novelSusiti Chapter 7: Ordering Armaments and Organizing Regiments
Chapter 7: Ordering Armaments and Organizing Regiments
Li Xuan walked out of the militia camp with a pained expression, holding a hot meat bun in his hand, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Fortunately, this time there was a subsidy of forty strings of cash (sixty strings belonged to Li Yuantu and his son), so his little piggy bank could still hold out. Thinking about how several teenagers of his age would come to take advantage of him next year, Li Xuan, feeling a great sense of crisis, wished he could fly to Hailing immediately to haul salt.
When he arrived at the dock, Li Ji was already waiting for him on the boat.
Li Ji was probably starving, as he was munching on the flatbread that Li Xuan and Li Chang had brought that morning. Li Chang took out a roast goose he had brought from Guangling City and gave it to him. Li Hua had treated the two brothers to lunch. Knowing that they were going to rush back to Lijia Town to pick up Li Ji in the afternoon, Li Hua specially asked someone to pack a few hearty dishes for them to take to Li Ji.
After greeting Li Ji, Li Xuan took out some meat buns and said to Li Chang, "Brother Chang, let's divide these meat buns and eat them quickly before going home."
Li Chang excitedly accepted the meat bun; poor thing, at his age, he could never get enough to eat. While eating, he asked Li Xuan, "Brother Xuan, was the captain easy to talk to? Did the deal go through?"
Li Xuan held up the meat bun and said, "This is what the captain gave me. Even if the negotiations fail, you still want to eat meat buns?"
Li Ji asked curiously, "What kind of business are you in?"
Li Xuan explained it to him, which made Li Ji clamor for a lance. Li Xuan told him impatiently that he should practice his riding skills first, and that he would find him a lance when he had mastered riding and archery.
As dusk fell on another day, the three brothers, bickering and arguing, sailed away from the Lijia Town dock and gradually disappeared into the twilight.
-----------------
When Li Xuan and his brothers arrived home, Li Yuantu and his carriage had not yet returned. Since the three brothers had eaten along the way, their dinner consisted of a simple pot of millet porridge with salted dried radish, which they ate heartily until their stomachs were full.
Perhaps encouraged by the blackfish trade, the next day, when Li Xuan took Li Ji to school, Li Chang did not go with him. Instead, he sailed into the harbor alone to cast his nets, wanting to try again.
The honest Li Chang understood how difficult it would be for Li Xuan to build a retinue with his limited resources. He felt he couldn't just stand by and do nothing. If they could catch a blackfish every few days, and each blackfish could be sold for a hundred strings of cash, Li Xuan's financial burden would surely be relieved.
So how could he catch a blackfish every few days? Li Chang didn't know any other way, but he felt that as long as he put in the effort and went to the river every day, the Dragon King would definitely help him.
With Li Ji enrolled in the clan school, Li Xuan also had something to do. Seeing that this year's harvest was in sight, Li Xuan approached a clansman in Lijia Town who was involved in grain trading.
As per tradition, after paying taxes on the fragrant rice from Li Xuan's family, any remaining rice would be sold here. The clan members who were grain merchants would buy it with cash or exchange it for old or coarse grains.
After some haggling, Li Xuan sold his fragrant rice for thirty coins per jin. If he had ten thousand jin of fragrant rice left over this year, he would earn three hundred guan, accounting for sixty to seventy percent of his annual income. Undoubtedly, the yield of the fragrant rice would determine Li Xuan's quality of life in the coming year.
In the evening, Li Yuantu finally returned. He brought good news and bad news. The bad news was that Li Xuan's memorial tablet wasn't big enough, and only three of Li Yuantu's good brothers' children would come to stay with him next year.
The good news is that these three friends are equipped with three weapons (long and short weapons + bow and arrow), and also have their own horses. They are highly skilled and capable men, each comparable to Li Chang.
Li Yuantu said to Li Xuan, "According to the rules, those who come empty-handed will receive two shi of rice and grain per month, money and silk as gifts during festivals, and their spoils will be distributed fairly. Those who come with weapons and horses will receive an extra two hundred wen per month, plus one shi of beans or millet to feed their horses."
Li Xuan closed his eyes and calculated that each of his three fully armed companions would need 24 shi of rice and wheat, 5 guan of cash, and 12 shi of horse feed per year.
Li Xuan breathed a sigh of relief and said to Li Yuantu, "Thank goodness, thanks to my uncle's help in managing things, the three of us are just right. If there were a few more people, the family would almost not have been able to make ends meet."
Li Yuantu nodded and said, "We still need to build houses for them. I've agreed with my brothers that we'll call the children over after the spring planting next year. After the autumn harvest, we'll take advantage of the off-season to invite the villagers to come and build houses. It's also a good time for you to get married soon, so building a house will make it easier for matchmakers to find partners."
Li Xuan said somewhat embarrassedly, "I was just about to tell my uncle. The day before yesterday, we went to Guangling and sold some black carp, earning a total of one hundred strings of cash. Uncle Li Hua in the city helped us exchange it for twelve catties of silver. The black carp was caught by Chang Ge, and I'm giving you one hundred taels for Chang Ge's wedding. Since we're building a house, why don't we build it together? Chang Ge will also be going on blind dates next year, and haven't you been waiting to hold your grandson for a long time?"
Li Yuantu said unhappily, "Brother Xuan, it's a good thing that you're sharing some money out of brotherhood, and I won't say anything. Anyway, Brother Chang is sticking with you for life. But how can a blackfish be worth a hundred strings of cash? Do you think I've never seen the wealth of Guangling City?"
Li Xuan quickly recounted the whole story to Li Yuantu.
Li Yuantu remained silent after hearing this, then sneered, "Heh, the descendants of Xu Tazi are nothing special. They've become so extravagant in just a few years, how are they any different from the young Prince Yang back then? Even so, there's no need to give them sixty strings of cash, you're in dire need of money right now."
Li Xuan said solemnly, "Throughout history, those who have achieved great things have all given away their wealth to reward their soldiers, thus gaining their utmost loyalty and achieving success. Since the wealth is given away and the people return, it doesn't matter who it's given to. This wealth came from Brother Chang, so it would be right for me to give it all to him. Keeping 40% for myself would already be extremely shameful. Uncle, please don't refuse."
Unable to refuse, and remembering that he indeed needed money urgently to prepare for Li Chang's wedding next year, the usually tough man had no choice but to accept one hundred taels of silver with a guilty conscience. It must be said, silver was indeed more valuable than copper coins, and the gleam of its silver light brightened his mood.
As the two were talking, Li Chang entered dejectedly, carrying a large basket. Li Yuantu shouted, "Why aren't you home so late? Where have you been lying around like a corpse? Didn't you see Brother Xuan working so hard for the family?"
Li Xuan quickly stopped Li Yuantu. Li Chang said aggrievedly, "Brother Xuan has no money. I thought since black carp are so valuable, wouldn't it be easy to make a fortune by catching more? After Brother Xuan left, I set sail and cast my nets. I was busy all day but didn't catch any black carp. I only caught a few dozen silver carp and crucian carp. Even if I sold them all day, I wouldn't make much money."
Li Xuan chuckled, "Brother, you're really extravagant. Dozens of big fish can be sold in Guangling City for a string of cash or two. You can earn a string of cash a day, two or three hundred a year. If that's worthless, what is valuable?"
Li Chang muttered, "How can they withstand such fishing? The nets can't keep up either." But after Li Xuan's encouragement, his mood improved: "I'll go again tomorrow, I have to find the blackfish."
Li Xuan chuckled and said, "Let's leave some seeds for the Dragon King. We still need his blessing to sail our boat. Tomorrow you'll come with me to Yingxun Bridge to sell fish again."