Chapter 101: The Town's Conflict
Before the Age of Discovery, the Sorensen Mountains were not shrouded in miasma like they are today. At that time, not only did a large number of caravans pass through the Sorensen Mountains every year, but there were also active expedition teams and adventurer teams from various regions, bringing vigorous vitality and endless business opportunities to Westram, which is adjacent to Sorensen.
This kind of prosperity gradually declined after the beginning of the Age of Discovery.
There are two reasons. First, sea transportation is indeed cheaper than land transportation. Except for caravans that need to trade with inland countries, most long-distance caravans choose sea transportation and turn from land merchants to sea merchants.
Second, the Sorenson Mountains have gradually become difficult to navigate...Except for a few areas that are barely passable due to rugged terrain or other reasons, most areas are covered by thick miasma; not only have the number of passing caravans decreased, but even explorers and adventurers no longer gather.
More than a hundred years ago, the local established hoteliers fled to Innadri, and Westham quickly degenerated from a prosperous commercial town to an unknown poor border town.
The not-so-developed agriculture and piecemeal handicrafts alone cannot solve the employment problem of young people in thousands of townspeople's families, and the outflow of young and middle-aged labor has naturally become the mainstream.
Small town girls like Caroline would usually have their families find someone to help them find a job in town when they were fifteen or sixteen, using the salary to supplement the family income . When they were around twenty-three or twenty-four, marriage could no longer be delayed, so their families would arrange for them to marry into other families with suitable partners. The few years before marriage were the last time for girls to repay their families for raising them.
Caroline is 23 years old and has worked in a high-end restaurant in town for eight years. Her mother Winnie loves her very much and has been looking for a marriage partner for her since last year. According to the agreement with her family, she was supposed to quit her job and go home to get married this winter.
Caroline was not dissatisfied with the way her life was arranged. After all, most of the small town girls she knew had the same life. If she hadn't heard too many negative rumors about Westram in the past half month, which made her worry day and night, she wouldn't have thought of taking a leave to come back and see how things were going. The restaurant was very strict with waiters like her who could be replaced at any time, and taking a leave would result in a salary deduction.
The three young men who returned with Caroline were in a similar situation. Most of them were introduced to the city as apprentices or worked in workshops when they were fifteen or sixteen years old. They paid a certain price to go home and visit their families.
When they entered the town gate and saw that the town was as peaceful and tranquil as they had seen when they returned home last winter, the four young men secretly breathed a sigh of relief... No matter whether the lord had changed or not, as long as their hometown could remain the same, it would be fine.
Then... they saw the dead walking openly on the streets and among the townspeople in broad daylight.
The townspeople were obviously afraid of these horrible skeletons. When the undead approached, even the drunkards would quickly move away.
But... that's it.
There was no panic, no running away. It seemed that as long as the townspeople kept a distance of one or two meters from the undead, they would accept the reality that these undead were walking on the same street with them...
The four young men stood blankly at the intersection, watching the two undead who had first frightened them walk past them and out of the town gate.
Before the two undead had gone far, another group of undead came out from the direction of Martin Street, talking to each other in a "KABAKABA" sound as they walked, as if no one was around.
All the undead had a gleaming steel knife stuck on their waists, some had glaring scars on their bones, and some had strange fish-scale armor with obvious traces of battle... No matter how you look at it, these undead were not worth half a copper coin.
But the townspeople coming and going on the street were not afraid of them. Housewives carrying baskets to sell vegetables even passed by these undead spirits within half a meter.
Caroline stared blankly at this incredible scene, her jaw dropping...
"I, I have to go home quickly to check." A young man spoke with a pale face, breaking the silence.
"Me too!" The other two suddenly woke up and responded.
"Wait a minute." Seeing the three people were about to disperse, Caroline hurriedly called them.
The girl looked around with a pale face, then pulled the three people to the side of the road and said in a low voice: "Let's not really separate, everyone go home and check... and then we can meet again."
Enduring hardship is the best life experience that helps people grow.
Leaving home in their teens, the discrimination, exclusion and bullying they suffered in the lowest level environment in Innaderi made these small town youths grow rapidly and became more mature than their peers who stayed in their hometowns or the countryside.
Although Caroline didn't explain it too clearly, the three young men understood her meaning, nodded solemnly, and agreed on a time and place to meet again...
The situation in the town was too strange for them not to think too much - if the black magician who supported the new lord had used some strange magic to make all the townspeople lose their vigilance against those terrible undead spirits, then they should at least stay awake!
Caroline's family lived in the same northern block as Porsha Lowry's, just two alleys away from the town hall.
The blocks in the north of the town are mostly single-family buildings that are over a hundred years old. Like Martin Street, they are the last batch of houses built when Westham's prosperity came to an end. After that, the buildings that collapsed or were demolished and rebuilt were mainly townhouses. Before Westham became a red-light district, no new buildings were seen in the town.
Three generations live in Caroline's detached house with a small garden. Her two uncles live on the second floor, while her family and grandfather live on the first floor.
The oldest male head of the household is still alive, so Caroline's uncle and her father do not have to pay taxes. But her grandfather's health has been getting worse in the past two years. When her grandfather dies, the three adult men in their family will be identified as independent male heads of the household, which will add a large amount of tax expenses every year. This is why her mother is eager to marry her off - if she waits until her grandfather dies, the family will not be able to prepare a slightly richer dowry for Caroline.
"Caroline?" Winnie Megan was washing vegetables by the well in the yard. When she saw her daughter push open the gate and walk in, she quickly wiped her hands on her apron and came to greet her with surprise and worry. "Honey, why are you back early? Did something happen at work?"
"Mom." Caroline hugged her mother tightly, "I'm fine, Mom. Where's Grandpa?"
"Your grandfather is at the Environmental Sanitation Bureau...Are you really okay?" Winnie asked with concern.
"It's really nothing. I just wanted to come back to see you." Caroline took her mother into the house and quickly looked around. She saw her two little cousins and her aunt mending clothes in the living room. She smiled and waved at them, then looked around and said, "Mom, is everyone at home okay?"
"Everyone is fine... Oh, did you rush back because you heard that Westham had a new lord?" Winnie said suddenly.
"Yes, everyone is fine?" Caroline repeated the question nervously. "By the way, you just said that grandpa works in the Environmental Sanitation Bureau? What is the Environmental Sanitation Bureau?"
Winnie knew her daughter well, and had almost guessed the reason why she hurried back. She couldn't help but patted Caroline's hand with a smile and said, "Silly girl, don't listen to what people say. It doesn't matter to us whether the lord is changed or not. Earlier, when your grandfather was still young, the lord here was not the Marcus family."
Caroline did not look relieved, but became more worried... Could it be that her guess was right, and even her mother's mind was influenced by the black magician who supported the new lord?
"Stop talking about this. Mom has something great to show you." Winnie pulled Caroline into the room and took out the fine fabric she had hidden in the closet. "Look at this. What beautiful colors and patterns! When you get married, use this to make a long skirt that covers your ankles. You will definitely be the most beautiful bride!"
Caroline's attention was immediately drawn to the fabric; its smooth surface, bright colors and lifelike prints were truly something she had never seen before.
But Caroline was not happy at all. She couldn't help but ask, "Mom, is it these ghost cloths that made you all lose your vigilance?"
"What undead cloth?" Ms. Winnie was shocked. "Don't talk nonsense. This is sold to us by the new lord. It has nothing to do with the undead."
Caroline kept shaking her head and said painfully, "I knew something was wrong in the town. Think about it calmly, Mom. I have worked at Innadri for so many years and have seen many ladies in the city. Their skirts are not as beautiful as those made of dead cloth... How could such good cloth fall into the hands of a family like us so easily?"
Ms. Winnie didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and quickly comforted her: "Calm down, my dear, this kind of cloth is not only in our family, but also in the town and even in the countryside. The vegetable farmers have bought a lot of it. You haven't seen how much of this good cloth the lord's people have sold during this period of time. If this is to deceive us, how much loss will the new lord suffer?"
"If they didn't want to deceive everyone, how could they sell us this kind of fabric that can be sold at a high price in the top stores in Innadri?" Caroline shook her head repeatedly, "Believe me, Mom, there must be a secret here. This is definitely not normal."
Ms. Winnie was in a dilemma...
It is impossible for a small town lady like Ms. Winnie to not be completely disgusted by the current strange situation in Westham. Not to mention that the new mayor is actually a ghost, the ghosts she often bumps into when she walks out of the house always scare her.
But on the other hand... she really didn't think that the new lord of Westham was that bad - she had personally spent more than ten days under the rule of this new lord, and although she was inevitably frightened, it could not be said that it was worse than before.
"I should have asked someone to write you a letter earlier so that you wouldn't be so suspicious." Ms. Winnie said tangledly, "But when I think about the money for sending a letter, which can buy almost half a meter of cloth, I feel reluctant to spend it... One meter of cloth only costs ten copper coins."
"Mom, these dead cloths--"
"Okay, dear, listen to me first." Ms. Winnie stopped her anxious daughter, "Your mother has always lived in the town. I know much more about the situation in the town than those Innadri people who make random guesses without knowing anything."
"Yes, the new lord of Westham is very different. Mr. Rex even appointed a dead soul as the mayor. But I believe Mr. Rex is definitely not a bad person. He definitely has no ill will towards us." Ms. Winnie opened her hands and said seriously, "You know, Winnie, those poor people on the main street in the town are all well taken care of by Mr. Rex. He can be so gentle to those poor people, how could Mr. Rex hurt us?"
Caroline had been worried about her family ever since she heard about the misfortune in her hometown. She had never thought about caring about the fate of those poor people on the main street in the town, so she was a little shocked for a moment.
Children who grew up in the town have more or less seen... the miserable fate of prostitutes and male prostitutes who were kicked out of the brothel due to old age and fading beauty.
Every winter, as long as it snows, people in the town can hear rumors that several bodies of these people have been dragged out from some corner of the town's main street...
Some people will hate these people because of their rejection of the red-light district, but there are also people who will sympathize with those who have no control over their own destiny... Put yourself in their shoes, who would be willing to be sold to a distant place far away from home, experience such painful ordeal and then die tragically?
"Your grandfather saw it with his own eyes when he went to work at the Environmental Sanitation Bureau. Those people were concentrated in two large houses. The undead cooked food for them every day. The two working meals provided by the Environmental Sanitation Bureau were also prepared by the undead. He would save the thick soup every day and bring it back in a jar." Ms. Winnie smiled and said, "Your aunt would add this thick soup to the soup for dinner. It was really delicious."
Before Caroline could ask what the Sanitation Bureau was, Ms. Winnie continued, "This Sanitation Bureau is a new department opened by the new lord. It employs old people like your grandfather, widows without families, and orphans to take turns cleaning the streets of the town every day. Did you notice when you came here? The pile of garbage at the entrance of our alley is gone. That's the work of the Sanitation Bureau."
"We originally disagreed with Grandpa going to the Environmental Sanitation Bureau, but Grandpa thought he should go and see what the new lord wants to do in the town..." Ms. Winnie sighed, "Now the undead mayor and the new lord are posting notices to hire laborers for daily wages. If your father, uncles, and your cousin hadn't come back yet, your grandfather would definitely support them to sign up."
It is now the autumn harvest season. Every autumn, the adult men in the town who are willing to work hard will go to the countryside together to do odd jobs, or help farmers harvest crops, or work on the manor for a month or so - it will be very hard work, but they can also earn a lot of money.
In a family like Megan's, where everyone has a good family tradition and is very hardworking, five strong men can earn nearly half a year's living expenses for the whole family by going to the countryside and suffering for a month or so.
Of course, not all men would do odd jobs in the autumn... skilled craftsmen, lazy widowers, alcoholics, or those who had businesses and jobs at home would not suffer this hardship.
Caroline hesitated to speak.
She respected her grandfather very much. Even her grandfather thought that the changes in Westham were not a bad thing and that the new lord was not a bad person with ulterior motives. So she was a little shaken.
"That's not all." Ms. Winnie saw her daughter's hesitation and said with a smile, "The new lord, Mr. Rex, has posted a notice in front of the town hall. He will cancel the population tax for all townspeople starting this year, and will no longer collect the agricultural tax that farmers should pay to him. Currently, Westham only collects two types of taxes, one is the business tax, and the other is the high-income income tax that only people with a monthly income of more than 1,800 copper coins need to pay."
"One thousand eight hundred copper coins?!" Caroline was shocked when she heard this number. "Doesn't that mean that everyone who doesn't do business doesn't have to pay taxes?!"
What does it mean to earn 1,800 copper coins a month?
The concept is to earn eighteen silver coins every month!
If converted into gold coins, you can get more than one and a half!
Generally speaking, large-denomination coins such as gold coins are not circulated among the people. Most people have copper coins as the main form of currency, supplemented by silver coins.
Caroline has worked in a high-end restaurant on South Innadri Street for eight years and has been promoted to a senior waitress with a monthly income of seven silver coins.
This is almost the ceiling of the service industry. Above that, maids in wealthy families can earn even more - in Westham, seven silver coins are enough for a family of four to live frugally for a month and a half; if in Innadri, as long as they don't use gas and just burn coal, they can get by for a month without any problem.
But even as a maid in a wealthy family, there is no guarantee that she can earn a monthly salary starting from gold coins...it would be good enough if she could become a housekeeper.
"At least your grandfather doesn't have to pay taxes. His monthly salary at the Environmental Sanitation Bureau is 800 copper coins." Winnie covered her mouth and laughed.
Caroline's jaw almost dropped - street sweeping, a job that could be done by the elderly and children, was actually more expensive than her monthly salary at a high-end restaurant?
"Won't the jobs at the Sanitation Bureau be very popular?" Caroline said in surprise.
"It's hard to say... Anyway, no one wanted to take it when your grandfather went there." Winnie said with a complicated expression, "Everyone thinks this is a scam, and they are worried that the new lord will be driven away before he can pay everyone... If we can really get the money, your aunts and I will also sign up."
This revealed Ms. Winnie's true intentions - she was not actually very sure that the new lord was reliable and could rule Westham forever... Although she herself expected so, how could a small town woman like her have the final say on matters such as the replacement of the lord?
Caroline thought carefully about what her mother had told her and became as conflicted as her mother.
It is obvious that the new lord, Mr. Rex, is indeed a kind gentleman, and if Westham can continue to be ruled by this gentleman, it will undoubtedly be a good thing for everyone living on this land.
But... this Mr. Rex did become the lord because of the support of a terrible black magician. If the undead running around the streets had not captured the mayor who turned Westham into a red-light district and drove away Baron Marcus, Mr. Rex would not have become the lord of Westham.
If you accept Mr. Rex's rule, you must get used to the existence of the undead.
"Good luck always comes with bad luck." Caroline sighed and said the Rhine proverb that Porsha once lamented.
Rex, who was being missed by the townspeople with mixed feelings, was now staring blankly at a contract with an expressionless face.
When Yang came to the town hall to find him in person, Rex thought Yang had some ideas for him to implement, but Yang handed him a contract without saying a word.
This contract... is a long-term supply contract for goods and materials between Yang, as the Lord of Tarantan, and Charlie Rex, the Lord of Westram in his subordinate territory (yes, Yang Qiu no longer exists as Lord Innadri).
Listed on the contract are all department store merchandise that Yang Qiu has acquired on Earth and that can provide a long-term and stable supply.
For example, the most popular curtain fabrics at present...
The textile factory that transformed itself into a popular online clothing brand and competed with countless peers on Taobao still had several warehouses of inventory. When it learned that Yang Qiu hoped for a stable supply, the boss on the other end of the video patted his chest and guaranteed that they would deliver as much as Yang Qiu wanted. After their own inventory was sold out, there were peers who were also beaten by e-commerce and were waiting to be rescued...
For example, plastic products are not as famous as curtain fabrics, but they are in real demand. The plastic factory that supplies them is a downstream unit of a chemical company. Regardless of whether the production line is running or not, the raw materials are delivered on time. In order to open up sales, the person in charge of the plastic factory is even talking to Indian customers. Yang Qiu is much easier to deal with than the Indians...
Yang Qiu had found suppliers for curtain fabrics and plastic products, but before he could find another supplier, the prison company he had previously worked with (…) came to him. They didn’t come on their own, but brought along a group of other companies that were struggling to sell their products…
Prison enterprises, which are not generally known to the general public, actually have an astonishing scale in China. Not to mention the whole country, the local prison enterprises in Province G are processing labor-intensive products including clothing, electronics, furniture, mechanical parts, etc. The waist bags and backpacks that Yang Qiu originally bought from the prison enterprises were just a drop in the bucket.
In short - it's not that Yang Qiu was stingy and unwilling to take out the gold in his pocket to win the hearts of the people of Westram, but after purchasing the magical materials needed for the teleportation array, paying in full for the road engineering equipment, and paying the deposits for long-term supply to various manufacturers, it had all been spent.
The gold coins in this world are not pure. A ten-gram gold coin only contains 60% to 70% gold, and the rest is alloy. Yang Qiu took the gold coins and gold ornaments, and had to use magic to "purify" them before he could use them on Earth. The total amount was reduced, and it was not durable at all...
Yang Qiu, who is penniless and cannot even afford to buy frozen noodles from local manufacturers at a super low price next month, remains as steady as an old dog.
"I will give you a wholesale price of 20% lower than the market price for all goods." Putting down the teacup, Yang Qiu clasped his hands on the table and said calmly, "Except for fabrics and goods that have been sold locally before, you can set the retail price of new goods yourself. I don't care how much surplus there is, you just need to make sure that my payment is in place. Of course, I don't want copper and silver coins, I only accept gold coins for settlement."
Rex looked dazed, as if he couldn't recover at all...
