This move was quite vicious. He Zifeng’s group had made the greatest contribution during the arrest, and two people in their group had died while three were injured. The remaining ten people had thought they could swagger around for a few days based on their merit, but they hadn’t expected the advisor to give them such a blow.
This news quickly spread among the officers. Why should they earn less than others for doing the same work? The advisor was using others to kill with a borrowed knife – he didn’t need to make big moves, and they would fall apart by themselves.
That very day, two people refused to stay in He Zifeng’s group and wanted to transfer to Old Xing’s side. People die for money – this action was quite normal. It’s just that their swift and decisive transfer didn’t give He Zifeng much face.
He Zifeng becoming a small leader hadn’t changed anything. Over time, everyone really thought he had a gentle temperament. He Zifeng called the remaining eight people over and said: “Perfect. Transferring to someone else’s side, each person can get one more tael of silver. I absolutely won’t delay the brothers’ path to wealth. If anyone wants to leave, they can go.”
The people present looked at each other. Zhou Hao said: “No matter what others do, I’m not leaving!”
Lin Feng also said from the side: “I’m not leaving either.”
These two were usually from wealthy families and didn’t care about that bit of silver at all. They simply wanted to stay with He Zifeng. Although this was their group’s merit, they had clearly benefited from it. On the day of the arrest, it was He Zifeng who had turned the tide.
Bingzi also said: “I’m not going either.” When He Zifeng first came, they were already familiar with each other – this friendship couldn’t be thrown away.
Xie Rui wasn’t leaving either. He had almost become He Zifeng’s shadow, going wherever He Zifeng went.
But the others weren’t necessarily the same. If He Zifeng could smoothly become deputy chief and could look after them, that would be one thing. But now the advisor had given them a difficult problem. Lingshan Village was almost ready to become rebels – how could they obediently pay taxes? Moreover, a bird in the hand was worth two in the bush. Better to transfer groups and get one more tael of silver.
Two more people stood up and said: “Brother He, sorry about this. I have elderly parents above and young children below, depending on this bit of silver to keep the pot boiling.”
He Zifeng nodded. Lin Feng was somewhat indignant and cursed loudly: “For one tael of silver, you don’t care about the friendship between us anymore. Even if you go, what can you do? Other groups have so many people – who would treat you like a person?”
Anyone who could leave at a crucial moment – which leader would dare to rely on them heavily?
Those two said: “I’m not good at fighting. I’m afraid of dragging everyone down in the group.” The meaning was they were afraid of fighting when collecting taxes, and they might end up as cannon fodder.
Lin Feng was about to say more, but He Zifeng stopped him: “Everyone has their own aspirations. This is normal.” Then he let them go.
The departing officers left very quickly, with no reluctance to leave this side at all. Thus their group was left with only six people. Including He Zifeng, that was seven people total – one group was now smaller than other small teams.
The remaining people firmly refused to leave. He Zifeng never extorted money from his subordinates, so their lives had become much easier.
He Zifeng said: “Alright, after we finish collecting taxes, I’ll treat you all to drinks.”
Zhou Hao and Lin Feng were both experts at drinking parties and said: “Great, we won’t go home until we’re drunk.”
Everyone dispersed. Only Xie Rui followed beside He Zifeng, still watching him, afraid he was feeling bad inside.
The news that He Zifeng’s group had four people leave at once quickly spread throughout the county town. After hearing this, the advisor even poured himself a pot of good wine. He had originally admired He Zifeng quite a bit, but that person just happened to be from the county magistrate’s faction. He had no choice but to take action.
He Zifeng at this moment wasn’t as downcast as they thought. Instead, he took Xie Rui to Bingzi’s empty house in the county. Usually no one lived there, and anyone could come rest there.
When they arrived, two people had already been waiting at the door for a long time. These two were Sanshun and Sanshun’s father, who was also the current village chief of Lingshan Village – an elderly man with completely white hair and beard.
After entering the house, the Lingshan Village chief knelt down before him and said: “Thank you, benefactor, for saving our entire village.”
How could He Zifeng let him actually kneel down? He quickly used his hands to pull the man up.
He Zifeng said: “No need for such formalities.” Then he had them take out the things they had brought to show him. There were lifelike lotus lanterns, various miniature paper sculptures, exquisitely painted spirit banners, gold ingots, silver ingots, including houses and horse carts, and bridal sedan chairs.
The Lingshan Village chief quickly introduced them, saying these were made by combining the efforts of their entire village. Fortunately, their village had people skilled at painting and those good with their hands. The most difficult part was coloring – paint was really too expensive. Just one small box cost one tael of silver.
Finally, an elder in their village said that some stones could be used as paint with bright colors. They searched far and wide, found some raw materials, and went to paint merchants to exchange for some medium and low-grade paints. They colored repeatedly, and the process couldn’t allow for any mistakes. Everyone did their best within their abilities.
Even Xie Rui beside them was amazed. What they had made was simply a miniature house. Opening the lid revealed various halls, tables and chairs, small porcelain pieces, stoves, and even screens that were lifelike.
Sanshun was also extremely satisfied with this work and said: “I never knew before that the elders in the village knew so much.” It turned out there were elders in their village who had helped repair wealthy families’ houses, which was why they could restore things in such detail.
They had also come for this matter. The items were made, but they didn’t know if they could be sold. Their hearts were still anxious.
Xie Rui beside them said: “I’ve never seen such realistic things. If I hear of anyone’s family holding ceremonies, I’ll introduce you.”
He Zifeng said: “You should go ask those Taoists who often perform rituals for people. At worst, every time they introduce a business deal, give them some money.”
Those Taoists specialized in doing business with wealthy people, which was certainly better than going door to door. These days, cloth sellers had touts, and opening businesses also had touts – finding a few Taoists wasn’t anything special.
The old village chief of Lingshan Village nodded repeatedly and flattered him from the side: “The officer still thinks thoroughly. We’ve already thought it through. From the money our village earns, after covering costs, half goes to you and half is divided among our entire village.”
After all, he had lived a long time and knew nothing was eternal! He wanted to use interests to bind them together – only this way could it last. Besides, his son being able to get out this time was really thanks to him.
He Zifeng said: “Alright, I can’t just take your half for nothing either. I’ll figure out a way with the Taoists.” Then he called Zhou Hao and Lin Feng over. These two had wide networks and all kinds of friends. The Taoists in their county were all clever swindlers – few had real abilities.
He also told them about Lingshan Village’s new way to make money. From what Lingshan Village would give him, he would take twenty percent, and the remaining thirty percent would be divided among these six brothers.
Zhou Hao and Lin Feng quickly said: “This is easy to handle!” They brought several Taoists to meet with the Lingshan Village chief.
The village chief first showed them the exquisite items made by the village, saying that no matter how much they sold for, they would give them half the profits. The Taoists’ eyes kept lighting up as they listened.
They knew some medical arts, but there was specialization in every field. These handcrafted items could obviously be sold at high prices by the people who could make them.
One fat Taoist said: “Like this, bring all these things with me. I’m about to perform rituals at Zhang Caizhu’s house later.”
When He Zifeng heard this, he also wanted to go see. This fat Taoist was famous for his smooth tongue and had great reputation locally. Those Taoists more skilled than him couldn’t out-earn him.
The Lingshan Village chief repeatedly agreed. Then he found people to notify his little Taoist boys to each carry these items and head to Zhang Caizhu’s house.
Lingshan Village’s items were made so lifelike that people along the way kept looking at them. Several Taoist masters and He Zifeng followed behind to join the excitement. Seeing even they had come, it was definitely something big. Surrounding neighbors also spread the word, and large numbers of people headed to Zhang Caizhu’s house.
Zhang Caizhu’s concubine had gotten pregnant and miscarried some days ago. His main wife said she had been cursed by petty people, or had offended some heavenly gods and Buddhas, and told him to go break the disaster.
This kind of thing was clearly inner courtyard secrets when you heard it, but this fat Taoist loved taking on such jobs – they were easy to do and profitable.
When Zhang Caizhu heard the noisy sounds outside, he sent his steward to open the door. As soon as the door opened and he saw this group of people outside, he was stunned – this was half a street’s worth of people coming over.
Zhang Caizhu was someone who loved organizing events and excitement. Even when he had set up opera stages at his door before, he hadn’t seen so many people come. He held the fat Taoist in solemn respect, repeatedly using the highest courtesies to invite him to perform rituals.
Hearing that the other Taoists and He Zifeng and the others had come to watch, he invited them in too. Several familiar neighbors also followed into the house. A bustling crowd of more than twenty people was welcomed in. The main wife who was organizing this matter hadn’t expected such a grand scene either.
They watched the fat Taoist set up a platform, sometimes spitting fire, sometimes spraying water. Finally, he made a passage of scripture appear on a yellow talisman. The fat Taoist spoke mysteriously: “Your daughter was originally the Jade Rabbit of Chang’e on the moon, who privately descended to the mortal world. If she could have given birth, your family wealth would have flourished. Unfortunately, Chang’e discovered this midway and called the Jade Rabbit back. But if you burn more rare earthly things to attract the little Jade Rabbit, maybe when it’s in a good mood, it will run to your house again.”
Then he introduced the paper items: horse cart for two taels of silver, bridal sedan chair for five taels of silver, large mansion for ten taels of silver, and so on.
The Lingshan Village chief and Sanshun were mixed among them. Hearing him quote these prices, their hearts were pounding wildly. He dared to ask for so much! They were afraid of making Zhang Caizhu angry and having him send people to beat them out.
Ten taels of silver for paper items? That was enough to build a real house.
Who knew Zhang Caizhu would say: “I’ll take all of these.” While burning the items, he kept saying: “Little bunny, I’m daddy…”
He Zifeng didn’t know how rich people thought. But looking at the surrounding neighbors, they looked at Zhang Caizhu with envious faces and whispered: “This paper craft is so exquisite. If we secretly burn a little, could we attract the little Jade Rabbit to our house?”
Who knows which sentence reached Zhang Caizhu’s ears, but he got even more excited: “Taoist master, I want to burn two sets.”
The fat Taoist was so happy his teeth showed but not his eyes: “Two sets are good – they come in pairs!”
When Zhang Caizhu heard this, he was even more delighted.
R : this is so interesting !
