Chapter 45: Marching to the Capital

The so-called farewell rite of Zu Dao refers to travelers offering sacrifices to the roadside deities to pray for a safe journey. Naturally, traveling in ancient times was difficult and incurred heavy expenses. Therefore, when sending someone off on a long journey, people often presented a sum of money to serve as travel expenses, which was known as Zu Dao money.

Originally, this money was just a token gesture. However, whether out of guilt for failing to secure Wang Zhenling's entry into the Imperial Academy, or simply out of a sense of shared sorrow—like a rabbit grieving the death of a fox—the county magistrate gave an amount far beyond Wang Zhenling's expectations.

When no one else was around, Wang Hu, who had helped collect the gift, approached Wang Zhenling's ear with a peculiar expression, whispered a few words, and handed over the money pouch.

Wang Zhenling opened it and saw that inside were not ordinary copper coins, but gleaming gold coins—a full hundred of them. One gold coin was worth a thousand copper coins, making this a million coins in total!

It could well be considered a huge fortune.

Wang Zhenling sighed inwardly, put the money away, and once again bowed deeply in the direction of Danling County city.

This sum of money would prove immensely useful!

The current emperor loved wealth, and official posts were openly sold in the Western Garden; the ranks of high ministers and officials were clearly marked with price tags. If Wang Zhenling wanted to survive and use this massive fortune to buy his way out of official service, it might actually be quite feasible!

Therefore, Wang Zhenling had brought along all the wealth he had accumulated during his years as an official, which likely amounted to tens of millions. A portion of the wealth confiscated from the Black Water Shrine back then was also included in this hoard!

Added to what the county magistrate had sent, this already constituted a very substantial fortune.

After this delay, night had fallen, and Wang Zhenling's entourage had not yet left Danling County, so they lodged at a relay station.

According to the rules of the Great Cheng dynasty, as an official heading to his new post, Wang Zhenling was entitled to have his meals provided by the relay station. However, since Wang Zhenling was traveling along the road with over a hundred guards, they did not receive such treatment; the station merely provided firewood and cooking stoves. Otherwise, a relay station of this scale would have been eaten into bankruptcy long ago! Moreover, a small rural postal station like this could not possibly accommodate so many people.

Therefore, Wang Zhenling simply had his men pitch tents outside the station to camp for the night. As for grain, tents, and other necessities, they had all been prepared well before setting out.

By this time, Wang Zhenling needed less and less sleep. Deep into the night, while all was quiet, he was still reading. Suddenly sensing something, a smile touched the corners of his mouth, and he stepped out of his tent.

He saw mist surging and rolling outward, until the nearby relay station and tents seemed to vanish entirely. A carriage came swaying along, illuminated by a pair of dim green lanterns at the front.

As it drew near, three doll-like little creatures hopped down from the carriage.

After a period of absence, these three little fellows seemed to have grown a bit larger. Upon seeing Wang Zhenling, they looked at him with a mixture of reproach and joy.

Following them, Hu Sanlang stepped out, bowed deeply to Wang Zhenling, and said, "Hearing that the County Lord is heading to Shenluo to enter the imperial court, our family head has sent us to present this Zu Dao money!"

With a wave of his hand, attendants stepped forward carrying chests.

Coming from rural deities and wild spirits, they had no notion of subtlety. With the chest lids thrown wide open, one could see the interiors packed with gold coins, jade bi-discs, jewelry, and other treasures of gold and silver.

During the day, Wang Zhenling had received the Danling magistrate's Zu Dao money, which amounted to a full million. Yet judging by a rough estimate, the contents of these chests were worth at least tens of millions.

Unable to hide his surprise, he asked, "Why so much?"

"Shenluo, the celestial capital, is the most prosperous place in the world, and expenses there are bound to be heavy. With a more generous purse on this journey, the County Lord will not lose his prestige!" Hu Sanlang replied.

Hearing this, Wang Zhenling knew it was true. The expenses for this trip to Shenluo would certainly be enormous. Even though he already carried tens of millions in wealth, he could not be certain it would be enough. Bringing more was always better!

Truly, a long journey tests a person's heart, and adversity reveals true feelings!

"Please convey my gratitude to Master Hu!" Wang Zhenling said.

Hu Sanlang replied, "I dare not!"

On the second day, Wang Zhenling resumed his journey, picking up the pace.

As they traveled onward, they grew further and further away from Danling. Gradually, they reached a region where the villages appeared desolate and the fields lay overgrown and barren.

Upon inquiry, they learned that an epidemic had broken out in this area the previous year, causing countless commoners to die of illness and leaving the landscape in this desolate state.

Hearing this, everyone recalled the great plague of the preceding year, and their expressions changed with the memories.

That plague had swept across all the provinces of the realm, claiming countless lives. Danling County had been fortunate not to be a severely affected zone, so its death toll was relatively light. In contrast, the hardest-hit regions saw entire villages wiped out by illness. Some walled cities were left without a single living soul!

The place they were passing through today had been one of those severe disaster zones back then. Whenever natural disasters like floods and droughts struck, the great noble clans could find refuge or even hoard goods for massive profit. Yet under the ravages of such a plague, no one—regardless of virtue, nobility, or lowly birth—could escape its grasp.

Furthermore, plagues of this sort had been breaking out with increasing frequency in recent years, occurring almost every two or three times a year. The Emperor had attempted purification rituals several times to ward off the disasters, but none had succeeded. This dealt a massive blow to the prestige of both the imperial court and the Emperor.

All sorts of rumors spread throughout the realm, claiming that the Emperor had lost his virtue, which had brought down the plague. This had utterly alienated the hearts of the people across the land!

Normally, the Emperor was regarded as the Son of the Heavenly Emperor, ruling over the mountains, rivers, and altars on behalf of Heaven. Whenever disasters struck, the Emperor would step forward to perform pacification rituals, and deities would typically descend to quell the calamities. This served to demonstrate the sacred legitimacy of the Emperor.

At the time, Wang Zhenling had not thought much of it. But looking back now and examining that specific timeframe, it seemed the plagues had begun to spread wildly precisely after those foreign transmigrators made contact with the Emperor and began cooperating with him!

The waters here ran far too deep. Having finally managed to escape, Wang Zhenling naturally had no desire to dwell on such matters.

As they journeyed onward—especially deep into Yuzhou Province, right through the heavily affected disaster zones of the previous year—they saw desolation stretching across counties and prefectures everywhere. The population was sparse, and some towns stood completely abandoned as empty cities.

Although the plague had occurred the previous year, the loss of life had been so immense that it could not be made good in the short span of twelve months. Coupled with the government's feckless administration and other factors, walking through these regions—even a year later—still made one's heart skip a beat.

With local governments paralyzed in such areas and farmlands left uncultivated, many peasants had fled into the mountains and forests to band together as bandits.

Along the way, their entourage repeatedly encountered ragged groups of robbers—all of them commoners who could no longer survive. While these people sounded pitiful, their brutality was shocking to hear.

Fortunately, the Wang clan's entourage was quite large, with many able-bodied young men. Otherwise, a smaller group would have risked having not only their belongings and clothes stripped away by the bandits, but their very flesh and blood ending up in the robbers' bellies...

Luckily, the Wang family not only had manpower, but as a prominent clan, many of their young men were skilled in martial arts. Moreover, their weaponry was of exceptional quality, including even a pair of crossbows. This proved all the more effective in intimidating those ragtag mobs.

"The commanderies and counties have suffered from the disaster for so long, yet the government has still failed to help the people resume production and live in peace. Instead, the populace is driven to gather in the mountains as bandits and outlaws."