Phi-Fic Chapter 725 So, what’s the price?
Chapter 725 So, what’s the price?
Eating meat can help you grow and make your body stronger; this is a fact that everyone knows.
But why do most of the people in the Xia Kingdom not eat meat?
Because they couldn't afford it. Not to mention ordinary people, even some small landlords didn't have meat on their tables every day.
The reason for this was that the productivity of the Xia Kingdom was too low. Even in some relatively wealthy areas, very few people could afford to eat meat, let alone in the barren Liangzhou.
If Chenjia Village could provide Liangzhou with a large quantity of inexpensive chickens and ducks, it would be an incredible boon for Yang Zheng and the high-ranking members of the Yang Family Army.
With ample meat, they could improve the army's diet, giving soldiers stronger physiques, enabling them to withstand more intense training, and thus unleash greater combat power.
If Chenjia Village provides enough chickens and ducks, it could even benefit ordinary people, allowing more people in Liangzhou to eat meat and have stronger bodies.
In addition, the down jackets provided by Chenjia Village can also help the people of Liangzhou better get through the cold winter...
In short, from Chen Dao's description, Yang Zheng can see the enormous benefits of cooperation.
"So, what's the price?"
Yang Zheng looked directly into Chen Dao's eyes and asked slowly.
He knew very well that Chen Dao might have some affection for him, but that affection was definitely not strong enough to warrant helping him for free.
Whether it's ice wheat, yellow-feathered chickens, white-feathered ducks, or down jackets, they are all extremely precious items, and Chen Dao would never give them away for nothing.
"cost……"
After a moment of contemplation, Chen Dao slowly said, "I need the Yang family army to help me defend against dangers from the outside world."
Chen Dao knew very well that although Chenjia Village was developing rapidly, it was absolutely impossible for it to cope with an army of tens of thousands. Taking the Yang family army entrenched in Liangzhou as an example, if the Yang family army launched an attack, the high-ranking members of Chenjia Village, including Chen Dao, might be able to save their lives by relying on their own military strength, but they would absolutely not be able to protect Chenjia Village.
In other words, if a large army were to invade Chenjia Village, everything that had been painstakingly built up in the village would be reduced to nothing in an instant.
Chen Dao absolutely did not want such a situation to occur. Therefore, he needed to find someone that Chenjia Village could rely on, and Yang Zheng and the Yang Family Army he led were precisely one of Chen Dao's chosen targets!
Chenjia Village's reputation has now spread throughout the entire Taicang Prefecture, and even reached the prefectural city. As the merchants who cooperate with Chenjia Village travel further and further away, it is not hard to imagine that Chenjia Village's existence will be noticed by more and more people.
Ordinary people might be amazed by the reputation of Chenjia Village, but if it gets known to powerful people, Chenjia Village could be in danger.
After all, the various magical products in Chenjia Village were enough to arouse their greed.
This is one of the reasons why Chen Dao made up his mind to cooperate with Yang Jiajun. Although Chenjia Village has some ability to protect itself, it is far from being able to fight against the whole world on its own. It needs Yang Jiajun to protect it.
"no problem."
Yang Zheng answered almost without hesitation: "As long as we can cooperate, I will naturally guarantee the safety of Chenjia Village."
"Me too!"
Yang Erlang patted his chest and declared, "Mr. Chen, rest assured, I, Yang Erlang, will protect Chenjia Village even if it costs me my life!"
Seeing the two make their promises, Chen Dao nodded and said, "In addition, Chenjia Village needs autonomy! After Chenjia Village cooperates with Yang Family Army, Chenjia Village will nominally become Yang Family Army's territory, but I hope that King Yang can grant Chenjia Village autonomy, not appoint officials to Chenjia Village, and not interfere in Chenjia Village's affairs."
No officials will be appointed?
Yang Zheng frowned. His refusal to appoint officials to Chenjia Village meant that although Chenjia Village was nominally under his jurisdiction, it did not accept his rule.
This is difficult for a ruler to accept. After all, all land under heaven belongs to the king, and all people within the realm are his subjects. As a ruler, no one can accept that there are areas in their territory that they cannot control...
"Mr. Chen, is there any room for negotiation on this matter?"
Yang Zheng asked tentatively.
"no!"
Chen Dao shook his head firmly. He was determined to obtain the autonomy of Chenjia Village because no one knew better than him how to develop Chenjia Village.
If Chenjia Village loses its autonomy and allows the officials appointed by Yang Zheng to run amok, then the development of Chenjia Village will likely be hampered, which would be the least of its worries. The most likely scenario is that the incompetent officials will directly lead the entire Chenjia Village to decline, or even return it to its former state of poverty.
This is something that Chen Dao and the villagers of Chenjia Village cannot accept.
"All right!"
Seeing Chen Dao's resolute attitude, Yang Zheng finally nodded in agreement: "I agree to this matter. Does Mr. Chen have any other requests?"
"One last request."
Chen Dao concluded by saying, "King Yang needs to persuade my allies."
"ally?"
Yang Zheng and the others looked puzzled.
Seeing this, Chen Dao did not hide anything and directly told Zheng Qing and others about his cooperation.
After listening, Yang Zheng and the others looked at each other in bewilderment.
In the vast Taicang Prefecture, from the prefect to the head of Chenjia Village, everyone was a rebel...
Moreover, the imperial court was completely unaware of this, which is simply... outrageous!
Even more outrageous, Chen Dao told them something else...
Not long ago, they even conspired to kill the commander of the Black-Clad Guards who came from the capital...
The commander of the Black-Clad Guards was a trusted and loyal minister of the emperor; killing such a person would have consequences even more severe than rebellion…
"Mr. Chen, you guys are being way too... audacious!"
Yang Erlang clicked his tongue in amazement. He wasn't surprised that Chen Dao could do such a thing. After all, he had known for a long time that Chen Dao was the murderer of the Green King. It was not surprising that someone who dared to kill the Green King would kill the commander of the Black-Clad Guards.
But Yang Erlang was shocked to learn that Chen Dao's allies were also doing the same thing.
You must know that Chen Dao's allies were all high-ranking officials of the imperial court. Aren't they afraid of being punished by the court and being criticized by scholars all over the country for following Chen Dao to kill the emperor's trusted ministers?
The officials of the Xia Kingdom were all scholars, and scholars often valued their reputation highly. However, Zheng Qing and his court officials conspired with Chen Dao to kill the commander of the Black-Clad Guards...
Once this gets out, Zheng Qing and his associates will be utterly disgraced and forever infamous among scholars, which is worse than death for many!
"I had no choice!"
Chen Dao shrugged and said, "That commander of the black-clad guards wanted to kill me, so I couldn't just surrender without a fight, could I? As for the reason why Prefect Zheng and the others did this, it's probably because they saw hope for their hometown to get better!"