Chapter 37

"Here's the sheep you wanted," Uncle Second said.

It was an adult female dairy sheep, along with two little lambs. However, Uncle Second was not entirely in favor of Wang Ju's approach.

In the Song Dynasty, the cheapest meat was pork, which cost about twenty coins per pound, and was even cheaper in the border regions. The most expensive was beef, which could sell for up to a hundred coins per pound, but the Song Dynasty strictly prohibited the slaughter of cattle, making the beef market quite peculiar. If a cow was slaughtered, the beef, hide, and tendons could fetch at least twenty to thirty strings of coins. However, a cow's actual value in the Song Dynasty was only three to five strings of coins. Thus, many illegal merchants risked the ban to slaughter cattle, and the same was true in the border regions, where even more people slaughtered cattle, though most of the profits went to the merchants.

Therefore, more people in the border regions raised sheep than cattle, at least balancing the mindset of the common people.

On average, a sheep could yield over twenty pounds of meat. In the barren mountains of Yan Prefecture, it was impossible to raise fat sheep, but the sheep's hide, wool, and organs could all be sold for money.

Though it couldn't compare to the inland areas, a well-raised sheep in Yan Prefecture could still fetch nearly a string of coins.

Last year, his nephew used alfalfa to raise sheep, and on average, each sheep gained at least five pounds.

Thus, after the spring, every household bought a few lambs, preparing to learn Wang Ju's method of raising sheep.

But what was the value of a dairy sheep?

"Money is good, but people are better, Uncle Second. Look at Hu Heizi's children."

Hu Heizi was a Qiang person, more accurately a Tibetan, as he was not a descendant of the Tangut or Tuyuhun, nor of the ancient Tiele or Turkic peoples, but a true Tibetan, the only Tibetan in the village.

In fact, the complexity of the ethnic groups in Yan Prefecture could be seen from Wang Family Village.

Only Hu Heizi's family in the entire village raised a dairy sheep, using the milk for drinking or making butter tea.

Of course, Hu Heizi's family was much larger than the others, but people did not notice the effect of the sheep's milk, instead attributing it to their ethnicity.

Uncle Second was also uncertain.

However, this nephew was a year older, becoming more independent in his actions, and being a scholar, Wang Wei did not press further, saying, "Fortunately, Yuan Heizi's fuss increased your income."

"About that..." Wang Ju's face turned red. No matter how you looked at it, the additional dividends came from the hard-pressed villagers, and Wang Ju did not want to do it, but he had no choice. If he succeeded by the end of the year, he would take Erniu and San Niu to Fuzhou, and he needed at least fifty to sixty strings of coins. He would distribute a lot of money, but he also needed money for daily expenses. Therefore, after Yuan Heizi's fuss, Aunt Second also joined in, and Wang Ju remained silent.

But Wang Ju was also pleased with the outcome.

Wang Wei said a few more words and quickly returned.

Spring had arrived, and there were many things to do, both at home and in the village, and he had to find time to train with San Gouzi. With the arrival of spring, the Chinese were highly intelligent and had strong imitation abilities. Last year, Wang Ju's methods were widely imitated. Every household diligently sowed grass seeds, even transplanting reeds to the riverbanks, and following Wang Ju's advice, they scattered more millet seeds, not for the harvest but for the green stalks. There was no need to ask where Wang Ju learned this; it was all from the Security Army City.

Then almost every household bought lambs, and the number of sheep in the village reached nearly a thousand. If well-raised, it would be a huge income by autumn.

However, this also attracted more attention.

Without Wang Ju needing to explain further, the able-bodied men in the village trained every day to prepare for any unforeseen events.

But watching Erniu and San Niu, who were herding sheep while playing with their cousins in the distance, Wang Ju felt a sense of unease.

"Such a hard life in the border region!"

At that moment, a Taoist priest walked from afar, wearing a blue robe, with a robust build and a sword on his back, about thirty years old.

Wang Ju did not pay attention.

Civilization's underdevelopment always brought many drawbacks, and even the Song Dynasty, possibly at the peak of civilization in this world, had many ugly phenomena, such as using live people for oaths or sacrifices in some border regions.

Not to mention Taoist priests and monks, who were needed for marriage and divination, funerals, and religious festivals, and even for driving away evil spirits when sick.

Even in the border regions, Taoist priests and monks often traveled, and many were invited by the villagers.

He did not notice.

The Taoist priest stopped and asked Erniu a question.

From a distance, Wang Ju could not hear, but he saw Erniu leading the Taoist priest over.

About a hundred steps away, a middle-aged man dressed as a hunter suddenly appeared from the nearby forest, blocking Erniu and the Taoist priest. Wang Ju did not recognize the hunter, but since hunters often roamed the area, he did not pay much attention. As for Zhu Jun, he did not even look in that direction, continuing to read on the stone.

The hunter and the Taoist priest were talking, and the hunter seemed very unhappy.

What happened?

Just as Wang Ju was about to walk over, he saw the Taoist priest suddenly draw his sword from his back and stab at the hunter.

The hunter reacted incredibly quickly, sidestepping as the sword sliced through his coat, tearing a large gash.

As the hunter drew his saber from his waist, the two engaged in combat.

Both were very fast, moving like hawks and rabbits, and in the blink of an eye, they seemed to have exchanged dozens of blows.

Erniu finally reacted, crying and running towards Wang Ju.

Wang Ju's eyes narrowed.

In his previous life, there was a theory that martial arts existed in ancient times, at least stronger than in later times. Another theory suggested that these were exaggerated, as people in later times had better nutrition and physical fitness.

What was the truth? In this era, he could see some hints.

The kind of martial arts that involved leaping over eaves and walls definitely did not exist, but in a backward society, some people's physical abilities were far beyond what people in later times could imagine.

The simplest example was Xue Rengui, who could move through hundreds of thousands of Goguryeo soldiers as if they were not there. To achieve this, he must have met the following conditions:

He rode a horse and faced up to five weapons at once, with the horse moving, increasing the reaction time required. To remain unscathed, his reaction speed and hand speed must have been seven to eight times faster than his enemies.

Secondly, he must have blocked every attack, or he would have been in danger. This meant his strength must have been greater than the hundreds of thousands of Goguryeo soldiers, at least those he faced.

Finally, he must have maintained this reaction speed, hand speed, and strength for at least half an hour to safely enter and exit the battlefield. The last condition was the most terrifying; for example, lifting a hundred pounds once is easy, but carrying a thirty to forty-pound load for a mile would exhaust anyone.

Xue Rengui was an exception, but from what Wang Ju had seen, even ordinary villagers could carry two to three hundred pounds up a mountain as if it were flat ground. How many people in later times could do that?

As for archery, in modern Olympic standards, the draw weight is only thirty to fifty pounds, but in this era, it started at over a hundred pounds! Some people used bows with a draw weight of over three hundred pounds, like Yue Fei and Han Shizhong, and it was said that Xue Rengui's bow had a draw weight of six hundred pounds, fifteen times that of modern Olympic standards!

It was hard to judge Li Sangu's skills without a life-or-death battle.

However, that day, Wang Ju had seen the so-called knife thief, who, in such difficult conditions, managed to deflect several arrows in the underbrush. How fast were the arrows? And the two imperial guards, though it was hard to tell, as only one of the several bandits was unharmed, and the rest were injured, they were defeated like leaves in the wind.

But these two were even more impressive, their speed so fast it was like watching a movie.

Watching the blue and gray figures move and clash, Wang Ju was both dazzled and sweating.

After a while, the Taoist priest was overpowered and fled, with the hunter in pursuit.

Wang Ju then asked Erniu, "Second Sister, what did the Taoist priest ask you?"

"He asked where the second son of the Zhu family in the city was, and I led him over."

"What did the hunter ask him after that?"

"The hunter stopped him and asked what he wanted with Zhu Er. The Taoist priest said his father had sent him to deliver a message to Zhu Er. The hunter said, 'No, the Zhu family always sends a steward to deliver messages, never a Taoist priest, especially not when they are unhappy with the Taoists.' The Taoist priest got angry and said, 'It's my business, what right do you have to interfere?' The hunter showed him a badge and said, 'Come with me to the authorities.' The Taoist priest's face changed, and he drew his sword to attack."

"Second Sister, what was written on the badge?"

"I didn't see it."

"That's strange... Not good, Zhu Er, you should prepare to go home immediately."

"What's happening?"

"The master invited high-ranking monks to bless your marriage to Lady Zhao. Someone must be angry and has sent someone to harm you. If successful, they could blame Lady Zhao, saying she brought you bad luck."

"Big Brother, I'm so scared," Erniu said.

"Don't be afraid, good people will protect us," Wang Ju reassured her, but he was also thinking, the Taoist priest was easy to guess, but who was the hunter?