Chapter 43

At this moment, Yueyang was unaware that someone was plotting against him. He was busy training the more than a thousand newly recruited soldiers.

With the backing of the powerful productivity of modern society, he was not concerned about the hundreds of salt loads that had been burned. He quickly ordered the reconstruction of the two salt shops that had been destroyed and soon reopened them.

Due to the high quality and low price of the salt sold by the Yue family's shops, a craze for buying soon swept through the city. To prevent other salt merchants from buying up his stock and reselling it elsewhere, Yueyang implemented a purchase limit, stipulating that no one could buy more than two pounds of salt per day. This temporarily suppressed the buying frenzy.

While Yueyang was busy, he did not forget to take revenge on the Wang family. He dispatched Hu Laosan to lead several hundred militia soldiers in a multi-pronged attack on the Wang family's various businesses. Whether it was arson or murder, he carried out these actions without any psychological burden. In less than twenty days, over twenty of the Wang family's shops were burned down, three trade caravans were robbed, and hundreds of servants and guards were killed. Yueyang's actions did not escape the notice of the gentry and wealthy households in Yingzhou City, who were all shocked into silence by his疯狂行为.

By November, the Wang family could no longer hold on. Especially after Wang Shoucheng received a letter from his eldest son, and saw that the governor, Xu Dingchen, seemed to be favoring Yueyang, he finally realized that if the Wang family continued to resist, they would face ruin. Recognizing this, Wang Shoucheng made the difficult decision to cut his losses. He quickly sold the Wang family's assets in Shanxi at a low price and moved the entire family to Nanjing. This news shocked all the gentry and wealthy households in Yingzhou City, who were stunned by Yueyang's ruthlessness. The Wang family, once a powerful force in Yingzhou City, had been forced to leave by this young man. It was clear that they would have to be cautious when dealing with him in the future.

Regardless of others' fear of Yueyang, he, being familiar with history, knew that a true era of chaos was about to begin. He had to seize every opportunity to strengthen his own power, or he would be overwhelmed by the tide of history. Therefore, he felt no psychological pressure about driving the Wang family away. Today, he sought out someone again.

In a spacious hall in the eastern district of Yingzhou City, Yueyang's voice echoed.

"Lord Li, it's been a while since we last met. You seem to have gained some weight!" In the spacious hall, Yueyang sat in the main seat, holding a teacup and smiling at Li Yuan.

Li Yuan looked at Yueyang helplessly, a trace of frustration on his face. To be honest, he really did not want to deal with this smiling young man. The commotion he had caused in recent times was too great, to the point of being terrifying. Killing hundreds of the Wang family's guards and forcing them to leave the city, while it was true that the Wang family had broken the rules first, the methods Yueyang used afterward shocked everyone who knew the details.

Seeing Li Yuan's silence, Yueyang continued, "Lord Li, to be honest, I have a small favor to ask of you."

Li Yuan said weakly, "Go on, what is it this time?"

Yueyang smiled and said, "Lord Li, I've heard that the Li family is very familiar with the Tartars beyond the border, and that your family controls about eighty percent of the fur trade in Yingzhou. Is that true?"

"Hmm, what do you want?" Upon hearing this, Li Yuan, who had been listless, straightened up, his eyes flashing with caution. "Nephew Yue, you've already driven the Wang family out of Yingzhou and taken over their salt business. Do you now want to extend your reach into the fur trade?"

"Oh, Lord Li, you're exaggerating!" Yueyang waved his hand. "Rest assured, I have no interest in your fur trade. I have another matter to discuss with you, and I hope you will be honest with me."

"Go on." Li Yuan's caution only grew stronger. He now understood that Yueyang was a ruthless and unpredictable person, whose methods could not be measured by conventional standards.

"Lord Li, I just want to ask if there is any way to obtain a large number of warhorses."

"Warhorses? A large number?" Li Yuan's tense nerves slowly relaxed. "How many warhorses do you want?"

"Let's start with this number!" Yueyang calmly held up his hand.

"Five hundred?" Li Yuan frowned, then asked curiously, "How many people are in your militia? Do you really need so many warhorses?"

"Lord Li, you're wrong. The number I mentioned is not five hundred, but five thousand!" Yueyang held up his hand again, waving it in front of Li Yuan.

"Clang!" Li Yuan's teacup fell to the ground, making a crisp sound. He exclaimed, "Are you crazy? Five thousand warhorses? Are you planning to rebel? Do you know how much silver that would cost?"

"I don't know!" Yueyang shook his head honestly.

"At least sixty to seventy taels of silver per horse! And you might not even be able to buy them!" Li Yuan said irritably. "If you buy a dozen or so, they might sell to you, but if you try to buy thousands, anyone would know what you're up to. Unless the Mongols are all fools, you won't be able to buy them. Even if the Mongols were willing to sell, you wouldn't be able to transport them in, do you think the border guards are fools?"

"Sixty to seventy taels per horse?" Yueyang calculated in his mind. If he bought five thousand horses, it would cost over 300,000 taels of silver. At this rate, he couldn't afford it right now.

Thinking about this, Yueyang said, "Lord Li, since five thousand horses are too many, can we start with a thousand?"

Li Yuan looked at Yueyang as if he were a monster and said helplessly, "Nephew Yue, I really don't understand why you need so many horses. Do you know how much food and silver it takes to maintain a cavalry unit? Are you not afraid that it will bankrupt the Yue family?"

Some might say, "What's so hard about raising horses? Just feed them grass, hay, and maybe some wheat straw. Do they need to eat like humans?" But those who say this don't understand horses. While ordinary horses can be raised this way, warhorses cannot. Warhorses must be well-fed and well-cared for, or they won't have the strength to train or fight. Warhorses are typically fed a mix of beans, wheat, and bran, and sometimes a bit of vegetable oil is added to the bran to provide nutrients and prevent constipation. If a warhorse becomes constipated from eating too much dry grass, the owner must feed it some low-quality honey to help with digestion. More importantly, horses eat much more than humans. A horse needs six to ten pounds of grass and four to six pounds of grain per day. Do you see the problem? Scared yet? In the age of cold weapons, the cost of maintaining a cavalry unit is equivalent to maintaining five infantry units. This is why Li Yuan asked Yueyang in such a strange tone.

However, Yueyang was not bothered by this issue.

"Of course I know!" Yueyang said nonchalantly. "But don't worry, Lord Li. If I can afford to buy them, I can afford to raise them. You don't need to worry about that. Just tell me if you can get that many warhorses!"

The idea of forming a cavalry unit was not a sudden thought for Yueyang. He had long planned to do so. Although he was not a military expert, he knew that in the age of cold weapons, cavalry was the undisputed king of land warfare. Without a strong cavalry, even if he armored his soldiers, they would still be at a disadvantage against cavalry. However, due to the small number of soldiers he had and the presence of the Wang and Lin families, as well as the lack of a way to buy horses, he had never mentioned it. Now that the Wang family had been driven away and Li Yuan was showing him favor out of fear, and given that Li Yuan had long been trading with the Mongol tribes beyond the border, the task of buying warhorses naturally fell to him.

Li Yuan, who was afraid of this unpredictable person, said helplessly, "If you want to buy so many warhorses, I can't help you. You'll have to negotiate with the Tartars yourself. I can only introduce you to them."

"Then it's settled!"

Although Li Yuan did not agree outright, Yueyang was already satisfied. He smiled at the dejected Li Yuan and said, "If you can introduce me to the Mongol tribes, I will sell you five thousand pounds of fine salt at three hundred coins per pound, to help you earn some pocket money!"

"Is that true?" Li Yuan, who had been dejected, suddenly perked up upon hearing this.

Yueyang laughed, "Of course it's true, as long as you don't compete with me in Shanxi!"

"Alright, it's a deal!" True to his nature as a merchant, Li Yuan's spirits immediately lifted upon hearing the benefits. After all, the reputation of the fine salt sold by Yueyang had spread throughout Shanxi and even to other provinces, where the price had risen to nine hundred coins per pound, and there was a shortage. Yueyang's offer was like giving him silver, how could Li Yuan not be overjoyed!

PS: Brothers, please give me your recommendations!

Page break for ads

End of page break for ads