Chapter 105: Return to Chu Family Town

Chu Wencai nodded. "I see. Forgive me, Earl, I should not have questioned you. However, this has given me a rather immature idea. Since evaporating the water in the barrel is too slow, could we perhaps place linen cloth inside the barrel, and then dry the cloth to obtain the sulfur?"

Chu Yun laughed. "Haha, that is a fine idea. I am very pleased that you thought of this; you deserve a reward. I shall grant you one tael of silver."

He was genuinely pleased, for the technology was so primitive that many necessities were missing, and even pipes had to be fashioned from bamboo. He had been forced to construct this simple sulfur purification apparatus based solely on memory, and some of the finer details had indeed escaped him.

He then turned to the crowd and said, "I am glad that you obey my orders and trust me, but if there is something I have done incorrectly, you may submit suggestions to your superiors, who will then report them to me. If the suggestion is sound, I shall reward you."

Having already established his authority, he knew it was time to encourage feedback. Left unchecked, his own singular judgment could allow a minor issue to spiral into an uncontrollable disaster.

Acting on Chu Wencai’s suggestion, Chu Yun summoned the craftsmen to improve the cooling barrels. He had them weave a barrel-shaped cage out of bamboo strips, line it with ten layers of linen, and submerge it into the cooling apparatus. This allowed a large volume of the sulfur-rich water to adhere to the linen, significantly reducing the amount of liquid in the barrel and making the subsequent evaporation process much easier.

Chu Yun kept the group at the barren hills refining sulfur until the fifty large stones of grain provided by Lin Yang had dwindled to only five. Only then did he order the remaining sulfur-rich ore to be packed into sacks and return to Chu Family Town.

The residents of Chu Family Town were astonished to see Chu Yun return with over three hundred people after an absence of nearly two months, and they began to whisper among themselves.

"Why have they returned? Did Earl Chu fail to secure the western fief?"

"Or perhaps the war in the west has grown so fierce that they were forced to retreat?"

"Now that they are back, should we return the land they vacated, or continue to farm it ourselves?"

Just then, the town headman approached Chu Yun. Upon seeing him, he bowed deeply and said, "My Lord Earl, you have finally returned to Chu Family Town. I have been waiting for you for a long time, and I was quite worried when you did not appear."

Chu Yun asked, "What is the matter, Headman?"

The headman shook his head. "Nothing is wrong. I am simply glad to see you well. The King of Qi has sent the official documents granting you Chu Family Town. I present them to you now; you are officially the lord of this town."

He handed Chu Yun a bamboo scroll. Chu Yun took it and scanned the contents. It detailed the situation in Chu Family Town, as well as the rights and obligations he held toward the Great Qi Dynasty. To Chu Yun’s delight, the King of Qi, seeking to win his favor, had granted him a ten-year tax exemption, citing the town's barren soil and lack of resources.

Those who had chosen not to follow Chu Yun were shocked to hear that he had become the lord of the town, and they were filled with anxiety.

"Now that Chu Yun is the lord, will he redistribute the land and give the fertile fields to those who left with him? What shall we do?"

"I regret not leaving with him. I heard those who followed him ate three meals a day for the last two months! Some of them have gained ten pounds and look much sturdier than before. If he gives them the fertile land now, they will have it so easy!"

"Indeed, Chu Yun is truly a man of god! He said Boss Wu would not live long, and he died just days later. Following him would have been wise, but alas, there is no medicine for regret."

The more they thought, the more they worried. However, Chu Yun then had Huang Daniu assist him in using a megaphone to address the crowd: "Upon becoming the lord of Chu Family Town, I shall not redistribute the land you currently till."

Upon hearing this, the residents who had stayed behind were stunned, then burst into joy, kneeling on the ground to thank him. Those who had left with Chu Yun were not particularly upset, as most of them had been refugees fleeing the war, and the land they had originally worked was remote and infertile. For them, nothing had changed. Moreover, they had lived well under Chu Yun for the past two months; the sixty guards, in particular, had been fed meat during their daily training, living quite comfortably.

Chu Yun continued, "As for those who have spent the last two months with me, the sixty guards will continue their training, and the thirty nurses will continue their studies. The rest will work with me, with the same provisions as before."

The crowd erupted in cheers. The ones who had stayed behind, previously so relieved, now found themselves filled with envy and regret.

Chu Yun then went to the town’s grain shop, purchased a large quantity of supplies, and sent Chen Ping on horseback to South Huai Town to have Lin Yang deliver more grain. Thus, the three hundred followers resumed their life as they had in South Huai Town—eating three meals a day, with guards training and workers laboring—only now, their duties included the new task of refining sulfur.