“You’re worried…”
“Not worried, but great chaos is about to erupt in the south. It’s best to stay far away if you can!”
“I heard there’s trouble with the Manichaeans there, but haven’t the imperial troops been sent to suppress them?”
Zhe Yourong looked at Han Mo with some confusion.
“If it were just the Manichaeans rebelling, the imperial troops could handle it easily. But have you considered what if those common folk join them in rebellion?”
Since it was just the husband and wife in the courtyard, Han Mo spoke without too much reservation, whispering close to Zhe Yourong’s ear.
“Would that happen? Why would those common folk rebel for no reason?”
“For no reason? How do you see them as being fine? Zhu Mian and his son have made the entire southeast a mess. The Yingfeng Bureau alone has almost driven the common people to death. The entire southeast is like a huge pile of firewood, needing only a spark to ignite a raging inferno!”
“You mean those common folk will rebel with the Manichaeans?”
“No food, no clothes, and subjected to endless humiliation, why wouldn’t they rebel?”
Han Mo let out a cold laugh at this point.
“Bu-but…”
“Enough, all of this has nothing to do with us for now. Let’s just live our own small lives, protect our own lives, and then worry about other things!”
As he said this, Han Mo couldn’t help but sigh deeply. The world was like this, what could he, a mere county magistrate, do?
At this moment, he could only try his best to make the people of Neihuang County live a more comfortable life. As for other matters, he could only take it one step at a time.
Seeing Han Mo’s mood turn somber, Zhe Yourong stopped talking and slowly nestled into his arms…
On the first day of the eighth month, the new Hebei Circuit Transport Commissioner, Tang Ke, finally arrived at Yuan City.
With his arrival, the entire Hebei officialdom fell into silence.
Of course, the arrival of this Transport Commissioner also meant that Zhong Yanchong’s days of ease were coming to an end.
After all, Xu Churen, as the Pacification Commissioner of all Hebei circuits, also had his own affairs to attend to every day.
The matters of communication with the Transport Bureau naturally fell upon Zhong Yanchong.
“Brother Han, on this parting occasion, do you have no wise strategies to bestow upon me?”
Although they had not known each other for too long, as fellow students and from the same cohort, and now both serving under Prince Xin, their relationship could be described as intimate.
“I have no wise strategies, but I have a bad idea. Do you want it?”
“What bad idea?”
Upon hearing Han Mo’s words, Zhong Yanchong immediately leaned in.
“When in doubt, just burn it all down!”
Seeing his eagerness, Han Mo lowered his voice and said.
“What do you mean?”
Zhong Yanchong was taken aback.
“You’ll know when the time comes!”
Han Mo smiled and then took two steps back.
Looking at his strange smile, Zhong Yanchong immediately understood that this fellow was playing games with him again.
However, after such a long time together, he also understood that if Han Mo didn’t want to say it, there would be no results from further questioning.
But his words seemed to have a deeper meaning, yet what exactly he was referring to, he found it difficult to fathom for the moment.
“Alright, it’s getting late, you should head back soon.”
“Then I’ll be going. Brother Han, take care.”
Seeing that it was indeed late, if they delayed any longer, they would likely not return to Yuan City until deep into the night.
Zhong Yanchong no longer delayed. After bidding farewell to Han Mo, he got into his carriage and headed for Yuan City.
After seeing Zhong Yanchong off, Han Mo truly felt a sense of loss.
In this era without phones, many friends would be separated for years, even decades. Occasionally writing a letter was also extremely difficult.
However, Han Mo did not have much time to indulge in sadness; he had many things to do today.
“My lord, the carriage is ready for you. When shall we depart?”
Although it had been raining these past few days, this light drizzle was nothing at the moment.
In order to ensure the successful cultivation of the mushrooms arranged by Han Mo, Feng Yuanbao had truly been working tirelessly for over two months.
“Since you’ve prepared it, let’s go take a look now!”
“Alright! My lord, this way please!”
Led by Feng Yuanbao, Han Mo and Lü Ying took the carriage out of the county town and headed straight for Pear Blossom Mountain outside the city.
“This place is quite good, only the house is a bit dilapidated!”
Although it was called Pear Blossom Mountain, it was merely a small hill. However, it was also one of the few forested areas in Neihuang County.
When the carriage stopped beside a large mansion at the foot of the mountain, Han Mo couldn’t help but exclaim.
“My lord is right. We haven’t had time to repair this house since we bought it; we brought the craftsmen in directly!”
After the incident in Bianliang City, Feng Yuanbao seemed to have undergone a complete transformation.
Looking at the plainly dressed Feng Yuanbao before him, and then thinking of his flamboyant appearance in Bianliang City, even Han Mo couldn’t help but sigh that this fellow had indeed changed.
“This is good. It doesn’t attract attention, and we can quietly make a fortune. This is the way to achieve long-term success!”
Han Mo smiled, looking at the thinner Feng Yuanbao. He suddenly felt that entrusting this matter to him was truly wise.
“After such a great change, if I still don’t know how to restrain myself, then I would truly be asking for my own destruction!”
Feng Yuanbao also gave a honest smile and made a gesture of invitation to Han Mo.
As the three of them walked into the courtyard, they discovered that the entire courtyard was completely covered by huge thatched sheds.
“So many Oyster mushrooms?”
As soon as they entered, Lü Ying couldn’t help but exclaim.
“It was really not easy to cultivate these things. I even sent people to specifically invite a few old farmers from Liangzhe, and then combined it with the recipe written by my lord, before I managed to figure out a method!”
Looking at the dense rows of oyster mushrooms in the courtyard, Han Mo’s face was filled with surprise.
He had only written down a simple method, and he never expected that it would actually be accomplished.
In his previous life, he had always heard people say that the most dedicated people in the world were merchants. Now, it seemed that this saying was indeed true.