Chapter Seventeen: Old Man Bi Buys People's Hearts

  In the afternoon, a small rumor suddenly spread in Majiatun that the house of the original Hu Baihu, now inhabited by the "Bi Lao Ye" revered by Yang Baihu, was distributing food, with each household limited to two catties of high-quality rice!

  When they heard this news, the military dependents of Maojiatun were in an uproar...

  "All are good rice, enough to weigh two catties!" A young man sat on the bluestone outside Huang Erman's courtyard, spitting wildly, surrounded by a dense crowd of people. There were about thirty or more households on this mountain ridge.

  "Brother Dog..." A military dependent timidly squeezed next to Zhang Dog and asked, "Sir, tell me, is this rice really white-collar?"

  Zhang Doger glared at him: "What dog brother, call me Doger Brother"

  The surrounding military dependents smiled foolishly and thought to themselves: "Aren't they all the same? They're all dogs"

  Zhang Doger cleared his throat and said mysteriously, "Didn't you see when Old Man Bi came a few days ago? Two ox carts, the one in the back was piled high with something. What was it?"

  "Rice!" The surrounding soldiers responded in unison.

  "Yes, you don't know this Old Man Bi, he is the closest friend of our Hundred Households' Yang Da Ye, do you know? Old Man Bi has been to more places than the salt you've eaten, and as for the officials he knows, they are too numerous to count, all of them ranking third grade or higher..."

  "What's the old master doing here? He looks quite pitiful, doesn't he?" a military dependent said with lingering fear, and his words were echoed by everyone.

  "You don't know, do you? This Bi Lao Ye, he made a big vow when he was young to find a truly honest official who could let the military households live a good life! He searched and searched, and that day on the street, he ran into Yang Da Ren..." Zhang Gou Er continued to spit out water, taking the tea house's anecdotes and randomly stringing them together, anyway Yang Bo didn't have any hard evidence to regulate how he spoke.

  The military dependents are a bit confused now. Yang Bo doesn't seem like the upright official in storytellers' words, but what they care about more now is rice.

  "Brother Dog, can you please tell us, can we all go get the rice? Don't want any silver, it's free?" Another soldier interrupted him as he saw Dog getting further and further away from the rice, already over 100,000 miles away.

  "White delivery!" The dog stood up and waved his hand decisively: "Just one condition, learn to draw a cross on your chest like Old Man Bi, and it's done."

  "Painting a cross?" The soldier was puzzled.

  "That's right, I've heard that this is the rule at Old Man Bi's place, it's like doing a favor for us. To tell you the truth, you're getting two catties of rice for free, returning a gift isn't too much to ask, is it?"

  "That's right......" The military households were also down-to-earth

  The dog still wants to say something, several military households in the neighboring village have returned with joy, some carrying baskets and others carrying backpacks, all of which have just been received.

  The military dependents shouted and threw down their dogs, which rushed towards them...

  Today, the idle military dependents who don't have to work hard are either fishing or catching shrimp. Now they hear that there's rice to be had - where can you find such good fortune?

  The military dependents chatted for a few sentences, then turned around and rushed to the place where Bi Lao Ye lived. Of course, the women and children at home were not allowed to go, fearing that they would be contaminated with external evil spirits due to excessive yin energy...

  Zhang Doger patted his buttocks, thought for a moment, and turned around to head towards the next military residence.

  The military dependents came to the Bi old master's house in groups of three or five, and a queue had already been formed inside the yard. On the main gate of the yard was also posted a red poster with a picture of a red barbarian on it, with a cloud above his head, looking somewhat like a Western deity. Several servants beside Yang Baihu were helping to maintain order.

  "Wish the Lord bless you..." Bi Fangji smiled and gave a blessing to a soldier, who remembered Dog's words and hastily drew a cross, but in his panic, he ended up drawing a circle. Bi Fangji didn't mind and went on to give blessings to the next soldier. In the eyes of those soldiers waiting in line, the fluffy Bi Fangji seemed not so terrifying after all...

  There was also a little girl standing by, and after the military household received the rice, she didn't forget to remind them: "This is all thanks to the kindness of the hundred households, don't forget it..."

  After all the goods were distributed, Bi Fangji was almost exhausted and collapsed to the ground, but his heart was extremely satisfied. How long had he been waiting for this moment?

  Yang Bo has always reminded him that recruiting followers needs to be done gradually, giving these people a step-by-step process of recognition. To achieve the current effect, Bi Fangji is already very satisfied. Yang Bo gave him a very safe environment, in Ma Jiatun, Yang Bo's words are like imperial decrees, no need to worry about others gossiping or buying people's hearts with treacherous words. This is the most crucial point. Suddenly, Bi Fangji felt that if Yang Bo's official position were higher, it would be even better.

  "If Zhī Xiàn governed Andong Prefecture? Or Qingzhou Prefecture? Or..." Bi Fangji was startled by his own sudden and wild idea, but it lingered in his mind all night.

  Early in the morning, Yang Bo was startled by Bi Fangji's strange gaze.

  "Father, what's wrong?" Yang Bo looked at Bi Fangji with suspicion: "Heartache? I also spent half of the silver on that rice, okay?"

  "It's okay, let's just go take a look at the salt pool first," Bi Fangji replied after calming down. The salt pool was now the most important thing, and Yang Bo had done a lot for him, so he must return something in kind.

  Upon arriving at the salt fields, the two of them felt a bit disappointed. From afar, they could see that the salt pans were sparkling, but it didn't have much effect.

  As they walked to the edge, Bi Fangji suddenly exclaimed excitedly: "Look, Zhi Xian, look at the bottom of the pool!"

  Yang Bo had already sensed something was amiss, he reached down to the bottom and felt around, some white granules were stuck to the salt pan. Yang Bo picked up some of the crystals and put them in his mouth to taste: "It's salt! Father, we succeeded!"

  Bi Fangji was happily stroking his beard, pacing back and forth by the edge of the pool.

  The seawater at the bottom has crystallized and granulated, and it won't be long before the upper layer of seawater also crystallizes, forming a salt bed. Then, a small amount of seawater is continuously injected, and the thicker the salt bed, the faster and more salt is produced.

  "Zhi Xian, now there is only one problem that has not been solved." Bi Fangji suddenly stood up and shouted to Yang Bo who was viewing from a distance.

  "What?"

  "That's it, there are too many sand and stone particles in this salt..."

  Yang Bo smiled and walked back: "Don't worry, the priest probably doesn't know yet. To increase the weight, these salts will have to be mixed with at least one-third or even more sandstones before they can be taken away for sale."

  "Oh, my God!" Bi Fangji made a cross: "Is this eating salt or eating stones?"

  Never thought that such a plain sentence would make Yang Bo's body suddenly stiffen and fall into silence...

  "What's on your mind?" Bi Fangji asked with some curiosity.

  "Your words brought back some distant memories, that is... how to say it... that is... sigh..." Yang Bo shook his head and continued to remain silent.