Chapter 011: Hell on Earth and Outside the City
Is there anyone in this world who doesn’t love possessions?
The answer is yes, but very few.
From Song Kangnian's perspective, Cheng Shijie was not a wealthy man with tens of millions of dollars, but why didn't he love money? You know, tens of thousands of taels of silver, countless people are willing to take risks.
That can only mean one thing. Cheng Shijie's plan is not trivial.
Could it be said that Cheng Shijie's destiny is really precious?
Song Kangnian fell asleep in a daze.
When he woke up again, it was already night.
Song Kangnian came out to stretch, but did not find Cheng Shijie. He asked, "Is Mr. Cheng here?"
Cheng Shijie watched Song Kangnian come out of the room and stepped forward to say hello: "Mr. Song, are you awake?"
"woke up!"
"Mother Yun, is the food ready?"
"Master, wait a moment, it's almost ready!"
"Mr. Song, please come inside!"
Song Kangnian looked at the three carts outside and remained motionless: "I wonder what Mr. Cheng has to say!"
"If Mr. Song finds it inconvenient to carry this money, he can ask Liu Ji to exchange it for gold!"
Although Liu Ji Inn is just an inn, there is also a corporate group behind Liu Ji, covering all aspects. Cheng Shijie originally asked the clerk where he could exchange money in Dengzhou City. The guy told him directly that Liu Ji would be fine.
Of course, exchanging silver is not the same as exchanging change for whole money in later generations. A handling fee is required, which is a waste of money.
Song Kangnian spread his hands and smiled bitterly: "It's more than a thousand taels of gold, and it's not convenient for Song to carry it!"
You must know that one thousand two hundred taels of gold weighed about seventy-five kilograms. One kilogram in the Ming Dynasty weighed 594 grams, which means that one thousand two hundred taels totaled more than 44 kilograms.
Of course, it shouldn't be a big problem for an adult man to carry a weight of 44 kilograms on his back, but Song Kangnian's body is only that of a twelve-year-old child, so it is very difficult for him to carry a weight of 44 kilograms.
Cheng Shijie said: "How about exchanging it directly for banknotes?"
"This is not urgent!"
Song Kangnian asked: "I wonder if Mr. Cheng has any advice?"
"I dare not give you any advice. We had a great time working together for the first time. I wonder if Mr. Song has any intention of working together again!"
Song Kangnian shook his head and said: "Things are rare and valuable. Mr. Cheng's swords should not be taken out in Dengzhou again. Even if you want to take action, you should wait a little longer!"
"It's a waste of time!"
Cheng Shijie thought for a while and said: "Mr. Song seems to have said that Governor Denglai is selling his official position?"
"good!"
Song Kangnian was slightly startled: "Mr. Cheng is going to donate an official position?"
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the most generous donations of officials from merchants, gentry, and landowners were to Yuanwai or Yuanwailang. In addition to the certain members mentioned in movies and TV series, this is actually an identity, roughly equivalent to a jazz in the West. It has no power in itself, it is just an honorary title.
Song Kangnian also thought that Cheng Shijie wanted to buy a similar honorary official title, which could reduce a lot of taxes in the Ming Dynasty.
"Exactly!"
Cheng Shijie didn't hide it, he said straightforwardly: "Cheng currently doesn't have enough money, so Mr. Lao Song is responsible for this!"
Song Kangnian thought for a while and said, "Song can inquire about this matter!"
"So good!"
"Cheng will leave first!"
"I don't know when you will come back?"
"It should be tomorrow or the day after tomorrow!"
Song Kangnian said: "Song has nothing to do, so he lives here!"
There were originally three people in Liu Ji's Dongkua courtyard, no, four people, and the baby Xiao Jiaxin was also alone. Now that Song Kangnian is here, it won't be that troublesome.
After a meal, Song Kangnian also figured out the relationship between Yang Yuniang and Cheng Shijie. To be precise, both Shen Mingyu and Yang Yuniang were picked up by Cheng Shijie casually on the street.
…
Opening his eyes, Cheng Shijie has returned to the future life.
Now that I'm ready to mess with Kong Youde's good deeds. The first thing he did was not buy an official position, nor was it to make money, but to protect himself.
The best way to protect yourself is to have a gun, but the problem is that ordinary people in China do not have access to guns. I have searched for it all, including Aubao, Dongdong, and Duoduo, but I can't find a stun device, nor can I find it. to the crossbow machine that can be purchased.
Just when Cheng Shijie felt a little disappointed, he started searching for the three keywords "high power" again. He wanted to buy a high-power bright flashlight. Although this thing was not dangerous, it could bluff people in the Ming Dynasty.
I never expected that when this search keyword pops up, a large number of wild boars are driven away by electric shockers. This is an electric prod, but the name is different.
As expected, the Chinese language is broad and profound.
Without saying anything, Cheng Shijie quickly placed the order.
When they came to the mailroom at the gate of the community, there were more than a dozen express delivery items from Cheng Shijie. Although Song Kangnian said things were rare and expensive, he still took a large number of swords. Even if he didn't sell them, they could at least be used as self-defense weapons.
Cheng Shijie originally wanted to go back in time and buy some crystal products from future generations. However, after testing, he learned that he could go back at most once a day, and he could only carry as much weight as his body could bear.
The fifty swords he purchased weighed about three and a half kilograms each, and the scabbards totaled five to six kilograms. As a result, the total weight of the fifty swords exceeded two hundred and fifty sixty kilograms, which was already beyond what Cheng Shijie could handle. Not only was he unable to bring these swords over due to the weight he was carrying, he was also unable to initiate time travel.
In desperation, he had no choice but to choose some handicrafts and crystal jewelry.
Of course, these crystal jewelry are not high-end goods. He bought them all in Yiwu Trade City. He spent more than 5,000 yuan and bought a box weighing more than 50 kilograms.
This time, Cheng Shijie did not travel directly, but went to the hospital to visit Cheng Jiayue. Fortunately, Cheng Jiayue's condition stabilized in the hospital.
"How about we get discharged from the hospital?"
"don't want!"
Cheng Shijie smiled bitterly and said: "Our community is too remote and it is difficult to take a taxi at night. If there is any accident, it will not be easy to get to the hospital..."
"But, it costs money here!"
"I'll take care of the money!"
Cheng Shijie said: "How about I watch from the hospital and you go back and take a shower."
"No, you can wash in the room. There is hot water 24 hours a day."
"What delicious food would Jia Yue want to eat?"
…
Cheng Shijie was preparing to return to the late Ming Dynasty with his belongings, but suddenly felt that something was missing. He hurriedly rode his electric bicycle to the pharmacy and bought a household medical kit, white medicine, gauze and disinfectant in case of emergency.
By the end of the Ming Dynasty, Song Kangnian was no longer in Liu Ji's Dongkua courtyard, but was out working on buying an official position.
When there was nothing going on in Dongkuaoyuan, Cheng Shijie asked, "Mingyu, can you drive?"
"Won't!"
"Take the money and hire a carriage. I want to go out for a walk!"
It's not that Cheng Shijie doesn't want to walk, but taking a car in the Ming Dynasty is a status symbol and can reduce unnecessary troubles.
Not long after, Shen Mingyu hired a carriage that was 80% to 90% new, and brought a driver with him. The driver was an old man over fifty years old, surnamed Zhou.
Cheng Shijie was sitting in a carriage, while Shen Mingyu and the coachman Lao Zhou were sitting in front of the carriage, walking slowly along the street.
"Master, where are we going?"
"Get out of town!"
At this point, Cheng Shijie felt regretful, because he smelled an unpleasant stench when he left the city, and flies were flying all over the sky not far away.
Cheng Shijie opened the car curtain and looked at a large shanty town outside the city. They were all refugees, with ragged clothes, unkempt hair and dirty faces, and dull faces.
It is simply a tragedy. The skinny children are either put on grass bones and sold as goods in exchange for a little ration to keep the family alive for a while, or they guard the corpses of their parents and call them father and mother, with desperate sounds. His call pierced people's hearts like needles, and those pairs of dull and desperate eyes made people unable to bear to look at them.
It's okay in the city. The soldiers guarding the city don't let the refugees enter. But there are at least tens of thousands of refugees densely packed outside the city. Their empty eyes are absolutely waiting for death.
This scene makes Cheng Shijie, a 21st century soul, find it difficult to accept.
"Master, let's go back!"
As Cheng Shijie's carriage appeared, it immediately attracted the attention of countless refugees.
"My dear, please do me a favor and give me something to eat!"
"Good-hearted people passing by, please show mercy and buy this child. I kowtow to you!"
"Noble sir, our children are obedient, hard-working, and eat little. I beg you to buy them!"
"Master, please buy this child. I kowtow to you, and I kowtow to you..."
The troublesome and mechanical sound made Cheng Shijie feel that the city and outside the city were like a world of ice and fire. Could this be Shandong, a highly developed economy?
At this time, a group of people who looked like stewards appeared among the victims. They walked among the children or women who were selling their heads, stretched out their big hands, opened the mouths of the children or women, and looked at their teeth. Some used The stick hit the child's body to test the child's reaction.
At this moment, Cheng Shijie looked at the tree on the roadside. There were more than a dozen bloody corpses hanging on the tree. Several people who looked like refugees were removing the corpses from the trees. They were not collecting the corpses, but the tattered clothes on the corpses.
The corpses were stripped naked, and the corpses hanging from the trees were all wearing tattered military uniforms.
Watching Cheng Shijie stare at the corpse in trance.
Shen Mingyu explained: "My boss, these are the Dongjiang Army. They fought with the Dengzhou Army a while ago, and these people were all hanged!"
Just when Cheng Shijie looked away, he suddenly saw a corpse with trembling fingers.
"This man is not dead yet!"
Cheng Shijie said subconsciously.
"He's not dead yet, but wild dogs are not picky about their food!"
Those collecting the body quickly stripped the still-living body of its clothes.
Cheng Shijie couldn't stand it anymore: "Ming Yu, put this man on the carriage!"
"But boss, you..."
Cheng Shijie got out of the carriage. He didn't have anyone available right now. He could just buy a few people. Anyway, he didn't need a few mouths to eat.
Cheng Shijie's fat body made the refugees feel scared, especially since Cheng Shijie was also carrying a knife.
"Master, please buy the child!"
