Chapter Fifty-Seven: Responding to a Chaotic World

  The city was in ruins, and Du Le walked out of the city, everything he saw and heard shocked him. The number of refugees who died of hunger and illness on the roadside was countless, not to mention the villages shrouded in smoke.

  Who brought all this about? Du Le wasn't a great man, he was just an ordinary citizen, a university graduate who hadn't been out of school for long, and his life experience couldn't be considered rich. Facing such a situation, the shock to his soul along the way can only be imagined.

  Regardless of men, women, old and young, all who enter the city are living people. Their hunger, their suffering, cannot see hope, so they want to erupt. The Chu state's upper class is indulgent and indifferent, leading to the flow of people becoming violent mobs. They destroy everything everywhere, robbing all the food that can be robbed. The first to suffer are the people around Jinyang City.

  It seems that the Emperor and officials of Chu State have no intention of paying attention to the starving refugees, and even let them become violent mobs. They just want to guard the city. Du Le thought involuntarily, the situation has become more and more severe. If it continues to develop, who can think of what will happen?

  Du Le was somewhat uneasy, and the occurrence of this situation, apart from Chu State's own lack of food and the impact of defeat, also had his pushing and stirring. The news of the grain shortage was what he let people release first.

  However, Du Le has no regrets because the consequences of all this were not caused by him. It can only be said that he had a catalytic effect, but simply because his property was threatened and did not continue to maintain it.

  The manor outside the city had long been occupied by refugees, and all the grain and valuable things had been looted. Du Le didn't hold out any hope either, Yan Fu bribed the city gate guard to let Du Le and a strong young man from the manor descend from the city wall in a basket.

  Dodged several mobs, encountered robbers, used food to open the way. Fortunately, there was space to store food, plus the delicious instant noodles in the space, and some food would always be taken out and carried on the body. Then, every time, pretend that all the food had been robbed, generally, the robbers were refugees, with food, they wouldn't hurt anyone's life.

  Du Le and his companion traveled for a whole day without any danger or surprise, before finally arriving at the mountain villa.

  On the outskirts of the mountain villa, Du Le saw a small wooden watchtower, and on it stood a sturdy man who was keeping watch. Below the tower, there was a long fence, with over ten sturdy men holding guns and clubs, guarding the path up the mountain.

  Outside the fence, a dozen or so people in tattered clothes and refugee-like appearance were lining up to tell something to the burly man guarding the entrance.

  Following Du Le's strong men, they quickly stepped forward to identify themselves. After a brief wait, two sturdy men led them up the mountain.

  At the entrance of the mountain villa, the butler came out to greet him, and Du Le asked about the situation at the foot of the mountain.

  "Master, there are some refugees at the foot of the mountain. Yesterday, they spread the news that the manor is going to mine and recruit miners, with food and drink provided, so many refugees came here looking for a job." The steward said.

  "About the Golden City affair, you should know by now. Be careful not to let bandits infiltrate the mountain village mine." Du Le said hesitantly. Although Du Le sympathized with the refugees and also planned to help them, he did not dare to underestimate the destructive power of the refugees after they became violent mobs.

  Jinyang City's business has almost come to a standstill, with only one wine house still in operation. The mountain villa is Du Le's largest industry and cannot be lost.

  "Don't worry, sir. Eight hundred strong men are guarding the mansion, taking turns to keep watch. Ordinary rioters won't be able to break in." The butler replied.

  "It won't be long before a batch of troops arrives, and when that happens, I'll hand them over to the mountain stronghold." Du Le nodded thoughtfully and continued, "The guards can continue to recruit and intensify their training. They must strengthen their abilities. Only with strong power can we be safer. In addition, we can continue to accept refugees. I see that there is a lot of barren land around the mountain stronghold, which can be arranged for them to open up and cultivate. With more people, they can go mining, and if there are still more, they can continue to recruit as guards for the mountain stronghold. No one in the mountain stronghold can idle away."

  The old steward's eyes flashed with a hint of sharpness, he had lived for most of his life, and no matter what, he could become an old river and lake. Du Le's series of actions made him think of the idea of having troops to rely on.

  If he were a person from another world, Old Gu's idea would not be wrong. It's just that he couldn't know that Du Le didn't belong to this world and wasn't there to become a tyrant.

  Actually, Du Le's idea was simple: to expand his power and earn more gold coins. He had come to regard the mountain village as his own backyard, and the destruction he saw along the way could not be allowed to reach the village. What Du Le did was just self-protection.

  Without the mountain villa, there would be no continuous supply of five-leaf grass, and the delicious Wonton noodles would not have their unique flavor. Perhaps it's not that serious, as long as Du Le has a teleportation device, he can purchase five-leaf grass from elsewhere at any time. However, as a businessman, a stable supply of raw materials is crucial for maintaining a healthy business. It's precisely because of the teleportation device that Du Le has an alternative route, so he doesn't care about the attitude of the Chu State's power hierarchy. You can't even maintain my normal business activities and are still trying to seize my industry, so I'll have to recruit soldiers and protect myself. As long as there is a profit of over 100%, I don't care about anything. Moreover, this profit is not just 200%, it's enough for Du Le to trample on the laws of the world.

  Du Le set up the coordinates in the mountain villa and transmitted back to Fu Yong's warehouse, took a batch of grain and ordinary instant noodles. Considering that the factory is going to produce delicious Xuan instant noodles, only one production line produces noodle cakes, which may not meet the consumption in the mountain villa. Du Le also placed an order with some small instant noodle factories around Fu Yong, buying only noodle cakes, even those of general quality, at 0.2 yuan each, and first purchasing 100,000 yuan worth.

  After the transmission device was upgraded, the buffering time was greatly reduced. Du Le didn't waste too much time before transmitting back to the mountain villa again.

  The steward looked at his master, who came and went, bringing back batch after batch of grain, greatly increasing his confidence. He hastily ordered his men to spread the word that the mountain estate was recruiting refugees, offering them work in exchange for food, and also sent out a message recruiting guards.

  "Master, this batch of grain is enough for half a month's worth of food for the current number of people in the manor, but if we continue to take in refugees, we will need even more grain." The steward said as Du Le was just lying down and enjoying the massage service from the maid.

  "What?! Du Le discovered that he seemed to have neglected a very important matter, "Housekeeper, how many common people are there in Chu State? How many refugees do you estimate will come to the mountain villa?"

  "The Chu State has over 500,000 households of civilians, and the number of refugees suffering is no less than 1 million people. Just outside the city of Jinyang, there are at least 200,000 refugees. An adult needs 4 jin of rice and various grains per day, children and the elderly need half that amount. If we have 100,000 adults coming to work on the mountain estate, we would need to prepare at least 4 million jin of food per day, which is equivalent to 120 million jin per month. Calculating in terms of flatbread, we would also need to consume 200,000 flatbreads per day." The steward calculated and said.

  "What!" Du Le was shocked, he didn't expect the grain consumption to be so large. Now a kilogram of ordinary rice costs two yuan, and even if it's wholesale, it might drop by a few cents, but even at one yuan per kilogram, it would still cost 120 million yuan per month.

  Du Le let the maid leave, sat up and thought to herself: during this period of time, selling grain and instant noodles at the wine tower and Mei Wei Xuan noodle shop, there are also a lot of gold coins stored in the space, exceeding 200,000 gold coins. If all were exchanged for Hua Yuan, it should be possible to buy 120 million catties of rice. However, the account cannot be calculated this way. Refugees are just refugees and do not need to buy good quality rice; ordinary coarse grains should be fine. But even so, spending tens of millions is unavoidable.

  This couldn't help but make Du Le feel a slight heartache, where was this money going to come from?

  After some thought, Du Le turned his attention to the items in his space. He remembered that he had once bought a top-quality green gemstone at the Treasure Pavilion, and he still had an energy stone left over. It would be just right to take them out and have someone appraise their value; if possible, he could sell them and make some money.

  However, Du Le thought of another problem. If the amount of grain purchased in Fuyong City is too large, it will easily attract attention from relevant departments, and he cannot explain where the large batch of grain went, which may arouse suspicion.

  So Du Le planned to make a large purchase of grain this time and it would be best to buy from some major grain-producing countries.