radicalducati Page 165
Page 165
After a great disaster, there will surely be a plague!
Upon hearing about methods for preventing plagues, the older generation, who were familiar with the disaster, naturally knew how valuable they were.
Floods are merciless, and so are plagues, which are even more contagious.
They took it upon themselves to organize quarantine, cremate corpses, and even supervise the use of hot water for food...
What about the method of replacing relief with work?
In other words, by participating in the reconstruction of homes, dredging waterways, and building dikes, one can not only have enough to eat, but also receive wages!
The news caused a sensation throughout the disaster area.
Under normal circumstances, disaster victims only have a bowl of thin porridge with a few vegetable leaves in it for one meal, just enough to maintain their basic survival.
With this amount of food, each person can only get about two ounces of rice a day, and that's under the system of sixteen ounces per pound.
Three hundred thousand shi (a unit of dry measure) could sustain thirty million people for ten days.
But the Zhang family couldn't possibly save so many people, and rescue workers also need to be fed. How can they save people if they're not well-fed?
Several million people is already a huge number; 300,000 shi (a unit of dry measure) can sustain the population for more than a month.
Therefore, after the work-for-relief program was implemented, the supply of 300,000 shi of grain was reduced again, and could only last for a maximum of 20 days.
As for the money? It comes from the money exchange.
This can be considered disaster relief, and no sect in the martial arts world has any objections.
They only need to supervise the Zhang family to ensure they don't misuse such things.
Furthermore, they proposed using gold to purchase grain for disaster relief, but upon hearing that the Zhang family truly possessed 'five million shi' of grain, all the major sects were utterly shocked.
To stabilize the chaotic situation, we must first stabilize our own people.
At least they need to be convinced that there is really enough food.
Even the largest grain merchant in Kyushu could only mobilize a million koku of grain at his peak, let alone now when there is a grain shortage.
·····
"Zhang family!"
When the Holy Mother of the White Lotus heard the reports from her disciples in various places, her delicate brows furrowed slightly.
She never expected that the chaotic situation, which even the imperial court could not stabilize, could be resolved by the Zhang family alone, which made her reassess the Zhang family's capabilities.
She understood the Zhang family, and even knew their methods, which made her realize just how terrifying they were.
Once they clash with the Zhang family, the Zhang family's counterattack alone would be enough to give the White Lotus Sect a hard time.
The Zhang family's Blood Droplets are elusive and can kill without a trace.
Moreover, given the current relationship between the Zhang family and various factions, if the Zhang family is harmed, they will inevitably rise up against each other.
However, if the Zhang family is not touched, their uprising plan will fail once the situation stabilizes completely, and they will miss a golden opportunity. This is a dilemma.
"Somebody come!"
"Holy Mother!"
Looking at the disciples below, the White Lotus Holy Mother had four more disciples.
The White Lotus Saintess was in charge of faith, the Red Lotus Saintess was in charge of information, the Black Lotus Disciple was in charge of assassins, and the Golden Lotus Disciple was in charge of replicating the preparation of the holy water.
"Honglian, how much grain does the Zhang family have in their granary?"
"I do not know if the Zhang family has any hidden granaries. The granaries that have been opened so far contain a million shi of grain."
One million shi!
It's just one granary, yet the Zhang family has hidden so many—963! What if they have other granaries as backup...?
Even the Holy Mother of the White Lotus frowned, hesitant and undecided.
"How about Ghost Street?"
It's no secret that the Zhang family and the Golden-Faced Buddha control Ghost Street.
Therefore, part of the Zhang family's power came from Ghost Street, both overt and covert.
"Everything is normal on Ghost Street. Fire Cloud Evil God is buying up grain on a large scale and hoarding it for higher prices. Ghost Yama is indifferent to this and even took the opportunity to spend a lot of money to buy up antiques and jewelry that people were throwing away at low prices... It is suspected that someone from the Zhang family is behind this."
"The Sixth Prince is behind the Fire Cloud Evil God, what a fool!"
The Zhang family's efforts to stabilize the situation were truly remarkable, demonstrating great courage and vision. Even she had to admire the Zhang family's great compassion.
On the contrary, the Sixth Prince, who is a prince, actually planned to make a fortune, which is truly laughable.
You should know that he dug up the very foundation of his own house.
Although their power was in the north, the White Lotus Saintess was well aware of the Sixth Prince's thoughts. The Sixth Prince had great ambitions in the struggle for the throne among the nine princes of the Song Dynasty.
Therefore, money paves the way, preparing for the final competition.
"In that case, send the news about the Zhang family's granary to the Sixth Prince."
"Yes!"
Once the Zhang family loses its granary, the situation will instantly descend into chaos.
Given the Sixth Prince's greed, it's impossible that he wouldn't have coveted the granary containing millions of grains.
It's worth noting that even the Fire Cloud Evil God buys grain at high prices and then resells it.
This is a risk-free business. If the Zhang family falls into chaos, grain prices will inevitably reach new highs, amounting to millions of gold.
Thinking of this foolish Sixth Prince going up against the Zhang family, the White Lotus Saintess couldn't help but reveal a breathtaking smile, like a goddess on Mount Wu, with unparalleled beauty.
As for the disciples, they also understood the White Lotus Saintess's plan, and the White Lotus Saintess couldn't help but lament the suffering of the world.
A savior finally appears, only to be destroyed by his own people.
Chapter 217 The Prince of Zhennan Heads North to Launch a Night Raid on the Granary
"Finally a breakthrough!"
Having reached the eighth level of the Nine Yin Manual, Huang Rong did not leave her bedroom for half a month.
It was only with the help of the Tenfold Pure Yang Skill, which in turn activated the Nine Yin Divine Skill, and the Ten Thousand Year Cold Jade Pearl, that Huang Rong was able to finally break through this bottleneck.
Otherwise, given Huang Rong's laziness, it might not have been possible for her to break through this bottleneck even after three years.
The Taiyin Qi at the eighth level can extend outwards by one zhang and push horizontally by three zhang.
In addition, there are the Heart-Shattering Palm, the Nine Yin Divine Claw, and the Flower-Shifting Jade Technique...
He is already considered one of the top masters in the martial arts world.
As for the ninth level? Huang Rong would probably need at least ten years to even touch the threshold.
"Young Master, Lei Laowu just sent word that Prince Duan will soon set off for Jiangnan!"
Furthermore, they brought 200,000 shi of grain, entrusting Tiannan Yijian of the Diancang Sect and Huangmei Monk of Nianhua Temple to escort it.
"Ok!"
Zhang Xiaoshan nodded, showing no surprise at the Dali Kingdom's act of kindness.
The Dali Kingdom had been a Buddhist for generations, and with its advantageous location, it was not short of food. Even though the country was small and the population was small, it could easily produce 200,000 shi of grain at a time.
It's still better than the Northern Yuan, Jin, Tubo, Western Xia, and Liao dynasties, who were all preparing their troops and horses, ready to go.
They're probably just waiting for the White Lotus Rebellion to break out, and for the Sixth Prince to launch an attack from within, so they can coordinate an attack from the inside.
"Tell Lei Laowu to escort them along the way and keep an eye on them secretly!"
Two hundred thousand shi of grain—many people will probably be tempted by that.
These grains, once sold on the black market, are now worth at least a million taels of silver!
However, with Liu Ruochen, the Swordsman of Tiannan, the Yellow-Eyebrowed Monk of Nianhua Temple, and the Prince of Zhennan of Dali escorting them, few dared to provoke this force.
But people die for money, and birds die for food, so there must be quite a few people willing to take action.
"Anything else?"
"The news from Ghost Street is that the Fire Cloud Evil God has not appeared for three days."
Moreover, Ghost Yama had tested him once, and Fire Cloud Evil God was probably no longer in the capital, so he was worried that…”
Zhang Xiaoshan frowned. Recently, the Sixth Prince had been reselling grain at an extremely frenzied pace. How could the Fire Cloud Evil God, who was in charge, suddenly disappear?
It is bound to deal with extremely important matters.
"Forget it, let's ignore it!"
Once an assassin is deployed, unless there is an inside spy, it is impossible to find their location.
Zhang Xiaoshan has recently been helping Huang Rong, Hongxiao, Jiangxue, and Master Mingchen improve their cultivation. With their accumulated strength, even Hongxiao and Jiangxue, whose aptitude is not outstanding, have now broken through to the seventh level of the Nine Yin Divine Skill.
Not to mention Master Mingchen, who not only made rapid progress but also had a much more stable eighth level of cultivation than Huang Rong.
As for disaster relief, he only needed to say a few words, and the merit would come naturally.
In this situation, he alone cannot save many people.
What those people truly lack is food and a home to rebuild after the disaster.
···
"Sir, the granary is just ahead!"
Zhang Family Granary!
Located in the heart of the Central Plains, in a sparsely populated mountain range, apart from a single waterway, the surrounding mountain roads are numerous and complex.
Yingxia looked at the granary in front of her, her gaze sharpening. She knew the importance of the Zhang family's granary.
But as an assassin, these were not things she considered.
"How is the defense?"
"The granary was surrounded by two layers of barbed wire, each ten feet high, which separated us from the view of the flat ground by at least twenty feet."
Moreover, besides the dock, there were fifteen arrow towers surrounding the area, each ten zhang tall, guarded by at least four guards patrolling. They offered a panoramic view of the surrounding area, covering a radius of a hundred zhang, and the subordinates even faintly heard numerous dogs barking!
Yingxia frowned. The Zhang family's arrangement was practically at the level of a military fortress.
Taking down this fortress silently is no easy task.
Especially dogs; they are fast and agile, but a dog's sense of smell is no joke.
"Action at night!"
"Yes!"
Meanwhile, in the hidden pavilion atop the granary, Duan Yanqing, who had come in secret, suddenly felt a sense of unease.
This time, Zhang Xiaoshan dispatched two teams of Blood Droplets. One team, led by Xingyin, cooperated with Zhao Longxiang in both overt and covert operations to escort the grain. The other team, led by Duan Yanqing, was secretly hidden inside the granary.
"Third brother, you're on watch tonight!"
"Don't worry, boss. If anyone dares to rob the grain, I'll cut their head off with a pair of scissors."
Duan Yanqing ignored Yue Laosan's boasting and instead meditated to regulate his breathing and maintain his best condition. He felt that tonight might not be simple!
Night is falling!
The lights in the entire granary dimmed. The granary was a restricted area, and fires were prohibited except for an hour after sunset.
Instead, the hunting dogs released their ropes and began guarding and patrolling the granary.
At night, nothing is more alert than a hunting dog.
As for the people inside the grain silos, there were only about two hundred people in total, and this number has remained unchanged for thousands of years for the sake of secrecy.
That is, someone came once during the last grain transport.
Woof! Woof! Woof...
Suddenly, the hunting dogs started barking wildly, and everyone, both inside and outside, immediately turned serious.
Fire Cloud Evil God cursed under his breath; they had just been about to make their move when these hounds spotted them.
They can conceal their form, but they cannot conceal their scent.