Section 51: Who Is the One Wielding the Hoe? (Part I)

When Wei Wuji entered Gaul City with Cecily and the female Smaie in tow, Cecily felt as though she were dreaming. She had been here before with Indira, back when the city was still under the rule of the old aristocrat Hendry. They had been discovered and nearly captured, and it was only through Indira’s desperate, fearless efforts that she had been rescued.

Now, the city was devoid of those swaggering, oppressive old nobles. Everywhere, people in coarse cloth garments walked the streets, while others, much like them but marked by red armbands, maintained order. Had the late, "heroic" Hendry seen this scene, he surely would have roared in indignation that the "mud-legged peasants had turned the world upside down."

And indeed, the mud-legged peasants had. The flag of the Hexagram flew from the city walls. The human territories centered around Gaul City had begun their initial communization. After ending the rule of the old nobility, the Commonism Revolutionary Group—no, they were now known as the Commonism Revolutionary Army—along with the People’s Government they established in the Gaul region, had dealt harsh blows to the small lords and gentry who attempted to resist. They labeled these people landlords and rich peasants, while referring to the impoverished masses as poor and middle peasants.

Whatever they were called, these small lords and gentry were forced to surrender their land and the bulk of their property to save their own lives. The Revolutionary Group declared these assets public property and redistributed the land to the newly formed communes, where the farmers collectively cultivated the soil. Unquestionably, Grant’s actions won the hearts of the majority, but they also earned him the deep hatred of the gentry and small lords, which led to a terrifying assassination attempt. It was widely believed that the remaining gentry and small lords were behind the plot, though a few pointed out that the assassins did not appear to be locals, suggesting the involvement of external forces. Regardless, the small lords cheered at the time, believing it would halt the Revolutionary Army's progress, but they had severely underestimated Grant’s resolve and courage. Far from retreating, he deployed the Dark Elves and Gallio to intensify the struggle against the remaining landlords and rich peasants, compelling them to surrender their assets post-haste.

The assassination only served to alert Grant that external powers were threatening him. He realized he had to tighten his control while Landia was preoccupied with the open and shadow wars against the Church, leaving them no time to address the Gaul situation immediately. Every second was precious; he had to seize the time to establish a firm footing before the coming storm.

As Grant had anticipated—and even sooner than he had feared—foreign interventionist forces launched an attack on Gaul City. Just days before Wei Wuji and his companions returned, a secret unit ambushed the Third Regiment, which was responsible for patrolling the Gaul region. It was a unit belonging to Layard. The goblin company that had been integrated into the Revolutionary Army suffered heavy losses; their company commander, Comrade Zhukovsky, was struck by two bullets and remained bedridden in the city hospital. According to him, the attackers were human and armed entirely with muskets. While the origin of this group remained unknown, the intelligence-gathering Dark Elf Leonardo concluded that this special detachment was targeting Gaul. Based on their customs, they appeared to be from the northwest, most likely from within the borders of Lotte.

Simultaneously, a band of Wild Elf raiders began pillaging the region. Had Fei Liguo seen them, he would have recognized them as the same group of Wild Elves he had battled and driven off. To be precise, the Wild Elf leader named Yeli Tan had forcibly annexed the other surviving Wild Elf bandit gangs after they were decimated in previous clashes, and then fled to the Gaul region. Whether they were driven by their own greed or by someone else’s orders remained unknown.

Despite these various troubles, they were not the greatest of his concerns, for neither the special detachment nor the Wild Elves dared to engage the Revolutionary Army head-on, opting instead for guerrilla tactics. Given that the hearts of the people in Gaul were with the Revolutionary Army, these groups would eventually be eliminated or driven out.

Grant’s biggest problem lay in the difficulty of gaining recognition from another social class. The individuals who had fled during the Gaul Assembly were part of this group. They posed no threat to the Revolutionary Army’s rule, but they possessed knowledge that, if offered, could have helped Grant build Gaul with greater certainty. Without their support, even though the Revolutionary Army was developing with great momentum, Grant remained troubled.

Therefore, when Wei Wuji returned, Grant was exceptionally pleased. His vision for the future of the Revolutionary Army was pragmatic; whether it was industry, alchemy, magic, or even the Taoist arts practiced by Wei Wuji, he wanted to utilize anything that could help the Revolutionary Army build its own system. Originally, he had intended to rely on industry and magic, but those who possessed or were close to this knowledge remained aloof, disapproving of his aggressive strike against the gentry and small lords. Thus, he had to look for other paths, such as Wei Wuji’s Taoist arts.

Furthermore, Wei Wuji had actually brought Cecily back, along with a beautiful woman said to be an Orc, which pleased Grant even more. The safe return of Cecily would finally put the mind of the Revolutionary Army’s weapons expert at ease.

When Mr. Hegel, the weapons expert, heard that his daughter had returned safely, he immediately stopped his lecture and sprinted to the City Hall, calling out Cecily’s name like a madman. It was a truly moving scene. Beyond being the chief weapons designer for the Revolutionary Army, Mr. Hegel also served as the dean of the Weapons Academy at the city’s Industrial University. Grant had opened several categories of schools in Gaul; in addition to ordinary academies, he had established universities for industry and agriculture. These were named universities, but in reality, they were half-school and half-research institute. Just as Mr. Hegel had to find time to teach between designing weapons, there was simply a lack of talent in every field. Since some people preferred to flee rather than serve the Revolutionary Army, he had to train his own, even if they could not immediately become as skilled as Hegel, they could at least serve as assistants.

As Mr. Hegel and Madam Serra embraced their daughter, Wei Wuji felt a slight stir in his heart. Since Cecily refused to speak, perhaps he could find the answers by approaching her parents.