Chapter 36

"Yue... Young Master, are you really going to get into the salt smuggling business? If you do, the feud with the Wang family will never be resolved!"

Shocked, Li Yuan no longer cared about taking advantage of Yueyang, and even the term "Young Master" slipped out.

As the saying goes, cutting off someone's means of livelihood is like killing their parents. The four major families of Yingzhou—Yue, Wang, Lin, and Li—each had their own way of survival. The Yue family mainly relied on land, the Wang family on salt smuggling, the Lin family on iron mines, and the Li family on furs. This was the tacitly agreed-upon rule of the game. Now, Yueyang suddenly said he wanted to get involved in the salt smuggling business in Yingzhou, which was a very serious issue. As long as the Wang family wasn't collectively brain-dead, they would definitely fight Yueyang to the death.

Seeing Li Yuan's almost furious expression, Yueyang sneered, "Unresolvable? Head of the Li family, when the second son of the Wang family, Wang Chenglin, led his henchmen to try to kill me at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion and cut off the Yue family's lineage, did they ever think about the feud being unresolvable? And when he tried to seize our land and undermine our foundation, did he ever think about the feud being unresolvable? Now, I want to tell him that I will return tenfold, a hundredfold, what they did to the Yue family in the past!"

After hearing Yueyang's words, Li Yuan was stunned for a moment before he finally sighed softly.

"Alas... What a tragedy!"

At this moment, Li Yuan realized that the hatred between Yueyang and the Wang family had been unresolvable since the day Wang Chenglin tried to kill him. Yueyang was the only son of the Yue family, and Wang Chenglin's attempt to kill him was equivalent to cutting off the Yue family's roots. This grudge was far more serious than cutting off someone's means of livelihood.

Thinking about this, Li Yuan rubbed his forehead and shook his head lightly. "Alright, since you've made up your mind, I won't say more. I hope you know what you're doing. I won't disturb you anymore." With that, Li Yuan stood up and walked toward the door without looking back.

Yueyang remained silent as he watched Li Yuan leave. Shunbao, who was behind him, scratched his head in confusion and asked, "Young Master, are you really going to smuggle salt?"

"What, can't I?" Yueyang asked without turning around.

"Well... It's not impossible. But... Although I don't know much about it, I do know that selling salt requires a salt permit. Our Yue family has never been involved in this business. If the authorities investigate us in the future, we might end up in court!" Seeing Yueyang's indifferent expression, Shunbao became anxious. Having grown up in Yue Family Village and influenced by his father, Shunbao had long considered the Yue family his own family. Now, seeing his young master act so boldly, he was worried.

Yueyang turned to look at Shunbao, his loyal and honest servant, and smiled softly. "Don't worry, Shunbao. If we acted this boldly twenty years ago, it would have been suicide. But now... hmm... the court has enough on its plate to worry about itself!"

Seeing Yueyang's confident face, Shunbao scratched his head again, still unable to understand what had changed in the past twenty years.

Yueyang ignored Shunbao's puzzled look and looked out the window. He knew that Gao Yingxiang's attack on Shanxi was just the beginning. In the years to come, this force would wreak havoc for over a decade, and the Ming Dynasty would exhaust its last bit of strength in suppressing these bandits, eventually allowing a barbaric ethnic group from beyond the Great Wall to seize control of the Central Plains.

"Can I survive this great calamity? Will the history of this timeline change because of my arrival?" Yueyang murmured to himself, his eyes filled with a hint of confusion...

The city of Yingzhou, which had been captured by bandits in another historical timeline, was saved by Yueyang's arrival. Zhang Xianzhong was forced to retreat to Danning. In the days that followed, Yueyang led his five hundred soldiers to defend Yingzhou, and during this time, news kept coming in.

In the next half month, Yang Dazhu, the general of Xuanzhen, led six thousand elite troops and fought several battles against Gao Yingxiang and his bandits, numbering about fifty thousand. Yang Dazhu, a famous general of Xuanzhen, led four thousand infantry and two thousand cavalry, defeating Gao Yingxiang and his subordinates, Luo Rucai and Li Zicheng, so thoroughly that they had to flee from Shanxi in disgrace.

After driving Gao Yingxiang out of Shanxi, Yang Dazhu did not pursue them but returned to Xuanzhen with great satisfaction and reported to the governor of Xuanzhen, Zhang Zongheng, and the governor of Shanxi, Xu Dingchen. Both were delighted and wrote detailed reports to the court. Emperor Chongzhen was overjoyed upon receiving the good news and issued an edict to commend the two officials and Yang Dazhu. As for Yueyang, who led five hundred militiamen to rescue Yingzhou... well... who would remember a mere militia commander?

With the bandits gone, the people of Yingzhou breathed a sigh of relief. Since everything was fine, Yueyang and his five hundred militiamen no longer needed to stay in Yingzhou. Yueyang understood this and asked Zheng Fakui to allow him to return to Wulizhai. Zheng Fakui, who had already had this idea, pretended to try to persuade Yueyang to stay but then agreed. However, Zheng Fakui still had some conscience and, before Yueyang left, gave him a batch of grain, livestock, and five thousand taels of silver as a reward for rescuing Yingzhou. Yueyang accepted the silver and supplies without much comment, bid farewell to Zheng Fakui, and led his troops back to Wulizhai.

On October 3, 1632, the fifth year of the Chongzhen era, Zheng Fakui led the civil and military officials and gentry of Yingzhou to see Yueyang off.

As Yueyang's five hundred soldiers slowly disappeared from sight, Wang Shoucheng felt a twinge of jealousy. He deliberately coughed and said to Lin Yuanteng, "Brother Lin, Governor Zheng is too generous to this young man. He not only gave him grain and fodder but also five thousand taels of silver. Truly, he is a kind-hearted man!"

Lin Yuanteng grunted in agreement. "Yes, Governor Zheng is too kind. In my opinion, a few hundred taels would have been enough. These rough soldiers don't deserve so much silver."

Although Wang Shoucheng and Lin Yuanteng's voices were not loud, they were heard by some people nearby. No one echoed their words, and even Zheng Fakui frowned, feeling that these two were truly ungrateful. Although everyone knew they had a grudge against Yueyang, he had just saved their lives, and they were already saying such things. Clearly, these two were cold-hearted.

Zheng Fakui snorted and turned around without a word. Li Yuan, who followed behind, looked at Wang Shoucheng with a complex expression. A sense of schadenfreude welled up in his heart. He had not forgotten Yueyang's plan to smuggle salt, which he had mentioned a few days ago. Although he did not know how Yueyang would compete with Wang Shoucheng, he knew that a good show was coming...

Wulizhai was not far from Yingzhou, and the journey of thirty to forty miles took only a few hours. When Yueyang reached the Sanggan River, he was surprised to see that the riverbank was lined with people. Many of them were excitedly pointing and gesturing as Yueyang's troops approached.

"Master, are these people... welcoming us?" Shunbao, who had been following Yueyang closely, asked in surprise.

Yueyang was also unsure and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Maybe..."

The answer soon became clear. As the troops entered Wulizhai, the crowd suddenly burst into cheers. Many people waved their arms and shouted excitedly.

"Yue Young Master is mighty!"

"Congratulations to Yue Young Master for defeating the bandits!"

"Welcome back, Yue Young Master!"

The cheers confirmed that these people were indeed welcoming them. Yueyang was both surprised and delighted. He had never imagined that he would be treated with such warmth by his fellow villagers. The term "overwhelmed with gratitude" accurately described his feelings at that moment.

As Yueyang and his five hundred militiamen entered the streets of Wulizhai, the villagers cheered and waved. Many people stared wide-eyed at the troops, and some even rushed into the ranks to embrace the soldiers, crying and laughing. Yueyang knew these must be the soldiers' relatives and families. After all, the soldiers he recruited were all local farmers from Wulizhai, and their families would naturally be worried about them.

Yueyang wanted to disperse the crowd but feared hurting the villagers' feelings. In the end, he had no choice but to order the troops to slow down. The short street, less than five hundred meters long, took them nearly an hour to traverse, and they did not reach the training ground behind Yue Family Village until the afternoon. After settling the troops, Yueyang returned to Yue Family Village with Shunbao.

Upon arriving at Yue Family Village, Yueyang was once again warmly welcomed by the villagers. The old lady even announced that she would slaughter chickens and sheep to celebrate the young master's return.

At the banquet that evening, Yueyang drank with everyone who came to toast him and was eventually carried back to his courtyard.

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