Chapter 9: Sudden Change and Calamity

  Seeking recommendations, collecting support, new book on the rise!

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  In modern times, in the same location as Qingdao, due to construction and industry, almost no sea smell can be detected. In the first month of staying at Xue Jiaqian's place, although it was said to be poor, the environment was completely semi-enclosed, Li Meng always felt like he was in a dream, without any real feeling.

  Today, I arrived at Mengzhen Town, a town that may have already disappeared in modern times. Li Meng felt it deeply and truly, that he had indeed traveled through time, and was now in the Ming Dynasty over 400 years ago.

  Zhao Neng and the others quickly finished shopping, chatting and laughing as they turned back. Some people were carrying a piece of pork, some had bought a little wine, and others had several feet of cloth in their hands. These were the only goods that this small town could provide, but for these poor military dependents who had been suffering for many years, it was already enough to be luxurious.

  "Let's go home."

  On the way back, a group of people followed Li Meng's words and took the small road. The carts were empty, the baskets were empty, but there was some silver money in their pockets, so they walked lightly and happily.

  A few chatty young men never stopped, and Zhao Neng's face, who was usually steady, also had a smile on it. Li Meng's mood was also very good. Boiling the ocean and simmering salt, slowing down is also a good way to improve one's life. After all, in this era, what's most important is still living comfortably. This is also Li Meng's recent goal.

  On the way back, they indeed saw a few farmers living by the roadside. Both sides were startled, and the farmers thought they had encountered strong men, while Li Meng and his companions thought they had met patrol salt officials. Fortunately, it was just a false alarm, and they flashed past each other.

  When the last ray of sunlight disappeared on the horizon, Li Meng and his party rushed back to Xue's thousand households. The name "thousand households" literally means a thousand families, but in reality, due to hidden household registrations and other reasons, the actual population was slightly higher, however, only a few hundred were listed on the register.

  So many households cannot live together in one place, and in fact, according to the small flag, general flag, hundred households, thousand households system at that time, they were scattered and lived separately, with almost every hundred households as a unit, which is roughly equivalent to a large village. Li Meng's family was a coastal hundred households, in other words, it was a coastal village.

  A group of people entered the village in high spirits, but were stopped by Li Meng at the entrance, who reminded them:

  "Everyone, brothers, if we want to keep doing this business, we must all be more careful with our words. If someone hears and reports us, none of us can escape!"

  Chen Liu's side also shouted viciously:

  "If anyone's mouth isn't tight, I, Chen Liu Zi, will chop off his head with one knife!"

  "Don't worry, Big Brother Li, we all know it's serious..."

  The crowd responded in unison, but before the words were even finished, a cry echoed from within the village. The wailing was heart-wrenching and crystal clear in the quiet night air, and it didn't come from just one household. Zhao's brow furrowed as he listened intently, then spoke up:

  "This is not Ding Po's house, but also Old Wang's house."

  From then on, everyone else didn't dare to linger outside and hastened their pace, rushing into the village. As for those waist knives and iron rulers, they were all taken back by Li Meng and placed in his own small cart to be pushed home.

  As soon as they entered the village, everyone was shocked. The whole village seemed to have just been hit by a typhoon, with debris scattered all over the place. Some people were silently picking up the pieces, while others were cursing and crying. The excitement of having earned money had dissipated, and everyone hastily returned to their own homes.

  Li Meng and Zhao Nai's two families were neighbors. When they arrived at the door, however, they found that both families' front gates were wide open. Li Meng hastily pushed his bicycle to the side of the gate and rushed into his house with Zhao Nai. The courtyard was in disarray, clearly having been rummaged through. The two quickly dashed inside.

  Although the house was in a mess, what reassured them was that Zhao Nai's mother was fine, cooking in the kitchen. However, the old lady's face didn't look good. Looking at the situation in the house and her own mother's expression, Zhao Nai hastily asked:

  "Mom, what's going on?"

  The old lady added some firewood and then began to explain why things were like this today. After Li Meng and the others left for two hours, Mu Xun led dozens of salt workers to this village, saying that there was a righteous citizen reporting that someone was selling private salt and hiding a large amount of salt goods.

  Smuggling private salt, hoarding salt goods is a serious crime, no one dares to admit it, and Li Meng and Zhao Neng's affair was done secretly, everyone vaguely guessed, but also didn't dare confirm, besides, fellow villagers wouldn't speak recklessly.

  This corrupt patrol didn't even bother to ask questions, and directly went from house to house to search. These several dozen salt smugglers were like several dozen mad dogs, instantly turning the village upside down with chickens flying and dogs jumping. However, most of the salt goods had been pushed out by Li Meng and Zhao Neng, so each household really didn't have much stored away.

  However, these beasts couldn't find any contraband private salt, but that doesn't mean they'll be honest. Whoever has something valuable, these salt officials won't let it go. A poor family's savings are worth tens of thousands, how can they let them be robbed? But these salt officials are like wolves and tigers, if you slightly resist, you'll get a severe beating.

  The village head was also in the hundred households and did not dare to come out. Fortunately, Mu Xun also gave some face to this hundred households and did not take action against him.

  No large quantities of salt were found, only a small amount of edible salt in each household. It seemed that the matter had passed, but Ma Xun and his men, those beasts, would not let things go so easily. They took action and seized Ding's widow daughter-in-law and Old Yang's eldest daughter.

  Ding's wife was an elderly woman who wasn't very good at hearing and didn't have a partner, her son died young, relying on her daughter-in-law to make a living. The old Yang family had only one girl, these elderly and weak people couldn't withstand the salt dings, and the village's strong and brave men were all out selling salt (boiling sea salt for sale was an illegal business that required some courage), the rest were also scared and didn't dare to go out.

  They watched with wide eyes as the people took away Ding's widow and Yang's daughter, not daring to intervene until nightfall when they finally dared to clean up. Ding's wife and Old Yang were at a loss, wailing loudly to heaven and earth, what else could they do?

  Looking at the wolf-like villagers, listening to the crying sounds, Li Meng's face turned iron-gray, and Zhao Nai's face didn't look good either. The cause of this matter was because they were smuggling private salt, thinking they could make some money to improve everyone's lives, but who knew it would implicate everyone instead.

  The good mood was all gone, Li Meng didn't say a word, Zhao Neng forced a smile on his face, raised the pork and cloth in his hand, and said:

  "Mom, this time I went to Fengmeng Town and bought some meat and cloth."

  The old lady sighed, took over the meat and cloth, and said:

  "You two haven't eaten yet, I'll cook this meat."

  "No need, auntie. I've already eaten outside. You and Zhao Dage can eat now. I'm a bit tired, so I'll head back to rest first."