Chapter 42 Standing in a Row

"My Lord, are all the meals at the Kaixing Tavern as delicious as the one tonight?"

"They will only be better! Our conditions are simply limited here tonight. The ingredients at the Kaixing Tavern are always the freshest, and the chefs are the most skilled. The flavors are the most authentic, the dishes are the most varied, and you will find all the newest culinary creations there."

Hearing this, everyone's mouths watered as they reminisced about the evening's feast. They had never tasted such delectable food before, and Chen Fan's words left them utterly captivated and yearning for more.

"Then, Master Chen! What about the discounts? Can common folk like us afford to eat there?"

"Have no fear, everyone. If we handle this autumn harvest well, perhaps by the year-end temple fair, everyone might even be able to eat there for free. But for now, the crops in the fields have not yet been gathered. Grain is hard currency! With grain in hand, Zeng County will gradually grow prosperous, and in time, everyone will have plenty of food and warm clothing. However, have you ever seen anyone achieve something without working for it?

There are some lazy good-for-nothings in the county who live off the fruits of their wives' labor, reducing their lives to an absolute mess and leaving their homes completely bare. In the end, they sell their wives, gamble, steal chickens and dogs, take desperate risks, break the law, and are reduced to beggars. They become walking corpses devoid of thought—would you be willing to sink to such depravity?

The prohibitions of the law may indeed cause you some temporary inconvenience, but without the law, the Great Zhou would permit the buying and selling of women at will! Once the women are all gone, only the men would be left—would they then start buying and selling men as well? Therefore, I implore you all not to break the laws of the Great Zhou! There is no good end for those who do. Once the culprits behind this human trafficking case are uncovered, they will undoubtedly face severe punishment.

Yet, for every punishment, there is naturally a reward. Don't you receive rewards for giving birth to baby boys? Throughout this year, the County Magistrate has quietly promoted the Agricultural Prosperity Edict precisely to ensure that the good people of Zeng County live in abundance. When the Kaixing Tavern finally opens its doors, the very first people to take a bite will be you, the commoners—not wealthy merchants, not officials. If you diligently cultivate the land, the fields and the harvests will reward you.

So let us all go forth together to till the land and reap the autumn harvest! Happiness is forged through hard work! Let us all put our backs into it, and when the time comes, I shall harvest the crops right alongside you!"

Hearing these impassioned words, the crowd felt a fire ignite deep within their bones.

"My Lord! We certainly will!"

"We shall engrave your teachings upon our hearts, My Lord!"

"We are willing to stand and fall with the yamen!"

Watching the villagers brim with fighting spirit, Chen Fan thought to himself, *Splendid! This matter is securely in hand.*

By the next morning, the villagers were up exceptionally early. Even before dawn broke, they had already gathered at the village entrance.

"Let us move out!"

"Let us move out, Master Chen!"

"Unity is strength! Unity is strength! This strength is iron! This strength is steel! Harder than iron! Stronger than steel!"

The crowd sang along with Chen Fan, their spirits soaring to the rhythm of the invigorating song. Working felt effortless, and they labored swiftly with joyful hearts.

"By the way, Master Chen, why does this song only have these few lines? There must be more to follow, right?"

"Ah! Well, I haven't thought of the rest just yet. I'll tell you when I do!"

"Wonderful, wonderful! Be sure to tell us as soon as you think of it, Master Chen!"

Looking at the energetic villagers, Chen Fan felt a deep sense of relief. It seemed this village was taken care of; he needed to hasten to the other villages at once. Otherwise, the autumn harvest would be in jeopardy. Yet, relying solely on him was not enough. He had already written a manual for Yu Qi, instructing him on how to persuade the villagers to unite for the harvest. This was no difficult task, and Yu Qi had mastered it quickly.

While everyone was happily occupied, Chen Fan set off for the third largest village in Zeng County: Wang Family Village.

When the villagers returned to their village later, they discovered that Chen Fan was gone. As they sat at the entrance eating their meal, they searched everywhere for him.

"Lord Yu, where has Master Chen Fan gone? Why isn't he eating with us?"

"Master Chen Fan has gone to Wang Family Village to mobilize the people there for the autumn harvest."

"Ah, I see! We could tell this autumn harvest is quite important. Everyone from the yamen has been sent out."

"Indeed! Whether Zeng County can rise up in the future depends entirely upon this autumn. Once we weather this autumn, things will be much better for all of us!"

With that, Yu Qi gazed into the distance toward the direction of Wang Family Village, where Chen Fan had gone.

Chen Fan arrived at Wang Family Village entirely alone. The villagers he encountered hurriedly stepped out of his way. He wanted to find someone to ask where the village chief lived, but every woman he approached shrank back from him in avoidance.

Chen Fan scratched the back of his head, utterly baffled. Finally, he spotted a man walking by and stepped forward to inquire, only for the man to halt and ask directly:

"You from the county seat?"

Delighted, Chen Fan assumed the man had recognized him by his official uniform.

"Precisely so. Could you be so kind as to take me to the village chief? I have urgent business to discuss!"

"Coming to see the village chief again, are you? Fine! You wait right here, and I'll go fetch someone."

"Then I am obliged to you!"

Chen Fan waited in place, glancing down at his attire. In his rush to get here over the past few days, sleeping in the open and braving the elements, his clothes had become terribly soiled and disheveled. It took him quite a while to straighten his garments properly.

He stood waiting for the village chief to appear. Instead, a crowd of people brandishing farming tools came charging toward him.

Chen Fan was startled.

"He's the outsider from the neighboring village!"

"Beat him to death! Beat him to death!"

Chen Fan suddenly realized they mistook him for a human trafficker. Seeing they were already upon him and leaving no time for explanations, he braced himself to fight them into submission.

The crowd rushed forward, attempting to encircle him. Knowing that once surrounded he would be attacked from all sides and unable to save himself no matter how skilled he was, Chen Fan retreated to put distance between himself and the mob.

A sturdy man lunged forward, swinging a heavy hoe downward. Chen Fan sidestepped the blow and swept his foot low to take out the attacker's legs. Since the man's momentum was entirely concentrated in his upper body, his footing was unstable, and he crashed face-first onto the ground.

Seeing their companion fall, the men behind hesitated and slowed their advance.

Chen Fan continued to retreat, steadily widening the gap to prevent them from surrounding him. At the same time, with a flick of his foot, a discarded hoe flew up from the ground directly into his hand. With a swift chop of his hand, he shattered the metal head off the wooden handle.

The crowd slowed their pace even further.

Seeing that they still refused to relent, Chen Fan stood his ground, adopting a defensive posture. Wary of the wooden staff in his hand, the villagers began hurling their farming implements at him. Chen Fan parried left and deflected right, knocking all the flying weapons away.

Suddenly, the mob came to a halt and parted into two rows. From behind them, another group of men armed with heavy clubs surged forward.

With his rich combat experience, Chen Fan was entirely unfazed. Crouching low, he charged straight into the oncoming crowd, wielding his staff with the instinctive combat reflexes ingrained in him from Earth.

Within ten seconds, he had punched straight through their formation and emerged behind them.

Straightening up, he stretched his overworked, aching muscles, rolling his neck and loosening his shoulders with an air of effortless ease.

Behind him lay a sprawling group of men, rolling on the ground in agony and howling in pain.