The caravan traveled through the mountains and arrived near the mountain city called Zhenba the next day. They had indeed entered Dai Mengwei's territory.
For Ning Ji, the future number one expert in the world, this was the first time in his life that he had left the territory of the Huaxia army. During the journey, he had imagined many encounters, such as Jianghu, fighting, bandits, having his identity exposed, dying in blood, and so on, as well as all kinds of amazing beautiful mountains and rivers … But at least in the first few days of his journey, everything was incompatible with what he had imagined.
The rivers and mountains were not beautiful, and the places that were difficult to walk were no different from Liang Mountain and Sword Mountain in the southwest. Desolate mountain villages, dirty markets, inns full of the smell of horse dung, and unpalatable food were sparsely distributed on the road after leaving the Huaxia army. They did not encounter horse bandits or bandits. Even on the rugged mountain road, there were no bandits guarding the road to kill or collect tolls. On the path to Zhenba, Dai Mengwei's soldiers set up checkpoints to collect fees and check documents, but they did not make things difficult for Ning Ji, Lu Wenke, Fan Heng, and other people who came from the southwest.
It was really too different from the Jianghu he had imagined.
"… Cao Silong deliberately rebelled and then acted as a middleman to transport supplies from the southwest. Therefore, the small road from Cao to Dai was protected by the two families. Even if there were bandits along the way, they would have long been destroyed. In this world, the big fish eat the small fish, and the small fish eat the shrimps. There is no justice for heaven … "
Lu Wenke and others gave answers to Ning Ji's doubts.
Without the romance of the Jianghu, what surrounded him was mostly the reality. For example, the adjustment of the original amount of food was a long-term problem that troubled the younger brother of the Long family all the way. It was not unbearable, because the food he ate every day ensured that he would not have a problem when he moved, but the change of habits made him greedy for food for a long time. Such Jianghu experience could only be kept in his stomach in the future and could not be told to anyone. Even if someone wrote it in the future, perhaps no one would like to read it.
Apart from his gluttony, he was also mentally vigilant towards the fact that he had entered the enemy's territory. He was prepared to fight and escape at any time. Of course, it was precisely such preparations that caused him to feel even more bored. Especially when the guards under Dai Mengwei's command actually didn't provoke or bully him, and this caused him to feel resentment from having nowhere to vent his ability.
His initial expectations of World of Martial Arts fell through, but it was not as if he did not gain anything in reality. For example, from the daily chatter of the Rotten Scholar Quintet, Ning Ji had basically figured out the details of Dai Mengwei's territory. According to these people's speculations, Old Dog Dai was sanctimonious on the surface, but he was secretly trafficking the people under his rule to the southwest, even joining hands with the virtuous villagers under him and the army to earn the difference in price. Speaking of it, he was truly hateful and repulsive.
However, such a reality was much more complicated than the quick revenge in the Jianghu. According to the rules of World of Martial Arts in the stories, the traffickers were naturally bad people, and the trafficked were naturally innocent people. And when a good person who acted chivalrously killed the bad person who trafficked people, he would then receive the gratitude of the innocent people. But in reality, according to Fan Heng and the others, these innocent people were actually sold voluntarily. They couldn't eat, so they voluntarily signed contracts of 20 to 30 years. If anyone killed the traffickers, it would instead cut off the lives of these trafficked people.
The trafficked people were willing, and the traffickers were doing a good deed. They even claimed that the southwest of Huaxia was still wantonly buying people — this was also doing a good deed. As for the big bad Duke Dai here …
"It is said that Duke Dai's subordinates once issued an announcement that no one was allowed to sell the people under his rule to the southwest as slaves. Those who disobeyed the order would be punished …"
Just like this, in the first month after leaving the Huaxia military territory, Ning Ji deeply felt the principle of "reading ten thousand books is not as good as walking ten thousand miles".
The world in the story books was fundamentally wrong. As expected, it was better to come out and walk around to see these things clearly.
The group moved forward, and everyone had their own goals. By this time, Ning Ji had already understood that if the Confucian scholars who had chosen Dai Mengwei from the beginning, after leaving the southwest, most of them would take the most convenient road in Hanzhong, following the Han River to big cities such as Ankang to seek an official position. Duke Dai was now a leading figure among the Confucian scholars in the world. Most of the famous and capable Confucian scholars were treated with great courtesy and would be given an official position.
As for the "rotten Confucian quintet" like Fan Heng, Lu Wenke, and Chen Junsheng, although they respected Dai Mengwei's words, they still had their doubts. After the discussion in the southwest, they decided to investigate the rear of Dai Mengwei's territory. With such an experience, they would have more knowledge of the world than others in the future. The caravan might be going to Duke Dai's territory to buy people. On the surface, they did not say much, but in fact, they were secretly concerned about this matter.
Zhenba County was still a mountain city. There were not many people living here, but compared to the mountain road they had passed through earlier, they could already see a few newly built villages. These villages were located between the mountain gaps, and there were many newly built walls and fences around them. Some people with dull eyes cast gazes at the pedestrians on the road from those villages.
"Look at those newly built fences." Lu Wenke pointed at the scene over there and explained to Ning Ji the reason behind it. "This shows that although there has been a famine, the officials and elders assigned here are still directing the villagers to do things. In fact, this is not easy. This proves that even if there is a shortage of resources, there is still order in this area. "
"So what if there is order?" Ning Ji asked.
"This is the essence of governance." Fan Heng leaned over from the side. "After the Female Zhenren came, all the order in this area was disrupted. Zhenba County used to be inhabited by mountain people. They are fierce and tough. When the Western Route Army came, they commanded the Han army to come over and fight for a round. Many people died, and the city was burned. After Duke Dai took over, he redistributed the population, divided the regions, and selected officials, as well as the highly respected elders to take charge of the affairs. Little Long, at this time, what is the biggest problem in front of them? It is actually not enough to eat, and what will happen if there is not enough to eat? "
Fan Heng looked at Ning Ji. Ning Ji thought for a moment. "Rebellion?"
"Yes, everyone knows that not enough to eat will force people to rebel." Fan Heng smiled. "But how exactly will this rebellion occur? Think about it. If too many people starve to death in a place or a village, the officials will lose their dignity and have no choice but to collapse the village. The remaining people will become starving people and wander around. If more and more villages have such a situation, then a large number of refugees will appear, and the order will be completely lost. But think about it, if only a few people die in each village, will it be so out of control? "
"…" Ning Ji stared.
"Duke Dai saved millions of people from the hands of the Female Zhenren. At the beginning, he was still dignified. With this dignity, he divided the people under his rule into hundreds and thousands of areas. After these village areas were divided, the people inside were not allowed to move at will. Each village must be guarded by a village virtuous elder. Several villages have officials above them, and the officials have troops above them. The responsibilities are divided layer by layer, and it is orderly. Because of this, from last year to this year, although there is a famine here, there is no great chaos. "
Fan Heng was quite intoxicated when talking about this. Beside him, Lu Wenke added,
"Brother Long, this kind of division seems simple. It seems that in the past, the government also did this, but often the officials at different levels are good and bad, and when something goes wrong, it will be out of control. But this time, Duke Dai's layer upon layer of distribution has the meaning of ruling a large country like cooking a small fish. Everything is orderly, everyone is in their own positions, and everyone performs their own duties. Because of this, the scholars of the Southwest have recently said that Duke Dai has the appearance of an ancient sage. He used the 'ancient method' to resist the 'modern method' of the Southwest that deviates from the traditional path.
Ning Ji frowned. "Everyone is in their own position, and everyone has his own duties. So the position of those people is to die quietly and not cause trouble?" The thinking of human rights within the Huaxia Army in the southwest had begun to awaken. Although Ning Ji was a little bad at learning, he could finally find some key points in these things.
Lu Wenke waved his hand. "Brother Long, don't be so extreme. I'm just saying that there is such a reason. When Duke Dai took over these people, it was already quite difficult. To be able to use this method to stabilize the situation is also a sign of his ability. If it were someone else, it would be very difficult to do this. If Duke Dai did not use this method well, there would only be more people dying here when there was a riot. It would be like the riot of the hungry ghosts back then, and it would be out of control. "
"But people still starved to death."
"People will naturally die in troubled times. Duke Dai decided who to let die. It's cruel to say, but didn't the southwest experience such a famine back then? Since he has the ability to reduce the number of people dying in troubled times, he can naturally let everyone live a better life in a peaceful world. Scholars, farmers, merchants, and businessmen each have their own duties, and widows, widows, and orphans each have their own support … This is the philosophy of the ancient sages … "
"The Huaxia Army fought against the golden dogs in the northwest and only starved when they moved to the southwest. Did Duke Dai fight against the golden dogs? How can you say it's the same? More golden dogs died in the northwest than we did! "
Ning Ji retorted unhappily. Next to him, Fan Heng smiled and waved his hand.
"Hey, hey, hey, okay. After all, Xiaolong came from the southwest. It's normal for him to look down on Dai Mengwei's side. There's nothing to argue about. Xiaolong only needed to remember this matter. Although Dai Mengwei had a problem, she also had her own ability when doing things. Many people viewed his ability in this way. Some people approved of it, but there were also many who didn't. We're all here to see what's going on. There's no need to quarrel among us. Come on, have some candy … "
Fan Heng tried to smooth things over, and Lu Wenke smiled and said no more. As a traveling companion, Ning Ji was not very old. Moreover, he had a pleasant face and was literate. Therefore, most of the five pedantic scholars regarded him as their nephew. Naturally, they would not be angry because of this.
Ning Ji took the candy. Considering that they were behind the enemy lines, he could not show too much of a "pro-Huaxia" tendency, so he suppressed his temper. Anyway, as long as they did not regard Dai Mengwei as a good person and dissect him as a "capable villain", everything was still very smooth.
That day, when the group entered Zhenba, they discovered that there were many merchants gathered in the originally remote mountain city. Several of the inns in the county town were also newly built. It was already evening when they stayed in an inn. At this time, everyone in the group had their own thoughts. For example, the members of the caravan might be here to meet with the contact of a "big business". Several scholars wanted to find out about the human trafficking situation here, so they also secretly inquired with the members of the caravan. At night, when they were eating in the inn, Fan Heng and the others chatted with the members of another group of travelers. As a result, they heard a lot of news from the outside world. One of them made Ning Ji, who had been bored for more than a month, suddenly feel invigorated.
"… It's said that in September this year, the Fairness Party will invite all the heroes of the world to Jiangning and hold a Heroes' Assembly to choose the leader of the martial arts world. This Heroes' Invitation has already been sent out all over the world!"
As the inn inquired, one of the travelers mentioned this matter, which immediately caused an uproar and commotion among the surrounding people. Coming out of Chengdu, Lu Wenke, Fan Heng, and the others looked at each other, mulling over the meaning of this news. Ning Ji's jaw dropped. After a moment of excitement, he heard someone say, "Then isn't it going to be held at the same time as the Southwest Martial Arts Competition?"
Someone replied hesitantly, "… The Fairness Party and the Huaxia army are one."
At this time, a word flashed through Ning Ji's mind: despicable.
Last year, following the Huaxia army's defeat of the Female Zhenren in the southwest, the Fairness Party had already rapidly expanded its influence in the east of the world at an indescribable speed. At present, it had already suppressed the territories of Tie Yan and Wu Qimei in Lin 'an to the point of suffocation. Amidst this expansion, the two parties involved had not publicly explained or stated the relationship between the Huaxia army and the Fairness Party. However, for the "rotten Confucians" who had been to the southwest, because they had read a lot of newspapers, they naturally had a certain understanding.
And for Ning Ji, who was part of the core family circle of the Huaxia army, he naturally understood even more that He Wen and the Huaxia army might not become good friends in the future. At present, there were no channels of collusion to speak of between the two sides.
"Last year, the Huaxia army held the World Number One Martial Arts Competition to attract people. After that, they conducted a military parade, killed people, and held a meeting to establish the people's government. They gathered the people of the world," Chen Junsheng said calmly as he picked food with his chopsticks.
"This time, it seems that the Fairness Party wants to do the same thing and use the Huaxia army's popularity to rush up. Moreover, the Huaxia army's Martial Arts Competition is set to be held between August and September. Obviously, it will be held again this year. The Fairness Party also deliberately set it in September. They even let all parties think that the two sides are one. This is to undermine the Huaxia army while using the Huaxia army's fame to accomplish their goals. When the time comes, the people in the west will go to the southwest, and the heroes in the east will go to Jiangning. He Wen is so bold. Isn't he afraid of offending Mr. Ning in the southwest? "
Fan Heng ate and calmly gave pointers. "After all, the world is so big. The heroes are not limited to the southwest. Now that the world is in chaos, there will be more and more influential people. "
Lu Wenke said, "Speaking of which, the younger brother of the Long family is going to Jiangning this time. It's a coincidence that we can come across this grand event."
"Yes, I'm going," Ning Ji replied in a muffled voice. Then, with a face full of displeasure, he buried his head in his food.
A Confucian scholar talked about the topic of "the heroes of the world." Then, he began to talk about other things, such as the upcoming battle between Dai Mengwei, Liu Guangshi, and Zou Xu, and the possible actions of the little Emperor in the farthest southeast coastal area. Some of the things were new, but there were also many that were old news.
Ning Ji listened quietly. That night, he tossed and turned in bed.
He had heard so many Jianghu stories in the Huaxia army for so many years and had seen so many scenes like the Heroes' Conference. After leaving the southwest, he had originally been looking forward to these things. Who would have thought that the sudden appearance of this news would be filled with such disgusting intentions. He Wen, that traitor, had learned from his father's side while actually scheming to undermine the Hua Xia army and steal their popularity!
If one were to say that the Party of Justice was just him acting on his own out of helplessness, not listening to orders from the southwest or coming here to cause trouble, it could be said that he was walking his own path and he was walking his own path. But now, he had deliberately held this Heroes' Conference in September. It was really too disgusting. He Wen had stayed in the southwest for so long and had even dated Sister Jingmei. She had even let him go after that. This backhanded stab was even more disgusting than Zou Xu!
It was really infuriating!
And this so-called Heroes' Conference was actually held in Jiangning! He clearly knew that Jiangning was his father's hometown. He was hinting to others that the Fairness Party was related to the Huaxia army and that he could get more benefits. Shameless!
After going to Jiangning, he might as well not care about Sister Jingmei's face. He would just kill him with one stab!
That night, he thought about He Wen. His face was as red as a steamed bun. He was not so concerned about Dai Mengwei selling a few people. That day, he went to bed in the wee hours of the morning. Not long after he slept, he heard movement outside the inn. Then, he went back into the inn. When he got up, the sky was just beginning to brighten. He opened the window and saw that the army was surrounding the inn from all directions.
After running away from home for more than a month, danger had finally arrived. Although he did not know what was going on, Ning Ji still picked up his bag and jumped to the roof under the cover of the night. Then, before the army could completely surround him, he jumped to another nearby roof.
The army entered the inn, then knocked on the doors one by one and arrested people. In such a situation, no one could resist. Ning Ji watched as the members of the caravan were taken out of the inn one by one. Among them was Leader Lu of the caravan, followed by Lu Wenke, Fan Heng, and the other "Rotten Scholar Five". Wang Jiang and Wang Xiuniang, the father and daughter, seemed to have been counted according to the list of people who had checked in. The people who were arrested were indeed the caravan that he had followed all the way here.
Ning Ji was confused as he watched from the roof of a nearby building. Why? Had he been exposed? But after they had arrested the others, they did not seem to investigate the fact that a young man was missing. But why did they arrest the caravan that he was in? The "Rotten Scholar Five" had been arrested, but they did not do anything bad …
After the sun rose that day, he stood in the morning light and was puzzled.
The reason why the members of the caravan had been arrested was unknown. His identity was important, so he had to be cautious. In theory, the safest solution was to find a way to leave the city in disguise and leave far away. But after thinking about it, he realized that the atmosphere in Dai Mengwei's side was serious, and he, a fifteen-year-old young man, was afraid that he would be more eye-catching if he walked on the road. He had to admit that after traveling together with Dai Mengwei, he finally had some feelings for Lu Wenke and the other fools of the "Rotten Scholar Five". He could not bear to think of the torture they would suffer after being imprisoned.
The defense of this mountain city did not seem to be very strict. Should he think of a way to sneak into the prison at night and secretly take a look? He had done a lot of training on spies and infiltration in the Huaxia army, so it should not be too difficult to deal with these bumpkins in theory.
After thinking about it for a long time and making sure that there was no special search in the city, he bought a bag of pancakes and steamed buns and ate them while exploring the way near the yamen in the city. In the middle of the afternoon, when he sat by the side of the road and ate steamed buns carefreely, a group of people suddenly came out of the gate of the county government not far away from the road.
These people were the ones who had been arrested in the morning. Among them were Wang Jiang, Wang Xiuniang, the "Rotten Scholar Five", and some other travelers who had come with the caravan. At this time, it seemed that they had been released by the people in the yamen. A young official shook his head and followed behind them. After talking to them, he cupped his hands and said goodbye. It seemed that the atmosphere was quite harmonious.
Ning Ji ran all the way and waited at the corner of the street for a while. When the group of people approached, he leaned over and heard Fan Heng and the others sighing, "The sky is really blue …"
"Eunuch Dai's family is very learned …"
He ran a few steps and asked, "What's wrong? Why were you arrested? What happened? "
When Fan Heng and the others saw him, they were also very surprised. "Xiaolong! You're okay! "
"That's great. We thought something had happened to you …"
Everyone surrounded him while chattering. Their entire caravan had been arrested together. When they saw that Ning Ji was not around, they thought that something special had happened to a child. When they came out just now, they specially asked the county magistrate about it. Ning Ji explained to them that he went out to the toilet in the middle of the night, and then there was a lot of noise. After he hid, he saw that everyone had been arrested. At this moment, everyone was fine, so he was happy.
"… What happened? Why did they arrest us?"
Ning Ji asked. Fan Heng and the others looked at each other, then sighed and shook their heads. "Chief Lu and the rest of the caravan are going to suffer this time."
Lu Wenke said, "Chief Lu was obsessed with money. He secretly made an agreement with someone to come here and buy a large number of people. He thought that these things were all tacitly approved by Eunuch Dai. Since he had connections, he would definitely succeed. Who knew that … this young county magistrate Dai was really blue. After the matter was investigated, he arrested all of them. Chief Lu was sentenced to death, and the rest were punished. "
"Ah? Really arrested … "Ning Ji was a little surprised.
"Look at this scene, of course it's true. Recently, Eunuch Dai has been cracking down on the evil of human trafficking. Chief Lu was severely punished and said that he would be executed in public tomorrow. If we stay here for one more day, we will know … Alas, now we understand that the story of Eunuch Dai selling people is really a false accusation by others. Even if there are illegal peddlers who really do this evil, it has nothing to do with Eunuch Dai."
"Alas, we are really arbitrary. Our casual words have tarnished the sage's reputation. We should take this as a warning …"
They stayed in the county for another night. The next day, the weather was hazy, and it seemed that it was going to rain. They gathered at the entrance of the county market and saw the young county magistrate Dai escorting Chief Lu and the others out. Chief Lu knelt in front of the stone platform. County magistrate Dai was loudly criticizing these people for the evil of human trafficking and Eunuch Dai's determination and will to fight against it.
This young county magistrate Dai was called Dai Zhen, a nephew of Dai Mengwei. When Fan Heng and the others talked about it, they praised Dai Mengwei for managing the family well and teaching well.
Under the hazy sky, under the crowd's gaze, the executioner raised the big knife and cut off the head of the crying Chief Lu. The rescued people also watched from the side. They had been promised a "proper settlement" by County Magistrate Dai. At this time, they knelt on the ground, crying and kowtowing.
Seeing this scene, Ning Ji stretched out his fingers and scratched his head in confusion.
After leaving home for more than a month, he suddenly felt that he couldn't understand anything.
"Is this Dai Mengwei … really a good person?"
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