Chapter 236: How to Intervene in the County Town
Li Daoxuan observed the county town, but his approach remained the same: he couldn't act rashly.
First, he had to position himself as an observer.
His gaze swept over the county town from above.
Through the narrow streets, he saw countless refugees from various villages, clad in rags, their faces etched with the pallor of starvation.
Their numbers were considerable; a casual glance revealed thousands upon thousands.
During the Ming Dynasty, a prosperous county town in the Jiangnan region could easily boast hundreds of thousands of residents, and a small, remote northwestern county like Chengcheng County could still hold seventy to eighty thousand.
Normally, these people would be dispersed throughout the county's villages.
However, a severe drought had forced these scattered county residents to congregate within the county town.
This made the already cramped streets even more congested.
"Mealtime!"
"Time for gruel again."
"We can eat now."
Through all the streets, a massive tide of people surged towards a single direction.
Li Daoxuan's gaze naturally followed the flowing crowds. Before long, he arrived before the county yamen, where a platform had been erected. Liang Shixian himself sat there, supervising a large group of yamen runners and hangers-on as they brought out bowls of thin gruel.
Under the shouted commands of the yamen runners, the refugees formed long lines, clutching their broken bowls, each receiving a portion of gruel before retreating to the eaves of the street-side shops, where they wretchedly slurped their meal.
Liang Shixian's brow was deeply furrowed. He knew that one bowl of gruel was not enough to fill anyone, but he could only distribute this much to each person, for his own stores of grain were limited.
This grain had been obtained by swallowing his pride and begging from the reclusive and prominent "Li Family" in Gao Family Village.
Each time he transported thirty cartloads, which would be consumed in mere days, forcing him to shamelessly request another thirty.
This cycle had repeated for a year now, during which he had shamelessly begged for grain from the Li Family.
A sense of unease was beginning to creep into his mind.
Although the area around the Li Family Fortress had received rain and boasted wheat fields, how could such meager fields sustain this constant depletion?
The Li Family must possess some mysterious means of acquiring grain from strange sources.
This method was so clandestine that no one had ever discovered a single merchant convoy transporting grain from other provinces back to the Li Family Fortress.
A myriad of questions clamored in his mind, but he swallowed them back before they could escape.
If he voiced his suspicions, would the Li Family stop providing grain?
Without grain, what would become of these people?
The imperial court would not give him grain; on the contrary, they might even press him to collect the overdue taxes from Chengcheng County, which would surely condemn these people to death.
Even if only for the sake of these common folk, Liang Shixian could only feign ignorance, pretending not to understand, to have never doubted the Li Family, to know nothing, and to be a shameless, foolish official.
Li Daoxuan used his "focus function" on Liang Shixian, perceiving his sympathy for the common people in his expression, but also the helplessness of his limited power.
He truly wanted to help him!
But now was not the right time to intervene.
As he always thought, rashly reaching out was not helping someone, it was frightening them.
He continued to scan in every direction, taking in the county town's entirety.
Suddenly, on the west main street of the county town, an ornate structure caught Li Daoxuan's attention.
The City God Temple!
Chengcheng County's City God Temple was an ancient and majestic historical relic.
Its incense, however, seemed sparse.
The common people were too poor; they couldn't even afford to burn incense and candles.
They could only kneel before the City God and offer a few bows.
Li Daoxuan noticed that while the main hall of the City God Temple had few people, the side hall contained seven or eight devout men and women, kneeling reverently on prayer cushions, murmuring incantations as they worshipped something.
Li Daoxuan focused his "attention function" on the side hall, and the situation inside immediately became clear.
Mrs. San, whom he hadn't seen in a while, sat there with a solemn and dignified air, surrounded by a collection of bottles and jars. A group of devout men and women were earnestly praying: "May the Heavenly Lord bless us!"
"We pray, Heavenly Lord, for my daughter's diarrhea to quickly heal."
"Heavenly Lord, bless us, may my son's sores soon disappear."
After listening to one person's "description of symptoms," Mrs. San opened a jar and carefully extracted a tiny amount of medicine, handing it to an elderly woman. "This is divine medicine bestowed by the Heavenly Lord. The way to use it is thus... Take care in using it when you return. If your son is not fated to die, he will naturally recover. But if this calamity is his destiny, not even the Heavenly Lord can save him."
The old woman offered a thousand thanks, prostrated herself, and withdrew.
Seeing this, Li Daoxuan's eyes lit up.
He had an idea...
A way to intervene in the county town without frightening the common people.
Hehe!
Hadn't the game "Civilization" long ago laid out the solution?
To extend influence into another's city without resorting to war, the best method was "culture." As long as "cultural invasion" reached its peak, an enemy city could quickly become one's own.
To seize Chengcheng County and transform it into "his own county town," the cultural approach was the most appropriate and the least harmful to the common people.
Li Daoxuan reached out and tapped the words "Gao Family Village" outside the box. His view snapped back, soaring above Li Family Fortress.
Having just witnessed the suffering in the county town, his vision returning to Gao Family Village immediately brought a completely different atmosphere.
Xing Honglang and Gao Chuwu were actually sparring!
Li Daoxuan had no idea how many times the two of them had fought, but every time Xing Honglang returned from her merchant runs, she would challenge Gao Chuwu to a match.
A large crowd stood, eating their dinners, and watching the show.
Xing Honglang struck first, her Jin Hong Fist whistling through the air. Gao Chuwu immediately replied with his Guanzhong Hong Fist. The two clashed and thudded, exchanging over a dozen blows in an instant. Then Xing Honglang feigned an opening, and Gao Chuwu missed with his punch.
Xing Honglang swiftly closed the distance, delivering a flurry of powerful blows.
Gao Chuwu's towering, iron-like frame collapsed once more, hitting the ground with a thud and kicking up a cloud of dust.
The onlookers burst into laughter again: "Hahaha, Gao Chuwu will never beat Xing Honglang! It's getting boring, so boring, hahahaha."
Gao Yiye and San Shier were also in the crowd, clapping and laughing loudly.
Li Daoxuan spoke, "Yiye, ask San Shier, how many copies of 'The Legend of Dao Xuan Tian Zun, the Demon Slayer' are left unsold?"
The moment these words left his mouth, Gao Yiye froze instantly, as if struck by a paralyzing spell.
After several seconds, she began to rotate slowly, like a robot, her movements unnervingly mechanical. Her neck seemed unable to turn, so she simply twisted her entire upper body towards the sky. "Uh... uh... *cough*... that... that book... Heavenly Lord... you *knew*?"
Li Daoxuan feigned a stern expression. "How could I not know? Could such a thing be hidden from me?"
Comments