Chapter 908 - 753: Deserters

Outside Guangling County, Chen Ji was leading Zhaolei along the official road. Old Ears somehow managed to steal a little donkey and was leisurely riding it, with a Wu Yun perched on his head, napping with folded hands.

Yuan Xing and the others followed behind, looking around. The fields on both sides of the road had just been tilled; the farmers had already switched to spring attire, planting early rice with their bare legs in the paddy fields.

Yuan Xi couldn’t help but exclaim, "The Ning Dynasty’s Jiangnan can start sowing in March? In Siping County, we don’t begin farming until April or May. Right now, farmers are holed up at home repairing tools and stacking manure!"

Yuan Xing glared at him and reminded, "Lower your voice, wouldn’t you prefer people not know we’re from the Jing Dynasty?"

"I know, I know. Isn’t there nobody nearby?" Yuan Xi squatted at the edge of the field and loudly asked a farmer in the distance, "Old man, what kind of yield do you get per mu from your rice?"

The old farmer, inserting seedlings, didn’t even raise his head: "Four hundred catties? In good years, it can be up to four hundred and fifty, in bad years, you might get nothing at all. It all depends on whether the heavens bless us."

Jiang Chai was stunned for a moment, then turned to Yuan Xi in a low voice, "Four hundred and fifty catties? In Hou’an County, we only get one hundred seventy catties per mu! If this Jiangnan were annexed into our Jing Dynasty territory, what a fortune that would be!"

"If the Jing Dynasty had this much grain, how could we worry about unifying the two dynasties?"

"The Ning Dynasty is wasting heaven’s fortune!"

Yuan Xi, Li Si, Zhou Chang, and Jiang Chai whispered among themselves, their eyes rekindling with the ambition to march south.

Chen Ji looked back at them: "Keep up."

Yuan Xi looked up: "Coming, coming!"

The group exchanged glances along the way, with just a look, Yuan Xi and Li Si moved to the front to block Chen Ji’s view, while Zhou Chang fell to the back with Jiang Chai. Zhou Chang straightened his back as Jiang Chai pulled a charcoal pencil from his sleeve and secretly drew a map on Zhou Chang’s back.

With just a charcoal pencil and rough memory, Jiang Chai managed to draw the terrain they had seen since landing with remarkable accuracy.

However, as he was drawing, Yuan Xing suddenly appeared beside them and tore Zhou Chang’s collar, ripping the newly drawn map right off, leaving Zhou Chang’s clothes torn into a backless outfit.

Jiang Chai looked at Zhou Chang’s bare back, then at Yuan Xing: "You damn..."

Yuan Xing shredded the map into pieces: "Are you all crazy, thinking you could draw a map and still make it back alive?"

Jiang Chai gritted his teeth and said, "Do you have any idea how many people could be fed if our Jing Dynasty had such bountiful land? When our Jing Dynasty marches south, this map will be crucial, even if we die, this map..."

Yuan Xing lifted an eyebrow: "You’re just a penniless minor noble, a cannon fodder, what does this have to do with you?"

Jiang Chai was at a loss.

Yuan Xing patted his shoulder, speaking earnestly: "Follow foster father earnestly, stop having those mischievous thoughts, you’ll realize it’s for your own good."

Yuan Xi sneered: "I think you just recognize rebels as fathers, Yuan Xing, we were blind to have misjudged you back then!"

Yuan Xing looked to the sky and lamented, "You truly don’t understand me."

At this moment, Chen Ji looked back and said coldly, "Keep up."

Yuan Xing grabbed Yuan Xi and the others, jogging over: "Coming, coming!"

...

...

Chen Ji stopped outside Guangling County, observing the county from a distance: The small county was surrounded by blue brick walls a zhang high, with over a dozen county soldiers guarding the gate, lazily unconcerned with checking the passing folk.

Many people were driving ox carts or pushing wheelbarrows past, even such a small county next to Jinling was bustling with people.

Upon entering the city, folks instinctively tossed a few Copper Coins into baskets beside the county soldiers as a tax, quickly filling them up.

Chen Ji turned to look at Old Ears: "Have you ever been to Jiangnan?"

Old Ears, sitting on the donkey, cleaned his ears: "Just ask directly what you want to know."

Chen Ji pointed at the city gate: "Entering the Imperial Capital requires taxes based on cargo value. Why don’t they check cargo value in Jiangnan cities?"

Old Ears replied slowly: "They say Suzhou is rich, the world is sufficient, the wealth of Jiangnan is unimaginable to you. Even this small county has tens of thousands crossing daily, checking each one would take forever. The Imperial Capital has enough manpower to check everyone, but a small county can’t possibly manage that."

Old Ears continued: "Furthermore, Jiangnan’s gentry are very clever. Taxing people entering the city pays the court, leaving them without a cent. They simply turn a blind eye, letting people pay less tax when entering. They have their ways of extracting money elsewhere. For instance, they sell looms at a high price to weavers, and seeds at a high price to farmers. This money truly goes into their pockets, leaving the populace barely able to make ends meet, forcing them to sell off their land bit by bit."

Chen Ji nodded, leading Zhaolei towards the city.

But he didn’t enter, instead examining the notices for wanted posters featuring his sea arrest warrant: none.

Chen Ji turned away without any intention of spending the night in the city.

Yuan Xing followed him, puzzled: "Foster father, are we not entering the city? You are a Viscount Wu Xiang, bestowed by the Emperor of Ning Dynasty; entering the city, the County Magistrate would surely give you a good reception. Why endure hardships outside?"

Chen Ji did not answer.

Old Ears chuckled and waved his sleeve at Yuan Xing: "Stay away, I have something to say to your adopted father."

Yuan Xing fawningly said, "Alright, you two chat."

When they were at a distance, Old Ears, riding on a donkey, said gleefully, "Without a sea arrest warrant, it means your fake death has fooled the Jiefan Guard Li Dongyan. But your fake death, to put it lightly, was out of necessity; to put it heavily, it was deceiving the Emperor. The Emperor of the Ning Dynasty conferred upon you the title of Marquis Wu Xiang posthumously. If you weren’t dead, you would never have gotten a noble title. If you now ’come back to life,’ it would put the Emperor in an awkward position."

Chen Ji calmly said, "I killed over a hundred enemies in the Jing Dynasty. If I hand over people like Yuan Xing to the court, I can naturally make amends and get titled."

Old Ears suddenly said meaningfully, "Do you know why the Sword Seed Inheritor hides away in the Temple of Martial Arts on Changbai Mountain? It’s the only official gateway that can break the emperor’s fate in the world. If the Temple weren’t strong, how could the emperors tolerate this path?"

Chen Ji frowned slightly.

Old Ears looked at the distant field ridge and leisurely said, "The Temple of Martial Arts has an unwritten rule: before every Mountain Master steps into the Divine Realm, they must travel the world anonymously. It’s not to guard against others, but to guard against the two dynasties’ courts. The human heart is hard to predict."

Chen Ji lightly sighed, "Are you advising me not to ’come back to life’ before reaching the Divine Realm?"

Old Ears smiled, "The old man is just laying out the pros and cons for you. How to act is your choice... Haven’t you already made a choice? It’s not just what I’ve said; if your relationship with Lu Jin is exposed, would the Ning Dynasty court still trust you?"

Chen Ji remained calm, "The day Lu Jin sought me out, weren’t you in the latrine? How do you know about my relationship with Lu Jin?"

Old Ears deflected, "Ah, it’s nice weather today. In a few days, it’ll be the rainy season, right?"

Just then, over two hundred local soldiers ran out from Guangling County, led by a man on a warhorse, followed by infantry in tattered cloth armor.

Chen Ji calmly led Zhaolei to the side of the official road. The man on the warhorse galloped past but turned his horse back after a few steps, scrutinizing Chen Ji and his group.

Yuan Xing quietly asked, "Adopted father, who are these people?"

Chen Ji calmly said, "Don’t move."

This group didn’t even have a military flag; the leader didn’t wear armor, and for a moment, Chen Ji couldn’t decipher their origins.

In the next moment, the leader waved his hand, "Surround them!"

The infantry drew rusty waist knives and encircled Chen Ji and his six companions. Zhaolei pawed the ground excitedly, and Wu Yun stood up from Old Ears’ head.

Chen Ji cupped his hands at the leader, "Lord, we are simply nearby villagers. May I ask why you surround us?"

The leader rode up to him and sneered, "Villagers? I doubt it."

Chen Ji maintained his composure, "Lord, have you possibly mistaken us for someone else?"

The leader raised his whip, pointing at Yuan Xing, "Check his hands!"

Several infantry moved towards Yuan Xing. Just as Yuan Xing was about to fight his way out, he heard Chen Ji softly say, "Don’t move."

Yuan Xing held back while an old soldier grabbed his right hand, rubbing the palm and thumb web carefully, "Second Lord, his thumb web and palm have calluses, indicating long-time weapon use!"

Chen Ji cupped his hands again, "Lord, we are tenants. Naturally, swinging a hoe for years would develop calluses."

The leader sneered again, "Check his left hand!"

The old soldier grabbed Yuan Xing’s left hand and rubbed, "Thick calluses on the right hand, thin on the left, not a farmer’s work."

Chen Ji sighed in his heart. Just as he was about to break through, he heard the leader ask condescendingly, "From which group did you desert? Zhang Lao Liu or Marshal Lv?"

Chen Ji and the others were taken aback.

The leader saw their silence and mocked, "You all look like you’ve been soldiers and seen blood. Did you think you could fool my sharp eyes? Do you know that once you’re deserters, your families and village chiefs will be implicated?"

Chen Ji and Old Ears exchanged glances.

Old Ears pointed at his nose, incredulous, "Lord, do I look like a soldier at my age?"

The leader sneered for a third time, signaling six or seven old soldiers to come over, "Are you older than them?"

Old Ears fixed his gaze and was shocked to see the old soldiers summoned all had almost white hair, looking older than him yet still shakily holding their weapons.

Old Ears had no response, "Where did you find these treasures?"

...

There will be another update tonight, everyone can read it tomorrow morning.