Chapter 54

  "A total of 1,000 strings, brought by horse-drawn carriage."

  One copper coin weighs about 4 grams, one guan is one thousand wen, weighing about 4 kg, and one thousand guan would be 4 tons in weight, which must be pulled by a horse cart, and even one horse cart may not be enough.

  This is also why it is more convenient to use silk as currency than copper coins in the present day, at a time when silver notes have not yet appeared.

  "Is it enough? Won't it be a bit less?" Cheng Dalai asked.

  "That's enough. The master, slaves are cheaper than we thought, adult slaves only cost one yuan, and the old, weak, women and children just need a few coins. So why bring so much money over? First, the ransom for Liu Zhi will be more expensive, second, to grease the wheels of various aspects, to make the transaction go smoothly."

  The current prices are: a horse is about twenty guan, an ox is about fifteen guan, and a donkey is about seven or eight guan.

  With four or five strings of cash one could buy a servant girl as beautiful as a flower; the price for a grown laborer was only one string.

  So in this era, people are more valuable than donkeys.

  "Hurry up and get things done, we'll redeem the Liu family this afternoon and return tonight. How's the road?"

  Now there are only two people in the mountain stronghold, Huang San Yuan and Xu Ling Er. If someone wants to attack the Frog Mountain Stronghold, it is simply an empty city.

  So things must be done in a hurry, and it's best to return to Hama Village tonight.

  "The city of Luoyang closes its gates at night and only opens them again the next morning, but I've already made arrangements with the guards on duty, they'll open the gate for a short while, just enough time for us to get the person out."

  "Then let's hurry up and get things done, Military Advisor, Qin Ge and I will go to ransom the person, Shaoyu you and Meng Ziyun go to ransom Liu Zhi, we'll meet outside the city."

  After deciding on the task, everyone took action separately. What made Mengzi Yun wonder was that no matter how he looked at it, Cheng Dairen was a drunkard and a glutton, but why did others listen to him and follow his plans?

  As they were about to start their mission, the sun was already setting in the west. Cheng Dalai's plan was to return to Hamao Village tonight. Time was tight and the task was heavy, but with money paving the way, this wasn't a big problem either.

  He redeemed the people of the Liu family at a price much higher than the market price, and everything went smoothly. By the time the night was just beginning to fall, he had already taken these people out of the city.

  Cheng Dalai saw that there were children, old people, and women who had already lost their youth, with a total of around 80 or 90 people.

  When they heard that it was the mountain stronghold of the frogs that had saved them, a considerable stir was created among the crowd.

  "Old Master has been against mountain bandits all his life, how can we go and become mountain bandits!"

  "What a shame on our ancestors! What a shame on our ancestors!"

  "I would rather die than become a bandit! I would rather die, I would rather die!"

  This turn of events was beyond Cheng Darui's expectations, and he was getting a bit impatient. The plan had deviated somewhat, and until now, Meng Ziyun and Lin Shaoyu still hadn't returned.

  Nothing unexpected will happen, right?!

  Mengzi said that life and death are not his concern, Liu Zhi also doesn't care about it that much, but Lin Shaoyu is a mountain bandit, he has to care.

  The sound of rustling and chattering rose around him, making Cheng Dairen extremely annoyed.

  "Enough!" Cheng Da Lei shouted, throwing the knife from his waist to the ground: "Those who don't want to be mountain bandits can go die, there are many ways to die. Those who don't want to use a knife can find stones to knock themselves dead or trees to hang themselves. This is not the time for you to show your loyalty and patriotism, and be superior to others. If you want to die, then do it!"

  Nobody speaks.

  Neither those old men who loudly proclaimed that it was better to die than to be humiliated, nor the young people who boasted of their fervent blood, had anything to say.

  All he got in return was Cheng Dairen's contempt.

  He looked towards the direction of the city gate, his heart secretly anxious. Compared to the estimated time, Lin Shaoyu was late for too long.

  At this time, a fast horse came from the direction of the city gate, and the person on the horse was Meng Ziyun.

  "What about Lin Shaoyu and Liu Zhi?" Cheng Dairen asked immediately.

  "Miss... Today, the Huang family in the city is having a banquet, and Miss has been invited. When we arrived, Miss had already been taken away. Lin Shaoyu asked me to come back and report the news, he wants to go take a look himself."

  Liu Zhi put up a plaque at the Huiyan Building, wanting to see her with many rules. But when she really met people in power and influence, all rules had to be abolished. The Huang family wanted her to go, and she couldn't help but go.

  This Huang family seems to be the one where Huang Yuanwai is going to marry Su Ying.

  "Then you came back by yourself?" Cheng Dairen looked at Meng Ziyun and spat out two words: "Idiot!"

  As soon as he heard this, Mengzi's face suddenly turned red with anger and he shouted: "You little brat, I've been patient with you for a long time. Who do you think you are? What qualifications do you have to lecture me? If you dare to show the slightest disrespect to me again, I'll recognize you, but my knife won't!"

  This kid is a bit too disobedient, it's time to teach him what discipline means.

  "Qin Man, take action."

  "Yes!"

  Qin Man patted the horse and moved forward. Mengzi had been harboring a grudge against these mountain bandits for what happened in broad daylight, and now he was looking for an opportunity to teach them a lesson. At this moment, his knife was already out.

  Ke Qinman didn't even move his spear, and in the instant when the two horses crossed paths, he grabbed Meng Ziyun's collar and threw him off.

  Qin Man's two arms had at least 500 catties of strength, and with this burst of force, he lifted Meng Ziyun into the air, his head and limbs dangling in mid-air, his body spinning around before being thrown out seven or eight meters away, slamming heavily onto the ground.

  A moment of silence, someone hastily helped Meng Ziyun up. Although Meng Ziyun was not injured, he was so ashamed that he had nowhere to hide his face. He had always been proud, but this was the first time in his life that he had encountered such a thing.

  He stood on the ground, his eyes fixed on Cheng Dairen like fire, and such humiliation made him want to perish with Cheng Dairen.

  "Are all people from the Liu family so unruly?" Cheng Da Lei asked while riding his horse, "If there's a next time, I'll show no mercy."

  Cheng Dali first showed his killing intent, he first knocked down a thousand unmanned soldiers, and then blocked Lu Hong's hundred elite soldiers. He had long since moved his body and nurtured his energy, and was no longer the wine bag rice bucket that Meng Ziyun thought him to be, but indeed a proud bandit leader in the mountains and forests.

  "The master of the house, now Shaoyu is still in the city, what should we do?"

  "If we enter the city, it will be difficult to come out again." Xu Shenji said.

  At this time, an old man from the Liu family suddenly said: "I know a road leading out of the city, where there is a gap in the city wall and no guards are guarding."

  Cheng Dalai asked clearly about the location of that small road, and his mind was still thinking. This group of people has been staying outside the city for a long time, and changes will occur if they are delayed. They must be sent away as soon as possible. Lin Shaoyu is still lingering in the city, but he can't help it either.

  He already had a vague plan in his mind, but he hadn't made up his mind yet.

  Xu Shenqi seemed to guess what Cheng Dairen was thinking, and rushed to him: "Master, when I came from the mountain stronghold, I brought your axe too, it's on the horse carriage."

  As he spoke, Xu Shenji brought over the large axe for Cheng Darui, who grasped his own axe with a few more points of confidence in his heart.

  Qin Mian, Mengzi said, "Follow me into the city and seize people."