Chapter 35

"Alright, I'll talk to everyone about it soon."

Liang Hong agreed and went out, and Zhang Han then turned his gaze to Li Yujing.

Li Yujing, the old accountant of the shop, looked at Zhang Han with some fear. Seeing Zhang Han look at him, he quickly said, "Young Master, what do you need me for?"

"Is your knowledge of the Longmen accounting method still proficient?"

"It has been a few months, so I am already quite proficient."

Zhang Han smiled and said, "The accounting offices of our fortress and the branches all need to set up accounts. General Ma and Deputy Envoy Li will both send people to check. I have promised them a 30% share, but of course, that's just to flatter them. The amount of silver is ultimately up to me, but reviewing the accounts is a troublesome matter..."

Li Yujing had already understood and quickly stood up, saying, "Please rest assured, Master. As long as you tell me how much it should be each month, no one will be able to see anything on the accounts."

"Good, good. Your son seems to be quite grown up. If you have time, bring him to the shop. Find a few clever boys to learn accounting from you, so they can take over in the future."

Li Yujing bowed even lower and replied, "Yes, everything will be done as you say."

Zhang Han smiled in satisfaction. People in this era indeed had little legal awareness. Falsifying accounts, which would be quite troublesome in the future, was just a matter of a word here, making things much easier.

...

The next morning, Zhang Han got up early. This day, he did not practice boxing. After breakfast, he went to the shop, with Zhang Chun following him. Over the past few months, this servant had become much more steady, speaking and acting more efficiently than before.

Zhang Han walked along the north street, paying special attention to the grain prices posted by the grain shops on both sides. Seeing that the prices had indeed risen significantly since last winter, he nodded to himself.

He had not sold a single grain of the rice he had collected. As Zhang Han passed by, many grain shop owners or masters looked at him curiously, wondering when Zhang Han would finally sell his grain.

It was now March, the time known as the "green-yellow gap," when wild vegetables had not yet grown, old grain had been exhausted, and new grain would not be harvested for another two months. Selling grain now, Zhang Han could make at least a 30% profit, which was not low for a commodity like grain.

As Zhang Han walked, he did not realize that someone was watching him.

Li Mingda, huddled behind the counter, had a rather gloomy look.

Last autumn and winter, everyone had hoped for a good year. After all, it was rare for the weather to be bad for several consecutive years... Who would have thought that the weather would still be bad this year!

The rain was light and did not penetrate the soil, leaving many places dry. Without water, the yield of the dry fields was very limited. In Datong, the normal yield of dry fields was between one and a half to two shi per mu, while paddy fields could yield three to four shi. With this weather, the yield would decrease by at least 30-40% per mu, making life very hard for many farmers and a good opportunity for grain merchants to make a fortune by hoarding grain and raising prices during the spring famine.

The grain price had already risen from four qian per shi to six qian, and it would likely rise further. The Fan family had been continuously transporting large amounts of grain from the south, but the grain prices in the south had also risen in the spring, limiting their profits.

The Fan family still had a large amount of grain stored in various places, but the branch in Xinping Fortress had sold all its grain. Li Mingda felt very embarrassed about this and was very dissatisfied with Zhang Han.

"Look, that's Young Master Zhang."

Zhang Han had grown taller over the past year. He had plenty of meat to eat and even kept a cow for milk, a habit rare among Han people and a source of amusement in the fortress. Combined with his daily boxing practice, he was growing quickly. To Li Mingda and his companions, the sixteen-year-old Zhang Han was already much taller than the average adult, and his build was very well-proportioned.

"Is that him?" the person next to Li Mingda said in a low voice, "He's just a half-grown kid."

Li Mingda laughed, "Old Zhou, this half-grown kid is not easy to deal with. Both you and I have suffered losses at his hands."

"My shop was practically taken from me."

"Old Zhou" was the original owner of Dongyi Shop, Zhou Bin. He was not a good-natured person. The shop's location was important, and the Fan family's caravans often stopped there to rest or change tired mules and donkeys. Zhou Bin also had other connections, so Fan Yongdou knew him and asked Li Mingda to win him over. However, the young Zhang Han, fresh out of the gate, had used a group of roughnecks to forcibly take over the shop from this old Zhou.

Li Mingda laughed, "I really didn't expect this. You, Old Zhou, have been in the business for so long and have a few capable men around you, yet you just let it happen."

"Liang Xing and Yang Qiu, those two bastards, have clearly been fighting a lot recently. I've been in the business for half my life, and I can tell that they would fight at the drop of a hat. The local garrison and the Qing army hall have both been bought off by the Zhang family. I couldn't fight back, and a hero doesn't suffer a loss in front of his enemies. If I had fought back, where would my face be?"

Li Mingda laughed, "You won't just let it go, right?"

"Of course not. We'll see how it goes. When the time comes, you, Old Li, will have to help me."

"Is that even a question?" Li Mingda gritted his teeth, "My nephew was sent away by him and hasn't come back for the New Year. My grain was bought out by him, and the grain prices have risen, making me lose face with the master. I had to bring in grain from elsewhere."

"Over a hundred thousand shi, your master Fan is truly a great merchant."

"The Fan family has been in business for many years, with assets a hundred times that of Yusheng. What is Zhang Han, a mere boy!"

Speaking of this, Li Mingda's face showed pride. The grain he had sold to Zhang Han was a small amount, and the loss was not significant, but it had damaged his pride. Now, with the spring famine, the Mongols were also likely suffering, and the grain prices would continue to rise. The Fan family's wealth was beyond imagination. In the past month, they had continuously transported grain northward, with each fortress that had a horse market receiving grain. Xinping Fortress, the largest horse market in Datong, received the most grain, with a total of 150,000 shi of rice, beans, and wheat. Selling all of it would yield a pure profit of several ten thousand. With branches from Gansu in the west to Jizhen in the east, one could imagine how much the Fan family earned in a year.

"Let's not talk too much about it." Old Zhou said coldly, "When Master Fan makes a fortune, we'll get a share. When the time comes to deal with that Zhang boy, you, Old Li, must help without hesitation."

Li Mingda actually did not want to get involved. Zhang Han had only given him a minor setback, and he had agreed to it himself. His nephew was also working for Yusheng, so he couldn't go too far. However, he knew that Old Zhou was not someone to be trifled with. After some thought, he gritted his teeth and agreed.

...

The guard at the gate was a thousand-man commander, leading a dozen family retainers and several dozen camp soldiers, patrolling the border. Zhang Han and his group did not move, only Liang Hong rode forward and handed a small package to the commander, containing several dozen taels of silver. The commander weighed it and immediately smiled, waving to Zhang Han from a distance and then signaling to let them pass.

Besides Zhang Han and his group, several small merchants with goods also left the Great Wall, and as long as they gave the patrolling soldiers a little benefit, they were ignored.

Last year, Commander Lai had executed many people, but it was more of a show. After that, things returned to normal. On the eastern side of Datong, there were no small fortresses. If there were small horse markets on the western and central sides, smuggling was even more serious.

Outside the gate was the grassland. In the future, the area outside Xinping Fortress would be farmland, but at this time, the area inside the Great Wall was for farming, and outside was for herding. The Great Wall clearly separated two distinct regions, with a noticeable change in the landscape.

Some Mongols and Han people were farming in the Ban Sheng area, but they did not know how to farm. They used horses to plow, only creating shallow furrows on the surface, and after planting seeds, they left them alone, resulting in a lower yield than herding.

There were no roads on the grassland, only some narrow paths near the Great Wall, which were not very clear.

The weather in March was still cold, with only withered grass roots and a few green sprouts. Looking far into the distance, the vast, open land seemed to be covered with a light green carpet, but the base was still withered.

In the summer, the grass would grow taller than a person, and the land would be entirely green. The sky would be a deep blue, and clusters of wild flowers would add to the beautiful scenery. In the grass, there would be large groups of wild wolves, yellow sheep, rabbits, and foxes. The Mongols would hunt continuously in the summer, but they could not deplete the animals, and they would trade large amounts of fur to the Ming Dynasty.

"Master, the Shoukou Yi have arrived."

Because the time and place were pre-arranged, and there was only one exit from Xinping Fortress, the Shoukou Yi leader, Yinding Taiji, had already brought his people over.

Besides the Ming side having Shoukou commanders and border troops, according to the agreement between the Ming and Mongol sides, the Mongols also had Shoukou leaders outside the gate. This system had been in place for many years, effectively protecting both sides' interests and reducing friction.

These days, Mongol leaders were not as valuable. A tribe could have several. The current Shunyi King of Tumet was Busitu, the great-grandson of Altan Khan. The legendary woman, San Niangzi, who had married three generations of Shunyi Kings, had passed away a few years ago, leaving behind a legend.

"Han boy, you finally came."

Yinding's face was smiling, and he was accompanied by a dozen soldiers in cotton armor. This might be all the military force he had in his tribe, but with these guards and his status as a leader, Yinding was still satisfied.

Zhang Han also smiled and rode forward to meet him.

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