He originally intended to surrender to Wei, so why did he end up restoring Han?

Chapter 121 A Tiger in a Day

"You don't know, all the merchants here have been slaughtered. Oh my, it's such a pity you didn't come to see it the other day. This whole street, it stretches all the way from there to here. One slash and blood is gushing from the neck. It was so spectacular."

As he spoke, the man used his hand as a knife to make a downward cutting motion, vividly demonstrating the situation to me.

This guy must be crazy.

I tried to make my voice sound normal so they wouldn't think I was an accomplice of the merchants: "These lunatics—"

Aren't these people afraid of retaliation?

"Who will retaliate against us? What are these merchants? They have no manpower and no guns. Who can they fight? Even if they want revenge, they'll have to wait until they break in. Wan County has high walls and wide walls. As long as we have enough food, we can hold out until we die and those people still won't be able to get in."

After saying that, he suddenly revealed a strange smile: "Actually, I'm not afraid even if they break in. Being able to witness that spectacle of people lining up to be beheaded is worth dying for."

He really is a madman, completely unafraid of death.

This news is terrifying; I must return immediately to report to the head of the household. These rioters are wantonly destroying other people's property; they are utterly lawless!

"Master, something terrible has happened! Our goods, and our shops—" I scrambled in, stumbling and crawling. I had been walking slowly all the way here, but I started running like crazy when I got close to Wubao. The master would surely admire my loyalty if he saw me like this, and I wouldn't have to really suffer.

The head of the family stood up. Hearing my trembling voice, his expression turned serious: "What's wrong? What happened to my shop?"

I really didn't know how to tell the head of the family this news, but I had to say it: "Burn it, burn it all—"

"Those Black Turban Army bandits burned all the goods we ordered from Xuzhou, took over the shop, and even chopped off the shopkeeper's head."

"What?! So many papers and books, all burned?! Those scoundrels!" The head of the family let out a scream I had never heard before. He first gasped for breath, then reached into his crown and began to tear at his hair with all his might, tears streaming down his face.

"Oh, my goods! My money! Mother, my heart aches! How many years of savings have we worked so hard to accumulate! Oh dear!"

I could hardly have imagined that a powerful clan chief would be rolling around on the ground like a child, crying in a comical way. I will probably never forget this scene for the rest of my life.

The patriarch writhed on the ground for a while, then suddenly sat up, muttering to himself, "No—no! I have to get my money back—I can't just let it go like this, it's my money, my hard-earned money—we're all honest people, why are you targeting my family?"

The patriarch wasn't boasting; he was indeed a renowned philanthropist in the area. During years of famine, he would set aside a sum of money to buy the land of those starving people. Since these people couldn't possibly cultivate anything worthwhile, it was better to entrust it to those who knew how.

These farmers are making a killing by exchanging a few rotten plots of land for grain.

If you don't want to sell the land, you can sell any unused or idle family members. For example, I was sold to become a servant to the master of the household.

You can judge a person by these details. From these details, you can see that there are few people in the world with a kinder heart than the head of the household.

The patriarch is probably going insane, so I quickly told him everything I knew: "Patriarch—Patriarch, it's not just our family, but the entire Wan County, all the merchants, and everything from Xuzhou—the Black Turban Army killed and burned them all."

The patriarch immediately stopped crying, staring intently at me and asking, "Is it absolutely true?"

"It's absolutely true. The neighbors in Wan County saw it with their own eyes. The whole street was full of heads that the Black Turban Army had chopped off."

The patriarch stood up abruptly, his previous dejected demeanor vanishing instantly, replaced by his initial confident air: "Hahaha, so I'm not the only one. That's great."

I dared not stare at him any longer; if I angered the head of the family, I would inevitably suffer the consequences.

"Wait here for a moment, I'll write a few visiting cards right away. Send them to the address on them, understand?"

"Yes, Master."

"We didn't bother those people who tied black cloths to our necks before, but they've become so arrogant. We can't just sit idly by and let these bandits run rampant any longer!"

Shuxian, as the seat of Lujiang Commandery, was naturally the place where the powerful clans were most concentrated, and thus the military center of the Red Turban Army. Liu Xun's troops were quickly incorporated into the clans, because the clans not only had money, but also large armies.

After discussing it, Liu Xun's men realized that working for someone else didn't really matter. Liu Xun was like a ship about to sink; he was barely able to pay his soldiers, and even his military advisor, Liu Ye, had run away. Was there any point in them risking their lives for Liu Xun anymore?

Soon, these former Yuan Shu soldiers and former Liu Xun soldiers changed their ways and became servants of three masters, working for the powerful families.

Due to its geographical location, Lujiang has fewer aristocratic families than the Central Plains, but each one is truly formidable. For example, the Shuju Zhou family and the Lujiang He family are very powerful in the local area.

Correspondingly, the number of powerful families in Lujiang County increased. Compared with aristocratic families, these people were more ruthless in their methods of annexing land and property, so land annexation here was more brutal than in other regions.

The aristocratic families at least put on an act, but the powerful and influential don't even bother to pretend.

Such people reacted even more strongly to the elimination of their family's front-line business associates. They quickly gathered together to devise a solution to the situation.

After a group of portly tyrants exchanged perfunctory pleasantries for a while, they shifted the topic to the Black Turban Army's plan to eliminate merchants.

"Was your shop also robbed?"

"The cities I've inquired about have all suffered. Now, any city with the Black Turban Army is indiscriminately killing people. Have these poor bastards gone mad with desperation?"

"I don't know————"

Lei Xu, the meeting moderator seated at the head of the table, clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention to him. He cleared his throat and began, "Everyone, you're probably aware of what's been happening lately, right?"

Everyone looked at each other, too embarrassed to say it. All their hard-earned savings had been burned to ashes in a single fire; no one could hold back their tears.

Lei Xuxian made the final decision: "The existence of the Black Turban Army has seriously threatened the normal lives of righteous and kind people!"

These people are despicable and shameless, attempting to plunder the wealth of the people through such vile means. This is an extremely malicious act and must be severely punished! This is not for our sake, but for the sake of millions of ordinary people of the Han Dynasty!

"Mr. Lei is right. We did not suppress them for our own selfish reasons, and we did give them a chance. But they maliciously damaged other people's property and arbitrarily executed innocent people without trial. This shows that these people are the same type of enemy as the Yellow Turban rebels."

The person who said this was the most emotional because they had suffered the greatest financial loss.

"Yes! That's the way to do it! We were too lenient with them before. I think from now on, not a single grain of food should enter the Black Turban Army's cities, especially Wan County."

"Not only food, but nothing else is allowed to enter, lest it embolden the traitors."

The group quickly agreed on a supply blockade against the Black Turban Army and a subsequent military operation against them. They had always been prepared to strike hard against any rebels who dared to challenge powerful families and clans.

Seeing that the discussion was nearly over, Lei Xu moved on to the next question: "Since the tragedy, many merchants have come to us seeking refuge, hoping to gain our protection. What are your thoughts on this?"

"Well—"

Meanwhile, on the other side of Shuxian County, two merchants were chatting. One was dressed in Shu brocade, his attire magnificent yet strangely quiet; the other was dressed in middle-class clothes, appearing quite ordinary. Coincidentally, the two were also chatting.

"Have you heard? Something terrible has happened in Wan County!"

The merchant in the Shu brocade rolled his eyes: "I already knew that. Your information network is as bad as ever."

The merchant, who had been hoping to use this information—which had gone through who-knows-how-many hands—to try and glean something useful from an acquaintance, curled his lip and said, "Since you already know, then forget it. I have to go. These guys with black cloth tied to their clothes aren't human anymore; I don't know what they're up to."

"We'll be here eventually, what if the people here follow suit?"

"Speaking of which, what about you? Aren't you planning to leave? If you have nowhere to go, why don't you come with me? I'll ask them if they can include you. But, I can't just introduce you for free; you'll have to give me a referral fee."

However, his words did not move the merchant in fine clothes. He traced a line on the table with his fingernail and said in a low voice:

I said, "Don't you think this is a good opportunity?"

"What great opportunity? A great opportunity to die? You're not thinking about making money at a time like this, are you? Go if you want, I'm not risking my life."

The merchant in fine clothes chuckled and continued, "Making money? The world is so big, where isn't there room to make money? What I mean is, do you really think that siding with those powerful families will protect us?"

That's definitely impossible. If members of other aristocratic families or prominent figures sought refuge with them, they could be treated with courtesy. Merchants, on the other hand, were at the very bottom of the social hierarchy. To gain the protection of these families, they either had to hand over most of their wealth or become their lackeys.

If I have to be a lackey for powerful families when I haven't earned much money, and I still have to be a lackey for them after I've made money, then all that money I've earned has been for nothing?

"You mean, go somewhere even further away? That's fine, but the travel and expenses along the way would be a bit of a hassle."

"I never intended to run away."

The other merchant was initially puzzled, then, as if he had thought of something terrible, he looked at the merchant in brocade robes in shock:

You—you—”

"Don't you find it a bit strange? Why is it that even though we have so much money, we are looked down upon wherever we go? What's the difference between us and them? We can read too, and we can understand their classics."

Ignoring the other businessman's increasingly pale face, he continued his arrogant rant: "Why do they think they can climb all over us and act like tyrants? Just because they say we're morally corrupt, does that make them some kind of noble people?"

"You probably don't know this, but when those so-called virtuous gentlemen are scheming and murdering for money, they're no better than us!"

The merchant was speechless. The only reason he didn't leave was because he wanted to hear what the brocade-clad merchant was trying to achieve after going through all this trouble.

The merchant in brocade seemed quite pleased that the person in front of him hadn't run away immediately. He continued, "Now I finally understand. It's all because we don't have any troops! We have no ability to resist. A mere village head can arrest us and extort money from us. We can only desperately try to please others so they can spare our lives."

"But if I had an army, even if I couldn't conquer vast territories, at least I could keep myself safe. I can't stand living in the gutter anymore; I want to live openly and honestly!"

Finally, he uttered a truly inspiring statement: "Better to be a tiger for a day than a lamb for a hundred years."

Unexpectedly, the merchant in brocade robes was aiming for such a high stakes right off the bat. The seemingly ordinary merchant was somewhat intimidated and immediately prepared to leave. At this moment, he still managed to say, "Those Black Turban Army soldiers are insane, and you're insane too! I'm going to report this! I'm going to expose this!"

"Tell to"

"You wouldn't do that, I know you too well. If you really wanted to kill someone, you wouldn't show it."

The merchant whose thoughts had been spoken turned around and quietly watched the merchant in brocade clench his fists, but his face did not show any anger.

"Do you want to work with me?"

"I need to figure out what you're trying to do first. You don't think you can fight those feudal lords just because you have some money, do you?"

The merchant in brocade shook his head. He had figured it out, not that he was blind. All the warlords were outstanding individuals, and he himself was only good at business. If it came to actual combat, he would probably be killed as soon as he stepped onto the battlefield.

"I don't have that ability, and I've never thought of fighting those warlords; that's not my forte. I think we should fund the formation of a team capable of protecting important figures and accomplishing some less demanding military objectives."

The atmosphere of crisis in Lujiang made people feel insecure. The first thing they did every morning was to check if their family was still alive. Everyone felt very happy to be alive today.

This can be considered a way to indirectly increase the happiness index.

In this situation, the need for security is unimaginably high. The merchant in brocade robes happened to see this as a very good business opportunity, allowing him to have a real advantage and avoid being easily eliminated by minor figures. That's why...

Arrange a meeting with the other person.

"So? Do you have any ideas?"

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