The Great Seminary

Chapter 196 Double the Ordinary Life

Tao Yaoyao's appearance and her connection with Zhang Gui in this "good cause" truly broadened his horizons.

At the same time, Zhang Gui felt that his status on Fresh Velvet Island had inexplicably become transcendent.

After all, the junior sister of the ancient sect 'Dai Luo' who is now walking among humans has already shown him kindness as a 'young fellow'.

Since his identity was most likely that of Mr. Yin, a disciple of an ancient sect who "walks among men," it would be impossible for him to make things difficult for Zhang Gui without prior notice.

Apart from these two unpredictable senior and junior siblings, none of the other members of the Zhenwang 'Xingzai' group truly made the ambitious Zhang Gui feel invincible.

Even if you're surrounded, you can always escape.

So Zhang Gui, who originally planned to leave Xianrong Island immediately, stayed on the island for a few more days.

Until early July, Kansai Teru led a fleet loaded with massive amounts of food, military supplies, and materials to land at the military port of Kawasaki.

They arrived in Seoul in a grand procession.

He met with this old shrimp-head several times for secret discussions before leisurely returning to his fiefdom, Zhihai Town, on the Eastern Continent.

And then, several dozen days later, I set foot on this land again.

Everything has changed dramatically, as if it were a different world...

The summer wind made people sweat profusely.

The number of people at Zhihai Wharf was not much less than before.

The streets were still teeming with people, shoulder to shoulder, and the smell of sweat from laborers, porters, and vendors was overwhelming.

But the noise and bustle in the neighborhood had subsided considerably, and people seemed quite listless.

Zhang Gui paced silently at the dock of his fiefdom.

suddenly.

A woman who had been curled up on the ground by the roadside rushed to his feet and grabbed his ankle.

"Master, master, please sell my child. She's been like this since she was little..."

"Shut up, stop crying, I've bought your daughter."

They bought it for you and your family, including your daughter, son, husband, and father—every single one of them.

But you must shut up right now, and you are not allowed to cry or plead, otherwise it won't count."

The woman was quick-witted; she immediately covered her mouth.

He turned around and waved frantically towards the roadside, signaling his family members to come over quickly.

But perhaps because she was the only clever one in the family, the rest of them were all mediocre.

Or perhaps someone is so hungry that they are dizzy and their brains are too foggy to process information, making them unable to read the room.

In short, the woman's relatives all stared blankly at her, without moving an inch.

The other refugees, however, seemed to understand something and crawled toward Zhang Gui on their knees.

Just then, Zhang Gui suddenly roared.

"Ding Chengqi, Ding Chengqi, you bastard, is this how you manage this town?"

"Open the granaries and distribute the grain immediately; let's not let people starve to death first!"

The roar echoed in the air, seemingly shaking the ground of the entire town.

The entire dock fell into a deathly silence.

A quarter of an hour later.

Ding Chengqi, the Right Chancellor of the Dragon and Tiger Secretariat, led a group of miscellaneous officials and high-ranking officials, approaching Zhang Gui with trepidation and bowing deeply.

"Your humble servants greet the Crown Prince and General."

We are incompetent and talentless…

"Alright, alright, stop talking nonsense."

I know it's not your fault. I was just venting my anger. I'm sorry.

I know where the grain is, but with the small number of people in our shogunate, it would take several lifetimes to eat it all.

Go ahead and use the food you've stored up to open a soup kitchen.

Furthermore, don't do the disgusting thing of only feeding the refugees who are fleeing famine, while not feeding the merchants and workers who come to our docks to do business.

Even if you cook porridge, how much grain does it take if you can stick chopsticks in it without them falling over?

We won't go broke, nor will they become rich.

Besides, any person with a modicum of respectability wouldn't take advantage of our kindness even if you asked them for a favor. The market has deteriorated so quickly; who knows what the future holds? Let's all just stick together for now.”

Zhihai Town is Zhang Gui's divine kingdom, and every blade of grass and every tree is under his divine authority.

So he actually knew long ago that this place had become such a horrible sight.

It's just that conscious perception is conscious perception.

Even if it's as realistic as the virtual world of human-computer interface that was advertised in the previous life, and can freeze, zoom in, see through, and even highlight the key points at any time, it's even more real than seeing with the naked eye.

But no matter what, remote sensing could never bring to Zhang Gui the image of a fellow human being who was about to starve to death suddenly grabbing his ankle and pleading desperately.

But it wasn't about begging to save my own life; it was the profound emotional impact of saving the children.

"Damn it, my defenses are down."

After giving the order, Zhang Gui bent down and wiped the bloody finger marks on his ankle, muttering to himself.

At this moment, as if finally realizing what was happening, the once deathly quiet dock was suddenly filled with deafening voices.

Like a tsunami or a landslide, it shot straight into the sky.

"What a great favor you have done! What a great favor you have done! You have saved our lives! What a great favor you have done!"

"I'm alive! I can live! I can survive! Thank you, thank you, General..."

"I will never forget the kindness of your family in saving my life, and in my next life I will repay your kindness with kindness..."

Zhang Gui simply sighed heavily and didn't respond to the overwhelming gratitude.

He activated several 'Ruyi' divine clusters within his body and soared into the air.

In a flash, the person had covered a distance of over a thousand steps and landed in the main hall of the shogunate.

After a while, Ding Chengqi and a group of his men hurriedly ran back to the main hall.

He was about to kneel down again, feeling guilty, and pay his respects once more.

Zhang Gui was already banging on the large table, saying, "Clap clap clap!"
"Alright, alright, stop with all that fancy formalities."

I spent only two or three months with Prince Zhen on Xianrong Island.

There are so many disaster victims in our desolate mountains and wilderness.

Merchants who sailed to buy and sell goods valued the natural berths and convenient sea routes of our Zhihai Town wharf.

Do you know why these people came here?

"Most of those who fled famine to Zhihai were fishermen from Xiayu Village in Pingtao County, the county seat of Zhihai."

A few days ago, a big storm destroyed their fishing boat.

The little savings I had accumulated earlier had already been completely plundered by the petty officials who collected fish taxes and sold water permits this year.

Together, they managed to escape the famine using only a few remaining wrecked boats.

Zhang Gui had known the reason for this all along. The reason he pretended to be sophisticated when asking Ding Chengqi was simply to better fit his 'persona'.

After hearing Tao Yaoyao's words, I realized that I might be even more special than I had imagined.

He began to try even harder to portray himself as 'ordinary and ordinary'.

This is the meaning of "If the skin is gone, where will the hair attach?"

As the country descends into further chaos, the court can only inflict further suffering on the people, and the first thing it will do is to double the land tax.

Because farmers are the most numerous and honest people.

So the first wave of farmers were unlucky.

At this point, fishermen and mulberry farmers might even feel fortunate to have escaped a disaster.

However, unable to sustain farming, they had no choice but to abandon their land and flee for their lives.

This heavy tax was then passed on to fishermen and mulberry farmers.

At this point, small business owners might be relieved that they weren't among the unlucky ones in the second wave.

But soon, they will probably have to learn how dangerous it is.

It was a medium-sized business.

Next, hmph hmph hmph hmph, that's it.

"Now, tell me, have the soup kitchen arrangements been made?"

(End of this chapter)