Chapter 48: Heading North to Join You!

The team has expanded, its composition has become complex, and it will take a little time for everyone to mesh.

However, none of these are difficult matters.

He Da and Yu Er were street urchins in the County Town, skilled at striking up conversations.

Although everyone is not from the same County Town, they are now in the same team, and being away from home, they count as their own people; they became familiar quickly once they started chatting.

They discovered that some of these scattered employers from Bailu County, whom the escorts are protecting, did not actually want to head north themselves, but were sent out by their families.

Those with the means and large families all want to spread the risk to ensure the family bloodline continues. A portion stays in the ancestral home, while a portion heads north to find a new path for survival, rather than everyone staying in one place.

If something were to happen, the entire clan would be wiped out.

He Da and the others told this to Wen Gu; their words carried envy, yet also seemed to hold a hint of inferiority.

"As expected of a wealthy family!"

Many people cannot even afford firewood, yet these wealthy families still have the means to find various paths for their descendants, completely different from wretches like them—street urchins and mud-legged peasants.

Wen Gu swept his gaze over the expressions on the faces of He Da's group, then glanced at a few escorts from the Huwei Escort Agency nearby, and said:

"Actually, your ancestors were very likely wealthy families as well."

He Da did not believe it: "How is that possible? My grandfather and great-grandfather were just from the Village; their lives were even more bitter than mine!"

"But you have surnames," Wen Gu said. "In more distant times, village folk had no surnames, nor did they have the ability to resist risks; natural disasters or man-made calamities could take them all away with one slip. Most of those who managed to survive are what you call 'wealthy families'."

He Da and the others: Huh?

Wen Gu continued: "When a tree grows large, it branches out, or when they encounter natural disasters or man-made calamities, they also arranged different paths for their clansmen. Following that, it depended on each person's luck and ability; some prospered, some fell into ruin."

He Da looked dazed: "So... my ancestors were once wealthy?"

Compared to He Da's lack of confidence, Yu Er was much more certain: "My ancestors once produced a general!"

When he was young, he had only heard the older generation say similar things, but he didn't really believe it. Now, hearing Wen Gu's explanation, it makes so much sense! My ancestors must have produced a general!

He Da's mood was complex; once he accepted this premise, his thoughts multiplied, and his mind kept drifting upward.

Perhaps a few hundred years ago, my ancestors were high-ranking officials?

I originally had the chance to become a young master of a wealthy family!

Sigh, it's a pity some people didn't live up to expectations!

Sure enough, revitalizing the family still depends on me and my younger brother!

He Da went to find his younger brother to chat about "my charming old ancestors," while Yu Er and the blacksmith Yu discussed together exactly how many generals their ancestors had produced.

Several escorts who overheard the conversation here also went to find others to chat about "my ancestors might have been generals too"; this strong physique of ours isn't something an average person can grow, it must have been passed down from my powerful old ancestors!

Qingyi Daozhang watched coldly for a while and asked Wen Gu: "You're quite good at spinning yarns; aren't you worried about making them arrogant and conceited?"

Wen Gu replied: "Having a bit of spirit is better than being numb, self-deprecating, and self-abasing. This world is too oppressive now; without a bit of spirit, one cannot endure."

Not only must one live, one must also have the drive to fight!

He Da and the others, having accepted the new premise, stood up straight when they went to chat with people again.

When striking up conversations with the escort agency's employers, they could righteously say: My ancestors were once wealthy too!

Once their own status was raised, they no longer felt inferior.

My ancestors were once wealthy too, perhaps even wealthier than yours!

Wen Gu watched the team's depressed atmosphere become high-spirited again and nodded with satisfaction.

The team's route north was decided only after Wen Gu collected and summarized information from the people at the escort agency.

Although the number of people increased, the speed of the journey did not slow down.

After leaving Bailu County and traveling for another four days, if placed on a map of the territory, they had already moved from the south to the north, initially stepping into Beidi.

Wen Gu marked information in the Notebook recording the map.

For example, which states in Beidi the wealthy families from the south mainly went to.

The information was not necessarily accurate.

"Still need to catch a team and inquire in detail."

Wen Gu closed the Notebook and his gaze passed through the carriage window.

The curtain blocking the light was rolled up; looking out, one could see the flat terrain and the sky in the distance.

Watching the clouds in the sky, Wen Gu asked the Daoist Priest beside him: "Can you read the celestial phenomena? I always feel something is not quite right."

Qingyi Daozhang was expressionless: "Still waiting to observe."

His tone was flat, but his face was a bit more serious than usual.

Wen Gu had County Lieutenant Zhou notify everyone to reduce the noon rest time and speed up the journey.

The further north they went, the greater the chance of encountering teams migrating north; they had indeed seen some other teams in the past few days, but they kept their distance, and both sides were on guard, so they did not interact.

They had also seen a group of ten or so fast riders pass by in a hurry.

Wen Gu guessed that these people might be Letter Messengers delivering important news.

On this day, while resting midway, they encountered a team from a certain large merchant firm coming from the south.

Under the current state of the world, these large merchant teams are actually similar to escort agencies. They transport goods from one place to another; some are supplies, some help carry letters, and others escort people.

This merchant team perhaps had all three.

Although the situation is critical, whether or not to set out depends on how much profit can be gained.

As long as the profit is enough to move people's hearts, they dare to take risks!

The guards' equipment varied; some wore light armor, some wore Leather Armor, and others wore rattan armor with distinct local characteristics. The total number of people was also around a hundred.

The leader's gaze swept over the people from the escort agency here, looked at the horse lance held in the hand of Head Escort Lin Biao, and then lingered for a moment on County Lieutenant Zhou.

The type and material of the weapons, the physique, demeanor, and temperament allowed him to make a judgment of their status at first glance, pondering who exactly was behind this team.

In a world where food, medicinal herbs, and equipment are all in short supply, it is certain that one would have ideas when encountering people carrying a large amount of supplies outside.

Both sides had the same thoughts, both carefully sized up the opposite side, and reached a conclusion—

Not easy to provoke, can't be done.

If a conflict erupts, it will certainly be a mutual loss.

After thinking it through, the atmosphere, which had been tense and on the verge of breaking out, quickly turned into mutual, non-interfering vigilance.

When the caravan leader categorized the background of this group as military officials, a scholar walked down from a carriage near the front of the opposing group, indicating he wished to chat with him for a moment.

Under the protection of County Lieutenant Zhou and Tietou, and with the other side also bringing two guards, Wen Gu walked to the middle.

The caravan leader sized up Wen Gu.

He would not underestimate him because of Wen Gu's plain cloth clothes, which were not luxurious, nor would he think this was a good person because of the other's gentle expression!

Amidst his vigilance, Wen Gu first exchanged polite greetings, then took out a bag of salt—coarse salt mixed with some fine salt, a slightly higher grade. The caravan wouldn't look twice at anything too inferior.

Wen Gu was not after the other party's people; he was currently in a hurry to figure out the terrain and situation in the north to obtain more information.

Don't look at the fact that this caravan came from the south and the distance is far; their news might be much better informed than Wen Gu and his group's!

They looked like old hands, and they might know more about Beidi.

The caravan leader did not refuse.

Since the combat strength of both sides was equal and they couldn't fight, it was better to make a friend than an enemy. The salt was secondary; those who could run a caravan in troubled times had enough family assets, so they wouldn't value this little bit of stuff. But it did indeed increase a little bit of goodwill.

The caravan leader told Wen Gu about the terrain here and which County Towns there were. They had traveled this route when running the caravan before; as for more, he wouldn't say.

The team's travel route and everyone's identity and background would not be revealed to outsiders to prevent being cheated.

However, when the conversation was about to end, the leader looked at the group of escorts from the escort agency and asked Wen Gu as if casually: "Which clan are you going to rely on?"

"Clan?"

Wen Gu repeated this word, his eyes flickering.

The clan of the aristocratic families?

He bowed to the other party and had County Lieutenant Zhou hand over a bag of salt, Wen Gu's face showing confusion: "My previous Residence was remote... may I ask how many clans there are in this Beidi?"

The caravan leader took the salt, but his interest in continuing the chat faded.

Hmph, someone from a small place!

He said casually: "There are six great clans in Beidi: Dong, Zhao, Qi, Ren, Du, and Jiang. Who are you going to rely on?"

"This trip is to go to Xinzhou to rely on relatives," Wen Gu said.

"Oh, Xinzhou, that's quite far, it's the territory of the Zhao Clan," the caravan leader said.

In the escort agency's team, inside a carriage, Lady Liang looked over there.

Being a distance away, the voices over there were not loud, so they heard them vaguely here.

An escort responsible for running errands and passing messages came over and relayed the conversation from over there.

Lady Liang's face showed shock.

Another young woman in the carriage, the wife of Lin Biaotou, asked:

"Sister-in-law, is there a problem with these words?"

Lin Biaotou, who was guarding outside, also approached the carriage at this time.

Due to their background limitations, they indeed lacked some sensitivity, but the intuition trained over these years told him that there was indeed very important information in those words just now!

He also asked in a low voice: "Sister-in-law?"

"Aristocratic clans..."

Lady Liang lowered her voice, but it was loud enough for Lin Biaotou and the few guards beside the carriage to hear clearly.

She explained to everyone in the escort agency.

A long time ago, aristocratic clans could contend with imperial power!

Later, as dynasties changed, with the centralization of military power and the imperial examination system for selecting officials, imperial power was strengthened, and the aristocratic clans had long since declined.

But!

Now the Evil Plague is raging, the imperial capital has fallen, the government has collapsed, and the imperial examinations have stopped...

Listening to the meaning of that caravan leader, the clans have risen again!

When a dynasty cannot centralize power, local areas will inevitably decentralize power.

In such troubled times, what can be called a "clan" by the wealthy families in the south now represents—

That the important local military command power has nothing to do with the imperial family anymore.

Within the sphere of influence of that clan, people with that family surname are born with special political rights!

Although it may not return to the state of hundreds of years ago, this monopolistic privilege also represents the undisguised ambition of these families!

Lin Biaotou and the others understood.

In their words, it meant local emperors!

Over there, after hearing the caravan leader's answer, Wen Gu's face showed surprise when he looked up:

"My family's relatives are also surnamed Zhao!"

He Da and the others, as well as the escorts and employers of the escort agency, all looked over.

However, the merchant twitched his face and snorted: "What a coincidence, I am also surnamed Zhao."

One look and you could tell he wanted to climb the social ladder; there are plenty of people surnamed Zhao! Is it your family's turn?!

Wen Gu said: "We are all in that area; if you count back, maybe we were one family hundreds of years ago!"

The merchant was about to mock: Who is one family with you, don't try to gild your own face!

But then he thought, that's true, when it comes to survival, let alone gilding one's face, even sticking copper to look like gold must be done!

If you really have such relatives, as long as you can climb the ladder, you go climb it! That can save your life!

The caravan leader nodded in agreement, then led the team away. They were not heading in the direction of the Zhao Clan; their merchant firm's owner had better choices.

Wen Gu watched the caravan go far away.

It is a pity that this person does not know the name of the head of the Zhao Clan.

Nor does he know if it is his dear uncle.

Thinking of the news he had just inquired about, Wen Gu could not help but gasp.

Damn, these elites of the feudal era are truly strong!

They aren't even hiding it anymore!

Then again, in this day and age, why bother with cover-ups?

For the sake of survival, and for the sake of ambition, of course one must openly marshal their forces to seize a chance at life!

Although the problem of the Evil Plague cannot be solved for the moment, there is still much that can be done.

The noble families truly have deep foundations; they were the first to bare their fangs and claws, and while resisting the evil things, they also sought long-term development for their clans.

Speed is the essence of war!

It is extremely applicable at a time like this!

When it comes to foundations and the ability to respond to crises, even the imperial family may not be able to compare to certain noble families.

When faced with survival threats and huge opportunities, what kind of power can a noble family with deep foundations erupt with?

One must not underestimate the ability of noble clans to rapidly link up large and small forces in extreme environments!

Only by acting decisively and responding appropriately can one preserve oneself while developing power and achieving a monopoly on authority!

At the very beginning of the turmoil, when there were no abnormalities in other places, they, with their well-informed sources, may have already begun to act.

Regions affected by the Evil Plague later have experienced a year of chaotic times, but these well-informed noble families may have already had nearly two years of development!

Time is far more valuable than money!

In nearly two years, what could they have developed into?

Such an era of chaos caused by the Evil Plague, completely different from the past, is favorable to those with deep foundations, enough to weed out the small fry emerging from all sides.

In other places, less than one in ten survives, but if one guards a territory and protects the people there, even if not half survive, if three or four out of ten survive, that is tens of thousands of extra laborers!

As long as one does a good job of defense in the first year or two and preserves more vital strength, one is already at the forefront.

While some people are complacent about guarding a County Town, the giants on all sides have already absorbed the fresh blood continuously transported to the North, developing toward the status of overlords and becoming the "clans" in the mouths of the wealthy families of the South!

Wen Gu has been swindling and... cough, gathering talent along the way, scraping a few people out of every place—is it easy?!

Even now, it is only at the hundred-person level.

And in Beidi, facing the northern noble clans and powerful families who have developed for nearly two years, gathering wealthy families from the North and South, and hoarding survival resources, how much effort will he have to expend to seize living space?

Thinking of the words his father used to praise his uncle in his memories.

Wen Gu prayed in his heart:

Uncle, if you are still alive, you had better have seized this golden year or two!

And, is the Zhao of the Zhao Clan your Zhao?

If it truly is, your gentle, learned, dashing, and refined nephew has come to seek refuge with you!

(End of chapter)