Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 21 Trophies

"Because it's too difficult to live as a human being, it's easier to live as an animal..."

The man's answer shocked Ren Yuan. He was stunned for a while before asking the others, "Do you think so too?"

"Yes, Master." Everyone nodded and recounted their own miserable situations: "My entire family of six starved to death. I have no relatives and nowhere to go."

"My father-in-law died at Fushan Weir, my husband died in the north, and my children were sold to pay off debts..."

"The imperial court's taxes are too heavy, and there are many people who are exempt from taxes and military service, so all the burden falls on those of us who cannot escape. Even if they squeeze us dry, we still can't afford it."

"..."

Ren Yuan's eyes were red without him realizing it. After listening to these tearful stories, he completely understood them.

It’s not that these poor people don’t want to be human beings, it’s just that in this cannibalistic world, people are worse than animals!
"Compensate every civilian who was turned into an ox or horse with 10 strings of cash and 10 shi of grain! Double the time!" Ren Yuan said hoarsely, "Those who don't want to leave, stay on the farm and wait for arrangements!"

After saying this, he glared at Manager Zhang fiercely and said, "If you dare to treat them like animals again, I will kill you!"

"Yes, yes, I will definitely treat them well." Manager Zhang responded hurriedly, shrinking back.

~~
After leaving the barn where he was suffocating, Ren Yuan came to the warehouse yard again.

The monster mainly destroyed the main courtyard and the front yard, and this side was basically unaffected.

All the farmhands were seen gathered at the door of the treasury, but the door was still locked.

"What, no key?" Ren Yuan asked.

"Master, I have the key." Hu, the accountant of the manor, quickly handed over a bunch of keys and said, "But the master is not here, so I dare not open the door without permission."

"Open it now." Ren Yuan ordered.

"Yes." Accountant Hu then unlocked the door, and two farmhands pushed open the heavy warehouse door.

Then I saw that the huge storehouse was filled to the brim, basket after basket, piled up like a small mountain, all of them were copper coins. There was not a single iron coin.

"How much money does this cost?" Ren Yuan looked at the mountain of money in front of him in shock.

"This is all the hard-earned money of your grandfather and father." Accountant Hu explained to him, "There are 40,000 strings of cash in this storehouse, and the owner of the manor can use it at will. There are 60,000 strings of cash in another storehouse, but that is the public storehouse of the clan, and it is allocated by the relatives in the capital."

Then he lowered his voice and said, "As for the gold and silver, they are all managed by the old owner himself, so I don't know."

"My goodness..." Ren Yuan let out a long breath, and finally had the most real feeling about the term "rich-poor gap".

Then he ordered: "First transport one million coins to pay the people."

"Master, do you really want to give those grass...to the common people?" Hu the accountant said with a pained heart.

"This young master always keeps his word. Don't make me say it again." Ren Yuan glanced at him, and accountant Hu was frightened.

He hurriedly shouted, "Quick, count out a thousand strings of cash and bring them to the community temple to redeem them!"

"Where is the food on the farm?" Ren Yuan asked again.

"There are four warehouses in total, each with 30,000 to 50,000 shi. But again, only the T-shaped warehouse can be used at will, and the other three warehouses are public." Accountant Hu replied hurriedly.

"How much autumn tax do we pay in Xiangnan?"

"About 10,000 dan." Hu the accountant replied, "Add the haoxian, that's 20,000 dan."

"I see." Ren Yuan nodded and said, "Prepare according to this amount. This year, our village will pay the taxes for Xiangnan."

"Ah, this, ah..." Hu the accountant finally managed to hold back his persuasion. Everyone in the village was speechless, thinking that it was really a shame for the son to sell his father's land.

But Ren Yuan ordered again: "Everyone has worked hard. After today's work, everyone in the village will receive another 1 guan of money. The manager will get double the money."

"Oh, okay!" Accountant Hu and others immediately smiled and went to work happily.

~~
When Ren Yuan returned to the inner courtyard, the servants had already carried the bodies of the four members of the Xie family to the mourning hall in the front yard as he had instructed.

The tabby cat brought him to the main room which was now in ruins, jumped onto the head of the bed like offering a treasure, and used all four paws to turn the headpost.

There was a muffled creaking sound from under the bed. When Ren Yuan lifted the bed board, he saw the entrance to a basement.

"This is where the Xie family hides their treasures," the civet cat said, "I've seen them go down there several times."

"Another secret room under the bed." Ren Yuan couldn't help but sigh: "These landlords are really lacking in imagination."

"This way I feel at ease. I won't be able to sleep well at night if I hide somewhere else." The civet cat said, and went down to the secret room with light steps.

Ren Yuan followed him down. It was pitch dark inside, so he rubbed his flint and knife in an attempt to light a lamp.

"Why bother? Just use the Golden Light Technique." The civet cat reminded him, "It can also remove the foul air from the ground."

"Alright." Ren Yuan nodded, followed suit, and began to chant the spell:
"The Mysterious Sect of Heaven and Earth, the root of all Qi. The golden light appears quickly, covering my body, hurry up and obey the command!"

Golden light shone through his body, instantly illuminating the entire secret room. The cold and filthy atmosphere in the secret room also completely disappeared like boiling water poured on snow.

As long as you don't use any incantations to collect the light, the golden light will continue to radiate until the furnace of creation is empty. It is really environmentally friendly and convenient.

Ren Yuan praised it with two sentences, "The wonderful use of it is in one's heart", and began to rummage through the boxes. Looking at the boxes of gold, silver, jade, jewelry, and land deeds, he couldn't help but sighed, "It seems that it is not so easy to quickly lose all the money in Xiejiazhuang."

"Of course." A light and pleasant female voice sounded behind him. "In addition to exploiting the people in various ways, Xie You and his son often secretly robbed tombs - our area is the ancestral tombs of the royal family of two dynasties, and there are many tombs of dignitaries and nobles."

Ren Yuan was startled and turned around to see that it was the mountain god A Yao. He said helplessly, "Sister, why are you so elusive?"

"We are both gods and ghosts, so of course we have to be elusive." A Yao jumped lightly to the side of the civet cat, sat on the box side by side with it and said, "A Yuan, it's not easy for you to squander all the money in Xiejiazhuang. Just distribute the money and grain to the people."

"That won't work. Most of the money and grain in Xiejiazhuang belong to the Xie family in Beijing. Distributing it directly to the people will only bring disaster to them." Ren Yuan shook his head and said, "We must use the right method to irreversibly launder the wealth of Xiejiazhuang to everyone."

"Then you have to be the owner of the manor for a while?" A Yao swung a pair of delicate white bare feet.

"I don't think I can hold the position for long," Ren Yuan said with a wry smile, "Xiejiazhuang is much richer than I thought. There must be many people who care about the Xie family."

"As soon as the news of Xie You and his son's death spreads, someone will probably set their sights on this place soon." He asserted, "So, we have to hurry and spend our money!"

At this point, Ren Yuan couldn't help but laugh bitterly. "It seems that I will have to continue playing the role of 'the landlord's stupid son' for a while."

"I don't think you're acting." commented the civet cat.

Ren Yuan was speechless.

"Hehe, stop talking nonsense. How does Yuan, the 'landlord's son', not act like an actor?" A Yao laughed while hugging the civet cat.

Ren Yuan was even more speechless. It turned out that a person takes after his or her poop scooper...

After a while, A Yao wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and said to Ren Yuan, "Stop joking. Let me show you something good."

After saying this, she found an exquisite sandalwood box in the corner, opened it and cheered, then held out an unremarkable stone pillow and said, "Do you know why they haven't killed me for three years?"

ps. It’s a new week, please vote and collect~~
(End of this chapter)