Chapter 109: Chapter 109: This Young Man Has Grand Ambitions
Not only was Wang Ping seeing it for the first time, but even Chen Mo himself was seeing it for the first time, and this red ginseng was larger than the common ginseng he had seen before.
He picked it up and smelled it closely, and it had a faint fragrance.
However, before figuring out what this thing was, Chen Mo wasn’t going to eat it recklessly.
After a moment of silence, Chen Mo said to Wang Ping, "All the confiscated gold and silver should be registered and stored in the warehouse. The cart of brocade and jewelry should go to the general store to be priced and sold to everyone, and the calligraphy and paintings should be brought to me."
"Understood."
...
On the other side, Lu Yuan had already woken up. He didn’t go to find Chen Mo but first went to find the escorts below. Learning that they had been released, their families were reunited, and their children had not been taken away, Lu Yuan’s eyebrows furrowed, further confirming that Chen Mo did not completely trust him and was using his children to restrain him.
He asked one of the escorts, also his eldest disciple, "How did they arrange for you?"
"Master, they said to listen to your arrangements," the eldest disciple said.
"Listen to my arrangements?"
Just as Lu Yuan was somewhat confused, a man with a headscarf walked over and said, "You are Lu Yuan, right?"
"That’s right, I am Lu Yuan." Being dependent on others, Lu Yuan didn’t dare to put on a martial artist’s airs and cupped his hands towards the newcomer.
"There’s no need to be polite. I am Zhang Zhi, the clerk of the village. Immortal Master Chen instructed me to come and register you for household registration. How many people are in your escort agency, what are their surnames and names, please report them all," Zhang Zhi said.
Lu Yuan was stunned.
Registration was something the government should do, yet this group of bandits, who killed officials and rebelled, was doing such a thing.
After registering, Lu Yuan cupped his hands towards Zhang Zhi and said, "Sir, how does your village plan to arrange for us? My eldest disciple just said that I should make arrangements for the group of escorts below."
Zhang Zhi’s face turned red as he shook his head. It was the first time someone called him "sir," and he said, "I don’t manage personnel matters in the village. You can ask Leader Wang Ping or Immortal Master Chen."
Lu Yuan was stunned again. It’s just a village, was it necessary for the division of labor to be so clear?
At this point, he thought of a question and said, "Why do you call Chen Mo ’Immortal Master Chen’?"
Zhang Zhi, with an obvious expression, said, "Because Immortal Master Chen is the reincarnation of an Immortal God. What else would we call him? Moreover, Immortal Master Chen knows immortal techniques."
Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan was stunned. He didn’t believe in Chen Mo being the reincarnation of an Immortal God and thought Chen Mo was just like the leaders of the Celestial Master Army in the north, using some trick to fool this group of ignorant people.
How could someone really be the reincarnation of an Immortal God and remain hidden in such a small village?
"What, you don’t believe?" Zhang Zhi looked at Lu Yuan’s expression and smiled.
"I wouldn’t dare," Lu Yuan hurriedly said.
"At first, I didn’t believe either. But after you stay in the village for a few days, you’ll believe," Zhang Zhi said, remembering he had a lot to do. "Alright, I have things to attend to, so I’ll be off. By the way, since you’re an outsider, let me warn you, you can talk about anyone else in the village, but never speak ill of Immortal Master Chen."
"Understood."
...
After taking leave from his wife and concubines, Lu Yuan decided to find Chen Mo to ask clearly, otherwise, his heart could not be calm.
Sharing the same thought as Lu Yuan were Su Wen, Su Wu, and Su Qi.
When Lu Yuan asked, he found out that the three’s children were also taken separately.
Then, the four of them tacitly headed to Chen Mo’s home.
When passing through the center of the village, they saw the Divine Brave Guard training.
Their division of labor was clear, they even had Pike Soldiers and Archers.
They were orderly and swift, with a remarkable aura.
The villagers gathered around, watching the Divine Brave Guard train while sewing clothes and making shoes, their faces filled with serene smiles.
Lu Yuan, with his vast experience, recognized that this sword technique was not ordinary, but rather a military sword technique.
Lu Yuan looked at Su Wen and the others, who also looked at him. Their eyes flickered, and although they said nothing, everything was implicitly understood.
They all had the same thought in their minds: this fellow is ambitious.
Along the way, they saw there was a general store in the village.
Villagers could buy what they needed at the general store.
Arriving at the Chen Family home, they found out from the Divine Brave Guard guarding outside that Chen Mo had gone to the lime factory.
Not knowing what a lime factory was, they found out where it was and rushed over.
Outside the lime factory, Divine Brave Guard members were patrolling, and there was a post nearby. Two guards with great sabers at their waists and crossbows in hand scanned the surroundings.
After notification, the four of them were allowed to enter.
Inside the lime factory, it was bustling, with several large furnaces, stoves in separate rooms, and piles of coarse salt on the ground.
Chen Mo was standing by giving commands, and catching sight of Lu Yuan and the others, a smile flickered in his eyes.
Pretending to be surprised, he asked, "Leader Lu, what brings you here?"
"I came to ask about our future arrangements in the village."
Although Chen Mo was more than two cycles younger than him in age, Lu Yuan didn’t put on airs and maintained a respectful demeanor, as did Su Wen and the others.
Upon hearing this, Chen Mo smiled and said, "I was just about to talk to you about this. You have nearly a hundred people, and I plan to incorporate you into the Divine Brave Guard, thirty people per group, three groups per team. Su Wen, you three will be group leaders, and Lu Yuan will be team leader. Group leaders get a monthly salary of five hundred cents, and the team leader gets a thousand coins. Since you are martial artists, I’ll double it for you, three solid meals a day, one with meat, and your families are also taken care of. How about it?"
In Chen Mo’s eyes, Lu Yuan’s power was 36, Su Wen 34, Su Wu 32, Su Qi 32.
Having Lu Yuan as the team leader to manage them was just right, reinforcing the hierarchical relationship for better management and conflict resolution, which would also help Chen Mo maintain control.
Indeed, as his words landed, the expressions of Su Wen and the others changed subtly, and they looked at Lu Yuan unanimously.
Lu Yuan could only manage a bitter smile.
The four of them dared not refuse.
There was one more thing Chen Mo didn’t mention at the moment; when forming subgroups later, he would scatter Lu Yuan’s group of escorts to prevent them from staying together.
In order to ease the awkwardness, Lu Yuan asked, "Immortal Master Chen, what are you doing here?"
"Making money."
Chen Mo smiled a bit mysteriously, leading them to a refining plant next door. He grabbed a handful of refined salt and handed it to Lu Yuan and the others, smiling, "Try it."
"What is this?"
Lu Yuan and the others dipped a little, tasted it, then raised their eyebrows and said in unison, "It’s salt?"
Seeing the flour-like salt in Chen Mo’s hand, Lu Yuan said, "Such refined salt..."
"Is this made from the coarse salt we saw earlier?" Su Wen connected it with the coarse salt they observed.
"Exactly," Chen Mo nodded.
Lu Yuan and the others were surprised, eager to know how it was made.
But they were smart enough to know it would be impolite to ask further.