Chapter 35

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"Shouzhe, where did you get fifty to sixty thousand dan of grain?" Gongsun Qiang took a deep breath and said almost in disbelief.

The Gongsun family of Shanyang was quite powerful, owning ten to twenty thousand acres of good farmland. But even so, the grain output of one season could not reach fifty to sixty thousand dan! Moreover, the produce from the powerful families' farmland had to be shared with the tenant farmers and annual taxes had to be paid per acre, in addition to reserving seeds and expenses for pest control.

From this, it was evident that fifty to sixty thousand dan of grain was an astronomical amount. Even under normal circumstances, it would be extremely difficult to obtain such a large amount of grain at once, let alone in the current situation.

"Through a friend's connection, I bought it from the Qian family's trading company," Wang Shouzhe said. "Uncle, we shouldn't delay. Let's head to [Jicai Manor] first, and the carriages will follow."

The Gongsun family's carriages were specially reinforced for transporting minerals, with cargo compartments that were particularly sturdy. The horses pulling the carriages were selected for their robust build and endurance, being heavy draft horses from the northern regions. Each carriage was pulled by four to five horses, capable of carrying several thousand to ten thousand pounds at a time.

Through a friend's connection?

Gongsun Qiang's eyelids twitched. Where did such a friend come from? Could he get a dozen of them? He followed Wang Shouzhe to [Jicai Manor] with a mix of envy, jealousy, and slight disbelief.

Jicai Manor was one of the Qian family's properties, specifically used for storing various bulk goods. Many of these goods were in quantities of tens of thousands of dan, and there was no need to transport them to Changning Wei City.

As for the fear of being attacked or robbed, that was a joke.

Not to mention the formidable armed forces within Jicai Manor, the Qian family's name alone as a prominent family in Longzuo was enough to deter anyone from having any evil intentions.

Through the gatekeeper, they requested an audience, and soon Qian Xue'an, the manager, came out with a dark face, clearly not giving Wang Shouzhe a good reception.

Subsequently, he represented the Qian family in the handover, and both parties drafted a new contract. The Qian family "repurchased" the pest control powder from Wang Shouzhe.

The price was very reasonable: ten thousand gold coins in cash and sixty thousand dan of stored old grain. The original five thousand bags of pest control powder, after repurchase, could be sold for at least fifteen to twenty thousand gold coins, so the Qian family would not incur a loss.

Regarding this "embarrassing" matter, the manager of the Qian family's Changning branch did not even want to show his face, entrusting everything to Qian Xue'an. The unseen manager had clearly planned to push all the responsibility for the mistake onto Qian Xue'an.

Therefore, while assisting Wang Shouzhe with the procedures, Qian Xue'an's face was so "gloomy" it could drip water, and he did not want to say a single word to Wang Shouzhe throughout the process.

After everything was settled, he handed Wang Shouzhe a large stack of gold notes and a travel permit for sixty thousand dan of grain, then angrily stormed off.

Such a realistic performance left Wang Shouzhe stunned. He marveled that once Qian Xue'an successfully advanced to the Lingtai realm, he would surely become a remarkable figure.

After completing the procedures, Wang Shouzhe found Gongsun Qiang waiting outside: "Uncle, the procedures for receiving sixty thousand dan of old grain are complete. Once your people arrive, we can start transporting the grain."

Gongsun Qiang's body trembled, his eyes wide with shock. It was true; they had really "bought" sixty thousand dan of grain. This nephew was truly incredible.

Soon, Gongsun Qiang's twenty-carriage convoy slowly arrived, along with eighty robust mine slaves.

In the mountainous grain warehouse, the old grain was packed in bags, each bag weighing one hundred pounds, equivalent to one dan. However, the mine slaves easily carried three to four bags at a time to load the carriages.

"Uncle, how much can one carriage carry?" Wang Shouzhe, who had lived two lifetimes, had never seen so much grain. Although he had mentally estimated the amount, the volume and quantity still far exceeded his imagination.

"Load it, just load it, up to one hundred dan. Our carriages are specially reinforced, and the northern heavy draft horses are not just for show," Gongsun Qiang's eyes were already red. He had lived a lifetime and had never seen so much grain piled together.

For the powerful Gongsun family of Shanyang, storing twenty thousand dan of grain was sufficient, enough to feed thousands of strong laborers for a year. The Gongsun family's tenant farmers, miners, and family members combined numbered at most a few thousand people.

One hundred dan? That's ten thousand pounds of grain...

Wang Shouzhe was slightly taken aback, realizing that this was indeed a fantastical world where not only were ordinary people much stronger, but even the northern heavy draft horses were incredibly powerful. Not to mention, these were not even spirit beasts, which would be even more formidable.

The mine slaves, clearly accustomed to heavy labor, were assigned four to a carriage. After just six or seven trips, they had loaded the carriages. Each specially reinforced mining carriage was overloaded with grain.

But even so, they had only loaded two thousand dan.

At this rate, it would take thirty trips. Well, they would just have to take their time; there was no expectation of transporting all the grain in a short period.

Fortunately, Qian Xue'an reappeared, still with a cold face. "Our Qian family trading company values our reputation and will not make things difficult for our customers. You can rent our heavy cargo carriages, including the drivers, for twenty large copper coins per day. This includes the drivers' and horses' rations, but you will be responsible for loading and unloading."

It was clear that Qian Xue'an had taken a risk to come and assist.

However, Uncle Gongsun Qiang almost spat out a mouthful of blood. Although the price offered was reasonable, it also diminished his efforts.

Originally, Gongsun Qiang had planned to use this opportunity to ask his nephew to share some of the grain.

"Thank you, Manager Qian," Wang Shouzhe said happily. "Let's rent thirty more carriages."

The Qian family trading company had far more carriages than the Gongsun family, and their business spanned Longzuo, so their carriages had a high cargo capacity, not inferior to the Gongsun family's carriages.

When fifty carriages were fully loaded, they set off from Jicai Manor.

Jicai Manor was only ten miles from Changning Ferry. Under normal circumstances, the carriages could reach it in less than an hour. However, Changning Ferry was crowded, and Wang Shouzhe did not want to make a big fuss to avoid any complications.

After passing the three-way intersection, the carriages took the road to Shanyang, then turned towards Anjiang after a few miles, arriving at a dense forest entrance. From here, the carriages could no longer proceed. But within the forest, just a hundred steps away, there was a vertical cliff about twenty feet high, with a natural bay twenty to thirty feet wide at the base of the cliff.

At this point, Uncle Wang Dinghai had already received a message from the family guards and was waiting here with the fleet, having set up a temporary sloping gangway. The boats included fishing boats and ferries, all the boats that could be used from home.

Although this method of transportation was labor-intensive, it was very discreet.

From the carriages to the forest, then to the cliff and the boats, the entire route was about two hundred and fifty steps. Wang Shouzhe had the mine slaves and family guards stand in position, one person every three steps, to form a relay to transport the grain.

After a brief adjustment, everyone discovered the benefits of this simple human transport line: it was stable, orderly, and the efficiency gradually increased. The loading speed on the boats eventually reached one to two dan per breath, and it was very efficient in terms of time and energy.

In just over an hour, they miraculously finished loading all the grain from the fifty carriages. The carriages then returned to Jicai Manor for the next batch, while Wang Shouzhe followed the fleet across the Anjiang River to [Fenggu Lock].

Fenggu Farm had even more people, with two hundred tenant households, and they easily provided one hundred and fifty strong laborers. Using the same method, they transported the grain through Fenggu Lock and temporarily stored it at Fenggu Farm.

There were only five or six boats on the inner river, so the last leg of the transport had to be done slowly.

The successful establishment of the transport line made Wang Shouzhe relax, but it also made him strongly dissatisfied with his family's transport system.

First, they were overly dependent on public ferries and lacked private, hidden small docks.

Second, the inconvenience of transporting from the Anjiang River to the inner river, due to the different water levels on both sides, meant that the lock could not be left open for long periods to prevent flooding. This issue needed to be addressed by building a ship lock for passage.

Third, the family had obvious shortcomings in both boat and carriage transportation. Although these shortcomings were not significant given the current scale of the Wang family, they would severely hinder the family's development as it grew.

It seemed that establishing a complete and efficient transport system of their own was an urgent matter.

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