Now the caravans are no longer coming. Without them, the Gobi Desert has lost its magic and will no longer grow crystals. This makes Xiao Mingyuan very uncomfortable.
"Father, this is what the King meant. In fact, the King didn't say this to our family, but to all the people of Xia. Now that a powerful enemy is nearby, the continental nations must form an alliance to fight the enemy. The King said he wants people, food, and livestock..."
Without waiting for Xiao Sanlang to finish his words, Xiao Mingyuan slammed the table and stood up, cursing, "He wants so much, why doesn't that fat guy go beg? If he really wants food, then he should act like a beggar and kowtow three times at the door of my Xiao family. I might even reward him with a leftover leg of lamb!"
"Father! Be careful with your words!"
Xiao Sanlang was shocked.
Fortunately, I had driven the servants away from the house before entering. Otherwise, based on what my father said, the king would probably be so happy that he would be drooling: no need to "ask" or "borrow", just confiscate the house directly.
Of course, Xiao Mingyuan regretted his words the moment he said them. After breaking out in a cold sweat, he couldn't help but praise his third son: "You are indeed very careful in your work. I was so angry just now that I almost fell into the trap of that fat...king."
After saying this, he looked around with lingering fear, then lowered his voice and said, "Sanlang, you work in the government, tell me, is the king here for real this time or just trying to scare people?"
Xiao Sanlang shook his head and said, "Father, if this imperial edict is only issued to our Xiao family, and our Xiao family has never committed any crime, then it is really possible that the king is just playing a joke on us.
But this imperial edict was issued to the entire Great Xia Kingdom. Everyone is like this, and no matter how righteous the King is, he would never joke about such a thing, so it must be true."
"Really...it's actually true...Do you know what he wants? Our lives! He wants almost all the livestock in the house, leaving us a few to breed with, and then he'll take them away when they're grown. He even wants your brothers to serve in the army, and your sisters to sew, wash, and cook!
Tell me, ah, tell me, we have everything at home, what's wrong with staying at home and enjoying ourselves? Do we need a few of us to fight? You can't say that if we don't go, the war can't be fought. "
Xiao Mingyuan paced back and forth in the house as he spoke. He had always lived a life of luxury after becoming rich, and he never expected that he would still have the same amount of exercise as when he was herding sheep, and that he was actually walking indoors.
"Father, originally, matters like this were handled by the yamen runners below, but this time there were too many people to notify, and the governor saw that his subordinates were too busy to handle it, so he asked me to help. I volunteered to go home and report the news, which shows that this matter cannot be avoided. Besides, you know how our family's wealth came from, the governor knows it, and in fact, the king knows it too."
"Yes, now you know. The family fortune was earned by your father through hard work of herding sheep!
If he can't avoid it, then so be it. The king isn't in Zhongxing Prefecture anyway, so he doesn't know shit."
Xiao Mingyuan paced faster and faster. For the first time, Xiao Sanlang discovered that his father was actually in good health and strong. He was not at all as weak as those traveling doctors selling tonics said. It seemed that either his father was deceived by those traveling doctors, or his father had taken a fancy to the traveling doctor's daughter and wanted to marry her as a concubine.
Come to think of it, I haven't seen the traveling doctor's daughter in a while. I felt a little bit of a throbbing sensation when I first saw her, but it was a pity that I also saw the look in her father's eyes. Oh, forget it, Miss Chen Peng, I originally wanted to marry you, but in the end, I can only let you be my mother...
"Well, take a generous gift and quietly deliver it to the governor, saying that our Xiao family is determined to sacrifice our entire family for the country... Well, in addition to the generous gift, we are willing to give His Majesty a hundred war horses, five hundred cattle, a thousand sheep, and fifty strong and capable slaves. Let's see what he says. If he agrees, you can hire a drum and music band, and send these things to the government storehouse with drums and music. Make sure to make a big fuss so that everyone knows about it. Only then will people truly believe that our Xiao family has been ruined.
If he doesn't want to, I can give him more silver, but I really can't give him more livestock and slaves. Especially these slaves, do you know how many disobedient ones I killed before I trained this group of people? It would be a shame if they were killed on the battlefield.
Xiao Sanlang was so overwhelmed by what he heard that he quickly interrupted, "Father! No one would believe that our family only has this little wealth. Besides, even if you leave everything here, wouldn't it be exposed if the government sent someone to look? It's impossible to hide cattle and sheep. And if the king really loses the battle, none of us will survive. You haven't seen the imperial edict."
"You're talking nonsense! Everything in our house was accumulated by my father through hard work. Why should we give it away for free? As for the war, that has nothing to do with our Xiao family. When wolves came to our ranch, it was the Xiao family who fought them. Now that wolves have come from outside Daxia, it's their right for the Weiming family to fight them off. Why should we go?"
Besides, I don’t understand what the hell is the Abyss, but I know that no matter who becomes the ruler, it is impossible for him to kill all the people. They will always need people to herd them, right?
Even if the king loses the battle, we will have a new king. Then we can herd sheep and cattle for the new king, and maybe we can even get rewards from the new king.
Besides, you are now an official with a salary, so naturally you are not afraid of anything. Even if your family members die, you are willing to give it up if you can get a promotion and make money. But have you thought about your brothers and sisters? What can they do? They don’t know anything! You can’t expect them to herd sheep, right? If you do that, won’t you starve them to death?
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