Chapter 00217: The New Challenge Before Us
# The New Challenge Before Us
Chapter 217
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 217: The New Challenge Before Us
The two brothers, He Lingchuan, were exceptions; He Chunhua did not give them any.
Wu Shaoyi picked up the bamboo tube and shook it; something inside rattled, solid, not small in quantity but not large in size.
"What is this?"
"Open it and see for yourself."
As everyone pulled out the stopper, a strong smell of tobacco wafted out.
Wu Shaoyi exclaimed in delight, "Chewing tobacco?"
He casually took a piece, put it in his mouth, and chewed slowly while nodding, "Good, good, truly top quality! Thank you, my lord."
He Yue could only watch with envy.
"Father, where did this come from?"
"This is a specialty of Beijia Country, sent all the way from the north."
He Chunhua casually took a piece, not chewing it but playing with it in his hand.
"Dayuan has an agreement with Beijia Country to purchase many items from there every year, and chewing tobacco is just one of them. Now that the border has been pushed to Xiazhou, the task of sending people to the border trade market to receive goods will fall on my shoulders. Additionally, I just learned today that the official post in Xiazhou must prioritize providing services to Beijia merchants; if the Beijia merchant convoy is robbed, local officials must investigate thoroughly."
The main function of the official post is still to serve messengers; without their provision of drinking water, food, and horse changes, how could there be urgent deliveries over hundreds of miles? However, it is surprising that Dayuan has an agreement with Beijia, and the official post cannot refuse Beijia merchant convoys' accommodation.
Such privileges are not something the common people of our country can enjoy.
Zeng Feixiong, who did not smoke, frowned.
"What's so difficult about making chewing tobacco? Why not use our own production?" Transporting it over such a long distance is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and costly.
"The products from Beijia are of the best quality and the most popular. Look, this bamboo tube is made from the unique green jade bamboo of Beijia's southern region, its color like jade, and when struck, it sounds like gold. Some even use it to make musical instruments; the outer layer is only very thin, making it lightweight."
He weighed the green jade bamboo tube in his hand.
"Now look at the chewing tobacco produced in Dayuan; what do they use to contain it, and what quality is it, hmm?"
Zeng Feixiong had nothing to say.
"In the past few days in Shihuan, I saw the nobles socializing using Beijia's chewing tobacco, which shows its popularity. They use bamboo tubes that are painted and gilded for play. Wealthy merchants in the common folk also use Beijia chewing tobacco to entertain guests, showcasing their financial power."
He Chunhua weighed the bamboo tube again.
"Such a small tube sells for one tael of silver, and the further south you go, the more expensive it becomes. If it’s gilded chewing tobacco, the quality is even higher, and the price doubles."
"This tobacco leaf has no impurities, it is first smoked then roasted, and soaked in honey; the taste is truly excellent!" Wu Shaoyi was quite intoxicated.
"What I used to chew was nothing but dog crap!"
He used to be a commoner; what good tobacco could he have chewed?
He Lingchuan felt a stir in his heart.
This green jade bamboo tube looked very familiar; wasn’t this what he received as a military merit reward when he was in the Panlong Dreamland!
In Panlong City, there were people who specifically collected these bamboo tubes, processing them for sale.
Indeed, the chewing tobacco distributed by the Pengcheng Office in Panlong City differs slightly in color and shape from what everyone had in their hands, but that was a product from over a hundred years ago.
It is reasonable to assume that the craftsmanship has improved over such a long time.
This means that the chewing tobacco given to soldiers in Panlong City is also produced in Beijia!
Cough, it seems he heard Hu Min mention that Panlong City also trades with Beijia Country, and the annual trade volume is not small.
This country's foreign trade is indeed quite developed.
He Chunhua sighed again.
"Of course, the most important reason is that Dayuan has no choice but to buy. The quantity and price of purchases each year are written in the agreement. In recent years, due to natural disasters and man-made calamities, our purchases from Beijia Country have decreased, and payments have not been timely, which has greatly dissatisfied Beijia Country."
If the real He Da Shao were here, he might directly ask, "Why must we buy?"
So He Lingchuan did the same.
He Chunhua did not answer directly, remaining silent for a moment before saying, "It accepted the tribute from Xunzhou Mu Nianzanli, which is a warning to us."
He coughed again.
"After we arrive in Xiazhou, we will face a more complex new situation, and this is one of the troubles. I say this so that you all have a baseline understanding. No matter how we fight with Nian Zhanli, we cannot easily offend Beijia. Now, let’s get down to business."
He nodded to the steward, Old Mo, who immediately went out and soon returned with someone.
"Master, the money steward has arrived."
Then Old Mo closed the window and stepped out to guard the door for everyone.
After all, this is a post station, and one must be wary of eavesdroppers.
He Chunhua pointed to the newcomer dressed as a merchant.
"This is the money steward sent by the Zhu family to manage business in Dunyu. He has been in Dunyu for twenty years and is more familiar with the capital of Xiazhou than the locals."
"Master He is overpraising me."
The money steward bowed to everyone, smiling amiably.
"I have met all the esteemed lords."
"Old Zhu, at my request, specifically sent him from Dunyu to explain the situation in the city to us. So that you won’t be unfamiliar with the place after entering the city with me."
After returning Zhu Xiuer to Zhu Xiyan, he established a pure friendship with the Zhu family.
The Zhu family also has business in Xiazhou and looks forward to the new steward being able to assist them, so they naturally try to meet his reasonable requests.
He nodded to the money steward.
"Speak, how is the situation on the northern front, and what about inside Dunyu?"
The money steward began to narrate.
He Lingchuan already knew that the situation on the northern front was not good, but he did not expect it to be this dire.
The former General of the Northern Expedition, Nian Zhanli, had defected to the northern demon country with the entire Xunzhou, so the northern front line had suddenly shifted from Xunzhou to the eastern part of Haozhou.
It should be noted that Xunzhou had been the border for many years, but the troops in Haozhou had little combat experience, resulting in a feeble resistance that was broken by Nian Zhanli in less than a month.
With Nian Zhanli advancing like a hot knife through butter, the battlefield unsurprisingly pressed down to the southern part of Haozhou.
There, it was already approaching the border between Haozhou and Xiazhou.
As long as Nian Zhanli took the last three cities in southern Haozhou, he could bring the flames of war to Xiazhou, which is He Chunhua's territory.
Nian Zhanli should also know about He Chunhua's transfer to the northern border.
This former border general was probably eager to take revenge for his son’s death, launching wave after wave of assaults on southern Haozhou.
Currently, the one holding the line in southern Haozhou is General Zhao Pan, dispatched by the royal court, who reportedly has had victories and defeats against Nian Zhanli, temporarily holding back the latter's southward advance.
There is no doubt that Zhao Pan needs strong support from the rear.
There is no doubt that he faces the same troubles as Ke Jihai: a lack of logistics and shortages in supplies.
And Xiazhou is right behind the battlefield, bearing the responsibility of providing a large portion of military supplies, as the royal court has repeatedly ordered Xiazhou to cooperate fully.
"My family does fabric business in Dunyu, originally specializing in silk and fur. After the war broke out in the north, Dunyu had to coordinate the entire city's fabric merchants to transport cotton and rush to produce cotton clothing, and my family is no exception."
The money steward sighed.
"General Zhao has been urging for thirty thousand winter garments before winter, but now that spring snow is almost melting, only over seven thousand cotton garments have been prepared for the front line, which is less than forty percent."
He Yue frowned.
"The materials for war cannot all be sourced from Xiazhou, right?"
"Xiazhou is closest to the front line, and the assigned tasks are the heaviest. Just for cotton garments, over three thousand pieces have been assigned. We have put in a lot of effort to complete the task, yet we still had to pay out of our own pockets for the goods and labor, and the government has not reimbursed us."
The money steward continued, "Lack of clothing is one thing, but the shortage of grain is far more severe. I heard that the front line has already suffered a camp explosion, with soldiers starving and suffering, taking the opportunity to defect to the enemy camp at night."
With morale unstable, how can the war be fought properly?
Mo Zhe Jingxuan asked him, "Wasn't Xiazhou experiencing good weather and abundant harvests in the past two years?"
"Yes, that's why the royal court ordered Xiazhou to send grain to the front line to alleviate the urgent situation. But after sending grain three times, the largest granary in Dunyu suddenly caught fire."
"I heard in Shihuan that hundreds of thousands of stones of grain were reduced to ashes."
He Chunhua's expression was emotionless.
"After the king received the news, he was so furious that he smashed two cups and couldn't sleep all night."
Grain that could feed the front line for a year and a half was burned away in one fire; who wouldn’t feel heartbroken?
In the basin beside them were several frozen autumn pears.
He Lingchuan casually picked one up, only to hear the money steward chuckle.
"How could it be hundreds of thousands of stones? Ninety percent of that was empty; I have reliable news that there were at most only twenty thousand stones inside."
"At most!" He raised two fingers.
"No one knows the exact amount, not even the one in charge of the grain. After this big fire, it was all leveled."
Zeng Feixiong couldn't help but ask, "Where did the grain go?"
"In recent years, the grain in Dunyu's granary has rarely been used, so every year after the autumn harvest, it would just hang an empty account in the granary and be sold off privately, even exchanging old grain for newly stored grain."
The money steward said, "Last year, no one expected General Nian would defect, nor did anyone expect Xiazhou would suddenly turn into the front line, so much grain was sold to Xunzhou, and the granary is severely depleted."
Several generals were furious.
"So, they are eating our rice and killing our people?"
"Who is the mastermind?" He Lingchuan bit into the pear.
"There must be someone leading this, right? This has been going on for more than a year or two, not just once or twice, right?"
"Dunyu is the ancestral home of the Minister of War, Li Dushan. The locals have a large business, and the government does not dare to provoke them easily."
The money steward swallowed.
"The largest grain merchant in Xiazhou, Baoxiang, is owned by someone surnamed Liu, but the actual controller is the Li family."
"They initially did not dare to be too blatant; exchanging accounts for grain was just a small operation. However, after several years of peace, others became envious and began to imitate them. As everyone came to exchange, the accounts became more and more chaotic, and the stock in the granary became less and less."
"This grain official should be killed."
Wu Shaoyi's tone was cold.
"Heh, still the familiar tricks, still the familiar taste."
He used to serve under Hong Xiangqian, and wasn't the righteous army just rising in rebellion due to several years of floods and droughts in the south, along with the royal court's heavy taxation? They had seen these chaotic situations, these tricks, these schemes many times in the south.
Now he had transformed into the official army, yet the corruption in reality remained.
He Chunhua nodded.
As the saying goes, "A small sign can indicate a larger problem," especially since Dunyu's old accounts have already turned into a big hole.
(End of Chapter)