On the thirteenth day of the fourth month, taxes such as land tax, commercial tax, labor tax, poll tax, and silver tax increased by one-tenth.
On the fourteenth day of the fourth month, grain prices in Bianjing rose by one-tenth in the morning, three-tenths at noon, and nearly doubled by closing time.
On the fifteenth day of the fourth month, the court ordered restrictions on grain prices, leading to shortages in major grain shops.
On the sixteenth day of the fourth month, official grain was made available, and a fire dragon burned the granaries.
By the end of May, grain prices had doubled, causing over ten thousand households to flee due to excessive taxation.
Riots continued in villages and towns of various sizes in Qianjing County, with a hundred households going bankrupt, fleeing, selling themselves, or joining the military in Bianjing City.
Coincidentally, a large army set out to drive away the Tartars, requiring a large number of laborers.
Many people were willing to do anything for a meal and rushed into the military camps.
The tooth market was crowded with people willing to sell themselves for survival.
Old One-Arm, with a face like dead tree bark, showed a slight smile.
His main business was selling slaves, and the more people selling themselves, the more money he made.
In these days, he had spent more than ten thousand taels of silver buying people, investing over a hundred thousand taels and selling for at least thirty thousand taels.
At that moment, a burly man approached him quickly, whispered a few words in his ear, and his smile faded, his face turning pale.
"What did you say?"
"Master, they say they will only agree to a fifty percent reduction at Longqiao."
Fifty percent?
Old One-Arm's gaze faltered, his breathing quickened, his remaining right arm clenched into a fist, muscles bulging unnaturally, veins popping out like tree roots breaking through the soil.
His arm had grown a full circle, and his shoulder was now level with his ear.
Seeing this eerie scene, the black market thug swallowed hard, not daring to make a sound.
There had always been rumors in the black market that Old One-Arm was ruthless, but could it be taken literally rather than metaphorically?
Old One-Arm took a deep breath to calm himself, thinking he had regained composure, but when he spoke, there was a hint of anger, "What exactly is going on?"
His main business was trading slaves, with the biggest business being selling women to brothels.
Among them, the highest bidder was Longqiao Brothel, often able to sell at three times the price of other places.
If they were to reduce by fifty percent, he would not profit from the women he had recently acquired at low prices, as all the profits would go to Longqiao.
"I don't know, it seems like all the brothels have agreed to reduce prices by fifty percent, with some even willing to go as low as thirty percent."
"All of them?"
"Yes, even the lowest-grade brothels in Longqiao are not exempt."
"How dare they! These merchants actually dare to unite against us."
Old One-Arm's eyes filled with coldness, realizing he had been set up as a sacrificial lamb.
In times of disaster, the government targeted the wealthy, the wealthy targeted the common people.
And among the wealthy, there were distinctions.
Longqiao merchants were the wealthiest outside the literati of Bianjing, while the Tooth Market was the smallest wealthy group, hidden from the light.
But after years of maneuvering in Bianjing, this was the first time Old One-Arm felt so insulted.
"Go find out who is behind this."
"Yes."
His subordinate left, only to return hastily in the evening with news that left Old One-Arm somewhat silent.
"A few days ago, the master of Longqiao, Wenhou, hosted a banquet at Jiangyuelou for the heads of various major brothels."
When major merchants united, they inevitably needed a prestigious figure to lead them, and Wenhou was one of them.
Moreover, he was the biggest one, and even Old One-Arm knew that Longqiao had produced a marquis in recent years.
Old One-Arm considered various strategies.
If it was just the brothel owners leading the charge, he had ways to deal with them.
But if it was Gu Wen, most of his methods would be ineffective, as the other party was a big fish in the legitimate world, while he was just a snake in the gutter.
How could a snake kill a big fish?
After much thought, he ordered, "Find out if this Wenhou has any family or relatives."
"Yes."
His subordinate left again.
Old One-Arm knelt in front of the house, bowing his head, and said, "Master."
Seeing the oil lamp lit inside the house, accompanied by a cough, a voice asked, "What is it?"
"I want to kill someone."
"Who?"
"Gu Wen, a Longqiao merchant. He doesn't know his place, daring to unite the brothels and treat you as a meal. The girls I've acquired can't be sold anymore."
"A mere merchant, feel free to kill him."
The voice inside the house was indifferent, treating a life as insignificant as an ant, seemingly able to crush it at will.
"He is a retainer of Zhao Jiuzi."
This was his only concern.
Gu Wen was just a merchant, but Zhao Feng was a prince.
"Zhao Jiuzi... I remember Zhao Jiuzi recently brought in a celestial maiden from the Sanqing Daoist Sect."
The voice inside the house hesitated, unable to make a decision for a long time.
Old One-Arm grew anxious and added, "He's just a merchant."
He knew that ordinary means would not be able to compete with the Longqiao merchants.
The business world was full of big fish, swallowing people whole.
If the Great Qian relied on commerce to govern, then Longqiao would definitely become the center of the world.
And Old One-Arm had almost put all his assets on the line to profit from the disaster.
While his master was not lacking, he himself was, and he might even suffer losses this time.
The girls he had bought needed money for food and drink, and to sell them at a good price, they would need to be kept for some time to not appear too emaciated.
Old One-Arm had spent ten thousand taels of silver, which could drive the people of Linchuan hundreds of miles away to search for various spiritual herbs.
"Money is an external thing, useful in the realm of immortality, but not omnipotent. Do not stir up unnecessary trouble."
-
The next evening.
At sunrise and sunset, Gu Wen would come to the water room to fetch water from the well to replenish the Emperor's Essence.
Emperor's Essence was accumulated over a month, and finally, he had gathered a unit's worth.
Although he didn't know its purpose yet, it was necessary to collect thousands of units of Emperor's Essence to achieve immortality.
Gu Wen had some speculations about the source of Emperor's Essence.
Celestial Essence came from medicinal fruits, existing in surface-level herbs, and absorbed the essence of the sun and moon.
Emperor's Essence came from well water, which was connected to an underground river.
Celestial Essence and Emperor's Essence, as their names suggested.
Jiang Fugui approached him, whispering, "Master, the rats from the Tooth Market are inquiring about your whereabouts."
"Hmm."
Gu Wen just nodded slightly, not paying too much attention, but instead reminded, "Have your family members been settled?"
"They have all been brought into the mansion."
"That's good."
Gu Wen was not surprised by the Tooth Market inquiring about him or attempting to threaten him with his family.
He had seen too much in his years in Longqiao, where the highest-level business battles often involved knives.
Just as war was an extension of politics, what couldn't be resolved at the negotiation table would eventually lead to the drawing of knives.
It could be resolved physically, through intimidation to gain leverage, or to force the other party to back down.
A gutter rat like him dared to draw knives against a taxpayer like him in the eyes of the government, as if a dog had bitten a person.
After a moment of contemplation, he asked, "Have you found other sources for medicinal fruits?"
"I've found three, but none can handle a sum of ten thousand taels. Old One-Arm is also unable to help, which is why he has been raising prices, hoping to deplete your silver reserves."
Jiang Fugui replied, having visited various places in recent days.
Information on precious supplements like medicinal fruits was not hard to come by, but acquiring them was difficult.
"But I heard of another source, the Dragon-Tiger Pill rumored to be made with medicinal fruits as an auxiliary ingredient at the Fengyuelou. If you're interested, ten thousand taels might be feasible, but it won't be possible to conceal your identity completely."
Fengyuelou was a brothel, and the Dragon-Tiger Pill was a male enhancement drug.
All the brothels in Longqiao had this kind of business, or else many elderly gentlemen wouldn't be able to enjoy women.
This was also why there were so many guests who died in the arms of women, not because the enchantresses in the brothels were too captivating, but because the male enhancement drugs were too potent.
It could make a man persist even when unable to perform.
Recently, Jiang Fugui had been in contact with brothels more often and had inadvertently learned this from the brothel managers.
"Buy some Dragon-Tiger Pills."
After some consideration, Gu Wen made a decision.
There were no impenetrable walls in the world.
If he could acquire a large quantity of medicinal fruits, a certain amount of risk was worth it.
Moreover, Bianjing might not remain peaceful for long, so it was better to squeeze out as much profit as possible.
All the treasures of the world were gathered here, and there might not be such good fortune during times of war and chaos.
As night fell, Gu Wen was about to leave the water room when an old waterman approached him nervously, saying, "Master, I have something to report."
"What is it?"
"Last night, I saw... a yellow dragon in the Longquan well."
Many books are now hard to find, so cherish what you have.