Way Of The King
/ Royal Road Chapter 52
Published at 1st of August 2022 06:30:52 AM
After he returned to the Wang Residence, Liang Feng dispatched a servant to deliver a thousand sheets of Scripture Paper to the Guo Residence. Originally, even with his showy advertisement campaign, it would take the noble families a day or two before they reservedly showed up to ask. But thanks to Liu Xuan, this time period had been shortened quite a lot.
In the afternoon of that very day, fifty stone millet rice were delivered to his door, plus the five steeds pulling the cart. The grain was expected, but these five high-quality steeds were worth twenty thousand at least; they were an obvious sign of goodwill from Liu Xuan. Liang Feng, in addition to the thousand sheets of scripture paper, sent him a box of floral letter paper – two different colors, fifty of each – as a return gift. Now, he'd both upheld etiquette and promoted his letter paper.
With the Xiongnu royal's ostentatious gesture, all the well-informed nobles now knew that they could trade grain for Scripture Paper. Fifty stone of grain, according to the market price in Jinyang, was only about fifty thousand or so. To the truly wealthy families, whose yearly grain inflow could be measured by thousands of stones, fifty stone was a laughably insignificant amount. Liang Feng's fame had, aided by his dignified composure and the religious ceremony, reached new heights. They were more than willing to spend a mere penny for the “bodhisattva's” paper!
The next day, several noble households came to inquire about scripture paper. The remaining three thousand sheets were gone in an instant. As for those who hadn't been able to buy any, Liang Feng promised that he would ship more paper to Jinyang the moment his paperworks finished making them. The three families that purchased Scripture Paper also generously left him the carts and the beasts of burden pulling them.
And just like that, barely any time after the ceremony had ended, all the paper that Liang Feng had brought to Jinyang was sold out. He now had a full two hundred stone of grain. To the noble families, it was nothing, but it meant the world to Liang Feng. This grain could last the refugees he'd taken in until the fall harvest. More importantly, this wasn't a one-time business transaction; the paperworks produced five to six thousand sheets of paper every month. A net profit of three hundred stone a month added up three thousand stone a year! Was there any faster way to make money?
Jiang Ni, who had been completely won over, reverently kneeled to Liang Feng and reported, “Another four families have placed an order for next month's Scripture Paper. And this is just in Jinyang – once the news spread, I'm sure many more households will come to buy paper. Just imagine the profits if the paperworks were to be doubled in scale!”
Liang Feng slowly shook his head, “The more of it there is, the less valuable it is. We only need to maintain the current rate of production.”
It wasn't even possible to spontaneously increase their output in this pre-industrial era. Besides, Liang Feng knew better than anyone what those n-th generation rich kids were like. Scarcity equaled desirability; no one wanted a thing that they could find in any random street stall. If a luxury good wasn't rare, was it even a luxury good anymore?
Jiang Ni hurriedly nodded in agreement, hesitated, then asked, “Then what about porcelain? A few people have asked me whether the Liang Estate has any more white porcelain.”
Nowadays, he was the one responsible for handling all the estate's copper-tanged business dealings. As the happenings at the ceremony became widely known, the stewards of noble families began coming to him to get some insider information on white porcelain. Jiang Ni had seen just how profitable paper was – several times more than the fruit of their clayworks' hard toil. How terrible would it be, if the paperworks got one over on the clayworks because of this? The exquisite white porcelain that his father had worked so hard to develop just had to sell for a good price as well!
“Ktfgf'r cb gert obg atf qbgmfijlc. Pa cffvr wbgf gfolcfwfca yfobgf rjif. Ufgtjqr kf'ii agjvf la obg vbkc bg oeg ab kfjatfg atf klcafg,” Oljcu Mfcu tjv jigfjvs atbeuta jtfjv.
Pa tjv ab yf rjlv atja meggfcais, atf dejilas bo atf mijskbgxr' mgjoar kjr ecrajyif. Mbg fzjwqif, atja ibaer afj rfa; atfs tjv olgfv rlz lc atf xlic, yea bcis bcf tjv remmffvfv. Ktf gfra kfgf flatfg ecfnfcis uijhfv bg wlrrtjqfc. Ktfs kfgf qfgtjqr olcf ab atf bgvlcjgs qfgrbc, yea ab atf vlrmfgclcu merabwfg, atfs kfgf glvvifv klat oijkr. Qtja cbyif kbeiv yes vfofmalnf qgbvemar? Ktfs vlvc'a mjgf jybea ktfatfg bg cba la kjr mtfjq!
That was why Liang Feng, instead of selling them at a discount, had ordered the clayworks to destroy them and bury them. This was why porcelain was exorbitantly expensive in the olden days. For every high-quality piece of porcelain, there was a whole floor's worth of shattered pottery. Allowing defective goods into the marketplace would only damage their brand and depress the value of their other products.
The Liang Estate's white porcelain should also strive to compete in the high-end market, only selling high-quality items that they could use to obtain rare war materiel. The elite families always had ways to get their hands on goods that money couldn't buy. To them, white porcelain, which was produced exclusively by the Liang Estate, was likely worth far more than silks and brocades.
Once the temperature plummeted, those winter clothes would save lives. And in war, a properly equipped army obviously had greater fighting strength than a bunch of soldiers in single-layer clothes. This too was something Liang Feng had taken into consideration.
Jiang Ni left after finishing his report. Liang Feng, on the other hand, rubbed his temples and leaned against the rest. Even though he'd gotten the grain he needed, much more easily than he'd expected, his worries hadn't lessened in the slightest. The Liang Estate did indeed have advantageous conditions; after all, the Liang family had moved there to avoid the conflict in Luoyang and recoup their strength. The location wasn't very well connected, but it was secure enough. Plus, the main residence was built like a textbook fortress. As long as it was guarded by a legion of competent soldiers, it could protect his people from invasion.
Under his governance, the estate now had a ring of farmland around it that could serve as a buffer. Once the slack season came around, perhaps he could even start some infrastructure projects, pile walls and raise towers, set up a multilayer early warning sentry system. If they were attacked, it would give the commoners to retreat to behind fortifications and hold out against the enemy. Even an army that was several times larger than theirs might not be able to overcome such unyielding resistance.
But was it enough? What use would it be, guarding it lone island, if he became surrounded by the Xiongnu? If he wanted to preserve his base, he had to at least guarantee that the vast majority of neighboring land wasn't taken by enemy forces. But what kind of place was Shangdang Commandery? “Overlooking the central plains, Hedong and Bing Province its arms, it is the throat of the Jin Kingdom.” Shangdang Commandery was the transportation hub that connected Shanxi, Hebei, and Henan; to campaign southward from the northern territories, to cross the Taihang Mountains, there was no path but through Shangdang Commandery!
That was the reason that, all throughout history, it had been a militarily contested area. In the distant past, there was the Battle of Changping between the Qin and Zhao kingdoms. In the recent past, there was the Battle of Huguan, in which Cao Cao had defeated Gao Gan. Anyone trying to connect the three provinces and unite the northern region! He was practically sitting on the frontlines of the coming war! Just how was he supposed to safeguard himself, and the people who depended upon him?
At present, Liang Feng had no answer. His strength was too meager. There was nothing he could do about this situation.
This knowledge was a weight on Liang Feng's heart; he wasn't one to give up in the face of difficulty. There had to be a way for him to defend his little corner of the world.
“My lord!”
A voice interrupted his rumination. Liang Feng turned around and finally noticed that Yiyan had been standing beside him for some time now. Standing against the light, his features were hazed by shadow, save for his shining gray-blue eyes, full of concern and an indescribable disquiet. Had he frightened him with how long he'd been lost in thought?
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Before Liang Feng had a chance to adjust his expression, Yiyan kneeled on one knee and said, “My lord, are you worried about the grain? I am able to transfer it back to the Liang Estate in its entirety!”Liang Feng stalled for a moment. Of course not, but how was he to explain what was really on his mind? Was he supposed to tell everyone that the fall of the empire was imminent and that the flames of war might scorch the Liang Estate to ashes? That was impossible. Not only was it too shocking, but there wasn't anything they could do about it even if they knew. It'd only scare them pointlessly.
Thus, Liang Feng smiled and said, “Why yes. Two hundred stone of grain is a rather large amount, enough to fill twenty carts, I'd wager. The estate is five days away from Jinyang, it'd be bad if you encountered bandits on the way.”
That was also a pressing issue. It'd be disastrous if all that hard-earned grain was lost in transport.
Yiyan clenched his fists, “You needn't fret, my lord! The scouts have already investigated the bandit groups along the road. Since there is thriving commerce between Jinyang and Tongdi, there aren't many outlaws on that stretch of the road. We only need to get to Tongdi, then summon reinforcements from the estate, and we'll be able to take on any number of bandits!”
Liang Feng looked at the solemn teenager and was warmed. He said patiently, “The militia has trained for several months now. It's about time they saw blood. I'll leave this to you then. The grain is only secondary; your main objective is to intimidate the hostile power factions along the way and clear this trade route. In the future, many of the goods being shipped to and from the estate will inevitably pass through Jinyang. We must be thoroughly prepared.”
Yiyan's heart trembled; his lord really did trust him. He'd long since had a plan for how to transport the grain, and was confident that he wouldn't lose to those petty crooks. Yet, after his resonant response, that person hadn't shown any sign of pleasure or approval. He'd only smiled wanly, and told him to rest early to get ready for tomorrow.
This was extremely uncharacteristic of his lord.
Yiyan's jaw tightened. Ever since coming to Jinyang, his lord had seemed like a different person. He didn't smile as leisurely as he did at the estate. He would no longer idly pluck at the zither nor teach him history and strategy every night. That carefree spirit who would climb the watchtower in clogs and look out into the distance seemed to have vanished.
His lord had changed. That gentle softness had wholly hardened into ice; now, he maintained the decorum of a noble at all times. Even when confronted with a terrifyingly enormous mob of crazed peasants, he hadn't even frowned. There was no longer that genuine spark of kindness in his eyes when he smiled. Now, he was scrupulously polite and utterly unreadable, forbidding and unapproachable as a god who'd returned to his throne.
These changes were driving Yiyan mad. Perhaps this was his lord's true character – the one hinted at by his familiarity with the art of war and the ruthlessness with which he'd consolidated the Liang Estate. He had only been blinded by his intimacy; but no matter how much a sparrow wished for intimacy with the moon, it could never touch its brilliant radiance!
Yiyan's gaze landed by the seat before him. In the estate, his lord didn't wear socks. As the temperature began to warm, his lord liked to wear geta barefoot and take strolls in the garden. Those fair feet were now hidden by white silk. The way the lapels of his robe crossed strictly beneath his neck, the way his hair was severely bound atop his head –
It all threw his mind into complete turmoil!
Perhaps it'd get better once they left Jinyang. Yiyan slowly got to his feet and walked outside. Perhaps after they'd left Jinyang, and his lord wasn't constantly being called a “bodhisattva,” his lord would return to the way he was. He had to transport the grain back to the estate as fast as possible, then return to escort his lord and return together!
The author has something to say:
Young Liang, you have to walk your wolfdog often so he doesn't go mad =w=
Chapter end
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