Chapter 22: Either don't fight, or win the fight

  Here is the translation:

  It was Zhang Yi, the tall and distant butler, who arrived with a cow cart. Under the gaze of nearly a hundred pairs of eyes, Zhang Yi walked to the front of the military camp. Suddenly, being stared at by so many pairs of eyes made him feel somewhat uneasy. Especially since there was someone tied up on the flagpole, Sun Xiao, whom he recognized as a notable figure in Fufeng City, but now he was tied up on his own young master's flagpole, which was quite embarrassing to think about.

  "Master, I'm here! The things you wanted have all been delivered." Zhang ran up to Gao Yuan.

  Gao Yuan nodded and stood up, taking big strides to the front of the ox cart. He stretched out his hand and picked up a sack from the top of the cart, casually tossing it onto the ground. The crisp sound of impact was particularly pleasant in the midst of silence. The eyes of the soldiers immediately widened as they realized it was the sound of copper coins. This one sack of copper coins likely contained over a hundred taels. Looking at the ox cart again, there were still several layers of sacks like this one. Everyone's breathing suddenly became urgent. If all ten or so sacks were filled with copper coins, wouldn't that be over a thousand taels? Even if they were to distribute everyone's wages in full, there would still be plenty left over.

  Everyone's eyes lit up in an instant, and even Sun Xiao, who was tied to the flagpole, felt a surge of excitement. However, compared to the soldiers, his thoughts were more complicated. The salary for the garrisoned soldiers had always been insufficient, and it was already good if they could get half of what they were owed. But even so, this was enough to satisfy these soldiers. It seemed that County Magistrate Lu had indeed put in a lot of effort to make this young soldier Cao Li stand out, using both kindness and intimidation. The kindness referred to the money, while the intimidation was naturally directed at himself. Sun Xiao let out a sigh, thinking that he had already been impressed by the previous display on the western market street, so why did they have to put on another show?

  Gao Yuan threw the copper coin on the ground and let everyone hear a loud noise, but there was no follow-up. Under everyone's gaze, he walked in front of Sun Xiao again, "Do you understand now?"

  "I've thought it through!" Sun Xiao replied immediately.

  "Alright, let's hear it!" said Gao Yuan.

  "I shouldn't have let the soldiers in our squad go and watch houses or deliver goods for people, nor should I have taken them out to fight and brawl on the streets!" Sun Xiao thought to himself, it seemed like he had only committed these two offenses.

  He looked at him coldly from afar, "It seems you still haven't thought it through!" He raised his fist and waved it in front of Sun Xiao's face, then punched down again. Sun Xiao let out a muffled groan, his face covered in cold sweat from the pain.

  This time, with one punch, everyone below fell silent, looking up at the distant eyes, the previous anger was gone, replaced by only reverence.

  Gao Yuan is very satisfied with this point.

  "Ts'ao T'ien-ch'eng!" He sat back on the bench and called out.

  "Cao Tiancheng's back was already drenched with sweat, these two punches if they were to hit his own body, he feared it would cost him half his life, but Sun Xiaonian was young and had a good physique, so he could withstand it."

  "Bring the soldiers' roster here. Distribute their pay!" Gao Yuan said.

  "Yes, military officer, I don't know how much was issued?" Cao Tiancheng asked tentatively: "Is the county owed five months of salary?"

  "Pay in full!" Gaoyuan said without thinking, waving his hand.

  As soon as this was said, the atmosphere below immediately became lively. The soldiers stationed in the county seat had always been short of pay, and everyone knew this, but today, with Gao Bing's arrival, this rule was broken, and there was extra money to be taken, how could people not be delighted?

  Cao Tiancheng hesitated for a moment, "Military officer, the county garrison has always been understaffed, this is the usual practice, we have broken this rule, what about County Wei?" He wanted to try out whether this matter was arranged by Lu Hong on purpose to help Gao Yuan gain a foothold.

  "This matter is settled by me. As a soldier, you will receive your salary and rations, it's only natural. If the county lieutenant has any questions, I'll go explain myself, so don't worry about it! Dismissed, issue the pay!"

  "Yes, yes!" From the distant words, Cao Tiancheng heard two layers of meaning: one was that the full payment was Gao Bingcao's own idea, and the other was that if there were any problems, he would take responsibility for it, being the nephew of Lu County Wei made it easier to talk. Thinking of this, Cao Tiancheng suddenly felt a jump in his heart - if Lu County Wei didn't know about this matter, then where did the money for the payment come from? He looked at Gao Yuan with suspicion, but Gao Yuan's eyes had already shifted elsewhere.

  Shaking his head, he couldn't be bothered to care about these things anymore. Having money was a good thing after all. Cao Tiancheng yelled at people to set up the tables and brought out the military register, then began to take roll call. Zhang Yizhen carried a bag of copper coins and with a clinking sound poured them onto the table. The bright and shiny copper coins strung together with hemp rope dazzled everyone's eyes.

  Cao Tiānchéng started distributing the salary, and Gāo Yuǎn had already strolled back to Sūn Xiǎo's front, and was punched twice in a row. Sūn Xiǎo was already somewhat afraid of Gāo Yuǎn, but what was key was that he still held the moral high ground at this time. You say there's no salary, where are those piles of copper coins on the table? Those turtle sons have money to collect, and they've forgotten that I'm still tied up here, Sūn Xiǎo thought with some indignation.

  "Adjutant, I've made up my mind!" This time, without waiting for Gaoyuan to speak up, Zhang Xiao had already shouted out loud. Isn't it just that you want me to bow my head to you? Fine, I'll bow my head, as long as you can get the salary money, and besides, Gaoyuan's martial arts skills are indeed worthy of admiration. Bowing my head to him isn't anything shameful, haven't you seen those few foreigners who dared to challenge him still being tied up in the house?

  "What have you figured out?" Gaoyuan asked with a smile.

  "Today is the day of Gao Bing's inauguration, I should be in the barracks preparing to welcome him, but instead I took people out, this is extremely disrespectful to Gao Bing, I know my mistake and will never dare again. From now on, I will follow Gao Bing closely, through thick and thin, into fire and water!" Zhang Xiao was also a unique character, saying these words without changing his expression or skipping a beat.

  Gaoyuan burst out laughing and raised his fist again, blowing a breath on the edge of his mouth. "It's so corny, it sounds great, but... is that really me, Gaoyuan, such a petty person?"

  As the high-flying fist rose again, Sun Xiao suddenly became anxious, and the first two punches really hurt, High Soldier Cao's hand was indeed heavy. Glancing at the crowd who were all focused on taking money, he quickly lowered his voice and said: "High Soldier Cao, I admit defeat! You just want to establish your authority, don't you? Can't I admit defeat? This authority has been established enough, I guarantee... Ah!" Before he could finish speaking, High Soldier Cao's fist had already fallen again. This time Sun Xiao was caught off guard and it hurt even more than the first two times, and he couldn't help but let out a loud cry of pain.

  This shrill cry of pain startled everyone, and they all turned to look at Sun Xiao, only to see that their usually majestic leader was now clutching his head in agony, with tears and snot streaming down his face, and they couldn't help but feel a chill run down their spines as they quickly turned their heads away.

  "You're wrong again, keep thinking!" Gaoyuan threw out a sentence and turned back around. Sun Xiao hung his head in despair, for the time being unable to find any words to say, seeing that Gaoyuan had made up his mind to get rid of him, it seemed he couldn't stay in this team anymore, so he turned around to look for Vice Captain Zhang, hurrying to have himself transferred away.

  After a while, Cao Tiancheng had finished distributing the wages and walked up to Gao Yuan with his own few strings of cash, "Sergeant, it's all done. Except for over ten brothers who haven't returned yet, everyone has been paid."

  "Hmm!" Gaoyuan nodded. "Send some of our brothers with quick legs to bring back all those who haven't returned yet, not a single one is allowed to fall behind!"

  "Yes!" Cao Tiancheng nodded repeatedly. "Yan Haibo, Yan Haibo, hurry up and call back all the brothers who haven't returned yet, just say that wages are being issued."

  "Good!" Yan Haibo took his annual salary and was overjoyed, laughing with a smile on his face, and immediately rushed away quickly.

  Gao Yuan clapped his hands and walked over to Sun Xiao, who was hanging his head on the flagpole, with a smile. Cao Tiancheng also followed him over. At this time, the soldiers who had received their pay finally remembered that there was still one more person tied up on the flagpole - Sun Dou. They all gathered around.

  "Xun Dou Tou, have you thought it through?" Gao Yuan asked with a smile.

  Sun Xiao was speechless at this time and just stared at Cao Tiancheng with his eyes. Cao Tiancheng's heart skipped a beat, but after all, he was a brother who stirred the pot with a spoon, and couldn't bear to see Sun Xiao being beaten again.

  "High-ranking officer Cao, actually the team's matters, I also have a share in it, everyone is being forced to have no way out, Sun Dutou already knows he was wrong, please High-ranking officer Cao be magnanimous and spare him this one time." Cao Tiancheng said in a low and humble tone.

  "Yes, yes, General Binsen, please forgive us this time, we will follow you and do a good job from now on!" The group of soldiers chimed in, speaking out of turn.

  "Smiling slightly, 'Xiao Sun, you have a good relationship with others.'"

  Sun Xiaoxin's heart skipped a beat as he glanced at the group of soldiers, damn it, not a moment ago they were quiet, now they're coming to stir up trouble, isn't this just adding insult to injury? The worse my relationships get, the more dissatisfied Cao Gaoliang becomes, and the more I'll have to endure a beating. But I couldn't say that out loud. Looking at Gao Yuan's iron fists, his eyebrows, nose, and eyes were all scrunched up together, preparing for another punch.

  "Xiao Sun, haven't you thought it through yet?" Gao Yuan asked.

  Sun Xiaohang hung his head and shook it dejectedly, knowing that no matter how he answered, he would be wrong and would have to take a heavy punch.

  "Since you haven't figured it out yet, I'll teach you!" Gaoyuan said coldly, this time without throwing a punch. He had overdone it and really hit Sun Xiao hard, which made those soldiers feel uneasy and sympathetic towards him, and turn against themselves. If that happened, things would have backfired.

  "You're the captain, and you sneak out with your own soldiers to get into a fight, that's one thing. But you actually lost! You've disgraced me to death!" Gaoyuan raised his voice, pointing at the dozen or so soldiers who had followed Sun Xiao out, "A dozen of you against four others, and you still managed to lose? I, Gaoyuan, am utterly humiliated. If you'd won, I might have let you off this time. But since you lost, you'll have to take a beating from me!"

  With a loud clang, the several strings of coins in Cao Tiancheng's hand fell to the ground, colliding with each other and making a clear ringing sound. Sun Xiao also opened his mouth wide, he thought for a long time, but never expected that Gao Yuan would beat him up for this reason. The dozens of soldiers were also stunned, how could this be said?

  "Lao Tzu's motto is: either don't fight or win the fight!" Gao Yuanlang said, this logic was self-evident to Gao Yuan, in his previous life, if he lost a fight, it meant losing his life as well.