The Great Seminary

Chapter 211 Killing in the Street

The capital of the Yuanshan Empire, 'Dalangdu', is nestled against the mountains and beside the water.

Mountains are the primary goal in the lives of countless famous generals from numerous great states surrounding the vast grasslands.

The original Helan Mountain, which left behind the famous line "I will not return until I conquer Helan" in the history of Dongshengzhou, is now renamed Tianyuan Mountain by Changsheng Tiemu.

The water is the Hulun River, which is formed by the confluence of canals.

'Dalangdu' is like a peninsula, tightly surrounded by Hulunbuir on the east and west sides.

To the north, it merges with the majestic Tianyuan Mountain, which seems to connect heaven and earth.

It embraces the entire Yuanshan Grassland to the south...

Late at night.

Zhang Gui's fleet finally lined up and sailed into the brightly lit dock on the west side of the outer city of Dalangdu, as bright as day.

This place is called the outer city, but there are actually no city walls at all.

If you travel by land, you can come and go as you please, and nobody will pay any attention to you.

Aside from the concern that you might collide with another vessel, which is addressed by special small boats that guide you to your destination, there's really no one to interfere with water travel.

Zhang Gui's fief, Zhihai Town Wharf, was enough for "sheep herding," but there were still tax officials collecting taxes.

But there aren't even any tax collectors here.

After disembarking from the boat and walking on the bustling main road, Zhang Gui looked around at the smiling faces.

She couldn't help but look at Salissa beside her, "Is it this free here?"

"It is very free, but we'd better hurry up and go to the 'Shipping Department' to get our identification badges."

Salissa had barely finished speaking.

Across the street, a scantily clad, long-haired woman broke through the crowd and stumbled forward.

Before he could take three steps, a long whip, as thick as a thumb and resembling a serpent, was wrapped around his neck.

They were forcibly dragged back to a magnificent wooden building by the roadside.

In the instant she was pulled away by the whip, Zhang Gui saw that the long-haired woman's neck had twisted to an angle that no living person could possibly reach.

The people around them remained unchanged, and no one showed any sign of questioning.

"Don't be impulsive, this is the capital of the Yuanshan people, and it has its own unique order."

It is perfectly normal for a master or his representative to kill a runaway slave.

It's just that executing someone in the street is somewhat undignified.

“You’re right, Salisa. In fact, this kind of ‘Great Wolf City’ is more in line with my expectations.”

It also gave meaning to some of my actions and efforts.

Zhang Gui patted Salissa's hand, which was tugging at his sleeve, and said expressionlessly.

They then silently made their way to the ship's office at the dock.

People from Yuanshan are not good at business.

Therefore, in the ship crew who deal with numbers all day long, from the head of the crew to the menial workers, you can vaguely tell from their speech and temperament that they must have come from either the "Weiren" or "Xinmin".

However, since they already had duties for the Yuanshan court, they were naturally promoted to officials, and could "travel" or even "travel by trickery"...

In the Yuanshan Kingdom, "officials are divided into three categories, and the people into four classes." The "three categories of officials" refers to:
Officials are divided into three categories from highest to lowest: the 'head' who is responsible for decision-making, the 'skilled' who oversees execution, and the 'just-walkers' who actually do the work.

Official positions are not hereditary.

The type of official you hold determines your category and the status you enjoy accordingly.

The "four categories of people" refers to:

The people of Wonsan are divided into 'Old People' who have Wonsan bloodlines;
Although they do not have Yuanshan blood, they are 'new people' born in Yuanshan;
"Besieged civilians" captured during war or raids;
And 'slaves' consisting of prisoners of war, whose lives and deaths were not in their own hands.

Even if an ordinary citizen falls into poverty, they will always remain an ordinary citizen.

When the "new people" and "siege people" are in dire straits, they can sell themselves and become "slaves".

Furthermore, ordinary citizens, new citizens, and even those living in the surrounding area could become officials, but 'slaves' were not allowed to do so.

Once someone becomes an official, unless they commit a crime and are punished by the court, they are completely detached from the "common people" class for the rest of their lives.

Even if one retires and loses all authority, one can retain at least the lowest level of official rank for life.

However, even if someone rises to the rank of 'head of state', their offspring will still be classified into one of the four categories of people unless they hold an official position.

Because the nobles whose status in Yuanshan could be inherited were not present, there was no one among them who were "three types of officials and four classes of commoners".

The most powerful among them were kings of foreign lands and marquises who held fiefdoms;

The smaller ones are chieftains and lesser chieftains who have hereditary pastures.

Of course, this is not inevitable.

Some grasslands are ridiculously large, such as Princess Timur's 'Yongrican', which is comparable to a county or prefecture of a small country.

While such powerful chieftains are extremely rare in Yuanshan, they do exist...

Zhang Gui waited for a while at the shipping company and discovered that the docks of 'Dalangdu' were not without tax officials.

Rather, the tax officials did not voluntarily board the ship to collect taxes.

Instead, they waited for merchants to come to them, like Jiang Taigong fishing and waiting for them to take the bait.

Without their 'listing', you can't sell a single penny of your goods.

"You are merchants from Xihezhou who have traveled thousands of miles, and some of your goods were specially transported to celebrate the birthday of Princess Hulun Ruhai."

Needless to say, I will definitely take care of this tax; otherwise, how can I demonstrate the extraordinary magnanimity of my great nation?

You should know that the number one great empire in the entire Dongsheng Continent right now is Yuanshan.

"Just look at the big wolf at our feet and you'll know..."

The portly shipping officer, who also served as a tax official, seemed to be talking non-stop, his passionate and eloquent speech almost making people wet themselves.

The subtext seemed to be laid bare: you barbarians from small foreign countries have come to Yuanshan to broaden your horizons, how could we let you suffer a loss? We simply cannot afford to lose face.

In reality, he didn't give away even half a tael of silver.

Normally, Zhang Gui would really enjoy seeing such unfamiliar local customs and traditions.

But tonight, listening to Fatty Si Guan boasting about his 'grand narrative' made me inexplicably irritable.

I quietly slipped out the door.

I stood outside in the hot air for a while.

Suddenly someone reached out to pat Zhang Gui on the shoulder.

As if struck by a sudden inspiration, Zhang Gui's divine energy field 'Zongheng Ruyi' automatically activated within his body.

In a flash, he circled behind the man and placed his hand on his shoulder.
"Hey buddy, do I know you?"

"No, I don't know him. I've always been a kind-hearted, overly helpful person since I was a child."

Judging from your Western attire, sir, you're standing alone outside the shipping company, taking your time.

I sense that the unfamiliar surroundings caused you some trouble, so I was wondering if there's anything I can do to help?

Upon hearing this, Zhang Gui glanced at the boy who had turned back to him with an embarrassed smile.

Following his gaze, I turned my head and looked at several young vagrants not far away, rubbing their hands together in anticipation.
"Those are all your companions, aren't they?"

There are even people inside who have entered the path of Taoism just like you.

What exactly is going on with you guys?
Are they really planning to be so blatant as to 'slaughter a sheep' in the very heart of Yuanshan Kingdom's capital?

The boy was startled.
"Don't talk nonsense about 'slaughtering sheep,' we are all law-abiding citizens of Anshun."

He's just trying to make a living on the streets.

(End of this chapter)