When Jiang Zhen began to work as a sea merchant he was no longer in charge of the affairs of the Jinzhen Escort Agency. He only kept an eye on the general progression of the business and personnel.

Although he was still the head of Jinzhen Escort Agency, at present Zhao Jinge was in charge of the affairs of the escort agency.

Now that he was back, he didn’t want to interfere with the business, so he just took his daughter and son around Fucheng every day, and trained his men.

After a few days of playing like this, he got a little tired of it. He asked Zhao Jinge to find a piece of land near Fucheng so he could build a training ground to properly continue training his men.

“Land? I bought a mountain not long ago and I don’t know if I can use it. “ Zhao Jingo said.

The people of Daqi were very passionate about owning land, and so was Zhao Jinge. He  liked buying land and couldn’t resist buying more after making some money.

It was a pity that this was Wexing Province and all the best fields were already in the hands of the big families. He couldn’t buy good farmland even if he wanted to. He could only buy mountain land.

“You bought another mountain?” Jiang Zhen looked at Zhao Jinge helplessly. There were only a few mountains around Fucheng and almost all of them were bought by Zhao Jinge.

“Mm-hmm.” Zhao Jinge nodded: “This mountain was very cheap. Although there isn’t much that can be done there, it can still be used to raise chickens and ducks so it can earn a little money.” Actually, raising chickens and ducks earned quite a lot, but Jiang Zhen’s business earned even more, so it seemed that raising chickens and ducks was less profitable.

How much could be earned by raising chickens and ducks? Just a little bit, right? However, this business could accommodate a lot of people. Jiang Zhen knew that many of his subordinates’ families apparently work in the chicken and ducks farms or the brick kilns so he was very supportive of what Zhao Jinge was doing. “Then tomorrow, I will bring people to help you clear the land.”

“No, how can you do such a thing?” Zhao Jinge immediately refused. He couldn’t let Jiang Zhen go to cut down trees.

“I’ve nothing to do, so I can take my men to practice and not do all the work by myself.” Jiang Zhen said.

Those who worked on the ships for Jiang Zhen’s merchant business have not been home for five or six months. It was difficult for Jiang Zhen to ask them to follow him everywhere for training so he let them go home. Now that he recruited more people, he intended to train them.

There was never too much manpower in his hands.

As soon as the news that the Jinzhen Escort Agency was recruiting became known, countless people came to sign up.

Although it was dangerous to work for the agency, the income was very high. Those with no land were very willing to join.

This time, Jiang Zhen recruited more than 200 strong and healthy people, then took them to the mountain that Zhao Jinge just bought.

He couldn’t let the newcomers join the Jinzhen Escort Agency right away. He had to train and observe them first.

The barren mountain bought by Zhao Jinge was very big, with many trees on it. Because there were too many trees that covered the sun, there were no plants under the trees. The ground was full of fallen leaves.

In modern times, such a mountain full of trees would be very valuable, but now . . .

Since the mountain was full of trees it was impossible to grow crops. The trees were only good for firewood. Zhao Jinge bought this mountain very cheaply.

If he hadn’t believed that the trees on this mountain could be cut down for firewood, Zhao Jinge might not even have bought such a mountain.

Jiang Zhen took the newcomers to the mountain and asked them to build houses first.

After they worked for two days building houses he sent them to cut the trees.

“Aren’t we here to work as escorts at the Jinzhen Escort Agency? Why do we need to cut down trees?” Someone muttered in dissatisfaction.

There were several people confused by this person’s discontent – they still get to eat and earn money! What’s the difference between cutting down trees and being an escort?

What difference does it make between cutting trees and being an escort? They would rather not have to be an escort and just cut down trees! At least cutting trees won’t kill anyone.

What’s more, the food here was very good! They didn’t have to go hungry!

Jiang Zhen not only kept an eye on these people, but also found some people to write down their information. Then, without starting to officially train them, he let them cut down trees and build houses every day, till they were exhausted.

A few days later, he already knew who was honest and who was flexible. He also found that some of the recruits were acting strange.

There were a few people who obviously didn’t want to work for him, but rather seemed to be sent here by someone else.

At night when the moon and stars light was sparse on the mountain:

“Brother Li, something is not right! What can we do when we are here all day cutting down the trees?”

“Yes! Brother Li, I am tired of cutting down trees every day. I don’t want to do this anymore!”

“We’d better find a way to kick his ass and get out of here!”

 

….

 

That night, seven or eight people gathered in a thatched latrine hut that was not close to the abodes of other sleeping people to discuss their situation in low voices.

This latrine was used by people during the day so its smell was very bad. The main advantage of this place was the remote location, and that no one would come.

These people were all from the Changlong Fighting Business in Wexing Province.

The so-called fighting business was designed to help people solve private and personal matters, whether it was to collect debts or other such affairs. Relatively speaking, it was actually the predecessor of an escort agency.

The Changlong Fighting Business took a new job – making trouble for the Jinzhen Escort Agency.

They took this job when they heard that the Jinzhen Escort Agency was going to recruit people. They mixed in with new recruits and planned to create trouble for them from inside the agency.

But as result…

There was something wrong with the leader of the escort agency. He didn’t allow them to be a part of the official business and instead took them out to cut down trees!

They were tasked with cutting down trees in the mountains every day without much time to rest. How could they find time to make trouble for the agency? They couldn’t use axes to cut the people around them can they?

The other people who were recruited by the Jinzhen Escort Agency were very happy and thought that they could earn money just by cutting down trees, which could not be any better. However they felt awful.

Usually, as long as they went to scare people into paying their debt, they could eat and drink well, so why should they chop trees here in the sun?

Looking at their arms that have thickened a lot over the past few days, these people all wanted to return home.

“If we put up with it for a few more days, we will certainly find a way to deal with the Jinzhen Escort Agency.” Brother Li said.

“Brother Li, what do you plan to do?” someone asked curiously.

“We could kidnap Jiang Zhen’s daughter! He seems to care very much about his daughter. If we kidnap her, he will definitely  listen and obey all of our demands!!” Brother Li was very proud of his idea.

“Good idea!” They nodded their heads in agreement. Jiang Zhen would sometimes bring his daughter with him, if they kidnapped her…

The more they thought about it, the more they believed it was a good idea. As they were discussing the plan they suddenly heard a bang as the door of the hut was kicked open.

A figure appeared at the door: “ How dare you even think about my daughter… you have a lot of nerve.”

“Jiang Zhen?!” Hearing the familiar voice, Brother Li let out a cry of horror and shouted: “Go!”

As soon as he yelled, he rushed first towards Jiang Zhen. The people around him also lunged together towards Jiang Zhen.

Before they could jump on him, Jiang Zhen took out a bamboo pole and stabbed the “Brother Li“ who was running at the front of the group in the stomach.

Behind these people was the latrine.

The pit was very large and it was also quite full.

After Jiang Zhen stabbed Brother Li, he pushed him into the latrine. He said to the people behind him: “Let them all go down and sober up.”

“Yes! Boss!” The men Jiang Zhen brought with him cried out in unison. They took out unsharpened bamboo poles and waited eagerly to stab someone.

The people from the Changlong fighting business were soon captured by Jiang Zhen’s men.

The next day, after being forced to wash in the river for an hour, they were brought to Jiang Zhen.

Jiang Zhen immediately interrogated these people and asked them to tell him the purpose of their visit. Unfortunately, these people were just lowly goons and didn’t know the details. They only knew that their bosses had asked them to make trouble for the Jinzhen Escort Agency.

Even so it was enough to let Jiang Zhen know that some people don’t like him and wanted to deal with him.

Changlong fighting business? They were just a pawn, right?

Jiang Zhen frowned and was thinking about how to deal with Changlong, when suddenly someone came to report: “Boss, it’s not good! The chickens in the nearby chicken farm are all dead!”

 

Edited by: Antiope1

 

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