nucmednet Chapter 207 Bestowing the Name "Su Thigh"
Chapter 207 Bestowing the Name "Su Thigh"
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Su Tui Da, born into a poor family, harbored an innate hatred for such arrogant landlord sons. Seeing his man being humiliated, he grabbed a rifle and smashed it with the butt. Huang Lun, a scholar with no strength to even kill a chicken, was caught off guard and immediately suffered a head injury, collapsing to the ground unconscious.
Huang Renying was terrified. He rushed over and hugged his son, shouting hoarsely, "Son, what's wrong? Wake up! Don't scare your father..." His youngest son was the apple of his eye and the hope for the Huang family's future glory. Nothing could happen to him. His wife also rushed over, hugging their son and wailing.
"Stop howling, you won't die," Su said impatiently.
Huang Renying turned to Su Tui and begged for mercy: "Sir, my son is young and ignorant, please don't hold it against him. We can discuss the matter of paying taxes."
Su Da Tui cursed, "Discuss my ass! Hand it over or I'll take your son away. Isn't that right, Master Li?"
Li Ergou came to his senses and nodded, saying, "That's exactly right."
Huang Renying was shocked: "Take them away? Take them where?"
"Hehe, my general is currently mining in Changhua and is short-handed, so let's send him to work in the mines. If he's in good health, he might be able to come back in ten or eight years," Su said with ill intent.
“Mining? No way. My son only knows how to read classics and has never done any manual labor, let alone mining.” In her panic, Huang Renying didn’t care about anything else. “I’ll pay the grain tax, I promise you.”
He agreed, but Huang Renjie objected: "Brother, you've disregarded everything for Lun'er, but have you thought about us?" His family's land was also registered under his brother's name, and they didn't have to pay any taxes. With over a hundred acres of land, they could harvest twice a year, yielding at least five hundred shi of grain annually. If they were to pay the imperial court's regular grain and silver taxes, most of their harvest would have to be handed over. Wouldn't that kill him?
Before Huang Renying could answer, Su Da Tui objected, "And who are you? Your clan leader agreed, what are you whining about?"
Huang Renjie snorted, "I am his younger brother."
Su Da Tui sneered, "You're not afraid unless it gets to you, are you?" He turned to Huang Renying and asked, "Clan Chief Huang, where is your brother's wife and children?"
Huang Renying was very dissatisfied with her younger brother's attitude. This brother, who benefited from their family's status and didn't have to pay taxes, usually fawned over her. Now that her own interests were at stake, he only cared about his own family and completely disregarded his nephew's safety. Truly, adversity reveals true character. Hearing the question, she didn't answer aloud, but she glanced at him intentionally or unintentionally.
Following his gaze, Su Tui saw a well-dressed middle-aged woman in the crowd, pulling a boy of about fifteen or sixteen years old, frantically trying to squeeze into the crowd and leave. He gave a signal to the soldiers over there, who grabbed the two of them, dragged them over, and shoved them to the ground.
Huang Renjie panicked and rushed over to block the two of them, stammering, "What's going on? Let's talk this out, don't involve your family..."
Huang Renying chuckled coldly. It's easy for you to talk when you're not the one suffering, but now you're scared, aren't you?
Su's thigh pointed his rifle at the boy, the bayonet gleaming coldly in the sunlight. He asked in a deep voice, "Should I stab him through with the bayonet, or shoot him in the head?"
Huang Renjie knelt on the ground with a thud, begging for mercy, "Sir, I was wrong. I'm willing to pay the grain tax, whatever you say, as long as my son isn't harmed." Although his son wasn't academically inclined, he was the only son in his family for three generations, truly cherished like a precious gem, even more so than his elder brother did for his younger son. If anything happened to him and the family line ended, he wouldn't be able to face his ancestors in the afterlife.
Su Da Tui spat out a contemptuous look: "Why didn't you do this earlier? Why pretend to be so arrogant?" He turned to Li Er Gou, "Master Li, I've finished my business. You can take charge of things now."
Li Ergou gave a thumbs-up approvingly: "Brother Su, you're efficient and decisive. I'll definitely ask the General for credit for you when we get back."
Su Da Tui chuckled and said, "It's all what we should do..."
In Huangjiazhuang, the clan chief has always been the one to call the shots. Now that the clan chief and his brother have both bowed their heads, the rest of us have nothing to say. Even if you are not convinced, there are gleaming bayonets waving in front of you. It's not a difficult choice between wonton noodles and slicing noodles.
Because Huangjiazhuang resisted militarily, Li Ergou, in order to make an example of them, decided to increase the penalty by five dou (a unit of dry measure) on top of the existing two shi (another unit of dry measure) per mu (a unit of land area), meaning a total tax of two shi and five dou per mu. In addition, he ordered the Huang brothers to pay one thousand taels of silver as medical expenses for the wounded soldiers of the Qiongzhou camp. With their lives hanging in the balance, the Huang brothers had no choice but to agree.
South Garden.
Liu Ye clapped his hands and laughed: "Well done this time. Platoon Leader Su acted decisively, and the old village chief thought things through. They took over Huangjiazhuang. Let's see if other local tyrants and bullies dare to step forward."
Li Ergou said with a smile, "The fact that we were able to achieve our goal this time is mainly thanks to Brother Su."
“Li Ergou, you don’t need to be so modest. You’re very experienced in your work, and I trust you completely. Platoon Leader Su is also quite good; he’s resourceful and brave in combat, and decisive in his actions. He’s a promising young man with a bright future.” Liu Ye smiled and asked Su, who was standing below him, “When did you join the Qiongzhou Camp? Where are you from?”
Su Tui replied excitedly, "General, I am from Hefeng Village in Lingao County. I used to be a blacksmith. I joined the guard team when they fought against the army of the prefectural city. I have participated in battles big and small."
"Oh, so you're a veteran soldier. Shi Ying's recommendation for platoon leader is quite insightful. What's your name?"
"Su's thigh."
Liu Ye was greatly surprised: "Thigh? You mean the thigh, the big thigh, the leg?"
Su Da Tui scratched his head sheepishly: "Yes. When I was a child, my family was always hungry, so I was given a humble name so that I could be raised more easily."
"Now that you've joined the Qiongzhou Camp and are a platoon leader, it's not very elegant to keep this name. How about I help you find a more impressive name?"
Su's eyes lit up. He wasn't well-educated, but he wasn't stupid. The general's willingness to name him was an honor, something others could only dream of. He nodded quickly, "It's my blessing that the general has bestowed a name upon me!"
Liu Ye thought for a moment and said, "Let's call it Hongtu. I hope you will achieve great things in the future. It also sounds more elegant."
Su Tui was happy as long as the general gave him a name. He saluted and said loudly, "Thank you, General, for bestowing this name upon me!" He was overjoyed, knowing that he would have a proper name from now on.
News of the Huangjiazhuang incident quickly spread throughout Lingao County. Even such a village had yielded, so the other wealthy households dared not provoke them and risk trouble. In any case, a wise man doesn't fight a losing battle; they handed over the grain first, hoping to save their lives and property before considering anything else.