kvmb Chapter 501 Original Intention
Chapter 501 Original Intention
The powerful families of Jinhuai and Jin'an County are like bloodsuckers clinging to the people of Jin'an County, firmly controlling the entire county, ruthlessly plundering the people's property, and drawing nourishment from the people to sustain themselves.
When Zhang Zong arrived in Jin'an County, he saw a lifeless and miserable county town. Every person he saw looked like a machine that only knew how to work, with no smiles on their faces, only numbness.
It's hard for others to imagine Zhang Zong's feelings at that time. He had once aspired to pass the imperial examinations and serve as an official to benefit the people, but what he witnessed was the harm that officials inflicted on the common people...
A clean prefect for three years, accumulating 100,000 taels of silver.
Jin Huai was not a prefect, but the wealth he amassed was no less than 100,000.
According to information Zhang Zong obtained from other martial artists in Jin'an County, Jin Huai had amassed no less than 20 taels of silver during his three years as magistrate of Jin'an County!
This only considers the floating wealth. If we include the mansion where Jin Huai lives and the valuable antiques and paintings in his house, the wealth that Jin Huai has amassed is probably no less than 500,000 taels!
The people of Jin'an County were living in misery, but Jin Huai lived a life of extreme extravagance. His residence had no fewer than 200 servants, and his wives and concubines numbered as many as 20. The cost of one of Jin Huai's meals was equivalent to the annual income of an average family.
It's no exaggeration to say that even ordinary powerful figures in the capital might not live as comfortably as Jin Huai.
Through Jin Huai, Zhang Zong saw the harm a corrupt official inflicts on the people, and also how difficult it is for ordinary people to survive.
They work hard, asking for nothing more than three meals a day, yet even this simple request is extremely difficult for them.
The taxes levied by the imperial court, and the exploitation by corrupt officials and landlords, weighed heavily on them, making it almost impossible for them to breathe.
From that moment on, Zhang Zong's thoughts changed slightly.
He was disheartened after failing the imperial examination and only wanted to practice martial arts and become a carefree martial artist. However, after witnessing what happened in Jin'an County, his thoughts changed.
He once practiced martial arts only to have the power to protect himself, so that he could travel freely throughout the land without dying in a foreign land.
But after seeing the current situation in Jin'an County, Zhang Zong felt that he could do something more meaningful, such as: upholding justice and eliminating all injustices in the world!
So, on a dark and stormy night, Zhang Zong sneaked into Jin Huai's residence, stabbed Jin Huai to death in his sleep on his bed, and then left.
The next day, when the news of Jin Huai's death spread, the people of Jin'an County cheered with joy. Zhang Zong, who was mixed in with the crowd, listened to the cheers of the people and a smile unconsciously appeared on his lips.
He can no longer benefit the people through literature, but learning martial arts... might just be able to benefit the people.
With this idea in mind, Zhang Zong settled down in Jin'an County and went to a remote village called Zhangshan Village.
There, Zhang Zong founded the Sword-Wielding Sect. Initially, the Sword-Wielding Sect only taught martial arts to the common people, hoping that they would have some ability to resist landlords and corrupt officials who exploited them.
But soon, Zhang Zong realized that his idea was somewhat unrealistic.
Because learning martial arts requires resources, and apart from a few exceptionally talented individuals, the resources required for most people to learn martial arts are enormous. Zhang Zong's wealth was simply insufficient to support so many villagers learning martial arts.
Although the people who followed Zhang Zong in learning martial arts worked very hard and persevered through gritted teeth, talent is ultimately unreasonable. Without talent and resources, no matter how hard you try, it is difficult to achieve anything in martial arts!
Realizing this, Zhang Zong immediately changed his mind, shifting from teaching martial arts to all the common people to only teaching a few exceptionally talented disciples.
The villagers of Zhangshan Village had no complaints about this; on the contrary, they were filled with gratitude.
Although they were ignorant, they were not unreasonable people. They knew that becoming a martial artist was not so easy, and besides...
Zhang Zong's arrival has already brought them many benefits.
Because of Zhang Zong's presence, the tax collectors who came to their village to collect taxes became much more restrained and stopped exploiting them wantonly, which made the villagers very satisfied.
As for practicing martial arts...
Zhang Zong isn't completely abstaining from accepting disciples. If a child from any family has good talent, Zhang Zong can still take them under his wing, allowing them to change their social class and become a martial artist.
In this way, Zhang Zong and the Sword-Wielding Sect he founded took root in Zhangshan Village. He taught his disciples martial arts while also teaching the villagers to read and write. Gradually, the Sword-Wielding Sect became an integral part of Zhangshan Village.
The Sword-Wielding Sect is Zhangshan Village, and Zhangshan Village is the Sword-Wielding Sect.
To this day, the Sword Sect has been passed down for over five hundred years, making its history extremely long.
However, there have never been many true successors of the Sword Sect. The reason is obvious: the Sword Sect, located in a remote village like Zhangshan Village, obviously cannot obtain resources as well as martial arts schools and families in some bustling cities.
Therefore, the successors of the Sword-Wielding Sect are valued for their quality rather than their quantity, with only one to three successors. At this moment, Jiang Changye, who is sitting next to Chen Dao, is the twentieth successor of the Sword-Wielding Sect and the current sect leader.
As for Xue Qi and Jiang Weiyu, they are the twenty-first generation successors. After Jiang Changye's death, the two will automatically be promoted to sect leaders of the Zhangjian Sect and be responsible for managing everything in the Zhangjian Sect and Zhangshan Village.
"So Brother Xue and Miss Jiang have such a background."
Chen Dao listened with a sigh. Zhang Zong, the founder of the Zhangjian Sect, could be described as an idealist. In the beginning, he was an ambitious and idealistic scholar who hoped to become an official through studying and to govern a region well.
After realizing he couldn't achieve his ideal, Zhang Zong inevitably became disheartened. He abandoned his literary pursuits for martial arts, intending only to travel the land and live a carefree life.
But when he saw the suffering of the people, Zhang Zong's long-buried chivalrous heart was awakened once again.
He no longer harbored the idea of serving the people as an official, but instead chose to teach the people martial arts so that they could resist injustice and exploitation on their own!
Throughout his life, Zhang Zong's original aspirations never changed; he was always a person who cared deeply for the common people.
Perhaps, for Zhang Zong, failing the imperial examination was not such a bad thing, because if he had passed, he would have become an official.
As for officialdom... the darkness and filth of officialdom are simply not suitable for a person like Zhang Zong with a passionate heart. In fact... once you enter officialdom, it's like entering a deep sea. Whether Zhang Zong can still maintain his original aspirations after becoming an official is still a question worth discussing.