Chapter 94 Buying People

After arriving at Guancheng, Yang Zhengshan asked Luo Shang to introduce a human trafficker.

The man was probably in his early forties. After learning Yang Zhengshan's identity, he immediately bowed respectfully and said, "Greetings, Sir Yang!"

Human traffickers like them are all backed by powerful brokers with backgrounds, and are involved in many shady things.

However, what they are most reluctant to offend are officials, especially some military officers with real power.

A thousand-household defense officer like Yang Zhengshan is certainly not considered a big shot inside the city wall, but if he is placed outside the city wall, he can cost his life.

Because Yang Zhengshan has someone with a knife in his hand, if he is really offended, who knows what he can do.

You have to know that what Chongshan Town lacked the least in the past was soldiers and bandits.

Yang Zhengshan didn't waste time talking to him and said directly: "I want to buy some servants. Do you have any good candidates?"

"I wonder what kind of servant you want, sir?"

Ren Yazi asked with a smile.

There are also different kinds of good servants.

A capable servant is a good servant, and a good-looking servant is also a good servant.

He didn’t know whether the servant Yang Zhengshan wanted was capable or not.

Yang Zhengshan didn't know the dirty thoughts in Renyazi's mind. He thought for a moment and said, "It's best if they are from the same family."

He had two requirements for his servants: ability and loyalty.

Ability is something that cannot be forced, as long as you are not a cunning person, and loyalty is a must.

The human heart is unpredictable. Even if he holds the slave's indenture, he cannot guarantee the slave's loyalty.

But if there is a family tie, the slave's loyalty can be guaranteed to the greatest extent.

"A family! I have a few families to choose from here!" Ren Yazi replied.

"Take me to have a look!"

Afterwards, the human trafficker brought Yang Zhengshan and Yang Mingcheng to a dilapidated courtyard in West City.

"Come here, come here!"

The human trafficker started shouting as he entered the door.

In just a few moments, more than twenty people came out from all over the yard.

From their positions, it was obvious that these servants were from different families.

"Sir, there are four families here. This family's surname is Liu, and there are eight people in total. They used to be servants of the Zhang family. Later, the Zhang family moved out of Guancheng and sold them to us!"

"This family's surname is Yang, and there are six people in it. They used to be servants of Lord Ji's family in the Dusi Yamen. After Lord Ji was imprisoned, they were sold out!"

"This family's surname is Wu, and there are four people in this family. They used to be servants of a merchant. Later, this merchant fell into poverty and moved back to their hometown, so they sold them to us. Old man Wu used to be a housekeeper, so he has some abilities!"

"Their surname is Ding. They are also servants of the Zhang family and have practiced martial arts."

As Ren Yazi introduced them, Yang Zhengshan's eyes swept across everyone's faces.

These servants were dressed well and looked good, so they probably weren't treated too harshly.

This is normal. They were bought by the pawnbrokers with money. The pawnbrokers rely on them to make money, so they naturally cannot let them freeze and starve.

However, their mental state is not very good. Some are panicking, some are nervous, and some look confused.

Yang Zhengshan glanced at everyone and his eyes finally fell on the last family introduced by Ren Yazi.

"Your last name is Ding!"

He took a step forward and walked in front of a middle-aged man.

"To answer your question, my last name is Ding!"

"Did you follow the fourth young master of the Zhang family before?" Yang Zhengshan asked again.

He knew this person. Zhang Chen had bullied someone on the street and was whipped twice by Zhou Lan. This man surnamed Ding followed Zhang Chen and even reached out to catch Zhou Lan's whip.

"Yes!" The man hesitated, then nodded.

"You should have acquired cultivation, why are you a servant?" Yang Zhengshan asked curiously.

Even if a martial artist is incompetent, he would not sell himself into slavery.

"I am a servant of the Zhang family!" the man replied.

House-born children are the children of slaves, and the children of slaves are still slaves. Unless the master is willing to return the contract, they will be slaves for generations.

He is a servile son of the Zhang family, which means he is a warrior trained by the Zhang family.

It is extremely rare for a servant to become a post-natal warrior, even if he is trained by his master.

This shows that this person has a high talent for martial arts, otherwise he would never have been able to cultivate to the acquired realm. Yang Zhengshan doesn't believe that the Zhang family would spend so many resources on a servant.

"What do you think of the Zhang family?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

The man raised his head and glanced at Yang Zhengshan. "The Zhang family deserves what they have done! But I am grateful for the Zhang family's kindness in raising me!"

Not long after Zhang Yude was brought back to Kyoto, the Zhang family's property was ransacked and many members of the Zhang family were convicted and punished, while some with less serious crimes were sent back to their hometowns.

As for Zhang Chen, it seemed that he was beheaded.

Yang Zhengshan didn't pay attention to the specific situation. He had little relationship with the Zhang family and naturally wouldn't care about the Zhang family's life or death.

In response to the man's answer, Yang Zhengshan just nodded slightly.

In fact, the answer is not important.

The Zhang family has already fallen. No matter how loyal this person is to the Zhang family, it is impossible for him to return to the Zhang family, and there is no possibility for the Zhang family to rise again.

As domineering as the Zhang family was in the past, so miserable is the Zhang family now.

"Just your children!" Yang Zhengshan looked at the three children behind the man.

There were two boys and one girl. The oldest was probably around twelve or thirteen years old, and the youngest was a girl, about four or five years old.

In addition to the child, there was also a woman in her thirties.

"Yes!" the man replied.

Yang Zhengshan turned around and looked at Renyazi, "How much is this one?"

Upon hearing this, Ren Yazi immediately laughed and said, "To reply to your Excellency, this person is a post-natal warrior, and his price is much higher than others!"

"Five hundred taels!"

"..."

Yang Zhengshan glanced at him, somewhat speechless. This was really an exorbitant price.

It’s not that acquired warriors are worthless, but the slaves of acquired warriors are really useless.

If it was a warrior trained by the family, then that would be a good thing. But not many people would like this kind of warrior bought halfway.

The reason is simple, loyalty cannot be determined.

For ordinary servants, even if they are unfaithful, the harm they can cause is limited.

But it’s different for warriors. If they harbor resentment, their families may be destroyed.

"Two hundred taels, no more!"

Yang Zhengshan was too lazy to talk nonsense and started cutting directly from the calf.

"This, sir, this is too low!" Ren Yazi said with some difficulty.

"I'm talking about the family that gave 100 taels, not just him. If you think it's inappropriate, then forget it!" Yang Zhengshan said, pointing at the five people from the Ding family.

Seeing that Renyazi was still hesitating, he said, "You plan to keep them for another New Year!"

Even though this was his first time buying someone, it didn't mean he didn't know anything.

When was the Zhang family’s property raided?
It was last September, and it has been four months now!
How could the dental clinic not be anxious when they haven't sold this family in four months?

It costs money to support so many people, and the longer it takes, the more it costs.

As for why the Ding family is so difficult to sell, it is actually not difficult to understand.

One reason is that the man is an acquired martial artist, and ordinary people cannot control him.

The second reason is that they are from the Zhang family. Although the Zhang family has fallen now, there are still many people who are wary of the Zhang family.

"Sir, sir, add another fifty taels, making it two hundred and fifty taels. Just consider it as a good relationship between me and you!" said the human trafficker with a flattering look on his face.

Yang Zhengshan didn't say anything, but turned to look at the Wu family next to him.

"I want all of them, give me a fair price!"

The Wu family has an elderly couple in their forties. The man used to be a housekeeper. Although he was only a housekeeper for a merchant, he should have some abilities.

There are also two half-grown boys who can be assigned jobs directly, but the three children of the Ding family are too young and need to be raised for several years before they can be used.

The man thought for a moment and said, "Sir, how about three hundred taels?"

Yang Zhengshan thought about it, nodded, and agreed to the price.

Only fifty taels of silver for a family of four?
That’s right, now in Guancheng’s servant market, people are cheaper than animals.

A young and pretty maid was worth no more than twenty taels of silver, while some older servants were only worth a few taels of silver.

"Find me four more maids in their teens, who should be obedient and honest. Don't bring any messy people with me!" Yang Zhengshan said.

"Yes, yes, wait a moment, sir!"

About an hour later, Yang Zhengshan took the indenture contract and left the city with a group of servants.

On the way, they also went to Lingguanbao to take a look, mainly because Yang Zhengshan wanted to buy a batch of cotton-padded clothes for his servants from Lingguanbao.

During this period, the needlework workshop in Linguanbao became famous in the city for its low prices, and many wealthy people knew that they could buy cheap coarse cloth cotton clothes from Luo's Cloth Shop.

These cotton-padded clothes were naturally not for the masters to wear, but for the servants in the house.

During the New Year, servants in the house have to wear new clothes to show that their masters are kind and righteous.

Therefore, the period before the New Year is the busiest time for the Linguanbao needlework workshop.

And now the needlework workshops are no longer limited to orders, they also sew some coarse cloth cotton clothes and sell them in Luoshang's cloth shop.

However, Yang Zhengshan still customized a batch of coarse cotton-padded clothes from the needlework workshop because the workshop did not have any clothes for children in its inventory.

It was already evening when they returned to Yinghe Fort.

It was getting late, so Yang Zhengshan did not immediately arrange for these servants to do any work, but just let them stay in the back room temporarily.

It was not until the next morning that he gathered everyone together.

Everyone in the Yang family looked at this group of servants with different expressions.

Yang Mingcheng needed no explanation. He had always been with Yang Zhengshan and had already accepted this fact.

Wang's face looked a little strange, especially when she looked at those teenage girls.

Dad, what does this mean?
Why did you buy so many little girls?
Yang Minghao also looked at Yang Zhengshan with strange eyes.

However, he was not thinking about the girl, but whether his father would arrange a servant for him.

When Yang Minghao thought about the fact that he was also a young master with servants, his chest couldn't help but straighten out a little.

"what is your name?"

Yang Zhengshan asked the man surnamed Ding.

"To answer your question, sir, my former name was Ding Qiu!" Ding Qiu said respectfully.

"You used to be called Ding Qiu! You can call me Ding Qiu from now on!"

"And you!"

Yang Zhengshan looked at the man surnamed Wu again.

"My name is Wu Hai!" Wu Hai replied.

"Please introduce yourselves!" Yang Zhengshan was too lazy to ask them one by one and just let them speak for themselves.

Wu Hai and Ding Qiu met each other at first sight, and Wu Hai helped his wife first.

"Master, my humble servant's surname is Li. I used to be a cook and managed the kitchen!"

"Master, my name is Wu Da, I am sixteen years old, and I used to run errands for the master!"

"My name is Wu Er, I'm fifteen years old, and I used to be a doorman!"

After the Ding family’s introduction, it was the Ding family’s turn.

"My humble servant's surname is Song, and I used to be a maid in the Zhang family."

"The boy's name is Ding Cheng, and he's twelve years old!"

"The boy's name is Ding Lu, and he's nine years old!"

There was only one little girl left, looking at Ding Qiu and Song with a confused look on her face.

(End of this chapter)