At night, Duan Yan lay down on the couch in the outer room. The long wooden couch was not small, but with his build sprawled across it, he still couldn’t fully stretch out his arms and legs. He found the position rather cramped.
He was not particular about where he slept. Being able to lie down at all was enough for him. After several days of exhausting travel, he ought to have had a sound sleep.
Yet for some reason, he remained unable to fall asleep. He felt restless, and his body felt restless too.
Duan Yan glanced toward the inner room where Song Fengsui was sleeping. Through the screen, he could vaguely make out the figure of the ger lying flat on the bed.
Song Fengsui had not drawn the bed curtains while sleeping. The room held only a small night lamp covered by a shade, its hazy light just enough to outline the exquisite features of the sleeping man.
Duan Yan shifted discreetly. One long leg pressed over the other, and he rolled onto his side, feeling his mouth grow dry.
The heady fragrance in the room seemed to burrow straight into his nose. It was not pleasant at all.
Duan Yan turned over again and looked toward the closed window, hesitating over whether he should open it. But the autumn mosquitoes were fierce, and he was afraid that letting them in would result in Song Fengsui being bitten.
When Duan Yan turned over for the third time, before he had completely finished rolling onto his other side, he heard the creak of the bed from the other end of the room.
Song Fengsui sat up and slipped his feet into the shoes placed beneath the footstool before getting out of bed.
Duan Yan hurriedly sprang up as well. “What is it?”
Song Fengsui did not answer.
Assuming that he needed to relieve himself, Duan Yan was afraid he might feel embarrassed. Rather than walk around the screen, he turned his back and took a few steps away.
“The chamber pot is under the bed.”
“If you need it, come over and take it.”
Song Fengsui answered him, then rummaged through the bundle he had brought out and took out a coil of incense. He used a fire striker to light it.
Duan Yan turned back in puzzlement. “What’s that?”
“You’ve turned over three times already. I’m lighting you some calming incense made from medicinal herbs.”
Song Fengsui raised his eyes to look at him, his words carrying a hint of meaning. “It should help you relax, so you won’t have to suffer so much.”
The tips of Duan Yan’s ears grew warm. He had already tried to turn over as quietly as possible, yet this ger had such light sleep that he had still heard him.
If they ended up sleeping in the same bed in the future, wouldn’t he have to lie stiffly awake all night?
“Did I disturb you?”
Song Fengsui said mildly, “The room was fumigated with some aphrodisiac incense. I assume this was meant to be a room specially provided for married couples.”
Duan Yan’s eyes widened slightly. No wonder he had felt that something was off about the fragrance when they first entered during the day.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
Looking at the blush spreading across Duan Yan’s face, Song Fengsui teased, “The aphrodisiac mixed into the incense isn’t very strong. Under ordinary circumstances, it shouldn’t have much effect, so I assumed it was merely intended to freshen the room.
“I just didn’t expect… your reaction to be so intense.”
Duan Yan was momentarily at a loss for words. He was in the prime of youth, with the vigor of a pile of dry straw—one spark was enough to set it roaring. If he had no reaction at all, that would probably have been cause for concern.
He picked up the lit calming incense and carried it over to place beside his own couch.
Seeing him ignore him and stomp away in a huff, Song Fengsui found it rather amusing.
He came out of the inner room again. “If you’re still feeling uncomfortable, I can brew you some medicine.”
Duan Yan was indeed somewhat uneasy. It was not like the sharp pain of an injury or illness. It was simply an unbearable, pent-up discomfort that left him irritated and unsettled.
Suddenly, he thought of what Song Fengsui had suffered in the past. Now that he had experienced something similar, he felt even more sympathy for him. It must have been difficult for Song Fengsui to maintain his composure while enduring the effects of that potent drug.
Duan Yan gently stroked Song Fengsui’s back, as if offering him some belated comfort.
“It’s all right. I already feel much better after smelling the calming incense.”
Song Fengsui pressed his lips together. He had wanted to hug Duan Yan, but considering Duan Yan’s current state, he decided it would be better not to provoke him further.
Once he set his heart on someone, he naturally did so with the intention of spending the rest of his life with them. When their feelings grew deep enough, certain things could happen naturally.
However, during the journey into exile, he had encountered some loathsome men and had also experienced what happened the last time Chen Hu drugged him. For a while, he had developed an intense aversion to men and felt sickened by such matters. But now things were different. If it were Duan Yan, he did not feel the slightest bit of disgust.
Clearly, however, Duan Yan cared more about propriety and convention. He did not approve of such things happening before marriage, and Song Fengsui respected his choice.
“It’s getting late. Go to sleep. I won’t disturb you.”
Duan Yan coaxed him, “Although we’ve reached the prefectural city and don’t need to hurry on the road for the time being, there are still important matters to handle.”
“All right.”
The next day, Duan Yan and Song Fengsui both rose early. Everyone had breakfast downstairs, and the broker arrived early with the keys to show Duan Yan the house.
There was nothing much to be particular about when it came to a short-term rental. As long as the price was suitable and there were no problems with the house, that was enough.
Thus, things went smoothly. Before lunch, everyone had driven the carts and horses over to the small residence and settled them in.
After lunch, Duan Yan arranged for Gou San’er and Lin Er to compare the prices of tea and sugar at various shops. Once they had selected the goods, they would negotiate the prices.
Meanwhile, he and Song Fengsui planned to visit the salt depot and inquire about the current salt prices.
There were three large salt depots in the prefectural city of Qianzhou. These were official salt depots where one could purchase large quantities of salt with the salt certificates issued by the government. The smaller salt shops obtained their supplies from the official depots after acquiring salt certificates like his, and then conducted retail business.
To prevent the circulation of illicit salt, there were many regulations governing the salt trade. For instance, the large salt depots did not conduct retail business and only handled transactions according to salt certificates. Small shops could only sell at retail, and not only were their stocks limited, but there were also regulations concerning the weight of each sale and the total amount they could sell in a day.
Duan Yan knew that the salt trade involved many intricacies, especially when purchasing large quantities. Since they urgently needed to stock up on supplies, they had to familiarize themselves with the trade’s rules in advance.
Now that they had arrived at the depot, they could only go in person and inspect the situation, doing their best to avoid stepping into any traps.
The afternoon heat was still oppressive. After eating their fill, it was only natural to feel drowsy.
When Duan Yan and Song Fengsui reached Guanglong Salt Depot, the one nearest to their residence, the shop assistant was sitting in the corner with his legs crossed, snoring loudly.
It took three or four calls before the man wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and climbed to his feet. He looked the two of them over. Seeing that they were unfamiliar faces, he was not particularly enthusiastic. In a lazy tone, he said that they did not sell salt by the handful here. If they wanted to buy a small amount, they should turn left and go to the sixth shop.
Duan Yan knew that employees at official salt depots had iron rice bowls and had no need to curry favor with customers. There were plenty of salt merchants waiting to buy from them anyway.
He said nothing more and directly took out the salt certificate that Song Wushen had obtained for him, handing it to the shop assistant for inspection.
Duan Yan had preserved the certificate with great care, and it still looked brand-new when he took it out.
Sure enough, the shop assistant became much more alert upon seeing the salt certificate.
After examining both sides of the certificate and the banknotes, his small eyes shifted, and his manner became considerably more efficient.
“This merchant, what kind of salt would you like to purchase, and how many pounds do you require?”
“You came here carrying a salt certificate, so naturally you can’t be buying fewer than a hundred pounds. Exactly how much I can take depends on the price.”
Hearing this, the shop assistant led Duan Yan and Song Fengsui over to look at the salt.
“Our salt shop carries every kind of salt there is. There isn’t a second shop in the entire prefectural city that can compare with us.”
Having boasted, the assistant spread out his hand and began introducing the wares. “Common salt, eighteen wen per jin; Jie salt, forty-eight wen per jin; sea salt, sixty wen per jin; well salt, ninety wen per jin…”
He then went on to explain the differences between the various kinds of salt.
The cheapest, common salt, was generally of poor quality. It had a weak salty flavor, a grayish-black color, and an extraordinary amount of impurities. Jie salt was usually pond salt or lake salt. Its grains were large and contained quite a few impurities as well. Though its salty taste was strong, it was also bitter.
As for sea salt, since it came from the coast, it tasted salty and fresh, with a faint sweetness that gave it a distinctive flavor. Fine sea salt was usually a pure white powder, but inferior varieties would become damp and clump into large blocks.
Finally, there was well salt. This was rare, high-quality salt: white, with few impurities, and purely salty without any strange aftertaste. Its only drawback was that the process of producing it was more complicated than that of other salts, making it extremely expensive.
Duan Yan and Song Fengsui gave the salt a cursory look without examining it closely. Although the varieties differed, none of them were particularly pleasing in quality or appearance.
Take the cheapest common salt, for example. The sand and saltpeter inside it were practically floating on the surface. If it were carefully sifted, nearly two-tenths of every jin might turn out to be impurities.
If no one had said it was salt, one might have thought the shop had simply set out a basket of dusty ashes and dregs.
Song Fengsui did not even dare taste it. Duan Yan, however, took a little and placed it on the back of his hand before touching it lightly with his tongue.
A strong taste of dirt and sand filled his mouth. Had he not been someone who regularly prepared food and was therefore particularly sensitive to flavors, he might not even have been able to detect the saltiness. It was clear just how bland this common salt was.
The sea salt did not need tasting. It had been pressed into cakes the size of a palm, and anyone could tell that it was inferior salt that had become damp.
As for the more expensive varieties, leaving aside the impurities, there were visibly fewer foreign substances mixed in. The saying that one got what one paid for was displayed here to perfection.
But regardless of the quality of the salt, the prices…
Duan Yan drew a restrained breath. “Brother, please don’t take me for a fool. The prices at your salt shop are practically the same as the retail prices at the shops down the street.
“Ordinary common salt only sells for twenty wen per jin at retail, yet you’re asking eighteen wen here. Jie salt sells for fifty to fifty-five wen a jin, while you’re asking forty-eight. Sea salt is produced in abundance, but since we’re inland, the transportation costs make it more expensive here, which is understandable. Even so, retail prices are still under seventy wen. As for well salt, the shops down the street only charge a little over a hundred wen.
“For the first two, I’d make two wen per jin. For the latter two, the difference is only ten wen per jin?”
Duan Yan sneered inwardly. The salt merchants had gone to such trouble bribing the authorities to obtain their salt permits. Could it be that they were selling the salt at cost? Had they simply decided to stop making money altogether and subsidize the imperial court instead?
This salt shop was clearly treating him as an ignorant outsider to be fleeced.
The shop assistant merely put on a thick-skinned smile. “The prices merchants inquire about are all the prices at the salt shops around the prefectural city. Those merchants collect their salt nearby, so their costs are low. Naturally, their prices are only slightly higher than the wholesale price. I suppose it’s simply a business strategy of making a small profit through high volume.”
Duan Yan gave a cold snort. “Unfortunately, you’ve made a mistake. I came here from a distant place, and the prices I inquired about were not the prices in your prefecture.”
With that, he flicked his sleeve and left.
Seeing this, the shop assistant hurried after him. “Oh, come now, we haven’t even finished negotiating! If you’d told us from the start that you came from far away and that transportation was difficult, there would still have been room to discuss the price.
“You’re clearly a knowledgeable buyer. How about this: if you purchase well salt, we’ll charge you seventy wen per jin for any order over a hundred jin. Consider it a gesture of friendship. For the other varieties—apart from common salt—we’ll knock five wen off each jin. What do you say?”
“Brother, it seems you’re not being sincere either. I’ll think it over first.”
Duan Yan memorized the prices but did not order even a single jin of salt. No matter how the shop assistant called after him, he refused to stay and left with Song Fengsui.
“Merchant! You won’t take this honest price I’m offering you, but you’ll come crawling back before long!”
Song Fengsui heard the assistant’s parting remark and frowned. “He certainly sounds confident.”
“He was only venting because we didn’t buy anything from him. Pay him no mind. There are still two other large salt shops. Let’s go see what they’re like.”
Song Fengsui nodded, then took out a handkerchief and wiped the corners of his mouth. The salty taste still lingered there. That shop assistant certainly had no sense of hospitality; he had not even offered them a cup of water to rinse their mouths.
Duan Yan was just about to suggest buying Song Fengsui a cup of tea from a street stall when his gaze swept over the street behind them.
His brows furrowed slightly. Then, without changing expression, he slipped an arm halfway around Song Fengsui and urged him to walk a little faster.
The two of them reached the street ahead and bought some tea. Duan Yan looked around once more, but saw nothing amiss. Only then did he take Song Fengsui to the second salt shop in the city.
This salt shop carried fewer varieties, but the quality was visibly better overall than that of the previous one.
Although the common salt still contained a great deal of grit and looked gray and dull, at least its saltiness was stronger.
The two of them tasted what needed tasting and examined what needed examining. When they were done, they asked about the prices.
“Common salt, sixteen wen per jin; Jie salt, forty-five wen per jin; well salt, eighty wen per jin.”
“Our shop is straightforward. Good quality, fair prices. Unlike those merchants, we don’t quote inflated prices, so you won’t need to waste your breath haggling with us.”
Duan Yan and Song Fengsui exchanged a glance. They both suspected that the two salt shops had colluded and agreed on what to say.
Not only were these prices even higher than those at the first shop, but they also refused to negotiate. What arrogance!
Naturally, they did not place an order here either. They turned and went to the last salt shop.
Yet after making the trip, even their final hopes were dashed. Who would have thought that the prices at this shop would be higher than those at the first two? Its shop assistant was even more slippery, looking down at them through a pair of flared nostrils.
By the time the two returned to the street, the sun had already begun moving westward.
Duan Yan ordered Song Fengsui a bowl of small wontons, served in a broth made from pork bones, and sat with him at a table to rest their feet.
“Could it be that so many merchants come through here to purchase goods during the autumn months that these local shopkeepers have grown overly greedy? How can a salt shop that sells in bulk ask for such high prices?”
“There may be some truth to that,” Duan Yan said.
Song Fengsui prodded the little wontons in his bowl. “Still, the assistant at the first salt shop was right. If we want the cheapest price, we’ll have to go back and find him. There’s no shame in buying at a low price, but once he sees that we’ve actually returned to him, he may well raise the price again.”
“The common salt is cheap, but its appearance and taste are so poor that even if we bought it, we’d have to process it again. That would take time and effort. Neither of those things is a serious concern. What worries me is that, after reprocessing, it might still be inferior to simply buying the more expensive salt.”
He let out a quiet sigh. “Well salt is the only kind that’s truly suitable for use. But at seventy wen per jin, and with no salt-producing regions near our town, if we want to stock up, we’d need at least a thousand jin.”
Duan Yan lowered his voice as he spoke to Song Fengsui. “A thousand jin would only be enough for our own people for two years. If we want to plan for more than that, we’ll need ten thousand jin before it becomes worthwhile.”
Each person used roughly ten jin of salt a year. That estimate included not only the salt used in daily cooking, but also the amount needed for pickling vegetables and preserving meat.
The amount they had calculated did not seem particularly large, but what awaited them was not merely wartime blockades. Natural disasters were bound to follow as well. When extreme cold and heat struck, crops would be difficult to grow, and they would have to rely heavily on dried and preserved foods to get by.
And whether it was preserved meat or vegetables, none of it could do without salt.
Even for their own people alone, they would use five hundred jin of salt in a year. Once the wars and disasters had passed, they would need to prepare at least five years’ worth—in other words, more than two thousand jin just to meet their own needs.
If they also took the townspeople into consideration, would they not have to plan for tens of thousands of jin? Of course, they had already discussed the matter with the Song family. Song Wushen would find a way to have the merchants in town travel out to purchase goods. By then, the shops would be able to build up some reserves, which would ease the pressure on their side. Thus, they would not necessarily need to hurry and stock up on tens of thousands of jin themselves.
If conditions allowed, they naturally wanted to store as much as possible. But the amount of salt involved was enormous. A single purchase would cost several thousand taels of silver, to say nothing of the difficulty of transporting it.
There were only a dozen or so people in their group, with six carts and horses. Even if they made full use of them, they could carry at most a thousand jin of goods. How could they possibly transport so much salt?
They might have to rely on an escort agency.
But he had heard that escort agencies charged based on a percentage of the goods’ value. If one had connections or the route happened to be convenient, they might agree to two-tenths of the value. Without connections, charging three or even four-tenths was not unusual.
Moreover, they were located in a remote area, where the official roads were rough and treacherously steep. Few escort agencies were willing to take jobs there. Even those that were willing would not be easy to hire at a favorable price. With autumn trade in full swing, how could they persuade anyone to take the job without offering a good rate?
The more Duan Yan thought about it, the more his head hurt. They did not have much money, yet there were countless things they needed to stockpile. If they could not negotiate a reasonable price, how were they supposed to make any progress?
Song Fengsui was briefly startled. “We need to stock up on five years’ worth of supplies?”
He had previously wondered why Duan Yan kept buying grain, worried that it might end up sitting unused on their hands. But after hearing the news that war was about to break out, he could only admire Duan Yan’s resolve and foresight.
He was now cooperating with him fully in purchasing supplies. Still, when he learned that Duan Yan planned to stock up on five years’ worth of food and necessities, his brows drew together.
“Looking at the wars throughout the dynasties, most lasted only one to three years. Given the urgency of the situation, perhaps preparing three years’ worth of supplies would be enough.”
Duan Yan thought to himself that without the disasters, the war indeed would not last very long. Unfortunately, this was a combination of natural and man-made calamities, and the fighting would likely drag on.
“For ordinary grain, the area around Yan Town can grow and produce it on its own. Even if we only stock up enough for two or three years, there is no need to worry. After all, once we shut our gates, we will not simply sit around eating through our reserves until they are gone. We will still be able to produce more.
“But for things that are essential in daily life yet cannot be produced locally, we have to plan for a longer period.”
If salt had not been such a troublesome matter, he would not have come out personally, much less traveled this far to the prefectural city. They could have purchased most of the other goods closer to home, in their own county or in the larger Fuyang County.
Song Fengsui felt that Duan Yan’s reasoning did make sense. “Then let’s negotiate with the salt merchants again. If we reveal the size of our order, perhaps they’ll be willing to reduce the price a little further.”
That was the only solution Duan Yan could think of for now. Everything had happened so suddenly, and they had not had time to make sufficient preparations in advance. If only…
“Gentlemen, forgive the intrusion. Would you mind if I joined you? Every other table is already occupied.”
Just as Song Fengsui and Duan Yan were deep in thought, a voice suddenly came from behind them at the side, interrupting their worries.
Duan Yan looked up. The newcomer was a man in his early thirties, smiling amiably. Yet the shrewdness he had cultivated through years of dealing with people was not easily concealed.
Duan Yan caught sight of the man’s gray-white robe hem and narrowed his eyes. “If I refused your request, would that not make all the time you’ve spent following us pointless?”
The man looked at Duan Yan in surprise. He then cupped his hands and apologized politely. “You have sharp eyes, little brother. I should have shown myself sooner, but the two of you seemed to be occupied with important business, and I did not wish to interrupt rashly.”
Song Fengsui had not understood what the two were talking about at first. He had assumed they were old acquaintances. But after listening carefully, he realized that this man had been following them for some time—and that Duan Yan had noticed him.
His heart tightened slightly. He had no idea what this man’s background was, or what he wanted by targeting the two of them in an unfamiliar place.
Duan Yan said calmly, “Since you have already disturbed us, you may as well speak plainly.”
The man bowed. “It is noisy here. Perhaps you would do me the honor of joining me across the street for a pot of tea in one of the teahouse’s private rooms.”
Duan Yan studied him closely. He could tell that the man was skilled in martial arts, but if it came to a fight, Duan Yan would not need to expend much effort to deal with him.
Besides, if the man truly harbored hostile intentions, he would not have waited until now to speak with them after following them out of the first salt shop.
Duan Yan exchanged a glance with Song Fengsui. They both wanted to know what game the man was playing, so neither refused. Together, they followed him into the teahouse.
