"Shouzhe, where in the world did you get fifty or sixty thousand dan of grain?" Gongsun Qiang drew a deep breath and spoke in near disbelief.
The Shanyang Gongsun Clan could be considered powerful as well, possessing ten to twenty thousand mu of fertile fields. Yet even so, their grain yield in a single season could not reach fifty or sixty thousand dan! Not to mention that the output from a noble clan's fields had to be shared with tenant farmers, while taxes were paid per mu each year, and grain seed reserves, Pest-Exterminating Powder, and other expenditures also had to be accounted for.
This showed just how astronomical fifty or sixty thousand dan of grain was. Even in ordinary times, obtaining that much grain at once would have been exceedingly difficult, let alone amid the current state of affairs.
"Through a friend's connections. I bought it from the Qian Clan Trading Firm," Wang Shouzhe said. "Uncle, time waits for no one. Go to Jucai Manor first. The carriages will follow afterward."
The Gongsun Clan's carriages were used to transport minerals, so their cargo compartments had been specially reinforced. The horses pulling them were also Northern Heavy Draft Horses, chosen for their sturdy builds and remarkable endurance. Each carriage was harnessed to four or five horses and could easily haul several thousand, even ten thousand jin.
Bought through a friend's connections?
Gongsun Qiang's eyelids twitched wildly. Where did one find friends like that? Could he have a dozen of them? Carrying equal measures of envy, jealousy, and faint disbelief, he followed Wang Shouzhe to Jucai Manor first.
Jucai Manor was one of the Qian Clan's properties, a place specifically used to store all kinds of bulk goods. Many such goods came in quantities of tens or even hundreds of thousands of dan, so transporting them into Changning Guard City was entirely unnecessary.
As for fearing attack or robbery, that was simply a joke.
Not only was Jucai Manor's armed force far from weak, but the name of the Longzuo Qian Clan alone was enough to ensure that no one dared harbor the slightest ill intent.
After requesting an audience through Jucai Manor's gatekeeper, Manager Qian, Qian Xue'an, emerged before long with a dark face, clearly unwilling to give Wang Shouzhe a pleasant look.
Afterward, he represented the Qian Clan in completing the handover. The two parties drew up a new contract: the Qian Clan would "repurchase" the Pest-Exterminating Powder from Wang Shouzhe.
The price was exceedingly fair: ten thousand Qian Gold in cash and sixty thousand dan of aged grain from their stores. After repurchasing the original five thousand bags of Pest-Exterminating Powder, the Qian Clan could sell it for at least fifteen to twenty thousand Qian Gold, so they naturally would not lose money.
Over such an "utterly humiliating" affair, the manager of the Qian Clan's Changning branch did not even wish to show his face, entrusting everything to Qian Xue'an. That unseen manager had evidently planned long ago to pin all responsibility for the mistake on Manager Qian.
Thus, while assisting Wang Shouzhe with the procedures, Qian Xue'an's face was so "gloomy" it seemed ready to drip water. From beginning to end, he did not wish to say a single word to Wang Shouzhe.
Once everything had been settled, he tossed Wang Shouzhe a thick stack of gold notes and a travel permit for sixty thousand dan of grain, then swept his sleeves and left in indignation.
Such flawless acting, false enough to pass for true, left Wang Shouzhe staring blankly. He could not help sighing inwardly. Once Qian Xue'an successfully advanced to the Spirit Platform Realm, he would surely become an outstanding figure in his own right.
After finishing the paperwork, Wang Shouzhe found Gongsun Qiang, who had been waiting outside. "Uncle, the procedures for collecting sixty thousand dan of aged grain are complete. Once your people arrive, we can begin transporting it."
Gongsun Qiang's body shook violently, his eyes wide and jaw slack. It was real. They had truly "bought" a full sixty thousand dan of grain. This grand-nephew of his was simply unbelievable.
Before long, Gongsun Qiang's convoy of twenty carriages slowly arrived, bringing eighty sturdily built mine slaves with them.
Inside the mountain-like grain stores, the aged grain had been packed into rice sacks. Each sack held exactly one hundred jin, or one dan. Yet those mine slaves easily shouldered three or four sacks at a time and began loading the carriages.
"Uncle, how much can one carriage hold?" Wang Shouzhe had lived two lives and had never seen such an immense quantity of grain. Though he had already estimated it in his heart, its sheer volume and amount still far surpassed his imagination.
"Load them. Keep loading. Load them up to one hundred dan each. Our carriages are specially reinforced, and Northern Heavy Draft Horses are no weaklings—they can pull it." Gongsun Qiang's eyes had begun to redden as well. Having lived his entire life, he too had never seen so much grain piled together.
For all the Shanyang Gongsun Clan's strength, stockpiling twenty thousand dan of grain year-round was already enough—enough to feed several thousand strong laborers for a year. The Shanyang Gongsun Clan's tenant farmers, miners, mine slaves, family members, and everyone else combined numbered only several thousand at most.
Over a hundred dan? That was more than ten thousand jin of grain...
Wang Shouzhe paused slightly, somewhat taken aback. This truly was a fantasy world. Not only were ordinary people far stronger, but even Northern Heavy Draft Horses possessed such tremendous strength. And these were not even Spirit Beast-grade warhorses—otherwise, they would have been even more formidable.
Those mine slaves were clearly accustomed to heavy labor. Four men were assigned to each carriage, and after merely six or seven trips back and forth, they had loaded the vehicles. One specially modified ore carriage after another was piled high with grain in overloaded heaps.
Yet even so, they had transported only two thousand dan.
At this rate, would they not need thirty trips? Fine, then they could haul it slowly. In any case, no one expected to finish moving this batch of grain in a short time.
Fortunately, Qian Xue'an appeared again at that moment. Still wearing a cold expression, he said, "Our Qian Clan Trading Firm places the utmost importance on commercial credibility. We will never leave our customers in difficulty. You may rent our heavy cargo carriages. Including the drivers, the price is twenty Big Copper per day. That already includes food for the drivers and heavy draft horses. You will be responsible for loading and unloading yourselves."
It was abundantly clear that Qian Xue'an had taken the risk of coming to lend them support.
But Gongsun Qiang, standing beside them, nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. Though the other side's price was fair and reasonable, did that not diminish his contribution?
Originally, Gongsun Qiang had intended to use this help as an excuse to shamelessly ask his grand-nephew to spare him some grain.
"Then we will have to trouble Manager Qian," Wang Shouzhe said delightedly. "Let us rent another thirty carriages."
The Qian Clan Trading Firm possessed far more carriages than the Gongsun Clan. Their business also spanned all of Longzuo, so their standards for carriage capacity were naturally extremely high, not the least bit inferior to the Gongsun Clan's carriages.
Once all fifty carriages had been fully loaded, they rolled out of Jucai Manor in a long procession.
Jucai Manor was only ten li from Changning Ferry. Under normal circumstances, carriages could reach it in less than an hour. However, Changning Ferry was crowded with all sorts of people, and Wang Shouzhe did not wish to make a grand spectacle for now, lest unforeseen complications arise.
After passing the three-way crossroads, the carriages took the road toward Shanyang. Two or three li farther on, they turned toward the An River and reached the edge of a dense forest. From there, the carriages could go no farther. Yet after walking barely a hundred paces through the forest, they came upon a sheer cliff five or six zhang high. Beneath it lay a natural cove twenty to thirty zhang wide.
By then, Sixth Uncle Wang Dinghai had already received notice from the family retainers by letter. He had led the fleet here to wait and had set up a slanting temporary plankway. There were fishing boats and ferryboats alike—in short, every boat the family could use had been brought over.
Though this method of transportation was arduous, it was extremely concealed.
From the carriages, through the forest, to the cliff and the boats, the route was roughly two hundred and fifty paces long. Wang Shouzhe had the mine slaves and family retainers take up their positions, one person every three paces, passing the grain along in relay.
After adapting slightly, everyone discovered the benefits of this simple manpower transport line. It was steady and orderly, and its efficiency gradually rose. In the end, they could load one dan onto the boats every one or two breaths, while greatly saving the time and strength spent running back and forth.
In barely over an hour, they miraculously finished loading and unloading all the grain from the fifty carriages. The convoy then returned to Jucai Manor for the next batch. Wang Shouzhe, meanwhile, followed the fleet across the An River and proceeded all the way to Fenggu Sluice.
Fenggu Farm had even more people, with a full two hundred tenant households. Drawing out one hundred and fifty strong laborers was effortless. Using the same method, they carried the grain through Fenggu Sluice and temporarily stored it at Fenggu Farm.
There were not enough boats on the inland river, only five or six at most, so the final stretch would have to be transported slowly.
The transport route had been painstakingly opened, and while Wang Shouzhe relaxed somewhat, he also developed a powerful dissatisfaction with his family's transport network.
First, they relied too heavily on public ferries and lacked privately developed, concealed small docks.
Second, travel from the An River into the inland river was inconvenient. The water levels on the two sides differed, and a single sluice gate could not be kept open freely for long periods, or it would cause flooding. They had to find a way to build a ship lock that vessels could pass through.
Furthermore, the family had obvious shortcomings in both waterborne and carriage transport. Perhaps those shortcomings were not especially apparent at the Wang Clan's current scale, but as the clan continued to grow stronger, they would severely hinder its development.
It seemed that establishing their own complete transportation channels was also a matter of utmost urgency.
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