Outside Qiyun Mountain in the Feng State

The warehouse door of a wealthy landowner was broken open, revealing piles of rice and bags of milled rice inside, leaving the onlookers, who were once refugees, in awe.

"You thieves! While the common people outside are starving, you have so much food in your homes that it is rotting. Even your dogs look well-fed. I will punish you…"

Some members of the rebel army got angry and wanted to kill the tied-up landowner, but Lin Jiang stopped them, saying that killing was not the solution; what mattered now was securing food.

"What are you standing there for? Thank the generous sir for his gift!"

With Lin Jiang’s command, everyone agreed enthusiastically. They went to the wealthy man’s house to harness the carts. The wealthy man not only had plenty of food but also valuable horses, cows, and other large livestock. It was better to use carts to transport them instead of carrying everything on their backs.

Three horse-drawn carts, two ox carts, all packed to the brim. Each person also carried a bag of food. However, this only emptied one warehouse, and there were several more like it.

"Tian Xiong, have the rebels put down the food they are carrying, mobilize the people, and have them help transport the food. Those who assist will receive fifty pounds of rice."

"Teacher, absolutely not! If the common people take the rice, once we leave, these people will surely seek revenge."

Tian Xiong quickly said, not every rich person is as kind as him, when they leave, these rich people will not spare the poor outsiders.

"Look at the sky, it’s getting colder. Without food to fill their stomachs, how many of them will survive the winter? Even if they die, give them a chance to die full. Go, do as I say."

Lin Jiang said, afterwards these landlords may seek revenge, but can we blame Lin Jiang? Why not blame these landlords? Why blame these kind-hearted people like Lin Jiang just because they are kind?

Seeing Lin Jiang’s firm attitude, Tian Xiong wanted to persuade him several times, but didn’t know how to start. The common people outside had long been eyeing the food.

"Forget it, forget it, let it be."

Tian Xiong sighed, he thought that a little darkness might be good, the more ruthless the landlords’ oppression, the more help they would get in the future.

A large number of common people were mobilized, bags of food were taken away, not even leaving behind their other belongings. These were all the sweat and toil of the people, so Lin Jiang taking them was not wrong in his heart.

Two days later, Lin Jiang said to the rich family, "In two days, I have received over two hundred accusations, including thirty-eight related to loss of life, and who knows how many you have driven to their deaths. I initially only wanted wealth, but now I must take lives. By the power of heaven and earth, I sentence you all to death."

At first, Lin Jiang wanted to stay with them, but the villagers nearby treated Lin Jiang and his friends as heroes, coming forward with reports of the cruel deeds by a wealthy landowner. Thirty-eight people had been killed directly by him. Hearing this made the rebels very angry, so Lin Jiang decided to execute the wealthy landowner.

"Tian Xiong, leave fifty people as guards. The rest of you come with me, let’s continue seeking favors from the noblemen."

"Sir, maybe we should stop here. What if the government soldiers come after us?"

"Don’t worry. With me here, there’s nothing to fear. You know how much food a hundred thousand people eat in a day. This little matter is nothing."

Lin Jiang paid no attention and was not afraid of government soldiers coming. The government system in the Chen Kingdom was the same as before. Once you reached the county level, the area under their control was vast. In their current town alone, it was over a hundred miles away from the county city, and transportation was not as convenient in those days.

Even if they did come, how many soldiers could there be in the county city? At most a few hundred law enforcers. By the time they arrived, Lin Jiang would have already left. Even if they caught up, Lin Jiang was not afraid.

Tian Xiong was stunned upon hearing this but then laughed. He was still not used to it. Now they had a Martial Saint with them. There were only a few Martial Saints in the Chen Kingdom. Even if they besieged a city, they would be fine.

So the group continued their journey, seeking favor from other nobles. After a month, winter arrived, and it got colder and colder. Only then did they return to the mountains.

In the military camp on the first hill, there were mountains of food and fabric piled up. People from various towns were mobilized, and the food was stored here. Dozens of stolen ox carts and horse carts were working day and night to transport the goods deeper into the mountains, but they were not finished yet.

"Sir, many people from the towns outside the mountains have sent their children here, they say they are afraid of retaliation from the wealthy or cannot afford to raise them, what do you think…"

"How many people?"

"Over six hundred, but I am afraid that once…"

Tian Xiong said, worried that if they accept these children, more and more people will keep sending others, they cannot support so many people.

"Let them stay."

"Ah, sir, let them stay."

"Let them stay. Tian Xiong, you have compassion for the people nearby, I have compassion for people all over the world. Even though we may not have enough resources now, every life is important, let them all stay. Gather the top leaders tonight for a meeting."

Lin Jiang said that Tian Xiong’s kindness has limits, he is kind to those who follow him. Lin Jiang advises him to think bigger. Lin Jiang doesn’t want to be the emperor himself, but if Tian Xiong shows enough qualities, Lin Jiang is willing to support him as the emperor.

········

"This time going down the mountain, eleven wealthy families showed kindness to us, giving us countless grains and fabrics. I can’t even count them. I don’t know if it’s enough for the mountain rebels to survive a winter."

"Enough, enough, sir, it’s absolutely enough."

Tian Xiong quickly added, they didn’t weigh how much grain there was, but there were easily millions of pounds, plus what they had saved before, it’s definitely enough to not let anyone starve.

"Not enough. I’ve seen the condition of the rebels. Almost everyone is malnourished. My goal is not just to keep you from starving, but to make sure you eat full meals and become strong."

"Sir, this…"

Everyone was moved. In this world, besides the corrupt officials and wealthy, who can dare to say they can eat their fill? Even well-off families with a dozen acres of land at home don’t dare.

"Listen to me, don’t interrupt. I’ll make arrangements for you."

"Yes, sir."

"Qin Yong, I’m entrusting all the money in the mountains to you. You still need to go down the mountain to buy things, mainly food, fabrics, medicinal herbs, be careful not to get cheated."

"Don’t worry, teacher, I’m familiar with Fengzhou City."

"Okay, Tian Xiong, you’re in charge of things inside the mountain. You have experience on how to get through the winter, so I won’t say much more."

"Yes, teacher."

"Military advisor, gather all the literate people from the mountain here, and also bring all the people between eight and eighteen years old here, regardless of gender."

"Teacher, are you asking for…"

"To completely change the rebel army, I will teach them to read and write in one winter."

Lin Jiang said. One winter is not enough time to turn them into Martial Arts Masters, but it can make them the foundation and backbone for Lin Jiang in the future.

The crowd looked at each other in surprise. They had never thought about this before. Is this the grand plan of a Martial Saint?

"I have preparations for the adults too. I will provide you with enough martial arts manuals, simple swordplay, internal martial arts techniques, everything. So, except for the elderly and weak, everyone in the mountain must keep busy. Start training, eat as much food as you need, at least two pounds of grain per person per day."

"Teacher, we can’t handle eating like this."

Tian Xiong felt his vision darken. With tens of thousands of people eating two pounds of food a day, that’s twenty thousand pounds a day. They used to only have one pound of food a day, with some stored wild vegetables and tree bark to avoid starving. In recent years, they didn’t even have one pound of food.

"Not enough to say, studying and practicing martial arts, must eat well."

Lin Jiang waved his hand, saying they needed to come up with a solution. They could go hunting deeper in the mountains or continue asking for provisions from the nobles below. Can a living person really be starved to death?

Lin Jiang forcefully suppressed everyone’s opinions and ordered them to carry out his instructions.

The efficiency of the rebels was very high. In just over ten days, they had transported all the children from the mountains to the military camp. Together with the people brought from outside the mountains, there were more than five thousand people in total.

During this period, another army arrived from outside the mountains, consisting of seven to eight thousand people, mostly servants and guards of the noble families of Feng State. They had also hired a Martial Arts Master, whom Lin Jiang easily defeated, gaining a new batch of weapons and supplies as gifts. The nobles from outside the mountains were truly kind-hearted, almost moving Lin Jiang to tears.

With more than five thousand young people, Lin Jiang organized around a hundred classes with fifty students each. He had them start by learning to read and write, using a few nailed wooden boards as blackboards.

The written language of the Chen Kingdom was the simplified characters passed down by Lin Jiang, as he wasn’t very familiar with traditional characters. However, Lin Jiang had not taught them Pinyin before. This time, Lin Jiang also taught them Pinyin, starting with the more than twenty people who recognized characters. Lin Jiang gave lessons to those twenty-some people at night, while they taught the children during the day. Everyone was learning together, with those twenty teachers learning as they taught.

In the first twenty days, they only read books and didn’t practice martial arts. Most of them were too weak to train, so Lin Jiang found ways to give them extra nutrition. He got oil and livestock from the big master, and most of it went into their bellies.

Tian Xiong didn’t mind either. As parents, they always have a special love for their children.

But Lin Jiang was very strict with them. They had to learn twenty words a day, and there were punishments for those who couldn’t. Standing in a corner, palm slaps, or running were all possible punishments. Those who learned quickly were rewarded with extra food or the chance to have a private chat with Lin Jiang.

The fast learners were promoted to class monitor and had the duty to help others learn. This way, Lin Jiang got a group of young gentlemen.

These children studied very hard. Slacking off or sleeping in class was not allowed. Studying by the fire at night was common. After twenty days, over three thousand people knew four hundred words well and had no trouble with basic reading and writing.

Next, Lin Jiang started teaching them about human anatomy, like meridians and acupoints, getting them ready for martial arts training. They started with basic moves, but Lin Jiang planned to teach them advanced internal martial arts techniques to see if they could become experts.