Griffin Commander in the Late Ming Dynasty

By this point, the relationship had already been torn apart. The headman left after making some harsh remarks. Zhao Ganzi remained silent for a long time, then stood up, tightened the firewood on his back, and walked towards home.

The head of the village could stop someone outside the village and say these words to him. It seemed that this matter was quite serious and made him a little panicked. Although he didn't know what the leading the way was, he knew it was Wang's work.

Zhao Ganzi shook his head. No matter how capable he and his wife were, could they escape from this village? He was filled with pessimism.

"My dear, you see, there are more and more water wolves in the river. According to the head of the village, this is a sign of dissatisfaction from the river god. The heavy rains in recent days are a warning. We must get married as soon as possible to ease the anger of the river god, otherwise, the consequences will be disastrous."

Standing by the river, Wang introduced the current situation to Jiang Han.

Jiang Han looked at the large group of floating and agile crying monsters in the water and fell into silence.

The so-called water wolf is just an otter. In ancient times, otters were widely distributed in China, and the main species were Eurasian otters and small-clawed otters. These little underwater guys are good at group combat to catch fish, and have very strong swimming ability, so they are called water wolves by the people. In some places, they are even called water monkeys (Tibetan fox alert).

In ancient times, otters were believed to be the nemesis of fish, so otter meat and otter claws were believed to have the effect of softening fish bones. If a fish bone was stuck in your neck while eating fish, you could just scratch your neck with otter meat or claws, and the bone would go away. There are corresponding records in the Compendium of Materia Medica. At the same time, the otter's fur is shiny and slippery, making it a good material for making clothes, so they were hunted in large numbers in later generations. Coupled with the destruction of their habitats, the number of otters in China has dropped by 90% in just a few decades, and they are rarely seen nowadays. But Jiang Han didn't quite understand. Could this be related to the river god?

The large number of otters means that the water is rich in food, with enough food to support such a large population. As for what can feed so many fish, everyone should know what it is without Jiang Han saying much.

The cycle of all things is a circle in itself, and all substances will have their consumers to digest them. Jiang Han has not recovered from the shock yet. Why is the village decorated with lights and colors? Why does no one seem to be excited even though it looks like a wedding? Why does the head of the village look so wrong when he sees him and others coming here? All of them fit. To be honest, Jiang Han thought that the so-called river god’s wedding would only appear in picture books or legends, but he never thought that he would encounter a real-life version of it.

It's nothing but absurdity. It's just a normal change in nature, but after some interpretation, it can be used to persecute a village and kill a life. How sad and ignorant is it?

"So, when Madam asks me to save Ni'er now, what do you mean...?"

"I would like to ask you to take Nier away."

Wang said as she was about to kneel down again.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't kneel down yet, can't we just stand and talk?"

Jiang Han really got used to the habit of kneeling down when he disagreed with something.

"I've seen that you, my lord, never bring any maids or servants with you when you go out. Although Ni'er is young, she works very efficiently. She is very well behaved and has never given me any worries. She can do any work. She only needs two meals a day, no, just one. Lao Zhao and I cannot resist the rules of the village, but as a mother, I cannot throw her away. So, please, take her away, take her far away, and never come back."

"But, if I take this little girl away, what will you do?"

Jiang Han asked Wang

"Fellow villagers, gather in front of my house, what can I do for you?"

Zhao Ganzi looked at the people gathered in front of his house and asked slowly.

"Zhao Ganzi, stop pretending. Your daughter is showing off with that nobleman in the village. She almost wrote on her face that she is his maid. I'm telling you, Zhao Ganzi, don't treat us as fools. If you want your daughter to marry into a rich family and run away, have you asked us?"

A villager stood up, pointed at Zhao Ganzi's nose and started questioning him.

"That's right! Now that your daughter is gone, who will suppress the old river god? The whole village is counting on her. Zhao Ganzi, please don't harm everyone."

Another woman began to speak up.

"That's right, Zhao Ganzi, you see, with these days of heavy rain, there's no chance of finding a girl like yours in our village. Your Zhao family has been ruined. Don't be stubborn!"

"Yes, yes, Zhao Ganzi, my whole family is looking forward to planting next spring. If there is no harvest, everyone in my family will starve to death. Please don't harm me!"

The villagers started to talk at once and tried to persuade Zhao Ganzi, each of them speaking earnestly. Zhao Ganzi clenched his fists so tightly that his nails almost dug into his flesh.

"If you ask me, don't wait for an auspicious day. The old river god won't care about one or two days. It's better to get the job done quickly. No one can say how long the noble man will stay here. If he takes people away in the middle of the night, where can we go to complain?"

Someone started to set the pace.

"That's right, Zhao Ganzi, hand over your daughter right away!"

Hearing this, the villagers became visibly impatient. Seeing Ni'er following the nobleman everywhere, everyone was already nervous. They were even more worried when they privately discussed it. Zhao Ganzi sent his daughter away to be favored by the nobleman. If the nobleman took her away, who would fill the hole of the river god's bride? If the river god got angry, would the villagers still have a way to survive?

So everyone gathered here, fearing that something might happen. Now, listening to the analysis of the people next to them, they became more and more panicked. The emotion that accompanies fear is often anger. For a moment, the crowd was excited, and some even dared to cross Zhao Ganzi and push open the door of the Zhao family, go in and grab Ni'er.

"Stop it! After all, this is still our Zhao family. Aren't you afraid of turning against our Zhao family by acting this way?

"

Zhao Ganzi almost roared with gritted teeth.

"Ganzi, just hand him over. Isn't it bad enough that our Zhao family has been harmed by your daughter?"

The one who spoke at this moment was Zhao Ganzi's elder brother who had never shown up.

"Even you...?"

Zhao Ganzi looked at his elder brother and turned back in disbelief. His familiar relatives became so strange at this moment. He lowered his hands weakly, as if all the strength in his body was slipping away.

My own relatives actually think the same way. Didn't Dad teach them before? But why can my eldest brother say such a thing?

Seeing Zhao Ganzi having lost his ability to resist, some brave ones could no longer hold back and rushed forward to push the door open. However, just as they opened the door, they were met with a tiny fist.

Although the fist was small, it was very powerful. The strong man who opened the door was hit in the face by this small fist. The farmer was actually knocked into the air and then fell heavily on the mud.

The excited crowd seemed to be strangled by the neck in an instant, and the atmosphere on the scene suddenly became cold. Everyone looked at the not-so-tall figure, who seemed to have not figured out the situation in front of them.

"Why are you looking at me? I'm holding back. Normally I would just beat him to death."

M4A1 had a faint smile on his face, leaning against the door frame, speaking in a bad tone.

Volume 40: Chapter Chapter : Thoughts

"How did you steal my line?"

45 was looking at M4A1 who was leaning against the door. It was obviously her who beat the person. She was just about to speak to show off her power in front of others, but M4A1 spoke first and made her lose all her emotions.

"Because Sister 45's lines are so impressive!"

"Oh, it looks like someone doesn't want to get along."

The bickering between the two did not ease the situation at all. The villagers helped up the unlucky guy who had fallen to the ground, and looked at the two with three parts of anger and seven parts of fear in their eyes.

Jiang Han looked at all this and felt a little uncomfortable.

Once, when he was reading textbooks and seeing why the martyrs at that time risked their lives to devote themselves to the great cause, the sentence that came to his mind was that the country was sick.

At that time, it was just thought to be normal. The words read in books were only a sentence after all. Just like before coming to the end of the Ming Dynasty, Jiang Han could not understand how much cruelty was contained in these six short words "there is a severe famine and people are eating each other". He also could not understand how much helplessness and ambition were contained behind the sentence "this country is sick".

Why did the villagers think that sacrificing a life would ensure good weather and good harvests? It was because of ignorance. They did not know why it rained or why the sun rose in the east and set in the west. They just used their simple ideas to understand the world. During this period, all kinds of true and false news made their hearts gray.

These people have never read a book in their life, but they can still come up with a logical conclusion for such ridiculous things. We cannot say that their thinking is rigid, but what influences them is something deeper.

Why are the villagers afraid of the two girls? You know, the farmers in the countryside are all very martial. They often fight for water or a small piece of land. They use hoes to smash each other's heads and bleed. Are they afraid of fighting? Of course not. A 45-pound fist does not have much deterrent power.

What really scares them is themselves behind them, or in other words, their own identity as noble masters, and the thick barrier called class between them.

The general public did not have the conditions to study, because scholars often did not work, and it required certain economic conditions to support an idle person at home. Even those from poor families had the word "family" in it. The so-called poor families were not ordinary people as everyone understood, but small landlords and small families whose conditions were much worse than those of the nobles and aristocratic families.

For the common people, just to collect enough tuition for their children to attend a private school, they would have to spend their savings for many years, and this was only enough for their children to learn Thousand Character Classic and Hundred Family Surnames.

Although they are illiterate, the Confucian thought that has been changed over the past few years has penetrated into everyone's heart. The ruler is the ruler, the minister is the minister, the father is the father, the son is the son. If they are not desperate and determined to follow the path of "only kings, princes, generals and ministers are born with a special kind of blood", this thick barrier is the wall of sighs that they cannot cross.

The situation in the Ming Dynasty was actually slightly better than the environment in which the martyrs lived. At that time, the confidence that the Celestial Empire was the most powerful country was still in everyone's heart, and the national identity of the Ming Dynasty allowed everyone to stand up straight. The founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang's extremely difficult experience made him take extra care of ordinary civilians, which meant that even ordinary people would at most be afraid when facing their superiors, and would not kneel down on the spot like in the Qing Dynasty.

During the bloody dynasty changes, all those who had precious metals above silver under their knees were killed, and the only ones left were those who were willing to be slaves in order to survive.

Yes, in the eyes of the Qing Dynasty, all those under the Eight Banners were slaves. To the emperor, the ministers were also his slaves. Therefore, the slaves needed to kneel down when they went to court, they needed to greet their masters, and wish their masters a long life.

At this time, this person at least still behaves like a human being, which is good news for Jiang Han.

This country is sick. This thought appeared in Jiang Han's mind, and an indescribable impulse arose in his heart almost immediately. How do I compare to the martyrs?

Naturally, he is not as good as those people who are far-sighted and quick-witted. Their talents shine brightly in the long river of history, which allowed China, which was on the verge of collapse, to stand up again. However, compared with them, Jiang Han has an unparalleled advantage.

That is he knows the script.

Why are great men great? They know that the country is sick, and they desperately use their own methods to save the country. They give everything for this idea. Even at the last moment of their lives, they still don’t know whether the work they have done is really meaningful, and whether the path they insist on can really save the country and lead China to a peaceful and prosperous era where everyone can have enough food and clothing, and planes don’t have to fly twice.

But their beliefs have never wavered. Compared with them, Jiang Han is much luckier. Countless martyrs have used their lives to give their answers to the great question of saving China. They have used their corpses to pave a bloody path and a bright and smooth road for those who come after them.

Knowing the consequences of doing this is already a huge worry. He knows that what he insists on must be correct. By doing this, everyone will be able to have a good life. Knowing what the second half of this road will be like is like prescribing the right medicine. Jiang Han believes that he can do such a thing.

“I want to save China.”

The thoughts in his mind became clearer and clearer.

Eliminate ignorance, liberate production, and forge a path of our own in this country where capitalism had already sprouted in the late Ming Dynasty but was still stuck in a small peasant economy system.

However, first, we need to solve the current problem.

Twenty minutes ago, Jiang Han was at Zhao's house, racking his brains for a way out of the impasse.

These villagers have long been brainwashed by the idea that offering sacrifices to the little girl Ni'er, the river god, will bring good weather and good harvests. This is actually one of the negative buffs of the flower-growing family's talent. They will always try any idea that can help with farming, and people will not admit that they are wrong. Under this huge group consciousness, even if Jiang Han stood up and said that this was nothing but feudal superstition and that there was no river god at all, it would be useless and no one would believe him.

So what? The villagers just wanted to survive. In order to survive, they would accept any price. They brainwashed themselves over and over again that as long as they could survive, they would have a future and everything would be fine. But this twisted idea of ​​consuming others to survive could not be changed in a few words. Could it be that Jiang Han had to kill and carve out a bloody path?

Something more serious is needed to cool down the enthusiasm of these villagers and let them know that there will be serious consequences if they continue.

Looking at Jiang Han who was thinking hard, Wang was a little nervous: "My dear..."

"Did you come up with a good idea?"

45 asked.

“Not even close”

"No, let's take this family away from here. The villagers can't stop us. I will protect their safety."

M4A1 came up with an idea.

"You said you would take people away, so you took them away. Have you ever considered other people's opinions?"

Jiang Han did not support this. He had previously experienced the people's attachment to the land in Xiaohegou Village. No matter what, they could not give up their land. It was too difficult to ask them to leave their homes.

I don't know what happened to the villagers in Xiaohegou Village. I think I led the cavalry away...

Wait, an idea suddenly occurred to Jiang Han.

"What's wrong, got an idea?"

Looking at Jiang Han's expression, 45 asked calmly

"That's right,"

Jiang Han grinned and smiled, "We have to use magic to defeat magic"

Volume 41: Chapter Chapter : Who can't pretend to be a god?

"Use magic to defeat magic...what do you mean?"

M4A1 didn't quite understand, and Wang next to him was even more confused.

"Of course, we have to use gods to defeat gods."

"Put it here, put it here, put it here!"

45 rolled his eyes, expressing his disdain for Jiang Han's nonsense.

"Listening to your words is like listening to your words"

M4A1 nodded in agreement.

"Oh, isn't this hard to understand? Come on, come on, listen closely, I'll explain it to you in detail, this way... this way..."

The scene turns back to the present. Although the situation is a bit stalemate because of the identities of M4A1 and 45, the people's excitement has not cooled down at all. They can't hold on for too long. Just a small test, and the undercurrent hidden beneath the calm surface will completely tear off the mask and reveal its hideous side.

By then, the situation will be difficult to handle.

Jiang Han thought about it and felt that it was almost time for him to make his debut.

"Hello, fellow villagers"

When he appeared in front of the villagers, the emotions on the scene exploded instantly.

"Sir, we know you have a kind heart, but please be kind and leave us all a chance to live."

"Yes, yes, my dear master, you can find many maids, but if Ni'er dies, our whole village will not survive."

"Master, please leave Nier to us."

"Master, just leave it to us!"

The villagers begged in unison, and some wanted to step forward, but were scared away by 45's look and could only shout from a distance.

"My fellow villagers, my fellow elders, please be patient, be patient."

Jiang Han stretched out his hand and made a gesture of pressing down into the air. For some reason, his indifferent attitude calmed the emotions of the villagers present. The cries for mercy gradually became smaller and became inaudible. Everyone looked at Jiang Han quietly to see how he would perform.

"Fellow villagers, I'm afraid you all came here because I'm planning to take Zhao Nier, the daughter of the Zhao family, as my disciple, right?"

Jiang Han spoke with a smile.

"As a disciple?"