Tao and Heaven

Chapter 21: A Yellow Dragon in the Well

On April 13, the land tax, commercial tax, labor service, capitation tax, and silver and money tax were increased by 10%.

On April 14, the price of grain in Bian Jing rose by 10%, rose by 30% at noon, and nearly doubled by the close of the market.

On April 15, the imperial court issued an order to limit grain prices, causing major grain stores to be out of stock.

On April 16, the government grain was released and the fire dragon burned the warehouse.

By the end of May, grain prices had risen to twice their original price. The imperial court's tax collection led to more than ten thousand households fleeing. Riots continued in villages and towns of all sizes in Qianjing County. Hundreds of households in Bianjing city went bankrupt every day, and some fled, sold themselves, or joined the army.

It happened that the army was setting out to expel the Tartars, and a large number of civilians were needed to do hard labor. Many people tried their best to get into the military camp just to have a meal.

The market was crowded with people selling their bodies by sticking straw.

The old one-armed man's face, which looked like dead bark, also showed a little smile. His main business was selling slaves. The more people sold themselves, the more money he made. In the past few days, he almost took out all the money in the account office to buy people. He invested more than ten thousand taels, and sold at least thirty thousand taels.

At this moment, a big man walked over quickly and whispered something in his ear. His smile stopped abruptly and his face turned pale.

"What did you say?"

"Master, Longqiao said they would only accept the deal if the price dropped by 50%."

Fifty percent?

The one-armed old man's eyes froze, his breathing became rapid, his only remaining right arm clenched into a fist, his muscles bulged abnormally, veins like tree roots breaking through the ground, his arm had grown larger, and his shoulder was already level with his ear.

Seeing this strange scene, the black market thugs swallowed their saliva and dared not say a word.

There have always been rumors in the black market that the old one-armed man eats people without blinking an eye. Could it be that this is not a metaphor, but a physical one?

The one-armed old man took a deep breath to regulate his breathing. He thought he had calmed down. He asked angrily, "What's going on?"

His main business was buying and selling slaves, and his biggest business was selling women to brothels. The highest bidder was Longqiao Brothel, which often sold for three times the price of other places.

If the price is reduced by 50%, then he will not make any profit from the women he recently bought at low prices, and all the profits will go to Longqiao.

"I don't know, those brothels seemed to have agreed to a 50% price reduction, and some brothels were given a 30% discount but they refused."

"all?"

"Yes, even the lowest-class brothel in Longqiao."

"How dare these merchants unite to eat us."

The one-armed old man's eyes were filled with coldness. He knew that he was being treated like a fat sheep.

In years of disaster, the government eats up the rich, and the rich eat up the common people.

There are also differences among the wealthy families. The Longqiao merchants are the largest wealthy families outside of the scholars in Bianliang, and the Yashi are the smallest wealthy families because they are not allowed to be seen in public.

It was just that the old one-armed man had been in power in Bian Jing for so many years, and this was the first time he was carried onto the table, which made him feel extremely insulted.

"Go find out who is in charge."

"Yes."

The subordinate left as requested, and came back in a hurry in the evening, bringing a piece of news that made the one-armed old man speechless.

"A few days ago, Longqiao's Wenhou hosted a banquet at Jiangyue Tower for the owners of various brothels."

Every big business alliance must be led by a prestigious person, and Wen Hou is one of them. And he is the most important one. Even he knows that a marquis has appeared in Longqiao in recent years.

The old one-armed man had thought of various ways to deal with it. If it was just the brothel boss, he would have the means to deal with them. But if it was Gu Wen, most of his means would be useless, because the other party was a big shark in the white world, and he was just a poisonous snake in the gutter.

How can a poisonous snake kill a crocodile?

After thinking for a long time, he ordered again: "Ask someone to find out if this Wen Hou has any relatives."

"Yes."

The men left again.

The old one-armed man came to the door of the courtyard house, bowed his head and knelt down, saying, "Master."

Seeing the oil lamp in the house light up, accompanied by a cough, "What's the matter?"

"I want to kill someone."

"Who?"

"Gu Wen, a merchant from Longqiao. He doesn't know what's good for him. He even dared to team up with the brothel to treat you as a meal. I can't sell the girls I have collected."

"If you want to kill a businessman, just kill him." The voice in the house said lightly, a human life is like an ant, as if it can be crushed to death with ease.

The old one-armed man said, "He is a retainer of the nine sons of the Zhao family."

This was his only concern. Gu Wen was just a businessman, while Zhao Feng was a prince.
"Zhao family. I remember that the nine sons of the Zhao family received the goddess of the Three Pure Ones sect some time ago."

The voices in the house became hesitant and could not make a decision for a long time. The old man with one arm became a little anxious and said, "He is just a businessman."

He knew that it was impossible to defeat the merchants of Longqiao with ordinary means. In terms of business alone, they were all tycoons who would eat people without leaving any bones. If Daqian established a country based on business, then Longqiao would definitely become the center of the world.

In order to make a fortune from the disaster, the old one-armed man almost put all his belongings into it. His master did not need anything, but he did, and he might even lose money.

The silver in the immortal land is called the annual money, which affects all the people in the world, and the cause and effect are as heavy as a mountain. It costs a lot to enter the major immortal gates, so how can they send yellow and white things in? Therefore, money can only be earned by those who enter the world.

Some sects have already made plans, while others have plenty of ways to make money.

His master didn't need it, but he did, and he was in dire need of it, not to mention that he would probably lose money this time. Nowadays, those girls bought need money to eat and drink, so in order to sell them at a good price, they would usually be kept for a period of time so that they would not dry out.

The old one-armed man spent ten thousand taels of silver, which was enough to drive the people of Linchuan from thousands of miles away to go into the mountains to search for various elixirs for him.

"Silver is a material possession. It is useful in the land of immortality, but it is not omnipotent. Don't cause trouble."
-
The next day, evening.

Every time the sun rises and sets, Gu Wen would come to the water room and scoop up some well water to replenish the imperial juice.

【One Year of Imperial Juice】

After accumulating for a month, I finally had a unit of it. Although I didn't know what it was for, I would eventually need to collect the Wanzai Emperor's Juice to become an immortal.

Gu Wen had some guesses about the source of the Emperor's juice. The Heaven's Marrow came from the medicinal fruit, a medicine that existed on the surface of the earth. In a more mysterious way, it absorbed the essence of the sun and the moon. The Emperor's juice came from the well water, which was connected to the underground river.

Tiansui and Dijiang, just as their names suggest.

Jiang Fugui came over and whispered, "Master, those rats in Ya City are asking about you."

"Ah."

Gu Wen just nodded slightly, not paying much attention, but reminded: "Have you settled your family members?"

"They have all been brought into the mansion."

"That's good."

Gu Wen was not surprised that Yashi was asking for information about him or trying to threaten him with his relatives. Instead, he felt that it was a bit old-fashioned. He had seen too much of this in the past few years in Longqiao. The most high-end business wars often involved knives.

Just as war is an extension of politics, those who cannot reach an agreement at the negotiation table will eventually resort to violence. This can be done by physically eliminating the opponent, or by using deterrence to gain bargaining chips or make the other party back down.

He is a rat living in the gutter, and he dared to take action against a major taxpayer in the eyes of the government. It is like a dog that has to be killed if it bites a person.

Gu Wen changed his mind and stopped paying attention to Yashi. He asked, "Regarding the medicinal fruit, have you found other channels?"

"I've found three, but none of them can take up 10,000 taels. Old One-Armed can't do that either, so he keeps raising the price for you, hoping to use the remaining money to eat up all your money."

Jiang Fugui replied that he had been visiting everywhere in the past few days and it was not difficult to inquire about noble tonics such as medicinal fruits, but it was difficult to get them.

"But I found out from another source that the Dragon Tiger Pill rumored in Fengyue Tower is made with medicinal fruit as an auxiliary medicine. If you want it, ten thousand taels may be no problem, but I can't completely hide my identity."

Fengyue Tower is a brothel, and Longhu Dan is naturally an aphrodisiac.

The brothels in Longqiao all have this kind of business, otherwise many old masters can't play with women. It's also why so many customers die in women's bellies, not because the goblins in the brothels are too charming, but because the aphrodisiac is too strong.

He can force himself on someone even though he can't do it.

Jiang Fugui has been in frequent contact with brothels recently and learned about this by chance from the owners of these brothels.

"Buy some Dragon Tiger Pills."

Gu Wen thought about it for a while and made a decision.

There is no such thing as an impenetrable wall. If you can buy a large amount of medicinal fruits, a certain amount of risk is worth it. And I don't know how long Bianjing will be peaceful, so it's better to squeeze out as much profit as possible.

All the treasures in the world are gathered here. You won’t have this blessing when war breaks out.

At night, when Gu Wen was about to leave the water room, an old waterman came up to him with a nervous look on his face and said, "Master Wen, I have something to tell you."

"what's up?"

"Last night, I saw a yellow dragon in the Longquan Well."

(End of this chapter)