The man was casually thrown out by Yun Chengxuan, flying over the heads of Zhao Er and the others in a perfect parabola, and with a loud thud, he was hung on a tree over ten meters high.
Due to the massive impact, the tree trunk bent slightly before quickly snapping back into place.
The man's mind went completely blank. Purely out of instinct, he clung tightly to the tree trunk with both his hands and feet.
You could hear a pin drop at the scene. Everyone stared dumbfounded at the miraculous sight before them.
"Ah, help!" A shrill, miserable scream echoed through the woods, startling the crowd awake.
Jiang Jin lowered her eyes to look at Zhao Er. "Well? Do you still want to collect a toll?"
Zhao Er jumped in fright. Finally coming to his senses, he hurriedly waved his hands. "No, no need. You, you can go."
After saying that, he stepped further back toward the side of the road, wishing he could completely hide himself, terrified of being thrown out in the exact same manner.
Seeing that he knew what was good for him, Jiang Jin didn't press the matter. She led her people away in a mighty procession.
"Ahhh, hurry up and save me!" the man still hanging in the tree yelled with a trembling voice.
However, Zhao Er and the others didn't dare to move. It wasn't until Jiang Jin, Mei Sheng, and their entire group had completely passed that they scrambled to find a way to get the man down from the tree.
Jiang Jin led the group around to enter the city through the North Gate. The South Gate was currently building a barbican, and she temporarily didn't want outsiders to know about it.
After entering Gefeng City, Mei Sheng was still somewhat in a daze.
He couldn't help but secretly observe Jiang Jin, noticing that this young woman seemed different from before.
Jiang Jin turned to look at him. "What's wrong?"
Mei Sheng chuckled awkwardly. "Nothing, it's just, I never expected that you, you actually conquered Gefeng."
Mei Ren also felt like he was dreaming. "My Lady, is Gefeng yours now?"
Jiang Jin smiled. "You could say that. By the way, you plan to sell all these slaves to me, right?"
Mei Sheng nodded hurriedly. He pointed to Mei Cai and introduced him, "This is my clan uncle, Mei Cai. Some of these slaves belong to him."
Jiang Jin frantically complained in her heart: How exactly does the Mei family name their children? Mei Cai, meaning no vegetables? Or no wealth?
Her face revealed nothing as she displayed a proper and polite smile. "Welcome to Gefeng."
She had Lu Ping arrange the guards and slaves in the open space in front of the county office, while she led Mei Sheng and the other two into the office.
As for the matter of haggling, Jiang Jin handed it directly to Dong Si.
Since it was their second time collaborating, the price negotiation went quickly. Before dinnertime, these slaves were already registered under Jiang Jin's name.
Of the 406 slaves this time, 305 were robust young adults, and the other 101 were all craftsmen, which was extremely useful to Jiang Jin.
Jiang Jin warmly hosted the three men, treating them to a fairly lavish dinner.
As for accommodation, they could only sleep in their own carriages. Gefeng County really had no spare houses at the moment, and she couldn't exactly have them stay in the military barracks.
Mei Sheng and the others naturally had no objections. Having braved the wind and dew on their journey while constantly worrying about bandits and refugees, they were used to it. Now that they were inside the city, their safety was at least guaranteed, and they could get a good night's sleep.
After dinner, Jiang Jin convened another military meeting and incorporated all 305 robust young adults into the military department.
There were 215 men and 90 women.
Jiang Jin's troops now numbered over a thousand.
After assigning the personnel, Jiang Jin looked at Zhou Sui. "Tomorrow, arrange a group of people to clear a small path from Changshu Village to the city. We won't be taking the official road anymore."
"Right, you can ask the city residents. They are familiar with the terrain of Gefeng. See if there are any existing trails between the two places. If there are, that would be best; we just need to widen them."
This was an issue she thought of today when she saw the robbing bandits.
The iron ore mined in Changshu Village definitely had to be transported back to the county town for smelting. Taking the official road would easily expose their target and make them vulnerable to bandits, refugees, and barbarians, which was very unsafe.
Zhou Sui nodded. "Alright, I will make the arrangements."
"Good. Now, tell me about the situation at Mount Wuhu," Jiang Jin asked, looking around at everyone.
Zhou Sui was aware of the various bandit problems in Gefeng. He explained in detail, "The bandits on Mount Wuhu used to be villagers from nearby. Later, when they couldn't survive anymore, they went up the mountain and became bandits."
"They are the most..." Zhou Sui paused to find the right word, "the kindest bandits in Gefeng County. It is said they have never killed anyone. They only rob for wealth, never for lives, and they don't touch women."
Jiang Jin raised an eyebrow. "Without killing anyone, passing travelers just hand over their money and goods?"
Although Mei Sheng and the others had been prepared to pay, that was because for them, if a fight broke out, the losses would far exceed twenty strings of cash.
Zhou Sui shook his head. "Not exactly. If someone cries poor convincingly enough, they will just let them go. Moreover, they only rob merchants; they won't lay a hand on ordinary passing farmers."
Jiang Jin was speechless. These bandits certainly had character.
However, this approach was quite smart. Merchants were wealthier than ordinary farmers and valued harmony to generate wealth. If the asking price wasn't too high, most were willing to pay to avoid disaster, just like Mei Sheng and his group today.
It was just that with the current chaos of war, there probably weren't many traveling merchants.
She asked curiously, "Then do they rob enough to eat?"
Zhou Sui's expression was complicated. "Not quite. I heard they are quite poor."
"However," his tone shifted, "Mount Wuhu has treacherous terrain, making it easy to defend and hard to attack. Plus, they have a considerable number of people. It won't be easy to actually conquer them."
Jiang Jin repeated, "Easy to defend and hard to attack?"
Zhou Sui nodded. "The path up the mountain is rugged and uneven. It is said that there are cliffs in many places."
Jiang Jin lowered her head in thought. It seemed she would have to come up with a plan to bring this group down to work for her.
After the military meeting concluded, Jiang Jin summoned the craftsmen for a meeting, assigning the newly acquired artisans according to their specialties.
The next day, Mei Sheng and the other two asked to take their leave.
Jiang Jin didn't try to make them stay, but instead inquired, "Shopkeeper Mei, I wonder if you have any other goods?"
Mei Sheng asked, "What kind of goods is My Lady looking for?"
"Cotton, cloth, grain, oil, salt, sugar, medicinal herbs, and if you have slaves, I'll take them too." Jiang Jin listed the items she lacked the most at present one by one.
Mei Sheng smiled bitterly. "My Lady, there are no more slaves this year. As for the rest, we will figure out a way when we get back. If we have them, we will deliver them to you."
The slave trade was too difficult to manage right now, so they wouldn't be acquiring any more people in the near future.
Jiang Jin nodded. "Alright. Also, regarding the matter of Gefeng, I ask that everyone please keep it a secret for now. Our forces are currently weak."
Mei Sheng and the other two hurriedly promised, "Rest assured, My Lady, we definitely will not speak of it, and we will manage our subordinates so they do not speak out of turn."
Watching the people from the Mei family leave, Dong Si was somewhat worried. "My Lord, I fear they might leak the information."
Jiang Jin smiled. "They naturally won't speak out of turn unless they are coerced or bribed. But right now, we are nobodies. Who would bother bribing them?"
The members of the Mei family were all smart people. As her long-term partners in the future, under normal circumstances, they would maintain the relationship rather than destroy it.
