Chapter 434: Setting a Benchmark
Zhao Sheng sprang to his feet, pointing at the sky as he exclaimed, "Look, look! The Heavenly Lord himself is griping about you!"
A blush spread across the old physician's face. "Heavenly Lord, forgive me," he stammered, "I'll make sure to write more clearly from now on."
He swiftly scribbled two more characters. "Surely that's clear enough this time?"
Li Daoxuan and Zhao Sheng stared intently, then shared a bewildered look. What in the world had he written?
The old physician beamed with pride. "That's 'licorice root'," he declared, "and I've written it very neatly!"
Zhao Sheng was speechless.
Li Daoxuan offered no response.
There was no reasoning with this eccentric old physician. Clutching the inscrutable prescription, a baffled Zhao Sheng, with the help of an attendant, gathered his remedies—a hefty bundle that he carried out of the medical hall.
Li Daoxuan had merely been observing for amusement, but seeing Zhao Sheng, an idea sparked within him. To oversee the Gudu Ferry in Shanxi, Zhao Sheng might just be the most suitable candidate.
And quite timid too!
Take Principal Wang from the school, for instance; he was not particularly brave. While operating in places like Gao Family Village or Chengcheng County, he could still display some courage, after all, the Heavenly Lord was watching over them. But if he were to go to Shanxi, Principal Wang would likely be too scared to even step outside his door each day.
San Shier, Tan Liwen, and others were all, to varying degrees, quite timid.
But Zhao Sheng was different!
He had once been a rebel, though compelled by circumstances. Still, he had led three thousand rebels, traveling circuitously from Qingjian County to Gao Family Village. He had endured many hardships and experienced a great deal.
Though physically frail, his courage was considerable.
Furthermore, his character was quite good. He was someone Li Daoxuan could trust implicitly, even beyond his direct oversight, to safeguard the lives of the common people.
"Alright, I'll just choose him then. It's just that his asthma is a bit... *sigh*, he'll have to manage his condition."
Li Daoxuan began searching for Gao Yiye, intending to have her relay his message.
However...
Once again, she was nowhere to be found!
In the vast Gao Family Village, teeming with its tiny inhabitants, finding Gao Yiye was truly like searching for a needle in a haystack. It was then that Li Daoxuan suddenly understood why religious figures always wore such distinctive attire: the more outlandish their clothing, the easier it was for a deity to spot them from high above.
Take a cardinal, for example; toss him into a crowd, and that crimson robe would immediately catch the eye. It would be hard *not* to find him.
With his mind buzzing with these odd thoughts, Li Daoxuan meticulously scanned the area. Finally, within the Gao Family Commercial District, he located Gao Yiye.
She was actually sitting in the bookstore, reading!
And the book she was reading wasn't even her own illustrated *Tales of the Heavenly Lord Dao Xuan's Demon Extermination*, but a comic book titled *Breaking Through the Firmament*. The title itself seemed a bit odd. Li Daoxuan looked closer and realized it was the "underdog" story Gao Sanwa had shown him last time, now finally printed.
Gao Yiye appeared deeply engrossed. Her pretty, delicate brows were slightly furrowed as she became completely immersed in the story, her expressions shifting from tense to triumphant. When the underdog character, once scorned by everyone, finally turned the tables and defeated all his enemies, Gao Yiye couldn't help but burst into joyful laughter.
Li Daoxuan's 'focus' shifted nearby. He noticed many other people in the bookstore reading the same book, each with a serious, captivated expression.
It wasn't just the bookstore; people were reading this comic everywhere in the Gao Family Commercial District.
In tearooms, taverns, noodle shops serving Laba rice noodles and freshwater *helao*, and stores selling braised duck—customers in various establishments were eating, drinking, and discussing the comic book's story.
A middle-aged man holding the book turned to a child beside him and asked, "Young brother, you're a student, aren't you? You can read, right? Can you help me understand this sentence? Oh, this comic book has words in it, which is really unfriendly for an illiterate person like me."
The child carefully read it aloud: "'Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river! Don't look down on me; I'll grow mighty...'"
"Wow!" the middle-aged man exclaimed. "So that's what it means! It sounds truly satisfying."
"Indeed, having some words in a book makes the story even more captivating!"
After scanning the street, Li Daoxuan found himself chuckling. "It's a hit! Gao Sanwa, you little rascal, you've struck gold! You're probably going to earn quite a fortune from this."
He recalled that San Shier and Gao Sanwa had agreed that the profits from this book would be split fifty-fifty. Half would go to the bookstore, and the other half to Gao Sanwa.
From what he had just observed, at least several thousand copies of the book had already been sold.
Even if Gao Sanwa only earned ten *wen* per copy, he would still walk away with tens of thousands of copper coins.
And that wasn't all; the book was sure to sell even more!
The common people of Chengcheng County and Heyang County would surely buy it too.
Thinking this, Gao Sanwa was likely about to become incredibly rich.
Li Daoxuan chuckled inwardly. "Excellent! Setting a benchmark where 'an author gets rich' would show more people that they, too, could follow Gao Sanwa's example and pour themselves into creative work. Only then would literature, comic art, and other arts truly flourish."
He eagerly anticipated the arrival of that day.
Xing Honglang, leading a large group of salt porters, their bodies weary, advanced towards the Gudu Ferry.
One of the salt porters, exhausted and parched from the journey, wiped the sweat from his face, a flicker of unease in his heart. Though the woman surnamed Xing appeared forthright and generous, her promises seemed too good to be true, and the salt porters were hesitant to believe them.
People, you see, once oppressed for too long, tend to lose faith in anything good.
After enduring prolonged oppression from the authorities, and selling salt for two *wen* per *jin* for so long, they simply couldn't believe anyone would buy it for ten *wen* per *jin*.
This mindset was hardly surprising!
One salt porter couldn't help but ask aloud, "Chief Xing, Chief Tie, we've already walked over a hundred *li*. How much further is it? Transporting this much cargo so far... what about the wages?"
Xing Honglang turned her head and chuckled, "Don't worry about the wages. I'll pay you half a *jin* of flour for every *li* walked. How does that sound?"
The salt porter thought to himself, 'Half a *jin* per *li*? A hundred *li* is fifty *jin*. She's giving me that much flour?'
'This... this is too good to be true! But the better it sounds, the less I can believe it.'
As their hearts filled with apprehension, Xing Honglang smiled, "We're here!"
The salt porters looked up, and there, before them, was the Yellow River bank. They knew this place well—the Gudu Ferry. They'd helped salt smugglers transport salt here many times before. But the Gudu Ferry had changed immensely. Along the riverbank stood a huge wooden fortress, complete with several watchtowers inside.
Their first reaction was: Imperial soldiers are stationed here!
Only where imperial forces were garrisoned would such a proper and formidable fortress be built. Roaming bandits and private salt peddlers wouldn't bother with such elaborate constructions.
This startled the salt porters. *This is it,* they thought. 'If we're caught by imperial soldiers, it'll be impossible to explain ourselves. We can't very well say the Salt Administration Commissioner let us go, can we?'
The Commissioner would surely deny it.
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