Chapter 40.1: Brave Jean
"Anyway… You two are Bennetts."
Yang Qiu pointed at the man who had brought up the grievance. Then, after a short pause, he pointed at the gloomy fatty. "And you guys are from the Eugenes."
As if recalling something, Yang Qiu smiled and said, "Speaking of the family name Eugene, it reminds me of someone. The last time I passed through Camore, there was a little girl who left quite an impression on me, Rebecca Eugene."
A strange look appeared on the chubby man's face. "Th-that's my great-grandmother's name."
"Oh, what a coincidence." Yang Qiu raised an eyebrow. "It looks like Rebecca got her wish."
The chubby man's face froze, and the two gentlemen from the Bennett family also wore peculiar expressions.
"It seems that this town has seen quite a few stories." Yang Qiu didn't have the intention to delve deeper. He sat back on the sofa and waved his hand to release the restraints on these people. "Have a seat, gentlemen."
The three men looked at each other, adjusted themselves, and each pulled a chair to sit down. They didn't dare to approach the sofa where Yang Qiu was sitting, let alone the bloodied figure lying on the other end of the sofa with shattered arms.
"I'll be frank. I need to take in a group of people who are struggling to survive here and have nothing but their lives," Yang Qiu bluntly stated. "Your families oversee the local weaver unions, and you guys should be well aware of where to find such individuals."
The three men from the two families were taken aback.
"M-Mr. Yang, I don't quite get your point," one of the men from the Bennett family mustered the courage to speak. "If you could, could you please explain in more detail?"
"Allow me to rephrase it, then," Yang Qiu spoke even more bluntly. "I know more about how Camore's weaver union operates than you do. Four hundred years ago, the steamships of the Kenyan Empire conquered the endless sea and brought back cotton seeds from the Outer Continent. These 'man-eating' cotton seeds were later brought to the Duchy of Shiga by merchant caravans.
"The affluent in Camore saw this as an excellent opportunity to grow their wealth and solidify the status of their own families. Using various means, they seized the land from free people and dedicated them to cotton cultivation while coercing the farmers to work as cotton growers on their own plantations. After all, unlike grain, cotton doesn't become stale, infested, rotten, or moldy within a year, so it doesn't devalue easily.
"But soon, the affluent class realized that it wasn't profitable to turn all the farmers into cotton growers. There wasn't a need for so much manpower in the cotton fields except during the harvest season.
"Thus, they came up with a solution. They selected the more obedient ones among the cotton growers and instructed them to lead the rebellious ones to demand 'freedom,' causing a few 'peaceful, non-violent, not so intense' conflicts. Following that, the noblemen 'relented.' They liberated all the cotton growers, granting them the status of free people.
"Upon the successful 'revolt,' the leading families naturally formed a union, bringing together the scattered free people and engaging in negotiations with the affluent class…"
At this point, Yang Qiu couldn't help but chuckle. "In short… the free people emerged victorious at the end of this farce. Not only had they obtained the status of freedom, but they also 'forced' the noblemen to compromise and pay them for their work, transforming them from traditional farmers into skilled craftsmen with lighter workloads and higher social status within the Duchy of Shiga."
Upon Yang Qiu's narration, both members of the Bennett family and the chubby man from the Eugene family alike were drenched in sweat.
Meanwhile, the underlings, who had been restrained and unable to move on the spot, were consumed by shock.
"There had only been a single weaver union the last time I visited Camore, belonging to Rebecca Eugene's husband. But this time, there are now two weaver unions, with a new Bennett family which I have not heard of before. It appears that there has been intense competition within the weaver union over the years."
Yang Qiu smiled and continued, "The noblemen who exploited Camore's locals have since hidden away behind the scenes while you gang leaders… I apologize, union leaders, reaped the benefits and became quite the targets for contempt in Camore. So, I suppose there must be quite a number of tactless ones who have offended you guys. Hand over those people to me. That's what I mean. Is that clear enough?"
Half an hour later, a bloodied Descartes Eugene was wrapped in a cloak and sent back to the Eugene family's mansion by loyal underlings.
Yang Qiu was right; the weaver union in Camore did resemble post-World War I British gangs that functioned as a sort of "local family enterprise."
Of course, compared to such British gangs, the lives of the weaver union leaders were slightly more comfortable. They didn't need to vie with other gangs for territory using knives and guns, nor did they have to worry about being stabbed by gypsies. As long as their family clan was sufficiently large and had enough adult males, they could aggressively seize control of the union and then have their subordinates do the dirty work.
Despite the lower risk, their profits were comparable to those of British gangs. The tens of thousands of weavers in the town and the workers employed by various cotton plantations had to pay tribute to them if they wanted to work. Because of their "control over the lower echelons," the upper echelons in town would occasionally reward them.
Ever since Rebecca Eugene, the aforementioned great-grandmother, killed her husband and seized control of the union with her brothers, the Eugene family had been thriving.
Although the Bennett family, who aided Rebecca at that time, took away a considerable number of union members to form their own and claimed nearly half of the profits, it was still enough to allow the Eugene family to continue growing over the past century. The family didn't only build houses as impressive as the affluent members' on the main street, but also ventured into businesses such as taverns, casinos, and horse racing.
The Eugenes, considered a local hegemon, were naturally enraged when Descartes, a prominent figure of their younger generation, returned with his hands in such bad shape after the negotiation.
When Descartes's cousin, the corpulent Harvey, rushed back home in a cold sweat, he saw the women in the house weeping while uncles and brothers were gathering angrily, preparing to confront the Bennetts.
"Stop! Everyone, stop!" Chubby Harvey was frightened out of his wits. He quickly ordered his trusted men to close the main gate of the mansion and dashed forward to console his agitated uncle. "It wasn't the Bennetts, believe me! We were negotiating at our own casino, and everyone there was our own! The Bennetts couldn't have done this!"
"Harvey! What the hell is going on?" The enraged uncle pushed Harvey away and shouted, "You were with Descartes. How could something like this happen under your watch?"
"Uncle, do you still remember Black Mage Yang that great-grandmother mentioned before?" Harvey responded with a trembling voice.
"What black mage?!"
"Black Mage Yang, the Nightmare Butcher!" Harvey exclaimed. "When I was young, there used to be a wanted poster of him on the sheriff's board, with a bounty of 90,000 gold coins!"
The clamoring men and crying women in the room fell silent instantly.
"Great-grandmother once pointed at the wanted poster on the notice board and told me that she had seen this black mage when she was young," Harvey said grimly. "The last time this black mage, who was wanted by multiple nations, came to Camore, he invaded Sir Hans's mansion.
"In front of Sir Hans's family and many guests attending a party, he immobilized Sir Hans and kidnapped the mayor's young son. He then hung the young master on the city wall for three days and even forced a baron to ride naked on a horse through town—great-grandmother said it was because of the chaos the black mage caused among the upper class on the main streets that she had a chance to seize the union for the Eugene family!"
Life in a small town was rather dull, and any rumors would be passed down by word of mouth for many generations. When Yang Qiu caused a disturbance in the town of Camore, the events on the main streets naturally became lifelong fables for the elders in town.
Descartes's father, Harvey's uncle, had also heard these legendary tales. He broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing Harvey's words. "Y-you said… Wait a minute! You said the last time this black mage came to Camore. What's that supposed to mean?!"
Harvey gulped hard, still trembling as he explained, "Jimmy Bennett tried using his sister's situation to pressurize our family into giving up the casino on East Street, and when we were in a deadlock, th-th-this black mage suddenly appeared… claiming that 'he couldn't tolerate the violation of young boys and girls' and personally crippled Descartes…"
Everyone in the Eugene family was dumbfounded.
"O Goddess of Prosperity!" Descartes's mother, Harvey's aunt, pressed her hands against her chest, wailing in despair. "The Nightmare Butcher was only targeting the people on the main streets, why would he be so cruel to our Descartes?!"
Descartes's wife couldn't help but chime in, "It was clearly one of those Bennetts bitches seducing Descartes. Why should Descartes be the unlucky one?!"
"That's right!" another woman from the Eugenes said. "That slut couldn't control herself, what has that got to do with one of us?"
"Enough!" The head of the Eugene family stopped the women and grabbed Harvey's arm. Beads of perspiration glistened on his forehead as he asked anxiously, "Tell me, Harvey, what does this black mage want?!"
Harvey quickly conveyed Yang Qiu's request… Of course, he deliberately avoided mentioning the Weaver Union's unsavory origins.
"He has given us only five hours to choose the right people as quickly as possible." Harvey gulped nervously and said anxiously, "If we cannot provide him with the desired number of people… he threatened to take away all of the union members along with the Bennetts!"
As soon as these words came out, the previously angry crowd, who were furious about Descartes's ordeal, shuddered.
"Give him what he wants! Find people for him!" Harvey's aunt immediately shrieked at her husband. "Quickly send this plague away!"
"Watch your words!" the head of the Eugene family berated furiously.
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