Chapter 107

  Qingniu Mountain has more than 50 bandit dens, with the old, weak, women and children all counted, there are probably over 5,000 mountain bandits. Ha Ma den has tens of thousands of kilograms of grain, but it's a drop in the bucket, not enough to support these 5,000 mouths.

  Su Ying led Cheng Dairen into the backyard house, and only when the stove was lit did the room gradually warm up. Cheng Dairen took off his gown and sat cross-legged on the kang.

  "How did you think of meddling in this trivial matter?" Su Qing.

  "Every day, there are people dying right in front of you. If you can't see it, then that's fine, but if you do see it, you can't just pretend you didn't."

  Su Ying stared at Cheng Dairen's face for a while, filled the teacup in front of her to the brim, and slowly said: "Luoye City doesn't have the grain you want."

  "No food?" Cheng Dairen's eyes widened.

  "A thousand miles of drought, not only is Luoyecity out of grain, but the entire Youzhou city doesn't have the grain you want. Moreover, with the current soaring grain prices, even if you have money, you can't buy it."

  "Can I get it?"

  "Robbing 200,000 kilograms of grain?"

  "Not very realistic."

  "Hehe."

  "Can't you really do it?" Cheng Dairen said.

  "But it's not that there's no way, it's just that ordinary people can't do it."

  "Actually, apart from looking a bit better than average, I'm quite ordinary."

  "...Sakura."

  ……

  "The only thing you can exchange for food in your mountain village is those chili peppers. Luoyang City is just a small place in Youzhou, and Youzhou is also a small place in the Empire. The entire empire is poor in the east and wealthy in the west, rich in the south and humble in the north. If you want to exchange for food, you have to head south." Su Qing dipped her hand in tea water, drew a line on the table, stopped at a point, and wrote two words: Yangzhou.

  Yangzhou is abundant, and the whole country has enough food. From ancient times to the present, Yangzhou has always been the granary of the world.

  "How far is it from here to Yangzhou?"

  "Passing through Ji Zhou, Yan Zhou and Yu Zhou, it will take about three to five months to reach the destination."

  Cheng Dairen looked at Su Qing speechlessly, his expression clearly saying: "Aren't you talking nonsense? By the time I get back, everyone will almost starve to death."

  "It takes so long by land, but Luoyi City is by the sea, you can take a boat, with favorable winds it'll only take five days to get there, and about half a month for a round trip."

  "Only fifteen days?" Cheng Daire thought for a moment: "It seems that there is only this one way left."

  "This is when everything goes smoothly, but the sea is surging and changing in an instant. Pirates, river bandits, local tyrants, one misstep and it's a journey of no return. Many people have taken this route before, but it's a narrow escape from death."

  Cheng Dalai suddenly stood up, grabbed the robe on the kang: "It's settled then. Help me prepare a large ship, I'll be using it tonight."

  Out of the house, all the fellow apprentices and kitchen staff were in the yard. As winter arrived, the business of picking up goods from the lake bottom also became quiet, to put it simply, they had all been idle recently.

  "Master, you're leaving already? Won't you stay a little longer?"

  "It's gone, it's gone, can't rest anymore."

  Cheng Dali left Luoyecity and rode a fast horse back to Hamao Village.

  "Master, where have you been? It's so cold today."

  The frogs in the pond are all huddled together because of the cold weather, and even their daily training has been cancelled. The few people scattered around the school grounds are just out for a stroll after eating their fill.

  "Get busy, brothers, time to get to work."

  ……

  Gaofei Hu was injured and had been bedridden for a long time, but recently he has shown some improvement. However, he is unwilling to leave the house because he doesn't know how to deal with people asking him for grain.

  Fei Hu Village is the largest force in Qing Niu Mountain, but with many people, they consume a lot of grain every day. This year's severe drought has also yielded little from plundering. Fortunately, they managed to exchange several hundred kilograms of grain from Ha Ma Village, which has sustained them for some time.

  But after holding out until today, Flying Tiger Fort is also about to run out of food. This long and dreary winter, how can one get through it?

  Every time it's mealtime, countless pairs of eyes gaze in the direction of Héguāi Village, watching as wisps of smoke rise from the cooking pots and their mouths water.

  "There are tens of thousands of kilograms of grain in Hamao Village."

  "I'd rather not starve to death, it would be great if I could live in a frog's nest."

  Such a voice, High Flying Tiger could always hear some of it, and he couldn't help it either. If possible, he also wanted to join the Toad Village.

  "Master, I have an idea..." Yu Qian said as he walked into the house.

  "General, you have a plan!" High-flying eyes lit up: "Do you have a way to get food?"

  "No."

  "What's the big idea?"

  "I sent a few agile brothers to sneak into the Toad's lair under the cover of darkness."

  "Steal some grain out?" High Flying Tiger's eyes lit up again.

  "No, let's secretly estimate that we'll set fire to the grain depot of Hamao Village, and when the time comes, everyone will die together, and then they won't be able to be arrogant."

  Gao Fei Hu stared at Yu Qiu Ran for a long time: "Military Adviser, you're quite ruthless."

  "It's a small quantity, but it's not poisonous, so why should everyone starve to death, just to let the toads live?"

  "Burning people's granaries is an immoral act... it will cut off one's descendants..."

  Good news

  Good news

  Just then, a gong sound came from the foot of the mountain. As soon as the sound reached his ears, Gao Fei Hu felt a severe headache.

  It's been a long time since I heard this sound, how did it start again? What is Cheng Dairen up to now?

  "Damn it, I'll go take a look myself. If he's going to play any more tricks, I'll burn down his granary."

  Gao Fei Hu was furious and rushed to the Hamao Village with Yu Qiu Ran. When he arrived, he found that there were too many people gathered at the foot of Hamao Ridge. The leaders of various families and villages had all arrived, it seemed that everyone had been hungry for days and had nothing better to do.

  "Master Gao has arrived, Master Gao..."

  Gao Fei Hu walked over: "What kind of evil is Gua Ma Village up to this time?"

  "We just got here and still haven't figured out what's going on, probably came up with another bad idea."

  "Master Gao Village, let's discuss this, we'll join forces and take down Tadpole Village."

  At this time, the gate of Hama Village opened, and everyone looked over, only to see that the first ones to come out were Gaofei Leopard and Xiaobai Lang's two groups.

  "Brother, did Cheng Dairen bully you?"

  "How dare he! Don't you see I've gained weight? Big brother, you're thinner though."

  More than a dozen people were all pale and chubby. Gao Fei Hu looked at this scene, thinking that he had worried about him for nothing. Looking at his appearance, it seemed that he should have been the one who was caught in the first place.

  Cheng Dali just came out and waved his hand at the people below the mountain.

  "Ladies and gentlemen..."

  "Cheng Dali, what kind of trick are you playing again? What's really going on inside that gourd of yours?"

  "Ladies and gentlemen, I have some good news to share with everyone. Starting from today, the Frog Village will begin serving congee."

  The crowd of leaders at the foot of the mountain were still in a heated discussion, when suddenly all the voices fell silent. Everyone came back to their senses and hundreds of pairs of eyes were fixed on Cheng Da Lei.

  "Did I hear that right?"

  "What he said is true, isn't it? He wouldn't be fooling us, would he?"

  "Is he that bored?"

  "Yes."

  "Cheng Darui, what are you doing? Why are you acting like this?" Gao Feihu stared at Cheng Darui.

  "Why?" Cheng Dairen rubbed his nose, extremely serious: "Because I'm a good person."