Zhenfubao waved his hand and the warehouse was full of grain, and the whole family regretted it

The man took them directly to the warehouse at the back and said, "The slaves here are not cheap. Come in and take a look! If you find any suitable ones, take a few away."

The manager reached out and pushed open the heavy and old warehouse door, and a stale smell hit him in the face.

Looking around, rows of cages are neatly arranged, extending from the entrance to the depths of the warehouse, with no end in sight. A rough estimate is that there are probably tens of thousands of them.

These cages were made of ironwood, each railing was as thick as a forearm and covered with rust.

The outside of the cage was uniformly covered with black coarse cloth. The cloth was thick and worn, emitting a pungent musty smell, and tightly concealing the inside of the cage.

The steward smiled and said, "I have all kinds of people here, even former important officials of the imperial court. Whatever you want, just tell me."

Master Bai shuddered and asked, "Are all the important officials in the court present?"

The steward sighed and said:

"What do you think those important officials of the imperial court are? They are just official positions. Once they lose their official positions, they are nothing.

The key is that these people rely on their status and think they can do whatever they want.

Someone, open all the cages over there."

With a rustling sound, someone pulled back the black cloth covering the cage. In an instant, dim light poured in, illuminating the scene inside the cage.

Everyone inside looked disheveled, with messy hair and faces covered in dirt and fear.

Their eyes were tightly covered with black cloth. Even when the cloth was removed, they just huddled together and dared not move at all.

The steward stood aside, his hands behind his back, a meaningful smile on his face, and he slowly said:

“What you may not know is that these people were once officials.

Back then, they were also majestic in the court, wearing official robes and surrounded by people. Those were glorious days.

But now, times have passed, things have changed, and they have ended up in this situation.

Some of them were involved in the court's factional disputes, stood on the wrong side, and were suppressed and framed by political enemies.

Some of them accidentally offended the powerful while serving as officials and were plotted against.

What's so good about being an official? It's not as good as being an ordinary person with such a free and easy life."

Master Bai coughed and said, "Remove all their black cloths!"

The manager immediately ordered people to remove their black cloths. Li Dongyang, Master Bai and Wang Fa all widened their eyes.

Aren’t all these damn people their colleagues?

Master Bai coughed lightly, breaking the brief silence, and asked, "How much are these slaves worth?"

The steward raised his lips in a cunning arc, and his eyes swept over the thirty or so figures who had once served in the court. A subtle scorn flashed in his eyes:

“Although they used to be officials, now they can’t even carry things on their shoulders or lift them with their hands. Buying them is like inviting a bunch of rich men home.

So the price isn't that expensive, just three hundred taels of silver each and you can take it away."

As the steward spoke, he reached out and patted the cage beside him, making a dull sound that startled the person in the cage and made them tremble again.

"Think about the past, how majestic they were in the court.

During the morning court every day, they exchanged greetings and calculated power and interests.

But now, it has fallen into a state where it can be bought and sold at will."

There was a hint of sarcasm in the steward's tone, as if he was enjoying the pleasure brought by this reversal of status.

The three of them looked at each other, a hint of hesitation flashing in their eyes. Seeing this, the steward continued to tempt:

"The price is really not high. Once you buy them back, you can do whatever you want with them.

Weren't they the masters before? Now it's your turn to stand on top, let them serve you, and have a taste of what it's like to be a master."

"Why would I spend 300 taels of silver to buy a bunch of old men to take back? Are I looking for trouble?" Master Bai quickly shook his head.

When those people heard Master Bai's voice, they all raised their heads and then fell silent.

"That's...that's true. As the saying goes, a lean camel is bigger than a horse.

Although they no longer have the power they once had, these people have been educated and can read and write, and have some talent and knowledge.

If you buy it and train it properly, it might be useful, like helping with paperwork or teaching children to read and write. It's definitely worth something." The manager continued his sales pitch.

It’s really because these old guys are too troublesome. Some of them are over 50 years old. It would not be worth it if they died here.

300 taels of silver was indeed quite high. Xiao Sun glared at him and said, "How many do you plan to buy? If you buy more, we can give you a discount. I can decide that."

"Then buy them all! I just like to humiliate them." Master Bai stroked his beard and said complacently.

"All? I'll give you a discount. 200 taels..."

"200 taels, there are 31 of them, that's 6200 taels, it's still a bit expensive! Just erase the 200 taels!" Master Bai said lightly.

"Okay, 6000 taels is fine!"

Master Bai sighed and said:

"My father was killed by officials, so I hate officials very much.

After I buy them back, I will severely humiliate them and let them taste my power."

The steward laughed:

“In addition to these, we also have some soldiers, would you like to take them?

Those people are also very powerful, with excellent kung fu skills, and some are even at the level of generals."

"Huh? You dare to attack the general?"

"They are not generals, but some junior generals. You will know when you see them." The manager asked someone to open the other black curtains.

There are more than a hundred people here, their faces covered with wounds. Among them, several young generals are particularly eye-catching. They used to be heroes who were full of vigor and bravely killed the enemy on the battlefield, but now they have become prisoners.

A young general with a haggard face, who looked to be no more than a young man of twenty years, should have been in the prime of his life, dressed in fine clothes and riding a horse.

But now he was in tattered clothes, with shocking wounds exposed under his broken armor.

Some of the wounds had already festered, emitting a foul odor, with the skin and flesh turned inside out, a horrible sight.

He slumped in the corner of the cage, his hands on his knees, his body shaking constantly, and muttering something to himself.

The steward strode over and shouted in a hoarse voice:

“Gentlemen, you can rest assured about the origins of these slaves!

They were all rebels and deserters. We took a lot of effort to catch them. This was approved by our superiors.

Everything is in accordance with the rules, and we all have slave certificates issued by the government, with complete documents and no falsehood."

As he spoke, he took out a number of documents from his pocket and waved them in front of everyone.

A roar came from an iron cage: "We are not rebels!"