The Soldier of the Red Mansion

Chapter 342 Dry Towel

Since ancient times, doing business has required cultivating relationships. Only by smoothing out relationships along the way can one conduct business smoothly; this is known as the way of business.

Without mastering the art of business, one can only engage in small-scale local trade.

For example, the second branch of the Xue family controlled a trade route from Datong to Jiangnan, selling tens of thousands of cattle and horses every year. Along the way, they would also distribute a portion to local wealthy families or desperate outlaws who risked their lives in the martial arts world.

In the novel *Water Margin*, Duan Jingzhu, the Golden-haired Dog, is a江湖汉 (jianghu man, a wandering swordsman) who makes a living by selling goods.

Zhuozhou was an important gateway to the capital. When Zhu Di rebelled in the early Ming Dynasty, he first captured Zhuozhou, thus eliminating the direct military threat to Beiping and providing Zhu Di with a stable rear area.

The second branch of the Xue family undoubtedly controlled a large trading company, whose purpose was to transport cattle and horses to Jiangnan and then wholesale them to local households in various regions.

Along the way, they would bribe officials and wholesale goods to local heroes or wealthy merchants, forming a vast local network of relationships. This was the Xue family's greatest wealth.

Complete sales channels.

These days there's no internet. Even if there were, local distributors would still need sales representatives to go to the area in person to understand the situation and communicate with each distributor individually, let alone in ancient times.

Two years ago, Xue Pan was beaten up by Liu Xianglian. He said he would reform and go into business, but in reality, he was too ashamed to stay in the capital and hid away.

Zhang Dehui was still the one truly in charge of things at the business.

Unlike later generations, these days are different; as long as you have the ability, you can go out and explore freely.

Nowadays, many things lack support behind them, and the ceiling for ordinary people is very low. That's why we have stories about loyal old shopkeepers and servants, but in reality, they have no other way out.

Otherwise, who would be willing to work for someone else for free if they had the ability?

Xue Pan lost face and was already looked down upon by the noble sons of the capital. Unable to make a living outside, he had no choice but to get married. Unexpectedly, it would have been better if he hadn't married at all, as he was looked down upon by his wife every day.

This time.

Wang Xin suddenly sent someone to invite him, saying that he had business to discuss with the eldest branch of the Xue family.

Before Xue Pan could even feel happy, Wang Xin had already pointed out that Zhang Dehui's involvement meant he looked down on Xue Pan.

Although Xue Pan was angry, the business was still his own, and he would spend the money he made.

Unfortunately, his wife, Jin Gui, did not think so.

The old folks at the shop counter only listened to Aunt Xue, not her. The money they made was in their mother-in-law's hands. Jin Gui, who was already dissatisfied with not being in charge of the household, sneered, "I was terribly cheated by your family when I married you."

Xue Pan said, "What kind of talk is this?"

“Your surname is Xue, but you don’t make the decisions about the Xue family. The man I married is the head of the Xue family, not a worm in the Xue family.” Jin Gui’s words were loaded with meaning, and Xue Pan blushed with embarrassment.

"I haven't offended you, why are you blaming a good person?"

Xue Pan looked puzzled.

Jin Gui sneered: "Who else could it be but you? It can't be me! I do like having a few other people, but don't be angry if someone comes into my room."

After saying that, Jin Gui gave a soft hum. Her words flowed like peas, leaving Xue Pan no chance to interject.

"But even if someone else enters my room, I'm afraid you're just a coward, someone who dares not speak out against injustice."

If it were anyone else, Xue Pan would have already made his move.

However, he dared not lay a hand on his wife, as her in-laws were not easy to deal with.

If a woman has a powerful husband's family, her husband's family will never dare to bully her, let alone lay a hand on her.

Since that was the case, Xue Pan couldn't argue with her, and he was so angry that he couldn't catch his breath. He said urgently, "Try it. If you really push me to the limit, none of us will be happy."

Jin Gui remained unfazed and said disdainfully, "If you have such skills, don't just use them on me, take them out and use them elsewhere."

Xue Pan's face flushed red and then turned pale.

Seeing this, Jin Gui stopped provoking him further and instead began to sob. Xue Pan was puzzled, and his anger subsided considerably. He couldn't help but wonder if he had really done something wrong.
Seeing that the time was right, Jin Gui also burst into tears, crying out, "You tricked me into following you. I'm a perfectly good young woman. I have no way out after marrying you. And you're still not satisfied. You've even taken my precious toad away."

That's what I said.

For some reason, Xue Pan felt a sense of pride, and the anger that had subsided earlier dissipated even more.

Jin Gui started hitting Xue Pan.

"OK OK."

Xue Pan held Jin Gui's hand.

Jin Gui was not as strong as Xue Pan and could not struggle against him. She said breathlessly, "If that's the case, I'll accept it. But you shouldn't have done that. You shouldn't have acted like a man. You act like a grandfather at home, but how can you act like a slave outside? I absolutely disagree with this. I despise you from the bottom of my heart."

Xue Pan couldn't help but frown.

"If they won't see me, am I supposed to stick my neck out?"

"Why won't they see you? They clearly have their eyes on the Xue family business. Unless you're not the owner of the Xue family business," Jin Gui said disdainfully. "If you were to stand up for yourself outside, you'd know your abilities are limited. You're just trying to take back your own business. Let's see if they'll even see you."

Zhang Dehui had always managed the Xue family business. When he was younger, he didn't want to get involved in the business, so he had to discuss it with his mother.

This has been the case for many years, and Xue Pan has not found anything wrong with it.

It's the same whether my mother takes care of it or I do it myself, and it saves me the trouble.

Unfortunately, his wife was unwilling.

After his wife's explanation, Xue Pan felt a little annoyed. Why shouldn't Wang Xin let him show up?

Most of the original Hexi Camp members were gone, leaving only a huge empty camp.

Since Wang Xin transferred Wang Ying, the army began to regain its popularity. Several batches of soldiers were transferred over, all from various units of the Right Route Army. The transfer was arranged by Wang Xin, but once they entered the Hexi Camp, Wang Ying was in charge of leading the troops.

"One two one."

"One two one."

"one two three four."

"Running. Walking."

A sentry officer, wearing a bamboo whistle and an infantry uniform, stood in formation. As the weather gradually warmed up, most of them wore only a single layer of clothing. The ninety-man team, with ten men in a row and nine men in a column, ran in neat formation on the drill ground, like a square formation.

Eleven such formations were scattered across the drill ground.

A square formation is a sentry post, and each sentry post has three squads, each squad has three platoons, each platoon has two squads, and each squad has five men.

For three consecutive months, each soldier has received one shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice per month. The original price of rice was one tael of silver for two shi of rice, but now the price has risen to more than one tael of silver for one shi of rice.

In many camps where silver was exchanged, the soldiers would suffer another loss.

The entire right wing receives no silver, only goods. Each month, they receive one shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice. Although this doesn't improve their lives much, it at least ensures their families have something to eat and don't starve.

With an additional three to five qian of salt and vegetable allowance, even though they had no money all year round, a family of three or four could completely avoid going hungry.

Then came Hexi Camp.

The soldiers in the Hexi Camp also received a monthly allowance of one tael of silver.

The money was distributed in full.

Therefore, many soldiers were willing to join the Hexi Camp, but the obstacle was the lower-ranking officers and guerrillas, who were reluctant to let people go.

Fortunately, Wang Xin did not have high requirements for the quality of his soldiers.

Strong men generally have strong personalities, and these are the main source of the generals' retainers.

They're arrogant and fierce soldiers.

Honest and simple people are generally timid.

The personal guards under the command of generals were actually treated quite well; at least they retained their original benefits.

Why can it be preserved?

This is because most generals would embezzle the already deducted military pay again to subsidize their own trusted retainers.

Therefore, while Wang Xin opposed this move, many generals were actually happy to see it happen.

As a result, many of Wang Xin's servants disliked him. Wang Xin didn't care; he valued the honest, hardworking, and patient ordinary soldiers more.

The experiences these ordinary soldiers went through would have been something the servants would have figured out long ago. Given their strong personalities, they were bound to be dissatisfied with the status quo.

Which one is better?

Wang Xin believed that each had its own advantages and disadvantages.

However, at this stage, Wang Xin needs the latter more in terms of his own needs, namely, ordinary soldiers who are honest, timid, hardworking, and have extremely high endurance.

As for being cowardly and unwilling to fight?
Just practice cooking more.

Practice relentlessly until it becomes second nature.

Even the most honest person will fight back if they are bullied to death, so Wang Xin gave them money.

Weren't we always short of food and clothing?

Those with families can't bring home a single grain of food all year round and still have to eat from their families.

Women with connections could ask their fathers-in-law for help, or if they were lucky, they could find a way to make a living by washing clothes and cooking for wealthy families. The most destitute were those who ran a small business with a half-closed door in the alley.

Therefore, no one wants to marry their daughter to a soldier.

The Great Zhou inherited the throne from the Great Ming, and many things continued to happen, such as soldiers being despised by the prevailing social atmosphere.

This is a phenomenon that will inevitably occur in any country once the gap between the rich and the poor widens and the deep-seated problems of the government become intractable.

In later generations, Wang Xin saw many such cases.

The solution is clear to everyone; it's all based on the same principle.

Reassign.

The same principle applies to the right flank army.

Since the ordinary soldiers were happy, the servants were naturally unhappy.

Although he had also retrieved what should have been the right flank from the Ministry of War, such as the current right flank, where both servants and ordinary soldiers receive one shi of grain per month, plus a subsidy of five qian.

The servants lost a third of their income, while the ordinary soldiers' income increased tenfold.

Wang Xin had calculated it.

What was once a mere 200 yuan a month to survive has now become 2,000 yuan a month.

The servants, who originally earned three thousand a month, were reduced to two thousand, while the soldiers of the Hexi Camp earned four thousand a month.

This does not include factors such as price increases due to natural disasters.

This is to compare prices with those of ten or twenty years ago when the Great Zhou Dynasty was more stable. Otherwise, the price of grain in the capital region had reached one tael of silver per shi (a unit of dry measure), not to mention the disaster-stricken areas in Shandong, as well as the Shaanxi and Henan regions.

To put it another way.

Wang Xin actually followed the same path as the original right-wing army generals.

However, the generals of the right wing army were exploiting their soldiers to support their families, while Wang Xin was using this opportunity to fight against the Ministry of War and the Eastern Army Commander's Office, while also supporting commerce, using the profits from trade to support his elite troops, and redistributing profits within the army.

But does it matter where the money comes from?

In the eyes of many people, they are no different from them, so of course they will not accept it.

Wang Xin, however, didn't care.

It's impossible to please everyone.

“I have already met with Chen Langzhong of the Ministry of War. He promised to transfer a batch of military equipment. However, this batch of military equipment has been in the warehouse for several years and most of it is rusty. When it arrives at the army, you will have to lead the soldiers to polish it again.”

Wang Xin arrived at the Hexi Camp to inspect its training progress.

Wang Ying accompanied him from behind, with Yan Zhongzheng beside him.

Yan Zhongzheng had been by Wang Xin's side for two or three years, in charge of the military affairs of the entire Datong Western Army. He was very familiar with Wang Xin's training methods, so Yan Zhongzheng was in charge of the details of the Datong Western Army's drills, while Wang Ying was in charge of implementation.

The two worked together quite well, and they were already showing some promise.

Wang Ying frowned and said worriedly, "Ordinary military equipment is easy to deal with. The people below can work harder to purchase more molds. If that doesn't work, we can hire some craftsmen to help out. But what about firearms?"

The Hexi Camp primarily used firearms.

As for cavalry, most of the warhorses of the Beijing garrison are controlled by the inner court, and several horse farms have been unable to supply enough horses in recent years.

Wang Xin laughed and said, "I have already sent someone to invite Eunuch Bing. I have a good relationship with him. He is a very loyal person. He is in charge of the Armory. Anyway, it's just sitting in the warehouse rusting. As long as we flatter him, he will probably agree, since he cares about his reputation."

The Great Zhou Dynasty lasted for over a hundred years.

Every year, a great deal of military equipment is produced. Some of this equipment is sent to the warehouses in the capital for storage, while the rest is distributed to various armies.

This is the old process. Due to widespread corruption, many things have come to a standstill. For example, there are only three horse farms left in the capital region, and these three farms can now only supply horses for the royal palace.

Some of the military equipment in the various warehouses was already rusty due to lack of maintenance.

In the eyes of the eunuchs, these were worthless "scrap metals" that could not be exchanged for money, and no one was willing to waste their personal connections on them. So they were used as ballast in the warehouse to deal with random inspections from above.

Wang Ying knew that his own general had many connections, so it wasn't surprising, but he worried, "I'm afraid there aren't many things that can be used."

Wang Xin laughed and said, "Sell it as scrap metal, and use the money to buy a new one."

Wang Ying was speechless for a moment.

"That's only enough to exchange for a few dollars."

“Even a mosquito's leg is still meat, and besides, I have connections in Datong. I can not only buy cheap horses, but also cheap firearms.”

Wang Xin said meaningfully.

Wang Ying was truly impressed this time. His own commandery was like a treasure chest; any problem that came into his hands was either easily solved or he had a way to solve it easily.

Even in the north, a good horse would cost around ten taels of silver, but Wang Xin could buy it for three taels.

Actually, this is nothing.

In the past, in border trade, merchants could exchange a piece of ordinary cotton cloth for a horse.

However, most of these horses were castrated.

Moreover, these extra profits did not result in additional taxes being paid to the imperial court, but instead flowed into the hands of private individuals.

Wang Xin's strategy outside Datong Pass was more like integration, consolidating resources while preventing merchants from exploiting the herdsmen and ensuring that each herdsman could sell a horse for three taels of silver.

According to Wang Xin's calculations and plan.

On average, each herding household receives more than 20 sheep a year, totaling 4.3 taels of silver; six cows, totaling 12 taels of silver; and three horses, totaling 9 taels of silver. With other special services, they can earn about 26 or 27 taels of silver a year.

Sheep are the least profitable animal, but the herders themselves need to eat them, including drinking sheep milk daily.

Don't be fooled by the fact that twenty-six or twenty-seven taels a year is more than the average twenty taels for a firewood and clerk.

However, the price for merchants to transport goods outside the pass was higher, 20% to 50% higher than inland, or even twice as expensive. In addition, the area outside the pass was more prone to disasters, and after a cold winter, it often took several years to recover.

Wang Xin knew very well that this was the Little Ice Age.

Only by enabling herders to obtain more reserves can they survive the Little Ice Age; otherwise, if they only have a dozen or so taels a year, at least 30% of herders will go bankrupt within ten years.

In short.

The military has shares in Juzhongchang and also has purchasing rights, allowing them to directly purchase horses from herders. Juzhongchang is obligated to act as their purchasing agent.

A thousand horses would only cost three thousand taels of silver, but the transportation costs along the way would be no less than the purchase costs, and there would be considerable risks, as they could easily be "intercepted" by forces along the route.

As for arquebuses and the like.

Wang Xin also has the right to purchase at cost price.

Even so, they couldn't pay for it themselves. Whether it was the imperial court or the inner court, they had to squeeze out some water from the dry towel themselves.

(End of this chapter)