Newborn 1927

Yang Jiefang returned to the Black Widow's courtyard. The Black Widow and Gao Huilan were already waiting for him in the living room. The Black Widow said with a grim face, "This time, the Laiyang County garrison suffered over a hundred deaths and dozens of injuries, and you're to blame for it all." Yang Jiefang nodded, "I know that. Those two old foxes have realized their mistake, and after some maneuvering, they've shifted the blame back to me. Actually, it's not unfair; I was the one who did it." The Black Widow asked, "Then what should we do?" Yang Jiefang said, "Easy. Release these people, and hand me over to Laiyang County. Maybe that can smooth things over..." Gao Huilan shouted, "What nonsense are you talking about? Why would we do that? This isn't the time for jokes. Quickly think of a safe solution!" The Black Widow sneered, "If you can't come up with a safe solution, I really will hand you over." Gao Huilan said anxiously, "Mother, what are you saying?"

Yang Jiefang found it amusing. This mother and daughter were playing good cop and bad cop, trying to put on a charade? There were no outsiders here, so who were they putting on this for? He didn't dwell on it and said, "There's no sure way. We'll deal with whatever comes our way. Only if we're strong enough can we face anyone." Black Widow said, "You make it sound so easy. Are government troops so easy to encounter?" Yang Jiefang said, "The Laiyang County garrison has a total of over three hundred men. This time, they suffered heavy casualties, losing more than two hundred. They won't be able to encircle and suppress us in the short term. It will definitely take them at least half a year to recover, recruit new personnel, and prepare weapons and ammunition. It won't be easy to bring troops from other places to suppress us either. The main force in Shandong has almost all been transferred to the south to deal with the Northern Expeditionary Army. They simply can't spare any troops. Besides, the little trouble we've caused might not attract their attention enough. As for drawing troops from local garrisons, it's impossible to do so in a short time with all the procedures involved. So, we have at least two or three months to prepare. This time is enough for us to train a batch of men."

Black Widow and Gao Huilan found Yang Jiefang's analysis reasonable, and their tension eased considerably. Black Widow said, "Since we've already registered with the government, the soldiers will come sooner or later. We need to prepare early!" Yang Jiefang said, "Manpower is easy to arrange, but the key is that we lack guns and ammunition. Does the chief have any connections?" Black Widow sighed, "A small amount of weapons is manageable, but more is really difficult to obtain. Fortunately, there's no shortage of money on the mountain, so I can try, but it's hard to say how many weapons I can get." Yang Jiefang said, "Then forget it, to avoid attracting attention. I'll think of a way!" Gao Huilan interjected, "What's your plan?" Yang Jiefang didn't hide anything and said, "I've already sent Bao Ziqiang to Yantai to gather information, specifically regarding this matter. We'll discuss it when he returns!" Gao Huilan nodded, "I see."

Black Widow didn't have many options either, and changed the subject, asking, "What do you plan to do with these soldiers who were brought up the mountain?" Yang Jiefang replied, "Didn't Steward Li and the others complain about the lack of laborers on the mountain? Now that we have free able-bodied men, let's not waste their time. Let them work on the mountain for now!" Black Widow nodded, "Alright, you arrange it." Yang Jiefang said, "I previously proposed not to mistreat prisoners, so let's start with them. Please tell the stewards that they can work, but they can't be beaten or scolded arbitrarily. Also, their diet should be the same as ours; don't deliberately lower their food standards." Gao Huilan asked, "Can you tell me your purpose in doing this? If our men were captured, they wouldn't receive such good treatment." Yang Jiefang said, "Didn't Tian Dan also say during the day that these..." The captured soldiers and officers were actually a bunch of miserable people, not all of them were bad. The officials in the city didn't care about their lives at all. Taking our anger out on them would do us no good. On the contrary, if we treated them well, they might be useful to us in the future. Besides, Sun Tzu's Art of War says, "When besieging an army, leave an opening; do not press a desperate enemy." Simply put, don't push people too far, or they will fight you to the death. If the soldiers and officers in the city know that surrendering to us will not only save them from death but also from suffering, they will be more likely to surrender when we fight again, and won't fight us to the death.” Gao Huilan nodded and said, “I understand. Mother, let's do as he says!” The Black Widow said, “Okay, I can give the order. But you still have to explain it clearly to them.” This was expected, and Yang Jiefang did not refuse.

Yang Jiefang then changed the subject, saying, "I have a suggestion, please consider it, Chief!" Black Widow replied, "Go ahead!" Yang Jiefang said, "I'd like to set up a clothing factory and have my sisters work there." In those days, ready-made clothes were almost never sold; everyone bought fabric to have the women in their families sew clothes or hired tailors to come and make them. But most men on the mountain were bachelors, so getting a garment made was quite difficult. Therefore, the clothing on the mountain varied greatly, with some people struggling financially and others struggling to make ends meet. With more people coming, the issues of clothing and food would truly need to be addressed collectively.

Black Widow pondered for a moment and said, "Tell me the specifics of how to do it!" Yang Jiefang replied, "This clothing factory doesn't need to be profitable. It just needs to make uniform-style clothing for the brothers on the mountain to meet our own needs. We don't need too many people; we can use the families of the brothers on the mountain, but we need to set a uniform wage standard and pay them salaries. The clothing factory doesn't require high technical skills; we can hire an experienced tailor from outside to be the master tailor and lead everyone. Buying a few sewing machines won't cost much. The main thing is to help the brothers solve their clothing problem." Black Widow nodded and said, "Okay, you handle this!" Yang Jiefang said, "I don't plan to do this myself; please leave it to Kong Zongru!" Black Widow asked curiously, "Why let him do it?" Gao Huilan also looked at Yang Jiefang with a puzzled expression. Yang Jiefang explained, "My personal energy is limited; I can only do the most important things well and can't manage too many other things. Kong Zongru can't handle guns, so let him do logistics. If he can't even do this small thing well, then what is his value? But don't let him know that this was my idea!" The Black Widow and her daughter immediately understood; this was also a test for Kong Zongru.

After discussing these matters, Yang Jiefang returned to his lodgings. Hou Fei immediately complained, "That ingrate Bai Lang is such a scoundrel! He took advantage of his drunkenness to become sworn brothers with Zheng Sandao." Yang Jiefang asked curiously, "Is there a problem with that?" Hou Fei said, "Zheng Sandao clearly came to join us because of you. Isn't Bai Lang trying to steal him away?" Yang Jiefang laughed, "Zheng Sandao is only staying temporarily; he hasn't said he wants to join our Qinglong Village. Whether those people stay or not depends on how we treat him. If we could keep people by just becoming sworn brothers, that would be too easy, especially since it was done while drunk." Hou Fei said, "I don't know about others, but Zheng Sandao is a man of deep feelings and loyalty. This sworn brotherhood can really win people over." Yang Jiefang said, "In that case, there's even less to worry about! They've just arrived, so it's not convenient to assign them duties yet. For the next few days, brothers, please work hard and guard the stronghold well." Seeing that he didn't care about these things, Hou Fei didn't try to persuade him further, saying, "Don't worry! The brothers understand."

The next day, Yang Jiefang arrived at the place where the soldiers were being held early in the morning, carrying a notebook and pencil. Sun Zhiyong led a small team, divided into three groups, to take turns keeping watch, and everything was normal. Some of the soldiers were already up, while others were still fast asleep. Yang Jiefang instructed, "Brother Sun, wake everyone up, I have something to say." Sun Zhiyong agreed and knocked on the wooden railing, shouting, "Get up, get up! Come and line up!" After urging them several times, the soldiers finally got out of their warm blankets and gathered around, but don't expect them to form a proper formation. These men had eaten a big meal the night before and slept soundly, so their spirits were much better.

Yang Jiefang said, “It was a bit late yesterday, so I didn’t register your names. I’ll make up for it today. Everyone line up and come one by one. I’m not only going to register your names, but also your home addresses, how many people are in your family, how many acres of land you own, etc. Listen carefully, don’t lie! I’ll have someone check later. If the results are different from what you said, don’t blame me for not warning you! The consequences will be severe!”

Registering personal information naturally required a quiet place. He instructed Sun Zhiyong to maintain order and lead everyone over one by one. Those who had registered and those who hadn't were separated and detained. Registering ninety-seven people one by one would take a long time. Midway through, Lu Ziqi, as usual, brought breakfast with Wang Xunyong. So, Yang Jiefang told everyone to eat first, and then continue registering. By the time registration was finished, half the morning had passed.

Carpenter Li, having received instructions from Black Widow to arrange for the soldiers to work, had already urged them several times. Only after everyone had registered did Yang Jiefang allow Sun Zhiyong to escort the captured soldiers to the construction site. Their work for the time being involved building houses in preparation for the upcoming influx of people. The weather was freezing, making construction difficult. Qinglong Village once had nearly two thousand people, and housing was not lacking. However, a later event destroyed some houses. Furthermore, due to a large-scale exodus of people, many houses collapsed from lack of maintenance and exposure to the elements. The current work mainly involves repairs; the foundations are already in place. These soldiers are primarily used for moving timber and stone, doing manual labor. Some, who had worked as stonemasons and bricklayers, are assigned to skilled trades.

Upon arriving at the construction site, a group of craftsmen from the mountain were already waiting there, mostly middle-aged and elderly, with a few young men who were their apprentices. Besides Carpenter Li, the two foremen, Niu Sanbian and Tian Wu, were also present. Niu Sanbian, holding a whip, loudly proclaimed, "Listen up, everyone! Twenty lashes for each of you first, to teach you a lesson and make sure you don't slack off!" This was a show of force, which didn't surprise the soldiers at all.

Yang Jiefang strode forward and said resolutely, "No. We absolutely cannot punish them without cause." Niu Sanbian was slightly taken aback, then shouted, "Yang Jiefang, Commander Yang, get your bearings straight and do your job properly. This is not your business!" Yang Jiefang replied, "I said I won't mistreat prisoners. I won't allow them to be mistreated! If they slack off while working, I have no objection to appropriate punishment. But they haven't even started working yet, what's the point of whipping them twenty times? Is this a show of force? A warning? No way here." Niu Sanbian was furious and shouted, "Yang Jiefang, are you getting too big for your britches? This Qinglong Village isn't your place to make decisions. You think you can just say no mistreatment and then not mistreat them? Ask the brothers on the mountain, have they all agreed?" Yang Jiefang couldn't help but frown; it seemed a clash of ideas was inevitable. Regarding the rule of not mistreating prisoners, it was likely that Sun Zhiyong and the others didn't understand it, but as close to Yang Jiefang, they couldn't easily object.

So Yang Jiefang said loudly, “Brothers, I came to Qinglong Village to join the outlaws simply to find a way to survive. These soldiers chose to join the army to earn a living. Most of them haven't actually done anything wrong; the mistakes of those officials can't be attributed to them. Now, they've also been abandoned by those officials, and like us, they're homeless. We're all in the same boat, so why should we make things difficult for them? I promise to give them a chance, to reform them through labor. If they reform well, they might have a chance to join our Qinglong Village. Perhaps they'll become our brothers in the future. How can we mistreat our future brothers now?”

Sun Zhiyong and the others could understand the meaning behind Yang Jiefang's words. Niu Sanbian, however, could not accept it and shouted, "Nonsense! Since ancient times, soldiers and bandits have been irreconcilable enemies. Which of those brothers who fell into the hands of the government had a good ending? Now that they're in our hands, not only do we have to serve them well, but we can't even hit or scold them? Do they really think they're still government officials? I'm going to make them remember their current status. No matter how glorious they were before, now that they're here, they have to be my grandsons."

This man was a bit stubborn, which gave Yang Jiefang a real headache. To survive in a bandit's den, you had to be tough. So, Yang Jiefang said sternly, "I've said it before, no mistreatment of prisoners means no mistreatment of prisoners. Sun Zhiyong, you not only have to keep an eye on these prisoners to prevent them from escaping, but you also have to ensure they aren't mistreated. Can you do that?" Sun Zhiyong replied, "Don't worry! The brothers will all listen to you." This was a time to choose sides. Besides, apart from himself and Lu Ziqi, the rest of his squad came from Zhao Jiazhuang and Doushan Village, so they definitely had to stand on Yang Jiefang's side.

Niu Sanbian shouted, "You've gone too far! Yang Jiefang, I'm going to give you twenty lashes today! You think you can kill me?" Li the carpenter and Tian Wu, among others, stared intently at Yang Jiefang. Yang Jiefang knew he had to establish his authority today, so he calmly drew his pistol and said, "Then let's try it!" He then released the safety and fired three shots in quick succession, hitting the ground in front of Niu Sanbian. Niu Sanbian was startled, staring at Yang Jiefang in disbelief, momentarily stunned. Li the carpenter and Tian Wu were also dumbfounded.