“There’s one girl missing from the records—the youngest, about seven or eight years old, isn’t on the roster. Also, I’m not on the roster either.”

　　This explanation was acceptable to George King. While observing the scene inside the house, he replied, “Song law: trafficking girls under ten years old is a capital offense. The traffickers didn’t record the youngest girl, probably out of fear that the roster might be lost and used as evidence.

　　As for you… I heard the traffickers planned to bury you in the lotus pond tonight. You’re not worth much money, and you were about to be buried anyway, so why would they bother to record you?”

　　David Ford gazed up at the sky and answered casually, “I see, that explanation makes sense.”

　　At that moment, David Ford’s expression was very desolate.

　　George King thought he was disappointed because he couldn’t find his own background in the roster. Now, with Henry Brooks as a witness, plus a group of gentlemen and ladies out for the “Third of March” spring outing as corroboration—George King believed that the origins of this man named David FordCharles Ford were now clear: he was knocked out by traffickers, then fed knockout drugs for a month straight, which muddled his mind.

　　George King lifted his foot and walked toward the main hall, comforting David Ford as he went: “John Ford, there’s no need to worry. If you can’t remember your past in a day, just give it a few more days. Take your time recalling—one day, you’ll remember…

　　Sigh, it’s just that you were too ruthless—didn’t leave a single survivor. That trafficker leader who escaped, who knows if he’ll ever come back. With us officers coming and going, maybe that scoundrel saw from afar and has already fled. If that’s the case, I’m afraid you’ll have to rely on yourself for the rest of your life.”

　　The officers began noisily cleaning up the corpses in the courtyard, occasionally exclaiming in surprise. George King went inside to search, but Henry Brooks didn’t follow. He walked over to David Ford, looked him up and down, then grinned and asked, “John Ford, don’t worry. Now that you’ve dealt with these traffickers, the authorities will definitely give you some reward money. It’s not much, but it’ll be enough to keep you fed and clothed for a while—besides fighting, what else can you do?”

Chapter 11: Investigation Report

　　David Ford frowned. “What else can I do? …Hard to say.”

　　Young Master laughed heartily: “Is it that you know too much, so it’s hard to say, or is it that you can’t remember what you can do, so you say that? I think it’s the latter.

　　No worries, your fighting skills are already outstanding. Even if you can’t do anything else, it’s enough to make a living.”

　　Henry Brooks paused, then continued with great bravado: “I’ll hire you. From now on, you’ll follow me. Whoever I tell you to beat up, you beat up. If someone wants to hit me, you beat them up hard for me. If I want to hit someone, you beat them up even harder for me. Simple, right?—I’ll pay you three strings of cash a month. Simple enough?”

　　Three strings of cash means three thousand copper coins.

　　David Ford looked at the busy officers in the courtyard and replied absentmindedly, “Let’s talk about the future later. Once the current matters are settled, we’ll see.”

　　This was already a clear refusal, but Henry Brooks wasn’t angry. For such a terrifying person, it would be truly rare if he actually managed to hire him for three thousand coins.

　　At this moment, the officers in the courtyard were still cleaning up the corpses. George King poked his head out from the main house, constantly calling two or three officers inside to help. Those who went in soon came out beaming, and then more newcomers, full of joy, ran into the main house. Instantly, people were coming and going in front of the main house in a steady stream.

　　Henry Brooks noticed that David Ford’s attention was drawn to the officers going in and out, and he laughed, “I bet George King found the traffickers’ loot in the house, so he’s calling the officers in one by one to split the spoils—that’s nothing new. Hey, you searched the main house earlier too, why didn’t you just take something? But don’t worry, just wait—George King will give you a share later…

　　Of course, I’ll get a share too. But my family is wealthy, I don’t care about this little bit of money. You’ve completely forgotten your past, and it’ll definitely be hard for you to make a living from now on. Take my share too.”

　　It’s hard to refuse a gift, so David Ford flattered Henry Brooks in return: “Young Master is a warm-hearted person… Miss Harper as well.”

　　Oh, remember, this era is the peak of the Northern Song dynasty. The copper content of coins is high—one string is a full thousand copper coins. In a few years, paper money will start to be used, called “jiaochao.” The government’s overprinting of banknotes will cause inflation, and soon, eight hundred or even six hundred copper coins will count as a string. Later, the government will mint large coins worth ten times as much, so a hundred copper coins will be a string, and a thousand will be called a “full string.”

　　How much is a Song dynasty copper coin worth today? There doesn’t seem to be a consensus. Some people use gold as a benchmark to calculate the value, others use grain prices… but none of that really matters. People in the Song dynasty earned and spent copper coins. The feeling of spending three thousand copper coins was about the same as spending three thousand yuan today, and the price levels measured in coins were roughly similar in both eras.

　　For example: a monthly salary of three thousand—not high, not low. In the Song dynasty, a county official’s monthly salary was about five strings, and nowadays, a county-level civil servant’s monthly salary is about three thousand yuan. But as always, officials throughout history have enjoyed all sorts of extra allowances. If you only look at the salary on the payroll, there’s really no comparison.