"Brother Fugui, what are your plans?"
"This journey south is fraught with peril, why not indulge in some merrymaking within the city for three days?"
"Indeed, indeed! Let's drink, feast, and have fun for three days and three nights."
"Brother Fugui, where should we find some entertainment? You tell us."
After the incident of demanding military pay, Zhou Fugui had naturally become the leader among his fellow villagers. Everyone eagerly invited Zhou Fugui to go out and seek pleasure.
"Seek entertainment?" Zhou Fugui shook his head upon hearing this and said, "With the little money we have, where can we go?"
Zhou Fugui actually had no intention of seeking entertainment and wanted to refuse outright. However, thinking of his pitiful fellow villagers, he only used the excuse of having little money.
The conscripted soldiers had become the Han army of the Yan Dynasty. Who knew if they would survive the journey south. Before leaving, it was almost like facing the executioner's blade. It was understandable that his fellow villagers wanted to have one last good time. But the rewards given by the Yan Dynasty were too meager. What kind of entertainment could they afford? Zhou Fugui thought to himself.
"Brother Fugui, what do you mean...?" Xu Mancang asked, hearing this.
"It means nothing. It's better to go home and sleep." Zhou Fugui replied.
"Sleep? You've been sleeping all day, haven't you slept enough?" His fellow villager Li Hu chuckled, "The rewards from the court aren't much, but it's enough to find a girl in Youzhou city and have some drinks. Brother Fugui, don't be stingy and worry about this little money. You can't take it with you when you die."
"That's right, Li Hu is right," said Wu Changshuan, another fellow villager, with a wry face. "Going to fight in the south is a matter of life and death. What's the use of keeping the money?"
"Life and death? I say it's certain death," Pan Jiangui said sarcastically.
"Pan Jiangui, if you want to die, don't drag us down with you," said Suo Dacheng, a burly fellow villager, in a muffled voice.
"What? You don't want to live?" Pan Jiangui retorted, "Do you know what we're going to do? We'll be the first to charge into death, and we won't get any of the spoils."
The Hu people were prone to looting. In almost every battle, they fought for supplies. They had almost no military provisions and relied on plundered wealth for their sustenance. However, when it came to distributing spoils, the Han army was always at the bottom, getting almost nothing but scraps.
"Brother Pan is right..." Liu Changshun, another fellow villager, sighed. "What's most infuriating is that we are fighting our own people."
"Changshun, what do you mean?" Gu Gounu, a scrawny man from Luoyan Village, asked in surprise.
"Everyone in the Southern Dynasty is Han. We are also Han. Yet the Hu people are forcing us to kill Han people," Liu Changshun replied.
"The Southern Dynasty? The Southern Dynasty isn't any good either," Wu Changshuan, a fellow villager, said disdainfully. "The Emperor of the Southern Dynasty is a tyrant who oppresses his people, causing them to suffer. That's why the Hu people took advantage of the situation."
"No matter how incompetent the Emperor of the Southern Dynasty is, he is still one of our Han people. He's better than the Hu people," Liu Changshun argued.
"Hmph, as if you've ever seen them," Pan Jiangui always spoke sarcastically. "Life in Yan is not easy, and life in Xia might be even harder."
"Alright, alright, we were talking about having fun, how did it get so far off track?" When the fellow villagers started discussing the war between Yan and Xia, they became increasingly agitated and argued endlessly, their faces red and necks thick, almost to the point of fighting. So Zhou Fugui said, "In times of chaos, human lives are like grass! Even if we know these things, what can we do? Let's just go with the flow, be content with our lot, and live day by day. Isn't that living?"
Zhou Fugui was certainly unwilling to have his fate controlled by others, but at present, he was helpless.
The Yan Dynasty conscripted soldiers, would you dare to refuse? Refusal would mean a tragic fate for Zhou Fugui and his family. The Yan Dynasty coerced the Han people of the Yan Yun region to go south and fight against the Xia Dynasty, which was predominantly Han. Would you dare to refuse? Refusal would also mean a tragic fate for Zhou Fugui and his family.
As for Zhou Fugui and the others trying to escape this fate, it was even more impossible. Desertion would implicate their families. Zhou Fugui and the others were like monks who couldn't escape their temples. The Yan Dynasty held their families hostage.
Being a puppet soldier, being a traitor, was not an easy task. Zhou Fugui sighed helplessly in his heart.
"Fugui has finally seen the light?" Li Hu chuckled, "Life has to go on, and we'll live one day at a time. Let's enjoy today and not think about tomorrow. Brothers, shall we go to the city to have some fun?"
"Brother Li is right..." Zhou Fugui also thought it made sense and didn't want to dampen the spirits of these poor fellow villagers anymore. So he said, "However, our pockets are empty, so we can't have too much fun."
"Brother Fugui, what do you mean..." Xu Mancang asked again.
"Earn money. Once we earn money, we brothers can have a good time today," Zhou Fugui replied.
"Earn money? If money were that easy to earn, we wouldn't have been conscripted," Pan Jiangui said sarcastically again.
If a family was wealthy, they could bribe the conscription officers with money to avoid being conscripted, but this required a large sum of money.
"Yes, in these few days, how much money can we earn?" Gu Gounu also asked.
"Three days? It won't take three days. I, Zhou, only need half a day to double the money in all of your pockets. Do you believe me?" Zhou Fugui replied confidently.
"We don't believe you..." All the fellow villagers shook their heads in unison.
"Fugui ah..." Yi Jisheng, a blacksmith from Luoyan Village, who was over forty but also conscripted, said, "Although your name has 'Fugui' in it, your family is also dirt poor. Double it? Even a donkey can't be doubled..."
"Hahaha..." Everyone couldn't help but burst into laughter.
They were all neighbors and knew each other well.
...
"Everyone, take a look, take a look! The show is about to begin!"
"Everyone, hurry and come take a look! The game has started!"
"Gamble a little, and a petty official can become a general!"
"Gamble? What kind of gamble is this?"
"Gamble is to bet a little for a lot."
"Of course, I know gambling is betting a little for a lot. What's different about your gamble?"
"The difference is that it's betting a very small amount for a very large amount."
"Oh? What do you mean?"
"My good sir, it's like this. My brother Fugui said that this game is called 'Bo Piao' (a lottery ticket). You bet two copper coins and win five thousand coins. How about it? Isn't it exciting? Thrilling?"
"What? Two coins for five thousand? It's broad daylight, under the clear sky, you can't just spout nonsense."
"Nonsense? Look, the money is all here. If you have the ability, take it."
"Is this true?"
"Didn't you just say that it's broad daylight, under the clear sky? Are we going to lie to you?"
In a bustling marketplace in Youzhou City, a group of Hu soldiers were shouting loudly. A gambling game had started. Behind them, on a wooden table, were strings of copper coins, totaling ten thousand strings, or a hundred thousand coins.
Although they were called Hu soldiers, discerning people could already tell that these so-called Hu soldiers were actually Han conscripts of the Yan Dynasty.
After Zhou Fugui and his group arrived in Youzhou, the Yan Dynasty, in addition to providing some inferior weapons, gave each of them a felt hat, considering them Yan soldiers. However, Zhou Fugui and his group were still wearing ordinary civilian clothes.
Gambling, as in betting, was something that everyone in the Southern Dynasty, from royalty and ministers to commoners, enjoyed. It gradually spread north, and people in the north also became addicted to it, developing many new forms of entertainment, such as polo.
In this vast world, commoners were like ants, and their lives were like floating duckweed. To stand out and live a prosperous life was harder than climbing to the heavens. However, there were always those who were unwilling to give up, who fought with all their might, risking a gamble for a fleeting opportunity, hoping to soar to the heavens in one step.
Betting two coins for five thousand coins was indeed a gamble of a small amount for a large gain. In an instant, it attracted countless onlookers. However, most of them did not believe it, so they mostly watched the excitement, with only a few placing bets.
Seeing this situation, Zhou Fugui was not in a hurry. With a bow and arrow on his back and his Yan Dynasty-issued saber at his waist, he stood confidently in the crowd, watching the noisy throng silently.
Zhou Fugui was tall and quite handsome. Wearing a Hu hat, he stood out in the crowd like a crane among chickens.
"I want to place a bet! How do I bet?" After a long while, a few people finally started placing bets with a "try-it-out" mentality. A remarkably ugly man, dressed as a Hu merchant, carrying a string of copper coins, squeezed his way to Zhou Fugui and his group and asked.
"Number one is two copper coins. Choose your own number and wait for the draw!" Zhou Fugui glanced at the Hu merchant and said.
So the ugly merchant chose a long number, paid two copper coins, and waited on the side.
The longer the number, the lower the probability of winning. Zhou Fugui was more aware of this probability calculation than anyone in this world.
"The draw is starting!" Since most of the onlookers did not believe it and few dared to bet, Zhou Fugui ordered his fellow villagers to start before all the numbers were sold.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!" Liu Changshun from the east end of Luoyan Village found a copper gong from somewhere and began to clang it loudly.
Xu Mancang, a burly man as dark as a black tower, held a large jar filled with slips of paper and stood in the center of the field.
"The first number is fifteen..." Yi Jisheng, the honest and simple blacksmith from Luoyan Village, reached out his calloused hand, picked out a slip of paper from the jar, unfolded it, and read it out loudly.
"Hmm? I won! I won five thousand coins! You... you're not going to renege on the payment, are you?" After the number was drawn, the ugly merchant won. He gave a dry chuckle and asked.
"What are you talking about, sir? The money is over there. You can take it yourself." Zhou Fugui really wanted to kick this Hu merchant hard.
Damn it, at least pretend to be a winner! He should be ecstatic, cheering, even shedding tears of joy, but this fellow just gave a dry chuckle with his ugly face...
Zhou Fugui didn't know that this gentleman had rarely smiled in his entire life.
"The second round of 'Bo Piao' has begun." After the Hu merchant left with five thousand coins with a blank expression, the onlookers were stunned. They regretted not having bought a number earlier.
"I'll buy one, I'll buy one..."
"I'll buy ten..."
"I'll buy a hundred..."
Opportunity knocks but once. What if Zhou Fugui and his group only held two rounds? Wouldn't they miss a great opportunity? Therefore, this time everyone eagerly bought numbers, surging forward, a complete reversal of the previous situation.
Zhou Fugui and his group made a fortune.