novelSusiti Chapter 64 We're rich! We're rich!
Chapter 64 We're rich! We're rich!
Perhaps it was because there was little human activity in winter, or perhaps the winter temperature was not suitable for the spread of disease, or perhaps the will of the soldiers and civilians in the city moved the heavens.
A few days after the Great Zhou Black Spear Dragon Cavalry occupied Haizhou City, the soldiers and civilians in the city breathed a sigh of relief, as the widespread symptoms of colds did not develop into a plague.
Commander Han Kun, who had been on edge, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Haizhou was his greatest achievement in this southward campaign. If the Black Spear Dragon Cavalry were to suffer annihilation due to the epidemic and be forced to withdraw, it would truly be a source of immense frustration for him.
Every cloud has a silver lining. Having successfully weathered the potential plague crisis, the commander of Handu has recently received nothing but good news. One piece of news is that following the launch of the city-wide free medical treatment campaign, the hostility of the people of Haizhou towards Zhou Jun has greatly decreased, and relations between the military and the people have become much more harmonious, earning him a significant boost in goodwill.
When the able-bodied men from Haizhou, who had been forcibly conscripted by the Yu Kingdom, returned to Haizhou City one after another, Han Kun kept his promise and paid them their wages for the past few days. The reputation of the Zhou people for being trustworthy and paying their wages spread throughout the urban and rural areas of Haizhou as the able-bodied men were dismissed and returned home. This truly earned him another wave of goodwill among the people of Haizhou.
The direct result of the two positive impressions was that the market in Haizhou became visibly prosperous. Many people wanted to take the opportunity to go to the market before the New Year and enjoy this precious New Year amidst the chaos of war.
As a result, Zhou Jun found it much easier to purchase and collect supplies in the market. The soldiers' meals not only included a significant increase in the amount of meat and fish, but also a supply of various precious pickled vegetables.
One reason was probably the winter weather; the infection and mortality rates among the brothers wounded in the previous battles had decreased significantly. Within a few days, more than a thousand people walked out of the barracks where the military doctors were stationed and were taken back by their respective units to recuperate.
The remaining thousand-plus people with more serious injuries also survived. Han Kun was considering whether to arrange for them to cross the river to the north and be transported back to the Bianliang camp ahead of schedule for the New Year once their recovery was better.
Mentioning the New Year gave Han Kun a headache again. The Haizhou treasury and the various precious metals and valuables seized from the logistics fleet after the annihilation of the Fuhai Longxiang army totaled 500,000 strings of copper coins. This money was just enough to pay for the pensions and recuperation allowances for each of the wounded and injured soldiers, averaging 100 strings per person.
But what the soldiers were really hoping for was the bonus after the victory. The New Year was approaching, and their brothers had suffered over half their casualties in the two months they'd been with him, shedding blood and tears. They desperately needed a substantial reward, and if possible, Han Kun hoped to get over a million strings of cash. Otherwise, he would have to distribute local goods from Haizhou to the soldiers as payment.
Fortunately, the Black Spear Dragon Cavalry had two officers from Huai, Li Xuan and Li Ji. They were recruiting local powerful families from all over Huaidong to deal with the various captured supplies and goods stored in the Haizhou warehouse through various channels.
Sure enough, speak of the devil and he appears. Just as he was thinking about this, the God of Wealth, Li Xuan, came to report to Han Kun with some materials.
As a junior officer, Li Xuan stood at attention and saluted Han Kun, not daring to be the slightest bit careless.
As a benefactor, Li Xuan received exceptional treatment from Han Kun. Han Kun, all smiles, stepped forward from his seat to personally offer Li Xuan a seat and tea, all with one purpose—to make money.
After pouring tea for Li Xuan, Han Kun looked at Li Xuan's reserved expression and said with a smile, "Drink tea, drink tea. Things always have to be done step by step. It won't take up much time. You've been running around the city and its outskirts these past few days, working very hard. The entire army has seen it and appreciates your efforts."
Li Xuan quickly replied modestly, "It's all thanks to the strong support of the Commander-in-Chief. Our Black Spear Dragon Cavalry Army has maintained strict discipline and committed no offenses against the people, earning us a great reputation. That's why the people of Haizhou have been so kind to us, allowing us to achieve initial success in just ten days."
Han Kun was overjoyed and said:
"Oh, tell me in detail. Well, I won't lie to you, these past few days I've been looking at all that miscellaneous stuff in the Haizhou warehouse, and I've thought several times about distributing it directly to each of the brothers. Although it's not as convenient as money, I don't think everyone would mind these valuable items."
However, it would be better if the goods could be exchanged for money, making it easier to explain to the soldiers. Otherwise, with so many goods of all sizes, the value is hard to calculate, and transporting them would be a huge hassle. We can't very well hire over ten thousand laborers from Haizhou to help transport them back to Bianjing during the retreat. If Ziyu can resolve this worry of mine, it would be a great help to me.”
Li Xuan feigned a look of trepidation and said:
"Lord Commander, your words are too kind. Since joining the camp, I have received your constant care and assistance. A few days ago, when my men were homesick, you, without hesitation, allocated funds from the treasury to be the first to distribute pensions and recuperation allowances to our brothers from Huai, instructing us to ensure they were delivered to the homes of our fallen comrades before the New Year. With such great kindness from you, Lord Commander, if I do not do my utmost to raise these funds, how can I have the face to remain in the army?"
Han Kun was secretly pleased but also a little embarrassed. He waved his hand and said, "Oh, it's just a small matter, no need to mention it again. The soldiers from Huai have made great contributions this time, and they're right here on our doorstep, so what's wrong with giving them some care? Don't feel burdened, just do what you're supposed to do. Tell me quickly how much money you've raised?" Mentioning money, the impatient Han Du Yu Hou stopped talking about tea.
Li Xuan reported: "These days, it's the merchants and local tycoons from Haizhou who are making purchases. Because of our army's reputation for compassion, these people know what's good for them, so through their purchases, a total of 320,000 strings of cash have been raised."
Han Kun frowned and said, "Only this much? Our Black Spear Dragon Cavalry Army has over seven thousand men in total. How much would that be per person?"
Li Xuan said, "If we calculate it equally, I can get forty-five strings of cash."
Han Kun did the math. Each soldier's monthly salary was one string of cash. The forty-five strings of cash weren't a reward from the imperial court, but rather an internal bonus for the Black Spear Dragon Cavalry. Looking at it this way, the soldiers could receive forty-five months' salary, which seemed quite high.
But things couldn't be done that way. Because the officers' salaries were clearly not a fixed amount. Take Li Xuan as an example; he not only had a family to support, but also twenty personal guards and twenty private retainers to pay for.
The imperial court paid his personal guards one string of cash per month, the standard rate for regular troops. However, it was clear these men couldn't be paid the wages of ordinary soldiers. By convention, personal guards and private retainers were paid twice the regular army salary. Therefore, Li Xuan had to set aside sixty strings of cash each month to support forty personal guards. Forty-five strings of cash were a drop in the ocean for Li Xuan, utterly insignificant.
Li Xuan was merely a fledgling military family. Commander Han Kun, on the other hand, had a personal guard and retinue of four hundred men, and brought two hundred with him on this southern expedition. As a high-ranking general, he had already achieved a significant rotation of his personal guard and retinue. Therefore, the financial needs of high-ranking officers were even more extravagant.
Han Kun understood the situation in Haizhou; the city's total population was less than 30,000. The entire Haizhou region had a population of about 40,000 to 50,000. It was already quite an achievement for Li Xuan to have managed to plunder 320,000 strings of cash. He could only sigh, feeling that he had made a losing proposition.
Li Xuan understood that the money was insufficient, so he came up with another plan to raise funds: "Lord Commander, please calm your anger. There is another way, but it requires your approval."
Han Kun paused for a moment and asked, "Ziyu, don't be shy, just say what you want to say."
Li Xuan said in a low voice, "Now I've sold out of salt, firewood, spices, seafood, and even iron ingots. But we still have something priceless that we can use to raise money. If we sell it well, it could be a deal worth at least a million strings of cash."
Han Kun took a deep breath. Judging from Li Xuan's tone, this deal was going to be tricky.
So what if it's a difficult situation? Han Kun, an old military commander, has dealt with countless difficult cases in his life. He quickly asked, "How much for a million strings of cash? We can't just kidnap the people of Haizhou and sell them off, can we? The officials certainly won't let us off the hook."
Li Xuan said, half-laughing and half-crying, "Lord Du is overthinking it. What slave trader in the world can buy tens of thousands of people in one go? I was referring to the weapons, armor, and other military supplies captured. In addition to the weapons and equipment of 20,000 enemy soldiers, we also captured 30 ships of weapons and equipment transported by Yu State to replenish the Chu State army. I have seen them, and they are all good stuff."
After capturing Haizhou, a key town of the Yu Kingdom, its warehouses were piled high with weapons, armor, bows, and crossbows. My men told me that these items are highly sought-after commodities in Japan and Korea, and can only be traded for gold and silver.
Han Kun said with great disappointment, "Don't even think about it. In chaotic times, armor and weapons are extremely precious. To be honest, our Black Spear Dragon Cavalry will be expanding after we return to the capital. When the court established the Imperial Guard in May, they gave us old armor that had been passed down for a hundred years to make up the numbers, which barely met the initial expansion needs."
As you know, our Black Spear Dragon Cavalry Army should have been a force of 15,000 men, but currently, excluding our personal guards, we only have 6,000 regular soldiers. The biggest problem is the lack of armor. This time, we captured no less than 30,000 sets of Southern army armor, and I intend to take this opportunity to make some trouble and complete our organization.
"Only by using these weapons and armor as leverage can we have the capital to cause trouble. If we sell them all to you, forget about expanding our army; we might even lose our heads. Besides, what kind of godforsaken places are Japan and Korea? Who knows how long it would take to travel there and back. No matter how high the price, we can't sell them."
Li Xuan certainly knew that selling over 30,000 sets of armor was quite astonishing.
He whispered, "General, it's no coincidence that I dare to say this. I have a plan. We're not going to sell all the armor and weapons; they can't afford that many anyway. A well-made infantry spear costs twenty strings of cash, and a full set of iron armor costs nearly two hundred strings. If we sell three or four thousand sets, we'll have six or seven hundred thousand strings of cash in our pockets."
Well, the threshold for committing a crime is simply how great the temptation is. Upon hearing Li Xuan's expense report, Han Kun forgot all about executions and the imperial court. He whispered, "Six or seven hundred thousand strings of cash isn't a small sum. You can't even squeeze that much money out of Haizhou itself. Where are you going to find so many Korean and Japanese merchants? Do they even have money?"
Li Xuan chuckled and said, "General, you may not know this, but Haizhou may seem remote, but it is actually a very famous port north of the Yangtze River. Five hundred years ago, Korean and Japanese merchants and nobles settled there."
Even now, despite the chaos of war, several major trading posts still exist. Thousands of Koreans have even settled locally, forming several Korean villages and towns, all relying on trade between Haeju and Korea for their livelihood.
The fleets of Goryeo and Japan have always spent the winter in Haizhou, waiting for the trade winds to arrive in spring before heading north to return to Goryeo and Japan with favorable winds. Our offensive this time was too swift; not a single one of them escaped.
I used to do salt business with them and had some dealings with them. Yesterday, I went out of the city to their private port and saw that more than two hundred large ships built by the Yu Kingdom with a capacity of a thousand shi were sitting in the port with their sails down, unable to move.
The people of Haizhou had no money, but these merchants came to Yu Kingdom to do business, bringing in entire ships full of goods. It would be easy for them to scrape together hundreds of thousands of strings of cash.
Han Kun was overjoyed, slapped his thigh, stood up, and said, "They really do have hundreds of thousands of strings of cash?"
Li Xuan thought Han Kun was interested and smiled, "Since we only do business once a year, we naturally need to have both money and goods ready."
Han Kun laughed heartily, but his expression turned cold as he laughed: "Then what's the point of talking? Just send troops to wipe them out, kill these people, and all the money will be ours."
Li Xuan was quite shocked. Han Kun, this old military leader, was really difficult to deal with, sometimes looking kind and gentle and other times looking fierce and menacing.
Li Xuan certainly couldn't allow Han Kun to exterminate them. He was from Guangling, and from Guangling to Haizhou, countless people from Huaidong were engaged in maritime trade or supplied goods for it. If these Koreans and Japanese were slaughtered by the Zhou army, perhaps no foreign merchants would dare to do business in Huaidong for at least twenty years. Such indiscriminate slaughter would severely damage the interests of the Huai people.
Han Kun is from Hebei; he can easily make a quick buck and leave, but Li Xuan can't afford to take the blame. Besides, the newly recruited retainers are merchants, and Li Xuan is counting on them to make money using Haizhou as a trading center to help him raise troops and develop his business. How can he let Han Kun ruin that?
Li Xuan had to patiently advise, "Commander, these Koreans and Japanese are influential figures. If you can trade for money, don't easily mess with them. It's not worth it."
Han Kun frowned and said, "They're doing business in Yu, and they're foreigners. What can they do to me?"
Li Xuan explained in a low voice:
"These people are not just merchants, but also envoys of the state. Every year when they come to Yu, they have to present a letter of state to the Yu court. In fact, Goryeo and Wa also send letters of state to our dynasty, having long established a tributary relationship, and the emperor issues an edict every year to bestow titles and rewards upon them."
Therefore, if we were to harm these people, they would surely report us to Bianliang. Our dynasty is newly established, and it is precisely at this time that we need tribute from all nations to confirm our legitimacy. The Black Spear Dragon Cavalry cannot bear the charge of slaughtering envoys.”
Han Kun was startled upon hearing this, and sighed heavily. After considering the pros and cons, he felt that a direct massacre would indeed cause trouble.
He said with regret, "I knew it. It's not easy to get rich these days. I should have realized it sooner. Anyone who dares to travel so far with so much money must have powerful backers. Damn it, government envoys doing business, do you think these merchant fleets aren't backed by their own government?"
Li Xuan nodded and said, "This is a tiny country; how could it have many big merchants? They all pool the resources of the entire nation to go out to trade under the king's instructions, and the money they earn is enough for the royal family and a few nobles to live comfortably for a year. So if something really happens and it's fatal, they will definitely go to Bianliang to seek justice, and the emperor will not break his promise or lose face for the sake of us."
Han Kun thought for a moment and said, "Four thousand sets. I've recorded in the books that these armors were damaged or sunk in battle. We need to find reliable people to reassemble them. Fine, use our personal guards. I'll give you all two hundred of my personal guards. Get it done as soon as possible."
Li Xuan nodded in agreement: "Please rest assured, Commander. I will make the arrangements immediately."
So, in the Korean village outside Haizhou, Zheng Hui and his group, along with Han Kun and Li Xuan's retainers, went to their elders to discuss matters.
"Four thousand sets of armor? You must be joking?" the Korean elder asked in surprise.
Zheng Hui was in high spirits. Following high-ranking military figures was indeed exciting, and his first move was to get involved in arms trading. He was surrounded by officers and soldiers from the military (Zheng Hui couldn't distinguish between regular soldiers and personal guards), who were both protecting and monitoring him. But Zheng Hui was fearless and had no regrets; his only concern was that these people wouldn't report his outstanding abilities.
Zheng Hui said with a smile, "We're old acquaintances. To be honest, I've now attached myself to a military family in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and I'm here on my lord's orders to discuss things with you. Given your limited resources, I'll be going to the Japanese village to talk to them later."
Listen carefully. This arms and armor transaction involves four thousand sets. Each set includes full armor, a spear, a sword, a longbow, and one hundred arrows. The starting price is two hundred strings of cash per set. It will be auctioned off in batches of one hundred sets. Merchants from your village and Japanese merchants all have the opportunity to bid. Each person will bid once secretly, and the highest bidder wins.
Upon hearing this, the Goryeo elders and merchants inwardly cursed Zheng Hui as a cunning merchant. However, they were powerless; Goryeo and Japan were weak nations, producing less than two thousand sets of armor annually. Besides, were the armor used by the regular ironclad armies of the powerful Central Plains nations the same as theirs?
Take full-body iron armor for example. If you really put in a lot of effort to make it, you could only manage to produce four or five hundred sets a year, which would be considered quite good. In fact, many things cannot be accomplished simply by putting in a lot of effort. For example, the difference in craftsmanship and protection level is purely a technical gap, and no matter how hard you try, you can't compete with it.
Goryeo and Japan were neighbors. At the level of ordinary people, neighborly relations are very reliable community relationships; they often work together, celebrate together, and look out for each other. However, at the national level, "neighbor" is not a positive term. Japan and Goryeo were no exception; they were somewhat at odds and fought several major wars throughout history.
So the Korean elder quickly said, "Sir Zheng, why bother going to the Japanese? We Koreans are wealthy. Please name your price, sir, and we'll buy all four thousand sets, isn't that enough?"
Zheng Hui smiled and said, "Elder, it's best to follow the rules in many things. Only with rules can things be orderly. Four thousand sets of armor is no small number, so you'd better not be too greedy."
Before arriving, Li Xuan had given Zheng Hui some instructions. Four thousand sets of standard Central Plains armor were enough to arm an elite army. If they were all given to one country, such as Goryeo, perhaps in a couple of years no more Japanese merchants would come to Haizhou.
The entire sea route would be controlled by Goryeo. Neither Li Xuan, Zheng Hui, nor any of the other people in Huaidong who did maritime business wanted Goryeo to control the trade hegemony. Business should be done slowly and steadily; a business that leads to ruin should not be done.
Therefore, this clandestine auction was not only to obtain much-needed funds for the Black Spear Dragon Army, but also to maintain a balance between the Koreans and the Japanese, preventing it from becoming a one-off deal.
The Korean elders probably understood Zheng Hui's or the people behind him's thoughts, but they sighed inwardly and tacitly agreed to share this good thing with the Japanese.
A while later, in the Japanese village, the elders made the same request, and arrogantly declared that they were willing to pay with gold. Japan is rich in gold, and the ratio of gold, silver, and copper in their country is different from that in the Central Plains. For them, paying for goods with gold seemed to be more profitable.
Two days later, the four thousand sets of armor were successfully and secretly sold. When Li Xuan received payment, he specified that it all had to be in gold and silver. When transported to Bianliang, a place lacking gold and silver, the equivalent value in copper coins would be as high as 1.1 million strings of cash. Li Xuan instantly became a veritable god of wealth.
Han Kun was overjoyed. According to the rules, he would receive one-tenth of the money, which was 110,000 strings of cash—a windfall!
Having made a fortune, Han Kun gave Li Xuan gold and silver worth 10,000 strings of cash in one go. As someone who could procure money for the army, the several high-ranking officers in the army who knew about it had no objections.
Everyone is hoping that Li Xuan will continue his efforts and lead them to make more money.
After the officers finished dividing the spoils, the soldiers were pleasantly surprised to find that they had been given gold and silver coins this time; it was the first time they had ever received gold and silver.
The dazzling and alluring luster of gold and silver ignited morale. They happily took the money and saved it for the New Year. For the first time ever, they did not spend the money recklessly. Almost every soldier carefully guarded the coins, intending to take the rare gold and silver coins back to their hometowns to show their families what they had seen.
Just as the Black Spear Dragon Cavalry was basking in the joy of their newfound wealth and peacefully preparing for the New Year, a messenger dispatched from Guo Rong's headquarters delivered the latest military intelligence and orders to Haizhou. Guo Rong specifically requested that Li Xuan immediately proceed to Shouzhou, as there was an emergency requiring his presence.