In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 184 A startling statement!

"Effective against Rank 7?"

As soon as Chen Dao finished speaking, not only did Li Hu's eyes light up, but even Xu Zhiwen fixed his gaze on the chicken coop that Chen Cheng was carrying. He and Li Hu were both seventh-grade martial artists and had encountered the problem of not being able to improve. Therefore, when he heard Chen Dao say that the Crimson Blood Chicken was effective for seventh-grade martial artists, he couldn't help but feel a little excited.

"Young friend Chen, please have a seat."

Li Hu warmly pulled Chen Dao to sit down at the stone table, poured him tea, and then eagerly asked, "Young friend Chen, how much does this Crimson Blood Chicken cost?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Dao pondered for a moment and said, "Master Li should also know that medicinal herbs that are effective against seventh-grade martial artists are extremely precious. Crimson Blood Chickens, which are effective against seventh-grade martial artists, are also very difficult to catch, so their price is inevitably quite high..."

At this point, Chen Dao paused for a moment, then stated his asking price: "This Crimson Blood Chicken, 100 taels of silver each!"

100 taels?

Li Hu and Xu Zhiwen both frowned. 100 taels of silver was no small sum. Few ordinary people could even afford a single tael of silver. 100 taels of silver was probably beyond the means of even some small landlords.

However... the two of them also knew that the things used by martial artists were never cheap. A single serving of medicine used by a ninth-grade martial artist would cost at least 20 taels of silver, while medicine used by an eighth-grade martial artist would start at 40 taels of silver per serving.

As for the medicinal herbs used by seventh-rank martial artists...

That was something that money couldn't buy in Taiping County, so when Chen Dao quoted the price, neither of them directly objected.

After a moment's thought, Li Hu spoke up and asked, "Young friend Chen, one hundred taels of silver is too expensive. Could you make it cheaper?"

"That probably won't work!"

Chen Dao shook his head firmly: "These red-blooded chickens were captured by the people of our village at great personal risk in the Cangmang Mountains. They were extremely hard to come by. If I sell them cheaply, I will really be letting down the villagers who risked their lives to go into the mountains!"

I believe you!

Xu Zhiwen, who had personally visited Chenjia Village, rolled his eyes. The idea of ​​risking one's life to enter the mountains was complete nonsense. Xu Zhiwen estimated that these Red Blood Chickens were most likely raised in Chen Dao's backyard. The claim that they were hard to come by was just an excuse for Chen Dao to raise the price!

"All right!"

Seeing Chen Dao's firm stance and unwillingness to lower the price, Li Hu sighed in disappointment, but still said, "Young friend Chen, how many Crimson Blood Chickens did you bring this time? If the quantity is not large, I will buy them all!"

100 taels of silver was a bit expensive, but Li Hu, eager to improve, couldn't care less about that, besides...

Even if the medicinal herbs used by a seventh-rank martial artist could be bought, they would probably not be cheaper than those for a Crimson Blood Chicken, and might even be much more expensive.

"We brought a total of 10 chickens!"

Chen Dao replied, "Among them are 5 Blood Feather Chickens and 5 Red Blood Chickens. Does Master Li wish to buy them all?"

Five blood-feathered chickens cost 100 taels, plus five red-blooded chickens, totaling 600 taels...

Li Hu silently calculated for a moment, then said, "Of course we should buy them all!"

After saying that, Li Hu turned to Li Ying and said, "Yingzi, go and fetch 600 taels of silver."

"it is good!"

Before long, Li Ying returned with a money bag. After handing the money bag to Chen Dao, the father and daughter happily took the chicken coop from Chen Cheng.

Despite Li Hu's earlier haggling and apparent concern for the high price of the Crimson Blood Chicken, he knew perfectly well that buying these 10 chickens for 600 taels of silver would be a sure win.

Selling a Bloodfeathered Chicken to Cui Mang would earn 30 taels of silver, so five would be 150 taels. As for the Crimson Blood Chicken…

Although Li Hu did not intend to sell, he knew that a chicken that could be effective against a seventh-rank martial artist was definitely worth no less than 100 taels of silver.

In other words... Li Hu will only make a profit, not a loss, by buying these chickens for 600 taels of silver!

"Yingzi, put the chickens away properly!"

Li Hu gave Li Ying some instructions, then sat down at the table and kept pouring tea for Chen Dao.

At this moment, Chen Dao looked at Xu Zhiwen and tentatively asked, "Magistrate Xu, when I entered the city just now, I saw that there seemed to be more refugees outside the city?"

"indeed so!"

Xu Zhiwen nodded and said, "The situation in the north is getting worse and worse, and more and more people are fleeing to our Taiping County because they can't survive there!"

Chen Dao nodded and then said, "How does Magistrate Xu intend to deal with those refugees outside the city? Does he really intend to let them fend for themselves?"

"Ugh!"

Xu Zhiwen couldn't help but sigh. Every time he talked about this, he felt a terrible headache. As an official with a high moral standard, he couldn't bear to see those refugees starve and freeze to death outside the city.

But he really had no other choice. Most of the grain and wealth he had obtained from eliminating the Zhu family had already been transported to the county seat as additional taxes, and only a small portion of the grain remained...

It was only enough to occasionally distribute porridge outside the city; as for resettling refugees, it was far from sufficient.

"I have no other choice either."

Xu Zhiwen said with a helpless expression.

Looking at the genuine helplessness on Xu Zhiwen's face, a glint of shrewdness flashed in Chen Dao's eyes, and he tentatively suggested, "Why doesn't the county magistrate ask the wealthy families in the city for help?"

"borrow?"

Xu Zhiwen scoffed. He also wanted to borrow grain from the wealthy families in the city. Long ago, Xu Zhiwen had approached the Yuan, Fang, and Zhu families, as well as the three major martial arts schools in the city, trying to get them to contribute some money and grain to cope with the increased taxes. However, those wealthy families did not give him, the county magistrate, any face at all!

It was precisely because of this incident that Xu Zhiwen conceived the idea of ​​eliminating the Zhu family.

"I'm not talking about borrowing with words, I'm talking about borrowing with a knife!"

Chen Dao said meaningfully, "Didn't the county magistrate use a knife to borrow money and grain from the Zhu family before? Why not do it again now?"

A knife?!

Xu Zhiwen and Li Hu were shocked by Chen Dao's words!

It's hard to imagine that such astonishing words came from the mouth of a young man from Chenjia Village.

Use a knife to borrow grain...

That sounds so terrifying!

Of course, if he could borrow a knife, Xu Zhiwen wouldn't mind. He had no goodwill towards powerful families like the Yuan family in Taiping County, but...

Xu Zhiwen shook his head and said, "Young friend Chen is thinking too simply. The powerful families in Taiping County are not so easy to deal with! Take the Yuan family as an example. There are at least three seventh-rank martial artists in their family, and no less than ten eighth-rank and ninth-rank martial artists. Although I also have some martial arts skills, I can't do anything to the Yuan family!"

In fact, Xu Zhiwen had considered eliminating the Yuan and Fang families more than once. Both families were local bullies in Taiping County, and as long as they existed, it would be difficult for Xu Zhiwen to completely control the entire Taiping County.