Big Shot

"Squad Leader, what's wrong?"

"What'd you call us over for?"

The patrol inspectors all spoke at once.

"In a few days, someone from above will come to our Mine for an inspection!"

"I hear they're a very important figure. Clean yourselves up and don't let any problems crop up."

After saying a couple of sentences, Li Gang waved his hand, signaling for everyone to leave, clearly looking rather impatient.

Everyone was already used to Li Gang being like this. After all, with the Patrol Inspectorate expanding, some were happy, and naturally some were worried.

And Li Gang was undoubtedly the one who was worried.

Chu Mu did not pay it much mind. Of the dozen or so patrol inspectors present, he was probably the one with the cleanest background.

In the dozens of days since he had entered the Patrol Inspectorate, aside from reading, he had practiced martial arts. Whoever came to inspect, it would have no effect on him.

The only illegal thing was that he had collected double pay once, but the chances of that being found out were too small. Even if it was found out, it involved over a thousand officials and official-status men throughout Qinghe County from top to bottom. Among them, he was far too insignificant.

"Why would they suddenly come inspect us when everything's fine?"

"Nothing's happened at our Mine lately, right?"

"Wasn't there a mining disaster a few days ago? Dozens of lives—isn't that something?"

"What kind of thing is that? At our Mine, what year doesn't have a mining disaster?"

"When have you ever seen the people above come investigate us because of a mining disaster?"

"The Masters above only care about this Mine."

"Right, haven't the Battalion Commander and the Vice Battalion Commander been taking people around all day these days, digging here, looking there..."

"The rumors are getting downright mystical now. They say treasure's been discovered at our Mine. You think it has something to do with that?"

Several patrol inspectors chatted back and forth, while Chu Mu silently followed at the side without speaking.

He had naturally heard about the so-called treasure long ago, but three men make a tiger, and people merely echoed what others said. As for the specifics, probably not many people knew.

But there was no doubt that they were definitely looking for something, and it was within this Mine.

Otherwise, why would figures like the County Commandant from the County and the Vice Battalion Commander of the Patrol Inspectorate soak themselves in this Mine every day?

Chu Mu was not too concerned about the so-called treasure either. After all, even if there really was treasure, it would absolutely never fall to him.

They strolled along slowly and chatted idly, and the patrol inspectors each returned to their own posts.

Chu Mu, as unshakable as ever, sat down under the tree. A bonfire had been lit before him for warmth. He picked up a book and read for a moment, then seemed to think of something and suddenly froze.

If he remembered correctly, it was Prefecture City that had issued an order for the mine to increase production, and then came the increase in Forced Laborers.

Immediately afterward, the Battalion Commander and Vice Battalion Commander had led men all over the Mine, searching for something.

And now, a big shot was suddenly coming to inspect...

These few matters... seemed like they could be linked together? In other words, because they were looking for something, the order to increase the mine's production and add more Forced Laborers had been issued, and that was also why a big shot would come to the Mine for an inspection...

Chu Mu silently pondered this possibility he had guessed at. As far as he knew, the Nanshan Iron Mine had been mined for so many years, and the mining quota had always been set at the beginning of the year. There had never been a case of production being increased midway before.

This point seemed as though it could be linked to his guess.

Chu Mu glanced at the Forced Laborers working not far away, but he could not help muttering inwardly. What kind of thing was worth making such a great fanfare over? Unable to come up with an answer, Chu Mu could not be bothered to waste brainpower on it. His gaze shifted, turning once more to the book in his hands.

It was not the beginner's book that had nearly been flipped to tatters, nor was it Nanshan Records or that volume of history. Instead, it was a travelogue Chu Mu had picked up from the bookstore a few days ago.

The contents were roughly about what a wealthy scholar had seen and heard while traveling through various places.

Though most of it consisted of descriptions of scenery, the range of his travels was broad enough that it did give Chu Mu quite a bit more knowledge, so he would not be utterly blind once outside Nanshan Town.

Judging from this travelogue, the Great Chu under heaven at present was clearly still worthy of the word peaceful.

A place like Qinghe County was clearly only a special case.

After all, it was not as though every place had mines to be worked.

Moreover, most importantly, food was the people's heaven.

Looking across the several thousand years of his previous life, great chaos under heaven had basically always come about because, for all sorts of reasons, the common people could no longer survive. Only then was there a foundation for disorder.

But in this era, Chu Mu reckoned that this problem should be relatively hard to appear.

After all, grain was too cheap.

Just a few days ago, Chu Mu had learned that the rice of this era was actually a drought-resistant crop. One could casually find a plot of land, plant it, tend it a little, and it would survive.

Most importantly, the yield was not low at all. Averaged out, the yield per mu actually reached as high as thirty shi, which was three thousand jin from his previous life!

And it was not only rice. Other crops were the same—easy to keep alive, with yields frighteningly high.

Such high-yield grain naturally brought about grain that was cheap to the extreme.

No matter how much they were exploited and squeezed, with grain so cheap and so high-yield, eating one's fill should not be difficult.

In an era like this, unless they had truly reached the point where they could no longer survive, how many people would risk losing their heads to rebel?

Under such circumstances, how could all under heaven not be at peace?

And it was precisely because he knew this that Chu Mu became more and more attentive to his own martial skills.

In fact, somewhere indistinctly, the purpose of his martial training had already shifted from protecting himself to making a future for himself!

Chaos was terrifying, but how was it not also an opportunity?

After all, the world was stable, and the great tide could not be reversed.

Even if trouble broke out in Qinghe County, it would only be a brief disorder. Before the greater trend of peace under heaven, calm would soon be restored.

The three instances of Civil Unrest recorded in the Nanshan Records clearly proved this point as well.

The most serious one had only swept through Nanshan Town, and within barely a month, it had been suppressed with thunderous force.

If he trained himself into a body of good martial skill and wore this Patrol Inspector skin, then if real chaos broke out, who could say it would not be a stroke of fortune...

Chu Mu's eyes flickered. Faintly, for some unfathomable reason, he actually felt a little excited again.

It seemed... ever since he had thrown himself into that bout with the Hanging Ball Array yesterday, his state of mind had completely changed.

He even felt somewhat... yearning for it?

Chu Mu pressed his lips together and silently forced down that inexplicable excitement in the bottom of his heart. Then he slowly rose as well, pacing around the surrounding area.

As the saying went, one pitfall, one gain in wisdom.

After experiencing three instances of Civil Unrest, Qinghe County seemed to have gained wisdom three times over.

When it fell upon the Mine, the source of it all, that meant strictness in every possible aspect.

Each squad of Patrol Inspectors was responsible for one area, which was then subdivided down to the individual.

When it came to the Forced Laborers, it was the same.

Every Forced Laborer was subdivided to each area, each Patrol Inspector.

Take the place Chu Mu was guarding, for instance. He was responsible for six Forced Laborers.

The work of these Forced Laborers was very simple: moving ore materials, that was all.

The ore materials extracted from the Mine were transported area by area, and the section he was responsible for was only one link in the chain.

Such management would lower the Mine's overall work efficiency, but clearly, when it came to managing the Forced Laborers, it was undoubtedly extremely effective.

And Chu Mu knew that in the barracks beside the Mine Dining Hall, there were nearly a hundred Patrol Inspectors in full armor standing ready at all times.

As for what their purpose was, that was obviously quite clear as well...