The house was built, but the tin can house was entirely empty, without any furniture.

The Village Chief carried a large bundle of dry grass into the room, using it as a temporary bed for Li Da, and also lent him an old quilt.

Gao Yiye brought him a big bowl of cooked chicken and cabbage rice, allowing Li Da to enjoy a hearty meal.

While they were fussing over Li Da, Thirty-Two reported the events that happened in the county town to Li Daoxuan.

Bai Shui Wang Er’s rebellion was not a surprise to Li Daoxuan; he hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly. After listening, there was nothing much to say, so he just sighed for the innocents in the city who died in that battle.

The sky was already completely dark. Li Daoxuan took another piece of iron and temporarily sealed the half-door opening of the city gate that wasn’t fully finished. The villagers then returned to their own houses to rest.

The scenic box entered a “non-static scene.”

There was nothing worth seeing.

Li Daoxuan shifted his gaze away from the box, glancing toward his own window outside. Shuangqing City’s sky was also darkening, but the city sparkled with lights, as nightlife was just beginning.

He sat back in front of the computer and clicked on Cai Xinzi’s icon on QQ, “Old Cai, how’s the progress on my Hakka roundhouse?”

Cai Xinzi said, “It’s too early! Still building the frame; how could it be so quick? Ask me again in a month.”

Li Daoxuan replied, “…”

Alright then, that roundhouse model really needed a lot of work; it couldn’t be rushed.

He opened the military history forum he often visited and anonymously posted again, “If you traveled back to the late Ming Dynasty, and after securing a sturdy castle, firearms, iron armor—thus solving basic safety issues—what would be the second thing you’d do next?”

Reply 1: Date more chicks, don’t waste the good girls, don’t miss out on the bad girls, and arrange them all in eighteen positions.

Reply 2: Moderator, please ban that idiot on Floor 1; I’ve been putting up with him for a long time.

Reply 3: Kill them all! Wipe out the Eunuch Party first, then kill off the Donglin Party, exterminate Li Zicheng’s bunch of bandits, slaughter all the Jurchens in the northeast, kill anyone who disobeys me, eliminate anyone I hate, and then lead a group of obedient followers to build a new country and sweep across Europe and America.

Reply 4: If you have no ambition, do as Floor 1 says. If you’re ambitious but full of shit in the head, do as Floor 3 says. If you actually want to fight the Qing and save the country, and aim for the Chinese nation to dominate the globe, then you must be courteous to learned men, desperately recruit all kinds of talent—use useful people from the Eunuch Party, useful ones from the Dongling Party, talented individuals from the bandit gangs, and even capable people from the wild boar skin side… The more useful people you have on hand, the bigger things you can accomplish.

Reply 5: Floor 4 is talking nonsense! Why would I need to use those trash? I’ll train my own team from scratch.

Reply 6: Start training kids? How many years will it take for them to grow up and help you? The Ming Dynasty is going to fall in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen; will you still be hiding in some mountain hollow as a tutor then?

Reply 7: So don’t bother training any team; instead, cultivate some lolis—they don’t take years to become consumable.

Li Daoxuan said, “Damn dumbass, you idiot again?”

The discussion ended; the post was locked by the moderator. If it continued that way, he feared being invited for tea.

Li Daoxuan carefully read the replies from the earlier posters, weighing the options, and still thought that Floor 4 made the most sense.

Not going too far, just focusing on the immediate, this little village with only a few dozen people urgently needed manpower. They didn’t even require talents; just people would do—men could be used for cutting trees, logging, and repairing gates, women for cooking, washing, and miscellaneous tasks. Everywhere needed people.

Just as he had that thought, a faint cluster of human voices rose in the scenic box, as if many people were talking together, gathered and noisy. Li Daoxuan turned to look: activity coming—hundreds gathered, pushing carts big and small, holding torches, walking along the loess dirt road toward the outside of Gaojia Village.

Their intention was likely to enter Gaojia Village, but now Gaojia Village was surrounded by a giant wall made of Lego bricks. In the pitch-black night, relying only on moonlight and torchlight for vision, their sight was very limited; they couldn’t even find where the gate was.

These hundreds were all bewildered, whispering to each other. What Li Daoxuan heard earlier was the sound of their murmurs.

He leaned in with great interest beside the scenic box. At a glance, he spotted a tall, sturdy man standing at the front of the group—it was Bai Shui Wang Er.

Apparently, that day, after rising in rebellion, killing the county magistrate Zhang Yaocai, and opening the granary to seize official grain, he loaded it onto those carts behind and escaped the city. Traveling over thirty li, he ran to Gaojia Village.

Wang Er was a bit anxious now!

He knew the pursuers might come at any moment, so he wanted to repay the debt to Gaojia Village quickly. But this strange Gaojia Village, in what seemed like a blink of an eye, had inexplicably gained a giant wall, preventing him from finding a way in.

First, Wang Er quieted those around him, then raised his voice and shouted aloud toward Gaojia Village, “People of Gaojia Village, can you hear me? I’m from the neighboring Wangjia Village; I’m Wang Er, Bai Shui Wang Er. I once stole your water, but you held no grudge. Instead, you gave me much flour. Today, we’re here to repay the favor—I have grain, and I’ve brought two carts of grain for you… Gaojia Village people? Can you hear me?”

Li Daoxuan chuckled silently: this Bai Shui Wang Er wasn’t a bad person. He seized official grain and immediately came to return the favor. No wonder he became one of the leaders of the peasant uprising army—someone who can make a large group willing to shed blood for him must have considerable charisma.

“People of Gaojia Village…” Bai Shui Wang Er shouted again a couple of times. A dark shadow appeared on the city wall—Gao Chuwu had come.

With a simple-minded look on his face, he spoke toward the outside of the wall, “Huh? So you were the thief who stole our water.”

Wang Er felt a bit awkward. Luckily, in the heavy night darkness, lit only by moonlight and torches, no one noticed his slightly reddened face, “Yes, I’m the one who stole it. Ah, this isn’t the time to talk about that. Please open the city gate; I’ll give you two carts of grain, and then I’ll leave straightaway.”

Gao Chuwu had a simple mind—he was the type who wouldn’t judge unless someone gave him an order. At that moment, he didn’t know what to do.

Li Daoxuan thought for half a second: of course, they couldn’t accept the two carts of grain, and they shouldn’t let Wang Er and his group into Gaojia Village. It was still the early stages of the peasant uprising; the world situation was relatively stable, and the imperial court’s control remained strong. If Gaojia Village got involved with Wang Er and his group at this point, it would invite major trouble.