Chapter 175 : Chapter 175
Chapter 175: I Did Not Know My Lord Loved the People Like His Own Children. I Truly Should Not Have Done This!
Jingmen Circuit.
Cheng Yu and the others rode at full speed, and very soon, they had completely bid farewell to the land of Jiangnan.
The scenery around them changed from gentle mountains and interwoven rivers into the boundless plains of Great Qian’s heartland.
The official road became increasingly straight, and the farmland on both sides was arranged neatly like chess pieces.
This place belonged to the territory controlled by the Army-Breaking Sect, one of the Nine Great Sects.
There were far more commoners traveling along the road than in Jiannan Circuit, and the number of martial artists had also increased considerably.
Their overall strength was also a level higher.
This was because the martial artists and forces of Jiannan Circuit openly and secretly fought among themselves, leaving the common people caught in the middle and living extremely unstable lives.
The population there was smaller and weaker.
But in the central region of Great Qian, no one could contend with the Army-Breaking Sect.
Although the common people were still pressed down by martial artists, their lives were at least relatively stable.
The population therefore developed more quickly.
Riding on horseback, Cheng Yu took all these differences into account.
Just like the northern lands where the River-Severing Sect was located, Jingmen Circuit was within the sphere of control of a super sect.
The common people there lived somewhat better than those in other places.
These were also the things that people from the Nine Great Sects took pride in and boasted of as their virtues.
Almost no one dared provoke a super sect.
At the very least, the common people did not have to face constant back-and-forth struggles and slaughter. Surviving was relatively easier.
But Cheng Yu also discovered something.
Whether in terms of the numbness on their faces or the degree of their poverty, the common people in these places could not be called “well off” in the slightest.
In truth, with the Army-Breaking Sect above them like a local emperor, they were destined from birth to become nourishment.
As far as Cheng Yu knew, in order to maintain a superficially stable relationship with the Great Qian Court, the major sects would not obstruct the court from collecting taxes.
After all, if there were natural or man-made disasters, Great Qian still had to spend money and effort to shoulder responsibility.
As for the Jianghu forces, their method was very simple.
By borrowing the hands of landlords and wealthy gentry, resources, money, and grain would forever be delivered to them in a steady stream.
They only needed to focus on cultivating the Martial Dao and acting chivalrously.
As for the common people, no one cared about them.
For no apparent reason, they had to pay two sets of taxes, one to the Jianghu and one to the court. If they encountered any natural disaster or calamity, they would be starved to death alive.
Great Qian was too busy looking after itself, so its control over these matters was limited.
As for the Jianghu, no one cared. When a great disaster occurred, they would take out a tiny portion of the people’s wealth they had scraped away and return it.
Then they would receive gratitude and praise.
They would be called great heroes and righteous men.
When bloodsuckers called themselves saviors, why would they care about the oxen and horses being drained?
The minority of martial forces that did not compete with the people for profit were equivalent to cutting off their own hands and feet.
Very soon, they would be eliminated.
The martial forces that were better at sucking the people’s blood could survive longer and grow stronger.
Once one family alone became dominant, everything would completely turn into stagnant water. Generation after generation of commoners would support martial artists who did not engage in production.
Cheng Yu looked over.
Countless commoners, old and young, labored in vast fields, yet they were sallow and thin, their clothes tattered.
The golden wheat ears had little to do with them.
At that moment, hysterical cries suddenly rang out. A large group of commoners in ragged clothes ran over from the other side of the official road.
Their expressions were incomparably terrified, as though they were fleeing for their lives.
“Whoa! Stop for a moment.”
Cheng Yu ordered the Jinyiwei to stop their horses and looked toward the people running toward them.
“Look! The Jinyiwei lords are up ahead! Hurry and ask them to save us!”
Someone in the crowd saw rescuers and excitedly broke into a run toward Cheng Yu and the others.
“My lord, save us! Someone wants to kill us!”
The person running at the very front saw at a glance that Cheng Yu was the leader among the Jinyiwei. He hurriedly knelt on the ground.
With snot and tears streaming down his face, he kowtowed and begged for his life.
The others quickly followed and knelt as well. Their faces were tense and frightened, and from time to time, they looked back along the road they had come from.
“What happened to you?”
The Jinyiwei dismounted and helped the ordinary people kneeling before them to their feet.
This was the rule Lord Cheng had taught them.
Being fierce and proud toward martial artists, yet gentle toward ordinary people, was the identity and bearing of the Jinyiwei.
“My lord, there are martial artists chasing us to kill us!”
These people hysterically accused others while recounting their miserable experiences.
They were a group of homeless refugees. In order to survive, they had no choice but to become road-robbing bandits.
In the end, they had accidentally robbed a tough martial artist. Their lair had been destroyed, and they had been chased all the way here.
When the Jinyiwei heard this, they immediately withdrew the hands they had used to help them up. Their expressions turned cold.
A group of bandits!
They had thought these were good people!
When the fleeing people saw the Jinyiwei react like this, their hearts immediately went cold, and their expressions became incomparably sorrowful.
Among them, someone began crying loudly.
“We did not want to become bandits either! Three years ago, there was a great drought, and the fields yielded nothing. In order to survive, we had no choice but to leave our homes and flee here. We had no fields, and only then were we forced to become outlaws!”
As soon as these words came out, the expressions of the Jinyiwei immediately changed.
The great drought three years ago!
One had to know that there was not much grain stored in Great Qian’s granaries either. When a natural disaster was too large in scale, they could only transfer grain for disaster relief, and the result was that the disaster area would be artificially expanded.
Among the common people, there were no small number whose families had been ruined and whose loved ones had died because of this.
The court was not a benevolent person either. When it truly reached the point where forced requisition was needed, it would not be soft-hearted in the slightest.
If they could afford to pay protection money to the Jianghu forces, how could they be unable to pay what the state required?
They were courting death!
There were indeed many people who had no choice but to become refugees, or even become outlaws.
The identity of the Jinyiwei represented the Great Qian Emperor and the highest symbol of the Great Qian Court.
When they encountered vicious bandits who relied on their martial strength to rob roads for a living, they could simply kill them.
But when they encountered bandits who had been transformed from refugees, that made things difficult.
The Jinyiwei could only look toward Cheng Yu.
This matter could only be decided by their lord.
“My lord, these people?”
Cheng Yu did not dismount. He raised his brows and examined the appearance of this group of people, revealing a slightly puzzled expression.
In the end, he merely shook his head.
“There is no hurry. Wait until those chasing them arrive.”
“Yes!”
The Jinyiwei accepted the order, kept their distance from the refugees, and stared at the road ahead.
Very soon, several powerful auras appeared, coming from the far end of the road.
“You bandit thieves, die!”
This was a group of fairly strong martial artists.
The person in the lead had an extraordinary aura. He came charging with a great halberd in hand and was just about to attack.
An invisible saber light swept out and blocked his strike.
“Who are you? How dare you act against me in the territory of the Army-Breaking Sect!”
Cheng Yu crossed his arms before his chest, his expression cold. “Jinyiwei, Cheng Yu.”
“Cheng Yu?”
The other party’s expression immediately froze, and shock and fear appeared on his face. He hurriedly withdrew his aura.
Cupping his fists, he said, “So it is Lord Cheng of the Jinyiwei. I have long heard of your great name. It resounds like thunder in my ears. I am Feng Yun of the Army-Breaking Sect.”
Cheng Yu nodded to Feng Yun and assessed his strength.
He was roughly at the level of the Late Seventh Rank.
Cheng Yu pointed at the group of refugees. “You were chasing these people?”
Feng Yun revealed a nervous expression and nodded.
“These people were robbing homes and travelers in the territory of my Army-Breaking Sect. As sect members, we naturally had to clean up this scourge...”
He was only halfway through speaking when a martial artist beside him suddenly whispered into his ear.
After Feng Yun finished listening, his expression immediately changed.
“I did not know that my lord loved the people like his own children. I truly should not have done this! We shall withdraw at once!”
As soon as he finished speaking, he hurriedly left without giving the Jinyiwei any chance to react.