Yinshan Record

Chapter 335 Seeking Land and Inquiring about Housing to Support Bandits and Respect Oneself
Su Che held the small iron coin in his hand, and there was a faint, inexplicable power emanating from it.

Incense offerings and other miscellaneous money are not rare things; many ill-formed demons like to use this method to collect wish power.

To replenish the national treasury, the current emperor changed copper coins to iron coins, claiming that "the national treasury is sufficient without increasing taxes."

Su San Gongzi wasn't sure if the imperial court had enough money, since he didn't have to worry about the emperor's messy accounts.

However, the trouble caused by these worthless iron coins is everywhere.

Su Che gently weighed the iron coin in his hand and then set it aside.

"You're saying Sikong Tu is collecting this?"

"After the great disaster, plagues raged. Sikong Tu ordered his sorcerers to use talisman water to cure the people in various places, charging each person only one coin."

"Before drinking the talisman water, the sorcerers would have the people each hold a coin and pray according to their rituals, then throw it into a wooden bucket. I don't know what the sorcerers' intentions are in collecting these coins. I think this matter is of great importance. Given the current state of the people, I'm afraid that the slightest carelessness could lead to chaos."

A single copper coin is nothing. Although the state of Daliang is declining year by year, every household can still afford to take out a hundred or so copper coins.

"A single coin can cure an illness," Su Che suddenly recalled a line from a movie in his past life. He couldn't believe that the sorcerers under Sikong Tu's command were so vicious; they actually treated the common people.

However, they didn't just collect a single coin.

Those coins still bear traces of the people's wishes.

The power of will is a very mysterious thing, and cultivators of the Xuanmen sect generally do not want to get involved with it. Some more extreme Xuanmen sects even regard it as a snake or scorpion.

Aside from Shintoism, which is based on the power of vows, only high-ranking monks in Buddhism would use methods based on the power of vows.

What is Sikong Tu thinking? Does he want to become a god?
Su Che looked at Zhu Yi and asked, "Is this matter far-reaching?"

"I don't know about other places, but it can be seen everywhere in Cizhou, even near the city, people can be seen drinking talisman water."

Su Che tapped the table lightly.

Sikong Tu has quite the appetite; he actually wants to swallow the entire Cizhou whole.

He, a mere fifth-grade Golden Core cultivator, could never accomplish such a momentous task; there must be someone else behind him.

But who's behind this is something to ponder.

"Did Sikong Tu dig a huge pit in Wenning County?"

"Yes, his ghost soldiers dug many pits in the wasteland outside Wenning County to keep the newly dead corpses from neighboring counties warm inside."

"it is good."

Young Master Su looked at Zhu Yi and said, "You must have had a long journey."

"Serving the young master is my duty."

"There's no such thing as being dutiful or not."

Su Che opened a wooden box on the table, took out two pieces of paper from it, and placed them on the table.

"You and Lao Lu have worked hard with me these past few days. I'm afraid there are many complaints at home. I'll leave you some family heirlooms to give to your wives when you get back, so they won't complain about me behind my back."

Lu Bai and Zhu Yi stepped forward and saw that they were two stacks of land deeds.

“During the disaster, my family acquired some adjacent paddy fields in Tianan County. You two will each receive 900 mu, so that our future generations can be neighbors.”

Nine hundred acres of fertile land?
Lu Bai and Zhu Yi were both imperial guards who had been sent down through generations. Although their families could not be called wealthy, they were still quite well-off.

But the total amount of land under his name wouldn't even be more than nine hundred acres.

"Young master, this, this is absolutely unacceptable..."

Lu Bai quickly refused.

Nine hundred acres of fertile land—this number is not unimaginable to them, but it is indeed an unexpected windfall.

“Old Lu, you’ve been with me the longest, so I should give you more.”

"Young master, we absolutely did not mean that..."

Lu Bai panicked for a moment. He really didn't have any idea about seniority, but the fact that these nine hundred acres of fertile land had quietly fallen into his hands made him quite uneasy.

"It's just to supplement the family income. What can the two sums of money given by the court do?" Su Che smiled and looked at the two of them. "With nine hundred acres of fertile land to rely on, wouldn't you two be a little more powerful if you discussed taking a concubine with your sister-in-law?"

Zhu Yi laughed heartily, then picked up the land deeds with both hands and put them into his robes.

He had the shortest time with Su Che, so he was the least burdened by it.

Consider it a settlement allowance from Young Master Su.

"In that case, Old Zhu will accept it."

Lu Bai glanced at Su Che and accepted the land deed as well.

Su Che, however, didn't care at all.

During that major disaster, nearly a quarter of the farmland in Tian'an County fell into Su Che's hands. Although the land was registered under the name of Weiguo Central Bank, it was all the private property of the Third Young Master Su.

Giving a few acres of land to the people below is just a convenient thing to do these days.

Su Che took a sip of hot tea, looking at the overjoyed Lu Bai and Zhu Yi, but his mind was elsewhere.

Within a three-inch heart reside three thousand great principles.

Greed is a universal human trait. Lu Bai and Zhu Yi liked it, and so did the original owners of these lands.

But with this back and forth, naturally some people gain and some people lose.

This is the common practice in the world, but if someone is too greedy and not only wants to be full, but also wants to be stuffed, leaving others with nothing to eat.

Then don't wish others would want your life.

Cizhou is about to descend into chaos.

Su Che was naturally able to sense it.

However, Su Che did not want to interrupt Sikong Tu's plan at the moment.

At this moment, Sikong Tu can be considered an unseen partner of Young Master Su.

Su Che wanted to incite Sikong Tu to cause trouble, to make the chaotic court in Jiankang taste the bitter fruit of its own actions, and to give the people who had been exploited to the point of having nothing a chance to vent their anger.

Moreover, if things were to change in Cizhou at this moment, the situation would become even more interesting.

At least the matter of the disappearance of the Prince of Wuling will probably have to be put on hold for now.

Su Che couldn't help but smile as he thought about it.

"You two should go home and rest for a while, then come back to me tomorrow. Don't go to the government office for the next few days. We still need to discuss the matter of the Prince of Wuling carefully."

"We will obey your orders, young master."

"What can I do to you? Just tell me the truth."

Su Che smiled slightly: "If anyone else asks about this matter, you can pretend you don't know. But if the court sends someone to interrogate you, you should tell the truth."

"Tell me the truth?"

Lu Bai and Zhu Yi exchanged a glance and said in unison that they could not agree.

Zhu Yi was even more audacious, stating bluntly that this matter must never be told to the court in the true manner.

Just kidding, Zhu Yi felt that if he agreed to tell the truth now, he probably wouldn't be able to leave the Su residence today.

"it's not a big deal."

Su Che comforted the two, who were quite excited, "Go back and recuperate first. I'm sure it won't be long before we have something big to do."

"What do you mean, Master?"

Lu Bai looked at Su Che.

"If Sikong Tu were to rebel tonight, who could our Chief Secretary Wang rely on? And who would the Great Liang court depend on?"

(End of this chapter)