Surviving in the chaos of war begins in the wilderness.

Chapter 129: The Amazing Chaos Ends

After thinking for a while, Zhou Ye made a decision—he should break through to the late stage of Ming Jin first, and then think about the girls!

"Old Li, thank you for your kindness, Wenwen. I also have feelings for her. However, she's still too young. I'm also approaching a crucial moment in my life. How about this? Before the end of the year, I'll arrange for her to have a grand wedding?"

By the standards before he transmigrated, Wenwen was an 8 out of 10 beauty, only slightly less attractive than Dujuan, who was considered "cured meat." Since she wanted to marry him and didn't mind being a concubine, he had no reason to refuse.

Unexpectedly, Li Gui's face lit up with joy, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders: "That's fine then. Boss, it's settled then."

"Alright! Once this chaos has passed, I will send a betrothal gift according to custom."

"."

"7

However, as soon as Li Gui left, Wenxiu, like a little kitten, sneaked up to Zhou Ye's side.

"Young master, let me tell you something. I've noticed something strange about the way Wenwen looks at you. Hmph."

Zhou Ye glanced sideways. Had Wenxiu taken the wrong medicine? Had she learned to use consonants today?

"Young master, you're biased. You've broken our hearts. You'd rather favor outsiders than us, even though we're your concubines!"

"You'll have me tonight! No other excuses allowed. Hmph," Wenxiu said coquettishly.

"Alright, alright! But it's almost morning now. Hahaha!"

"You're so mean! Young Master, you're the worst!"

"Alright, alright! Then let's wait until the end of the year. I should be close to a breakthrough, and I can't afford to be distracted right now."

"Really? You're not lying to me, are you?"

"Absolutely not. I promise! Hehe."

"————"

Since taking one concubine is the same as taking several others, Zhou Ye doesn't care at all. Girls like Wenxiu and Huijie are all basically 7 or 8 points or higher; with a beauty filter, they could all call themselves top-tier fairies. Since they already belong to him, only a lunatic would let such a treasure slip through his fingers.

Okay! Zhou Ye admits he's a womanizer, so what?

Nothing was said that night. And nothing was said for the entire next day either.

However, Zhou Ye had nothing to worry about. His family's home on the city wall had everything they needed. The food reserves alone were enough to feed them for almost half a year.

Strangely, the scale of this military disaster seemed much smaller. By the third day, the entire city had finally returned to calm, and even the city gates had begun to reopen to normal traffic.

And according to news from the inner city, the new prefect—who knows how many prefects it is now—has been killed again.

As mentioned before, the former prefect had sold out many interests, so for over a year, powerful families practically controlled everything. They made enormous profits through hoarding and speculation, acquiring numerous estates, land, forests, mines, shops, and other valuable assets. In short, they amassed a fortune.

It's important to understand that the interests of Fufeng County don't represent the interests of any particular powerful family. Therefore, what does the collapse of Fufeng County have to do with me? As long as my own family prospers, that's all that matters.

Furthermore, if other powerful families are doing this, why shouldn't our own family? It's like an arms race, constantly pushing the limits and plundering the wealth of the entire Fufeng County.

Anyway, if you want to criticize, go criticize the government. We, the wealthy and powerful families, are all innocent and pure. It's just a matter of mutual consent in business, what's wrong with that?

Therefore, the continuous breaking of the lower limit caused widespread resentment throughout Fufeng County, and the people's lives became extremely miserable.

In the end, even many soldiers and low-ranking officers in the army could no longer endure it. Even if the government dared not delay paying the soldiers' wages, on the black market, one tael of silver could barely buy a pound of grain. Who could withstand that? They couldn't even support the soldiers' families!

So, under the repeated coercion of the powerful families, the army finally reached its breaking point—are you kidding me? You powerful families are trying to teach me how to do things?

Without a word, the soldiers wiped out the entire prefect's family. Why keep them around for the New Year?

And they even have such a convincing reason for killing that they expect our army to obey powerful families? They've completely disgraced our military ranks. Are you kidding me? Who's really in control here?

On the other hand, through several instances of insubordination, the original garrison generals in the army had all died, and the two guerrilla generals had also been eliminated. What remained were just a group of the original thousand-man commanders.

Because there were so many commanders of a thousand men, and these military leaders were all roughly equal in strength, none of them were willing to submit to the others, which eventually led to a kind of balance of power. After some negotiation and compromise, they finally formed a government that could be considered a joint government of military leaders. Through joint consultation and discussion among all the commanders of a thousand men, they jointly took over the government of Fufeng County.

You know what, once this joint government was established, they still wanted to do some things.

First, a large amount of grain was released from the government granaries. Although most of this grain was distributed to the soldiers in the army, some still flowed into the market. Therefore, the grain supply in the prefecture city was temporarily stabilized.

Secondly, there was the issue of public order. The government issued the strictest decree: past offenses would be forgiven. But from now on, anyone caught fighting in the streets or engaging in petty theft within the inner, outer, or surrounding areas of the county seat would be beheaded.

All their property was confiscated, and all their family members were enslaved!

Interestingly, on the very fourth day, two scions of wealthy families got into a fight over a woman in a brothel, and they ordered their servants to start a brawl in the street. It was the kind of typical brawl among spoiled brats.

But no one expected that they would be met with such a swift and decisive blow. That very night, the entire army was mobilized and surrounded the two aristocratic families. After negotiations broke down (they were forced to hand over their captors for execution, their entire fortunes confiscated, and all their members enslaved – a breakdown was inevitable), the army annihilated the two families, leaving no one alive.

And all of them, including the brothel girl, the madam, and the pimp who instigated the jealousy, were beheaded, and their heads were displayed in the street.

In addition, a huge amount of wealth and supplies were seized from those two aristocratic families. The wealth was, of course, divided up among the officers and soldiers of the army, but the supplies were all released to the market at market price. This further stabilized prices in the county town.

To be honest, the government had long wanted to find a few "chickens" to make an example of. So these two powerful families just happened to run into the line of fire.

However, this brutal action yielded excellent results. Because no one expected that the government was actually serious about this.

Therefore, in the days that followed, the entire county was eerily quiet, and no one dared to challenge the authority of the joint government. Even the major families and gangs became obedient, restraining their members and followers from causing trouble outside. Are you kidding me?! A single move involves confiscating property and wiping out entire families—who could withstand that?

Interestingly, under these harsh laws, the entire county town gradually regained its vitality. After all, even the worst order is better than no order at all. Thus, the county town miraculously became a place where no one would pick up lost items. Public security became excellent, and all chaos ended instantly.

To be honest, ordinary people actually welcome this joint government effort.

That day, Zhou Ye walked along the main street into the inner city. Seeing the soldiers stationed every three or five steps, he couldn't help but smile knowingly.

Because of this change, Zhou Ye suddenly discovered a great opportunity—he could sell all the cloth and silk in the warehouse right now. "Come and rob me if you dare," he thought, "as long as you're not afraid of losing your whole family."

A quarter of an hour later, Zhou Ye was already sitting in front of Manager Hu of Shan Hai Lou.

"Young friend Tian, ​​are you satisfied with this battle sword?" Shopkeeper Hu asked with a smile. "If I remember correctly, this is the third one you've bought, isn't it?"

The two men exchanged a smile. Zhou Ye carefully put away his newly purchased battle sword: "Times are tough. Please excuse my poor appearance."

"That's alright. At least you're supporting our Shan Hai Lou business. But what about the fabric we talked about last time? Have you heard anything back?"

"Manager Hu, that's exactly what we've come for. Do you need 5000 horses?"

"That's right."

"I do have 5000 bolts. But I have a condition—I have a total of over 1 bolts here. Of them, about 9% are silk. I can offer a discount, but your Shan Hai Lou needs to buy them all. Whether it's cotton or silk, how about three taels per bolt?"

Shopkeeper Hu frowned slightly: "Doesn't this seem a bit inappropriate?"

"To be honest, these fabrics and silks are stored in the warehouses of the canal gang's docks. Perhaps they have already attracted the envy of others, which is why they are being offered such a discount. It is only because your Shan Hai Lou is a powerful force that you are not afraid of others' spying."

Manager Hu chuckled, "Of course, we at Shan Hai Lou don't care about such trivial matters. But why should we help you? Besides, 5000 horses are already more than enough. What benefit would we get from taking your 19,000?"

"Manager Hu, your Shan Hai Lou must have inquired about this. This year's cotton harvest is definitely a total failure. The situation with silk is even worse; many mulberry trees have been cut down by rioters. Without several years of recovery, our Fufeng County simply won't be able to restore its original production levels. So, at least for the next two years, the prices of cloth and silk will have to rise?"

"Hmm." Manager Hu considered for a moment, "Well then! The quantity you have here is too large, I can't make the decision on my own. Please wait a moment, I'll go find the head steward of our Shan Hai Lou right now."

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'

Zhou Ye waited for over half an hour. Then Manager Hu reappeared: "Young friend Tian, ​​the head steward said that since you are a regular customer and friend of our Shan Hai Lou, we are willing to help you this time. However, the price is only two taels and eighty centimeters per horse. Shall we take all 19,000 horses you have?"

"Hmm—okay!" Although he seemed hesitant, Zhou Ye was secretly overjoyed. If even Shan Hai Lou wasn't willing to take it on, it would be difficult to find a powerful force capable of doing so.

To prevent any unforeseen complications, Zhou Ye quickly signed a contract with Shan Hai Lou and completed the handover of the entire warehouse on the same day.