Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 473: Clearing the Name of the Jiangdong Youths and Eradicating the Rat!
A ferry crossing on the banks of the Yangtze River.

"Sir, are you planning to cross the river?"

The boatman, leaning on his oar, grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "A bolt of silk."

Lin Dao raised an eyebrow. "I'm going to cross a great river, not traverse the Milky Way. Your price is too high."

"Sir, you are unaware of the following."

The boatman, who had been exposed to the sun for years, chuckled and said, "If it's just crossing the river, there's no need for a single bolt of silk."

“But this is the territory of General Pingbei. If we want to cross the river, we have to pay them money.”

"Most of this bolt of silk will be given to General Pingbei."

Lin Dao smiled and said, "Okay."

In front of all the boatmen, he took out a piece of Shu brocade from his travel bag and threw it to them, saying, "Send me across the river."

The gazes of the boatmen around him changed instantly.

These days, money isn't money.

What about coins worth a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand?

This so-called money has lost its original meaning.

Economic exchanges between different regions often involve bartering or even the use of heavy metals.

Among these, silk was the most important alternative currency.

Shu brocade is the most exquisite of them all.

The boatmen instinctively gathered around, their eyes fixed on Lin Dao as if he were a fat sheep.

Some of the younger, more impatient ones couldn't resist reaching out to touch their belts.

The boatman who caught the Shu brocade raised his hand to signal everyone to step back.

He first examined the Shu brocade in his hand, then stared intently at Lin Dao. "Are you from the Shu Kingdom, sir?"

"You talk a lot of nonsense."

Lin Dao waved his hand impatiently, "Are we doing business or not?"

"Of course I'll do it." The boatman chuckled and turned to the side, gesturing for Lin Dao to board his small boat.

Once Lin Dao boarded the boat, the boatmen around him looked at his travel bag and whispered, "Just take him!"

"Don't worry."

The boatman holding the Shu brocade shook his head, "This man is so arrogant, he must have something to rely on."

"We can take him to the center of the river first, and then we can prepare him properly."

In ancient times, roadside shops could easily turn into shady businesses.

Farmers who cultivate the land can also turn into highway robbers at any time.

The ferrymen, of course, could also become river bandits.

This is what is meant by "living off the land where one lives" or "living off the water where one lives".

Wearing a sun hat, Lin Dao sat in a small boat, heading towards the opposite bank against the river breeze.

As for the malicious ferryman behind him, and the dozen or so small boats following behind, he pretended not to see them.

When the small boat reached the middle of the river, the boatman put down his oars and took out a water-splitting spike from his belt.

"Sir, how about we discuss business?"

The small boats following behind immediately sped up and surrounded them.

Each of them wore a smile, fiddling with water-splitting spikes and oars in their hands.

Lin Dao shook his head slightly. "Greed knows no bounds."

"A single bolt of fine Shu brocade is enough to make you a fortune."

"But greed is insatiable and will cost you your life."

"Hahahaha~~" The boatmen all burst into laughter.

“Sir,” the burly boatman laughed, “in this world, if you dare to travel alone, you must have something to rely on.”

"But this is the Yangtze River!"

“We’ve made our living on this river since we were kids. If our boat capsizes, killing you will be as easy as killing a dog.”

"If you know what's good for you, sir, hand over all your valuables. That way, we can save you from getting your silk soaked in water and take you to the other side. How about that?"

"You old man," Lin Dao chuckled, "you're quite the charmer."

“If I hand over the goods, I imagine you will take action immediately.”

"This kind of rhetoric has probably fooled many people before."

"Tell me, how many lives have you bandits who do all the dirty work for Pan Zhang taken in the past?"

The boatman was furious upon hearing this. "I'm not an old man! I'm only in my early twenties. It's just that I look old because I'm always on the river and exposed to the wind and sun."

"You're so ungrateful! Since that's the case..."

Before he finished speaking, Lin Dao had already taken out two Uzi submachine guns.

With its extremely high rate of fire, these excellent swimmers were hit by multiple bullets before they even had a chance to enter the water.

The crew members that Lin Dao had deliberately left behind, after their initial astonishment, suddenly shouted and jumped into the water, disappearing without a trace.

He put away his Uzi submachine gun, opened his travel bag, took out two hand grenades, and hung them on his waist.

He stepped forward, picked up the oar, and skillfully rowed the boat toward the south bank.

The river flowed smoothly all the way without any unusual movement. The boatman seemed to have been terrified and had already fled into the water.

When the small boat was only a few dozen steps away from the riverbank, Lin Dao suddenly stopped rowing and took out two hand grenades.

Pull out the safety pin, release the firing pin lever, and throw the two grenades into the water.

Using their toes to lift the oars, they rowed quickly forward.

Just for fun, you can't pull out the safety pin of a hand grenade with your teeth; that's just for showing off in movies and TV shows.

When using it in real life, please be sure to pull out the safety pin by hand.

In a short while, two huge columns of water suddenly burst forth on the surface of the river.

The river surface churned, its roar like thunder.

The small boat rocked violently, but Lin Dao remained as steady as a mountain, quickly calming the swaying and continuing to sail towards the shore.

As for the corpse that floated up from the water behind him, he couldn't be bothered to look at it.

For Lin Dao, eliminating these bandits who plagued the area and avenging the innocent souls they had killed was nothing more than a trivial matter.

When he got ashore, he kicked a hole in the small boat, and the river water rushed in.

The ship, which had committed countless acts of violence, sank into the river, and Lin Dao forgot about the incident.

He packed his things and set off. His destination was Jianye City.

Lin Dao came to Jianye City, naturally with Sun Quan in mind.

There's a saying in the martial arts world: the martial prowess of Jiangdong is as good as a stone.

The King of Chu alone possessed eight dou (a unit of volume), while the Little King of Chu possessed two dou.

Sun Jierui and those scoundrels from Jiangdong owe me a bushel!
Lin Dao came to Jianye this time to clear the name of the Jiangdong youth and eradicate the rats!
Jianye City was Sun Quan's stronghold, and Sun Quan was a greedy man.

As the saying goes, what the superiors like, the inferiors will like.

Sun Quan was greedy, and his generals were even more greedy than the last.

For example, Pan Zhang, the General Who Pacifies the North of Eastern Wu who was stationed at the city gate at this time, imposed heavy taxes on merchants entering the city.

Of course, merchants with high social status, such as imperial relatives, powerful families, and military generals and ministers, were exempt from paying taxes.

Those who truly need to pay taxes are always ordinary people.

Upon entering the city, Lin Dao generously took out the Shu brocade again to pay the city entry tax.

Such a move naturally attracted attention.

The city gate official arranged for men to keep an eye on Lin Dao, while he himself hurriedly ran to report to Pan Zhang.

Pan Zhang's greatest achievement was betraying Shu Han and capturing Guan Yu, Guan Ping, Zhao Lei, and others.

In the novel, he was avenged by Guan Yu's son.

In reality, however, he lived a long and healthy life and died peacefully.

This person is a master of warfare, but he is also naturally extravagant and fond of wealth.

In order to plunder wealth, they even killed wealthy soldiers in their own army and looted their property.

It's rare to see someone so greedy.

Upon hearing about the city gate officer's troops, Pan Zhang was indeed tempted.

He ordered the city gate officials to keep an eye on the fat sheep and report back immediately once they found out where it was staying.

When investigating a place's foothold, the most important thing is to check its background and see if it has any strong connections.

If you come from a wealthy family, then you can only regretfully give up.

Pan Zhang knew what could be done and what couldn't be done.

He dared to kill the soldiers and seize their valuables because he could control them.

However, he dared not and did not want to provoke wealthy families.

Before long, the city gate official came again to report that Lin Dao had taken up lodging at the Great Bao'en Temple.

Inns have existed for a very long time.

Inns existed as early as the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, and were called by their size, such as 庐, 宿, and 候馆.

During the Han Dynasty, it was called a "di".

However, these places are very different from those in movies and TV dramas.

There were no superior rooms, only large communal sleeping areas.

Bedding and such are usually brought by the guests themselves.

You can use the store's service, but besides paying money, you'll also have to endure countless bedbug bites.

Lin Dao would never live in such places.

In ancient times, the truly high-class inns were actually temples in various places.

Similar to modern temples, it was not so important that people in the Yuan Dynasty could not afford to live there, or even enter it.

However, the environment is indeed very good.

There are private quiet rooms and a variety of thoughtful services.

The Great Bao'en Temple is the first temple in the Jiangnan region.

Historically, it would take ten years before Sun Quan ordered the construction to begin.

In fact, the temple already had a prototype before that, and it was later expanded and renovated on a large scale, which officially made it famous.

The city gate official entered the temple under the pretext of checking the talisman, but in order to find out the details of Lin Dao's background.

When he saw Pan Zhang again, he brought back twelve gold coins.

"The man claimed his surname was Lin, his given name was Dao, and his courtesy name was Zihou. He said he came from Luoyang."

"These are just a small token of my appreciation. I would like to invite the general to meet in person and discuss our plans to make a fortune."

Upon hearing this, Pan Zhang immediately became interested.

"Oh? That's actually true."

"I suppose he is a scion of a prominent family in the State of Wei, looking for a way to do business."

"Well, since the goods have been delivered to our door, we can't just turn them away."

Pan Zhang only brought a dozen or so personal guards with him when he went to the Great Bao'en Temple for a face-to-face meeting.

This is Jianye City, the stronghold of Eastern Wu.

Moreover, there was only one person on the other side. Pan Zhang was not being arrogant by leading a dozen soldiers.

To Pan Zhang's utter surprise, after they met and sat down, the monk served them wine and snacks.

He had just started talking, asking what kind of business they wanted to do.

Lin Dao then got straight to the point: "I invited the general here because I wish to borrow something from you."

"Oh?" Pan Zhang stroked his beard and smiled. "This general's treasures are countless. Which one have you set your sights on?"

Lin Dao pointed at his head.

"I wish to borrow the general's head for my own use."

His original plan was to break down the door when the corrupt officials of Eastern Wu held their court assembly.

Pan Zhang is such a minor character that he doesn't deserve to be specifically dealt with by Lin Dao.

But when they were crossing the river, they encountered the black gloves that Pan Zhang used to make money.

After entering the city, he was targeted by this guy again.

This is what they call "choosing the path to heaven when it's open, and barging into the gates of hell when there are none."

Since Pan Zhang had chosen to die, what could Lin Dao do but grant his wish?

When the scoundrels held their meeting, they carried Pan Zhang's severed head into the room.

This kind of scene isn't bad to think about.

(End of this chapter)