Chapter 334

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Protagonist:

Chen Yi

The two Noble Knights from Ma La, upon arriving at Xima Market, found themselves unable to tear their feet away.

Everything here made them feel an incomparable novelty.

Especially the locals' speech and mental bearing — something the citizens of Ma La simply did not possess. As Knights, they had seen plenty of those busy, idle citizens, drifting without purpose. It seemed only Knights, Cavalry, or young children would be filled with yearning and strive; the rest were all mediocre and listless.

But in Xima Market, the resident merchants making money, the itinerant merchants traveling between both riverbanks, the Spearman wanting to advance further, and the young villagers going between the Recruitment Office and the hiring hall — all displayed a thriving, vibrant scene.

"Galu, that looks like your family's servant." The handsome youth with dust on his face suddenly pointed at the middle-aged man buying things up ahead and said.

The bearded man glanced over and was also startled, saying: "I'll go ask."

"Wait..." The handsome youth hurriedly pulled him back, saying: "Look at what he's buying — all cotton cloth, cotton cloth! The underwear we're wearing right now, isn't that cotton cloth? Could he afford to buy that much on his own?"

West Continent fabrics were either hemp-type plants or silk textiles spat out by animals; although Earth-refined cotton cloth's softness couldn't compare to silk, its sweat-absorbing and body-protecting function still existed, and following the principle of scarcity commanding value, its price was even higher than silk goods.

The bearded man called Galu took one look and couldn't help but hesitate, asking: "He wouldn't have defected to the Jiangning people, would he? Barni, let's intercept him near the Ferry..."

"Near the Ferry Boat they have those Heavy Spears they speak of, and causing trouble is forbidden."

"It's Heavy Machine Gun." Galu corrected, then grew anxious, saying: "Lu Si is an inner-courtyard servant; if he's defected to the Jiangning people, then... then..."

The handsome youth Barni smiled strangely and said: "What if the Old Madam sent him?"

"How could that be possible."

"I heard the cotton cloth here is half the price of the city's; with all your uncles and cousins in the family, who knows how many Copper Coins you'd save." Barni actually had some concept of money, but he hadn't realized that buying several large bolts of cotton cloth would save an amount calculated in Conch Shells.

Of course, Conch Shells barely circulated in Xima Market at all; even if there were any, they were collected by the Market Administration and all given to Chen Yi to melt down.

West Continent's monthly supply of hundreds of thousands of tons of materials, worth over a hundred million yuan — Chen Yi was already subsidizing construction out of his own pocket. Yu Weichao, even for his own sake, had to rack his brains to supplement as much as possible.

The bearded man's expression was very ugly; without another word, he began pacing slowly down the street. If his own family was now trading with the Jiangning people, then Ma La was as good as on the brink of disaster. As a Knight, this made him feel heartbroken.

"The Jiangning people's territory — the most striking thing is this... cement floor." Barni was a youth after all; his emotions came fast and went fast. He pulled the bearded man along: "Never mind your family's Lu Si; asking when we get back is the same."

"Fine."

"Their floor seems a bit different — look at the holes by the roadside."

The bearded man paid more attention to the goods by the roadside, and after a moment said: "These things, in Ma La... seem to all exist there too."

"So the two young masters are from Ma La — our prices are different, you know." The speaker was a local resident merchant, running a seasoning shop.

The handsome youth asked with interest: "How different are the prices?"

"Refined Salt is even better than our Well Salt, yet costs only one-fifth; if it were in Ma La, the price would be double — a tenfold difference."

"A difference that big?"

"Absolutely." The resident merchant smiled but didn't continue persuading; the two before him didn't look like people buying seasonings.

Barni and Galu exchanged a glance and decided to wander the market more. Both were extremely interested in ironware — those Knight Long Spears, Long Spears, etc., were all not expensive, only the two hadn't brought much money.

Just as they were watching in a trance, the sky suddenly darkened.

"It's going to rain. We need to hurry back."

Barni's words had barely fallen when bean-sized raindrops began to fall.

From afar came shouts: "Standard Hotel, stay until tomorrow noon, only one Copper Coin, includes one breakfast."

"Jiangning Hotel, 10 Copper Coins, super value experience."

"Beauty accompanies you, fine rainy night." Accompanying the last line were two flamboyantly dressed women; their looks were no different from the bearded man's, and compared to Barni, they more resembled physically robust orangutans...

The two headed for the ordinary Jiangning Hotel under the rain.

The boss happily led them toward the back. Barni asked: "With rain this heavy, the city's about to flood — how is the market still fine?"

"There's drainage." The boss, accustomed to it, pointed at the suction-style sewer draining water.

The hotel's interior furnishings were equally astonishing — clean, tidy white bedsheets and firm-yet-soft mattresses, a water tank that automatically supplied running water, a bathroom and floor like white porcelain... The Basic Construction Group had not yet conducted construction experiments above four floors, but having them decorate one or two pretty hotels was absolutely no problem.

"One Copper Coin per day?" The bearded man expressed surprise at this.

"You two could actually share a room — we call it a Double Room, with two beds..."

"Unnecessary." The bearded man immediately tossed out two Copper Coins and said: "Bring us hot water to wash our feet."

"Hot water is in the room..." The boss very seriously introduced the room's various facilities; a month ago, he had asked and learned the same way. A full three minutes passed before the boss stepped back smiling and said: "Sleep well, you two."

Early the next morning, the two walked out of the Xima Standard Hotel, ate the free breakfast, then asked the boss: "I heard West River Water Fortress bought some slaves — where are they being used?"

Barni casually tossed out 1 Copper Coin.

"Xima Market Phase II up ahead has them." The boss answered with a smile and walked away.

Barni froze, then said angrily: "He didn't even take us there."

"Let's go." The bearded man pulled him along, following the clanging sounds.

At the construction site, the slaves were laboring hard.

Even in the 21st century, mechanization cannot completely replace human physical labor; moving heavy objects and such are still common occurrences. West River Water Fortress only had 30-some core natives who knew how to operate machinery; with construction everywhere now, they could only be used where absolutely necessary.

They edged a little closer, but the Long Spear sentries pushed them back. Just then a villager carrying Blue Ox Meat to sell happened by; Barni went up and asked: "These are the slaves the Jiangning people bought, right?"

The villager gave a dull "Mm."

"Do they work well?"

The villager turned his head left and right, then said quietly: "Bitter, very."

"Harder than other places?" Barni handed over another Copper Coin.

"Other places, work starts at dawn, ends at dusk — not here." The villager pocketed the Copper Coin and continued: "At night they light especially bright lamps, yellow ones, and work all night."

"The slaves don't rest?"

"Just the time it takes to sleep."

Barni's eyes lit up with joy; if even slaves were satisfied with life at West River Water Fortress, then Ma La had no hope left.

The big-bearded man showed little excitement. Slaves were slaves; after the nobles of the Elder Council died, hundreds of slaves were routinely buried with them. Compared to that, the Jiangning people at least gave slaves meat. Of course, perhaps it was to sustain heavy physical labor. In the prosperous Ma La-State, meat was relatively cheap food.

Barni looked around and asked, "They seem to have built many roads. Is there any difference?"

"Hard ones are cement, soft ones are dirt roads, and those with crushed stone are gravel roads." The villager gestured in a circle and left.

What the two Noble Knights saw was precisely the results of the Basic Construction Group's work entering the full-scale construction phase.

Cement roads were the highest-grade roads, running from Yun Village to West River Water Fortress, and from West River Water Fortress to Malache, totaling 45 kilometers. Other roads leading to other city-states had only undergone basic repairs. That is what the West Continent calls "soft" road construction.

So-called "soft" roads were the lowest-grade road surfaces, designed for five years, made by compacting local yellow earth.

Ordinary grade highways were gravel road surfaces, made by pouring fragments produced by large crushers into excavated roadbeds.

Although all highway construction except cement roads was very simple, the manpower required was still astronomical.

Just as the two knights were traveling, a second batch of 350 slaves was again added to the Basic Construction Group. This was a reward for Shi Nengren, an affirmation of his methods of controlling slaves.

Prison-like management was actually small-region autocratic management, similar to a tyrant's national governance model—in fact, no matter what kind of society, as long as hierarchy was reflected, some people would be satisfied. A society where no one is satisfied exists, but a society where everyone is satisfied does not. The lower-class people will never be satisfied, just as American lower-class people earning eight dollars an hour will not feel the superiority of capitalism, while a state cadre earning three thousand yuan a month will feel the superiority of socialism. Of course, a good society gives lower-class people opportunities and possibilities to rise, while a bad society completely cuts this off, merely making the upper class more satisfied.

Whether in the slave world or in prison, if managers treated everyone equally, slaves and prisoners would aim their targets at the managers; but if equal treatment was abolished and hierarchy was opened up, they would fight over who got to use the toilet first, who slept on the most comfortable bed, who ate slightly better.

Since Shi Nengren's pilot program began, slaves had entered the era of slave self-management. Like Chinese prisons, prisoners had their own managers, and prison guards only needed to manage the prisoner managers, not only reducing pressure but also lowering risk.

Of course, the last point was what Shi Nengren believed. He reported it to the Rhombus Conference Hall in the same way.

At this time, Shi Nengren was practically full of himself, feeling he was the most powerful person on the entire West Continent...

Since the second batch of slaves arrived, he rarely went to West River Water Fortress anymore. What he did most often was sit in a jeep, traveling from one end of the highway to the other, observing the work of groups marked with different towels.

When they arrived again at the "Xima Market" Phase II construction site, the frames of the two-story small buildings had been erected. Besides the hardworking slaves, native workers also began to decorate frequently.

The Basic Construction Group planned to train about 300 decorators; so far only one-fifth had completed training, half of whom were used at Xima Market. This was the window of West River Water Fortress.

Shi Nengren lightly jumped out of the car, called the Martial Arts Hall officer Wang Bin who was in the same vehicle, and said with a smile, "Let's go up and take a look."

"We can just wait outside." Wang Bin, being a recovered soldier, although a student of the Eighteenth Session of the Martial Arts Hall, had still become a company commander of a Native Company, commanding one-third of She Lei's subordinates' strength, responsible for guarding slaves everywhere.

Of course, compared to the Inspection Team officers, the Native Company was vaguely two ranks lower and mostly experimental in nature. But Wang Bin believed the Native Company was the future direction of development, so he took the post voluntarily. Besides disliking his colleagues' looks at him, the second thing he disliked was the slaves' flickering and hateful gazes.

Shi Nengren deliberately courted Wang Bin, smiling and linking arms with him, saying, "Go up and come down, and take a look at our new market too."

Just as they were walking up the stairs, almost reaching the second floor, a slave suddenly shouted in the common tongue: "Heard we're being sent to chop trees in the west?"

Shi Nengren shivered all over, looking at the slave below craning his neck, and asked slowly: "Who said that?"

"Is it? Are they sending us to chop trees in the western swamps?" This slave was bare-chested, covered in whip marks, obviously a troublemaker. He was not at all afraid of the spearmen around him; the enemies on the God Temple Battlefield were far more cruel than the Level 2 Soldiers recruited from villagers.

"The work here is finished, so there will surely be a transfer, but not necessarily to the west." Shi Nengren had a bad premonition. The natives of this era believed in things like miasma. In fact, the Rhombus Conference Hall had also given a death indicator of 15%, which was not low at all.

The slaves' fear grew even greater, and someone immediately shouted: "They will definitely scatter us and then send us to fill the swamps?"

Shi Nengren turned in circles but did not see who was speaking.

A chill rose in his heart.

Too few people had been brought today. He looked left and right; Wang Bin and another Level 3 native soldier each carried an M4 Carbine, but perhaps only two magazines. Downstairs there was a platoon of soldiers, but Level 2 Soldiers only held spears. Level 3 Soldiers, namely the class monitors and deputy class monitors, totaled only six, of whom three were patrolling between the fences of Phase I and Phase II.

With so many people at Xima Market, if they really rioted... Shi Nengren gathered his breath and shouted loudly: "Don't panic, you won't be scattered."

"Liar."

"Impossible."

"The swamps, one in ten survives!"

The sergeant holding an automatic rifle at the fence looked over here. Shi Nengren wished he could wave them back. If the slaves broke through the fence and entered Xima Market, there would be too many things they could do...

One kilometer further ahead was the ferry to Ma La. Once they got on the boat and went downstream, they could not only escape the control of West River Water Fortress but even reach other city-states.

Thinking of the slaves escaping en masse, with the danger of merchants being coerced, Shi Nengren could no longer stand still. He shouted loudly: "All soldiers, hold your posts. All slaves, stop your steps and stand where you are."

This was a decision both correct and wrong.

War slaves long under oppression were not brainless fools; among them were not lacking soldiers with combat experience.

At this moment someone roared: "They want to kill us."

Then someone echoed: "Kill them!"

"We want bread!" This was a slave who had received rewards, remembering that day's dinner.

Those who hadn't eaten roared even louder: "We want bread!"

Shi Nengren's decision made the three sergeants guarding the fence stop, but it also aroused the slaves' ferocity.

The soldiers scattered among the slaves, while holding their posts, also appeared isolated and helpless.

Building materials piled on flat ground and already-built houses left little room for automatic rifles to be effective.

A steel bar flew through the air, broke the silence, and pierced the body of a dazed spearman. The slaves officially began their riot.

More than 180 slaves, either holding tools or charging alone, rushed toward the nearest water fortress soldiers.

"Open fire!" Wang Bin roared, his M4 Carbine going "crack crack crack" with three-round bursts, punching out blood eyes and dirt pits.

Shi Nengren felt somewhat relieved and began to complain why he wasn't given a gun. The two automatic rifles beside him, firing from above, had tremendous power, but the native soldiers scattered around were not so lucky... The slaves, their eyes red with killing, fearlessly rushed forward; often a simple tool protecting their head or chest could consume more than ten 5.56mm small-caliber rifle bullets. Five or six war slaves cooperating could kill a Level 3 Soldier, and spearmen were even more targets of slaughter—they were also the overseers most hated by slaves...

When the first bullet fired by the slaves hit the ground at Shi Nengren's feet, he finally understood the situation was out of control. With trembling hands he took out the walkie-talkie and said to Wang Bin: "Retreat into the house."

The two-story commercial small building was narrow and sturdy. Besides the slaves with red eyes, no one continued to attack. The three sergeants near the fence used crossfire to stop the slaves' breakthrough, but rescue was impossible.

Xima Market was filled with shouts of either fear or curiosity.

The beautiful young man Barni suddenly took off his clothes and pants, rolled on the ground twice, rushed toward the slaves, and shouted loudly: "We want freedom! Kill all the slave masters."

The big-bearded man was helpless to the extreme and had no choice but to do the same.

The slaves spontaneously formed teams. Besides the incentive of speaking the same language, Shi Nengren's management model played a huge role.

The news that Xima Market was out of control quickly spread throughout West River Water Fortress.

Yu Weichao was stunned, She Lei was furious, but Red Wolf Dai Adi and Outer Hall officer Sun Ruihe were exceptionally excited.

"I want to give them an unforgettable lesson!" Dai Adi said viciously.

……(Unfinished. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian. com) to cast Recommendation Tickets and Monthly Tickets; your support is my Maximum Motivation.)