The Soldier of the Red Mansion

Chapter 145 Love comes from "Brother-in-law"

At the end of April, Xue Pan found Wang Xin and brought good news that the Xue family's caravan had returned to the capital.

Although Wang Xin didn't know why Xue Pan was so nice to him, could it be that this guy liked him? However, none of this mattered. He hurried to the warehouse of the Xue family business, where there were already dozens of horses in the stable.

If there are too many horses, they will become disobedient, but when these horses arrive in a new place, most of them are very well behaved.

At first glance, it is clear that he is a good candidate to be trained as a war horse.

There was not only the steward of the Xue family in the stable, but also the groom and the veterinarian. As the horses headed south, some of them were lethargic. The veterinarian had already started to feed them medicine, and several apprentices were holding the horses' mouths.

After a while.

People from the camp also came. When Zhang Can learned that the war horses had been transported back, he brought some of his men with him, making the stables overcrowded.

Many of the horses in the camp came from the mainland. Although they were carefully selected, they were much inferior in spirit compared to the horses selected by the Xue family caravan from outside the Great Wall. Although war horses should be obedient, they should also have a little pride.

In fact, it is similar to humans.

The inland areas are all farmland and overcrowded with people, and the horses are also confined, not as active as the horses on these grasslands.

But the grassland is vast and the horses are very active. It is rare for them to maintain a submissive character while being active. Therefore, you can ride a horse, and even a donkey. People who ride donkeys are also cavalry, right?

Although they are all cavalry, the gap between them is huge.

"This horse is really good."

Zhang Can praised it highly.

"Boss, you come from the borderland. Are you still short of horses in the borderland? You have seen all kinds of good horses."

"I have seen it before, but that belongs to someone else. These horses are ours. How can they be the same?" Zhang Can disagreed.

The subordinate thought it made so much sense that he couldn't refute it.

Wang Xin laughed out loud when he heard this, and stretched out his hand to signal everyone to be quiet. The veterinarian was already getting impatient, and without waiting for others to drive him away, Wang Xin asked everyone to leave the stable in advance and let the horse recover for two days before coming back to take it away.

The people in the rear camp were fine. Zhang Can and others were reluctant to leave and wished they could get a share of the spoils right away.

Xue Pan had a proud look on his face.

It is inappropriate for Second Uncle to leave, and an elder is needed to mediate. I can't go to Wang Xin and ask him myself, what if he refuses?

Proposing a marriage requires a person of high prestige.

Give face to everyone.

Although he didn't say anything, he treated them as his brother-in-law in his heart and felt very honored. Aren't these subordinates also his subordinates? Although he thought so, he didn't say it out loud.

He asked the steward to prepare a banquet and invited them to dinner at the Xue family's shop.

The Xue family helped so much, not to mention Zhang Can and others, even Wang Xin had to give face. Not to mention accompanying Xue Pan for dinner, there was no restriction on drinking, giving Xue Pan enough face.

Both sides were interested in each other and the atmosphere was lively with the clinking of glasses.

Friendship aside, Xue Pan had been drinking since he was a child. Although he seemed to be shouting loudly at drinking parties, he actually didn't drink much. He pulled a young, dark-faced steward and went to a room alone with Wang Xin.

"This is Cheng Zhi, the most capable manager of our Xue family."

Xue Pan introduced Wang Xin.

The man had tanned skin and was probably in his early thirties. Although he was the oldest of the three, he was the lowest in status. He quickly bowed to Wang Xin and took the initiative to salute, saying, "General Wang."

Wang Xin grabbed the other person and said warmly, "I won't say much to thank you. If you have any trouble in the future, Manager Cheng, as long as it's not against the law, just come to me and I will definitely not delay."

Cheng Zhi was stunned. He didn't expect the other party to praise him so much.

Even though he did a lot of business, that was because of the reputation of his Xue family business, not because of himself. Cheng Zhi was very self-aware and did not dare to bear it, so he kept explaining.

Wang Xin didn't care about these and was only trying to win over Cheng Zhi.

Wang Xin was a soldier. Xue Pan didn't care about his attitude towards his boss. Instead, he felt respected and smiled happily.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Cheng Zhi sensed the other party's sincerity and was deeply moved. He also introduced himself with extra care, "We left Xuanfu and went to Shubu to do business. We simply exchanged cloth, tea and other things for their cattle and horses. There's nothing much to say."

After giving a brief overview, he began talking about the business.

The price of horses varies greatly.

Some horses cost a few taels of silver, some cost more than ten taels of silver, some cost dozens of taels of silver, and some even cost hundreds of taels of silver.

The ones chosen by the caravan were not the best, but they were pretty good.

The best horses can wear armor. This kind of war horse is the most expensive, usually costing fifty taels of silver each, and it may not be available in the tribe. This kind of horse cannot be caught in the wild, it must be raised carefully from a young age, and the foundation must be good.

Not many people outside Xuanfu raise this kind of horse, so it is a rare opportunity.

The most stable ones are ordinary war horses, which usually cost twenty taels of silver each. The next best ones are around fifteen taels, and the next best ones are slow horses.

This is the value of horses.

If a mule is only used as a transport animal, it is only worth four, five or six taels. A mule weighing six taels is better than a slow horse, but it is still only six taels. The worst horse also costs six taels of silver.

An ordinary warhorse cost the same as four mules.

If we ignore the military effects, from an economic perspective, the economic benefits brought by four mules crush those of horses, so there are more mules and donkeys in the mainland. They eat less, are easy to feed, are not prone to illness, and have good endurance.

Cheng Zhi was a little restrained at first, but gradually became proficient when talking about business. In the end, he could talk fluently and his words were meaningful. Wang Xin nodded secretly. This was the foundation of the Xue family. A business talent emerged unexpectedly.

It is really not easy to cultivate professional talents these days.

Compared with scholars, Wang Xincai feels that these talents who are proficient in various industries are more valuable, because there are so many scholars, while these talents who are proficient in various professions are hard to come by.

After Cheng Zhi finished introducing the specific details, it was Xue Pan and Wang Xin's turn to discuss business.

That's not how normal business works.

However, this wasn't a normal business, as personal relationships played a large role. Therefore, many things were difficult to discuss initially, and only became easier after things were done well. "Brothers, let's be clear on the accounts," Xue Pan said firmly.

"That's right." Wang Xin didn't waste any words.

Business outside Hexi Xiaoying is becoming more and more prosperous. Naturally, no one pays attention to those small vendors. The business is mainly about medicinal materials and spices, as well as some miscellaneous goods, such as antique shops and pawnshops.

In the past six months, the businesses of various companies have been growing bigger and bigger, mainly the merchants from Yangzhou and the Xue family.

The dividends distributed in the past few months, the Xue family's filial piety to the Ministry of Households, and the costs of handling matters along the way, Hexi Xiaoying is equivalent to a local household, and gets 20% of the profit, which is about 9,000 taels.

The specific amount will have to wait until the accountant has completely cleared last month's accounts. The amount will not be much different.

It cost tens of thousands of taels of silver to buy arms, and the dozens of war horses shipped back this time cost another thousand or several hundred taels of silver. Moreover, Wang Xin did not make any money. He currently owes the Xue family three to five thousand taels of silver.

Wang Xin counted his belongings.

Of the more than 60,000 taels of silver, 40,000 taels must not be touched. This was the annual military pay for 2,000 men. In case the business outside the Hexi small camp was affected, there would be a year's buffer so that there would not be no room for maneuver.

More than 20,000 taels of silver were enough to cover the Xue family's expenses.

But as long as I have food in my hands, I won't be worried.

There was also the reward from the Ministry of War, which was originally 15,000 taels, but 5,000 taels were actually distributed, and 4,000 taels of arrears for two months were added to make up for it, so the actual amount owed was more than 18,000 taels of silver.

The pension has not been issued yet. The Ministry of War said we have to wait, but who knows how long it will take.

It’s not that the generals want to keep servants, but any general who wants to do something must do so and find a way to make money to support his servants.

Just like Wu Sangui in the original time and space.

Not only did he have to find a way to gather military equipment, pay, and war horses for his 3,000 Guanning Iron Cavalry, but he also had to distribute land to the servants. According to Wu Xiang, the servants lived better than they did.

Otherwise, why would people work for you?

If you really encounter something and expect others to fight for you, you have to do well in your daily life and make others willing to work for you, otherwise you will be the first to run away.

An army assembled for selfish desires can only be built up by interests.

Wang Xin didn't need to learn from them, but he couldn't let his men fight on an empty stomach. The court couldn't provide them, so he had to find a way himself.

The cost of maintaining an army is too high.

No wonder many generals were reluctant to maintain an army. A hundred years of peace had passed, and it was a thankless task. So what was the point of maintaining an army? If they could just suck the soldiers' blood themselves, not only would they save a lot of military pay, they would also earn over 10,000 taels of silver each year.

If he uses half of the 20,000 or 20,000 taels of silver to bribe people, not only will the entire Hexi camp be named Wang, but everyone in the higher-ups will also be satisfied with him, he won't offend anyone, and he'll be promoted quickly.

After ten years, his career was prosperous and he had accumulated tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Many generations have never had to worry about food and drink.

Isn’t this how many families pass on their traditions?

On the contrary, those generals who raise troops have no place to use their talents, personal connections are rampant, and they cannot get promoted directly like others even if they make achievements. In the end, they get nothing, and they offend people without knowing it. They are thrown into jail even after winning a battle. Not to mention their official hats, they may not even be able to keep their lives.

Therefore, Wang Xin was not very willing to fight.

Unless the court requires it.

Now I have to be transferred to the border area. If a war really breaks out, the expenses will be huge. If I rely on the court to allocate money and food, I am afraid that the same thing that my predecessors encountered will happen to me.

Calculate it carefully.

Wang Xin sighed.

Sometimes you really can't blame the generals who choose to lie down.

I am lucky to have done that.

If you don't make use of this advantage, it would be a waste of talent. If not, you would have been laid down long ago. Whoever wants to fight can do it.

But when we fought against the Japanese invaders last time, there was nothing we could do about it.

The Japanese pirates have no humanity.

But no one will ignore it.

Therefore, the twenty thousand taels of silver cannot be touched, and can only be offset with future earnings, which means that I don’t have to pay a penny, and it’s all covered by the Xue family. I am getting a huge advantage.

Wang Xin felt a little embarrassed.

Xue Pan didn't care.

"I don't like money." Xue Pan put his arm around Wang Xin's shoulders. Although Wang Xin was older than him, he was his brother-in-law. Xue Pan said proudly, "I'm not interested in money."

"Master Xue is so generous!"

Wang Xin gave a thumbs up.

Cheng Zhi glanced at his boss, then at General Wang, lowered his head and said nothing.

After eating and drinking, everyone got what they wanted.

When he returned to the Jia Mansion, someone was already waiting there. When he saw Mr. Xin, he went inside to deliver the message.

The housekeeper soon appeared in the manor.

Qingwen was serving the drunk Wang Xin. Wang Xin came out drunk to see the housekeeper. Zhou Rui told Wang Xin that the master had returned and was waiting for him in the hall.

Although he was a little drunk, Wang Xin knew it was definitely not a small matter.

So he went into the inner room to change his clothes, asked Qingwen to bring him water to wash his face, and after he had gathered his strength, he followed the housekeeper to the front hall.

(End of this chapter)