Eight months passed in a flash. As time entered deep autumn, the leaves of Hangzhou fell, piling up thickly on the roads, and the wind had become gentle and cool.

In previous years, this was the most pleasant time in Jiangnan. Merchants gathered in Hangzhou, making it lively and prosperous. People called upon friends and companions for outings, literary gatherings sprung up incessantly in the city, and the flags of teahouses and taverns seemed to overflow with the fragrance of ink. Brothels bustled with singing and dancing, continuing late into the night.

"Now, we can only make do."

Chen Fan put down the stone roller he used for exercise, clapped his hands, and exhaled. It was still morning, and the man, shirtless, had finished his routine. He draped his clothes over himself. Sunlight filtered through the falling leaves in the wind.

As a disciple of Fang Qi Fo, second only to Fang La in the rebel army, and having once been in charge of security for the entire city of Hangzhou, the courtyard where the man named Chen Fan lived was not luxurious. One side of the courtyard wall even had a breach, partially repaired, but the mud bricks lay in the corner, seemingly untouched for a long time.

Those familiar with him knew that Chen Fan lived simply – or those closer to him might call it rough. He didn't care much about the affairs of life, his greatest interest being arguing, nitpicking, or fighting. He had no family. The three servants in the courtyard were a family. They could be described as an old man, an old woman, and a lame, fat aunt. Even the daughter, the fat aunt, was already over forty and widowed. The three had lived under Chen Fan's protection for years. Although called servants, to outsiders, it seemed more like Chen Fan was just having them live with him to get by.

So, for someone who always lived this way, saying "only" to make do, he really had no standing. An Xifu, who had come to find him, munched on a rolled pancake, his expression somewhat disapproving.

"Life is still good. There are three poetry gatherings in the south of the city alone today. It's interesting to watch these literati compete. I heard the ladies at Wenjun Tower are good, they're choosing a new courtesan, and their performances are energetic. There's one named… Ye Zhi or Ye Jun, a large number of generals go to support her every night. You're not invited, but if you run into someone you know, you can tag along."

"It would be more interesting to find an excuse for everyone to fight over jealousy."

"Everyone knows your temperament, they won't fight you. I used to hear you talk about the northern battles, why aren't you going now?"

"It's almost over." Chen Fan, having put on his clothes, went to the well and drank a few mouthfuls of water. He took a rolled pancake filled with cucumber and meat and took a big bite. "Besides… the affairs at Wenlie Academy are more interesting lately."

"You're taking the children's affairs seriously." An Xifu hesitated, then laughed.

"It's different, it's very interesting… and I'm talking about that Ning Liheng, not those kids."

An Xifu sighed. "I believe it. Do you believe it?"

"Haha, I believe it."

The two, on friendly terms, spoke as they walked towards the courtyard gate. As they went out, they met Aunt Yu, who lived in the same courtyard as Chen Fan, limping in. Chen Fan waved the rolled pancake in his hand. "Aunt Yu, if you're free this morning, take a bag of grain from the storeroom to the academy to be milled. I'm afraid it'll be too late."

"Yes, Master," Aunt Yu replied respectfully. "I'll take a few more bags and finish it today."

"No, others need to use it too, take your time."

The autumn sky was clear and the air crisp, and everything looked peaceful. The two young generals in Fang La's army spoke as they walked towards the Willow Lane area occupied by the Badao Camp. Wenlie Academy was located in the middle of the street, and as they passed, Chen Fan pointed out a few things. An Xifu knew he had been paying attention to some things the children at the academy had been doing lately.

As An Xifu, who had taken Chen Fan's place, he had been busy. He came today to discuss some matters with Liu Tiannan, the Chief Steward of the Badao Camp.

Hangzhou was now a city occupied by the rebel army. A peasant uprising, said to be acting on behalf of Heaven, was nothing more than burning, killing, and looting. An army used to taking everything by force was like a fire. It was impossible to make them live peacefully and obey the rules. Hangzhou was rich, like accumulated firewood, and if the lawless days continued, it would be burned clean in half a month. Even Fang La couldn't stop it.

Chen Fan used his fists to make those who went too far restrain themselves, giving more people a way to survive, but only just. An Xifu was the same, but he didn't have Chen Fan's background. Even if he killed countless people on the battlefield according to military law, behind the scenes, others wouldn't take this silent young general seriously. People were afraid of the military law, which was nothing more than the shadow of Fang Baihua behind An Xifu.

To enforce military law, one had to be cold-faced, impartial, and unbiased. An Xifu had not made many friends before. Fang Baihua was kind to him, but he knew that wasn't something he could use openly. His and Chen Fan’s positions in the army were very different. He basically couldn't touch the generals with real power and influence. But in just over ten days, he used another method to etch the name An Xifu in the eyes of many who were interested.

Chen Fan's method was often to find a few people who had gone too far at several key points and beat them to death regardless of the consequences, killing one to warn a hundred, making everyone understand that he was a madman and what his purpose was. Although An Xifu had beheaded countless enemies on the battlefield, he couldn't just randomly kill people in Hangzhou. In the past ten days, the way he made people remember him was that whenever someone went too far, he would act immediately. If he couldn't touch those above, he would抓the ones below.

These people were mostly involved in blocking waterways, murdering and seizing property, and fighting, incidents that were unbearable. An Xifu seemed gentle when dealing with people, but in reality, once caught by the Black Feather Guard, more than 70% of the people would lose their lives. Those with backers would call on their backers to save them. If they did it early, they could still get people out. An Xifu would release people readily. If they were a little late, most of them would be dead, still the stern style of the military law team. This quiet young man would also apologize respectfully to people. Whoever came to make trouble, he would apologize, but in the end, no one dared to really draw their swords in front of the Black Feather Guard who enforced military law. In half a month, the Black Feather Guard killed more than a hundred people, finally making people realize that once they fell into the hands of this young man, they would mostly have to “cherish their blessings”.

They asked acquaintances at the entrance of the Badao Camp and learned that Liu Tiannan was not here this morning, so the two went to the academy for a walk. As they passed the nearby medical clinic, Chen Fan greeted a busy girl wearing a headscarf and dressed as a young married woman. The girl was called Xiao Chan, and Chen Fan had been here several times and knew her.

"Ning Liheng's little wife," he introduced her to An Xifu.

"She's his maid," An Xifu nodded. "I know her."

"Yeah, you're the one who抓her here… luckily she doesn't know." Chen Fan said softly, then raised his voice towards Xiao Chan. "Aunt Yu will bring grain over later, is there anyone using your… grinding stone?"

The girl was carrying medicine inside. She turned her face, smoothed her hair, and nodded. "Someone's using it. When I came out, they were all chatting inside."

"Oh, then I… I'll go reserve a spot later."

The Liu family's medical clinic mostly treated the wounded, mostly soldiers. After Chen Fan finished speaking, a man with a injured leg leaned over and patted his hand. "Hey, brother, whose wife is that girl? She looks really…"

Chen Fan pointed to his companion. "His name is An Xifu."

"I'm asking about…" The man seemed to want to emphasize his question, but halfway through, he seemed to realize the meaning of the name An Xifu, and his expression changed slightly. Chen Fan had already turned to leave. "That girl isn't someone you can think about. Ask again and I'll kill you."

After leaving the medical clinic, An Xifu looked back. Chen Fan walked and said, "Grandpa Liu has no sons or daughters and takes good care of her. Ning Liheng also comes here often and says some… interesting things about how to treat injuries and illnesses. The old man doesn't like him much. Hehe."

An Xifu said, "I admire that Ning Liheng very much. I originally wanted to visit him a few more times, but I've been too busy lately… It seems you come here often."

"That person… is very interesting." Chen Fan frowned, then nodded. "He made… two things for milling rice, one is called a *lei zi*, and the other is a windmill. At first, everyone thought they were wooden oxen and流马… he is a bit strange, but he is worth befriending."

Chen Fan thought for a moment, then nodded and said softly, "Also very scary."

"I've heard about it," An Xifu nodded. "Are they really for milling rice?"

"Absolutely, the pancake you ate earlier was made with milled wheat flour. You know, it's hard to remove the husk from wheat. That kind of wheat flour is very expensive on the market. The two things he made can easily remove the husk cleanly…"

As they spoke, they entered the academy. The sound of reading came from afar among the shadows of the trees. The two walked through several courtyards and towards the back of the academy. In a room on the side, several men and women from the Badao Camp were already sitting there. The two things in the center of the room were operating under people's control, while the others were cracking melon seeds and chatting, living a leisurely life. Conflicts often occurred between Chen Fan and Liu Dabiao, but he knew many people in the Badao Camp. When he led An Xifu in, he greeted everyone.

There wasn't much separation between the men and women in the village. Although the Badao Camp was a mountain village that focused on using knives before the uprising, most of their lives were no different from those in the countryside. The women might have been reserved before marriage, but the women who had been married and had children often said ribald jokes that would make the men blush. There was no difference between men and women. At this time, a group of people were chatting about trivial matters.

One of the two things in the middle of the room looked like a mill, similar in structure to a stone mill, but made of bamboo and wood. The other was a windmill like a wooden ox, with a large belly and hand-cranked fan blades in the middle. The two things were called a *lei zi* and a windmill. The *lei zi* was for removing the husk from rice or wheat, and the windmill was for removing impurities such as rice or wheat husks mixed in the rice grains. They were both things that Ning Yi and several students had made in the past month.

In fact, it was not easy to remove the husk from rice or wheat on the market at this time. Although it wasn't impossible, the process was extremely complicated. The South ate rice, while the North ate wheat. Most people ate "wheat rice", which was wheat that had not been completely husked before being cooked. This kind of rice was very fragrant, but extremely difficult to eat. You had to excrete half of what you consumed. Of course, it was said that the process was complicated, but it wasn't impossible, but the price was relatively high. Ning Yi naturally had access to精米 at the Su family in Jiangning, but Yunzhu still used flour with some wheat bran to make pancakes. Ning Yi had been planning to make these two things for a long time. He wasn't in a hurry before at the Su family, but he had the leisure to make them during this time.

Ning Yi had previously covered Liu Dabiao and others in ash and dirt with gunpowder. Although no one stopped him from making things, they naturally cared a little. When they first knew the structure of the windmill, everyone thought it was a magic weapon like wooden oxen and 流马. Liu Dabiao asked people in private, and Chen Fan was also quite curious after hearing about it. He had paid a lot of attention to Ning Yi before, but the two had not had much contact. One day, he passed by, was curious, and ran over to take a look. He was a frank person. Seeing that Ning Yi was adjusting the two things, he directly asked. Ning Yi explained the ideas, and Chen Fan was stunned. He originally thought the other party's strategy was extremely outstanding, and he would be a figure like a hero if he was placed outside. How could he make this kind of messy thing? But then, as he chatted, he found the other party interesting.

The people in the Badao Camp were originally somewhat respectful and distant from this Mr. Ning. He gave advice and managed things for the Badao Camp. Even if everyone knew it, they only thought he was a scholar, 高山仰止, high above. Only Xiao Chan gave people an impression of being approachable. But after the *lei zi* and the windmill were made, someone tentatively asked if they could borrow them, and Ning Yi opened the place up.

After all, it was a new thing, and the *lei zi* was made of bamboo and wood. It broke down several times or needed to be adjusted, and Ning Yi personally came over, putting in a lot of effort. He was gentle and humorous, and everyone gradually saw him as a hermit. Although there was still reverence, he had also become 친절하고 familiar in many people's hearts.

Of course, what really concerned Chen Fan was not these things, but some things that had happened at the academy in the past half month. These things were subtle and interesting. At first, Ning Yi was just telling stories and talking about principles similar to moral articles at the academy – this model had never changed from beginning to end, but he didn't know why the students who were originally from humble backgrounds were so quickly infected.

About ten days ago, some of the children who listened to Ning Yi's classes at the academy did something. The cause was that one of the children heard about a tragic incident. A soldier in the rebel army had offended his superior, causing his family to be destroyed and his wife to be occupied and humiliated. Almost all of his family members were killed, and he also had one of his hands cut off. To be honest, after Hangzhou was captured, all kinds of things happened. It wasn't just outsiders bullying the locals. Most of the rebel army were peasants. It was common for anyone who had power to look down on those below. The other party did it skillfully, and the matter did not cause much ripple. Originally, the matter was going to pass like this, but at this time, it was reflected in the eyes of these teenagers and children.

The subsequent things were simple. These children all had backgrounds in their families. They actually started investigating. During this period, they asked Ning Yi, and Ning Yi gave one or two opinions. Not long after, they actually found two pieces of irrefutable evidence, and the children handed the irrefutable evidence to the Black Feather Guard.

An Xifu definitely knew the situation here – you could tell from what he said earlier. With the evidence, An Xifu didn't hesitate toจับ the *pianjiang* under one of the Eight Heroes, Flying Mountain General Zeng Cheng. When Zeng Cheng arrived, the *pianjiang*'s neck had already been slit and drained of blood – it was said to be suicide. An Xifu apologized desperately, and Zeng Cheng vented his anger, but in the end, he had no choice but to leave. For An Xifu, this was originally something that could be done or not.

When that man with the severed hand came to the academy, crying and bowing to this group of children, when he saw the chests and the bright eyes of those children, Chen Fan knew that some things would be different in the future.

Some scholars read moral articles all their lives, but they never know what morality is. But some things, as long as they happen once, may determine a person's life.

These children were all from peasant families. A few months ago, none of them could read any moral articles. What they came into contact with was抢夺 and killing. What they saw was bloody and chaos. Some had people's lives on their hands, and some spoke very fluently with black words. Now they still can't read any moral articles, but after doing this, even the spirit with which they speak is a little different.

Chen Fan knew what this meant. When he was twelve years old, he became a disciple of Fang Qi Fo. When he was fourteen years old, he killed someone for the first time,行侠仗义. He saw an old woman kowtow to him. He was at a loss at that time, but he remembered that feeling. Later, he joined the Mani sect and shouted with others that all methods are equal and there is no high or low, but unfortunately, the more battles he fought, the more things made him feel helpless.

He didn't know what would happen to these children in the future, but things might be a little different. In a few days, these children also obtained military pay for a soldier. And what made his spine chill the most was the third thing that happened five days ago.

At that time, these children were preparing to make persistent efforts. They were asking around where there were grievances that they could help with, and then they listened to an old couple's words, saying that a *pianjiang* named Han Wanqing had killed a colleague and killed their son, but now no one was willing to manage it. The children were preparing to redress the grievances for this old couple, but at this time, another group of students in the academy who were originally more targeted at Ning Yi jumped out, stood on Han Wanqing's side, and said that they were falsely accusing good people.

"I've actually heard about Han Wanqing's matter," An Xifu lowered his voice in the corner of the room. "He and that *pianjiang* named Duan were originally good brothers. He wanted to save someone during the Battle of Huangshan, but he couldn't save them. The two elders of the Duan family don't know why, but they blamed Han Wanqing. This public case has always been very clear."

"I also know it's very clear," Chen Fan smiled. "But two groups of children, right? Tit-for-tat, riding a tiger and hard to get off. When that Ning Liheng saw them吵起来, he came out and said, if we made a mistake, I'll pour tea and apologize to you… the most厲害的是, he also knows very clearly."

An Xifu frowned. "This matter hasn't been reported to me these days…"

"Of course it won't be reported, all the things themselves are relatively clear. Three days ago, I came over and told Ning Liheng about this matter. Do you know what he said? He said I already knew. Both sides looked for witnesses and presented evidence. They吵了一下午 yesterday, and then it was resolved privately…" Chen Fan lowered his voice. "Ning Liheng poured tea and apologized to those children."

"Then he told those children, you guys made a mistake in this matter, but the most important thing is not to wrong people, you must not lose your original intention. This group of children said, at least we are doing things, and that group of children also said: 'What the hell am I doing is also a big deal.' Now these two groups of children have been divided into two factions, but the methods and principles of their actions are all taught by Ning Liheng, to talk about evidence, to be good people… He has only been here for more than a month, and half of the people are still targeting him, but now this group of children is completely different. If you go and look at the way they study, shaking their heads, hey, who the hell wanted to read this before? Now they all want to be real, 济世救民大英雄."

The two were talking about these things at the academy here. Outside the room, Xiao Chan's figure walked past. It seemed that someone had come to the courtyard where Ning Yi lived. A servant carried a box in. Everyone knocked, and the leader was indeed a beautiful and dignified woman. The三姑六婆 in the room whispered, but they were saying things like "Mr. Ning's confidante," "She's been here once," and "I heard she's very rich at home." An Xifu frowned. "This person is Lou Shuwan."

"I know," Chen Fan raised his eyebrows. "Her eldest brother used to visit me several times. If he couldn't visit me, he went to curry favor with Bao Daoyi."

An Xifu nodded. "I've seen her once, and I've seen this woman from afar once. I heard her reputation isn't very good."

"Women from big places are different from ours in small places."

An Xifu looked at the woman's temperament. "Maybe it's like this…"

No matter what the status of the person speaking, gossip is still gossip. The sound of milling rice and chatting was heard in the room. Not long after, there was a commotion in the academy outside, and Ning Yi, who had finished his class, also came over. In the autumn wind, Lou Shuwan, who came to visit, was bright and natural. As a maid from a large family, Xiao Chan, who was now a concubine and hostess, greeted the other party generously. Yellow leaves fell in the wind. All of this, perhaps, was a rare symbol of leisure. Whether it was the sound of milling rice, chatting, Ning Yi's confidante, or the two groups of students at the academy who were tit-for-tat, they were just symbolizing a rare peace. But whether it was Chen Fan, An Xifu, or even Ning Yi, who now only came into contact with internal affairs of the Badao Camp, they could know from a series of data that in the range of hundreds of miles around Hangzhou, this atmosphere was not the mainstream.

The胶着战事, the people who were dying every day, the 150,000 troops压过来的 from the north led by Tong Guan, the depressing atmosphere inside and outside Hangzhou City that everyone could know, and even the continuous political struggles within the Fang La army in the city, including the idea of ​​many people wanting to kill Ning Yi, were only隔离 outside by certain existences within the small range of the Badao Camp, allowing people to temporarily not feel it, in exchange for a little leisure.

Living, teaching, "inventing" rice mills,煽动 a group of children to engage in a tit-for-tat "doing good" movement, and interacting with new "confidantes" several times. It was also in this rhythm, like autumn leaves falling, that in early September, Li Tianrun returned to Hangzhou. What followed was a political change that almost affected the entire Fang La army. And because of Li Tianyou's hostility towards Ning Yi, it finally meant that a formidable enemy enough to shake Liu Dabiao's screen head-on appeared in front of Ning Yi for the first time after he returned to Hangzhou…

*************

ps: The *lei zi* as a rice mill basically disappeared in the late 1960s. As for the windmill used to filter rice husks and impurities, young people like Bananas born in the 1980s may still have seen it if they grew up in the countryside. There should still be some in recent years, but there are not many. (To be continued.) Cast recommended votes and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation.)

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