Chapter 533: Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism Share the World; Money Paves the Way

In a deserted alley near the Bishui Town Government Office, the Village Chief tucked away the property and land deeds before pulling a tightly wrapped parcel of silver from his robes.

"Here. The deal is done." The Village Chief couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face.

Although he had paid not only a scribe’s fee but also an additional 150 copper coins in property tax, it was nothing to the Village Chief.

Qi Suian glanced at the parcel and casually tucked it into his own robes.

This time, it actually fit. Fifteen taels of silver wasn’t too much to carry.

He then took the silver, planning to pass through Bishui Town on his way to a more prosperous place.

For that, he would need to find a caravan. Traveling on his own would not be easy.

A map was out of the question. Such things weren’t easily circulated and could only be bought from specific people, not sold openly.

As for the price, fifteen taels of silver certainly wouldn’t be enough.

The starting price was at least a hundred taels.

"Old Qi, it’s not safe carrying fifteen taels on you. You should find a place to spend it quickly."

"Before it gets stolen." After reigning in his joy, the Village Chief offered Qi Suian a word of warning.

He himself was carrying the deeds, so it wouldn’t matter if he was robbed.

The documents were made in duplicate, with one copy at the Government Office. Stealing his copy would be useless.

But the money on Qi Suian was different. It didn’t have his name on it. If it was stolen, getting it back wouldn’t be so easy.

"I know. It’s not a big deal. With my build, taking on two guys is no problem," Qi Suian said with a grin.

How could he not know the Village Chief was subtly warning him that he was being watched?

Even in Bishui Town, fifteen taels was a huge sum of money.

Especially since silver’s purchasing power far surpassed that of copper coins.

In truth, as long as he avoided a direct confrontation and just ran for it, shaking them wouldn’t be a problem.

But Qi Suian was different. He had no plans to return to Cyan Bamboo Village, which made the aftermath more troublesome.

"As long as you know what you’re doing. I’ll be heading back now." After saying this, the Village Chief left directly.

Inside the town, he walked at a normal pace. The moment he was outside, he broke into a dead sprint.

It wasn’t that he was afraid of being robbed, but getting beaten up would still hurt.

If they were going to rob someone, they’d surely be indiscriminate.

Qi Suian, however, strolled leisurely out of the alley, glancing back at the two burly men trailing him.

They didn’t dare make a move in public, but their eyes darted about.

If they couldn’t rob him, that was fine. They could still extort him or stage an accident.

He was just an outsider, after all. As local thugs, they had nothing to fear.

They just needed a pretext and couldn’t do it right at the Government Office’s doorstep.

Seeing this, Qi Suian turned and ducked into a small alley.

The two men exchanged a glance, a contemptuous smile appearing on both their faces.

They naturally guessed he wanted to take care of them, but two fists are no match for four hands.

Besides, this wasn’t the first time they’d done this kind of work.

So, they hurried in after him.

「One minute later.」

Qi Suian strolled leisurely out of the alley.

The two men weren’t dead, but they might as well have been. For the rest of their lives, they could forget about ever getting back on their feet.

Paralyzed from the neck down. Even a common cripple would have a better life than them.

He wasn’t worried about anyone coming to look for trouble. After asking around a bit, he quickly found a caravan willing to take him along.

All expenses included, five taels of silver would get him to Guiyun City. They were leaving at noon.

The journey would take about fifteen days, during which they would stop at many towns for supplies and to sell goods.

The caravan had personnel like guards, a cook, and a physician, so the security was quite high.

However, the drawback was also obvious: Qi Suian couldn’t ride in a carriage and had to walk.

Fortunately, he didn’t really care about such things.

"These are turbulent times. It’s not a good thing to be out trying to make your way in the world," the caravan’s cook said, striking up a conversation with Qi Suian.

After all, since he was an extra person, Qi Suian had to discuss his arrangements with the man himself.

As for purchasing supplies, everyone procured their own; the cook bought his own ingredients.

"Younger Brother Wu, you seem worldly and knowledgeable. Why don’t you tell me more about it?" Qi Suian asked, following the man’s lead.

"I hear the struggle between the Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist lineages is getting more and more serious. It’s even affecting the Court."

"The recent Heavenly Dog devouring the sun and the Earth Dragon turning over are said to be the cause. His Majesty intends to weaken the lineages," the cook said, looking worried.

This was the first time Qi Suian had heard of a struggle between Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist lineages. He then asked, "What are these Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist groups? How come I’ve never heard of them?"

"Heh, Brother Qi, what backwater village did you crawl out of to not even know this?" The cook chuckled at Qi Suian’s question.

"The backwater village of Cyan Bamboo Village, right next to Bishui Town. That’s why I wanted to get out and see the world. Otherwise, I’d die in that field knowing nothing."

"Not only would I not make any money, but it would be a pathetic way to die," Qi Suian casually replied.

But the cook shook his head. "At least you’d live a long life."

"The outside world isn’t as stable as your village, where all you have to do is pay your grain and taxes."

"There’s so much more to worry about once you leave."

Seeing the man changing the subject, Qi Suian quickly pulled it back. "Younger Brother Wu, please tell me about the Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist groups. After all, I’ve already paid my silver. I can’t just go back to my village and keep farming."

The cook glanced at Qi Suian and said, "I don’t know the details, but the Court keeps saying the world is in chaos, and it’s most likely because of the struggle between the lineages."

"As for what Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist means... well, it’s just scholars, monks, and Daoists."

"These people all wield power. I once saw an old Daoist in action—he was truly impervious to blades and immune to fire and water."

"You can forget about being a scholar. I doubt you can even read."

"But you could try becoming a monk or a Daoist."

"Burning incense, praying to Buddha, and donating some money for lamp oil should be fine. But to truly enter their gates, you need ’fate’."

"Don’t ask me what ’fate’ is; I don’t know either." The cook threw up his hands, indicating that was all he knew. "The three lineages of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism are noble and aloof. Not for common folk like us to encounter."

"So, does Guiyun City have these three groups?" Qi Suian continued to ask.

The cook thought for a moment and said, "Yes, it has all of them."

"Many people dream of joining them, but it’s already considered good if even one in a hundred succeeds in entering their gates."

"If you can read, you could try taking the academy entrance exams in the spring."

"Compared to the Buddhist Dao, the academies of the Confucian Family will accept you as long as you can pass the exam. As for whether you can make a name for yourself in the imperial examinations, that’s another matter entirely."

"Only those who succeed in the imperial examinations can be considered part of the true Confucian Lineage. Otherwise, students only get their first year of tuition waived. Starting from the second year, no poor person can afford it."

"Furthermore, things like ink, brushes, paper, inkstones, and books are all provided in limited quantities. If you want more, you have to pay for it yourself."

Hearing this, Qi Suian chimed in, "So studying costs money. What about the Buddhist Dao? Does that cost money too?"

"Of course it does," the cook continued. "Rules and regulations, rituals and ceremonies—how could you do any of that without money?"

"Why else do you think temples open their doors to receive all those incense offerings and donations? Naturally, it’s because they also need money."

’If they also use silver, wouldn’t the entire monetary system collapse?’

So he inquired further.

"If not silver, what would they use? You’re an interesting one." The cook found Qi Suian’s question rather amusing, thinking it was just what you’d expect from someone out of a backwater village.

He really didn’t know anything.

Then he added jokingly, "You don’t actually believe His Majesty farms his fields with a golden hoe, do you?"

His words left Qi Suian speechless.

"I think he does. And the Empress probably eats two steamed white-flour buns at every meal," Qi Suian replied earnestly.

This made the cook bend over laughing.

Fortunately, he quickly recovered. "His Majesty doesn’t farm, and the Empress doesn’t eat plain white buns."

"Don’t say such things recklessly in the future. If someone hears you, you could be charged with lese-majesty."

"You’d get at least ten strokes of the cane. After that, you’d have trouble even walking."

The cook reminded Qi Suian that things like criticizing court politics or speaking ill of nobles and royals were typically ignored by officials unless a citizen reported them.

But it takes all sorts to make a world, and it wasn’t impossible that someone would report him.

"Tsk, it’s that strict out here? Can’t even say a couple of words," Qi Suian grumbled, though he figured it was normal.

After all, he could sense that the Court’s control over public opinion was extremely strict. For instance, they had managed to blame the solar eclipse and earthquake—which he had caused—directly on the three Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist lineages.

Under normal circumstances, the Court itself would have absolutely been the one to take the blame.

Of course, it was also possible that the three lineages really were fighting constantly, and the impact was not only ongoing but also enormous.

That would explain why it was so easy to successfully shift the blame.

The two chatted a bit more, and Qi Suian managed to gather more intelligence from the cook.

He left soon after, his mind preoccupied with thoughts about these so-called Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist lineages.

’The main issue is that the cook’s explanation was full of contradictions.’

’The simplest one is the currency problem. Extraordinary Beings and ordinary people share the same monetary system.’

’It probably only has value at the lowest levels. For those at the top, the inflation must be terrifying.’

’And this has led to poverty, isolation, and a lack of circulation for the middle and lower classes.’

’If the currency were to circulate freely, a single liter of rice might cost five hundred thousand taels of silver.’

’Given this world’s power levels, the resources consumed in a single day by a top-tier expert would be astronomical.’

’Resources can’t be created from thin air; the costs will always be passed down.’

’So in the end, who’s left to pay the price but the common people? Who else could it be?’

’Therefore, isolation is the best solution.’

’If I were to manipulate the monetary system, it wouldn’t be that difficult to make the Court collapse.’

’But I don’t have enough data or intelligence, and I lack the personal power to create that much leverage.’

’To create leverage, wealth isn’t enough. You need authority.’

’With enough authority, a single tael of silver could leverage hundreds of millions.’

’I hope Guiyun City doesn’t disappoint me.’

There wasn’t much difference between villages and towns. Cities, on the other hand, were where one could come into direct contact with the Extraordinary. This meant that the cities were the Court’s primary means of control.