Liu Ziming smiled and said, "Brother Xiaobei, you have excellent skills. You can even capture wolves alive."
After speaking, he turned to his brother and said, "Quick, go report to Steward Liu."
Not long after, Liu Ce rushed out.
Upon seeing Chen Xiaobei, he offered some pleasantries, "Brother Xiaobei, it's rare for you to visit. Please come into the manor for a cup of tea."
Chen Xiaobei pointed to the donkey cart, "Steward Liu, let's inspect the goods first."
Liu Ce laughed heartily, "I didn't expect you to be such an impatient fellow, Brother Xiaobei."
With that, he walked forward.
The two wild wolves, seeing themselves surrounded, let out a series of roars.
But they were tightly bound. Other than roaring and glaring, they could do nothing.
Liu Ce reached out and touched the wolf's leg, his face filled with regret, "Alas, what a pity. The leg bones are all broken. It will take at least half a year to recover."
He then turned to Chen Xiaobei, "Brother, these wolves..." Before he could finish, Chen Xiaobei smiled and said, "I understand. With broken legs, they're not worth much."
His words made Liu Ce swallow the rest of his sentence. "No, that's not what I meant."
"I mean, these two wolves are in their prime, just like people in their youth. Once their leg injuries heal, they will still be able to run and jump."
Fine, let's just assume you're telling the truth. Chen Xiaobei didn't argue further.
Liu Ce turned and instructed Liu Ziming to pull the donkey cart into the backyard and unload the wolves.
Then, he said to Chen Xiaobei again, "Brother Xiaobei, please."
This time, Chen Xiaobei did not refuse. After all, the donkey cart had been brought in, but the silver had not yet been received.
Liu Ce led Chen Xiaobei into the reception hall, where someone brought tea.
After taking a sip of tea, Liu Ce smiled and said, "Brother Xiaobei, I know it wasn't easy for you to get these two wolves, so the price will be as we agreed, one hundred taels each."
En, good. Chen Xiaobei was extremely, extremely satisfied with this price.
But he still had to be polite. "Brother Liu, forget about the silver. You gave me so many repeating crossbows without charging a cent. Consider these two wolves my gift to you."
Liu Ce waved his hand. "No, Brother Xiaobei. We have to be clear about things. The repeating crossbows were issued by the officials and given by the young lady; they have nothing to do with me. But these wolves, I asked you for them, so you must accept the silver."
Chen Xiaobei pretended to look troubled. "Since you insist, I won't be polite then."
"However, Brother Liu, there is one thing I don't understand and would like to ask you."
Liu Ce made a gesture. "Brother, please speak freely."
After speaking, he raised his teacup and took a sip of tea.
"Brother Liu, what do you want these wolves for?"
Liu Ce laughed heartily. "Strictly speaking, I shouldn't tell you. But between us, there's no need to hide anything."
"Do you know that north of our Great Cang Kingdom, there is a country called Great Yong Kingdom? They have a mysterious unit called the Blood Wolf Guards."
Blood Wolf Guards?
"Isn't it just a unit? What's so mysterious about it?" Chen Xiaobei asked, as if he wanted to get to the bottom of it.
"Ah, these Blood Wolf Guards are not human; they are all wolves."
"I don't know what sort of sinister methods the people of Great Yong Kingdom used to train wolves to be as obedient as dogs. Whenever they go to war, they first release a pack of wolves. We have suffered greatly every time. So, my master wants to get a few wolves to experiment with, to see how they can be domesticated."
Hearing this, Chen Xiaobei smiled.
He thought to himself, this is simple. Don't domesticate wolves; crossbreed them, create wolfdogs.
Those things fight more fiercely than wolves.
But Chen Xiaobei didn't dare to say these words out loud. After all, wolfdogs were something from many years in the future. It was possible that the head of the Liu family, Liu Xiangnan, could truly domesticate wolves.
Taking the silver, he left the Liu manor.
Chen Xiaobei was extremely excited.
Two hundred taels of silver. Taking it back and dividing it among everyone.
There were ten people who went into the mountains, so each person would get twenty taels.
Everyone would be ecstatic.
But then he thought again, no, as the saying goes, it's not poverty that is the problem, but inequality.
Although entering the mountains was very dangerous, even life-threatening, twenty taels was a huge sum. For the villagers, so much silver was several years' worth of income. Those who didn't receive it would surely have their reservations.
Therefore, the safest approach would be to distribute less, to a level that everyone could accept.
For example, five taels of silver per person.
Then, what would the remaining more than a hundred taels of silver be used for?
Keeping it all for himself was obviously not appropriate. Although, as long as he didn't say anything, no one would know.
But his conscience wouldn't allow it.
So, the best way, of course, was to let all the villagers of Hetou Village benefit, so that even those who didn't receive silver wouldn't be envious of Lidong and the others.
But what should be done?
Lying on the cart as he headed back, Chen Xiaobei's mind was filled with thoughts. Various scenes from his past life flashed through his mind.
Suddenly, a familiar slogan appeared in his mind: "To get rich, first build roads."
Yes, build roads.
As his thoughts opened up, Chen Xiaobei felt his vision clear.
Various slogans poured out.
"Knowledge changes destiny."
"Technology changes life."
Ah, ah, at this time, what technology?
Chen Xiaobei thought for a moment. Technology might be too far-fetched, but donkeys and plows were more practical.
Especially when it came time for sowing. Those sown early already had seedlings half a foot tall, while the later ones hadn't even been sown.
This was because the village only had one plow ox. No, strictly speaking, during the busy farming season, the township only allocated one plow ox to each village.
Although it was for the benefit of the people, one ox was too few.
So, if these matters were taken care of, more than a hundred taels of silver would not seem like a lot.
At this moment, Chen Ping had arrived at the county yamen.
Upon meeting Hu Fan, he began to pour out his grievances.
"My Lord, the village head of Hetou Village, Chen Xiaobei, is harboring weapons. Ten repeating crossbows in total! Please go and investigate."
Hu Fan's heart tightened. As the saying goes, only officials can set fires, while commoners are forbidden to light lamps.
For ordinary people to harbor weapons was a serious crime.
Moreover, even his Qingniu County yamen did not possess the firepower of ten repeating crossbows.
He Lao Qi saw that Hu Fan was about to strike the gavel and quickly coughed, giving a signal to the back hall.
Hu Fan understood the signal and stood up, turning to enter the back hall.
He Lao Qi followed immediately.
"My Lord, that Chen Xiaobei has some connection with the Liu family. I suggest we turn a blind eye."
Hu Fan, however, shook his head slightly. "That's not appropriate. Chen Ping has already filed a complaint. If we ignore it, won't it seem like we are harboring or showing favoritism?"
"But, My Lord, Chen Xiaobei, he..."
Hu Fan shook his head. "The more connections he has with the Liu family, the more we cannot let it go unchecked. Ten repeating crossbows! It's fine if nothing happens, but if it does, it will be a major incident. By then, if the Liu family washes their hands of it, we will be in deep trouble."