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

Chapter 297 Changes in Ding'an City

Chapter 297 Changes in Ding'an City "Definitely!"

Zhang He said with certainty that he had personally eaten the Blood Feather Chicken and knew how miraculous its effects were for martial artists. He believed that no martial artist of the lower three ranks could resist the temptation of the Blood Feather Chicken!

also……

He had invested heavily in this blood-feathered chicken business, putting all his and his brothers' money into it, and even getting 300 taels of silver from his partner Li Hu. For him, this blood-feathered chicken business could only succeed; failure was not an option!

Skinny Monkey turned to look at Zhang He, and seeing his resolute expression, he didn't say anything more.

…………

…………

The next day.

As the villagers of Chenjia Village began to get busy, Zhang He also led his convoy away from Chenjia Village, heading south.

When they passed through Taiping County, there was an extra person in the group. It was none other than Han Meng from the Fuhu Boxing School.

Considering the unsafe journey to Ding'an County, and that Zhang He alone might not be able to guarantee the caravan's safety, Li Hu specially dispatched his eldest disciple, Han Meng, as the caravan's guard.

"Brother Li, how much silver do you think Zhang He can earn from this business deal?"

Watching the caravan slowly disappear from sight, Xu Zhiwen turned to Li Hu and asked.

Not only did Li Hu invest money in Zhang He's business, but Xu Zhiwen also invested a considerable amount. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for Zhang He and others to raise such a huge sum of 500 taels of silver.

As for why Xu Zhiwen invested money... naturally it's because this business is guaranteed to make a profit!

Xu Zhiwen had personally witnessed the miraculous power of the Blood Feather Chicken, and he knew that no martial artist could resist its allure. Therefore, Zhang He's business deal was sure to be profitable, not a loss.

The only question is how much money you'll make.

"I should be able to earn a hundred or two taels of silver, right?"

Li Hu said uncertainly that he shared the same view as Xu Zhiwen, believing that Zhang He's business deal would definitely be profitable, otherwise he wouldn't have invested in Zhang He. As for how much he would earn, that would depend on how many martial artists there were in Ding'an County and Zhang He's business acumen.

…………

…………

As the sun began to set, Zhang He's team stopped on the official road, lit a fire to keep warm, and planned to rest there for the night before continuing their journey the next day.

"Brother Han."

Looking at the campfire in front of him, Zhang He said to Han Meng, "You rest tonight, I'll keep watch!"

This trip to Ding'an County was somewhat different from the last one. Last time, with Chen Dao and Xu Zhiwen, two seventh-rank martial artists, and Xiao Yuan as support, there was no need to worry about the bandits' sneak attacks.

However, this time there were only two martial artists in the team, Zhang He and Han Meng, and Zhang He was only at the ninth rank. So they naturally had to be careful. When they went to sleep at night, someone had to be on guard and keep watch for possible thieves.

"to make."

Han Meng nodded and soon closed his eyes and fell asleep on the carpet that had been laid out.

After traveling all day, the skinny monkey and his companions were inevitably a little tired, and before long, the sound of snoring could be heard everywhere.

Zhang He sat by the campfire to warm himself, glancing around from time to time, wary of any thieves or wild beasts that might suddenly leap out of the forest!

Silent all night.

The next day, after everyone woke up, they quickly ate some dry rations and continued on their way.

"That must be Ding'an City, right?"

At noon, when the sun was high in the sky, the skinny monkey pointed ahead and said excitedly.

Upon hearing the sound, everyone looked in that direction and saw a corner of a city vaguely appearing in front of them. It was a city that was almost the same size as Taiping County.

"Let's speed things up and get into the city as soon as possible!"

Zhang He also showed a happy expression and signaled everyone to speed up.

A quarter of an hour later, the caravan arrived outside the north gate of Ding'an City. After showing their travel permits to the soldiers guarding the city, they successfully entered the county town.

The town remained as bustling as ever, with throngs of pedestrians and the constant calls of vendors.

After eating dry rations for two days, Zhang He came to a stall selling steamed buns and asked the stall owner, "Boss, how much are the steamed buns?"

The man selling steamed buns was a middle-aged man in his forties. Seeing Zhang He and his companions looking travel-worn, he hurriedly said, "Sirs, are you merchants here to do business? Steamed buns are 3 coins each."

"Give me 20."

"okay!"

As Zhang He took 20 steamed buns from the stall owner, he handed them to the skinny monkey and the others behind him, asking the stall owner, "Boss, has anything major happened in Ding'an City lately?"

"event?"

The stall owner thought for a moment and replied, "The biggest news in this city must be the downfall of the Zisun family a while ago!"

"Esteemed guest, you have come from afar and may not know about the Sun family. The Sun family is the most powerful clan in our Ding'an City, and they are notorious for their evil deeds. Let's not even talk about anything else, just take their brothel..."

The stall owner was also an extremely talkative person, and he recounted in detail the evil deeds that the Sun family had committed in Ding'an County.

Although Zhang He already knew about the Sun family and had personally participated in the operation to eliminate the Zhu family, he did not choose to interrupt the stall owner, but listened quietly.

"In short, the downfall of the Sun family is a great thing for us ordinary people!"

The stall owner continued, "Since the Sun family fell from power, the lives of us ordinary people have visibly improved. We small vendors no longer have to be exploited, and the price of grain in the city has also dropped. Life is getting better and better..."

As the stall owner recounted the events, Zhang He gained some understanding of what had happened in Ding'an City during this period. After the downfall of the Sun family, Li Qingyun, who had regained power, quickly introduced a series of policies to benefit the people.

The first step was to release some of the grain confiscated from the Sun family into the market to try to stop the price of grain from soaring. Then, the Sun family's farmland was rented out to the people for free.

By taking a two-pronged approach—lowering grain prices while providing jobs for the people—they may not be able to make the people rich, but at least they can make their lives a little better.

In addition, Li Qingyun also cracked down on criminals in the city, making the city's security situation better and better.

"This Magistrate Li is truly a good official!"

In the end, the stall owner sighed, "Ever since Magistrate Li wiped out the Sun family, the city's security has improved day by day. Before, I would be ripped off by those hooligans when I sold steamed buns, but now they don't dare to."

"Magistrate Li is indeed a good official!"

Zhang He nodded in agreement. Li Qingyun, like Xu Zhiwen, the magistrate of Taiping County, was a rare good official who cared about the people. He was far better than those corrupt and incompetent officials.

After chatting with the stall owner for a while, Zhang He bid farewell and led his convoy to the gate of Li Qingyun's mansion.

"Please inform Magistrate Li that Zhang He from Taiping County has come to visit," Zhang He said to the gatekeeper.