Below Snake Fish Town, there are three villages: Cross Village, Dachen Village, and Xiaowang Village.
Cross Village is the interdiary district connecting Dachen Village and Xiaowang Village, and it's also the essential path to Baojiao County.
Because of its strategic location, coupled with the fact that many significant figures erged from Cross Village in its early years, more than a hundred years ago, the Imperial Court decreed the establishnt of Snake Fish Town on the foundations of the original Cross Village.
Its status as a town also attracted wealthy families from the two neighboring villages, who ca to settle and build houses there.
The layout of Snake Fish Town is very simple: one long street stretching seven to eight hundred ters and three short streets, with the shortest being just two to three hundred ters long, forming a shape resembling the Chinese character 'Feng'.
It's not much different from the township markets I visited when I was a kid.
Chen Ku was pulling a cart, intending to buy firewood.
In fact, it was his first ti in town. The streets were dirt roads, and he saw a continuous flow of people in short shirts and coarse cloth, all bustling for their livelihood.
There was an area for selling vegetables, featuring commonly seen rural produce like cucumbers, cabbages, and potatoes. Village elders would pick vegetables early in the morning. They carried them over dozens of li to the town, earning hard-earned money asured in re fractions of a cent.
There were also stalls selling food like cold noodles, tofu, and stead buns, among other things.
Stalls displayed sunflower seeds, jujubes, thin-skinned walnuts, peanuts, and various other dried fruits.
At this mont, he heard a group of people gathered nearby.
"Have you heard? Zhu Family Village was raided by a gang of destitute bandits."
"A few well-off individuals from Zhu Family Town even had people killed in their hos."
"Those bandits suffered even greater losses!"
"How tragic."
"These detestable destitute people must have a bandit leader behind them..."
"Fortunately, Zhu Family Town is a hundred miles away from our Snake Fish Town, so it shouldn't spread here..."
"Alas, it's hard to say."
Hearing this, the three of them fell silent.
Old Master Li took a drag from his dry tobacco pipe, his eyes filled with worry.
Chen Ku worried inwardly: These shouldn't be considered re destitute folks anymore; this is banditry. The destitute would only starve to death, but once they organize, they beco bandits. Even those high-gated landlord families can be broken into and have people killed. There is truly no sense of safety in these chaotic tis.
"Co on, let's have a big stead bun first to fill our stomachs." Li Jiyang, simple-minded as he was, didn't overthink it. Coming into town, his main goal was to enjoy so good food. He first bought six big stead buns and handed one each to Chen Ku and his grandfather.
"...Thank you, Jiyang." Chen Ku took it. Only after confirming it was a vegetarian bun did he start eating, relieved; at fillings were expensive.
Once they finished the buns, they shouldered their baskets, pulled the cart, and followed the longest street for about two-thirds of its length until they reached an area where herbal dicines were displayed, much like a vegetable market.
It was right at the intersection of the main street and the second street, a designated area called the 'dicine and Firewood Market'.
At the entrance to the market street stood an archway, surprisingly guarded by two Governnt Officials.
Old Head Li cautioned the two behind him, "Ku, take out the letter of introduction the village chief gave you for staying at Zhao Bocai's place. They check identities when entering the dicine and Firewood Market Street."
"Oh." Chen Ku promptly took out a piece of cloth from his chest. It bore the Floral Signature and handwriting of the Dachen Village chief, indicating that Chen Ku was a "temporary resident" affiliated with a household in the village.
So this is my current status. An unregistered temporary resident, akin to having a temporary identification card.
Looking at Old Li and Li Jiyang, they produced two bamboo slips, also known as waist tokens. These bore their nas and places of origin, stamped with an iron seal from the Yan, signifying they were legally registered citizens of Ji Country.
Chen Ku watched as the Governnt Officials inspected each person's 'Registered Household Waist Token' upon entering the dicine and Firewood Market Street. It gave him a strange sense of déjà vu, like having his ID checked at a tourist attraction in his previous life.
However, he knew the Governnt Officials checked identities to create registers. Then, when people left, taxes would be collected based on the inco generated within the dicine and Firewood Market Street.
"A temporary resident?" When it was Chen Ku's turn, a burly, bearded Governnt Official gave him a cold look and asked, "Are you a foreign refugee, or have you committed so cri?"
Chen Ku fell silent for a mont. He couldn't help but glance at the wanted posters behind the two Governnt Officials, which displayed portraits, nas, places of origin, and cris.
When the burly Governnt Official noticed Chen Ku looking at the wanted posters behind them, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "What, do you know him?"
Chen Ku imdiately shook his head, "I don't know him; I was just struck by the high bounty."
"If you don't know him, why stare?" the burly Governnt Official said irritably.
The middle-aged Governnt Official next to him cleared his throat, seemingly addressing Chen Ku and the people behind them. Pointing at the wanted poster, he said, "Everyone passing by, take a look at the person in this portrait. This is a newly drawn image of a major smuggler nad Ni Kun, involved in smuggling a huge amount of goods. Anyone who can provide information on his whereabouts will be rewarded with Thirty Taels of silver, and those who assist in his capture will be rewarded with a Hundred Taels!"
"One Hundred Taels!"
The crowd was stunned.
"This must be a dangerous criminal, probably a martial artist!"
Such a high bounty also signified terrifying danger; ordinary people wouldn't dare covet it.
The Governnt Officials were clearly aware of everyone's thoughts.
Glancing at Chen Ku, one of them said coldly, "Anyone who has information but fails to report it, or who conceals and harbors the criminal, will not only receive the sa punishnt as the criminal—potentially even capital punishnt. Furthermore, their families will also be implicated!"
Old Li, seeing the situation, hurried over and said, "Official Masters, this child is from my village and has a clean record. He has never done anything wrong. He beca an unregistered household only because he was implicated by his elder brother."
Upon hearing this, the tall Governnt Official said in a stern voice to the surrounding crowd, "See that? If you know sothing and don't report it, the cri extends to your family—that's the consequence! You'll beco an unregistered household, and all inco earned here in the dicine and Firewood Market Street will be taxed at half. Understood?" He then looked towards Chen Ku, waiting for a reply.
Chen Ku sighed inwardly and responded, "This humble one understands."
The two Governnt Officials, seeing his cooperative attitude and also because people were lining up behind, slowly allowed him to pass.
After they entered the market, Old Li took a puff from his dry tobacco pipe and sighed, "Thinking about your brother, huh? It's tough on you."
Chen Ku shook his head and smiled, saying, "It's okay. Let's go sell the herbs."
This body's elder brother, Chen Xin, had resorted to desperate asures like smuggling, which was why Chen Ku had been dragged into such a plight.
Having spent a considerable ti here since transmigrating, Chen Ku sowhat understood why so many people in Baojiao County were involved in smuggling dicinal herbs.
Firstly, Baojiao County was located on the southwest frontier. Not far away, Two Realms Mountain marked the border, beyond which lay Yuan Country. Given such geographical circumstances, smuggling was bound to flourish.
But there was another, even more significant reason: the current global situation. Countries had closed their borders, severing trade relations.
The richness of natural resources varied among countries. Take the neighboring Yuan Dynasty, for instance. Due to its unique geographical location behind the mountains, so dicinal herbs were not only common in the deep mountains and old forests of Yuan Country but also very potent. Therefore, in Yuan Country, these herbs were practically worthless.
However, one only needed to risk decapitation, climb over Two Realms Mountain, and smuggle these herbs into Ji Country. There, these herbs were scarce and in high demand, allowing for a profit ten or even a hundred tis greater.
In these tis, many were driven to desperation by heavy taxes and the pressures of life, forcing them to take such risks...
Soon, Old Li had led Chen Ku through the dicine and Firewood Market Street, and they sold all their collected herbs.
When Old Li presented his seven-tael Old Mountain Ginseng, it caused a stir among several stalls.
"Seven taels for ginseng, eight taels for treasure. Just one tael short of being a Treasure Herb."
"Such a pity!!"
"Still, even so, it's quite valuable."
"I offer seven taels of silver—one tael of silver per tael of ginseng. That's a fair price."
In the end, after so bargaining, Old Head Li's seven-tael Old Mountain Ginseng was sold for 'Seven Taels Six' in silver.
Soone nearby remarked regretfully, "What a pity, truly a pity. If it had been just one more tael, the price of this ginseng would have increased at least fivefold. It would be worth at least forty taels of silver."
"That's true, but everyone knows that once an Old Mountain Ginseng exceeds seven taels, gaining even a fraction more weight takes another year. All told, a ginseng plant needs at least thirty years to beco a Treasured dicine. How could ordinary people be so fortunate?"
Head Li sighed, acknowledging his own ager luck to have found it only at seven taels.
Afterward, he arranged for the sale of Chen Ku's Snake Bone Herb.
Chen Ku received a total of four hundred fifty wen. He told Master Li he was going to buy firewood and temporarily parted ways with him and his grandson, heading towards the back street of the dicine and Firewood Market.
This area sold not only firewood but also fish.
Snake Fish Town was nestled by mountains and water.
Mountains had snakes, water had fish, grasses contained dicine, and firewood was everywhere.
Thus, the dicine and Firewood Market sold not just dicine and firewood but also snakes and fish.
He bought one hundred wen's worth of firewood. Firewood cost one-tenth the price of rice—one wen per jin—totaling one hundred jin of firewood.
A hundred jin was a weight Chen Ku's current body could indeed carry, but luckily, the cart would save him half the effort.
As he loaded the firewood and headed back to find Master Li and his grandson, he occasionally heard exclamations in the dicine and Firewood Market, similar to what Old Master Li had experienced earlier.
"Treasure Fish, we have Treasure Fish!"
"It's young Bai, he caught Treasure Fish this ti!!"
"Treasure Fish, like Treasure Herbs, are Spiritual Objects, great for nourishing flesh and blood."
"Good heavens, and there's more than one!"
"Born into poverty, catching Treasure Fish ant he had turned his fortunes around. With these few Treasure Fish, he could join a martial arts school, beco a Military Scholar, and change to County Household status. From then on, his days would surely be smooth sailing."
"I'm so envious! Brother Bai is going to live a good life."
"I heard that earlier an old man dug up a seven-tael Old Mountain Ginseng!"
"Damn it, why does such good luck never fall on ?!"
As Chen Ku pulled the cart away, he heard from afar that the few Treasure Fish were sold for thirteen or fourteen taels each.
First, it was Old Master Li, and now this fellow; both living by the mountains and water, they had found their fortune.
Thinking of the half-tax he still had to pay, which would leave him with only a few wen, he felt a sting in his heart. He touched his nose, having already morized many scents in the dicine and Firewood Market, confident he could track things for ten li.
Tomorrow, I'll go into the mountains. This ti, good fortune should finally be mine!
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