September 21st is the hottest season of the year in Fengri City, and the flood has just passed. The hot weather makes it even more difficult for the homeless, who can only sit on the eaves or under the trees. Like dried fish that smells sour, pedestrians on the road avoid them.
These are old and weak people who have no work to do at home. They have no way to find a place for themselves by working hard and can only live on the streets. Being in the city is much better than outside the city. There is a porridge shop in the yamen, so you won't starve to death for a while, and you don't have to worry about man-eating beasts in the wild. If you are lucky, one or two kind-hearted people can throw in a few small coins, pick them up and exchange them for steamed buns, and you can also make a tooth memorial ceremony.
It’s not that no one goes to the tooth shop to sell themselves. But the dental shop no longer accepts them.
The good-looking women have been taken away, the clever children have been taken away, and the old, weak or stupid ones have been kept out. What's strange is that many people knelt at the door and begged for help. At this... special time, I really can’t tell which is good and which is bad.
But Zhu Shou knew very well that he was by no means a good person. Are there still good people in the dental shop?
After a disaster, many people would often sell themselves to Yaxing in order to have a living ration or a place to stay for their families or themselves, and the money they received would be used to support their families. It's very dark here and has nothing to do with goodness. Even for Yaxing, it is a rare opportunity to acquire slaves at a low price.
The reason why Zhu Shou didn't collect it all was not because he looked down on those stupid people, but because he wanted to leave some money to deal with the big business that was coming later.
To the south, the battle has entered its second half. Whether the barbarians will be beaten back to what they were forty years ago or whether they will be completely wiped out will soon be answered.
However, Zhu Shou still believes in the analysis he heard from Mr. Shen a few days ago: the barbarians cannot be destroyed, because destroying the barbarians may not be a good thing for the Jing Dynasty. It involves many issues, the biggest one being the boundaries of the barbarians. It is impossible to set up a teleportation circle on the ground, and it is difficult to effectively govern a huge area. It is easy to breed separatism and attract prying eyes. The remaining barbarians only need to keep pruning, just like shearing wool. For the Jingjiu Dynasty, the benefits are higher and the risks are controllable. The only thing needed is a strategic overhaul.
Zhu Shou believed Master Shen's analysis, so he was certain that once the war in the south ended, tens of thousands of barbarians would be brought back to be sold, and they might even go to Zhuohuo Pass to choose. And the price will definitely be cheaper than before because of the large quantity.
So Zhu Shou wanted to leave more money to buy the barbarians.
In the past, Zhu Shou relied on Master Shen's information to make a move before others, so he made a lot of money. Now he is planning to make a lot of money again by using Master Shen's information. With the huge profits from these two transactions, Zhu Shou even thought that he could compete for the position of head of the tooth shop in the future.
The head of the bank! Zhu Shou never dared to think about it before, but now he feels that he is not completely hopeless.
Zhu Shou is also an old man in the officialdom. Now he is the head of Yahang in Dacheng and he is very well-informed. In addition, he is familiar with Wang Jian and other people in the Black Flag Camp, and he can often hear things that others don't know. News, so you can analyze a lot of things just by thinking about it.
For example, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is now very active in dealing with emerging nobles and merchants, which is very thought-provoking.
First, there was news that it was considering relaxing restrictions on merchants' involvement in special businesses to a certain extent. Then he made great efforts to promote emerging nobles. Whenever the crown prince took over the power of a large ministry, he would immediately make drastic changes in the upper-level personnel. Those who were picked off were almost all people from aristocratic families or noble families, and those who were helped up were all the children of emerging nobles who had not done well in the past and were marginalized.
It is said that one generation of emperors and one generation of ministers, the old emperor has not yet stepped down, but the attitude of the new emperor has been revealed. This undoubtedly releases an obvious intention: the spring of emerging nobles and merchants is coming.
A place like Yaxing, which is a huge profit, is naturally controlled by aristocratic families or powerful families. It is a miracle that Zhu Shou, from a small family, can survive to this point. If Xuanqingwei hadn't secretly helped him, he would not have even sealed the city. I can't even take the position of the leader.
But now the situation has changed. In Zhu Shou's view, once the new emperor ascends the throne, if the current suppression of aristocratic families and sects continues, the Yahang will definitely not be able to escape, and will inevitably promote a group of people from emerging noble families or small families like most other ministries. To replace him, wouldn’t he have a chance?
Of course, there are still many joints that need to be opened, and it is even possible that Xuan Qingwei's power will be used to help secretly. Regardless of whether it succeeds or not, Zhu Shou will always work hard in this direction first.
Zhu Shou was not the only one who felt the crown prince's actions. Well-informed people from all over the world were actually more or less aware of it, but they were not as sure as Zhu Shou. After all, the crown prince is not the emperor yet, and the suppression of the aristocratic family and clan may only be a temporary blow. It is not impossible that his attitude will change after he ascends the throne. Therefore, most people will not bet easily.
Hesitation is human nature, and decisiveness goes against human nature, so there are very few decisive people in the world. Generally speaking, the decision to cut off the wrist is made only when it is urgent, but by then it is often too late.
Nowadays, due to the shortage of money and food, the flower houses in various cities have been closed. The singers and courtesans who were popular in the past have now been ignored for a long time.
However, many people know that Hualou has not been peaceful recently. I don’t know if it’s possible, because many people died.
Those who died were either famous singers in the flower house, turtle masters or maids who were good at massaging and sobering up, or handymen who helped customers iron and wash their clothes. The deaths of these people have one thing in common, that is, they had their throats cut and then hung on the city wall, like hanging dried meat, swaying gently in the wind.
In fact, it’s not just people who are dying in Hualou, there are also some people who have nothing to do with Hualou, such as waiters in restaurants, clerks in inns, and some servants in local government offices... These people are all the same. After their throats are cut, Hang on the city gate.
Hanging a corpse is not a necessary action for killing. It is a warning and a punishment other than killing.
Whether it's killing people or hanging corpses, it's all done by the prince's personal soldiers who hold the East Palace badge. These prince's personal troops are the same as the imperial guards, but one is under the control of the emperor and the other is under the control of the prince. They are all very arrogant and even more unreasonable than the Xuanqing guards.
However, even if the prince is a member of the army, there must be a reason for openly attacking and killing people. This is the essential difference between them and Xuan Qingwei.
As for the reason: colluding with evil monks!
Are these dead people colluding with evil monks? It may sound weird and impossible at first. However, the local government and the Xuanqing Guards both remained silent because these prince's soldiers had not produced a complete evidence file.
It was the one that came from Shen Hao of Black Flag Camp. Of course, the main party implicated was Yueying Tower, and these people who died just happened to be people from Yueying Tower.
