In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 711 Impact

As soon as the door opened, a blast of cold wind rushed into the house, causing the temperature inside to drop dramatically, making the couple shiver involuntarily.

"It's really cold here."

Yang Ming and his wife instinctively moved closer to each other, using each other's body heat to keep warm.

After their temperature had adjusted to the outside temperature, the couple finally stepped out of their house.

The outside world is a pristine white landscape. If a scholar were to see this scene, he would likely be inspired to compose a poem.

But for Yang Ming and his wife, this snow-covered scene had nothing to do with beauty.

Because snowflakes bring cold, and in Liangzhou, a barren land where people lacked food and clothing, the cold could truly kill people.

"Wife, let's hurry up."

"Ah."

The couple quickened their pace and braved the wind and snow to head towards the East Market.

About half an hour later, the two arrived at the most bustling East Market in Yongliang County.

The East Market is the most commercially developed area in Yongliang County. Here, the people of Yongliang County can buy almost anything they need, including rice, flour, cooking oil, pots and pans, and so on.

"what?"

As Yang Ming entered the East Market area, his gaze suddenly fixed on a shop. He asked in surprise, "Isn't that the Zhang family's shop? Why is it reopened?"

The Zhang family that Yang Ming mentioned was once a large landowner in Yongliang County. The family owned countless fields and a large number of shops in Yongliang County, making them arguably the wealthiest family in the entire county.

However, all of that is in the past. With the rise of King Yang, the Zhang family, which had been plundering the people by trickery and committing numerous evil deeds, naturally could not escape the slaughter of the Yang family army.

Shortly after Yang Zheng's uprising, Yang's army surrounded the Zhang family's manor outside Yongliang County and beheaded almost all of the Zhang family members.

The people of Yongliang County were overjoyed at this. The Zhang family was practically the local tyrants of Yongliang County, exploiting the people to an extreme degree. The people had long been disgusted with them, but because of the Zhang family's power, no one dared to resist them.

Now that the Yang family army has wiped out the Zhang family, the people are naturally happy to see it happen.

After the Zhang family was wiped out, their land and shops naturally fell into the hands of the Yang family army.

Most of the farmland owned by the Yang family army was distributed to poor people for cultivation. As for real estate such as shops, the Yang family army was willing to sell them, but very few people were willing to take them over.

The reason is simple: in Xia State, those with funds, ability, and connections to do business are often large landowners. However, almost all the large landowners in Yongliang County have been killed by Yang Family Army. Who else can take over these shops?

It should be noted that the Zhang family's shops are all located in the most prosperous areas. You can imagine how expensive such shops are. Apart from large landowners, ordinary small vendors simply cannot afford to buy such shops.

This is why the shops owned by Yang's army cannot be sold, and it is also why Yang Ming is so surprised.

Although he didn't come to the East Market often, he knew that the shops that originally belonged to the big landowners had been closed for a long time, but now they had suddenly reopened. This made Yang Ming wonder if the Zhang family had returned to power.

"Could it be that the Zhang family has returned?"

Yang Ming's wife said with some worry, "If the Zhang family returns, it will definitely not be a good thing for the people of Yongliang County."

Because the Zhang family was extremely greedy for land, they had previously seized countless farmlands from ordinary people, relying on their family's power. Even Yang Ming's family's few acres of poor land had been targeted by the Zhang family. If Yang Zheng hadn't suddenly rebelled, Yang Ming's family's farmland would probably have also fallen into the hands of the Zhang family.

"I'll go ask."

After pondering for a moment, Yang Ming chose to walk towards the shop, intending to ask some questions.

At that moment, a man dressed as a shop assistant came out of the shop. Seeing Yang Ming and his companion approaching, the man greeted them warmly, "Sir, would you like to buy something?"

"I just want to ask some questions."

Upon seeing the shop assistant's enthusiasm, Yang Ming immediately asked, "Is this the Zhang family's shop?"

"The Zhang family? Wasn't the Zhang family wiped out by Yang Tianwang a long time ago? Where is the Zhang family now?"

The man was none other than a fellow villager whom Zhang He had brought into the caravan from Zhangwang Village. Because he was from Yongliang County, he naturally knew of the Zhang family's existence.

Yang Ming was taken aback by the man's answer and pointed to the signboard above the shop door, asking, "Isn't this the Zhang family's shop?"

"of course not!"

The man shook his head and said, "My employer's surname is indeed Zhang, but it's not that Zhang family."

The current owner of this shop is naturally Zhang He.

However, although Zhang He's surname is Zhang, he has absolutely no relation to the Zhang family of Yongliang County. Otherwise, Zhang He would not have ended up as a vagrant.

"Uh……"

Yang Ming scratched his head, puzzled, and asked, "If you're not from the Zhang family, then who are you?"

"We are merchants from Taiping County, Qingzhou."

The man replied with a smile, "Sir, please rest assured! We have no connection with that Zhang family."

"All right!"

Upon learning that this was indeed not Zhang's shop, Yang Ming felt much relieved. Just as he and his wife were about to leave, the man suddenly spoke up: "Sir, are you two here in the East Market to buy cloth?"

"how do you know?"

Yang Ming asked subconsciously.

The man did not answer, but only glanced at the clothes on Yang Ming and his companion.

Noticing the man's gaze, Yang Ming glanced down at his clothes and immediately realized what was happening.

The clothes he and his wife were wearing were two years old. After such a long time, the clothes would naturally have been patched and mended. The man probably figured out from the patches on his clothes that he was there to buy fabric.

"I am indeed here to buy fabric."

Yang Ming asked, "Do you sell fabrics in your shop?"

"We don't have any cloth, but we do have clothes. Please come in with me, sir."

The man smiled and welcomed Yang Ming and his companion into the shop.

Upon entering the store, the temperature immediately rose, making Yang Ming and his wife feel more comfortable. Then, Yang Ming saw the clothes hanging in the store.

"So many clothes!"

Yang Ming's wife exclaimed in surprise that the visual impact of so many ready-made clothes hanging neatly in the store was extremely strong.

In the Xia Kingdom today, most people buy cloth, cut it, and sew it into clothes.

Therefore, even Yang Ming's wife, who was used to dealing with cloth and needlework, had never seen so many ready-made clothes.

Not only his wife, but Yang Ming himself was also stunned.

This was the first time he had ever seen such a large quantity of ready-to-wear clothing.

Especially in this cold season, the visual impact of these clothes is far stronger than ever before!