Chapter 120 Exclusively published on Jinjiang Literature City: The Only King of Dangyangshan County! ...
The skinny arms were not only tanned dark, but also covered with small red spots, as well as many fine cracks and bumps, creating a very frightening visual effect. Many people felt a chill run down their spines and got goosebumps just looking at them.
Miao An thought that his act of playing the victim might get him another steamed bun or two.
To his surprise, the villagers were too busy with their own fears and relieved that they hadn't ended up like that, and didn't give him the reaction he wanted.
Lu Xuan, who was supposedly very wealthy and was indeed very rich, had seen countless people in far worse condition during the apocalypse. However, those whose skin was rough from sunburn but who were not missing any limbs did not evoke any pity in him.
Miao An could only silently comfort himself that there would be other opportunities in the future, and then forced a strong smile and said, "At least I survived. Now that the drought is over, I believe that life will definitely get better and better in the future."
Li Tuo muttered to himself, "That's not necessarily true."
Miao An: "?"
Miao An asked uncertainly, "What?"
Li Tuo, unsure about the period of catastrophe, pursed his lips and quickly said, "It's nothing, you misheard."
Lu Xuan, however, didn't seem to care much and casually said, "The drought may be over, but that doesn't mean there won't be other disasters. There's still a long way to go before we're in despair, so don't be so quick to celebrate."
Miao An: "???"
Live stream viewers: Pfft.
[The streamer knows how to really hit home, hahaha.]
Even if it's true, at least put it tactfully. Is this even human language?
This streamer's lack of humanity isn't new; it's ridiculous.
Anyway, the kid might not believe me even if I tell him. But if he does, saving a life is a good deed, so let's just consider it an act of kindness for the day.
The villagers understood from Lu Xuan's attitude that he had no intention of hiding anything.
Looking back, he didn't stop them and their in-laws from talking about it before the earthquake. Even people in Baisong Town had heard about it, so it seemed there was no need to deliberately hide it from them.
Lu Xuan didn't give Miao An a chance to press further, asking him, "What exactly are the origins of the forces in the city you mentioned? Has the government interfered with the rise of these civilian forces?"
Miao An exclaimed "Ah!" and temporarily suppressed his doubts and distraction, continuing his explanation.
"Initially, the county government tried to send people to contact the prefectural city to see if they could send some relief, but they found that one of the two roads was blocked by an underground fissure, and the other had to go through a valley. During the earthquake, a large number of rocks fell, and the valley was buried directly. After the news spread, some small forces in the city couldn't hold back and began to fight for supplies and power."
"Currently, there are four major forces: the county magistrate, who leads the county government; the government forces, which have gathered the surviving officials and recruited many bodyguards."
The wealthy households mainly consisted of landlords, rich merchants, and their servants and guards who survived in the east and south of the city.
The owner of Tianhai Casino led a group of thugs, a gambling den force composed of local thugs and idle young men.
Finally, there was the gentry force, organized by respected elders and clan leaders in the city, along with some philanthropic wealthy landowners.
The viewers in the live stream immediately started analyzing after listening.
To put it bluntly, it's essentially a power structure formed by different social classes.
These forces possess varying degrees of resources, official connections, military strength, and public reputation, each with its own advantages. They can check and balance each other, maintaining a delicate equilibrium and safeguarding the stability of the county.
[It's just a superficial stability. Two tigers can't share one mountain, and there are four now. Who knows what kind of infighting might be brewing behind the scenes.]
Haha, I can picture it!
Actually, maintaining a semblance of stability during a catastrophe is already quite an achievement.
If powerful forces, large and small, rise and fall constantly, the lives of the poorest disaster victims will become even more unbearable.
Miao An said, “The territory of the wealthy merchants and gambling dens is in the south of the city; the gentry are in the west of the city, where most of the ordinary disaster victims are also located; the main base of the government is the county government, located in the middle of the south and east of the city, and most of the eastern part of the city is under their control.”
Miao An glanced at the car and the people inside that were following silently behind and reminded them, "You caused quite a stir when you entered the city. These forces will definitely try to win you over."
If you don't want to be constantly harassed or even harassed, eventually choose to join a faction. Even if you don't join, at least maintain good relations to prevent other factions from interfering.
Finally, he inadvertently added, "The county government and local gentry forces that organized the burning of the corpses of the dead when the earthquake first struck."
Originally, the county government only wanted to contact the prefectural city and had no intention of dealing with the corpses. It was only through the efforts of the local gentry that they were persuaded to send people. The surviving residents of the city initially complained, but later, realizing it was for their own good, they were very grateful to the clan elders.
Lu Xuan and the viewers in the live stream understood.
It seems that Miao An's backing comes from the local gentry; this bias is all too obvious.
However, judging from the specific composition of the four forces, if Miao An is just an ordinary person without special skills, then the local gentry force is indeed the most suitable for him.
Some viewers wondered: "If he's from a powerful local gentry group, why did he bring the anchors and others to the territory of government officials?"
[Otherwise, are there any large houses in the working-class area that can accommodate a group of streamers?]
He earns a fee for guiding people and providing information; he doesn't have to worry about after-sales service. Whether the streamer gets into trouble with the county government later because they were brought by other forces is none of his concern.
After Miao An finished speaking, he saw that Lu Xuan and the others had no reaction, and he became a little anxious.
He looked around to make sure no one was nearby before whispering gossip to them: "Don't think the county government is trustworthy just because it's an official government. I won't say anything else, but just take the county magistrate, who is over sixty years old, for example. Before the earthquake, he only had an old wife at home, and his only daughter had married far away."
After the earthquake, his wife died, and he couldn't contact his daughter anymore. Guess what? Two months later, eight concubines appeared in his backyard! Each one was under twenty, younger than his granddaughter! Some offered themselves to him for a living, while others were completely forced into it!
Li Tiewu and the others frowned instantly.
The viewers in the live stream were hurling insults!
In ancient times, sixty years old was already considered an old man, yet he was still having affairs with so many young women. Wasn't he afraid of dying from a stroke? He's utterly shameless!
Miao An said, "Gambling dens are no good either. Tianhai Gambling Den has ruined countless families in the past. They are all very fierce. Now that they have gained power, they are even more arrogant. Men who go there will be bullied by thugs, and women... in short, no one will have a good time."
"Wealthy merchants and landlords are all profit-driven and are unlikely to be kind to us ordinary disaster victims. They are used to exploiting others, and now that the imperial court is too busy to take care of everything, they just want to plunder all the resources for themselves."
Although Miao An was speaking on behalf of his own faction, the points he raised were indeed true.
Ordinary disaster victims who come to the county town for refuge will eventually join the local gentry and receive their protection. Although their lives will not become much better, at least no one will make their lives worse.
Li Tiewu and the others in the city also felt that among the four forces, only the local gentry force was not someone to be opposed.
However... the guys exchanged glances; they didn't seem to have said they absolutely had to join a particular faction.
Even whether or not to stay here long-term is still uncertain.
So no matter what Miao An said, they just nodded to indicate that they understood, and that was it.
The local gentry's influence sounds impressive, but they can't match the wealth of the rich merchants, and their military might can't withstand the gambling dens. They can only barely put up a fight against the government.
[Of the two factions, one has the title of government official but likely the fewest members, while the other has many members, but they are all ordinary people who are practically useless in crucial moments. Overall, the latter is probably the weakest.]
[So you urgently need an injection of strong, fresh talent, right? What a coincidence, the streamer has brought the villagers along.]
【Why are you talking like the streamer is determined to join the local gentry?】
I have a bold idea.
What a coincidence, I actually have one too!
Instead of joining an already established faction where internal power has long been distributed, why not have the streamer create a new faction of their own?
[Then, after establishing a firm foothold, absorb other forces and become the sole ruler of Yangshan County!]
[A loud bang in the sky, and the streamer makes a dazzling entrance, right? 666!]
[Hahaha—what the hell is this "only king"? Are you trying to make me laugh to death so you can inherit my personal computer account?]
As the audience unleashed their wildest imaginations, the group finally arrived in the east of the city.
Miao An pointed to the large houses with their gates tightly closed on both sides of the street and said, "This is it. Both houses are empty. You can stay in these two houses, but you will need twenty catties of supplies as rent every day."
Seeing that the doorway was empty, Lei Yan asked in surprise, "Isn't anyone guarding it? Aren't you afraid that someone else will sneak in?"
“There are people guarding it.” Miao An blinked and said, “They must have heard about what happened to you and hid in advance.”
Along the way from the city gate to the east of the city, many more disaster victims were frightened and fled everywhere, shouting and screaming. The guards here are probably not in much better shape.
Miao An assured him, "Don't worry, I'll go tell someone later, and they'll come to collect the supplies tomorrow." Even if he was worried about the 'monster,' he definitely couldn't refuse to accept the supplies.
After speaking, she looked expectantly at Lu Xuan, who didn't say much.
Lu Xuan was generous and gave Miao An a basket of food, which included five steamed buns made of millet flour, five meat buns, and several large apples.
Miao An was surprised by Lu Xuan's generosity and almost grinned from ear to ear. He said loudly, "Thank you, sir! If you need anything in the future, just come and find me. I usually guard the city gate, so I'm easy to find."
Lu Xuan remained noncommittal.
On the other side, the others got off the bus one after another.
Miao Jinfeng looked at the grand house in front of her in amazement and said, "I never thought I would be able to live in such a magnificent house after living for so many years."
"Haha, who can argue with that? I wonder what it's like inside," Aunt Zhang laughed heartily.
Wu Yinyin said excitedly, "We'll know once we go in, Mom, Aunt Zhang, let's go in quickly."
Everyone else, whether young or old, or women, was also eager to get started.
"Wait, why is it so dark over there?" Lu Qing's gaze fell on the north side, and she was the first to notice something was wrong.
The excited villagers followed her gaze and found that there really was a large black area, but it was too far away to see clearly what it was.
Li Tie frowned and said, "Who's going up to check what that is? What if there's some danger? It's not safe to live there."
Ge Yuan happened to be nearby. He said, "I'll go!" and with a little running start, he easily climbed over the two-meter-high wall of the house. Standing on top and looking out, he discovered that the black thing was actually an extremely vast and narrow underground fissure!
On the other side of the crack was a large cluster of buildings.
Ge Yuan was startled and immediately turned to tell the others.
The villagers were shocked. "How could this be? Is the other side of the crack also a county town?"
"Miao An! What's going on over there!?"
Miao An was excited about Lu Xuan's generosity and said without looking up, "After the earthquake, almost half of the county town in the north of the city was separated by that underground crack. The houses and people on the crack line disappeared."
For the sake of these rewards, Miao An kindly reminded them: "Some people tried throwing stones in there, but they couldn't hear any sound of them hitting the ground. The crack is very deep, so you must not go in there."
If it weren't for the fact that the east side of the city is adjacent to the crack, many of the houses here would be well-preserved, and other forces would have moved here instead.
The villagers: !!!
They're not stupid; of course they wouldn't approach the crack carelessly.
Wait, this kid knew the underground fissure was dangerous, yet he still brought them to live nearby?
At this moment, Zhang Chengming suddenly slapped his forehead and said, "Oh no, didn't Boss Chen say his home was in the north of the city?"
Others: ...
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Author's Note: Chen Bing: I went out for a bit, where's my house?! ? ?
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Climate anomalies, ocean pollution, global warming
When humanity ravaged the blue planet beyond recognition, the game of survival at sea suddenly arrived.
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Just when Yu Tang thought he could do whatever he wanted in the game—he went into heat!
Yu Tang: ? ? ?
I'd accept a fish tail, but mating season? Don't be ridiculous!
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