Chapter 48: Buying Bones with a Thousand Gold
Gan Jiang was beaten black and blue by a group of thugs. He was covered with bruises and wounds. He could only passively hold his head and curl up his body to avoid suffering fatal injuries!
The group of thugs seemed to be getting more and more excited as the fight went on, and they attacked Gan Jiang ruthlessly.
Moye, who originally wanted to rush forward to rescue, was held by two thugs and could only struggle but was unable to break free.
"Hey, what a pretty lady."
"My beauty, your beloved is a good-for-nothing loser! We can spare him, but can you please offer yourself to me?"
When a few thugs saw Moye's beautiful face and graceful figure, they couldn't help but feel malicious. They lifted Moye's chin, grinned lewdly, and teased her.
Moye gnashed her teeth in hatred, and when she saw someone reaching out to her, she opened her silver teeth and bit down hard!
"Bitch!"
With a "slap", the thug, feeling the pain, slapped Moye's pretty face, leaving a red handprint.
Moye was pushed to the ground by this great force and struggled to get up and resist.
"Don't hurt my beloved!"
At this time, Gan Jiang, who was covered in wounds, could no longer bear it. He endured the severe pain in his body, climbed up from the ground, and suddenly pulled out a bronze sword.
You can bully me, but you can’t bully my wife!
Gan Jiang was angry!
Furious!
With red eyes, he waved the bronze sword in his hand vigorously, trying to drive away these hateful thugs like mosquitoes.
"careful!"
Moye suddenly exclaimed.
With a "bang", unexpectedly, a wooden stick suddenly appeared behind Gan Jiang and hit him hard on the back of the head.
Gan Jiang suddenly fell to the ground, his eyes went dark and he fainted.
When the people nearby saw this, they all looked indignant!
"That's too much! How dare you hurt someone in broad daylight?"
"A few people beat up one person, don't you feel ashamed?"
"Report to the police! Report to the police now!"
The people of Wu were tough and vigorous. Seeing the thugs beating someone so wantonly, they were so angry that they rolled up their sleeves and wanted to go forward to save the man.
The leading thug glared at them and said ruthlessly, "I advise you not to meddle in other people's business! Otherwise, don't blame me for teaching you a lesson as well!"
Upon hearing this, some of the strong and hot-blooded men around could not bear it!
“What a big mouth!”
"Today I want to see who teaches whom a lesson!"
Angry passers-by immediately rushed forward with their fists raised, and started fighting with a group of thugs.
The scene was extremely chaotic!
The common people in Wu were basically a mixture of the Jing Man, Yang Yue and Hua Xia people. They cut their hair and tattooed themselves, ate rice and fish soup, and lived in poor mountains and bad waters, which developed the unruly character of the Wu people!
Therefore, fighting and private infighting are common.
"Stop! Stop it all!"
After a while, soldiers in armor rushed to the scene and calmed down the chaotic situation.
Fortunately, they arrived in time, and the private fights among the Wu people mostly involved fists and feet, and rarely used weapons, so those who were fighting were only covered in scars and were not in danger of their lives.
The most unlucky ones were Gan Jiang and Mo Ye. The coins in their money jar disappeared, and not only did they get beaten, but in the end, everything was lost!
Gan Jiang was in tears.
At this time, Moye looked at Gan Jiang who looked depressed, and could only sigh and persuade him: "My dear, at this point, we really only have Gan Jiang and Moye here."
It’s a pity, what’s the use of having two famous swords?
How could Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, who didn't even have the most basic money, enter Chu and present their swords to the powerful people of Chu?
Gan Jiang could not help but feel sad and said with self-pity: "It's all my fault! My dear, if I had known this would happen, I should not have waded into the muddy water of Wu State before!"
"My dear, do not blame yourself."
Mo Xie shook her head and said, "My dear, for now, I think the only solution is to present these two swords to King Wu."
"Even if you cannot be used by the King of Wu, you can still exchange some money for my wife and I to return to the Kingdom of Yue..."
What Moye said made sense, so Gan Jiang's heart was moved again.
At this point, Gan Jiang and Mo Ye were at the end of their rope and had no way out!
The only way out was to hope that King Qingji of Wu would look upon them with favor and allow Gan Jiang to get what he wished for, or at least reward him with some money to be used as travel expenses for the return trip to Yue.
In desperation, Gan Jiang asked to see Qingji again the next day.
This time he was not stopped, as if Qingji had already known that Gan would come to meet him!
Then, Gan Jiang was summoned to the side hall and presented the two peerless swords, Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, to King Qingji of Wu.
"Your Majesty, these two swords were forged by me and my wife over a period of three years. One is male and the other is female. The female sword is named 'Moye' and the male sword is named 'Gan Jiang'. They are a pair, just like a husband and wife!"
Hearing this, Qingji carefully looked at the two sharp swords on the table and felt very satisfied.
Although the Gan Jiang and Mo Ye swords are not among the top ten famous swords in ancient times, they are also legendary swords and famous weapons in the world!
In terms of sharpness, these male and female swords are in no way inferior to the Longyuan Swords previously presented by Gan Jiang and Mo Ye.
"Gan Jiang, are you really going to give me these two swords?"
Qingji chuckled and asked.
"Please accept it, Your Majesty!"
A bitter smile appeared at the corner of Gan Jiang's mouth.
Qingji was well aware of the group fight that took place at the market yesterday!
There were many fights like this in the State of Wu, and they occurred every one or two months.
The people of Wu had long been accustomed to this. Although Qingji wanted to rectify the trend of private fighting and willful wandering among the people of Wu, he simply did not have the energy to spare!
You can't just bring up the harsh Qin laws in history, right?
You must know that although this is an era of great contention, those in power tend to adopt a conciliatory policy and be lenient and benevolent in governing the country and maintaining peace.
If Qingji suddenly issued the laws and regulations of Shang Yang's reform, it might backfire and cause riots among the people and make them deserted by their friends and relatives!
Therefore, for the time being, Qingji can only let this bad trend in the State of Wu continue.
Besides, there is nothing wrong with the existence of such a brave spirit among the people for the sake of the country and society!
"Gan Jiang, what reward do you want?"
Qingji asked again.
"Your Majesty, I offer you my sword without asking for any reward, but... I would like to ask Your Majesty to give me some money to support my family's return to Yue."
Gan Jiang sighed deeply.
"Okay. Then, I will reward you with a thousand gold coins!"
"Thousands...thousands of gold?"
Gan Jiang suddenly widened his eyes and opened his mouth in disbelief.
He couldn't believe it and suspected that there was something wrong with his ears!
But Qingji said seriously: "A thousand taels of gold. One thousand taels of gold!"
"Gan Jiang, in addition to giving you a thousand gold coins, I am also going to appoint you as the Grand Master of Works, an official under the Ministry of Finance, one of the Nine Ministers, in charge of weapon manufacturing."
"Do you dare to accept it?"
