It was Chen Xi’s fleet that had arrived.
“Shopkeeper Chen, what brings you here?” Zhu Xiaoliu joked.
Ever since Jiang Jin established the navy, supplies between Fengzhou and Sizhou had been transported by water, so Zhu Xiaoliu and Chen Xi were fairly familiar with each other.
Chen Xi pointed to the ships behind him. “I bought some medicinal herbs in Jiu’an and brought them for you.”
That day, he had gone to several medicinal-herb merchants. When they learned that he was buying the herbs to help with disaster relief, they had not raised their prices, instead selling him a batch of urgently needed supplies at the previous rates.
At the same time, they had also donated some medicinal herbs.
In return, Chen Xi had made things considerably easier for them, promising that they could open medical clinics anywhere in Fengzhou and rent land to grow medicinal herbs.
“That’s wonderful. We’re desperately short of medicinal herbs here. The epidemic is severe.” Zhu Xiaoliu was delighted.
“Shopkeeper Chen, it’s been a long time.” Yan Ke also knew Chen Xi. She had often visited Maple-Song Pavilion to buy things when she was in Jiu’an.
Chen Xi nodded at her. “It certainly has.”
As they spoke, the soldiers began unloading the cargo.
Chen Xi boarded the vessel where Yan Ke and Zhu Xiaoliu were standing and handed Yan Ke a document. “This lists the quantities and types of medicinal herbs we brought. Take a look.”
“All right.” Yan Ke accepted it and lowered her head to read.
Chen Xi looked toward Bilan County. “How are the refugees holding up?”
Yan Ke answered while examining the document. “The situation is grim. The Sizhou army hasn’t lifted a finger. Fortunately, our Jinyang Army has extensive experience with disaster relief.”
Chen Xi sighed. “With them doing nothing, it’s the common people who suffer.”
“To them, the lives of ordinary people probably mean nothing at all,” Zhu Xiaoliu said sarcastically.
Then, remembering something, he asked, “How is Shopkeeper Mei doing in Tao Commandery? Has the shop been affected?”
After Maple-Song Pavilion opened a branch in Tao Commandery, Mei Sheng handled its affairs most of the time.
Chen Xi shook his head. “It’s fine. He’s in Bilan County’s seat, so he hasn’t been affected much.”
They had chosen to open the shop in Bilan County in the first place because it was close to the sea and convenient for water transport.
In the past, most of their goods had been shipped on small- and medium-sized vessels, which could dock and unload almost anywhere.
Although Bilan County was not a county under Tao Commandery, it still had plenty of wealthy residents, making it possible to do well in the high-end market.
Yan Ke was a little curious. “Wouldn’t Sizhou target Maple-Song Pavilion?”
On the surface, Maple-Song Pavilion did not belong to Jiang Jin, but in truth, anyone who knew the situation understood that it did.
Chen Xi smiled and shook his head. “The First Prince values rules above all else. Why would he target us without cause?”
Yan Ke pursed her lips, a hint of mockery flashing through her eyes. “Indeed.”
Chen Xi looked toward the Sizhou soldiers in the distance. They were watching the activity on this side but showed no sign of taking action. “They seem quite well behaved.”
“General Qi is leading them. He’s a decent man,” Zhu Xiaoliu said casually.
Chen Xi nodded and changed the subject. “Do we have enough grain?”
Zhu Xiaoliu nodded. “We do. The princess sent roughly twenty thousand shi of grain. The money donated by the common people was also converted into grain and medicinal herbs. It should be arriving soon, if it hasn’t already.”
The supplies purchased with the money donated by the common people had already reached Jiu’an.
Unlike the low-key approach they had taken before, this time the fleet traveled openly along the coast after passing Ying Commandery. Many people onshore saw the vast relief fleet sailing past.
The news quickly spread throughout Sizhou, and people began discussing Fengzhou’s disaster-relief efforts.
“Really? More than a hundred ships loaded with supplies? I thought Fengzhou’s talk of disaster relief was nothing but empty words.”
“Fengzhou isn’t just making promises. I heard that twenty thousand shi of grain have already reached Tao Commandery and Shankang Commandery.”
“I heard the ships are flying banners too, saying that three million jin of grain is being sent to Tao Commandery.”
“Three million? I heard it was five million.”
“No, I heard eight million…”
At that moment, the fleet bearing the banners sailed past the waters near Jiu’an’s docks.
The enormous banner read: Fengzhou and the people of Great Qing have jointly donated 15,009 taels of silver, which has been exchanged for three million jin of grain, medicinal herbs…
“More than fifteen thousand taels of silver? How could Fengzhou have donated so much?” Ji Wangfei exclaimed despite himself.
He had returned to Jiu’an the day before. After hurriedly reporting to the palace, he had gone back to the naval docks.
As for the missing money and goods, Sun Zheng had been left to explain that matter. Ji Wangfei’s role on this trip had only been to serve as an escort.
“With more than fifteen thousand taels of silver, they managed to buy three million jin of grain? That’s twenty-five thousand shi!” Zhu Guan exclaimed as well.
He had once served in the Fengzhou navy. When the barbarians overran Xianglu County, he had fled with the navy’s main force, eventually reaching Sizhou and joining the First Prince’s faction.
Ji Wangfei shook his head. “You can’t calculate it that way. The three million jin includes not only rice, flour, and other grains, but also Fengzhou’s unique potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, Chinese cabbage, and other produce.”
By now, he had gained a relatively thorough understanding of Fengzhou and knew how varied its food supplies were.
Bai Wei felt a pang of melancholy. “That may be true, but potatoes and corn can also serve as staple foods, and they aren’t cheap. Besides, there are the medicinal herbs—more than a dozen boatloads of them. They must have cost a great deal.”
“One boat after another. You can tell from how low they sit in the water that the cargo is genuine. They really exchanged every donation for an equivalent amount of supplies. Their officials…”
He left the rest unsaid, but everyone understood what he meant.
His feelings were complicated. If the government were truly like this, and he could be certain that his donation would reach the disaster victims, he would be willing to contribute as well.
He could not say he had a great deal to spare, but ten or twenty taels would still be within his means.
It was no wonder Fengzhou had managed to raise so much relief money despite having no major clans. This clearly showed how much trust the people placed in their government.
Zhu Guan shook his head. “Shouldn’t the real point be that Fengzhou’s grain is so cheap?”
As a former member of the Fengzhou navy, he knew Fengzhou very well. The description “barren northern lands” had once fit it perfectly.
Yet in just two or three years, what exactly had happened to Fengzhou? How had it become so completely unrecognizable to him?
Ji Wangfei shook his head. “Princess Jinyang has high-yield grain varieties. Fengzhou isn’t short of food.”
Zhu Guan was puzzled. “The issue isn’t whether Fengzhou has enough food. Why is Fengzhou selling its grain so cheaply?”
It sounded contradictory, but in light of the facts, the meaning was clear.
Ordinarily, if there was no shortage of grain, its price naturally would not be too high.
That was true in Sizhou, and indeed everywhere else. The great clans generally had no shortage of grain, yet they still kept prices extremely high.
That was because they controlled all the grain. If people did not buy from them, they would starve.
In the past, after ordinary people paid their rent, they still had at least some grain left to scrape by on, and the great clans and grain merchants had not gone too far.
But now, with war raging and refugees left without land to cultivate, people could survive only by buying grain.
The great clans had taken advantage of the situation to inflate grain prices, squeezing the last bit of value from the people.
That was what Zhu Guan could not understand. All of Fengzhou’s grain was controlled by Jiang Jin, and she could easily have raised the prices.
Not to mention charging one string of coins per shi—even if she charged five hundred copper coins per shi, the people of Fengzhou would still be grateful to her, because compared with other places, that price would already be unbelievably cheap.
But Jiang Jin had not done that. She had pushed the price down to just over two hundred copper coins.
“Rumor has it that Princess Jinyang has been carrying out large-scale construction throughout Fengzhou. That must require an enormous amount of money,” Zhu Guan murmured.
That meant Jiang Jin must truly be in need of money, yet she hadn’t taken advantage of the opportunity to line her own pockets.
A thoughtful look flashed through Ji Wangfei’s eyes. “Perhaps she wants the people under her jurisdiction to live better.”
For some reason, he suddenly thought of the Salted Fish Who Had Turned His Luck Around and the Garlic-Head Hero. So this was Fengzhou’s way of robbing the rich to aid the poor?
The more he thought about it, the calmer he became. He even felt that the Salted Fish and the Garlic-Head Hero—clearly two personas belonging to the same person—weren’t quite so irritating after all.
