Outside the massive gates of the Gao Family Village, the air was thick with the smell of dust and the lingering tension of a battlefield not yet cold.
"Inspector Cheng! It has been a long time, truly, a very, very long time indeed!" San Shier greeted with a beaming, practiced smile that reached his eyes but didn't quite settle there. "Ever since Wang Er started his ruckus in Baishui and I was forced to flee the county seat, I haven't had the pleasure of seeing your face. Seeing you today... well, it truly makes me overjoyed."
Cheng Xu narrowed his eyes, leaning forward in his saddle as he looked down at the clerk. "I was just here a few days ago. Didn't you wave at me from the wall back then?"
San Shier blinked, his expression a mask of perfect, innocent confusion. "Eh? When did such a thing happen? I certainly don't recall it."
Cheng Xu's heart skipped a beat, and a cold shiver raced down his spine.
I knew it! he screamed internally. The place I went to a few days ago wasn't Gao Village at all! I must have been ensnared by some demonic illusion and wandered into a ghost village. There was probably a female ghost transformed into the likeness of the Third Clerk, trying to lure me inside to devour my soul! Thank the gods I didn't enter, or I'd be nothing but gnawed bones by now.
At the mere thought of his narrow escape, beads of sweat the size of soybeans began to pour down his forehead, drenching his collar.
He shook himself, trying to regain his composure. Whatever happened was in the past. He was still alive and well, and there was no sense in acting like a coward in front of his men.
He cleared his throat and gestured toward the looming stone structures of the Gao Family Village.
"When did this tiny, pathetic Gao Village manage to build such a massive fortress?"
San Shier didn't miss a beat, maintaining his gentle, deferential smile.
"This was funded by Mr. Bai of the Bai Family Fort. I also dipped into my own meager savings to help out, and every villager from the surrounding ten miles came to offer their labor. We pulled it off together. As the saying goes, it was a triumph of collective effort."
"Bai Yuan paid for this?" Cheng Xu muttered, clearly skeptical.
He looked up at the three-zhang-high walls, wondering how on earth a mere country squire could afford such a monumental defensive project. But he quickly brushed the thought aside. He didn't have time for side matters.
He had exactly three days before the new Donglin Party Magistrate arrived to take over the county, and he couldn't afford to waste a single second on suspicious architecture. Pretending not to notice was the smartest move he could make.
Cheng Xu got straight to the point.
"I received word that two nights ago, Wang Er launched a night raid on the Gao Family Village, but was ambushed by the village militia under Bai Yuan's command. They say Zhong Guangdao and Zheng Yanfu were killed in the fray. Is there any truth to this?"
San Shier had already heard the rumors Wang Er had carefully planted. Understanding the rebel leader's intention to distance the village from his cause, San Shier immediately put on a look of smug, local pride.
"It is absolutely true."
"Where are the bodies of Zheng Yanfu and Zhong Guangdao?" Cheng Xu demanded.
San Shier pointed toward a nearby hillside, where the grass was scorched and the earth turned over.
"We buried them over there. See? We placed two large stones to mark the spot. They're right underneath."
Cheng Xu was elated.
He barked an order to his men, who scrambled to the hillside with shovels. After only a few minutes of digging, they unearthed several charred, blackened corpses. The bodies were badly burnt and in an advanced state of decay, emitting a stench so foul it could peel paint off a wall.
Cheng Xu didn't mind the smell at all. He didn't even bother with a proper identification. In this era, there was no forensic science to speak of anyway.
"Chop off the heads of these two charcoal briquettes and toss them in a sack!"
The soldiers moved with clinical efficiency. As members of the regular army, they had seen far worse than a few charred remains. Whether the bodies were burnt or rotting, they didn't even flinch as they performed the gruesome task.
With the "proof" of the rebel leaders' deaths in his possession, Cheng Xu's mood improved dramatically.
"Clerk San, you and Mr. Bai have done a great service for the state. Once the new Magistrate arrives, I'll make sure to bring you both before him to claim your reward. You deserve a little something for your loyalty."
"We only handled a few followers," San Shier replied, bowing low. "The actual execution of these two rebel chieftains was handled by General Cheng's own hand. Every villager in the Gao Family Village saw it with their own eyes. It is the General who truly deserves the credit for this glorious feat."
Cheng Xu's mouth curled into a wide, predatory grin.
"Clerk San, you really do know how to be sensible."
His smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by a cold, sharp gaze.
"Which way did Wang Er flee?"
San Shier extended an arm toward the northern hills.
"That way!"
He wasn't lying. He pointed exactly in the direction Wang Er had taken, knowing full well that since Wang Er had intentionally leaked the news of his "injuries," he surely had a plan to evade capture.
Cheng Xu didn't waste another word. He pointed his sword toward the northern forest and roared,
"Pursue!"
He led his hundred-odd soldiers into the thick timber, and within minutes, the sound of their marching feet had faded into the distance.
San Shier watched them go, letting out a sharp, derisive "Tch" before turning back toward the village.
He climbed back up to the battlements and stared at the horizon for a few moments, his mind racing.
"No wonder Bai Yuan said the road to the county seat would soon be clear. Once the news of Wang Er's 'critical injury' spread and Cheng Xu started making moves, the smaller rebel groups in the area would naturally crawl back into their holes to wait things out."
He turned and shouted down into the village square, his voice echoing off the stone.
"Gao Chuwu, Zheng Daniu! Get ready! We're going to wait for Cheng Xu to finish his little tantrum, and once the roads are safe, we're heading to the county seat. I want to buy a few horses and hire some extra hands to help out around here!"
Gao Chuwu popped his head over a nearby roofline, looking confused.
"Eh? Nobody in this village even knows how to ride a horse. Even if we buy them, how are we supposed to get them back here?"
Zheng Daniu appeared on another roof, scratching his chin.
"Are we supposed to carry the horses back on our shoulders?"
Gao Chuwu let out a loud, boisterous laugh.
"Oh! That makes sense! If the two of us carry them together, we've definitely got enough strength for it."
"I'm very confident in my muscles," Zheng Daniu added, nodding solemnly.
San Shier stared at them, his eyes twitching.
"Both of you idiots shut up! Even if you can't ride a horse, you can lead it back with a rope. Why on earth would you carry it? Is the man supposed to ride the horse, or is the horse supposed to ride the man?"
The two hulks went silent.
"..."
Up in the "heavens," Li Dao Xuan couldn't help but chuckle at the two lovable oafs.
But after the laughter died down, he realized that Gao Chuwu had actually stumbled upon a very legitimate problem.
Riding a horse was a high-level technical skill.
It wasn't something you could learn in an afternoon. For the farmers of the Gao Family Village, even if they had horses, turning them into a functional transport or cavalry unit would take months, if not years. Only a handful of people would likely ever master it.
Furthermore, a horse-drawn carriage had very limited cargo capacity. If the villagers ever needed to transport some of the "strange gifts" he planned to give them, like that massive plastic catapult, a traditional cart simply wouldn't cut it.
Transportation was a bottleneck that needed to be addressed immediately.
He pulled up his favorite historical military forum and started an anonymous thread:
"Dear experts, me again. With access to modern materials and technical manuals, what's the most advanced land transportation the Ming Dynasty can realistically achieve?"
Reply 1: Apollo Module.
Reply 2:
"Bury the guy above me. Even if you have modern materials, Ming people can't read modern manuals. It'll take you ten years to train someone capable. Just stick to horse carts."
Reply 3:
"I read a time-travel novel where they built steam trains."
Reply 4:
"Novels are for fun. Without fundamental science, everything stays on paper. Look at the Ming dynasty's own military manual—tons of weird weapons, zero actually built. Don't trust fiction."
Reply 5:
"I trust the parts where they buy dozens of concubines and host big parties every night. Those are 100% possible in the Ming dynasty."
Everyone else:
"WHY ARE YOU STILL NOT BANNED?
MODS?? WHERE ARE THE MODS?!"
Li Daoxuan rubbed his temples.
The forum… was useless.
He couldn't reveal his golden cheat, so nobody could actually give meaningful advice.
Fine. I'll figure it out myself.
He opened several shopping apps and typed:
"miniature transportation toys…"
There's an old saying:
If it exists, the internet sells it.
As long as it's legal, you'll find it—
the question is whether you're willing .