The weak scholar in the end of ancient times

Chapter 117 Spinning Top

The Sheng family caravan stayed in Xinzhou City for several days. During this time, other caravans entered the city, but the Sheng family caravan was already preparing to leave.

They were to move on to the next city.

We arrived in Xinzhou earlier than others because it was closer and we had better equipment.

However, time was still tight; they needed to visit all six major powers in the North before it got too hot.

This is where the caravan stopped for the day.

It was evening, and all the gates of the city were closed. Sheng Ren also ended his social engagements for the day and returned to his room.

A lamp was lit in the room, and Sheng Ren was flipping through a picture book.

In addition to the escorts and letters, the caravan also purchased a batch of newly published picture albums from Xinzhou, in addition to the items originally planned for trade.

In Sheng Ren's view, this picture book is quite special.

It offers both engaging storytelling, providing a moment of relaxation amidst the daily tension, and guidance on how to prevent disease outbreaks.

In Xinzhou City, everyone from young children to the elderly showed great interest in these picture books.

It wasn't just their caravans that bought these items; many wealthy families in the city also entrusted caravans to transport goods containing picture albums to their relatives and friends in other places.

At this moment, Sheng Ren was flipping through a hardcover, color-printed picture book.

The artisans of Xinzhou City developed a new color printing technology, but Sheng Ren was not very interested in printing technology; what he valued was the content that the picture album was meant to convey.

Although there are some simple sentences and dialogues above, even someone who is illiterate and doesn't know a single word can roughly understand them just by looking at the pictures.

Now everyone is trying their best to preserve the population and reduce unnecessary casualties. In Xinzhou City, a picture book might have a miraculous effect!
It's said that it was drawn by a child from the Zhao family, but the bigger driving force behind it was that Director Wen and Young Master Zhao.

Thinking back to our meeting at the Zhao residence.

"That young master Zhao is indeed outstanding and handsome! It's a pity... among the younger generation of the Zhao family, he is the only one who can be called a hero."

When many prominent families fled north, they did not choose the Zhao family of Xinzhou among their six options.

The Zhao family is not strong enough, not only in terms of family heritage, wealth, and power, but also in terms of the potential of its members!
Even though we hear news of new additions to the families of both the elderly and young, what can a baby do?
The clan can't help much either.

What if something happens to this young master...

The Zhao family's ability to withstand risks is not strong enough!
This is no ordinary chaotic world, and people's hearts are even more unpredictable.

To firmly control Xinzhou, one needs both a supreme authority to manage important affairs internally and someone surnamed Zhao to support one externally.

In the current state of affairs, all factions in the North are focused on defense, and the city garrisons of each settlement must be truly capable and have sufficient authority.

For example, the city lord of Jinwu City, belonging to the Ren clan, is the seventh young master of the Ren family. He is renowned and indeed a formidable figure.

The other forces are similar, except for Xinzhou, which city has a governor surnamed Zhao.
While centralized power may be a good thing, it may not be in the current chaotic situation!

"If only the Zhao family had two more capable nephews or nieces..."

Not to mention the Zhao family, the Shen family also has a lot of useless people. Neither the Zhao nor the Shen family seems very stable.

Recently, they've been supporting Wen Gu, but Wen Gu belongs to the Shen faction; he doesn't have the surname Zhao!
Furthermore, according to Sheng Ren, some wealthy families who chose to migrate north to Xinzhou did so not because they favored the Zhao family, but because they saw the Zhao family's weaknesses and were waiting for an opportunity to take their place!
Xinzhou is facing a crisis of having its top decision-maker replaced!
Perhaps the head of the Zhao family sensed the crisis, which led to the creation of the new military agency, the Patrol Guard Division.

Of course, these are their previous analyses of Xinzhou.

However, Sheng Ren had a different idea when he came to Xinzhou this time.

Looking back on what I've seen and heard during this period.

I haven't been here long, but I can feel the upward vitality of Xinzhou!

Continuously accumulate strength and break through barriers!
Throughout Xinzhou, it seemed as if everyone had fallen into a highly efficient farming mode.

I don't know if it's just my imagination, but it seems like I can see an invisible whip being lashed out, stimulating everyone's enthusiasm for farming.

But it's not the kind of impatient, forced growth.

Everyone said that the Zhao and Shen families of Xinzhou were a bunch of good-for-nothings. But after arriving here, he felt completely different.

The personalities of the Zhao and Shen family members are indeed much as rumored, but their actions are quite unexpected. Take this picture album, for example.

Sheng Ren lowered his eyes.

With his keen eye, he could naturally tell that the picture book was drawn by young children, and not just one.

Finding out the information was easy; it was confirmed that the drawing was indeed done by a group of young children from the Zhao family.

Everyone says that the young men from the Zhao and Shen families are a bunch of spoiled brats who are always fighting.

But look at Wanfuyuan over there!

That's not just wasting resources and squandering food!

Based on Sheng Ren's years of experience in business, the benefits that Wanfuyuan could bring to Xinzhou at this time would be enormous and long-term!

For example, Sheng Ren is indeed optimistic about the prospects of the row of shops that the Zhao family is about to build!

Considering the excited attitude of the young people in the Zhao family these past few days, I believe that when the caravan returns to Xinzhou City during the autumn hunt this year, the shops will already be completed.

The young people from the Zhao and Shen families had no shortage of money and food, yet they did not squander their wealth.

They are not outstanding, but looking at it this way, they are not too bad.

"Following the natural course of the tree to realize its full potential. How rare!"

Sheng Ren sighed.

……

On the day we left the city.

The city was bustling with traffic.

Some teams were going into the city, while others were leaving.

The Sheng family caravan is ready to depart.

The benefits they gain from this trip may not be tangible material goods; certain intangible benefits are more valuable in such situations.

The managers gathered together, chatting about the two shops the owner had reserved and the Wanfu Garden that was under construction, already filled with anticipation.

Unbeknownst to them, there was a secret atmosphere of joy among some of the menial workers in the group.

The servants were overjoyed!
Especially those who were a step too late and regretfully missed out on earning extra money through farming skills.

Upon learning that the caravan had acquired two shops in Jingxingfang, which should be ready for use by the end of the year, they decided that if given the opportunity, they would definitely come with the caravan again at the end of the year!
Then they won't attract attention when they come to Jingxingfang, and maybe they can try their luck and see if they can earn some more food stamps.

They had privately verified that in Xinzhou City, it was very convenient to resell grain coupons from Jingxingfang!
Sheng Ren bid farewell to his friends and stepped into the carriage.

The caravan slowly left the city.

He lifted the carriage curtain and looked outside.

Winter is gradually fading away, and the ice and snow are melting faster.

The snow tracks have begun to recede from south to north.

In the places where the ice and snow first disappear, as the warming winds sweep across the land, the monsters that have been frozen into hibernation by the extreme cold will gradually break free of their "seal."

In areas where the various hunting armies could not clear out the monsters, those monsters transformed from humans, like wild beasts emerging from hibernation, were eager to bare their fangs.

However, even though the ice and snow have disappeared in the North at this time of year, most areas are still in a low-temperature state, and the awakened monsters are temporarily slow to move.

As the ice and snow melt and the rivers thaw and rise, the migration of people from the south to the north by waterway becomes active.

More caravans and groups migrating north arrived in Xinzhou City, making the city gates and streets bustling with activity.

Xinzhou is like a spinning top, turning faster and faster, becoming more and more stable. It constantly absorbs new blood, turning it into its own power to strengthen itself.

The Zhao family father and son, who are the ultimate decision-makers, are probably the whips that keep the top spinning!
(End of this chapter)