Chapter 66: Testing the Gun

  (Second update, hehe)

  Xiao Tianjian looked a bit disgusted, waved his hand to summon several of Wang Tiandong's former subordinates, and ordered them to drag the three corpses far away to feed the wild dogs. Only then did he turn to the tenants and say: "Alright! Your feud with this son of a bitch is now settled! As for his underlings, they were just coerced by him, don't blame them for anything, you don't have to hold grudges against them anymore! Now they are my subordinates, no one will come to harm you again! You can rest assured!"

  Now you have to consider the issue of going or staying. This Fan family's mansion, I, Xiao, have made up my mind about it. As for how the old wealthy Mr. Fan treats you, you are also very clear about that. If he hadn't arranged for you to live outside the village, you probably wouldn't have had this disaster. Moreover, Mr. Fan didn't treat you as human beings, and when killing you, he wouldn't show any mercy! After this incident, you don't need to think about working for Mr. Fan anymore. Now you have two options: one is to stay and follow me, Xiao, to do things. I don't dare guarantee that you will be worry-free about food and clothing, but I can guarantee that I won't harm you. As long as I, Xiao, have something to eat, I won't let you starve! Two is that you pack your things and leave now. Whether to go or stay, it's up to you to decide, and I absolutely won't stop you!

  "Now you consider for yourselves! Those who want to leave, pack up and go now. Those who stay will come to me. From now on, they will be my brothers! I, Xiao Mou, will never mistreat those who stay!"

  These tenants were all stunned, and they didn't expect that this Xiao surname stick head would let them go so easily. Many people couldn't react for a while, and after being stunned for half a day, they hurriedly kowtowed to thank Xiao Tianjian. Suddenly, there was another burst of noise outside Fanjiabao.

  These tenant farmers also saw that the Xiao family's plan was to take down the Fan family fortress, and once it fell, they would no longer have a reason to stay. To leave or to stay had become a problem for them. These tenant farmers had been working on the Fan family's land for generations, and could be said to have lived here forever. Suddenly, if the Fan family fortress were gone, where else could they go?

  Now everywhere is in chaos, with soldiers and horses all over the place, and the government has no power to quell the uprising. The drought is severe, where can they go to make a living? Many people have started thinking about this problem, some silently took their families back to their homes, packing up whatever useful things they could find, but as for where to go to seek a way out, it left them in a state of extreme anxiety.

  Some tenants, although they clearly knew there was nowhere to go, were still unwilling to give up and, with their wives and children in tow, carrying a few things on their backs, quietly set out on the road leaving Fanjia Fortress.

  However, some tenants stood still outside the Fan family compound after collecting their belongings, reluctant to leave because they really couldn't think of where to go or who to turn to. If they left here, they might not be able to walk far before starving to death. But if they didn't leave, what could they do?

  A man crouched by the roadside, holding his two sons, clutching his head in silence. His wife had been shot dead by Zhang Ding of Fanjia Fortress yesterday, leaving only him and his two sons behind. He had no idea where to go now. The children knew it too - even if they went begging for food, they might not get anything to eat. In the end, the three of them would slowly starve to death.

  After thinking for a while, he suddenly stood up and stomped his foot, holding one of his sons with one hand, walking towards Xiao Tianjian.

  "Great treasure, second treasure! Quickly kneel down and kowtow to Master Pan! Master Pan, I, Niu Ershui, have come to pay my respects! I've brought these two little ones with me, and we really have nowhere else to go. May I ask, Master Pan, would you be willing to take us in? You can order me, Niu Ershui, to do anything, as long as you grant these two little brats a meal to eat, I'll be content!" This man walked up to Xiao Tianjian's front, and with a thud, knelt down before him, and quickly pressed his two sons onto the ground as well.

  Xiao Tianjian took a look at him and his two sons. The older one should be around eleven or twelve years old, and the younger one was eight or nine years old. Both of them had the same pale complexion, probably because they hadn't eaten well in Fanjia Fortress either. They were both thin and pitiful.

  "No problem, I've said it before, I'll treat those who stay well! This includes your son! As long as I have food to eat, they will never go hungry!" Xiao Tianjian nodded in response to Niu Ershui.

  "Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master! Eldest and Second, hurry up and thank Master! From now on, we'll follow Master's orders! You must listen to Master's words!"

  The two little guys were still afraid of Xiao Tianjian, hiding behind their father's back, following him to kowtow, and from time to time, they would sneak a peek at Xiao Tianjian with their eyes, which made them look very clever.

  Xiao Tianjian walked over, picked up the two little ones, rubbed their heads and smiled: "Great! The two little guys are very well-behaved! Someone come quickly to prepare some food, don't let these little guys go hungry!"

  When they saw Niu Ershui leading his son to rely on Xiao Tianjian, the rest of the tenants hesitated and didn't know where else to go. As a result, more people came over, one after another, kowtowing to Xiao Tianjian and expressing their willingness to follow him. In no time, dozens of people had gathered, including men, women, old and young, all for the sole purpose of being able to make a living in the future.

  The remaining tenants eventually chose to leave as well, sparsely embarking on the road out of Fanjia Fortress.

  After all the commotion, Xiao Tianjian was busy until noon and finally settled down. The cook made a large pot of rice, and everyone sat on the floor to eat.

  The people in the Fan family finally gradually put away their smiles, because they also saw that after this group of sticks had finished burning, they didn't have any intention of leaving, but instead began to make gestures as if they were going to continue staying and doing things. This made them panic again.

  The two rods have now become one rod, so there will be no more scheming and plotting. If the fight against the landlord continues, what happens next is hard to predict!

  Although there are fewer people outside, Fanjia Village has become even more dangerous now. The stick is more powerful than the cooperation, and the Fan family can be the master for so long, which shows that they have a certain vision. They understand this point clearly, so now the Fan family is even more tense, no longer happy, and starts to arrange the farm workers to continue moving logs and stones, making preparations for defense.

  Xiao Tianjian held a rifle, repeatedly measuring the rifle. After crossing over here, this was his first time touching such a thing, which made him feel quite excited.

  This kind of firearm in this era was naturally a fire lance, although it was very crude, but it already had the prototype of a modern rifle. The barrel was made of wrought iron and had some welding marks on it, but it was definitely not the electric welding of later generations. Specifically how it was done, Xiao Tianjian wasn't very clear either.

  This musket has many components, in addition to the barrel, the rear end of the barrel is blocked by a bolt, and there are also a powder pool, a hammer with a frizzen, and a trigger on the body. The body is made of hardwood, fixing all parts on the surface, weighing heavily in hand, at least six or seven kilograms, although it can't be said to be finely crafted, but in this era, being able to make it like this also shows that the craftsman's skills have reached a considerable level.

  This time he captured a total of seven rifles, unfortunately these rifles seemed to be poorly maintained, some of which were already rusty, and as Yan Zhongxi said, the quality was worrying, it's no wonder that there have been continuous barrel explosions.

  "Put down the gun! This thing is useless, it's prone to exploding and hurting yourself before you can even hit the enemy. In my opinion, it's better not to use this thing at all, lest you hurt yourself. Even a big knife or spear would be more reassuring to use! After firing one shot, you have to spend half a day reloading, it's almost as useless as a fire poker! Most of these things are left in the armory unused, nobody likes using them!"

  Xiao Tianjian shook his head and said, "I know what you mean, but you're wrong! This thing will be the master of the battlefield in the future! Without it, we can't become strong at all! We can't give up on it just because its quality is not good. It's still useful! Otherwise, when we attack the village, we won't be able to suppress their firearms and bows and arrows! Can you use this thing? Load one round and let me try!"

  Yan Zhongxi saw that Xiao Tianjian was taking this matter very seriously, so he didn't say anything more and just reminded Xiao Tianjian to be careful. He picked up a musket, first using the ramrod to poke into the barrel and clean out any remaining residue inside, before starting to load it. He poured some gunpowder into the barrel, then took a bullet and loaded it in, using the ramrod to tamp it down firmly. Next, he poured some ignition powder onto the firing pan, covered it with the lid, and finally used a tinderbox to ignite the fuse, which was stuck on the dragon head, completing the preparations for firing.

  Xiao Tianjian took the rifle, took a deep breath and silently prayed that it wouldn't explode, then aimed at a large tree thirty steps away, carefully aiming for a while before finally deciding to pull the trigger.

  Xiao Tianjian only felt a flash of fire in front of him, his shoulder was slightly bumped by the recoil, and the muzzle immediately sprayed out a puff of smoke. At the same time, he heard a muffled sound beside his ear. The gunpowder in the chamber ignited after the primer burned, and the smoke that came out almost made Xiao Tianjian's eyes tear up.

  "Cough cough...... This thing is really choking!" Xiao Tianjian put down the fire gun and immediately ran towards the big tree in large strides.

  Shooting was something he experienced during military training in later years, but unfortunately, during the training period, they were only allowed to fire five rounds per person, and what's more, it was with the outdated Type 56 rifle, also known as the Chinese-made AK47. The recoil was fierce! Xiao Tianjian loved playing with this, and to satisfy his craving for shooting, he secretly bribed the instructor with a pack of good cigarettes beforehand. The instructor then privately gave him an additional ten rounds.

  Xiao Tianjian fired 15 shots and scored 123 rings, which isn't too good, but for a rookie like him, it's already quite an achievement. So today when he tried shooting this crappy firearm, he was still full of confidence, thinking there wouldn't be any problems.

  He waited until he ran to the side of a large tree, then lay on the tree and searched for half a day. Only then did he discover that the bullet from this shot had only grazed the edge of the big tree and flew away without a trace. This made him extremely disappointed, and he almost threw his rifle to the ground.