Chapter 55: Swearing to Devour Foe’s Flesh and Drink Foe’s Blood

“Yang Xin, a commoner from the Gao Cheng township of Renqiu County in Hejian Prefecture. Can you explain why even the name matches exactly?”

Yang Xin looked curiously at the paper before him.

His current identity was now clear: a villager from Denghekou Village, Hekou Community, Gao Cheng township, Renqiu County, Hejian Prefecture. He even had three straw-roofed houses. His first wife had died of epidemic disease, and he was now a bachelor. In reality, he should have been lying underground with his late wife by now, but thanks to the silent maneuvering of local officials and gentry, this dead man had crawled out of his grave. And due to the irresponsibility of some deity, he had completely lost his past memories. However, his hometown folks had not forgotten him. They clearly remembered every detail of his life from childhood, including the pile of high-interest loans he had taken back then to bury his parents. With interest upon interest, it added up to about fifty taels of silver…

That was the price for this identity.

In any case, Huang Zhen had spent fifty taels of silver to completely settle his identity issue.

It was absolutely genuine and credible.

Even if the magistrate of Renqiu County sent someone to investigate right now, it would be no problem. All the local villagers would vouch for him. The local baojia heads would also produce all legally valid documents to prove that this man who had presented treasure to His Majesty the Emperor was Xiao Si, whom they had watched grow up.

It had to be said, these unruly peasants from harsh and remote areas were simply lawless.

But the name was strange.

“Because your family was poor and life was hard, last year you acknowledged a soon-to-die old bachelor in this community as your father. He paid to bury your deceased wife, and you wore mourning clothes and performed the funeral rites for him. According to custom, you had to take his surname. Since his surname was Yang, you thus became Yang. As for your given name, it was nothing special; you used to be called Yang Si. But coming to the capital and mingling with important people, you couldn’t keep that name. So, the local gentry, Squire Wang of this community, personally gave you the name Yang Xin. This way, you could use this name. Don’t worry, all of this is verifiable. Squire Wang and I have been friends for many years; such a small matter is easy to arrange. Moreover, no matter how many people you offend now, you have after all met His Majesty the Emperor. This brings glory to our hometown as well.”

Huang Zhen said.

In other words, that Squire Wang was actually his accomplice, specifically responsible for disposing of his illegal gains.

Smuggling illicit salt required collusion with local gentry.

The Ming Dynasty’s salt system was controlled by the government: salt-boiling households produced the salt, salt merchants transported it, and local li-jia units were responsible for sales. In the past, it was essentially allocated based on need. Salt merchants delivered the salt, and the li-jia distributed it to each household according to population. The households paid directly, and the salt price was set by the government.

They could not set their own prices or sell across regions.

Zhu Yuanzhang rather liked planned economy.

Now, in theory, the government still set prices, but in practice, salt merchants and local salt-sellers, under government supervision, sat together to negotiate prices. Those local salt-sellers were the local gentry. Salt merchants transported the salt to them, negotiated prices, and sold it to them. They were then responsible for selling it to the common people. Even illicit salt couldn’t bypass them; they were the real controllers of local areas. In fact, these gentry were the main force behind illicit salt, because the official salt left them too little profit margin. They made more money selling illicit salt.

Thus, illicit salt didn’t necessarily mean the common people could truly enjoy cheap salt. In reality, it mostly enriched the local gentry and salt smugglers.

And the state suffered heavy losses.

At this point, even official salt was overstocked. Even salt merchants dealt in illicit salt. After all, they still had to sell to these local sellers. The pitiful Emperor of the Ming Dynasty watched as the salt merchants of Yangzhou amassed thirty million in capital, with annual profits in the millions, yet they only tossed him a few hundred thousand taels of silver to appease him…

Well, this had nothing to do with Yang Xin!

“I never thought I was such a sentimental soul!”

Yang Xin sighed at his own great act of selling himself to bury his deceased wife.

Beside him, Huang Ying wore an expression of speechlessness.

“Do you really want to go to Liaodong?”

Huang Zhen said.

“What else can I do?”

Yang Xin said.

“Just leave. Once you’re out of this capital city, no one can do anything to you. From Sanjiaodian to Baiyangdian Lake, there are hundreds of miles of vast waterways. How many deserve beheading? Only heaven knows. Not to mention the endless Taihang Mountains. In our Great Ming Dynasty, the government truly rules inside the city walls. Outside, the world is vast and wide!”

Huang Zhen said.

Clearly, this was the model of an unruly peasant.

He didn’t take the law seriously at all. And indeed, after the Tianjin incident last time, Yang Xin now understood that in the Great Ming Dynasty, not only in places remote from the emperor, but even in places like Tianjin, just two hundred li from the capital, the law no longer truly reached. If he fled as Huang Zhen suggested, to the water networks around Sanjiaodian or to the Taihang mountain region, he could indeed live freely and happily, treating the king’s law as dog dung.

“But can I get her younger brother accepted as a disciple under the elder brother of Grand Secretary Fang?”

Yang Xin pointed at Huang Ying.

Huang Zhen’s eyes instantly widened.

“Then let’s make a trip to Liaodong! I’m almost fifty. My ancestors followed Emperor Taizu in driving out the northern tribes. This can be my act of loyal service to the country!”

Immediately after, he slapped the table and declared with righteous fervor.

“You’re going too?”

Yang Xin asked doubtfully.

“Yes. The illicit salt business is finished. You’ve offended so many people at once. Continuing the illicit salt trade would be seeking death. Are the Censors easy to mess with? Many of those Imperial College Students are from Shuntian Prefecture. If they target us, they can find fault even in an egg. How much more so when we ourselves are still engaged in this capital offense? As long as we commit the slightest illegal act, they will not hesitate to strike. Since that’s the case, we must find another path. You’ve now made connections with so many important people. If you can survive this crisis, you’ll surely rise high in the future!”

Huang Zhen said.

“That’s true!”

Yang Xin nodded.

Huang Zhen’s meaning was clear: from now on, they would follow him. If Yang Xin could survive this crisis, given his connections with people like the Imperial Eldest Grandson, he could definitely secure an official post. They would be his trusted aides. Wouldn’t that be better than smuggling illicit salt?

So the key was helping him survive this crisis.

Of course, mainly, Huang Zhen knew his son could become a disciple under Elder Fang. That future was already secured, so he must consider his son’s prospects. No matter the outcome of going to Liaodong, it would ensure his son’s background remained clean. On the contrary, fleeing would ruin his son’s future. If Yang Xin ran, Elder Fang would certainly not accept his son anymore. Ultimately, for Huang Zhen, his son was everything. This was normal for a person of this era. As long as it could elevate the family from commoner to scholar-official status, any means were justified. If crime was needed, they committed crime. If risking death was needed, they risked death. If groveling was needed, they would not hesitate either. The terms “scholar-official” and “commoner” represented two different worlds. Even just passing the Xiucai exam represented a class promotion.

However, Huang Ying certainly couldn’t go. She needed to return immediately to find her younger brother. Then, Yang Xin would arrange things with Fang Tinglan.

After all, she had already agreed.

While talking, Nine Thousand Years Old pushed open the door. Yang Xin immediately stood up and went out with him. Then, he saw a carriage in the courtyard. On it was an exaggeratedly large glaive…

“One hundred and twenty catties!”

Tianqi said excitedly.

“If you can wield this great blade, I’ll reward you with two Western Region horses!”

He pointed at the large glaive.

The courtyard immediately erupted in cheers.

Actually, this item was from the Five Military Commissions for testing strength, similar to a barbell. Even for the military exams, few could wield it. It wasn’t just about lifting it; one had to truly brandish it. That required more than just strength. Brandishing one hundred and twenty catties could easily break bones. During the Chongzhen era’s military Jinshi exams, among all military examinees, only two could brandish it. Surprisingly, these two actually didn’t pass, which angered Chongzhen. He ordered a rectification of the military Jinshi exams. After re-examination, those two obtained the Jinshi degree.

Liu Ting’s nickname was “Liu the Great Blade” precisely because he could brandish this.

Of course, it was certainly not practical for actual combat.

In combat, Liu Ting used a sword in one hand and real silver in the other, urging his men forward with the promise of money and threatening those who hung back with his sword. Incidentally, the Ming Army of this time rather resembled the Nationalist Army style – they also needed to display silver and set up machine-gun-wielding enforcement squads.

Yang Xin looked with interest at this exaggerated great blade.

Though he didn’t actually like it much – in his view, a pair of heavy wolf-tooth maces or a pair of iron claws would be more to his aesthetic – but on short notice, this was all they had. This giant glaive was less than three meters long. The handle was solid iron. The blade was over a meter long, exactly in the style of a Green Dragon Crescent Blade, with decorative patterns carved on it and a sharpened edge. This sharpening was actually unnecessary; being hit by one hundred and twenty catties, the presence of an edge was irrelevant. There was also an iron ring on the back of the blade. The overall design was quite imposing.

He reached out and grabbed the handle from below. Then, with an air of feigned nonchalance, he swept his gaze around…

Everyone stared at him wide-eyed.

The next moment brought exclamations of amazement.

Because his arm, extended forward and gripping the handle, slowly began to rise. This one-hundred-twenty-catty Green Dragon Crescent Blade also slowly lifted. His muscular arm seemed to reflect the luster of steel. Then, amidst the astonished gazes around, the one-hundred-twenty-catty glaive was slowly lifted by Yang Xin’s single hand up to his face…

“It does carry some weight.”

He said calmly.

“Excellent!”

Tianqi immediately cheered without hesitation.

Amidst the rising sounds of applause, Yang Xin, holding the blade with one hand, suddenly swung it to the right. The next moment, the blade scraped the ground behind him, drawing a trail of sparks, and was swiftly transferred to his left hand, then brought before his chest. His right hand then gripped the handle. Holding the blade with both hands, he raised it overhead, leaped up, let out a roar, and chopped down through the air toward the trunk of a nearby Chinese Scholar Tree. The one-hundred-twenty-catty Green Dragon Crescent Blade, cutting through the air with a whoosh, slammed into the thigh-thick trunk. The blade instantly bit deep. Then, with a clear tearing sound, the trunk, cut more than halfway through, toppled backward under the great force of the impact…

“Swearing to devour the northern foe’s flesh, laughing while thirsting to drink the Xiongnu’s blood. Gentlemen, shall we drink heartily tonight?”

Yang Xin sheathed the blade and stroked the patterns on it, saying.