Three Philosophical Questions for Travelers

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drug money two

drug money two

Afterwards, Hai Wen took everyone back to the town.

A few people returned to the Yizheng Hall, and as soon as they entered the door, they heard someone laughing in the meeting room.Haiwen walked towards the meeting room, and the voice of the old pipe came from inside. That guy was bragging about how good and amazing the black gold smoke was.Smiley Cat is asking how much he plans to sell it for.

"I think a box can sell for this amount!" ——When Hai Wen entered, the old pipe was holding up ten fingers, with an exaggerated smile on his face.

Besides him, there are three people sitting here, one is Hei Jin, the other is Smiley Cat and Mirsalu.Smiley Cat has always been Haven's guard, and Mirsalu is inseparable from her master, clings to her father, and people in Mustang Town regard her as everyone's princess, everyone loves her, and she misses this place a little bit, so she follows coming.

There are pastries, fruit tea and rice wine in the room, and the atmosphere is very cheerful.Even the taciturn alchemist is now smiling.When the smiling cat saw him, he said, "My lord, you are back. How is the field? Isn't it beautiful..." At this point, the smiling cat's tone sank, as if he had noticed the strangeness in Haiwen's expression.

"What's the matter, my lord?" asked the smiling cat.

Hai Wen didn't answer, but sat opposite Hei Jin and Lao Yandai.Seeing that Haiwen was serious, the two of them also smiled.Hei Jin was not good at socializing, so the businessman from the Western Regions was the one to talk to Hai Wen.

The old cigarette pipe——Haliwuhan Dan's bones were broken, he sat up straight, folded his hands on the table, and looked straight at Haiwen.He said: "My lord, are you dissatisfied with the goods?"

Haiwen looked at him and said, "Let me ask you first, how much did you spend on cultivating these things this year? What is the cost?"

The old cigarette laughed and said, "Oh, you don't have to worry about the cost. This business is a huge profit. You only need a few pennies to share it."

Haiwen shook his head and said, "I don't mean that, I mean, how much did you two pay this year, including the money invested and labor costs?"

Old Yandai asked suspiciously: "This...I haven't calculated this, my lord, why are you asking this?"

Haiwen said: "I plan to pay you all the hard work this year—"

"Oh, there's no need for this..."

"—then burn all poppies and seeds, and wipe them from the world."

The faces of all the people present changed. Hei Jin's eyes widened in disbelief, while Old Cigarette showed a strange expression that was not a smile, and said, "I heard that right, my lord? What did you just say? Burn it?"

Haiwen said: "I will explain this matter to you slowly. Simply put, this kind of tobacco is too toxic and addictive. If it spreads, it will greatly harm the society. We can't earn this dirty money. I It must be eliminated."

Old Yandai was dumbfounded, and he waited for seven or eight seconds before he murmured: "You crazy." Then Hei Jin jumped up and shouted: "You crazy Earl, you don't want to destroy my field!"

As soon as he had an attack, Smiley Cat and Mirsalu also stood up immediately. Smiley Cat stepped on the stool, while Mirsalu jumped onto the table, and the master and apprentice drew out eight knives in total.Hei Jin on the opposite side frowned and frowned angrily, and had no choice but to sit back.

Hei Jin asked Hai Wen: "What's so bad about addiction? How can you sell money if you are not addicted?"

Haiwen looked at him and said, "Did you smoke it yourself?"

"We both smoked." Hei Jin said looking at the old pipe.The old cigarette nodded and said, "That is indeed a good cigarette, my lord."

Haven asked Smiley Cat and Mirsalu: "Have you smoked just now?" Both Fat Cat and Little Mir shook their heads.

Fortunately, I told them, Hai Wen thought.At the very beginning, Haven had told Smiley Cat and Mirsalu not to smoke, but at that time, Haven only thought it was ordinary tobacco, and didn't think it was poppy.

"This smoke is too harmful to the body. I will not allow this thing to spread on my land. I must burn him. I am sorry for your loss."

Hei Jin shouted: "But you agreed with us to grow tobacco at the beginning!"

Haiwen was indeed at a loss for this matter, but he couldn't let tons of drugs spread out just because of his own face.He thought to himself: Losing credibility is a matter for me alone, but if it spreads, it will harm the whole world.If you want to be scolded, I will carry it alone.

So he explained: "I didn't expect you to grow such a 'destructive' commodity, and I'm sorry for that. So I will compensate you for the year's loss. You make an offer."

"Give me 1 gold coins and I will forgive you!" Hei Jin roared angrily.

Haiwen narrowed his eyes and said, "I am seriously negotiating with you, Your Excellency Heijin, please let go of your emotions. Seeds, land, and commissions are not worth [-] gold coins when multiplied by ten times."

"I can't buy a hundred thousand dollars of hard work!" The alchemist slapped the table hysterically, "I don't sleep, I am upside down day and night, and I run around the fields all day. What am I doing? My achievements, my masterpieces, You just burned my ten acres of gold? You-"

"Black gold!" Old Yandai held down the irascible alchemist and said, "Calm down first, let me talk to you, we are business partners, there is no need to fight each other."

Hei Jin took a few breaths and said, "Okay, then tell me."

The old pipe stood up and said, "Master Haiwen, I can understand your thoughts. If according to what you said, this thing is harmful and charming, then it really shouldn't grow in ours."

"Cigarette bag!" Hei Jin shouted.

"Don't worry," the old cigarette waved his hand at him, then looked at Haiwen with a smile on his face, and said, "My lord, how about this, let's continue planting in this land, and then we don't smoke or buy tobacco when it comes out. , sell them all outside," he showed the cunning of a profiteer, "let's sell to the northerners and the southern slave traders, harming them and making money from them at the same time, don't you think so?"

The smiling cat clapped its hands and said with a smile, "I think this is fine!" Hei Jin also nodded.

However, Hai Wen said: "You don't understand what I mean, Hari Wuhan, I want this kind of flower to disappear in this world. No one is allowed to sell it, no one is allowed to buy it."

Hei Jin sneered, and Old Cigarette's face also darkened. He smiled dryly and said, "Well then, we won't plant it here anymore. When the fruits are ripe, we will take them and leave here, and then the matter Just leave it alone. In this way, we don’t want any commission, just let us take all these grasses, flowers, and fruits away.”

"No." Haven said.

drug money three

drug money three

Old Cigarette's face tensed, "My lord, do you still want me to pay you back?"

"I'll pay you, and then burn these things, drugs, opium, must disappear from this world, there is no room for negotiation!"

Both Hei Jin and Lao Yandai were speechless, and the businessman trembled with anger.At this time, Smiley Cat suddenly grabbed Haiwen and said, "My lord, this is too much." He whispered, "Look, we don't use it ourselves, so we won't let others use it? Besides, it's not very good to sell it to the north." Okay? Sooner or later we will go to war with them, we can use this thing to wear down their national power!"

"I think Uncle Cat is right." Mirsalu also echoed, "Father, we should discuss this matter."

Haiwen didn't expect that both his brother and daughter raised objections. He was stunned for a moment, and then he realized: This is our ideological contradiction.

"You two come out with me first, I have something to say." Hai Wen said.

So Hai Wen took them outside.

The three of them came to the back of the hall of the Yizheng Hall. Without outsiders, they stopped putting on airs.The smiling cat scolded: "My lord, you are so heartless, what a great opportunity! Not only can you make a lot of money, but you can also harm the northerners. With this, our chances of winning the war will increase by [-]%! I really don't understand what you are thinking !"

Hai Wen shook his head and said, "This thing is too powerful, Smiley Cat, listen to me, I am here to liberate the people, not to poison them."

The smiling cat cried, "But that's the enemy!"

"The people in the northern border are not! Those slaves, farmers, and other poor people, all those who are exploited and oppressed, can become our comrades. Why did I poison them for a small profit?"

The smiling cat sneered and said, "You are not satisfied in the Gulf, do you still want to liberate the whole world?"

"I just want to liberate the world!" he said firmly. "I must liberate the world. I want to abolish slavery and establish more just laws. For this, I am willing to fight to the death."

The smiling cat said angrily: "But we are short of money, my lord! Without money, we have not liberated anyone! Now you can't even take down the Gulf, what are you talking about in the north? Maybe the little trident turned around after the battle , we will be wiped out by him. My lord, let’s be realistic, let’s talk about living first.”

Hai Wen said: "Smiley Cat, I am more realistic than you."

The smiling cat spat and said, "You are fucking nonsense!"

Mirsalu grabbed the sleeves of the two and told them to calm down.Haiwen smiled at her, and then said to Smiley Cat: "I'm not kidding, Smiley Cat, I just see the problem deeper and farther than you. This is... determined by some objective reason."

Smiley Cat clenched its fists angrily, "You fucking..." At this time, Mirsalu held him down, and then said to Haven, "Dad, since you said 'reality', tell me what you said Let's say 'reality'."

"I was just about to talk." Haven nodded, "Spike, since I can't convince you morally, then I will convince you with naked interests. My next words will be very cruel and very realistic , you have to listen carefully."

The smiling cat flicked his face, "Say it."

Haiwen said: "Have you ever thought about it, assuming we get through this difficulty by selling opium to the northerners, what will happen next?"

The smiling face cat folded his arms and said, "It's not good! It's just that people in the north will become poorer and we will become richer."

Haven said, "The whole world will be poor."

The smiling cat said: "If we don't sell our land, we will not be poor, we will only be rich."

"Okay, naive idea, let me take a step back and tell you, if we are the only ones selling cigarettes in the world, and we don't buy cigarettes ourselves, and no one secretly buys them, but just sell them outside, then what will happen? .”

"What will happen?"

"We'll be poor too, and we'll get beaten."

The smiling cat laughed and said, "I am rich but he is poor. What are they going to do to beat me?"

Haiwen shook his head and said, "We are not as rich as you imagined, and the enemy is not as poor as you imagined. The money of the landlord class will not change greatly because of buying and selling tobacco. It is just that a few opportunistic tobacco merchants have become richer."

Haiwen pondered for a while, sorted out his thoughts, and then he said slowly: "Selling opium cigarettes can only squeeze the money of the poor, because it is impossible for this cigarette to be priced so high that ordinary people cannot afford it, otherwise it will not be able to occupy the market and spread widely. But If ordinary people can afford it, then this thing is not painful to the wallets of nobles. Suppose a village has a hundred poor households and one noble household. If the whole village buys cigarettes, they only sell one hundred and one cigarettes. Earn a hundred gold for the poor, one gold for the rich, cigarettes are not easy to keep, rich businessmen consume it, but don't keep it. In the end, we are still exploiting the hard-earned money of the poor, and we will become our enemies. We will not be able to unite The poor have become their sworn enemies."

"This..." Smiley Cat was speechless for a while, while Mirsalu nodded silently and listened carefully.

Haiwen continued: "Farmers exploit them, and we exploit them too. In the end, what do the poor have left? How much money do they have? What's more, smokers are sick and unable to work. If they come and go, they have even less money. At that time, if the tobacco merchants want to sell cigarettes again, they will have to reduce the price. If the price is reduced, the cigarettes will be worthless. At the same time, there will be countless people growing tobacco, the tobacco fields will crowd out the farmland, and the tobacco farmers will replace the grain farmers. In the end, there will be more tobacco and more people. Less money, less money in the hands of people! After ten years of living like this, the smoke will flood, no one will plow the fields, no one will grow food, poverty and hunger will eat up this land, and it will eat up the people. Not a single bone left! At that time, landlords could not collect rent, and cigarette sellers could not make any money.”

Smiley Cat thought for a long time, and his expression became serious. He raised his head and said to Hai Wen: "But gold doesn't disappear in thin air, and it ends up in our pockets, right? The poor are the northerners, aren't they?" us."

"Is it a good thing that we are the only ones with money in the world?"

"Of course..." Ranger froze.

"Smiley cat, remember, the rich don't fight wars, but the poor fight wars! The poorer you are, the more you know how to fight! If the North is poor, the Western Regions are poor, and the South is poor, they will come and eat us in the end, and let the whole world cleanse us once and for all. In the end, the money will become weapons and military expenses, and then the war will cause the productivity to continue to decline, and no one will cultivate the land, and the conscription will completely collapse the production system. At that time, even if we have gold, we can still What did you buy?"

"Gold... as long as we have enough gold, we will be able to buy it."

"But there's nothing for you to buy!" Haiwen laughed, "In the end, gold isn't gold anymore, it's just a piece of shiny shit."

drug money four

drug money four

The smiling cat looked blank, and said, "I didn't expect this."

Haven said: "Gold is precious because it can buy things, but if the entire economic system is destroyed, then gold will really 'disappear'. You remember, Smiley Cat, Big Smoke, this thing not only Destroying morality and law, it is still destroying production, destroying economic order, and destroying all rules! So I must destroy him, this is for the sake of all mankind, I must do this.”

"I understand my lord." Smiley Cat nodded and said, "Burn these flowers. I support you."

"Mirsalu, what about you?"

Mirsalu bowed and said, "I don't know much, but I think what you said is right. I want to learn more from you later, Dad."

"I'll teach you when I have time, Mir, go back now."

Haiwen returned to the conference room, and reiterated his original words to those two people, saying that there was no room for negotiation on this matter.In the end, Haiwen compensated them with a small bag of gold coins, and then asked Smiley Cat to lead someone to burn the tobacco field.During this period, Hai Wen placed Lao Yandai and Hei Jin under house arrest and asked them to leave after seven days.

This request annoyed Heijin.The alchemist lost his temper and drew his sword at Haiwen.As a result, he was subdued by Smiley Cat and Mirsalu.

Afterwards, Haiwen issued an announcement in Yema Town, calling all those who had smoked opium to come to the Yizheng Hall to report.Haven gave them lessons about the dangers of smoking, and then began a half-year detoxification.

The next morning, the tobacco fields were all burned, and the fire burned all day long, and it was not gradually extinguished until night.Then Haiwen asked Smiley Cat to destroy all of Heijin's tobacco-making equipment and materials.Haiwen thought to himself: I am very sorry for this matter, but there is nothing I can do about it.If I am soft-hearted for a while and let the poppy spread, it will be a disaster for thousands of years.

On the first day, Smiley Cat got everything done.He found Haiwen and said, "My lord, the fields were burned, the laboratories were smashed, and all relevant materials were destroyed."

"Well done," said Haven.

The smiling cat asked: "What about the black gold and the old pipe?"

"They didn't commit a crime, I will let them go," Haven said.

"But once they leave Mustang Town, they will definitely continue to grow this kind of tobacco. My lord, everything you have done will be in vain."

Haiwen was silent, what the smiling cat was talking about was also what he had been thinking about. He had imagined this possibility—he could confiscate the experimental equipment, burn all the seeds, and even force the two of them to swear that they would never touch opium again. But these two must have a way to recreate this kind of thing.They have taken drugs, they are addicted, even if they have not taken drugs, they can't refuse the temptation of huge profits, and they will go down this old road anyway.

The smiling cat said: "If you want me to say it, I will kill them with a knife, so as to avoid future troubles."

Hai Wen shook his head and said: "There is no relevant provision in the law now, and the two of them don't know the seriousness of the matter at all. I can't kill people casually."

"But he will certainly continue to study poppies after he is out, and perhaps even worse, my lord, this kind of kindness is not to be tolerated."

Haiwen also understands this, but he can't kill two innocent people.After thinking about it for a long time, he decided to send Hei Jin and Lao Cigarette to drug rehabilitation.One is to let them understand the dangers of this thing, and the other is for their own good.

Let's see in half a year. If these two people change their appearance, then let them go. If they are stubborn, then they can only...

Haven handed over the matter to Fandry, and the next day, he gave a lesson on anti-drugs to the people of Mustang Town.Haven hated such evil things as drugs, and he absolutely did not allow them to spread in this world.In the afternoon, according to Haiwen's order, Van Derley started compulsory detoxification for drug addicts.He sent these people to work in a farm, and used physical labor, compulsory detention and psychological counseling to help them quit drug addiction.Due to his lack of experience and knowledge of drugs, Haven can only say that this is a kind of "wicked magic", so as to make people awed by it.

After arranging the matter properly, Haiwen set off for Pinewood Castle.This trip was a waste of time. He thought he could solve some financial problems by relying on the tobacco business, but he didn't expect that he didn't make any money, and even lost a bag of gold.However, it is okay to lose money, but not to lose one's heart. You can never make money from selling opium. If you make money by selling opium, what will it be?Dumping opium to natives who don't know what drugs are, is that fucking human?

All in all, the problem of money after this trip has not been resolved.This is an important matter. Although Xiawan has borne the military expenses of the reinforcements for three months, Haiwen's own soldiers are all waiting for him to pay.Haiwen distributed the land to the militia and peasants instead of military pay, but although the land was distributed, the money was not enough.The land cannot be realized immediately, and it takes time for the seeds to grow.Haiwen's current financial gap is too big, and it is really impossible to plug the hole.

After the land reform in Wild Horse Town, it became a lot richer, but it couldn't rely on Wild Horse Town alone to support Pinewood Castle.Moreover, Yema Town also has its own financial expenditures. According to Haven's plan, this year, Yema Town will complete the agricultural facilities such as canals, overturned cars, and terraces in the eastern region in the spring, and will also build a factory in the salt lake to make salt, and build a logging camp in the south. quarry.In addition, Yema Town also had to recruit soldiers, which cost money; in terms of people's livelihood, blacksmith shops, hospitals, post stations, and schools had to be built.

Moreover, Haiwen had to be wary of changes in the battle situation. If one day the Gulf was defeated and the northerners invaded, what would he do?It's all on his shoulders, and no one can share his worries.Sleeping and dreaming these few days, his mind is full of "money, money, money". Hai Wen wished he could have a magic touch to turn everything into gold.

Tonight, Hai Wen was working in Pinewood Castle, looking at the piles of red bills, he felt devastated.He thought to himself: It seems that I have to go to the Reach to borrow money. I hope those nobles can help me out for the sake of the old king.

At this time, Manager Nader pushed the door and entered.The butler said, "My lord, news from Xiawan."

Hai Wen raised his head and said, "What's the matter?"