“One, two, three......collision!”
"Click!"
"One, two, three...Collision!"
"Click!"
With the commands issued by Su San's mouth, a row of eight gaunt men were exerting effort to hold a round log. They struck the gate of Huang's old house in Xiaotang Town repeatedly.
The first to stand up and say "following the Heavenly Father" was Wang Huxiu, one of the eight gaunt men. He, along with the other seven, have already donated all their property and decided to join forces with the Heavenly Father, the Heavenly King, and the angels to help smash the old Huang family's door.
Out of Huang's mansion, there were two hundred "thin men" who held wooden sticks, shovels, and knives. Under the leadership of Su San's Guangxi Hakka women's army organization, they arranged themselves into a square formation and were ready to charge into the gate once it was broken down to fight against Huang's house guards!
While Luo Yao Guo was seated on a master's chair, brought from an unknown place, under the guard of four sturdy female soldiers, swinging a paper fan and smiling warmly at this group of "enthusiasts" offering their names as tokens of loyalty. Beside him, another master's chair was occupied by a large, fat man, who was Hong Xiuquan's elder brother, Hong Renfa.
Hong Renfa, watching the eight "skinny monkeys" struggle to break down the gate, couldn't help but tell Luo Yao Guo: "I mean, Luo angel, why not let Su San dispatch a squad of women troops to climb over the wall? Why bother with these fellows who haven't eaten a full meal for days or weeks?"
Luo Yao Guo, however, approached Hong Renfa and whispered: "Brother Hong, Su San has already assigned military commander He Da Mei to lead the left second battalion's women soldiers to climb over the wall! I made them break down the gate and charge into the courtyard in order to get them to pledge their allegiance! Do you know what a sworn statement is?"
Speaking, he lifted his finger to point around, and smiled, "All eyes are watching!"
Around them, there were only female soldiers on guard, carrying shotguns, spears, swords, and shields. Besides them were the common people of Gaotang Town—they all had the desire to rebel, but they were not as eager as the eight men smashing the gate and the two hundred who were ready to charge in to fight the Yellow family. Among them, it was inevitable that some might run over to that seriously criminal and vile elder Mr. Huang...
So those who were the most proactive and had actually taken the step to pledge their allegiance, without any other options, were truly backbone members!
Luo Yao Guo had already instructed his subordinates to keep track of the names of each potential backbone member and had also told the women troops under Su San's command to pay close attention to their actions, assessing their performance and checking if anyone was engaging in dishonest behavior upon entering.
Those backbone members who stood out and whose actions were "clean" would be among the first to join the Heavenly Kingdom Society in Gaotang Town. Among them, those who were particularly quick-witted and eloquent would join the direct lecturer team of the Taiping Teacher, becoming the focus of cultivation.
In the future, it will be up to them to establish the revolutionary base in the border between Hunan and Gan Province, as well as to implement the "Teacher-to-the-Frontline" policy!
"Screech...boom!"
With a loud boom, the door of the Huang family mansion was finally smashed open, and the two darkly varnished wooden doors fell heavily to the ground!
The eight men carrying the round logs did not react at first. They were still staring at the door in wonder. Su San's subordinate, Zhuo San Niang, pulled out her sword with a clack and was about to lead the way into the house when a young man's crisp shout suddenly echoed: "Kill the foreign evil, go to Heaven...charge!"
Luo Yao Guo, following the sound, saw a gaunt and small boy, holding a wooden stick, jumping out from the group of two hundred men in line, preparing to charge into Huang's mansion. The boy rushed headfirst into the doorway with his head covered.
"Good!" Luo Yao Guo praised.
"Another key person to cultivate!"
With this lead, the others came to their senses and roared "Kill the foreign evil, go to Heaven" in unison. Then they flooded into Huang's mansion like a tidal wave.
Su San's and dozens of strong Guangxi Hakka female soldiers followed them inside—the presence of these people was needed to keep the over two hundred "reserve backbone members" from being distracted by the wealth and women of Huang's mansion... And Su San and her female soldiers were the most reliable and steadfast!
In fact, the resistance inside Huang's mansion had already been dealt with by the female soldiers from He Da Mei's detachment who had climbed over the wall from the other side.
He Da Mei was a native of Guangxi, around forty years old, tall and robust with strength equal to that of a man. She was particularly courageous in battle and matched Su San's abilities.
She, along with her entire family, joined the Heavenly Kingdom Society. She had two children: a daughter named Li Cuihua, who was sixteen years old and known as "Little Su San Niang." She was quite tall and beautiful. Now she stood beside Luo Yao Guo, one of his four personal female guards.
And the son of He Da Mei's son is named Li Shixian... yes, he is the uncle of the future King Li Xuchao, also known as the Prince of Teachings.
Although Huang's mansion had already been controlled by He Da Mei's women troops, from the perspective of the people outside the gate of Huang's mansion, it was broken down by a group of poor beggars from Gaotang Town, including Wang Huxiu and the young man who led the charge.
After another quarter of an hour, the "reserve backbone members" who had rushed into Huang's mansion earlier came out one by one, beaming with joy, carrying large pieces of wealth — some carrying bags of rice, others jars of soy sauce, and still others holding baskets filled with salted chicken, duck, fish, and meat. There were also people carrying boxes of silks and brocades... In no time, these boxes, baskets, bags, and jars quickly filled a corner of the threshing ground outside Huang's mansion.
The surrounding poor crowd couldn't help but drool with envy – there were so many good things in the Huang family!
"Ugh..."
"Master, I'm ashamed to face people..."
"Let me die..."
The goodies had just been arranged when Su San Niang, accompanied by a group of female soldiers, brought out a dozen or so weeping "nice people," who were the women and children of Huang's family. They were Huang's mistress, concubine, maidservants in the same room, and some of their children. Huang Shi Jie and one of his brothers lived together but were not caught; instead, they captured his first wife, second wife, concubine in the same room, and several of their children.
The chamber maids were relatively okay, but the elder and younger consorts of the Huang brothers were crying their eyes out — to them, dying of hunger was small compared to losing their virtue!
When the Long Hair entered, many of them had wanted to commit suicide, some were thinking of jumping into the lotus pond, some were hanging strings from the ceiling, and just as they were about to do so, they were caught by a group of female Long Hair.
The female Long Hair had no tools to make them lose their virtue, but the male Long Hair outside the gate had!
At the thought of losing their virtue, the women of the Huang family cried out in unison.
However, Luo Yao Guo had no interest in these small-footed women and had no intention of distributing them among the "reserve backbone members" – the Taiping Army was still implementing a gender separation policy!
And all of these were "witnesses," witnesses to the fact that all those who stormed Gaotang Town were female Long Hair!
Now, as Su San Niang is bringing them out, it is only to let them watch as their belongings are all divided up. Later, she will arrange for the loyal servants of the Huang family who were captured to carry these small-footed ladies on sedan chairs to Shuangpai Town!
So she had her subordinates hold the group of "Mrs. Huang" to the side and then ignored them, instead kneeling in front of Luo Yao Guo with a subordinate, holding a box of deeds and a box of bonds from Huang's mansion, "Reporting to the angel, these are the deeds and bonds seized from Huang's mansion. Please make a decision!
Furthermore, there is a large amount of silver, copper coins, shotguns, and gunpowder in Huang's silver repository, which is being guarded by Commander He himself."
Luo Yao Guo laughed heartily: "The family name Huang is indeed good at extortion!" He reached out and opened the box that Su San Niang was holding, then picked up a piece of paper inside and looked at it, "It's due to poverty! Zhang Laoshu borrowed seeds from Huang's family for four bushels of rice, twenty two silver taels... That interest rate is quite high! Who is Zhang Laoshu?"
"Reporting to the angel!" The young man who had led the charge into Huang's old mansion stepped forward, "Zhang Laoshu is my sixth uncle. He is a tenant of Huang's family and rented two acres of irrigated land and three acres of dry land."
"What is your name?" Luo Yao Guo asked the boy with a smile.
He noticed that the boy had a big forehead, and his eyes showed a kind of intelligence. Just now, he dared to lead the charge against Huang's house gate – he was a "red" or "small ghost"!
"Reporting to the angel!" The "small ghost" quickly walked up to Luo Yao Guo, knelt down, and said, "My name is Zhang Bao!"
Zhang Bao! The name itself sounds like a big ritual magician's avatar!
Luo Yao Guo nodded and smiled: "You are very good. From now on, you will serve as my bodyguard... Oh, is your sixth uncle here?"
"Not here," Zhang Bao replied, "He should be busy working in the fields right now."
"Go bring him here!" Luo Yao Guo picked up the document and said, "Let him come himself and burn the document. The Taiping Army will still give him land!"
Luo Yao Guo raised his voice and loudly declared: "All the wealth of Huang's family is unjust! The Taiping Army will fulfill its mission on behalf of heaven, not only burning the document but also redistributing all the land Huang family has seized from tenants and poor farmers. Furthermore, we will divide three-tenths of Huang's surplus wealth among poor peasants in Gaotang and Lingtang towns who are starving! Men who have a heart with the Taiping Army, need not join the army. As long as they cut their braids, they can burn their debt documents and share a portion of surplus wealth and land... Those who wish to fight under the Taiping Army can be allocated three times more land. In the future, they can also become founding heroes. Even if they should die in battle, their families will be granted immunities, and their souls can ascend to heaven and become part of the immortal class!"
And the Taiping Army won't be moving on in the future. We're going to root ourselves in Yongzhou Prefecture, in Hunan, and in Guangdong! You don't have to worry about the Qing demons coming back!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Hu Xiu, Zhang Bao, and all the other poor laborers who had become "reserve backbone members" all shouted in unison: "May the Heavenly King bless us..."
