Chapter 12 No matter the cost Time flies by, and before I know it, it is already evening. The weather today is pretty good. It is no longer as hot and humid as the past few days. Instead, there is a hint of cool breeze in early autumn, which makes people feel refreshed. However, there has not been a drop of rain for three whole months. It is estimated that a large portion of crops in the vast northwestern border area of the Ming Dynasty will be lost this year. The lower-class people were already unable to pay various taxes, and this year the imperial court once again increased taxes due to the serious military situation in Liaodong, adding fuel to the fire. There is no need to think too much. With the fire raging, there will surely be many more rebel armies rising up in this land. After a day of practicing basic martial arts boxing, a dozen talented young men, who had just eaten a bowl of spiritual rice and drank a bowl of qi and blood soup, were led by a soldier. Instead of returning to the large warehouse where they had rested, they lined up towards the backyard house they had never been to before. Obviously, those who had been discovered and selected by Zhang Xianzhong not only received a significant increase in the supply of resources for cultivation, but they would also probably have to change their residence and no longer live in the large dormitory room they had before. The Wang Family Courtyard, as the residence of local landlords and wealthy gentry in the county town, is definitely luxurious and huge. Moreover, the Wang family, as one of the three major gentry in Dingbian City, has its main residence not in the county town, but near the Wuding River, a hundred miles southeast of the county town. There, the Wang family has a manor house and garden covering tens of thousands of acres. Not only is its area comparable to that of a small city, but even its city walls are taller and larger than those of Dingbian City! Although the Dingbian City had fallen into the hands of the rebels, the main residences of the three major gentry, including the Wang family, were not in the county town. Most of their roots and foundations were still there and they had not suffered too much damage.
The hastily launched uprising did not have the strength to capture their old nests and castles, but the three wealthy families did not have a strong leader or sufficient military force to launch a counterattack on the county town. It is a strange thing that the two sides are ignoring each other and living in peace for the time being. This situation had been anticipated before Zhang Xianzhong raised the flag of rebellion. In this vast land of the northwest border, even the Tatars who often entered the pass to plunder the valleys did not have a quick way to capture the main residences and castles of such wealthy families. If he wanted to capture the main mansions and castles of these three wealthy families, it would be impossible for him and his motley crew to do so, at least for now. Li Dingguo, along with a dozen talented young men, was led through a crescent-shaped arched gate and arrived in front of a complex of exquisite buildings. There are rockery gardens, pavilions, towers, and even small bridges, flowing water, and exotic flowers and plants, which make people feel relaxed and happy. It is true that droughts have occurred frequently in recent years, but Dingbian City is not far from the famous Wuding River and has abundant groundwater. As long as there is money to dig deep wells, the water problem can be easily solved. Although the Wang family could not be called extremely wealthy, they certainly had enough money to dig some deep wells. Wuding River is a big river. Even on the Earth in Li Dingguo's previous life, it was a large river with its widest point being two to three hundred meters and its narrowest point being several dozen meters. In this vast world whose area is countless times larger than the Earth in the previous life, the Wuding River really stretches as far as the eye can see and has never dried up. Fortunately, in this big world, there are all kinds of magical treasure ships. Only powerful merchants and soldiers can travel on those huge and dangerous rivers. In this world, without sufficient strength, it is impossible to travel far. At least most ordinary people can't do it on their own. That is not a long journey, but a road to self-destruction. If ordinary people want to visit relatives far away, they must be protected by a medium or large business guard team, or by a large army of soldiers. As night fell, Li Dingguo and other young men were led into a brightly lit lobby. They found that the Eighth King Zhang Xianzhong was also here, and there were even two trembling old scholars sitting on the big wooden chairs below. "You people, stop looking around, it's impolite." Zhang Xianzhong looked calm, pointing at the two old scholars beside him, and said to the young genius who had just arrived, "These are the two scholars I invited for you."
"They will teach you how to read and write in the coming period of time." At this point, his tone turned stern, "I'm sure you all know how difficult it is for ordinary people in this world to have the opportunity to read and write!" "Please cherish this opportunity and study hard to make progress, so as not to let me down." "Starting from tonight, under normal circumstances, you must study for one hour every day as homework!" "Two months at most! Anyone among you who fails to complete the study of basic cultural knowledge will be eliminated and expelled from our rebel army!" "Did you hear that clearly?" He looked at these talented young men who were silent and shouted coldly. "I heard it clearly!"... Li Dingguo and others quickly responded with solemn expressions. Even though they have limited knowledge due to their background, they know how difficult it is for ordinary people in this world to have the opportunity to read and write. This is the learning opportunity they have been longing for, so why would they complain? Zhang Xianzhong first introduced the two old gentlemen to the sixteen teenagers so that they could get to know each other. Then he turned and sat aside, watching the two old scholars who were coerced and lured by him start their teaching work tremblingly. This hall has been arranged to look like a small school, with all the necessary supplies, including pens, inkstones, books, tables and chairs. Moreover, the classroom is brightly lit, so teaching is not affected even at night. Zhang Xianzhong even ordered people to use a large amount of mugwort to fumigate the place thoroughly, so there were very few mosquitoes. It can be said that Zhang Xianzhong spent a lot of thought on the layout of this primary school. The purpose is to provide these sixteen talented young people with a good learning environment and enable them to complete the learning of basic cultural knowledge as quickly as possible. He also did not need these young people to have the cultural knowledge of the scholars. As long as they could understand books and military newspapers smoothly and distinguish right from wrong in the future, it would be enough. Only in this way will they be able to achieve their expectations in the future, help themselves fully control the rebel army, learn some military books and strategies, and have the ability to lead the army independently. What he was most looking forward to were the four talented young men who had just been discovered and had extraordinary looks. Zhang Xianzhong just didn't believe that with all his efforts, he couldn't train a few core rebel generals who were both civil and military! When these talented young men grow up, the now fragmented rebel army will be completely under his control and transformed into an invincible elite force. Only Zhang Xianzhong had hope of achieving his wish and rapidly developing and strengthening the rebel army. (End of this chapter)
