WVKWnovel #272 - Am I guilty? Did I kill your father?
#272 - Am I guilty? Did I kill your father?
Master Zhang's logic was actually very simple.
In previous years, the way for people with grain in Lingzhou City to make money was to transport the grain to Xuzhou to sell.
Xuzhou had a wharf, and the waterway of the Two Realms River could connect to the commercial routes of several countries.
Bulk commodities like grain could be sold at a good price there.
But this year, even this method was unnecessary.
It could only mean that there was a better, more profitable opportunity.
Coupled with the plague that Song Family Village and the surrounding areas encountered, and his understanding of those people in the city, it was easy to draw a conclusion: the disaster in Lingzhou was not small.
Not only Lingzhou, but Xuzhou and Shanzhou might also have suffered disasters.
However, Shanzhou had Tiancan Temple, and Xuzhou had the Sea Soul Gate, so those people wouldn't go too far.
The worst off would only be Lingzhou.
But those people wouldn't care.
In their eyes, the common people were like weeds in the field, impossible to eradicate.
"Old Zhang, do you have a grudge against them?" Xu Chengxian couldn't help but ask, seeing the undisguised disgust and contempt on Master Zhang's face when he spoke of those wealthy households in Lingzhou.
On the contrary, Song Fangwu and the others behind Master Zhang didn't seem to have much reaction to this.
Master Zhang was stunned when he heard this, and didn't speak for a moment.
"That shouldn't be the case!" Xu Chengxian raised his eyebrows upon seeing this reaction.
As far as he knew, Zhang's residence was responsible for gathering information in Lingzhou.
"Isn't it the people from Song Family Village who are responsible for the looting?"
Logically speaking, those who took action during the looting were more likely to suffer casualties, so it should be Song Family Village that had a grudge against those people.
"That's not the case, Immortal Master, we generally don't take action when looting," Song Fangwu was stunned for a moment, and quickly cupped his hands and said.
Then, he immediately explained the process of their looting.
Xu Chengxian didn't know whether to laugh or cry upon hearing this.
It turned out that rather than calling it looting, it was more like collecting protection fees.
The looting in Da Zhou was completely different from what he had imagined.
Here, looting wasn't about ambushing and rushing out to kill people and steal their belongings when the target approached.
Instead, when the target approached, they would reveal their identity and state their purpose.
Then, everyone would start negotiating terms!
Damn it, negotiating terms!
So, the martial world was never about fighting and killing; it was all about social relationships!
After both sides sent out knowledgeable people to negotiate a deal, the merchant caravan would be released as long as they left behind the promised benefits.
Murder and robbery were rare, especially targeting local merchant caravans.
Killing people was equivalent to becoming bandits, and becoming bandits was equivalent to rebellion, which would be suppressed by the imperial court.
However, if they only looted without becoming bandits, or even became bandits without raising a flag to rebel, the imperial court wouldn't care.
After 'robbing' the merchant caravan's grain, they would also protect them from attacks by other merchant caravans, bandits, or wild animals.
Therefore, Song Family Village was more like a security bureau with a wide range of services than a den of thieves.
And the nearby villages all had marital ties with Song Family Village.
Occasionally, they would also do some part-time work.
"Looting can actually be done like this?" Xu Chengxian said with emotion. "But then again, can't the common people refuse to sell their grain?"
"They can't refuse to sell," Song Fangwu shook his head.
"Immortal Master, you don't know," Master Zhang said at this time, "How can the common people be allowed to decide about their own grain?"
In the fields, they had to rely on the weather. After sweating and toiling hard to harvest the grain, they had to rely on the faces of other masters.
Self-sufficiency?
Didn't the family need to eat salt?
If the grain wasn't sold, how would the taxes be paid?
And what about farm tools? If they broke, would they need to be bought?
Even if they didn't break, they would still need to be repaired every year.
There was no way to save this money.
They could only exchange it for grain.
Besides, if they couldn't finish eating it all at once, where would they put it?
Song Family Village, with both robbing and planting, still wasn't doing well, and it was because of this.
The grain they robbed had nowhere to put, and they trusted Master Zhang, but Zhang's residence didn't dare to store too much grain either.
They were afraid of attracting even bigger thieves.
"This doesn't even include major expenses such as weddings, funerals, and illnesses in the family."
"I understand," Xu Chengxian nodded, meaning that the common people had a very poor ability to resist disasters and would be harvested in various ways.
Then, he revealed a pensive expression.
Next, in Master Zhang and the others' attentive listening, he said, "So, build the grain storage bigger."
"…"
"…"
"What are you looking at? Am I wrong?"
"You're right, you're absolutely right!"
Master Zhang almost wanted to grit his teeth at how right he was.
"Haha! Old Zhang, I understand what you mean," Xu Chengxian laughed, "You mean we should make money first? Right?"
"… Right," Master Zhang hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
That was indeed his initial thought.
But he thought that after Xu Chengxian asked so many questions, especially after learning about the actions of the wealthy households in Lingzhou, he would have other plans.
He didn't expect that the conversation would come back to this.
"Then let's do it!" Xu Chengxian said loudly.
"There's nowhere to do it," Master Zhang said, indicating that everyone nearby was poor.
The others besides the two of them—the poor people—listened with blank faces.
They even lowered their heads in embarrassment; they were indeed very poor.
"I didn't say I was going to have you raise money," Xu Chengxian shook his head and asked, "Aren't there any bandit dens nearby?"
Seeing Master Zhang blinking and glancing at Song Fangwu, he couldn't help but add, "I mean the kind that does all kinds of evil, burning, killing, and looting, and has accumulated gold and silver, proper bandits."
Not like you, only staring at grain, and not daring to rob too much, because you don't have anywhere to put it, you non-mainstream clumsy thieves!
"There are some," Master Zhang immediately understood, "But the bandits of Black Dragon Fortress are extremely ferocious and cannot be easily provoked. Moreover, it is said that there is a fierce god in their fortress!"
"There's a fierce god? That's even better!" Xu Chengxian's eyes lit up, "Then let's eat them."
"Immortal Master, are you going to take action yourself?"
"Of course not, you have to fight them."
"…"
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Immortal Master, we can't beat them!
"Don't worry, I won't let you go to your deaths," Xu Chengxian smiled, "Hold out your hands."
With a wave of his hand, the wooden tokens on the table flew up and landed in the hands of Master Zhang and the others behind him.
The palm-sized wooden牌 was carved with a white snake.
It was lifelike and very agile.
"Hold it well, this is the token of the White Maiden," Xu Chengxian said, "After you go back, discuss it with your family. If you intend to become a Dharma Protector disciple of the Maiden, bring the token to kowtow when you sculpt the statue."
"If you don't want to, return the token."
After saying that, he waved his hand and told everyone to leave.
Song Fangwu looked at the token in his hand, and the others looked at each other.
Then, they bowed and retreated.
Since Immortal Master had said so, then he must have a way to solve the problem of not having grain, right?
"… Tsk," Xu Chengxian couldn't help but laugh.
They were all from the younger generation, and after receiving the tokens, not many of them paid attention.
What they cared about most was whether they could eat their fill.
"But I like it."
And there was Master Zhang.
"I didn't expect Master Zhang, who looks so slick, to have once been a man with ideals and ambitions."
When he was young, he couldn't stand the actions of the wealthy households in Lingzhou, but he was powerless to do anything about it.
Over time, he had his edges smoothed out and grew a big belly, but when he talked about those worms and leeches that were parasitizing the common people, he would still be indignant and disgusted.
And Song Fangwu and the others were used to it, or rather, numb to it.
Perhaps they had been exploited like this for thousands of years.
So much so that the demands of the victims were so low that they were only able to survive.
"I don't like that," Xu Chengxian took out a peach and took a bite.
If he didn't like it, he had to change it.
"And there are the wealthy households in Lingzhou," He heard that they even had enshrined cultivators in their homes?
"Dad!"
At this time, Xu Xiaobai suddenly rushed over, "Dad, something bad happened! Someone wants your dog's life!"
"Who is it?" Xu Chengxian was stunned, "We don't even have a dog!"
"It's the Black Dragon Fortress!" Da Hei shouted. "They've threatened to take your life."
Oh, ho!
Business is coming to the door?
…
Two days later.
The White Maiden Temple was completed.
The statue was being sculpted in the hall.
A noisy human voice came from the official road.
A group of fierce bandits rushed over.
The first person, holding two large hammers, pointed at Xu Chengxian, who was dressed as a Taoist, and shouted:
"Boy, you have committed a great crime! Why don't you kneel down and confess your sins and beg for mercy!"
"I have a crime?" Xu Chengxian smiled, "What great crime do I have? What, did I kill your father?"