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Volume Three: The Wind Rises in the South Chapter 72 Chapter 72 Master Basong

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    Two days ago, on the outskirts of Bagan, in Ne Win Village, Master Basong¡¯s manor.  Like the estates of most Burmese nobles, Master Basong's estate consisted of a pagoda, a waterwheel, a mill, a rice warehouse, a blacksmith shop, a carpentry shop, a stable, his own residence, servants' residences, and many other buildings.  In short, this manor can provide Mr. Basson with most of the necessities of life except for a few that cannot be produced in his own territory.  In addition to Ne Win Village, Master Basong is also the owner of twenty-two nearby villages.  As a member of the Burmese royal family, Mr. Basong spent most of his time in more prosperous places like Mandalay. He would only return to his manor every New Year. After staying for a while, he would return  To the city, this distinguished gentleman is like a migratory bird, traveling back and forth between his territory and Mandalay every year.  But 1885 was a special year. Master Basong returned to the manor in July uncharacteristically. He stayed there for more than two months and had no intention of leaving to return to Mandalay. There was a rumor circulating among the people in the village that  There was a riot in Mandalay. The king was beaten to death. The nobles and monks were also hanged on the trees on both sides of the road. The thugs divided the property of the gentlemen. For this reason, Mr. Basong fled back to the manor.  of.  This terrifying rumor made people in the village panic. For these simple farmers, nobles and monks were sacred and inviolable existences. Not to mention killing them, even the slightest disobedience to their will would be punished by the gods.  The Buddha's terrible punishment was that he would not only be whipped and hanged while alive, but also fall into the animal realm after death and never be reincarnated. This is the most terrifying thing.  So although Master Basong increased the burden of labor and taxes, the villagers still endured it in silence. Since this has been the case for thousands of years, won't it continue to be like this in the future?  Basong sat at the dining table. The hard teak tabletop was filled with exquisite dishes, including carefully cooked fish, birds, and game.  A fine silver goblet lay beside his right hand.  Judging from the round and rosy cheeks of this middle-aged man, he is a guy who knows how to enjoy life. At this time, he is chewing and swallowing delicious dishes, and his broad forehead shows a happy and carefree look.  .  After nearly forty minutes of eating, Basson finally let out a sigh of contentment. As if regretting that he could not continue eating, Basson put down his chopsticks, picked up the wine glass and shouted loudly with his loud voice.  : "Here, pour me a glass of sugar cane wine to wash down the food. I bet the eel meat and roe are already stuck in my throat!" "Yes, sir!" A man stood nearby.  The thin man stepped forward and filled Basong's glass with wine. Basson drank it all in one gulp and shouted with some dissatisfaction: "One more drink. As the saying goes: 'Good things come in pairs!'" "Yes, sir!"  The man quickly refilled Basson's glass.  Basong took two sips, smacked his mouth, and complained with some dissatisfaction: "Oh, why does this wine taste a bit thin? Damn it, that damn wine merchant actually dares to sell inferior wine as good wine.  I, when I return to Mandalay, I will beat his back to pieces with a whip!" Basong complained, while drinking a few more glasses of wine to calm down his anger at being deceived, and finally he was full.  When the meal was finished, he put the wine glass aside and asked the man next to him who was pouring the wine for him: "Yu Qie, my butler, how much have we received from the rent now? The newly built granary is full."  "Sir, the twelve villages are still not fully loaded. The newly built granary is about one-third full!"  , and isn¡¯t there an open space in the northwest corner of the manor? Build another granary there to store the newly collected taxes!¡± ¡°Yes, sir, I¡¯ll let the servants do it tomorrow!¡±  He replied: "As for last year's old rice in those warehouses, should all be sold to merchants as usual to make room for new rice?" "No!" Basong pondered for a moment before shaking his head and vetoing the official's request.  Suggestion: "Looking at the situation, the British and Chinese are still going to war, a big war, and they won't be able to stop for a while. As long as there is a war, the price of rice will continue to rise. If you stock up on old rice, it will double by next spring.  "Yes, Master!" Yu Qie nodded, wrote down the Master's order in his notebook, and continued to ask: "But if the newly built granary is to be filled according to your order, then I'm afraid  There won't be much surplus food left in the villages, and people may starve to death. After all, when King Meng Ji recruited troops in the summer, he took away many young men. Many families did not plant the third season of rice due to lack of labor.  Even if you plant it, the harvest will be much less than in previous years. Do you want to give it a break? " "Starving to death?" Basong hesitated for a moment, but finally shook his head and said:"Then mix the old rice and chaff in the warehouse over the years and give it to the worst villages. Three buckets per family is enough. I will lend it to them to survive the spring famine and return it next year. During the war years  , the food can be sold at the highest price, this time my house in Mandalay will definitely be destroyed, I must make up for the loss from here!" At this point, the fat on Basong's cheeks swayed, obviously the loss not long ago made him suffer.  He was heartbroken.  "Master, master, it's not good!" At this moment, a servant walked in quickly from outside the door, holding a letter in his hand and shouting repeatedly.  Basong frowned and shouted in a low voice: "What's going on? Are you in such a panic? Did the man repairing the granary fall and get injured?" "No, no!" The servant looked panicked, handed over the letter, and said:  "Master, look, there are robbers!" "Robbers?" Basong was surprised and took the letter. It is true that after Meng Ji raped the Mingqi area, a large number of robbers appeared near Bagan, but these robbers  The targets of robbery are usually passing business travelers or relatively weak villages. After all, the scale of the robbers is not large, only one or two hundred people at most.  There are more than a hundred strong servants in Babu's manor, sixty or seventy firearms of various kinds, and the houses are very strong, plus there are more than twenty villages nearby.  There are two to three thousand young men at random. Who dares to snatch him without opening his eyes?  Basong unfolded the letter in confusion, and saw the following words written in cursive handwriting on the rough paper: "Dear Master Basong, I heard that there are six large barns in your manor, each with three floors.  Gao, five or six families are big, and the food in them is enough to feed the people of the village for five years. Now there are hungry children crying loudly in every village, but the women have nothing to eat, not even taro.  Distribute the food to these poor people. With them, there will be endless food in your granary. Show mercy! "At the end of the new chapter, there are two crossed scimitars, and the inscription is "  Merciful man¡±!  "What's going on? Tell me what's going on?" Basong threw the letter aside angrily and asked angrily.  The servant trembled and replied: "Dear Sir, I just passed by the cattle shed. You know that there is a small road over there. It is narrow and dark. Usually no one passes by it. I am scared every time I pass by there.  "I'm shaking all over -" "That's enough, you verbose guy!" Basong finally exhausted his patience with the servant's verbosity, and he shouted loudly: "I swear to the gods, Buddhas and ancestors, if you dare to continue talking nonsense,  I will make you tremble right now - not from fear, but from the whip. If I leave a good piece of meat on your spine, I will let you go to hell alive!" "  Master, Master!" The servant was so frightened by Basson's threat that he knelt down and shouted loudly, raising his hands in the air: "When I passed by the barn, two people came out of the shadows and asked me to bring this letter to the master.  , and threatened me with a pistol and a knife. I swear to gods and Buddhas, all this is true, they have guns and knives!" At this point, the servant fell to the ground, trembling all over.  "Are there pistols and knives?" Basson was attracted by the servant's words. He stood up, pulled the servant up from the ground, and asked in a low voice: "Are you sure you read it correctly? They have pistols and knifes."  "Is there a knife?" "I swear to gods and Buddhas, I am absolutely right!" The servant's face was filled with tears, and he was obviously frightened by what just happened: "The middle part of the gun in the hands of the two men was bulging, like  It was like a small wheel. I could see clearly. The muzzle of the gun was only a hand away from my eyes. "It's a revolver!" Basson's face became solemn. He turned around and walked into the house. After a while, he came out.  There was already a small cloth bag in his hand. He opened the bag, pointed at the Webley revolver inside and asked, "Is this the thing?" "Yes, yes, exactly the same as this!" "You go down first.  ! Don't talk about this matter everywhere!" Basong waved his hand, and his expression immediately became gloomy after the servant stepped back.  The bandits at that time were not without firearms, but they were generally outdated muzzle-loading guns and single-shot guns. There were very few modern firearms. Even if there were a small number, they were basically rifles, not such revolvers.  Because this kind of revolver is usually equipped with officers, there are very few people living among the people. What's more, this kind of pistol is far inferior to the rifle in terms of power and range, so it is rarely seen among bandits.  It is really strange that such a gun suddenly appears now, not to mention that there are bandits in the world who rob money, food, and people. But there is no such thing as not wanting anything, as long as you take the food  What about the villagers who have nothing to do with them?  At this time, Yu Qie whispered: "Master, I think there is something fishy in this matter!" "Something strange? Say?Look!  " "Master, think about it, more than 20 villages around here are your territory. If a group of strangers come and want to eat and drink, how come you don't have any news at all?  Moreover, the road over to the stable is dark and narrow. If it were an outsider, who would be blocking people there to deliver messages?  " "You mean a traitor?  "Basong will understand. "Exactly, sir, think about it. Even if the thieves outside want to rob, they are robbing money and women. How can they rob food? Food is heavy and cheap. Let them pick and choose.  How many to pick and go?  Not to mention that we have to distribute it to farmers. They also know how many granaries we have and how big they are. This is obviously an insider.  It must be a few cunning people who picked up the pistol somewhere and came up with such a cunning trick to make a profit from it!  "    "that's right!  Basong gave a light high-five and said with a smile: "Thanks to you, otherwise I would have almost fallen into the trap of these bastards, kind man?"  snort!  When I, Basong, catch you, I will let you know what "mercy" means!  "While talking, Basong's fat palms clenched tightly, and the exquisite silver wine glass in his hand slowly twisted and deformed. Yu Qie said with a flattering smile: "Master, in fact, if you want to find these guys, it's hard to find them.  Not difficult!  "    "oh?  If you have a solution, tell me quickly!  " "Master, there are usually no outsiders in the manor. They are either servants who have been here for generations, or they rarely go out. Even if you have the courage, there is no place to get guns and knives.  Only young men were recruited from several nearby villages to build the granary, and I heard that some of them were deserters from the New Army. These guys had seen a lot outside and were wild-minded. They must have come up with this idea.  of!  " "Yes, it's the people among them!  "Basong said bitterly: "I learned bad things outside and came back to my territory to cause mischief.  Okay, let me show you the difference.  housekeeper!  "
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