Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 268 Which the hell is this Lin Road?!
"When the world is in chaos, Maitreya Buddha will descend to earth!"

"Brothers, I've heard that the Ming King is about to be born!"

"Another bowl of plain porridge today? Brothers, don't be angry. In a few days, the King of Light will avenge us!"

"The stone man with one eye stirs up rebellion across the Yellow River! When the stone man is born, the Ming King will lead us in overthrowing the Yuan Dynasty!"

At the river repair site, people were constantly lobbying and spreading the word, stirring up the crowd.

In this world of famine and despair, it offers a faint glimmer of hope to those struggling to survive in despair.

Countless river workers also harbored a mysterious expectation.

I hope that a wise king will descend to earth to save this damned world!

"Master~"

Du Zundao, who had served as an official in the Yuan court, happily reported that "the prophecy has now spread throughout the construction site."

Many river workers said they would wait for the birth of the Bright King (Ming Wang) and follow him.

"With the support of the people, great things can be accomplished!"

Among the numerous uprisings that erupted at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, there were a large number of people who had previously served as officials in the Yuan court.

Having witnessed and personally experienced the darkness and depravity of the Yuan Dynasty, they resigned from their official posts and returned to their hometowns, then resolutely threw themselves into the vigorous anti-Yuan war.

Du Zundao was one of them. He was a graduate of the Imperial Academy and once served as a Privy Councilor.

Having personally experienced the darkness of the Yuan Dynasty, he resigned from his official post in anger and returned to his hometown, where he met Liu Futong and embarked on the path of anti-Yuan sentiment.

Han Shantong nodded in satisfaction, then looked at his benefactor with a serious expression.

"Brother Liu, look~~~"

Rebellion requires two things: money and supplies, and manpower.

The White Lotus Sect has no shortage of men; there are simply too many people struggling to survive these days.

But they had no money or food.

A group of poor people gathering together can only scrape together a pittance, no matter how much they try to gather.

A major financial backer like Liu Futong is extremely important to the White Lotus Sect.

"very good."

Liu Futong, who has gained weight and has a round face, looks like Maitreya Buddha when he smiles.

"If that's the case, all we need to do is dig out the stone figure, and then our great undertaking will be accomplished!"

He took a breath.

"The publicity efforts must not stop; we need to let more people know about this."

"Especially regarding the stone figure, we must ensure that once it is unearthed, everyone will firmly believe that the stone figure prophecy is true!"

"Then, three thousand elite troops will march straight to the land of Youyan. The dragon will soar to the heavens, and the Song Dynasty will be restored!"

Du Zundao, Luo Wensu, Sheng Wenyu, and others all showed joy on their faces and bowed in response.

"I obey your orders~~~"

He was a rare fat man among the Han people in this era.

Satisfied, Liu Futong sat in his chair, closed his eyes, and fantasized about the bright future after the success.

My family was once very prominent.

'It's time for my generation to rise again.'

Thinking of his ancestors, he realized they were genuine Han Chinese warlords who had served under Kublai Khan.

Liu Futong hurriedly looked at Han Shantong and said, "Master, there is one more thing."

"please say."

"Even today, there are still many people who cherish the memory of the former Song Dynasty."

"The leader of the sect should be said to have a connection with the former Song imperial family."

Upon hearing this, Han Shantong looked embarrassed and said, "My surname is Han, not Zhao."

The former Song dynasty imperial family was surnamed Zhao, so how could he, surnamed Han, be related to them?
This is not easy to make up.

"It's okay~"

Liu Futong smiled and waved his hand, "Everyone knows that the Yuan court hunts down the descendants of the previous dynasty. It is only natural for people to change their surnames to save their lives in order to avoid being hunted down by the Yuan court."

He then went on to talk about his ancestors...

After careful consideration, I found a famous person with the surname Liu from the previous dynasty.

"He is Liu Guangshi, the Prince of Fu, the leader of the Seven Princes of the Great Song Dynasty!"

"My ancestors were determined to overthrow the Yuan dynasty and restore the Song dynasty, enduring humiliation and hardship for many years."

Liu Futong blatantly lied, saying, "Now we have finally obeyed the will of Heaven and are helping the descendants of the Zhao Song dynasty to regain control of the world!"

Everyone around lowered their heads and remained silent.

Others may not know Liu Futong's background, but they do.

Your ancestor, Liu Futong, was a branch of the Liu Heima lineage, who was named Ketuli by Möngke Khan, served as a military commander of ten thousand men in the Mongol Yuan dynasty, and was posthumously granted the title of Duke of Qin.

Your ancestors were the culprits who destroyed the Song Dynasty and were great contributors to the Yuan Dynasty!

Moreover, of all people to associate with, why did he have to associate with the famous long-legged general Liu Guangshi?
All this person does is run away.

Since they now need the money, food, and supplies from this big spender, everyone has no choice but to endure it.

"Ok, deal."

"When the stone man is born, we will spread this message!"

"Remember, no matter how much money it costs, you must make everyone believe that the stone man's prophecy is destiny!"

The prophecy about the stone figure circulated widely among the river workers.

Meanwhile, another rumor is spreading and becoming increasingly bizarre.

"Have you heard? There's this guy named Lin Dao, a generous and charitable man who treats people to chicken every night!"

"I heard that in the river engineering camp, there is a wealthy man named Lin Dao who treats people to a whole pig every day!"

"Have you heard? There's a Mr. Lin around here who treats people to two meals a day: lamb in the morning and beef in the afternoon!"

Hasansha, a Semu person, entered Jialu's tent with a puzzled look on her face.

"Your Excellency, Lord Jialu~"

He bowed respectfully to the supervisor with supreme authority at the river control construction site and asked, "What can I do for you?"

“I’ve heard,” Jia Lu said, putting down his book and looking up at him. “There are a lot of rumors circulating in the camp lately.”

Hearing this, Hassansa felt relieved.

"Your Excellency Jialu, as you know, these men are only good at working and have nothing else to do but talk."

"Over the years, rumors have never stopped in every province across the country."

"As long as they can work well, why bother with what they say?"

"We have knives in our hands, and all they have left is their mouths."

Jia Lu nodded, then asked again.

"But I've heard that there's a guy named Lin Dao in the river works who eats dragon liver and phoenix marrow every day? Is that true?"

These words left Hassansa completely dumbfounded. He frowned and asked earnestly, "Your Excellency Jaru, may I ask where I can find dragon liver and phoenix marrow?"

"If it were available, I would be willing to spend all my wealth to buy it!"

This made Jia Lu laugh.

"These rumors are so boring."

Back at the river work camp, Hassansha found a young Semu man and gave him instructions.

"Go tell Lin Dao that I helped him avert a dangerous situation."

“The money he gave me before wasn’t enough, so he wants more.”

When the news reached Lin Dao, he laughed as well.

"Dragon liver and phoenix marrow?"

"Sure enough, the more people there are, the more outrageous the rumors become."

He reached out and took a thick stack of Zhiyuan Tongxing Baochao (a type of currency), handing it to the Semu man. "Tell Hasansha to continue working for me, and I will not treat him unfairly."

The Semu people flipped through the banknotes in their hands and saw that they were mostly in denominations of two hundred, three hundred, and five hundred coins, with the largest being only one guan.

His face immediately turned angry. "That's too little. The paper money is worthless. I want silver."

The Semu people who issued the precious paper money knew that it was worthless.

Unfortunately, the Yuan Dynasty plundered wealth by issuing paper money, which caused its currency to depreciate drastically.

They're so powerful that even they themselves are unwilling to accept them.

Lin Dao had plenty of money, but he didn't want to give it away.

His precious notes were also printed in the modern world.

The modern world is full of talented people, and with the addition of technology, the banknotes they produce are absolutely flawless.

Slightly distressed, then it's ready to use.

These Mongols and Semu people can cheat the common people by using counterfeit banknotes, so it's only natural that Lin Dao would cheat them with counterfeit banknotes!

Ignoring the ignorant young man, Lin Dao waved him away and told him to get lost.

"Liu Futong and his team are desperately promoting the stone man."

"I'm also promoting the name 'Forest Road' here."

Thinking of this, Lin Dao nodded and smiled repeatedly, "When the stone man is dug out and the prophecy carved on it is spread, all the glory will be mine."

"The result will be that one plus one is greater than two."

"White Lotus Sect, what's your choice?"

As for stealing other people's work, Lin Dao felt no pressure at all.

I can do it better than you, so of course I'll do it!
The river repair project is still progressing steadily.

Large numbers of laborers were used to seal the breach and dig new channels. Every day, laborers died of illness and exhaustion, and those who died were dragged out of the camp.

In addition, their food allowance was severely cut, and they were fed worse food than even the dogs fed by the Mongol nobles.

A burning anger took shape in the hearts of countless river workers.

It was just a spark away.

The day finally came to seal the breach.

The wind was strong on the river, and dark clouds rolled in the sky, reducing visibility.

Teams of three ships in a row, nine ships in a single hull, and twenty-seven ships arranged in a triangular formation, all loaded with stones and chained together, sailed toward the breach under the guidance of water ghosts recruited at great expense.

After chiseling open the pre-treated hull, the water ghosts swarmed off the boat and swam desperately toward the shore.

Near the breach, the water flowed rapidly and swirled, and most of the water monsters that went into the water never resurfaced.

A large convoy of arks sank, and a second convoy followed.

This process was repeated, with each stone boat sinking in turn, building layer upon layer of stone boat dikes.

Finally, under the watchful eyes of tens of thousands of soldiers stationed along the Yellow River, the terrifying breach in the river was brought to a stop.

Countless people cheered and jumped for joy, their shouts echoing like a tidal wave.

Jia Lu, standing on the command platform, was full of pride and satisfaction.

With the most difficult part of the river repair completed, the next step is to urge the river workers to carry out the follow-up work.

He himself will surely be remembered in history.

As for the river workers who died?
who cares!
A large number of river workers rushed to the riverbank and began excavation for further work.

Liu Futong and Han Shantong, mingling in the crowd, signaled to each other and, surrounded by the crowd, gradually approached their designated positions.

Their painstaking preparations and costly arrangements are about to enter their final stage.

The manipulation of public opinion has reached its peak; all that's needed is this final spark.

Amidst the constant flow of river workers on the riverbank, a sudden cry of alarm rang out.

"We found something!"

The White Lotus sect members, who had prepared in advance, shouted, "We've dug something up!"

The commotion grew louder and louder, and tens of thousands of river garrison soldiers flocked over, looking around curiously.

Du Zundao, Luo Wensu, and the others rushed over, shouting, "Quick, dig it out, dig it out, let's see what it is!"

A group of White Lotus followers, along with unsuspecting river workers, struggled to drag the stone figure out of the riverbank.

"Wait a minute, why is it so heavy?"

"Before we..."

His companion slapped him across the face, silencing the idiot who was about to say the rest.

After the stone figure was finally erected with great difficulty.

The White Lotus followers, following their pre-arranged plan, chanted, "It's a stone man! It's a one-eyed stone man!"

"The prophecy was true; the one-eyed stone man really did appear!"

Du Zundao, his expression excited, pushed through the crowd and stepped forward, saying, "I studied at the Imperial Academy, let me see!!"

According to the previous plan, he was supposed to announce publicly that Han Shantong was an eighth-generation descendant of Emperor Huizong of Song, and Liu Futong was a descendant of Liu Guangshi. Then he was supposed to incite the river workers to believe that the prophecy had come true and that the Yuan Dynasty was about to fall.
Han Shantong and Liu Futong, not far away, were also tidying their clothes, preparing to go on stage.

"There are words on this stone figure!"

The river workers surrounding the stone figure shouted, "Is there anyone who can read? There are golden characters on this stone figure!"

"I studied at the Imperial College."

'Was it engraved in advance? Why didn't you tell me?'

Du Zundao strode forward, stared at the golden characters carved on the stone figure, and read them aloud.

"The roads are full of starving people; the living are neighbors with the dead!"

"Destroy the Yuan and revive the Han; the Mandate of Heaven is in the forest!"

After subconsciously reading the prophecy, Du Zundao went from initial joy to utter astonishment and confusion.

He let out an incredulous howl.

"Who the hell is this Lindao?!"

(End of this chapter)