Chapter 54: Jiang Zhongda's Wind and Snow Mountain
Jiang Yao is not a very ambitious person. Even if he is dissatisfied, he would never dare to imagine changing the world. What he strives for is nothing more than living a more dignified and secure life.
To put it simply, it means that the leader appreciates you, you have financial freedom, and if the sky falls, there are tall people who can hold it up.
As for the king's hegemony, immortality, and the great ways of heaven and earth... I'm sorry, he doesn't dare to think about it.
He did not think that since he was the protagonist of the novel, blessed by a halo and blessed with luck, it was natural that he should do something earth-shattering.
He only has one life, not a nine-lived cat demon.
I, Jiang Yao, am a good person with a bottom line.
If people don't harm me, I won't harm others. If people harm me, I will harm others.
So, what bad intentions could Jiang Yao have? He really never thought about defecting from the organization and leaving the Qing Clan when the Qing Clan was in danger.
He hopes that Qing Clan will continue to exist and Qing Huang Lord will always be his big tree to enjoy the shade. It is best to earn a small piece of fiefdom.
As Han Guangwu once said, being an official should be like holding the throne.
…
But Qinghuang Lord had basically dispelled his doubts about ginger medicine. He thought for a while and looked at Ji Han, a second-class retainer, and said, "Zi Can, you also know some medicine, so follow Zhongda to the Great Medicine Hill to look for the detoxifying spirit.
.The big medicine mound is where you are most likely to find something."
Ji Han and Ji Zican have perfect cultivation of Martial Lord, and have good combat skills, are cautious, and are also familiar with some medicine. It is most suitable for him to escort Jiang Yao to the Great Medicine Hill. And...
"I obey your orders." Ji Han stood up and said, "Don't worry, my lord, no matter whether there is any harvest from going to the medicine hill, I must protect Zhongda from any danger."
Jiang Yao also quickly saluted: "My lord, thank you for your kindness." Then he saluted Ji Han: "Junior, Mr. Xie Zican, for escorting me."
Ji Han is the Perfect Martial Master. With him escorting him, he will be much safer. It is completely worth the risk to go to the Great Medicine Hill.
Ji Han said with an approachable smile: "Zhongda is too polite. Although you are only a warrior, you are a second-class pharmacist and a disciple of the Medicine Saint. You don't need to call yourself a junior. You are all sharing the Lord's worries, so there is no need to thank each other."
In a few words, the matter was settled. With the bodyguard in hand, Jiang Yao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
At this time, the Great Tax Ling Fengji suddenly thought of something important, and he said solemnly:
"It's the end of the year now, and we have to prepare all the alms from the alien races that will be handed over next spring. Eight million from the Demon Shegang, eight million from the Demon Shegang, plus real materials, spiritual grass and other items, it will be another 20 million in expenses.
.And the Qingling Spirit Mine has fallen into the hands of the Meng Clan, and our Qing Clan’s military expenditure is not enough, how can we pay alms from the aliens?”
"This matter is important, and I still need my lord to get a charter. I also know how to do it."
All the retainers, including Jiang Yao, looked ugly.
The so-called alms given by alien races are actually the annual tribute paid by the human race to the demon and demon races in accordance with the Treaty of Peace of the Three Tribes.
Because paying tribute does not sound good, human martial arts cultivators call it "alms". Those who pay tribute to the demons are called "Moshe Gang", and those who pay tribute to the monsters are called "Demon House Gang".
The astronomical "alms" given to the two clans must of course be shared among the various levels of martial arts forces in the five major regions. Large martial clans will give more, while small martial clans will give less. There are quotas for each.
However, Jiang Yao has a clear mind and is no stranger to this.
The so-called wool comes from the sheep, and martial lords at all levels use this to impose excessive taxes and impose the so-called "two-level tax." The vast majority of casual cultivators at the bottom, who are the largest in number, are in a difficult situation.
Many casual cultivators have limited resources to maintain daily practice, but they still have to pay the martial tax (poll tax) and the "two-level tax". Some people obviously have good qualifications, but due to poverty, they have been unable to make breakthroughs in cultivation.
Even in a remote mountainous area, the price of caves is frighteningly expensive. As more and more real materials are paid as tribute to the demon and demon clans, the prices of real materials in Shenzhou continue to rise, causing the prices of caves to remain high.
Coupled with the fact that trading companies controlled by powerful clans and powerful men manipulate the prices of caves to seek huge profits, the situation of casual cultivators at the bottom is even worse.
I don't know how many low-level casual cultivators don't even have the ability to buy or build caves. They wander around for a long time and become wandering casual cultivators. They work hard to earn spiritual jade or even gamble their lives.
In order to snatch the real materials to build the cave, the casual cultivators fight with each other every day.
Many martial arts cultivators would not dare to talk about marriage without a cave, because there is no stable environment for practicing.
In order to prevent the casual cultivators from uniting to resist, the martial lords and powerful people at all levels tacitly allowed them to fight each other and fight wantonly. This left the casual cultivators scattered.
Besides, all kinds of resources are in the hands of the military clan, soldiers and horses are in the hands of the martial clan, and the top talents are also in the hands of the martial clan. What can the casual cultivators do to resist? Even if they rebel, they will not succeed and will only be suppressed.
Jiang Yao now finally understands that in front of ordinary slaves, casual cultivators are certainly high-ranking "martial arts masters", but in the martial arts world, they are oppressed and exploited grassroots.
Fortunately, he is no longer a casual cultivator, but a retainer with status: a salary earner.
Compared with the grassroots cultivators, he has already joined the elite class.
Lord Qinghuang snorted coldly when he heard the big tax order.
"The two-level tax certificate is collected correctly." Qinghuang Jun sneered, "This is a routine, I'm sorry they don't dare to rebel. Humph, even if the Meng Clan really takes over the three counties of our Qing Clan, can they not pay the tax?
Is there a two-tiered tax?"
"Martial clans can fight each other, but casual cultivators cannot resist martial clans. This has been the law for tens of thousands of years. They really dare to resist taxes, and other martial clans cannot tolerate them."
After Qinghuang Jun finished speaking, he said to Jiang Yao: "Zhongda, come with me. Someone around me may have been poisoned by a strange poison."
"No." Jiang Yao accepted the order and followed Qinghuang Lord to the back hall step by step.
The retainers also dispersed.
Soon after, Jiang Yao came out of the back hall, looking thoughtful.
Qinghuang Jun came to talk to him alone, not because someone was poisoned.
…
Because there is no formation outside the city, there is heavy white snow everywhere.
On the second day, Jiang Yao carried Yu Kuan on his back, and Ji Han each rode a medium-thousand-mile horse, and ran out of Qinghuang City towards Dayao Qiu in the northwest.
The Great Medicine Hill is more than 100,000 miles away from Qinghuang City, which is not too far for martial arts cultivators. Moreover, the Great Medicine Hill stretches tens of thousands of miles across and does not belong to any force. It is an ownerless area divided by the various martial clans in the Western Regions.
Jiang Yao and Ji Han were both well-dressed and angry horses, and they had a good background at first glance. In addition, Ji Han was the martial arts master, so even though they encountered many martial arts cultivators along the way, they were safe and sound.
Even if Jiang Yao is riding a horse, he still holds a snake staff in his hand because he needs the vitality wood to delay the collapse of the Taoist foundation.
He had a hunch that time was running out.
The two of them rode horses and galloped through the snow, while Yu Kuan woke up from his sleep in Jiang Yao's backpack.
Jiang Yao saw that many casual cultivators relied on consuming their true energy to control the wind on the road. When they saw the two men's thousands-li horses in the air, they all showed a hint of envy.
Ten days later, the three of them finally saw a huge mountain that seemed to be overwhelming. In the endless mountains, blue clouds rose, which were clouds of spiritual energy.
There are more and more martial arts cultivators nearby. Everywhere you look, there are figures heading towards the mountains through the snow.
There are also some casual cultivators who form groups, pretending to be frustrated that they have achieved nothing, and leave from the mountain. If they encounter someone alone, someone will immediately stare at them and follow them quietly.
The big medicine mound has arrived.
Even though there is heavy snow, which makes it more difficult to find spiritual herbs, many people still come to Dayaoqiu to try their luck.
The Great Medicine Hill is a holy place where spiritual herbs and spiritual things grow. For some reason, people can always find high-grade spiritual herbs and spiritual things from time to time. It seems that they will never run out.
But after Jiang Yao and Ji Han entered the mountain, they searched for several days and found only a lot of middle and low-level spiritual herbs. They only found a frost-heart peony plant among the fifth-level spiritual herbs.
There is not even a single sixth-level spiritual grass.
Although he only found a very small area, Jiang Yao was already feeling anxious.
On the fifth day, the three of them came to a deserted snow valley and decided to take a rest for the day.
"Zhongda, you are a second-class pharmacist at a young age. You will definitely become a first-class pharmacist in the future. Your future is limitless." Ji Han suddenly said.
He seemed to be in a good mood.
Jiang Yao stared blankly at the snow valley in front of him, and shook his head with a wry smile, "Mr. Zican's words are serious. A first-class pharmacist is easier said than done."
If he can't get Cordyceps sinensis in the short term, he will be finished. What future is there?
Ji Han sighed and said quietly: "Zhongda, how about you come with me to the Meng Clan? My lord will definitely not treat you badly as a young second-class pharmacist."
Jiang Yao was shocked and looked at Ji Han in surprise.
PS: I'm rolling all over the floor, asking for monthly votes, recommendation votes, and book reviews! Please help me, I'm crying.