Chapter 293: Bitterness
Editor: Atlas Studios
Mu Yangling gave the shepherd five taels of silver and let him lead them around the various villages. Also, his family had to help them look after the sheep they bought.
The shepherd couldn’t ask for more. Without being asked by Mu Yangling, he directly told his family, “I think Miss Mu wants to continue this business for the long term. You’d better attend to her needs seriously. Otherwise, she won’t approach me for this job next time.”
His family was very proud and happy that he could gain Mu Yangling’s trust. Therefore, they patted their chest and promised that they would definitely keep an eye on the sheep and feed them until they were fair and fat.
Then, Mu Yangling herded the mule to pull the cart along, officially beginning the acquisition journey.
Mu Yangling asked the shepherd to bring her to a relatively poor village. The shepherd said that other than some rich families and landlords, the surrounding villages were all poor. Before the Hus invaded, everyone was living well.
Compared to Hanzhong Prefecture, which was located on the plains, the soil was relatively fertile. It was countless times better than Xingzhou Prefecture. Therefore, although the citizens there were also poor, their lives were really not bad. At the very least, they did not have to eat chaff when the harvest was poor. They could survive by eating porridge.
However, the moment the Hus entered, the first thing they did was rob their homes. At that time, the rich families and some landlords had also been robbed clean. Some landlords’ land had been directly occupied by the nobles of the Jin Kingdom, and their families destroyed.
Xiuhong quickly asked, “What about the commoners? Don’t those Hus occupying the commoners’ land?”
“Of course.” The shepherd sighed and said, “No matter what, the commoners are always the ones who suffer the most and benefit the least. Seeing as you two ladies are still young, perhaps you haven’t even heard of Hanzhong Prefecture four to five years ago. At that time, the Hus came in and committed arson, murder, and robbery. It was simply tragic. In addition, later on, the nobles surrounded the land and chased away the commoners and villagers. What happened to those people now? They all became refugees. Either that, or they ran into the mountains to become bandits. Only a few people could rely on their relatives.”
“So why didn’t anyone say anything when Little General came in? Why did they secretly help to hide things? In the Hanzhong Prefecture’s territory, all the Han Chinese have a feud with that group of Hus. Fortunately, life is slowly getting better now. Next year, we can plow the fields and harvest grains again.” When the shepherd said this, he was very happy. “When General Qi came in, he said that tax exemption would be granted next year. The Imperial Court’s official document from two days ago has also been issued. Next year, they will give tax exemption to the citizens of Hanzhong Prefecture.”
Mu Yangling forced a smile, not daring to tell him that there might be a drought next year.
Farmers had always been the most cowardly, but they were also the most tenacious. They would always think of resisting only at the last moment, but they could always shoulder those disasters that came their way and move forward step by step in this difficult world.
Mu Yangling was just a small fry. All she could do was try her best to help them within her capabilities.
While Mu Yangling was thinking, the shepherd pointed at the village ahead and said, “Miss Mu, we’re here. My uncle’s house is in this village. They don’t raise many sheep, but whatever few sheep they raise, they raise them well…”
This village was clearly more dilapidated than the shepherd’s village. At this time, the adults were peeling tree bark on the mountain while the women and children slept on the brick bed and covered themselves with blankets. The shepherd brought them straight to his uncle’s house.
However, his aunt could only lie on the brick bed and talk to him. As their lives were too tough, they couldn’t bear to kill the sheep, so they could only pawn two of the three sets of cotton clothes they had and leave one set to change into. Hence, she could only lie on the brick bed in summer clothes and cover herself with a blanket as she talked to Mu Yangling and the shepherd.
However, it was obvious that the two sets of patched cotton clothes did not exchange for much money, so they still had to go into the mountains to peel bark every day.
Mu Yangling was worried that those trees would not be able to survive the winter without their bark.
Upon hearing that Mu Yangling was here to buy sheep and even offered two taels of silver for one, his aunt could no longer hold it in and got up from the brick bed. She immediately went to open the fence for Mu Yangling to choose the sheep.
Mu Yangling quickly pressed her down and said, “There’s no hurry. If you get up and catch a cold, you’ll have to spend money on medicine.”
His aunt said anxiously, “Miss, I’m in good health. I’ll be fine even if I roll around in the snow.”
Mu Yangling didn’t believe it. How good could her health be if she didn’t eat her fill and didn’t wear warm clothes?
She held down his aunt and asked the shepherd to quickly go up the mountain to call his uncle back. At the same time, she also called the villagers back.
The shepherd immediately ran out. In less than half an hour, there was a bang at the door. A group of men ran in, panting. When they saw Mu Yangling and Xiuhong sitting in the central room, they were a little disappointed. These two were still kids. How many sheep could they possibly buy?
Although Mu Yangling and Xiuhong had always dressed simply and neatly outside, everyone could tell at a glance that they were ladies judging by their hairstyle, figures and looks.
The reason why Mu Yangling didn’t dress up as a man was firstly because the restrictions on women in the north weren’t too great. Secondly, she wanted everyone around her, even those who came into contact with her, to think that it was only right for a girl to go out and do things. From the looks of it, the results were not bad, although everyone still couldn’t help but look down on her when they saw that she was a girl.
Mu Yangling knew what they were thinking at a glance. Instead of explaining, she said directly, “Uncles, you came back from the mountain, right? Coincidentally, I don’t have much time, so we’ll cut to the chase. I have to choose the sheep that I decide to buy. No matter how big or small it is, it’ll be two taels of silver each.”
The shepherd’s uncle asked nervously, “Then how many do you plan to buy, Miss Mu?”
“Let’s take a look first. I can’t give you an answer yet.” Mu Yangling did not want to give away her bottom line.
Although his uncle was a little disappointed, he still warmly welcomed Mu Yangling to his fence. The villagers followed closely behind.
The shepherd was right. The sheep in this village were fatter and stronger than the goats in their village. Perhaps it was because the villagers were poor and had little quantity, but Mu Yangling was also very generous. Seeing that his sheep were all very energetic, she wanted them all.
The 18 sheep cost a total of 36 taels of silver. Mu Yangling settled the transaction with him on the spot.
The shepherd’s uncle clearly did not expect to receive so much silver so quickly. Before he could recover from the shock, the other villagers were in an uproar. They surrounded Mu Yangling and wanted to pull her to their fence to take a look.
Mu Yangling shouted, “Where’s your village chief?”
An old man squeezed in with all his might and raised his hand. “Me! I’m the village chief. I’m the village chief.”
Mu Yangling pushed her way out of the encirclement formed by the few young men around her with one hand. A few of them had bigger movements, so Mu Yangling directly lifted them up and threw them out of the encirclement.
She controlled her strength and since the men landed on the thick snow, they merely rolled around on the snow a little, unscathed. Though, they were startled and sat on the snow in a daze.
The crowd finally quietened down. The village chief, an old man, finally squeezed in. He panted as he looked at Mu Yangling and said enthusiastically, “Miss Mu, don’t mind it. Don’t mind it. The children are all excited. This is the first time someone has come to the village to buy sheep. This is too exciting.”