The Military Governor in Dream of the Red Chamber

The shopkeeper's words surprised Jia Chen. What did he mean by "family"?

He didn't recognize the shopkeeper in front of him; it was the first time he had ever met him.

"Ah~~ Let me introduce myself. I am Lin Heqing, from Suzhou in Southern Zhili." Lin Heqing realized that his words had confused Jia Chen, so he began to introduce and explain, "Lord Lin Ruhai is my fellow townsman and also a member of the same clan."

Jia Chen hadn't expected this connection.

Lin Ruhai was the son-in-law of the Jia family, and he himself was a member of the Jia family. So, by that logic, he and Lin Heqing were actually related.

Jia Chen remembered that Lin Ruhai had been a single son for generations, with no brothers or anything like that.

However, there are definitely some distant relatives within the same clan.

Lin Daiyu should be five years old now. She lost her mother when she was six, which means that Jia Min will die next year, and then Lin Daiyu will enter the Jia family.

"They really are family," Jia Chen said with a smile.

"Lord Centurion is truly a young hero..." Lin Heqing mentioned Jia Chen's contributions, which further strengthened their relationship.

"Manager Lin, what's the price of your grain now?" Jia Chen was still concerned about the food supply.

Since we're related, I figured I could at least get a discount, like 10% or 20%, every little bit helps.

There are so many people who need to eat now, and those who do physical labor have even larger appetites.

"If it were someone else, they would definitely pay the market price. If you want it, it's half price," Lin Heqing said.

This surprised Jia Chen quite a bit.

There is a food shortage in Datong, and the price of food is still rising.

In Jia Chen's opinion, the other party was already being very generous by offering a 10% discount.

I never expected it to be 50% off, it was such a surprise.

"Manager Lin, are you sure?" Jia Chen wanted to confirm.

"Half price it is, no questions asked," Lin Heqing said with a smile. "Don't overthink it. Firstly, it's about our relationship, and secondly, I was originally planning to deal with the grain here anyway."

Hearing this, Jia Chen secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Several thoughts flashed through his mind quickly.

He didn't think Lin Heqing needed to curry favor with him. He was just a centurion, and in Qianshan Fort, he couldn't help Lin Heqing at all.

So, is Lin Heqing really willing to provide me with food at half price?

Just because of such a distant, distant family connection?

Perhaps that's the case.

"Manager Lin, what's the meaning of disposing of the grain here?" Jia Chen asked, a thought flashing through his mind. "Does this mean you're not planning to do business here anymore?"

Upon hearing Jia Chen's question, Lin Heqing's face darkened, and he shook his head and sighed, "This business is not easy to do; some locals are too domineering."

At this point, Lin Heqing glanced outside and lowered his voice, saying, "Let's talk inside."

Jia Chen nodded.

Although Lin Heqing hadn't said it yet, Jia Chen could already guess some of the reasons.

The locals are too domineering. It's likely that Lin Heqing's business here is in trouble and he's being suppressed by some of his local competitors.

After sitting down in the inner room, Jia Chen said, "If there's anything I can do to help, just say the word. I can put in a good word for you with the military commander and Eunuch Hu."

Jia Chen thought that Lin Heqing must be interested in their relationship.

It's no secret on Beidong Road that he is now highly regarded by Liu Tianwang and Hu Youcai.

A businessman like Lin Heqing should be well-informed in Desheng Fort, so it's not surprising that he knows these things.

Lin Heqing smiled and said, "Lord Centurion, you misunderstand. The half-price grain was offered voluntarily, without any other conditions."

This made Jia Chen a little embarrassed.

Am I judging others by my own petty standards?

"And what about the locals you mentioned?" Jia Chen asked.

Lin Heqing shook his head and sighed, "Actually, even without them, I would probably have had to give up some of my business here. To be honest, I originally came here with the intention of opening a Sino-French trade port and obtaining salt permits..."

After Lin Heqing's explanation, Jia Chen finally understood what was going on.

The so-called "open-market system" was a system of exchanging salt for grain.

The imperial court used its monopoly on salt to recruit merchants to transport military supplies such as grain and horses to border towns or designated warehouses. In return, the court issued salt permits to the merchants.

Merchants could use this certificate to collect salt from the salt fields and sell it for profit in the designated area.

Lin Heqing mainly does this kind of business.

Initially, grain was indeed transported from the interior, but it was consumed in great quantities along the way, resulting in considerable costs.

Later, in order to save expenses and reduce costs, Lin Heqing hired people to cultivate land in Datong Town and grow grain directly there.

In this way, once the grain is harvested, it can be supplied to the border troops nearby, reducing the cost of long-distance transportation.

However, in recent years, those salts have caused problems.

The imperial court issued far too many salt permits, far exceeding the salt production.

This resulted in many merchants having salt permits but being unable to obtain salt from the salt fields.

Lin Heqing was better off because he had a close relationship with Lin Ruhai, so he could redeem most of the salt certificates.

But in recent years, this situation has only gotten worse.

Even with Lin Ruhai's connection, there's no guarantee that all salt permits can be redeemed.

Furthermore, there is the suppression from some local wealthy and powerful families.

Especially the Sun family.

The main reason they dared to do this was because of the decline of the Jia family's power.

If Lin Heqing and Lin Ruhai are related, then indirectly they are related to the Jia family.

The Jia family had some connections in the military in Datong Town, and initially, Lin Heqing's efforts to cultivate relationships with these people were quite pleasant.

But now, many businesses are not doing so smoothly, and a lot of bad things have happened along the way.

The Sun family was among those who interfered.

If the Jia family's influence here hadn't diminished, the Sun family wouldn't have dared to act this way.

Therefore, Lin Heqing began to consider resigning.

His main business is still in Jiangnan. He came to Datong Town this time to deal with these businesses; otherwise, he would have left them to others to manage.

The Sun family wanted to take over his business here. Because of the Sun family's influence in Datong Town, few people dared to compete with them, so the Sun family took the opportunity to lower the price in various ways.

Lin Heqing was still negotiating with the Sun family.

In fact, Lin Heqing had almost admitted it before.

Unexpectedly, the Chahar tribe suddenly marched south, which led to the downfall of the local governor and general.

This made Lin Heqing think that he could postpone it a little longer.

The Sun family had taken good care of the previous governor and general, and maintained close relationships with them.

He had no chance at all and could only accept the harsh conditions offered by the Sun family.

This was only because he had some connection with the Jia family; otherwise, it was entirely possible that the Sun family would have taken it over directly.

Now the governor is a new one, and the Sun family has no connection with him.

As for the new General Chen Tai?

Previously, Chen Tai was not particularly outstanding among the senior military officers in the North East Road, and was completely inferior to the adjutant generals in other roads.

Therefore, the Sun family did not spend too much effort on Chen Tai.

Who would have thought that Chen Tai would become a general?

At this time, the Sun family wanted to pull some strings, but Chen Tai had no qualms about the past.

In short, even if the Sun family wants to rebuild their relationships, it will take time and come at a greater cost.

Moreover, taking advantage of this opportunity, Lin Heqing felt that if he really wanted to sell the property here, the Sun family would have to offer a higher price than before.

"Whatever you need, as long as I have it, I'll give it to you at a low price. I still have some staple grains," Lin Heqing added.

Rather than letting the Sun family snatch it away at a low price, it's better to sell it to Jia Chen at half price.

Jia Chen felt much more at ease.

Food is the most important thing.

It is said that the Jurchens are invincible if they have more than 10,000 men.

However, in Jia Chen's view, if the Da Hong Army were fully paid, although it wouldn't be invincible, its combat effectiveness would be greatly enhanced.

With all the delays in paying rations and wages, how have the troops become so hungry?

How can an army that is chronically hungry and malnourished fight?