A daily intelligence report; in chaotic times and famine years, grain is plentiful.

After Chen Mo and Sun Dazhu were taken away, the atmosphere in the tent eased slightly.

Just now, Chen Mo boldly made many demands of Lieutenant General Zhao, which really frightened the officers standing nearby.

They had followed General Zhao for many years and had never dared to make so many demands.

"General, can this man really be trusted?"

An officer stepped forward and said.

"Since he's so bold, let's trust him this once."

General Zhao turned around and returned to his seat, pouring himself a cup of tea.

Seeing that the general had spoken, the subordinate dared not say anything more, and only asked, "Our army just arrested the Wang family father and son in the town, what should we do with them?"

"The Wang family, father and son?"

Zhao, the military officer, asked in confusion.

"Yes, those two just stopped Chen Mo in town and shamelessly claimed that they had hunted the tiger, showing no respect for the general."

The officer explained.

"Is that so?" Zhao, the military officer, looked grave. He took a sip of tea before saying, "The Wang family has some influence in Shannan Town, and I've heard they have quite a bit of dealings with the government?"

"Although the Wang family is not a prominent clan, they do have some influence in the local area."

The subordinate replied.

"Since that's the case, we've only been in Shannan for a short time. If we push the Wang family too far, those local gentry might also come out to oppose us, which would be detrimental to our army's suppression of bandits."

General Zhao was well aware of his situation.

"The general is right. However, the Wang family father and son are too arrogant. It's one thing to act like bullies on ordinary days, but today they even want to steal credit. If we just let them go, others might think that our government troops are easy to bully."

The officer said in a low voice.

"Of course we can't just let it go like this. Didn't Chen Mo just say that the Wang family father and son often bully the people? Now is the perfect time to use this incident to give them a good lesson."

General Zhao gave a cold laugh.

"What does the general mean?"

"Pass down the order that the Wang family father and son intended to oppose the government troops and should be executed according to the law. However, considering that they are the Wang family, fine them a little money and grain, and have them come to the military camp to apologize in person. As for the people, release them tonight and don't make things too difficult for them."

General Zhao gave the instructions.

"clear."

……

Night was falling.

A horse-drawn carriage drove into Shannan Town.

Wang Laoqi sat in the carriage, his face ashen.

Recalling the scene of him apologizing to General Zhao just now, he couldn't help but feel angry.

Moreover, in order to escape, they voluntarily offered up silver and food.

He had painstakingly accumulated that money and grain, but he never expected to give it away for nothing today.

What a load of rubbish! General Zhao is clearly just using this opportunity to put pressure on the Wang family.

Wang Laoqi was well aware that these government troops had been eyeing the property of their local powerful families, but they just didn't dare to make a move for the time being.

Wang Mang, still shaken, looked at his father's angry expression and said indignantly, "Father, that Zhao Lieutenant General is clearly targeting our Wang family. For such a trivial matter, we have to apologize. Damn it, that good-for-nothing Chen Mo really got lucky, managing to climb up to the government army as a backer..."

"A powerful backer? I doubt it. Chen Mo is just a country bumpkin who almost starved to death before. How could he possibly have the ability to get close to General Zhao? There must be something fishy going on."

Wang Laoqi became even angrier at the mention of Chen Mo.

He wasn't stupid; he knew that Zhao Canjiang's warning this time was a test of the Wang family's bottom line, using the tiger offering incident to suppress the Wang family.

"Father, now that you mention it, I also feel something's not right. Chen Mo used to be a coward who didn't dare to fight back when I bullied him. How come he's now capable of working for General Zhao?"

Wang Mang was also very puzzled.

He had felt something was off about this person since last year.

Wang Laoqi pondered for a moment and said, "He said himself that the tiger was killed by the general, but I don't think so."

"What do you mean?"

Wang Mang didn't understand.

"That tiger was very likely hunted down by Chen Mo and his group."

Wang Laoqi guessed roughly.

"How is this possible!"

Wang Mang still couldn't believe it.

"He clearly brought up General Zhao on purpose to curry favor with the government troops."

Wang Laoqi had already figured it out.

It's just that believing Chen Mo is capable of hunting tigers is indeed a bit too unbelievable.

"If that's really the case, then Chen Mo has already received the reward money. I heard from people in the military camp that Lieutenant General Zhao gave him a full two hundred taels of silver!"

Wang Mang suddenly felt somewhat unwilling.

At this moment, Wang Laoqi also seemed to have a solemn expression.

Two hundred taels?

The Wang family spent far more than just this much money to curry favor with General Zhao.

So, all that money came from the Wang family!

"Father, no matter how that boy managed to get close to General Zhao, we absolutely cannot let him take those two hundred taels of silver back so easily."

Wang Mang lowered his voice.

"What do you want to do?"

Wang Laoqi turned to look at his son.

"I've already sent people to keep an eye on Chen Mo. That kid hasn't left town yet, and he'll probably be leaving first thing tomorrow morning. So, why don't we..."

As Wang Mang spoke, he made a throat-slitting gesture.

Upon hearing his son's suggestion, a ruthless glint flashed in Wang Laoqi's eyes as well.

"Since he doesn't know what's good for him and dares to target the Wang family time and time again, then don't blame us for being ruthless..."

The carriage continued toward the town center, drowning out the conversation between the father and son.

The next day.

Chen Mo woke up early, preparing to return to the village.

Seeing that Zhao, the military officer, had given no further instructions, he took Sun Dazhu and the heavy reward money, and pushed the cart away from the military camp.

Before leaving, Chen Mo planned to buy some things in town.

Besides the daily necessities, he also wanted to buy two horses and a carriage.

Now that I have the money, it's more practical to spend it first.

However, Chen Mo and Sun Dazhu searched the entire town but couldn't find any horses for sale.

These days, cattle, horses, and donkeys are rare commodities, so it's not surprising that you can't buy them.

Moreover, the town was not wealthy to begin with, and those families with livestock generally kept them for their own use and were reluctant to sell them.

To avoid drawing too much attention, Chen Mo had no choice but to give up and continue pushing the cart away with Sun Dazhu.

The reward of one hundred taels of silver had to be hidden in the cart for the time being, and continued to be covered with dry grass.

In such chaotic times, it's really worrying to carry so much money around.

On the official road outside the town, there were few pedestrians. Occasionally, someone would hurry by, their eyes glancing at the cart in front of Chen Mo from time to time.

Chen Mo looked around warily, ready to pull out the bow and arrows hidden in the dry grass at any moment.

At this moment, Sun Dazhu had not yet recovered from yesterday's surprise.

"Brother Mo, you were really bold when you were negotiating with Lieutenant General Zhao yesterday. If that's the case, then we don't have to give the government two hundred catties of grain."

Sun Dazhu said with great excitement.

"That Zhao Lieutenant General isn't someone you can easily talk to. You'd better hurry back and lead the other villagers to clear the land."

Chen Mo felt no relief whatsoever.

Back in the village, although he was confident he could lead others, he couldn't guarantee that the local gentry wouldn't interfere.

"Brother Mo, didn't you say it was a reward of two hundred taels of silver? With that weight, it's only a hundred taels." Sun Dazhu asked, puzzled.

"Don't ask anymore. It's already good enough that they're willing to give it to you. Remember, spend this money slowly and don't be too ostentatious."

Chen Mo knew all too well that in this chaotic world, attracting too much attention was not a good thing...