Chapter 870: Rewarding Good and Punishing Evil
Li Daoxuan: "A passerby? Why, can't a passerby bestow a reward? Must it always be the master or the boss?"
Lao Huihui clearly bristled slightly at the term "passerby."
Li Daoxuan's tone shifted. "A young man recently penned a line of poetry: 'The rise and fall of the world concerns every common man.' I, this very common man, find profound truth in it. Every individual bears a responsibility for the state of affairs in this realm."
Lao Huihui scoffed, "So, showing up and offering me a reward somehow counts as managing the affairs of the world?"
Li Daoxuan chuckled. "To ignore good deeds is wickedness. To leave evil unpunished is also wickedness. Therefore, to reward the virtuous and punish the wicked—that is to do good for this world. Do you not agree?"
Lao Huihui fell silent, pondering this...
This time, he conceded that Li Daoxuan spoke with reason.
But Li Daoxuan's tone immediately shifted. "Still, in handing these provisions over to you, I have one small condition."
Lao Huihui scoffed, "Ah, so all that preceded it was merely groundwork. All that talk of rewarding virtue and punishing vice was just idle chatter. I knew there'd be a condition in the end; that's the nature of a proper transaction. Speak your terms. Given this vast ship of grain, if your request isn't too outrageous, I might consider it."
Li Daoxuan let the sentence hang, deliberately leaving the unspoken consequence to loom.
Lao Huihui knew well that the unspoken words would be far from pleasant.
So, he chose not to hear them!
He preferred to spare further words, murmuring, "As long as the grain supply is steady, why would I stoop to snatching bark and roots from the mouths of the common folk? That condition, I can accept. As for refusing to be in cahoots with such individuals, well..."
Lao Huihui cast a sharp glance southward. "Are you attempting to sow discord among us?"
Li Daoxuan: "Would you call this sowing discord? Can you and that rabble truly coexist?"
Lao Huihui stiffened, his silence a telling admission.
It was evident he recognized the truth in Li Daoxuan's words, but he refused to respond to such an overt ploy of division.
Li Daoxuan: "Enough staring, let's move the grain!"
Lao Huihui cast a complex, unreadable glance at Li Daoxuan, then gestured. His heavy cavalry dismounted and strode purposefully towards the cargo ship.
A peculiar machine at the ship's bow seemed to be filming them, but they paid it no heed. They had no idea what it was, and it certainly wasn't a cannon, so what was there to fear?
Soon, basket after heavy basket of grain was unloaded.
"It's truly all grain!"
"Boss, we'll have enough to last for at least several months now."
"This is all fine white flour, absolutely top quality."
"And rice!"
"Huh? What's this?" A heavy cavalryman picked up a square bamboo box. Three characters were neatly inscribed on its lid: "Luncheon Meat."
Jiang Cheng, recognizing it instantly, gasped in horror. He darted forward, practically leaping aboard to snatch the bamboo box back. "Ah, my sincerest apologies," he stammered, "this item isn't for you. It was mistakenly loaded with the rest of the cargo."
The heavy cavalryman, his face a mask of confusion, froze for several seconds. Then, sniffing the lingering scent on his hands, a sudden realization dawned on him: "This box holds pork."
It transpired that when the Gao Family Village Militia soldiers had loaded the grain onto the ship, they had, out of habit, included luncheon meat as if provisioning their own kin. But... Muslims do not consume pork. Presenting pork to Muslims was not a gesture of goodwill; it was an outright provocation.
Jiang Cheng, rigid with embarrassment, hastily ordered his subordinates to move all the baskets containing the luncheon meat deep into the cargo hold...
This small, telling action did not escape Lao Huihui's keen eye.
Lao Huihui, who had maintained a stern, rather unapproachable expression, found his mood unexpectedly lighten. Clearly, this was merely an unintentional oversight on their part, not an act to be exaggerated or taken as a grave offense. Their diligent efforts to rectify the mistake demonstrated profound respect for Muslim dietary customs.
To respect another's dietary customs is, fundamentally, to respect the person themselves.
To receive such respect from the Han people, in the eyes of those considered "barbarians" at the time, was an occasion of profound happiness and rare significance.
Lao Huihui spoke, a hint of magnanimity in his voice: "It is quite alright! We are not so rigid. My army is not exclusively Muslim; we have many other ethnic groups among us, and Han people too. This pork can be distributed to them for their sustenance."
Pausing there, he performed a deep, ceremonious bow to Li Daoxuan. "In this year of dire famine, your willingness to provide us with meat is an immense, heaven-sent kindness. How could I possibly be so fastidious, or even harbor resentment that the meat you sent is pork?"
Li Daoxuan offered a serene smile.
Lao Huihui turned, barking at his subordinates: "Stop gawking like startled pheasants! This is the Central Plains, teeming with Han people. Is it truly so strange to encounter pork here? Carry it back, all of it, for our brothers from other tribes. Confound it, it's a famine year! Stop being so damn fastidious, you blockheads, or you'll truly starve!"
The heavy cavalrymen, faces reddened with embarrassment, hastily suppressed their aversion to pork and resumed unloading the cargo.
In short order, the cargo ship was emptied.
Lao Huihui had no horse-drawn carts for transport, so he simply ordered each of his cavalrymen to shoulder a large pack, and in a flash, all the provisions were secured onto their horses.
He cupped his fist in a respectful salute to Li Daoxuan. "For today's immense generosity, I, Lao Huihui, shall not forget it."
Li Daoxuan smiled and waved a dismissive hand. "Go slowly, no need for farewells. Do keep in touch, whenever the occasion arises."
Lao Huihui gave his horse's reins a sharp tug, wheeled around, and departed.
The heavy cavalrymen who had accompanied him likewise wheeled about, and with a thunderous rumble of hooves, they vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.
Jiang Cheng gazed in the direction they'd ridden off, murmuring, "They're heading toward Xingyang. That place, I hear, is currently a veritable hornet's nest of bandits."
"Indeed." Li Daoxuan mused, "The seventy-two rebel forces are all converging on Xingyang; the Xingyang Conference is imminent. Truth be told, there's little genuine strategy to be discussed. A horde of bandit chiefs will merely assemble, feign deliberation, and the inevitable outcome... will still be to disperse and plunder, utterly devoid of any novelty."
Jiang Cheng stared, dumbfounded.
He snapped to attention, a sudden realization striking him: the Heavenly Lord was revealing a divine secret, preemptively disclosing the rebels' impending actions.
He couldn't help but ask in a hushed tone, "What places will they plunder next?"
Li Daoxuan offered a faint, unsettling smile, a peculiar glint in his eye. "They'll be desecrating ancestral tombs."
Jiang Cheng gasped, "What?"
Jiang Cheng simply did not comprehend.
However, divine secrets, by their very nature, were difficult for mortals to fully grasp. Jiang Cheng refrained from pressing for clarity, resolving instead to ponder the enigma deeply on his own.
Li Daoxuan: "Let's return."
The group made their way back to the cargo ship.
The cargo ship, heavy with provisions on its arrival, was now empty, ready for a swift, unburdened departure.
They had barely returned to the river and sailed a short distance when a medium-sized cargo vessel appeared, heading straight for them. It rode high in the water, devoid of cargo, evidently having completed its transaction and now returning with an empty hold.
Li Daoxuan paid no mind to the approaching vessel, but Jiang Cheng let out a soft exclamation. "There's something amiss with that ship," he murmured.
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