Chapter 12: The Great Tang Dynasty's Wandering Knight

  A burly man with a thick beard and bare chest squeezed in, Wu Qing was startled, almost frightened. Good guy, bronze-colored muscles, block by block, what made Wu Qing even more envious was that on the sturdy chest there was a cluster of palm-sized chest hair, this is a fierce man!

  "What's the big deal, let me try it first!" The big man said, his pair of huge hands had already opened the wooden box wrapped in white cloth.

  A burst of white mist shot out quickly, and the big man was startled, thinking it was a hidden weapon. He dodged his head to one side, feeling that there was nothing after all, and only then did he relax.

  "Wu Qing hastily said: 'Wait!' Then he quickly closed the lid to prevent the cold air from escaping."

  "Little guy, what is this thing here? Why don't you let someone take a look?" The big man was straightforward, his round eyes staring at Wu Qing.

  Wu Qing was also startled by this glare, and his heart racing, he hastily said: "If you want to eat, bring out the money, it's only two cents, do you want to take it by force?"

  The big man didn't even bother to haggle, and directly threw out a string of 500 coins. Wu Qing's eyes widened as he scanned the money, enough to buy 250 ice pops. He hadn't expected this man to be so generous. What Wu Qing didn't know was that this man was a famous wandering knight from Taiyuan Prefecture, known for his chivalry and generosity. Passing through Wenshui County, he happened upon Wu Qing and his mother selling ice pops on the street. Although his face looked fierce, he could tell that Wu Qing and his mother were struggling to make ends meet as a widow and orphan who relied on themselves. This was a rare thing, so he directly threw out 500 coins without even caring if it was enough or not.

  After throwing the money, the man didn't care about Wu Qing anymore. He opened the box and took out ice pops of various colors. The big guy was very fond of this new toy and immediately started eating it. He ate one like chewing beans and frowned. Wu Qing knew that his brain had been frozen.

  "There are only fifty in there, just one hundred coins, and you still have four hundred coins to make up for it. You shouldn't eat too fast either, or the ice will get to your brain." Wu Qing returned the four hundred coins to the big man.

  "With a loud shout, he said: 'It's really wonderful! With the remaining 400 coins, consider it as a deposit for my family. My family will stay here to enjoy the scenery for a few days, so you can make more preparations.'"

  Wu Qing was overjoyed and took it, then handed it to Wu Dama. At this time, Wu Dama also let go of her reserve, lifted her head, although her face was a bit embarrassed, but for the sake of her son, she was willing to do anything.

  The big boy took out the popsicle and handed it to several children staring at him with wide eyes, saying: "Today a certain family is in a good mood, let you little ones eat this fresh thing."

  At one time, a hundred ice sticks were scattered, leaving only a few left.

  Wu Qing couldn't help but admire the man's character, and asked: "A true hero indeed! May I ask, sir, where are you staying? I'll have someone deliver an ice stick to you."

  The big man was taken aback, originally intending to just give alms to the mother and son. Unexpectedly, this young lad had some backbone, so he immediately said: "I'm actually heading to the Yue Lai Inn to stay, if you're free, send it over, but I won't necessarily be there. If you're not free, then just remember, when you become rich in the future, repay me and that's fine."

  The Great Han finished speaking and laughed loudly as he walked away with a swagger.

  Suddenly, Wu Qing's nerves deep within his heart moved slightly. Could this be the legendary Tang Dynasty knight-errant? Such a heroic figure, so bold and unrestrained, my heart yearns for it!

  "Sir, would you be willing to tell me your name?"

  Wu Qing shouted loudly, but Da Han had already disappeared without a trace.

  After entering June, Shu and Guannei suffered a severe drought, while the Hebei circuit experienced heavy rainfall and flooding, affecting millions of people. The court ordered each state and county to open charity granaries for disaster relief, but still could not prevent famine from occurring, and many people began to flee, with the Hedong circuit also being affected, and countless refugees arrived.

  Looking at the people on the street who were barely clothed, with yellow complexions, waiting for relief, Wu Qing felt a heavy heart. Are these the people of the Great Tang Empire? Is this the ancient prosperous and powerful empire? What he didn't know was that over the past decade, the Great Tang Empire had been plagued by disasters, and the grain in the charity warehouses had almost been depleted. Adding to this were some corrupt officials and losses, resulting in a large number of disaster-stricken people fleeing their homes in search of a livelihood.

  Wu Qing wanted to help these people, but his family didn't have much rice stored either. After school let out at noon, he went to the rice market to see if he could buy some and do a good deed. He also planned to set up a porridge stall to earn some reputation, which would be beneficial for his future business.

  Arriving at the Zhang's rice shop, he saw the prices, with millet being the cheapest at 50 coins, and as for regular rice, it was even more outrageous at 70 coins. Wu Qing felt a surge of anger in his heart - these swindling merchants were taking advantage of the country's difficulties to make a profit! It was no wonder that merchants had such a low social status in this era. Who wouldn't curse and hate such scoundrels? They deserved their lowly position, they deserved to be fattened up only to be slaughtered by the authorities in the end. But was it really like that?

  Wu Qing was well aware that if the gentry and commoner families did not have a large source of income, it would be a problem to support their family expenses. If they only controlled a lot of land, relying on the products from the land would definitely not be enough to support a family. So who owned those jade shops, wine houses, meat shops, silk stores, tea houses, salt shops and so on? Without a doubt, most of these things were in the hands of the gentry and commoner families, but they themselves did not operate them. Instead, they entrusted them to merchants who were good at business. The gentry and commoner families provided preferential treatment in official circles and policies, while the merchants paid with their wisdom, which also led to the collusion between officials and merchants.

  The Zhang family rice store undoubtedly has a background, otherwise Wenshui County would not have this only rice store. Without a background, it would have been squeezed out of Wenshui long ago.

  "Everyone, pay attention! Today, we won't be cheated. Mixed grains are 35 cents, millet is 50 cents, wheat is 50 cents, and rice is 70 cents. Those who want to buy, line up properly, don't push and shove, or else the stick in our hands isn't for show." The shop assistant said while holding a thick wooden stick.

  More than a dozen refugees left with pale faces and scattered eyes. The local people, on the other hand, started making noise.

  "The price of a dou of rice was only 30 wen two days ago, but now it has risen to 70 wen in just a few days. This is really outrageous."

  "Who says it isn't? I just went to take a look, that coarse grain, even pigs won't eat it!"

  "It was because of Zhang's family having a relative who served as a county magistrate."

  "Alright, let's just drop it, otherwise you'll be the one who suffers."

  The people no longer spoke, but Wu Qing fell into deep thought. It seemed that the Zhang family's power in Wen Shui County was considerable, otherwise it would not have been possible for these ordinary people of Wen Shui to dare to be angry but not dare to speak out.

  Wu Qing looked at his own arm, it was really too thin. Suddenly, he thought of the wandering knight who appeared some time ago, unfortunately, they never met again. Wu Qing had been to Yue Lai Inn, but there was no such person. If there were a wandering knight, they would have robbed this Zhang's rice shop.

  Actually, Wu Qing's purpose in finding You Xia was to ask him to be his master. In this era, if one doesn't know a few tricks, it's really impossible to get by. Back then, Cheng Yaojin even learned the three-board axe and ended up becoming a duke. Because this is an era where the law is not well-established, this is an era where people swallow others whole without spitting out their bones. Personal martial arts skills are also a means of self-protection.

  The reason for all this is those aristocrats, those scholars who are full of poetry and books on rites and music, benevolence, righteousness, and morality.

  Bookworms can also be ruthless and merciless at times.

  Wu Qing stared at the rice shop for a long time, his eyes revealing a resentful gaze. He fiercely swung his sleeve and turned to leave, loudly reciting: "Those who rely on righteousness often slaughter dogs, while those who are unfaithful are often scholars!"

  Wu Qing plagiarized a couplet from the late Ming Dynasty, but at this moment he really didn't think much, it was just that suddenly he felt so inspired.

  Who would have thought that these two sentences of couplets would make him be praised by many people in his future life.

  At the same time, a beggar not far away shot out a surprised gaze from his eyes and followed Wu Qing as he left.