. You've cut it down, just pay for it, why bother with so much?' The official couldn't bear Lin Chunhong's nagging and directly stated his purpose."

  Lin Chunhong asked: "Excuse me, sir, how much compensation do you need from us?"

  Ran Zhihuan and the clerk saw Lin Chunhong ask this question, they both let out a sigh of relief. The clerk stretched out one hand, opened his palm, and said: "This number!"

  "Fifty taels?" Lin Chunhong asked tentatively.

  Lin Chunhong's attitude enraged the clerk, who replied impatiently: "Five thousand taels!"

  Lin Chunhong was shocked and couldn't help but curse in his heart: This is really damn dark!

  Lin Chunhong's face turned sour as he said, "Alas, we've been logging since last year and still haven't sold enough to make three thousand taels. Where does the master expect us to come up with that much money?"

  "The official shouted loudly: 'I don't care where you get the money from, you must pay that much! Otherwise... Hmph!' The official's right hand made a slashing motion downwards, as if beheading someone."

  Lin Chunhong's expression became more and more desolate and desperate, this expression was not entirely fake, the inner pain was also real.

  At this time, Ruan Zhihuan said: "Seeing that you are also honest people, it's not easy to support your family, how about compensating three thousand taels?" It turned out that Ruan Zhihuan and the clerk had already colluded with each other, one playing the white face and the other playing the black face.

  "How are we going to get three thousand two out?" Lin Chunhong shouted non-stop.

  Li Mu and Ruan Zhe saw Lin Chunhong still haggling over the price, their faces suddenly turned black with rage, and their anger was about to erupt. Lin Chunhong saw this and immediately said: "Your two honors, I have a plan that will allow Da Tian Qian Hu to receive compensation of more than 3,000 taels per year."

  Ran Zhihuan and the official's eyes lit up as soon as they heard this. Originally, they had planned to extort 3,000 taels this time and make it a one-time deal, but Lin Chunhong said that he could give more than 3,000 taels every year, which piqued their interest, and they hastily ordered Lin Chunhong to continue speaking.

  Lin Chunhong cleared his throat and was about to continue, but Ruan Zhihuan couldn't wait any longer. He ordered the guards to untie Lin's bonds and let him sit down before speaking again. Lin didn't hesitate either; after being untied, he stretched his limbs and sat down with a thud, relaxing his poor feet and legs.

  "It's like this, in our place, logging workers can get an average of three to four taels of silver per month. If the Thousand Households leader sends 100 people to my place for logging, just the labor cost for a year would be 3,600 taels, which all belongs to the leader. As for how much the leader gives to the people he sent, that's up to the leader to decide."

  Ran Zhihuan and the official's eyes lit up upon hearing this, but they didn't dare to discuss it in front of Lin Chunhong. Ran Zhihuan called out: "Xiao Shuangzi, bring our guest to the back hall and have them sit down, I'll have some good tea served." After saying that, he claimed he had urgent business to attend to and left with the official.

  Lin Chunhong secretly smiled to himself as Xiao Duanzi arrived at the back hall, and continued to wait while tasting tea.

  Ran Zhihuan and the official entered the study, and began to discuss the prospects of this method. The official suggested that they could cut down trees themselves, Ran Zhihuan saw that Lin Chunhong was able to give workers such a high salary, so he must have made a lot of profit, and also wanted to cut down trees himself. However, he thought of two things: first, the surrounding area of Datian Thousand Households was all mountains and valleys, and it wasn't easy to transport the wood out even if they had cut it down before; second, Shi Zhouwei would definitely intervene if he saw that Datian Thousand Households had made a fortune, so in the end, Ran Zhihuan might not get much money. He put this idea aside and thought that as long as he could get paid, he wouldn't have to worry about selling the wood. As for how many people to send out, the two of them wanted to assign all the able-bodied men, but considering that the Thousand Households here also needed to operate, and the military households had escaped severely, with a sufficiency rate of less than 60%, they finally gritted their teeth and decided to send 300 strong and capable people out.

  As for the hundred households injured by Lin Chunhong, Rang Zhihuan had already completely thrown them out of his mind.

  When Lin Chunhong met Ruan Zhihuan again, it was already dark. Ruan Zhihuan considered Lin Chunhong as his source of wealth and politely prepared a banquet to entertain him.

  Lin Chunhong called over Little Dai, and together they attended the banquet. The four of them at the banquet were clinking cups and swapping stories, making quite a lively scene, as if they had been close friends for many years. When the wine was half gone, Ruan Zhihuan said: "Brother Lin, you also know that being a thousand-household chief is exhausting. Several thousand people's food and drink are all dependent on me, and this place in Datan is poor and barren, making it difficult to grow anything. It's got me so anxious I'm like a madman. Luckily Brother Lin thought of this plan, which has helped me out a bit. From now on, the three hundred brothers will be handed over to Brother Lin."

  Lin Chunhong patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, Lord Qianhu, your brothers are my brothers too. I will definitely let them live a life like immortals. But brother, I have a difficult problem, can you please help me?"

  "If there's anything troubling you, Lin brothers, just say it out and I'll definitely try my best to help if I can."

  "Commander Qianhu, you also know that we need some tools to cut wood, such as ropes and axes. Now every time I buy these things on my side, it costs a lot of money. It would be great if there were craftsmen to help us make them. Commander Qianhu, do you have any craftsmen here? Can I borrow them for use?"

  Ran's eyes rolled, and he said: "Brother Lin, a craftsman is indeed a treasure. We can't do without him for a moment, this is really a difficult problem." Lin Chunhong listened, secretly scolding Ran for being extremely black-hearted, saying: "Yes, craftsmen are indeed treasures, otherwise the wages will be calculated at five taels of silver?"

  Ran Zhi let out a sigh and said: "Money is a small problem, mentioning money creates distance. I'll try my best to squeeze some out for you here."

  Lin Chunhong was overjoyed and raised his wine cup to toast: "Thank you, Sir Qianhu! I'll drink this first cup as a sign of respect!" He then drained the cup in one gulp.

  Ran Zhihuan was also delighted, picked up his wine cup and took a sip, asking: "I heard that Lin brothers had a conflict with the southern barbarians some time ago and killed more than 20 of them?"

  Lin Chunhong's expression immediately turned gloomy, and he said: "Yes, the barbarians of Si Nan are unreasonable, they don't let us cut wood there, which led to a conflict, and even injured more than ten of my brothers. I was worried that those dog barbarians would take revenge!"

  Ran Zhi Huan smiled and said: "Now Lin brothers' affairs are my affairs, if they dare to make another move, I will not rest until they are completely eradicated!"

  "With the support of Master Qian, I can rest assured. However, when they come, we cannot just suffer in silence, but my brothers are all empty-handed, how can we compete with them?"

  Ran Zhi Huan Xin knows Lin Chun Hong has another request to raise, and he can only look at him to see what requirement he will raise.

  Lin Chunhong continued in a low voice, "We are now short of weapons, I wonder if you can sell us a batch?" Ruan Zhihuan was shocked and thought to himself that this country bumpkin really dared to think about it. He quickly spoke with righteous words, "Military equipment is a national treasure, how can it be privately bought and sold!"

  Lin Chunhong hastily bowed and said: "I was momentarily anxious and spoke thoughtlessly. I hope Your Excellency will not take offense."

  Ran Zhihuan winked at Lin Chunhong and said, "Come on, it's not a crime to talk, let's have a drink!"

  Lin Chunhong was delighted and also shouted: "Cheers!"

  The banquet lasted until the third watch, and on the second day, Lin Chunhong met with Rang Zhihuan alone to finalize the amount of money and quantity of weapons for sale. Both parties were satisfied with each other's cooperation. Lin Chunhong got what he wanted and took Xiao Dazi back to Geheyan, while Rang Zhihuan saw them off ten miles away.

  Four days later, a thousand two hundred advance payments were delivered to the Da Tian Qian Hu's place. Ruan Zhihuan was overjoyed when he saw them and immediately dispatched three hundred military households and forty craftsmen to Liheyan. Before they set off, he instructed: "Once you arrive at Liheyan, listen to everything Lin brothers say. If anyone disobeys, I won't forgive him!" The military households, who were used to being oppressed by Ruan Zhihuan, silently agreed to his request.

  The riverbank suddenly had three to four hundred more people, bustling with excitement. The original valley seemed too small, so Lin Chunhong arranged for someone to find a larger valley and built stilt houses, similar to those of the Da Tian Qian Hu, to accommodate the military households. Then, the military households were divided into groups of eight, each assigned a former lumberjack as their leader, who instructed them on how to fell trees and transport wood. The workers who felled trees basically all became non-withdrawable team leaders, excited like monkeys. All the loggers were divided into five teams, with Luo Yonghao and Qin Bangding added as team leaders. These five people thus withdrew from production, focusing solely on management, but now they had many more people under them, keeping them extremely busy. Fortunately, the effects of their previous training were evident, and although things weren't perfectly organized, there weren't any major problems either. The forty craftsmen were handed over to Li Shu's management, who worked tirelessly to forge axes, saws, pulleys, and other tools. As for forging weapons, that was put on hold due to a lack of iron.

  The lively valley excited the old workers, who never thought that Master Lin had injured an imperial officer and killed a barbarian from Sichuan. Not only was nothing done about it, but he also recruited 300 strong and sturdy men and 50 craftsmen, successfully borrowing the prestige of Da Tian Qian Hu's power to deter revenge from the Sichuan authorities. This made the workers admire him with all their might, and from then on, Lin Chunhong's personal worship among the workers became unstoppable, leading to his growing authority among them.

  They witnessed the growth of this group with their own eyes and integrated themselves into it. These military households ate better than before in Geliyan, and no one oppressed them. Although they were not very motivated to work hard, they did not slack off either. After all, without the stimulus of money, it was already quite good that they could do this much.

  The increase in personnel led to a steady stream of timber being transported to Qingjiangkou, where the timber piled up like mountains. With Lin Chunhong's hands starting to get tight again, he planned to transport a batch of timber for sale in time. Just then, Zheng Tiancheng recruited twenty skilled boatmen who arrived at Gehouyan and formed ten giant wooden rafts to transport them to Jingzhou.

  During this period, Lin Chunhong was busy with his feet off the ground. The sudden increase in personnel brought many problems, such as a sudden shortage of food and tools, and conflicts between groups. Fortunately, Zhou Wang assisted him, and Lin Dehai, Lin Deshao, and Guo Mingyan were basically able to handle things on their own. After barely getting through this period, once everyone had adapted to their roles, they relaxed, handing over some miscellaneous tasks to Li Shu, Lin Dehai, and others to deal with, while he followed Zhou Wang and others to train in combat skills.

  The thirty-six men now have a set of armor, swords and shields for each of them, and the long gunners also have their own long guns. In addition, more than twenty crossbows were equipped, and they practiced diligently under the threat of the Sichuan authorities, because Lin Chunhong instilled in them that they were the best talents selected, making these people arrogant and proud beyond measure.

  Lin Chunhong and Zhou Wang were also paying close attention to the movements of the Siniang government office, sending out several groups of scouts to investigate. They found that there was no movement at all from the Siniang government office. Lin Chunhong and Zhou Wang guessed that the people from Siniang saw that there were many more military households here, so they didn't dare come to take revenge, for fear of being counterattacked by the army. So they put their minds at ease, but still arranged for a few people to stand guard on the main roads every day, in case they were suddenly attacked and caught off guard.