Chapter 116: Restoration of Order

1: A large number of constables and head constables are to be recruited to maintain order. Those with a clean record and martial ability will be preferred, but ordinary people may also participate.
2: Constables from Yanggu County prior to entering the city are not allowed to join this recruitment.
3: The Black Wolf Gang and members of the Fragrance Society have been a menace to the people. Any remnants discovered must be executed without mercy. Those who report information will be handsomely rewarded.

Within Yanggu County, all former constables are barred from reentering the county government offices, effectively eliminating certain hidden threats and breaking up entrenched interest groups. This paves the way for the new county magistrate to carry out his duties more effectively and achieve political success.

Apart from this, the Black Wolf Gang and Fragrance Society are to be eradicated completely. However, the Plum Blossom Sect, which was once active in the city, is notably absent from the blacklist, indicating that they played a significant role during the rebel incursion and, like the Chen and Wei families, backed the right side.

Order in the city is beginning to be restored. It is time to consider advancing the family’s progress.

Now that the city’s order has just been restored, among the essentials of clothing, food, shelter, and transportation, clothing and food are paramount. Drawing on knowledge from a previous life, I can improve a vertical treadle loom, which is four times more efficient than the current hand-cranked looms. The original hand-cranked loom requires one hand to turn the crank and the other to work, but the improved loom allows both hands to work simultaneously and adds four shuttles working in tandem.

There is also a machine called the Jenny loom, but I cannot recall it well; however, I am familiar with this vertical treadle loom, as my great-grandmother still lived in my previous life when our family owned one.

Four times the efficiency means reduced costs and a near-monopoly of the textile market.

As for food, rice merchants and salt shops are not within my reach, as I have not deeply engaged in commerce and lack the right connections. Starting from scratch would take time.

It is simpler to relinquish this for now. If future heirs show interest and talent in this area, I can cultivate them accordingly.

With order stabilizing and regime change complete, restaurants and taverns will flourish once again.

Currently, alcoholic beverages in Great Qian have low alcohol content. I can use distillation to produce stronger liquors and develop more stir-fried dishes, thereby monopolizing the restaurant business.

Martial arts require not only talent but also the accumulation of resources. These small enterprises might be scorned by powerful martial artists, but they form the foundation of martial cultivation and are key to a family’s rise.

I instructed my servants to return first and decided to wander around Yanggu County alone.

On the streets, pale and gaunt townsfolk stagger to receive rationed grain from the county office, giving them hope that after this war, they can continue their lineages and keep their ancestral flames alive.

Upon returning home, I immediately drew the blueprint for the vertical loom and sent servants to find carpenters and female workers outside. This is a commercial secret, so the carpenters brought back were kept at home and their families housed in the family quarters.

Behind the Su Mansion, I purchased a large residential area, surrounding it with high walls and dividing it into small courtyards for the families of the martial artists, carpenters, and female workers, who will be kept under close watch and not allowed to roam freely.

Of course, I am well aware that strength rules this world; I must quickly improve my own abilities. Everything else is secondary.

Time passed.

Half a month later, the people of Yanggu County have begun to recuperate. After receiving government rations, their complexions improved, and shops reopened one after another.

Among them, coffin shops did the best business.

The situation in Yanggu County has undergone tremendous change.

The current county magistrate is Ma Wencai, a fifth-rank martial artist known for his ruthlessness. He was among the initial rebels led by the Green King, a scholar who failed the imperial exams but, like me, was a talented graduate.

Two new families have arrived in Yanggu County, bringing large sums of silver and grain to invest in enterprises: the Zhao family’s Zhao Wanliang, a fifth-rank martial artist, and the Lin family, led by Lin Xuanshan, an elder with sixth-rank strength. His eldest son, Lin Lang, is a fifth-rank martial artist holding the fort in the clan.

These two families are unfamiliar with the county magistrate, perhaps a deliberate move by the Green King.

The old Plum Blossom Sect still flaunts its power within the city. Outside the county lies a small mountain with a temple named Golden Tortoise Temple, where monks have arrived to preach Buddhism, recruit disciples, and buy farmland and shops aggressively.

Another gang, the Fish-Dragon Gang, is rising fiercely and is expected to become a major faction in Yanggu County as well.

The position of county assistant is abolished; the registrar, Liu Song, is a civilian and a graduate of Great Qian, while the chief clerk, Sun Dianyan, is a sixth-rank martial artist.

As for Li Doukou’s father, he has been promoted to deputy magistrate, an impressive leap, likely due to his good standing with the Green King. If he avoids major mistakes, he might ascend to magistrate when the position becomes vacant.

Such a fortunate rise is truly rare.

After all, my father-in-law only holds a graduate title; being appointed as a judge or assistant magistrate would already be a significant step up. Yet, he became deputy magistrate.

Therefore, I too have risen alongside.

...

“Master, our family has recruited fifty female workers; we can start production. The carpenters have completed some looms and procured cotton and hemp. Shops in Yanggu County are waiting to open,” the steward reported on the textile business.

“Then immediately notify everyone to begin work.”

“But the number of female workers is still too few. We should recruit more. Our cloth is cheap and competitive. In time, this will be a money-making venture and could influence the cloth prices across the entire prefecture,” I instructed.

“Yes, sir. I will prepare at once,” the steward nodded and left promptly.

“Master, the county office has come to collect silver for an expedition to suppress bandits outside the city,” a junior steward reported shortly after.

“How much silver?”

“Our family must pay 5,000 taels,” he lowered his head.

Five thousand taels? I frowned. “Five thousand? They really are asking for exorbitant sums. Who makes money easily these days?”

In troubled times, opportunists profit.

...

But now, earning money is truly difficult. For example, my female workers each bring a pure profit of five taels monthly. Fifty workers yield 250 taels per month.

This profit is due to my improvements to the loom; otherwise, it would be even less. We currently weave coarse hemp and plain white cloth, cheap and dependent on volume.

With more labor in the future, profits will grow, especially given our low prices.

Still, 5,000 taels is enough for my hundred female workers to work for a year and yield profits.

“Are the common people paying this silver?” I asked.

“The magistrate said he sympathizes with the people, so they are exempt,” the steward replied.

“Have the Chen, Wei, Lin, and Zhao families paid?” I inquired again.

“No... they haven’t. The magistrate said since these families sent men to fight bandits, they are exempt from payment.”

“So the silver is coming from us—the big families without fifth-rank martial artists stationed at home?”

“Yes.”

“Go then, retrieve the silver and send it,” I ordered coldly. This magistrate is truly bullying the weak and fearing the strong, but 5,000 taels is manageable.

Currently, Fifth-rank martial artists are quite numerous in Yanggu County: the magistrate, the Lin, Zhao, Chen, and Wei families—five in total!

Besides them, there is also me, a hidden fifth-rank, showing the strength of a sixth-rank.

The bandits outside the city are remnants of the Black Wolf Gang and Fragrance Society who fled, along with some refugees and scattered soldiers, occupying Black Wind Mountain as bandits.

The junior steward hurried off to deliver the silver to the county office guards.

Fifth-rank martial artists are highly respected here, so each is monitored by their family’s spies and rarely move about, usually stationed in their clans, seeking to ascend to the fourth rank.

Night fell.

I changed into night attire and stealthily entered the county office to retrieve my 5,000 taels.

At the treasury stood two guards. If anything happened, they would strike the copper gong, summoning all officers.

My luck was poor tonight. As I infiltrated the magistrate’s office, a pair of patrolling guards spotted me and shone their lanterns my way.

“Who’s there?”

The leading head constable drew his long sword, but before he could approach, a whistle sounded by my ear, and a dagger pierced his chest. Before he collapsed, I charged at the others from behind with fierce punches.

“Bang, bang, bang!”

Each blow meant a constable’s death. Within moments, four constables and a ninth-rank head constable lay dead. I exhaled deeply. Fortunately, their strength wasn’t great.

Luck favored me afterward; I avoided further patrols and soon reached the treasury guarded by an eighth-rank head constable and a ninth-rank warrior.

With fifth-rank strength, I threw a black snake dagger from the shadows for a surprise attack. The eighth-rank was killed instantly. The ninth-rank hadn’t reacted before I charged and killed him too.

...

Five thousand taels weigh only about five hundred jin (approximately 250 kilograms).

In the past, I might have made multiple trips, but now, with increased strength, I carried a ton of silver in two thick leather bags back home.

Ten thousand taels!

Now, not only did I retrieve my silver, but I also took an additional 5,000 taels.

I doubt any martial artist or family in Yanggu County would have expected a fifth-rank warrior to engage in such petty thievery. The county office’s defenses are strict; even a sixth-rank would find infiltration difficult.

...

“Brother, you have good fortune. Drink this cup of wine. From now on, you must serve the Su family well,” Zhang Long handed a cup to a head constable with a smile.

“Drink!”

Watching the officer drink the wine laced with a mind-control parasite, Zhang Long finally relaxed and began.

“Brother, do you know what you just drank?”

“What?”

“Isn’t it wine?”

The constable hesitated, then sensed something amiss. Panic flashed in his eyes.

“You drugged me?”

“No, no! We are all to serve the Su family. How could I drug you? Of course not...”

“There is a parasitic insect in this wine!”

...

Time flew by. Another month passed, and Yanggu County’s situation gradually stabilized.

The textile business is monopolized by me.

The restaurants are also under my control, though business is slow as productivity and consumption have yet to recover.

Yanggu County’s monopoly on textiles: 18 out of 30 days!

After twelve peaceful days, this family progress will be considered complete. From what I know, the Green King has submitted to the Zhao King, and now two-thirds of Great Qian’s territory belongs to the Zhao King.

I estimate that in a few months, the entire Great Qian will be under Zhao’s control.

After the treasury theft, Magistrate Ma was furious but could not identify the culprit and had to swallow his frustration.

My child with Taohua is five months along, and I can see the small belly growing. In just over four months, the baby will be born—my first child.

It has been a long time since someone new came to my room.

The main reason is the scarcity of suitable bloodline talents; I must be selective. The achievement of a hundred constables cannot compare to a top official’s single day of work.

This family needs concubines!

Last month, as Yanggu County’s patterns became clearer, I used mind-control parasites to dominate many officers, head constables, stewards, martial artists, and gangs within the families.

Now, almost every corner of Yanggu County is covered by my spies.

Not even small families were spared.

...

I opened today’s secret correspondence, a small bundle delivered by scouts.

Chu You’er has reached eighth rank and is pushing toward seventh. However, her hatred for the Plum Blossom Sect has not lessened; after reaching eighth rank, she has been mercilessly hunting their members.

I estimate she will reach seventh rank within months. Hei Lian is already at sixth rank.

Currently, Bai Lianlian, Hei Lian, and Huo Luoluo have all attained sixth rank, making our family the strongest below fifth rank in Yanggu County.

After reading the secret letters, I, as usual, had breakfast in my mother-in-law’s room. Xia He has grown more graceful. I still harbor little fondness for Wang Chunxiao, though her attitude toward me has softened and she speaks more gently.

After breakfast, I went to the market.

“Clang, clang, clang! In three days, the Zhao family will hold a martial arts competition to select a bride! In three days, the Zhao family’s martial arts marriage contest!”

“Clang, clang, clang...!”

Silkworms and Tian Dou...