Chapter 613 - 448: Follow Me for a Good Meal

"What else can we do? We can’t survive anymore." In response to Zheng Yi’s question, Zhou Shitou answered without hesitation.

Just after he finished speaking, he was stunned himself.

The rebels were rising because they couldn’t survive any longer. How much better could the situation in Riverbend Village be?

Zheng Yi knew he was thinking of Riverbend Village and immediately said, "Brother Zhou, you’re the village chief of our Riverbend Village, you should be more familiar with the situation here than I am, right?"

"As far as I know, over twenty years ago, our Riverbend Village had forty-five households, but in just over twenty years, how many are left?"

"Despite the mining disaster and the reduction of able-bodied workers, those greedy Zhao Family folks have no intention of reducing the quotas."

"To fulfill the Zhao Family’s quotas, you’ve done how many things over the years? I’m afraid not many people know, right."

"If this continues, I’m afraid in less than thirty or fifty years, Riverbend Village will no longer exist in this world, right?"

"Enough!" Zhou Shitou suddenly stood up and shouted angrily.

Seeing him like this, Zheng Yi knew he had hit the nail on the head. Zhou Shitou probably thought about this himself in the dead of night.

Given the importance of his grand plan, it wasn’t the right time to keep provoking Zhou Shitou.

Zheng Yi smiled reassuringly and said, "Brother Zhou, I’m not necessarily saying we have to do something."

"I just feel that the people of Riverbend Village shouldn’t continue to live such hard lives."

As he spoke, he pointed to the leftover chicken bones and the modified mining pickaxe nearby.

"I have the capability to allow the people of Riverbend Village to live good lives."

"Even if not rich and powerful, there’s absolutely no problem with having enough to eat and wear."

Talking with someone like Zhou Shitou, things don’t need to be spelled out too clearly. It’s best to let them figure out the stakes themselves.

"Oh, Brother Zhou, we also made some extra food. Take it back for your family to try later."

Zhou Shitou’s response was much faster than Zheng Yi had anticipated.

Zheng Yi originally thought this guy would be troubled for a long time. After all, he was a native of the Cangyan Realm, raised under the Zhao Family’s rule.

Making such a decision wouldn’t be so easy.

Zhou Shitou was just a minor village chief, which might not seem like much.

But Zheng Yi was also aware that going from one to ten is far simpler than going from zero to one.

And for this first step, one needs a person with enough influence to help lead the way.

Zhou Shitou was that person.

Over the past few days, Zheng Yi had secretly talked to many people, whether they were from Riverbend Village or nearby villages.

Mentioning Zhou Shitou, hardly anyone said anything bad about him.

That alone was already quite remarkable.

Although he only interacted with ordinary grassroots folks,

Zheng Yi could confirm through them that the entire Cangyan Continent had long been a powder keg.

All it needed was a sufficient fuse to ignite an explosion.

Even though what these villagers could talk about was merely local affairs, Zheng Yi hardly heard any words about grassroots governance.

For example, about building roads, constructing waterways, or even adding or reducing taxes.

These are means of governing a country, whether beneficial or detrimental to the local people.

Many times, even if it’s not good news for the people, it’s the ruling class trying to do their part.

But there was nothing...

It wasn’t only the commoners who didn’t know; when Zheng Yi took the opportunity of delivering Fire Rock Ore to chat with Zhou Qing, even he was clueless about such matters.

In their eyes, there was only one matter, which was collecting Fire Rock Ore as much as possible, nothing else.

What Zheng Yi heard most about elsewhere was where another rebellion broke out and what happened there.

Of course, not a single rebellion ended well.

Just like the Canglan Realm, the Cangyan Realm was a world of cultivators. The gap between cultivators and ordinary people is insurmountable.

The Zhao Family wouldn’t even need to spend significant resources to dispatch an army; often, just a few cultivators could directly quell the rebels.

In the face of such despairing combat power disparity, it’s alarming how many would still rise in rebellion in the Cangyan Realm.

If Zheng Yi hadn’t grasped this information, he wouldn’t act rashly.

"Younger Brother Zheng... no... Lord! Please accept my salute." Deep in the mine, Zhou Tong suddenly knelt down and respectfully kowtowed three times to Zheng Yi.

"As long as you can let the people of Riverbend Village live good lives, my life as European Shitou is yours from now on. No matter what you order, I, Zhou Shitou, will not even frown."

Zheng Yi didn’t move and directly accepted Zhou Shitou’s salute.

This concerned future narratives; it wasn’t the time for polite humility.

"Shitou! In a while, find a few trustworthy people. Give these mining pickaxes to them. Their only task is to fulfill Riverbend Village’s quotas."

"Other aspects don’t matter, but remember, the people must be reliable, and their lips must be sealed."

"Understood." Zhou Shitou responded, and in no time, brought over four young men.

Several of them appeared puzzled.