Volume 1: Zhu Xian Town Crisis Chapter 43: Marching Diary

  Yue Yun smiled slightly and said, "Yesterday at dusk, my nephew led the army to launch a surprise attack on Wanyan Zongmin. We captured his campaign diary. Whether the secret letter shot into the city was a plot by the Jin army to sow discord, it must be recorded in that campaign diary."

  After that, Yue Yun took out the yellow silk bag from her bosom which she had picked up from Wanyan Zongmin's corpse and then pulled out a small booklet from the bag and handed it to Han Shizhong.

  Han Shizhong hastily took over the booklet and began to flip through it.

  In an instant, his face changed greatly, and he sighed: "I was wrong to suspect Geng Zhuo! This is a plot to sow discord! It's the scheme of that little thief Wanyan Liang, how ridiculous that I was deceived by the sinister plot and didn't realize it, really framing an innocent person!"

  After a pause, Han Shizhong hastily said to Han Yanzheng: "Yanzheng, quickly take my token and release General Geng. I owe him an apology!"

  Han Yan and several of Ge Zhong's subordinate military officers were overjoyed and immediately rushed out of the hall in high spirits.

  Yue Yun, Yu Yunwen and Wang De were all smiling with joy at the truth being revealed. However, Yue Yun did not notice that Hu Xian was giving him a glance full of resentment at this moment.

  The matter that had troubled Han Shizhong for several days and caused great concern among the upper and lower ranks of the Han family army was finally resolved perfectly. After the event, Geng Zhong naturally felt grateful to Yue Yun for showing him the crucial evidence. As soon as he was released from his soft detention, he rushed to the main hall of the Han mansion to thank Yue Yun.

  Yue Yun and he had a brief conversation, then he brought up the food issue that he was most concerned about to Han Shizhong again. This was now his top priority.

  Han Shizhong furrowed his brow slightly after hearing this, and gently twirled his three long whiskers as he said: "Young Master Yue, there's no need to rush. I've already sent someone to inform the grain ships downstream of the Grand Canal that the plague has been eliminated and the Jin army has retreated, so they can enter Chu State now. Once these grains are unloaded, you can transport 100,000 dan of them back. As for the money, don't worry about it - just consider it my contribution to supporting your esteemed father!"

  Yue Yun listened and was overjoyed in his heart, but still said with some caution: "Thank you, Uncle Han, for your kindness, but I'm afraid these 100,000 stones may not be enough... I estimate that another 50,000 stones will be needed to barely maintain the army's food consumption."

  "Is it that many?" Han Shizhong was also shocked.

  That Hú Fǎng felt even more uncomfortable in his heart, and coldly ridiculed from the side: "Young Master Yuè, do you think that Chǔ State is a granary for the Yuè Family Army?"

  Han Yan heard Hu's words, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, and he said with a somewhat dissatisfied tone: "General Hu, how can you say that? If it weren't for Big Brother Yue finding the method to prevent the epidemic and then capturing Suzhou City, killing Jin Guo's Ninth Prince Wanyan Zongmin, our Chu State would have fallen long ago. Now giving 100,000 stones of grain to the Yue Family Army is nothing. After all, our Chu State can transport grain by boat from the canal and sea, which is ten times more convenient than Zhu Xian Town."

  Hu Zhen was not daring to be disrespectful towards Han Yan's words, and made a somewhat indignant expression: "Young General, I am just a little angry..."

  "Alright! Hu Zhenniang, General Yue has great kindness towards me, Han Shizhong, and his nephew also made great contributions in the recent battle to protect Chu State. We should do our best to help them!" Han Shizhong finally interrupted this discussion.

  Then he said to Yue Yun with a hint of apology: "Yue Xian, in the treasury of Chu State, I can only squeeze out 100,000 stones of grain at most. You are still short of 50,000 stones, and I'm afraid you will have to buy them from those grain merchants... However, you don't have to worry, this purchase of 50,000 stones of grain, Han Bo will pay for it again with 10,000 guan copper coins. The difference is that you may have to think of a way yourself, and Bo can't do anything about it."

  It's come to this point, what else can Yue Yun say? He also knows that Han Shizhong has done his best. Being able to do it to this extent is already quite good.

  Yue Yun had no choice but to bow his head and thank him: "Thank you, Uncle Han!"

  Back at his residence, Yue Yun only felt aching all over his body. These past few days had been a non-stop battle, living on the edge of life and death. Whether it was physically or mentally, it was an enormous test. After all, Yue Yun was just an ordinary office worker twenty days ago, someone who hadn't even killed a chicken before. But now, the number of people who had died at his hands wasn't small either. Now that Yue Yun thought back on it, he felt like his brain was somewhat blank, unable to clearly remember how he had shot and taken away dozens of lives without any hesitation.

  After going through so many things, Yue Yun also deeply felt that she had become more and more integrated into this era. Yue Fei, Yue Lei, Niu Tong, Guan Ling, Yu Yunwen, these figures who only appeared in history, had a closer connection with her. The over 400 elite cavalrymen who went through the bloody battles and baptism of iron and blood with her were even more closely tied to her, sharing life and death, and having a deep emotional bond. The experiences of her past life seemed like just a dream from yesterday.

  Just as Yue Yun was about to go to bed, she heard a "bang, bang, bang" knocking sound.

  "Who is it?" Yue Yun asked with some curiosity.

  "It's me! Han Yanzhi!" A young voice came from outside the door.

  "Yan Zhi? Come on in!" Yue Yun thought it was a bit strange and wondered what Han Yan Zhi wanted to see him about.

  With just a creak, the door was opened and Han Yan walked into Yue Yun's room. Then with a smile on his face, he asked: "Brother Yue, are you worried about the problem of still lacking 50,000 stones of grain?"

  "Yes! There are still so many civilians around our army waiting for rice to be cooked!" Yue Yun said.

  He was thinking, Han Shizhong had no way out, did Han Yan have any good ideas?

  As expected, Han Yanzhi volunteered to say to Yue Yun: "Brother Yue, although I have no money and no food, but I thought of an idea for my brother: borrow grain! Now that the plague has been eliminated and the Jin army has retreated, those grain merchants will enter the city one after another tomorrow. At that time, Brother Yue can use the 10,000 copper coins given by his father as a deposit to purchase a batch of grain.

  "This... Tadanao, those 50,000 stones of grain, I estimate it would cost at least 150,000 kan. Can the grain merchants agree if I only pay a deposit of 10,000 kan?"

  Yue Yun had decided to buy grain, so he inquired about the price of grain in Chu State. The current price was roughly three guan per stone, and five million stones would cost at least 15 million guan of copper coins. Moreover, he wanted to buy five million stones all at once, but even if he bought up all the grain on the market in Chu State, there might not be that much. At that time, the price of grain might rise again due to this.

  "Brother Yue, according to the usual rules, the deposit should be equivalent to 20% of the total amount. For 50,000 dan of grain, it should be at least 30,000 guan. But I also know that among grain merchants, this regulation is not absolute. As long as the relationship is deep and the credit is good, even if it's just a 10% deposit, those merchants would still be willing to do business. If we can persuade them to lower the deposit amount, maybe we can secure the purchase of 50,000 dan of grain." Han Yanzhi explained patiently.

  "I understand what you mean! However, those grain merchants and I are not familiar with each other, there is no relationship between us. How can they possibly lower the deposit amount for me?" Yuchen had experience from his past life, so he was very clear about China's business practices.

  In China, business is all about relationships! If the relationship is good, you don't even need to pay a deposit to get goods shipped first. But if the relationship isn't good, the conditions they offer are worse than what others would give, and nobody will sign a contract with them. Although many companies have rules against this kind of behavior, it's often the company leaders who break these rules first, leading to unspoken rules and business bribery that result in countless losses.

  "Brother Yue, now is a good opportunity for you to get familiar with those grain merchants. At that time, I and my father will say a few words to vouch for you, and I'm sure those grain merchants won't refuse to give you face." Han Yanzhi said with a smile.

  "Oh! If that's the case, then things are looking up!" Yue Yun heard this and was overjoyed. He asked urgently: "Yanzhi, what opportunity are you talking about?"

  "When we went to inspect the plague together, didn't you run into Liu Zhi-fu?"

  "Ah, I have an impression, feels like a very down-to-earth and good official."

  Han Yan nodded, blinking his eyes: "Yes! He has a high reputation in our Chu State. This time when the Jin people invaded, he was just a civil official, but he also took up his sword and went to the city gate. If it weren't for us stopping him, I'm afraid he would have been killed by the Jin bandits. However, despite this, he still got hit in the leg by an arrow and lost his sword. Now Liu is limping when he walks. The day after tomorrow is his 50th birthday. He originally didn't want to hold a grand birthday celebration, but our Chu State had just repelled the Jin people and was about to celebrate. So my father discussed with him, taking advantage of his big birthday, everyone would gather together, have a joyful reunion, and also make it a victory banquet."

  After a pause, Han Yan said directly: "Now that everything has been settled and Chu State has returned to normal order, those businessmen will also rush to congratulate Liu Zhi-fu on his birthday in two days. At that time, Brother Yue, you can take the opportunity to get acquainted with these businessmen at the banquet, and I will also ask Liu Zhi-fu to say a few good words for you!"

  "That's great! Thank you so much, Yoshitaka!" Yuen Yun was overjoyed when he heard this.

  "Thank me for what?! You helped General Geng Zheng clarify the facts, and everyone in our Han family is grateful to you... Alright, it's getting late, I'll take my leave first! You'd better prepare well! Don't forget to bring a gift two days later!" Han Yanzhi said with a slight smile before bidding farewell and leaving.

  After Han Yan left, Yue Yun fell into deep thought. He was thinking about what gift to give, giving money seemed too common, and giving something like a long knife or hard bow wasn't suitable either. After all, the other person was a civil official. Giving poetry, words, or paintings would be appropriate, but he was completely illiterate and couldn't tell which ones were good or bad. What if he mistook a fake for a real one, or considered something common as elegant? That would be even more embarrassing.

  After hesitating for half a day, Yue Yun suddenly had an idea: Didn't Han Yan say that Liu Mingcheng lost his sword and injured his leg, and he limped when walking? Although he could take a sedan chair when going out, he couldn't do so at home, and in this era, he could only walk with a crutch, which was very inconvenient.

  Thinking of this, Yue Yun had an idea in his mind. He smiled slightly and also went to bed to rest, after experiencing so many days of tense life, the heaviness in his heart finally unloaded some. Unconsciously, he entered the dreamland...

  We're going to make another invention in ancient times, although it's a plagiarized one. Brother Yue will shout loudly: Friends, don't forget to collect!