Chapter Five: Zhou Ping

  Xuejiacun Village, Anyang

  "Bang! Bang! Bang!"

  "Good! Ah Ping, you've indeed put in effort into archery over the past two years! These three arrows are quite impressive!" A sixteen or seventeen-year-old robust youth looked at the target and saw that the three arrows had hit it, although one of them was still three or four inches away from the red center. However, considering the distance of seventy paces, this was a pretty good score.

  "It's all thanks to Young Master's guidance!" Zhou Ping put down his bow and replied respectfully to the young man. At this time, he had completely changed from two years ago. His pale face was tanned dark by the sun; his originally slightly chubby figure had become lean and strong; his hands were rough with bulging veins, and his palms were covered in calluses, like iron stones; his hair was tied up in a knot and wrapped in a black cloth, roughly looking no different from the other archers except for being slightly taller, but a pair of bright and spirited eyes made him unforgettable at first sight.

  "It's just the shooting method on the school field, I don't know if it can be used in a real battle!" The young man walked to Zhou Ping's side and smiled: "You shoot another arrow for me to see, let's see if you're really skilled!"

  "Yes, young master!" Zhou Ping took out another arrow from the quiver, nocked it on the string, puffed out his chest and pulled the strong bow to its full extent. Just as he was about to release the string, a sudden crisp sound came from beside his ear. Zhou Ping remained calm and composed, relaxed his fingers, and heard a "whooshing" sound. The arrow had already hit the target, right in the red center.

  "Good, this is the real shooting technique!" The young man applauded and praised, originally he had just tapped the horse whip near his opponent's ear when Zhou Ping was aiming with his bow, but Zhou Ping seemed to have not heard it at all.

  "On the battlefield, white blades face each other, arrows fall like rain, life and death are decided in a breath. If you're panicked and confused, even if you have great skills, you won't be able to use them at all, not only will you harm yourself, but also others, do you all understand?" The young man was only sixteen or seventeen years old, but his expression was very serious. It's strange to say that the dozen or so men waiting for archery on the side were all older than him, but they all looked respectful and nodded in agreement.

  That young man wanted to say a few more words, but just then a robust man in his thirties rushed in and shouted loudly: "Quickly gather your belongings! Last night thieves set fire to the Dayu Hall, the county magistrate has issued a major order, not one of the thieves can escape. Whoever captures the leader will be rewarded with 100 taels of silver, each thief is worth five taels, dead or alive, all paid in full copper coins, no IOUs!"

  The man's words were like a splash of cold water in hot oil, instantly stirring up a flurry of discussion and speculation. Everyone's face was filled with hope and longing. It's no wonder they felt this way, as during the Song Dynasty, there was a shortage of copper among the people, and economic development was rapid, leading to a lack of currency for trade. As a result, iron coins and other currencies had to be used, making copper coins even more valuable in comparison. At that time, the price of rice was only 600-700 wen per stone, and 100 guan of copper coins could buy at least 300-400 stones of rice, enough to feed a family of five for ten years.

  The young man also heard it with surprise and joy, and asked somewhat unbelievingly: "Second brother, is this true? Are you not deceiving us?"

  "The archers in the county spread the word, telling the good men from all over to gather quickly. Good wine and meat are ready, just wait until we catch the thief and return to celebrate. Your second brother and I heard it with our own ears, can't be fake! Hurry up and pack your things, this great reward must not be taken by others!" The big man spoke while calling on others to prepare horses and weapons, about to set off.

  The young man, however, was unmoved: "Second Brother, I think this matter is suspicious. Let's use a generous reward to lure the thief out and capture him first. Then we can just give him some worthless iron coins and send him on his way. It's not like it hasn't been done before!"

  "It shouldn't be, right?!" The big man also hesitated upon hearing this, it seems he wasn't so confident in the official's unusually generous reward either. Since the current Emperor ascended to the throne, the officials have been coming up with new ways to extort money from the people, and the common folk haven't suffered any less. Those who can't make a living are forced to gather in the mountains and forests, becoming thieves. These thieves have no other way out and are extremely ferocious, capturing them would be taking a huge risk. If the reward is too meager, it's really not worth it.

  By the side, Zhou Ping looked at his two brothers who were hesitating and couldn't help but secretly sigh. Two years ago when he had just crossed over to this place, he was in a strange state, didn't understand the language, and could only pretend to be an escaped slave from the north, living as a tenant farmer in Xue Family Village. Originally, he planned that after getting familiar with the surrounding environment and having the ability to make a living on his own, he would leave this place, but as time passed, he discovered that this Xue Family was quite a strange place.

  The Xue family was a local influential household. The term "influential household" originated in the late Tang and Five Dynasties periods, originally referring to wealthy and powerful families in the local area. By the Song Dynasty, it included official households, clerical households, and village-level government leaders' households, as opposed to ordinary households. It referred to rich households with certain privileges in rural areas. Although no one in the Xue family held office, the head of the household, Mr. Xue, was a respected elder in the local community, and the family owned over 20 mu of good land, making them one of the top wealthy families in Anyang.

  But unlike other wealthy households that rent land to farmers with little or no land, Xue Zhang's family rents land to relatives and acquaintances within the clan. The rent is also much lower, generally only 30% of the annual yield per mu, and an additional 10% for tenants without oxen. In times of famine, they would even reduce or exempt the rent. What's more surprising is that if a tenant is taken away by the government to do labor service during busy farming seasons, Xue Zhang would ask neighboring tenants to help out, so as not to miss the season and lose the harvest, without asking for any compensation. Every autumn, Xue Zhang would gather his tenants and villagers to teach them martial arts. His sons are also skilled in archery and horsemanship, and Zhou Ping learned his shooting skills from this family. After learning that the current emperor was the one who formed an alliance with Jin to attack Liao but ended up causing the downfall of the country and himself being trapped in the Five Nations Castle, Zhou Ping decided to learn the skills of archery and spear fighting from Xue Zhang's family before doing anything else. With several years still to go before the Jingkang incident, he figured it was better to have a good martial art skill in this impending chaotic world.

  "Ah Ping, if you have something to say, then say it. What's with the sighing?" A voice startled Zhou Ping out of his reverie, and he looked up to see that 16 or 17-year-old youth - Xue Jia Si Lang Xue Liang Yu staring at him with wide eyes.

  "Ah Ping, are you going to catch the thief this time or not?"

  Zhou Ping was taken aback, and hastily smiled: "The master is not here, the two young masters are in charge, I am just a humble farmhand, I will obey orders without daring to say more!"

  On the side, thirty-year-old Erxiang Xue Liangchen smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, whatever you think, just say it, don't worry!"

  Zhou Ping thought for a moment and smiled, asking: "The 'Hui Jin Tang' that the second son just mentioned, is it the 'Hui Jin Tang' of the Han family in Anyang?"

  Xue Liangchen clapped his hands and laughed, "Not bad, apart from the Han Wei Gong family, is there another family in Xiangzhou that dares to use the name 'Day Brocade Hall'?"

  "If so, then I think this time the government will keep its promise!"

  "Ah Ping, why are you so certain?" Xue Liangyu asked with some discontent.

  "Little lord, if I'm not mistaken, this 'Day Brocade Hall' is located within the walls of An Yang City. Although the Great Song Dynasty has been peaceful for over a hundred years, there are many damaged parts of the city wall. However, with the prestige and influence of the Han family, no one would dare to set fire to Day Brocade Hall, not even a stray dog would linger in front of the Han family's gate. But today it was suddenly burned down, you can imagine how furious the Han family must be! With the Han family's power in Bianjing, if they just send a note, our county magistrate will have to swallow his pride and take action. So at this critical moment, the county magistrate is definitely anxious and won't hesitate to spend those few strings of copper coins!"

  "It's indeed! " Xue Liangchen clapped his hands and laughed: "The Han family is a big household, being robbed and burned, I'm afraid the county magistrate is now like an ant on a hot pot, let alone 100 taels, even if it's 200 or 300 taels, they will have to be taken out!" He said this, he warmly patted Zhou Ping's shoulder: "This time you come with us and take a trip, see the world, if we catch the thief, I'll give you a few more taels, so you can marry a wife and start a family!"

  "Thank you, Erlang!" Zhou Ping hastily promised. The two Xue brothers hurriedly prepared the horses and provisions, and half an hour later, they set off with seven or eight followers, carrying guns and bows on horseback towards the county town.

  County Lieutenant Zhu Zhi led the bowmen out of the west gate of Anyang City and assigned six or seven trusted men to lead the bowmen in each village. They then headed towards Gaoping Village. By around 5 pm, they were only two or three miles away from Gaoping Village. Zhu Zhi ordered the bowmen to sit down and rest, drink water and eat food, while sending two agile subordinates to scout out the enemy's trail in the village. The group had walked for nearly twenty miles under the scorching sun and were exhausted. Upon hearing that they could rest, they scrambled to find a shaded spot to lie down, took out their rice balls and ate heartily. A few who urgently needed to urinate ran to the river bank to relieve themselves, annoying their comrades who were drinking water and watering their horses downstream, which led to a fight breaking out. The onlookers burst into laughter at the scene.

  "Big brother, can we take down the thieves this time?" Liu Sheng's companion asked timidly.

  Liu Sheng sneered, "Balls, being able to keep your life is already good enough. This Zhu County Magistrate isn't even worthy of holding the shoes of the Xue family. Later on, be more clever and if the situation doesn't look right, run for it! Keeping the things that eat are important!"

  Inside Gaoping Village, next to the drying field, a head of cattle that had just been knocked down was lying beside the well. Two bandits were skillfully skinning and cutting it into pieces. Several large pots on the fire nearby were boiling vigorously. The dwarf was making a silly performance under the tree with a bitter face. Dozens of bandits sat around in twos and threes, occasionally bursting out laughing.