Chapter 414: Lead the Way
Chapter 409 of "The Great Ming in the Box" unveils: Iron Bird Flies greeted Xing Honglang and clasped his hands in salute. âBoss Xing, finally,... Continue the story!
Iron Bird Flies greeted Xing Honglang and clasped his hands in salute. âBoss Xing, finally, Iâve been looking forward to your arrival. The things youâve brought this time seem quite abundant.âHe turned his gaze to the three ships!
He saw figures disembarking from all three vessels. From the ship hauling the oil cart came merely a group of salt smugglers. But from the warship, soldiers were alightingâa huge number of soldiers, equipped with armor, spears, waist knives, hand crossbows, and many holding firearms. With such gear, their setup easily surpassed that of the officials by more than a level.
On one of the flat ships, they were unloading horses!
Once these horses left the ship, a soldier would smoothly mount one immediately. The movement was fluid and natural, showing they were clearly well-trained cavalrymen.
Iron Bird Flies thought to himself, alarmed: What lavish equipment was this? Was it something a mere salt smuggler should possess?
Then he saw Gao Chuwu walking over, head drooping. Xing Honglang tugged him to her side and smiled. âThis is my husband. In the jianghu, heâs known as Big Fool. Heâs a famous hero in Shaanxi.â
Iron Bird Flies thought: Famous? Iâd never heard of his reputation. I only knew of Wang Chuying, Zijin Liang (Wang Ziyong), Bai Yuzhu, King of Disruption, Bu Zhan Ni, Wang Zuogua, and others. Where had this Big Fool sprung from?
Xing Honglang snorted: âWhat? Look down on my husband?â
Iron Bird Flies quickly put on a serious expression. âNo, no, absolutely not. This Big Fool strikes me as a top-notch fine fellow.â
Gao Chuwu grinned at him. âYouâre a decent chap, speaking such sweet words.â
Iron Bird Flies thought: No wonder heâs called Big Fool. This fellow doesnât even recognize polite flattery.
He leaned close to Xing Honglangâs ear and whispered: âBoss Xing, what is thisâŚ?â
Xing Honglang responded: âAs you see, Iâve rebelled too! My husband happened to have a few hundred brothers under his command, so he came to assist me. Now I have ships, soldiers, and grain too. Hehehe, Iâm back this time to eliminate those scoundrels who bullied my hometown folks.â
As soon as she spoke, cheers erupted from the dock.
âGreat!â
âBoss Xing has come to back us up.â
âThose damn drifters have made us suffer badly. Boss Xing, stand up for us!â
âBoss Xing, Iâm hungry.â
Hearing these chaotic sounds, Xing Honglang didnât hesitate and waved her hand. âStart unloading the goods.â
The tarpaulin on the cargo ship was pulled back, revealing it was entirely filled with flourâhuge sacks of flour, stockpiling the whole craft. One salt smuggler carried down a sack, opened it on the bank, and everyone peered inside.
Even though they had suspected it was food, seeing it firsthand gave them a major fright.
âIs the sack full of grain?â
âAre all the sacks on the ship like that?â
âMy god, how many jin must this vessel carry?â
âDear heavens, this shipâs grain alone could feed folks from several towns.â
Iron Bird Flies watched, utterly bewildered. âBoss Xing, where on earth did you obtain so much grain?â
Xing Honglang chuckled. âThis was granted by the heavens.â
Iron Bird Flies didnât believe a word about heavenly gifts. He thought: Boss Xing wouldnât reveal it. That wasnât surprisingâwith such a prized supply channel, he wouldnât either. Monopolizing the source alone maximized profits.
âBoss Xing, no more chitchat. For this grain⌠quote me a price.â
Iron Bird Fliesâs question echoed what everyone on the dock was wondering. They weighed their somewhat thin purses and thought: Last time, Boss Xing transported it over at 400 wen per dou for us. This time, it probably shouldnât rise, right?
They had just thought of that when they heard Xing Honglang loudly say, âThis time, the goods are plentiful, two hundred wen per dou!â
âWow!â
Everyone was overjoyed.
At that time, the grain price in Shanxi had soared to eight hundred wen per dou, and in many places, there was no market at all. They hadnât expected Xing Honglang to come and directly push it down to two hundred wen. This wasnât like doing business; it was like engaging in charity.
A large crowd surged around, shouting, âGive me two dou!â âI want five jin!â âTwenty jin!â
The crowd at the dock was in a frenzy.
Iron Bird Flies didnât rush to move. He was different from those engaging in small trades. If he took goods, it would be more than ten cartloads at a time. He chuckled and said, âBoss Xing, what youâre doing⌠If I take goods from you, Iâd be embarrassed to sell them at a higher price again.â
Xing Honglang replied, âNonsense, of course, you canât sell high. See the large cargo ship behind me? I donât just have this one ship; I have a second, a third, a fourth⌠I have as much grain as you could need.â
She laughed and said, âI came back to Shanxi this time specifically to suppress the grain price. If any bastard dares to hoard grain and inflate prices, Iâll break them until they go bankrupt and have to sell their underwear.â
Iron Bird Flies inhaled sharply and said, âThereâs that much? So when the next ship arrives, it might be even lower, right?â
Xing Honglang smiled and said, âExactly! My ultimate goal is to press the grain price down to its usual annual price.â
Iron Bird Flies thought to himself: the usual annual price is only seven wen per jin.
ThisâŚ
In an instant, Iron Bird Flies changed his mind. He decided not to sell grain. After all, he was originally a salt smuggler, and grain selling wasnât his field. He shouldnât chase such dishonest money. Better to avoid becoming a target of Xing Honglangâs crackdown.
âIâd better sell salt,â Iron Bird Flies said with a laugh. âLast time, Boss Xing said you wanted salt. I managed to deliver quite a lot for you.â
He led Xing Honglang to the side of the grass hut, pulled open the door, and pointed inside.
Xing Honglang glanced at it. There were thirty or forty salt bags as big as a human head. For common citizens, that was a massive amount; a townâs people would eat it for a year or two. But for Gaojia Villageâs alkali production, such a small quantity was practically nothing.
She pointed at the cargo ship behind her and said, âLook at this ship. If I carry just a few of your salt bags like this, might it not seem a bit improper? Is that all you can manage? Canât you bring more salt? Enough to fill this ship?â
Iron Bird Flies said, âGasp? This big ship? Full of salt? How many years would it take for how many people to finish eating it?â
Xing Honglang replied, âNever mind how many years it takes. I need more salt. This isnât enough; Iâll have to make a trip to Jie Pond myself.â
Iron Bird Flies looked at the army behind Xing Honglang and lowered his voice, âBoss Xing, are you planning to fight your way back to Jie Pond? Hedong Road has the imperial courtâs regular army stationed there. If you try to battle through to grab salt, it would blow up into a big mess.â
âIâm no fool; Iâm certainly not going to fight it directly,â Xing Honglang said.
Xing Honglang added, âThe imperial garrisons are north of Jie Pond. I plan to go around to the south of Jie Pond and contact the salt craftsmen there to produce salt for me. I havenât sold salt for years, so Iâm out of touch with the ways there. You come guide me and help me get the salt routes straightened out, and Iâll make sure you profit.â
Iron Bird Flies chuckled, âHee hee hee, Iâm very familiar with the south of Jie Pond. But⌠about this guiding thing⌠Boss Xing, name your price.â