The Blessed Beauty Returns with a Dimension-Chapter 952 - 928: Training

Li Tieniu hurriedly waved his hand, his face full of panic.

"Benefactor, absolutely not. That is your emergency fund, how can you take it out to let us use as capital? Smuggling salt is extremely risky, and without people you know well, you might not return. The road is rife with bandits, and soldiers are rampant.

Back in the day, the young men of our village would gather, sometimes fifty or sixty in number, and we dared to act together. At least when facing bandits, we had the strength to resist. But now, with only a dozen of us left, how can these few stand up to a gang of bandits?" 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Li Tieniu sighed deeply as he spoke of this matter.

In their villages, it was the same: during farming seasons, everyone was a simple farmer, and during idle times, in order to survive, they took the risky path of salt smuggling.

It relied on strong young men, but this time the casualties were severe, and Li Family Village was severely weakened.

Jiang Xiaoxiao became intrigued; she had only touched upon salt smuggling briefly in her history studies.

She also knew about it from novels, historical records, and TV dramas.

"Consider it. Train the remaining strong young men; I have a special training method, and maybe we can make a trip. I have a hundred taels of silver, and perhaps we can earn the tax silver back."

Jiang Xiaoxiao thought of the Dragon Crystal.

If Wu Yang and the others could have special abilities, what about the people here?

Even if they couldn’t, she still knew how Song Moting trained people.

Training some basic soldiers shouldn’t be a problem.

Li Tieniu remembered Jiang Xiaoxiao’s abilities; this young woman, with her own strength, had saved them.

Single-handedly, her skills were remarkable.

If Jiang Xiaoxiao helped them, it might truly be possible.

Deep down, Li Tieniu always remembered that ghostly figure that flashed by, and those two bandits who fell to the ground.

The impression was deep, breeding incomparable trust.

Even if the person before him was a woman.

Every salt smuggler was risking their life, and rather than fear, Li Tieniu felt admiration for Jiang Xiaoxiao.

Li Tieniu immediately went to find the village’s elders.

This was a major decision affecting every household, and he couldn’t decide alone.

After speaking, the elders looked at each other.

"Tieniu, isn’t this unwise? She’s a woman, and there are too few of you. Last time, the entire village put everything into it, and now, even with the silver, it’s uncertain if we can gather fifty taels. The risk is too great."

How could the elders not worry?

The village had no way to live.

Everyone knew that this year’s taxes were heavier, practically forcing a tael of silver onto each person’s head, which was deadly.

But there was nowhere to take risks.

No people, no silver, they were helpless.

Li Tieniu, with a pleading look, said, "Uncle, I think we can give it a try. Miss Jiang saved us all single-handedly back then; her martial arts are truly convincing. If Miss Jiang is willing to teach us, maybe we have a slim chance.

Otherwise, if we can’t pay the taxes, we’ll either become bandits in the mountains or be conscripted into the army, leading to certain death. Why not give it a try?"

Who wants to die!

The elders pondered; they were old, but seeing the village’s difficulties, Li Tieniu was right, they had no other choice.

"Alright, let’s try! We elders will rally everyone to gather silver, and you follow Miss Jiang for training!"

The next day.

At the village threshing ground, a space the size of two football fields, eighteen young and strong men stood waiting.

The youngest was only thirteen, and the oldest merely eighteen.

Year after year, the village lost people faster than they were born.

These were the only strong young men in the village.

"What are we training for? Didn’t Brother Tieniu only learn martial arts from the old Monk in the temple? Even Tieniu’s brother was killed by those people; would training really help us?"

"I don’t know either. I heard that Miss Jiang would train us. How can a woman be in charge of us men?"

"Isn’t it said that women should stay home with the children? How is she out here practicing martial arts? Isn’t Miss Jiang supposed to be a well-bred young lady? How could she possibly practice martial arts? Which family’s young lady practices martial arts?"

"You shut up, that Miss Jiang is very formidable. Do you think she’s just like us? I suspect her family must be a military family. Haven’t you heard that young ladies from border garrison families all know martial arts? Otherwise, in an escape, they’d need to defend themselves."

"And we saw Miss Jiang’s skills last time. She was mighty, taking two lives with a single blade. With such skills, Tieniu alone wouldn’t suffice, even with two more of him."

"If we learn Miss Jiang’s skills, we won’t fear anyone outside. If bandits rush at us, we can beat them to death with sticks."

The speaker was one who had seen Jiang Xiaoxiao’s skills at the inn; in their minds, she wasn’t just a delicate young lady, as her fierce abilities were witnessed firsthand, killing bandits outright.

The newly joined village youths were skeptical; could a young lady really be that formidable?

How strong could she possibly be?

Speaking of which, Li Tieniu brought Jiang Xiaoxiao in front of the crowd.

"Stop arguing; Miss Jiang is here."

As soon as everyone saw Jiang Xiaoxiao, they were stunned; was this a woman before them?

Jiang Xiaoxiao had specially changed into men’s clothing for training today; skirts were obviously unsuitable.

She donned a short male outfit, tying up her trousers and sleeves tightly with straps.

Her hair was bundled up, forming a knot.

A gray cloth bag tied the bun up.

The neat style made her appear like one of them, a young man not yet fully grown.

Of course, she didn’t remove the mask from her face, nor wore the cloak.

"Everyone, from today we follow my orders and begin training."

Song Moting’s training method was extremely effective.

Jiang Xiaoxiao, of course, had seen how her husband trained Baozi and Tang Yuan; their son had skills at a very young age, and these people certainly could learn too.

Though time was tight, a systematic training regimen.

Learning to obey orders, act in a unified manner, cooperating and trusting each other, was most important.

On the threshing ground, every day these men started their run-and-jump training.

Soon they were puzzled; if these simple exercises could prepare them for bandits.

Then why did so many salt smugglers lose their lives on the road?

Especially, the running and jumping sapped their strength deeply, and the village had insufficient food supply.

The coming month leading to the autumn harvest was the hardest; their homes almost consumed all stored grain.

Most households relied on wild vegetables from the mountains, mixed with household stores, providing only half a stomach full. The heavy exercise exhausted them, leaving them dizzy, nearly fainting to the ground.

Furthermore, these run-and-jump drills were nowhere near as simple as imagined.

According to Jiang Xiaoxiao, they had to carry weights for 5 km and engage in various obstacle courses, no wonder they complained endlessly.

However, when someone fainted the next day.

Li Tieniu had baskets and large cauldrons brought to the threshing floor.

Dark bread buns, with a large cauldron simmering meat broth.

"This is what Jiang Xiao... Mr. Jiang prepared for everyone, using her own silver, and Mr. Jiang said, without proper nutrition, the training would be ineffective. So remember, this is all due to Mr. Jiang’s kindness."

Instantly, everyone cheered.