Chapter 118: Aspiring to the Blessings of Civilization

In practice, Xu Wenshan had already discovered while recruiting that money was losing its efficacy. His funds could currently only entice those struggling at the subsistence level; they held little appeal for those who already possessed some surplus wealth.

One or two people had already suggested to him that instead of wanting his money, they would rather have his land.

This was because this entire region was rooted in a deep-seated agrarian civilization. The carriage of capitalism had yet to gain momentum, and even if these people earned money, they had nowhere to spend it. Therefore, wealth held far less tangible appeal to them than a plot of land.

To fundamentally solve this problem, one would have to construct an industrial system capable of absorbing the suddenly inflating capital.

However, Xu Wenshan was currently unable to resolve this issue, so he could only resort to a stopgap measure: developing the tertiary sector.

Regarding these three sectors, Xu Wenshan, who had been a liberal arts student in his previous life, understood them as follows: the primary sector is to keep you fed, the secondary sector is to help you make money, and the tertiary sector is to induce you to spend it.

Without spending, where would the incentive to earn come from?

When it came to the tertiary sector... well, the first thing that came to Xu Wenshan’s mind was selling carnal pleasures.

Well, and gambling.

Gambling was a practice whose disadvantages far outweighed its benefits, so it was immediately dismissed from Xu Wenshan’s mind. As for food and sex being human nature, this ancient industry had indeed circled in his mind for a long time, and he had considered implementing it more than once, yet he remained hesitant.

This was because that path had already been trodden by predecessors.

During the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang had extensively established state-run brothels—primarily as a source of fiscal revenue. To lead the social trend, Zhu Yuanzhang even permitted officials to utilize these state-run establishments, leading to a climate in the early Ming court where it was customary to "stop by the official music office after work." It was only later, when the corruption became severe and reached an unseemly state, that officials were finally prohibited from patronizing them.

Now, the tea shed where A-Fa sat was like a train, crashing through Xu Wenshan’s train of thought: who said that the current tertiary sector had to be something disreputable? Couldn't things like tobacco, alcohol, and tea be just as profitable?

Moreover, didn't he have the most advanced liquor of this era in his own hands?

Then, he would simply use this as the final bottle of fuel to start the carriage.

...

Xu Jing had been in Luhegou for over half a month.

Originally a daughter of an official family, she should have lived a life of luxury and comfort, yet she had been inexplicably abducted to this mountain village.

During those first few days, she was truly furious. It was not just because she was under house arrest, but because she had failed to see the true face of the villain Xu Wenshan, having even harbored a shred of fantasy about him.

After living in his home for a while, she finally understood that this Xu Wenshan was nothing but a lowlife! Every day, he had his maid, Lu Ze, watch her as if she were a thief.

Judging others by his own base standards—if that didn't make him a lowlife, what did?

Fortunately, after some time, the little scoundrel Xu Wenshan became busy and could no longer attend to her, which gave her more freedom.

After living in this village for a period, Xu Jing discovered that the food she ate was grown in such a manner, and the items she used required such painstaking labor to produce.

In the past, her food and clothing were always at her beck and call, so she had never realized where these things came from, assuming they simply fell from the sky. Having witnessed the lives of the villagers for a time in this village, she realized that everything was built stitch by stitch, grain by grain, and earned through slow, bitter toil.

Only then did she gradually understand why Xu Wenshan had asked her that question before: "Why don't you work?"

Although she still did not work, she began to understand that she might have truly been somewhat naive, for in Luhegou, she saw everyone working.

No one was idle, except for herself.

She gradually grasped a principle: everyone must work, and if someone is not working, it means someone else is bearing their share of the labor for them.

Living in the Xu household, though she could not say she was entirely at ease, she did not feel ashamed since the food and supplies were provided by that scoundrel Xu Wenshan.

Who told him to abduct her here in the first place? Otherwise, she would be living far more comfortably at home.

In the mountains, time loses its meaning. Every day was like one cast from a mold, day after day, and she gradually lost her sense of time, beginning to enjoy this peaceful life.

But just at this moment, Xu Wenshan shattered all the peace once again. When he announced the campaign against Fengshi Village, the entire village and all the villagers began to change.

The half-month before Xu Wenshan announced the expedition to Fengshi Village was the most vibrant period in Luhegou. During those dozen days, the villagers of Luhegou seemed to be tied together by a rope, all strung up as one.

Previously, everyone lived their lives in scattered isolation, but during those two weeks, they seemed to be kneaded into a single mass, beginning to work together.

However, these days soon faded as the Luhe Guard unit marched away, and everyone returned to their former lives.

Yet, as soon as Xu Wenshan returned, Luhegou, which had only been calm for half a month, showed signs of upheaval once again.

The village had many unfamiliar faces, people who acted suspiciously; it was said that some were even bandits who had killed people.

People who had lived their whole lives in their own fields were driven out of their homes, dragging their families along to set up simple shacks, their suffering with nowhere to be told.

Some desperate farmers had no choice but to become laborers, and it was said that when they returned home every night, they were too exhausted to speak.

Xu Jing saw all of this with her own eyes or heard it from others. When she inquired behind the scenes, she discovered that all of this had something to do with the little scoundrel Xu Wenshan!

Xu Jing believed that it was that brat Xu Wenshan who was causing trouble.

He had turned the once clean and clear Luhegou into a complete mess; there must be some conspiracy behind this.

Xu Jing decided to confront Xu Wenshan directly.

The little scoundrel Xu Wenshan had not returned to the Xu mansion for a long time, but she heard he would return tonight.

She did not have many opportunities.

...

Xu Wenshan rushed back to the mansion, greeted his father and the concubines, and was just about to return to his room to pack his things and leave when someone suddenly blocked his path.

It was Xu Jing.

"What is your conspiracy?"

Xu Wenshan was clearly unprepared for these nonsensical words: "Wh... what?"

"You are the one who caused the original thirty-plus tenant families of the Xu family to lose their livelihoods, right? You were the one who brought those bandits into the village, right? And you were the one who ordered those honest farmers to build houses for you, right?"

As she asked these questions, Xu Jing’s voice trembled slightly.

She suddenly forgot why she wanted to seek justice for these villagers, especially since she was not even from here.

However, she still braced herself and questioned:

"You have made these people homeless and living in constant fear day and night; what benefit does this bring you?"

Xu Wenshan looked at the young woman before him, who was breathing unevenly from nervousness, and found it somewhat amusing.

In fact, to these accusations, he could have simply replied, "No comment," which would have saved him a lot of trouble.

However, he still could not help but say to Xu Jing, as if also telling himself: "This is perhaps what is meant by, 'To enjoy the fruits of civilization, one must first endure the pains of civilization.'"