A Call Answered by Hundreds

"Did they really give eighty percent to the common people?"

"They really did. We watched it ourselves. This time, the government office actually behaved like decent people," a knight-errant sighed. "At the end of June, fierce winds swept through Fujian, and heavy rains poured down for days. Even great trees that had stood for decades were uprooted. The disaster was severe. If the government office had still coveted that money at a time like this, forget the local people—we would have rebelled too!"

The knight-errant was filled with resentment as he spoke of it. Lowering his voice, he said, "The rebellion in Ninghua, Fujian, supposedly began because officials sent down by the Imperial Court forcibly made the people mine silver. The miners could no longer survive. Then came the torrential rains at the end of June, and the Imperial Court's disaster relief arrived too late. Ye Zongliu took advantage of the people having no way to make a living. With only a little incitement, he gathered more than a thousand people. I heard they have now taken three counties in succession and gathered over twenty thousand men."

Pan Yun withdrew her gaze, stopped listening, and headed for the sea vessel.

On the return journey, she had placed two helmsmen on every ship, all of them people Chen Wen had given her.

Pan Yun found one of them and told him to find a way to send the news to Chen Wen. Then she stood high on the ship, looking down upon the myriad faces of life below.

The officials surrounded Alliance Leader Lin, Gao Zhiming, and the others who had personally experienced the journey, asking them to recount in detail everything that had happened in Japan, especially the matter of the silver mines.

The knight-errants were embracing their friends and