Chapter 323 - Chapter 323: Chapter 319: Returning to the County Town_1 (1/2)

Chapter 323: Chapter 319: Returning to the County Town_1

While his master was standing alone at the bow of the ship, looking at the distant mountains, Yingbao walked up and asked, “Master, who was that person?”

Zhou Wuchang glanced at his young apprentice, saying, “Children shouldn’t always be so curious.”

Seeing his master brushing him off, Yingbao became anxious and tugged at his sleeve, “Master, tell me quickly, and I’ll tell you about the dream I had last night.”

Helplessly, Zhou Wuchang replied, “That man’s father and I knew each other in the old days. He just came to say hello. You don’t need to ask who he is; we won’t meet him again anyway.”

Yingbao was relieved to hear this and decided not to tell his master about his dream. He turned around and went back to the cabin.

The merchant ship arrived at a large dock the next day. The eldest apprentice said this was the dock of Chengzhou County.

Chengzhou County was the fief of that rebellious commandery prince.

Yingbao deliberately ran up to the deck to look at the dock.

The dock was bustling, no different from other provincial governments.

In fact, every city in the Great Qian Dynasty was quite prosperous, and as long as the townspeople weren’t lazy or addicted to gambling, they could live comfortably.

The poorest were those farmers who couldn’t leave their land. They had been tilling the soil for generations, and the more honest and downtrodden they were, the more miserable their lives.

The ship’s crew put a gangplank ashore and began unloading.

This ship was a merchant ship, transporting goods from the North.

The goods were bundled in circles with straw ropes, making it impossible to see what was inside.

But the dock workers seemed to be having a hard time moving it, as if it was really heavy.

Two words suddenly popped into Yingbao’s mind – iron ore.

Could these goods be iron ore?

She stole a glance at her master, seeing that his gaze was not on these goods, she heaved a sigh of relief.

Whether it was iron ore or not, as long as her master didn’t collude with the Commandery Prince, that would be fine.

Although the imperial court was corrupt, there were still strong soldiers outside. It wouldn’t be a problem to eliminate a rebel vassal king.

Not to mention that general named Zhong in the northwest, he was very good in battle.

It was a pity that General Zhong was worn out to death by the emperor.

The Great Qian, in order to prevent the Western Army from dominating, kept issuing edicts to the Western Army to fight the Western Xia one day and Fang La the next. As soon as Fang La was finished, without catching a breath, they were assigned to fight against the Liao Country in the north.

Before the war with Liao Country ended, the Jurchens invaded the South, and the Zhong family’s army was sent to save Taiyuan.

The consecutive battles resulted in the death of the commander of the Western Army’s son, and his father was also worked to death.

In the end, the morale of the Western Army fell. A good army was scattered like sand on the ground.

Many soldiers ran away, and quite a few officers disappeared along with them.

Still, the Western Army remained the most capable fighting force in the dynasty. With a little reorganization, it would be a sharp blade again.

Yingbao had dreamt that in her previous life, it was Xiao Mo who took over the Western Army and eventually became the most powerful commander in the dynasty.

However, his power caused fear in his uncle’s family, even including his aunt who was the Empress. They wanted to get rid of him.

Their tactics were utterly useless in the face of absolute power.

At this moment, it seemed that Xiao Mo had not yet become the commander of the Western Army, and the vassal king was probably still preparing for his future rebellion.

After unloading the cargo, the ship was gradually loaded with some other goods.

The owners of these goods were all doing business between the north and the south. They traveled and purchased goods together for safety.

Nowadays, bandits were rampant, especially in places where merchants had to pass. They were literally everywhere.

Today’s highwaymen could be farming at home the next day. Even the government couldn’t catch them, as they were actually local villagers.

Yingbao knew this better than anyone.