After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times

After sending off Qiao Jin, Zhao Hanzhang began to convene Zhao Ming and other court ministers to discuss the next major issue.

She wanted to open the mountains and lakes to the people.

Theoretically, the mountains, rivers, and mineral resources of this world belong to the state. Private individuals cannot mine, hunt, fish, or do many things.

Of course, these bans are currently of no use; people go into the mountains as they wish, enter the waters as they please, and there’s no shortage of private mining.

However, lifting the bans would be somewhat different; it’s a signal that the people can profit from the mountains and lakes to gain the capital to survive.

Zhao Hanzhang, by taking from the rich to aid the poor, coughed, was nurturing the poor by the wealthy, amassing a large amount of money. She hadn’t expected that so many wealthy people existed in Yu State, with substantial assets. It appears Yu State has developed well in recent years.

After Zu Ti and Beigong Chun successively sent a batch of money to Chen County, Zhao Hanzhang ordered that local areas no longer need to send the calculation money they receive to Chen County or Luoyang, but rather store it in local warehouses for government expenses.

As the order was issued, large quantities of grain from Jingzhou and Yangzhou successively arrived in Chen County, and Zhao Hanzhang began distributing grain to various regions: one batch to Youzhou, one to Bingzhou, one to Jizhou, and also to Qingzhou and Guangzhou. Yongzhou has suffered disasters for years, and cannibalism continues, so more must be sent there.

The newly arrived grain was allocated by Zhao Hanzhang within less than a day, not a grain left in Yu State. Even so, it was still a drop in the bucket, so Zhao Hanzhang continued to have Wang Si Niang and Yuan Li source more grain and also urged Zhao Hu.

Zhao Hu’s caravan was already collecting grain throughout the Jiangnan countryside. They initially wanted to directly approach grain merchants, but apart from a few scattered grain merchants, most claimed they had no grain left.

The caravan manager had no choice but to go from household to household in the countryside, which was slower but yielded good results. He could buy grain by offering slightly higher prices than the grain merchants.

The small farmers liked to sell grain to them. In their eyes, there was no distinction between local grain merchants and northern ones; whoever offered more money would win the deal.

Thus, Zhao’s managers discovered a secret. Buying grain in the countryside was indeed scattered and laborious, but the prices were low, saving much effort.

In the city, dealing with grain merchants meant flying the big flag, entertaining with drinks, building connections, and offering high prices. The costs were unbelievably high, although still lower than the current northern grain prices. However, going to the countryside was even cheaper now.

Consequently, the manager indulged in countryside grain acquisition and simply told his subordinates, "I leave this task to you, no matter the purchase price, we account it as two hundred and forty cents per shi of wheat, and two hundred and eighty cents per shi of millet."

The subordinates’ eyes lit up, meaning as long as they bought wheat and millet at lower prices, they could earn the difference. Currently, local grain merchants’ prices for wheat fluctuated between one hundred and eighty to two hundred cents, and for millet between two hundred and twenty to two hundred and fifty cents.

They could profit by offering slightly higher prices than local grain merchants yet keeping within the manager’s purchase price limits.

So the subordinates quickly calculated and took the funds to go out.

However, they dared not go alone to purchase; they went in teams of several or even a dozen. Otherwise, if they encountered robbers, being outsiders, they’d be helpless.

But the small farmers in the villages didn’t have much grain to sell. They had to keep enough for their family’s consumption and pay grain taxes, and only the remainder could be exchanged for Copper Coins.

Thus, three days later, after sorting out a batch of grain and sending it off, the manager found no more grain in the nearby villages to buy, so he turned his attention to the local gentry and landlords.

But after experiencing the benefits of cutting out the middlemen, he was reluctant to incur high costs to purchase grain, so he whispered a few words to the remaining subordinates and sent them off immediately. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

A Chun was a seventeen-year-old youth from Sanjiang Village. Wearing straw sandals, he ran swiftly across the ridges back home, excitedly telling his parents, "Father, Mother, those grain-buying merchants from the north are here again."

His father frowned, expressionless, "We have no grain to sell."

"I know, I want to go with them to buy grain," A Chun said. "They said as long as I go with them to transport and load goods, I can earn ten cents a day. If I introduce sellers to them, for every shi of grain received, I’ll get two more cents. Father, I want to go with them."

The man frowned, saying nothing.

A Chun’s mother worriedly asked, "Could it be a scam?"

A Chun became anxious, eagerly saying, "I have only one life. What can they swindle from us? Father, let me go. Elder Brother just got married, and there is enough land to farm. I’m useless staying at home. I don’t want to end up like Uncle Twelve at the end of the village."

Uncle Twelve, the youngest child in his family, was twenty-three before his family could no longer afford a wife for him after arranging marriages for several elder brothers. With his brothers insisting on dividing the family, he ended up living at the end of the village, alone and unmarried all his life due to poverty, leading a hard life.

A Chun sensed it. At seventeen, his family couldn’t afford matchmaking expenses for him.

Moreover, as the saying goes, a good man doesn’t eat the divided family meal. He wanted to make his way on his own, living without relying on his parents or elder brothers.

A Chun’s father remained silent for a long time but eventually nodded in agreement. He turned to A Chun’s mother, saying, "Make him some pancakes to take along."

A Chun was overjoyed, cheering softly.

His father said, "Currently, except for the gentry’s and landlord’s homes, no villages have surplus grain to sell. If you want grain, go to the gentry’s and landlord’s stewards."

A Chun understood, as they often worked for the nearby landlords and were familiar with their stewards, even knowing several masters.

These small landlords liked to hoard some grain, selling to local merchants but not in a rush. After all, after the autumn harvest, grain prices drop, and they often sell in batches, sometimes holding until March or April for higher prices in lean seasons.

So A Chun took Zhao’s servants to such small landlords.

Some stewards, looking at the prices, gave them a portion, while others refused to sell no matter what. Yet the servants were unfazed, brandishing Zhao Hanzhang’s name.

In consideration of Zhao Hanzhang and the court, many small landlords were willing to sell grain to them, some even hoping Zhao’s servants could introduce them to Zhao’s managers.

Who is Zhao Hanzhang? The leading minister of Jin State now. Tying connections with their family’s managers... the thought alone made one smile in their dreams.

A Chun, familiarizing with the villages, decided after collecting the third batch of grain to follow Zhao’s servants to Yu State for a look. Many local youths shared his ambitions, oh, they were recruited to guide Zhao’s servants.

Young and strong, they do more work for less pay. The monthly wages for ten-plus people added up to less than hosting the city’s grain shop managers for a meal. Zhao’s servants were satisfied with this, as were Zhao’s managers, and A Chun and others, who earned money and found better paths.