Reborn as a Cube Man in the Late Ming Dynasty

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Fan Wenshi murmured, the smile on his lips vanishing without a trace.

For a moment, this elegant young man seemed to lose his composure. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

That's eighty shi, or twelve thousand jin.

The Fan family of Jiexiu is not many, but this is Shaanxi!

The grain alone would be mostly lost during transport, and the price per shi (a unit of dry measure) was dozens of times higher than in other places.

If they were given a few days to prepare, they could gather eighty shi (a unit of dry measure), but they really couldn't give it away to someone for no reason!

Even if the magistrate colluded and staged a play, it still doesn't make sense! Chengcheng shouldn't be able to produce so much grain.

Perhaps there weren't even twenty carts?

As Fan Wenshi pondered this, he subconsciously picked up his teacup and discovered that he had drunk all the tea inside without realizing it.

"Young Master Fan, please allow me a moment to consider your terms so that I can make appropriate arrangements," Meng Yongnian glanced at his clerk and said, word by word, "Clerk, please refill the young master's tea!"

"Yes."

With the spout aligned with the teacup, the clear tea water, with a flick of the wrist, allows the amber beads to slowly slide into the cup, creating ripples.

Fan Wenshi glanced at the tea that was almost overflowing and immediately understood.

Fill the teacup before seeing the guest off.

They're trying to get rid of him!

"Your Excellency, may I accompany you to take a look?" Fan Wenshi asked, his eyes gleaming.

Meng Yongnian frowned, his eyes revealing his displeasure: "Does the young master think that I have colluded with others to deceive you?"

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. I was just afraid that Your Excellency would be deceived," Fan Wenshi said casually, bowing his head slightly.

Meng Yongnian snorted coldly and ignored him. He put away his smile, walked past Fan Wenshi with a blank expression, and headed out of the yamen.

The advisor who followed closely behind glanced at Fan Wenshi and shook his head slightly in a mocking manner.

Fan Wenshi straightened up and followed silently.

"Congratulations, sir..." Fan Wenshi's servant, who was waiting at the door, thought that Miao Zhiming had left and was about to go forward to offer his congratulations when he saw his master's gloomy face.

What's wrong?

"I thought to myself."

Fan Wenshi pursed his lips, slightly raised his chin, and glanced at him with eyes as sharp as an eagle's.

The servant quickly lowered his head, not daring to look him in the eye. His shoulders trembled slightly, his lips turned white, and he swallowed hard from time to time.

Bad thing!

Miao Zhiming had long since disappeared, and what remained in front of the yamen were rows of neat wooden carts.

Each cart was piled high with bulging flour sacks, stacked tightly together without a single gap, making the wooden carts droop low.

"Where are they?" Meng Yongnian hesitated for a moment before asking the constable who was staring blankly at the flour sack, "Did they leave any message?"

"Ah, it's the County Magistrate!" Zhao Wu's unfocused pupils refocused, and he hurriedly replied, "Those people parked these twenty carts of flour at the entrance of the yamen, and left without saying a word."

They really didn't make any requests.

Meng Yongnian turned his head, a broad smile on his face, and looked at Fan Wenshi beside him: "Young Master Fan, is there anything else you want to say?"

Fan Wenshi immediately realized that his trip had probably been in vain.

The fact that the person could produce twenty cartloads of flour means that what he said was at least 50% credible.

His face burned, and Fan Wenshi's hands trembled slightly, the fan almost slipping from his fingers. He suddenly snapped the fan shut with a sharp "snap," breaking the silence.

He tried his best to regain his composure, but the stiffness in his movements, the unnaturalness in his expression, and the tightly gripped fan betrayed the turmoil in his heart.

He cupped his hands in a sarcastic smile and said, "I understand Your Excellency's meaning. If there is any need for further arrangements, I hope Your Excellency will inform me."

Having said that, Fan Wenshi did not want to stay a moment longer and left with his servants as if fleeing.

After turning the corner, Meng Yongnian and the others could no longer be seen.

Fan Wenshi turned his head, his eyes blazing with anger, and said, "I told you to gather information, and this is how you do it? Let me ask you, who exactly are those people?"

The servant felt his hands and feet turn cold. He said tremblingly, "Master, that group of people are bandits from Chengcheng. It is said that they started as people from Liujia Village, and later people from several surrounding villages also fled to that village."

"Bandits?" Fan Wenshi glared. "They can give away twenty cartloads of flour for free, and even pay the taxes for Chengcheng afterwards! Tell me, are those people rebels who can't afford to eat?"

"Master, wait, there's one more thing," the servant stammered, "That village worships a wild god, they say, they say his name is something like Young Master Bai!"

Or are they a group of cult members?

Fan Wenshi paused for a moment, then suddenly understood, and muttered to himself.

"I see. No wonder they renovated the City God Temple and put statues of gods inside. That makes sense! It's something those ignorant believers would do."

Those twenty cartloads of flour could easily be explained as robberies of passing merchants.

As for why he didn't keep it himself?

Cult members cannot be understood using the same logic as ordinary people.

The servant stood cautiously, afraid of attracting Fan Wenshi's attention.

Oh, you've ruined my plans.

It would be a waste to kill it, since it's my property after all. Let's find a secluded place and sell it.

Fan Wenshi gave the guard a look, and the guard immediately understood and nodded.

The servant, however, thought he had escaped a calamity and secretly rejoiced.

Young Master Bai?

Haha, they can't even come up with a proper name, what a bunch of noobs!

As long as it's not the White Lotus Sect, which is always thinking about rebellion, it's fine. This is an cult I've never heard of before; it seems to have been founded not long ago.

Using the name of ghosts and gods to win people's hearts is a tactic that has been overused in history books. Only uneducated peasants and roughnecks would believe it.

Dare to provoke the Fan family of Jiexiu~

Didn't you want to put a statue of a deity in the City God Temple?

Does a wild god deserve to enjoy incense offerings in a city god temple?

I'll just smash it for you!

"Tell the steward of Chengcheng that after I leave, whatever these guys want to do, make things difficult for them. Remember, don't let them know it was us who did it." Fan Wenshi said with a sinister smile, "If that statue is finished, find a dark and windy night and smash it to pieces!!!"

He seemed to already see the frenzied state of the cultists after the idol was smashed.

Now, the patrol town of Chengcheng has changed. Chengcheng is no longer as easily breached as before, and these bandits inside the city are naturally helpless against them.

I believe the City God and all the other deities will not blame me.

They were smashing the wild god who stole incense offerings!

……

"Sir, should we put this flour into the storeroom?" the clerk asked softly.

"No need, just distribute them all. This little bit isn't much," Meng Yongnian said with a smile, touching the flour inside the bag. "Didn't those bandits say that this flour was a gift to me? I can do with it however I want."

"They will arrange work for the people of Chengcheng and provide them with meals. Before that, they need to make sure the people have the strength to work."

"As for the statue, if they can really keep their promise, then let them build it!" Meng Yongnian said with a big smile.

"What if it's fake?" the advisor asked worriedly.

Meng Yongnian shook his head, saying nonchalantly, "Even if it's fake, it's still better than the Fan family's. At least these twenty cartloads of flour are real!"

When Brother Wu returns, I'll ask him for his opinion.

He also wanted to see which deity could make these bandits willingly part with so much food and fodder just to place their statue in the City God Temple.

What does it actually look like?