Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 23: He did not die on the battlefield, but died at the hands of his own people

“This is all good food.”

Lin Dao leaned over and grabbed a handful of corn from the grain bag.

"Everyone, please look." He gestured to the generals, "The grains are plump and golden in color."

"Put it in the pot and cook it. It will make you feel full."

"It can also be ground into corn flour to make tortillas, corn rolls, and corn bread."

“You can eat it as rice or as noodles.”

Lin Dao tried his best to sell corn.

The reason is also very simple.

The wholesale price of rice is more than two yuan per pound.

The wholesale price of corn is only a little over one yuan per pound.

Such a high price difference provides huge profit margin for Lin Dao, which places orders in tons each time.

Anyway, for the people in Yonghe time and space, as long as it is food, it is enough.

With the trade routes reopened, he planned to gradually increase the proportion of corn in the largest grain trade to save costs.

With the accumulation of experience, Lin Dao's ability and knowledge in time and space trade are gradually improving.

Now we have learned to reduce procurement costs and thus increase profit income.

"Everyone." Lin Dao put the corn back into the bag. "You will know whether the food is good or not after you taste it yourself."

You Wushuai pinched a piece of corn and put it in his mouth to chew.

The taste of food will not lie.

"Master Lin Jia."

"This grain called corn is something we have never seen before."

“Even if it’s edible, its price can’t compare to refined rice.”

The generals all said, "We are going to buy food. We can buy this corn. But the price can only be calculated based on the price of corn."

Lin Dao had also brought some corn before, but it was all left in Feng Dun’s fort.

I have never eaten in other forts.

The food provided by Lin Dao before was mainly refined rice.

The quality of that refined rice is even better than the Qingcheng Zhihang (a variety of rice) that is specially supplied to the royal family.

The generals would certainly not be willing to sell corn, a grain that they had never seen or eaten, at the price of refined rice.

“The price cannot be moved.”

Lin Dao took a huge risk and traveled through time and space to come here to do business, not to do charity.

He is well aware that the current environment is a seller's market. "From now on, when I sell grain, I will give half of it to corn."

Taking a tough attitude is also a helpless move.

Everyone who has been to school knows that the nutritional value of corn is higher than that of rice.

But the problem is that no one in the Beggar Army understands this.

They only know that refined rice is the best food in the world.

This corn thing, I have never seen it before, or even heard of it.

Lin Dao knew very well that explanations were useless and would only lead to a vicious circle of self-justification.

Just go for the intensity, buy it or not~~~
The marshals and generals were speechless.

They don't have to buy it.

But after returning, the men and women under his command had no food to eat, and the whole family might have to eat at the table.

At this time, you can only go ahead with it.

"Chenbao purchased seven hundred dan of grain, thirty jin of pork, and three barrels of oil."

"Fangbao purchased 400 dan of grain and one barrel of oil."

"Caobao purchased 1,200 dan of grain, 50 jin of pork, and 3 barrels of oil."

"Daibao purchased 300 dan of grain."

"Gaobao purchased nine hundred dan of grain, twenty catties of pork, and one barrel of oil."

A number of forts started to buy food.

The amount can be as much as a thousand stones or as little as a few hundred stones.

Not much pork was bought, mainly used to reward the soldiers under his command and cooked into white meat for sacrifice and sharing.

Marshals and generals basically do not eat pork.

In this era, pork was considered low-quality meat, eaten by the poor.

The nobles ate mutton.

As for high-end goods like cooking oil, just like molasses, only the core of the dock are eligible to enjoy it.

"This information."

Inside the large tent, Lin Dao waved the order sheets written by the clerks in his hand and said to Sun Rong with a smile, "You can also think of it as military intelligence."

Sun Rong was puzzled. "I don't understand."

"Through this data, we can analyze the population, economy, and monetary reserves of each fortress."

"It's rare that you can read." Lin Dao handed over the documents. "From now on, these will be handed over to you. Let the clerks help you."

This time, Lin Dao collected more than 450 gold cakes from the grain sales.

His financial situation was immediately relieved.

It turns out that we still have to eliminate the Jiehu in order to do business stably.

After dinner, Lin Dao entered the back room of the main tent and returned to the modern world.

At midnight, a figure avoided the patrolling guards, came to a secluded place, and released the carrier pigeon in his hand.

The carrier pigeon flew into the air, circled twice, and then flapped its wings and flew towards Yecheng.

The next afternoon, after finishing work and having lunch, Lin Dao walked out of the back tent.

"Master Lang!"

Jinlian, who had been waiting outside, came forward with a gloating look on her face, "There was a fight at Fengbao this morning."

Lin Dao was surprised. "There are also Jiehu?"

"It's not Jiehu." Jinlian was obviously emotional, and her little face was flushed with excitement.

"Marshal Feng ordered the military households to hand over half of their rewards."

"The military households refused, and a fight broke out between the two sides."

"I heard there were a lot of casualties."

Looking at Jinlian's happy face, Lin Dao was speechless.

He did not die in the battlefield against the Hu people, but instead fell at the hands of his own people.

This is not a good thing!
This is the cognitive difference caused by different living environments.

Born and raised in the modern world, Lin Dao was unaware that in the Yonghe era, people didn't really have much awareness of their nation or ethnicity. The general perception of this era was...

"The world belongs to the Sima family, what does it have to do with us~~~"

"If there is trouble, it is the business of the noble families. We ordinary people just want to survive."

'War has its own military households~~~'

Lin Dao felt that armed conflict among his own people should not occur.

But in the eyes of people in this era, only their own family and their own clan are their own people.

Sitting down behind the desk, Lin Dao took a deep breath and said, "Tell me everything clearly."

Jinlian stepped forward and knelt beside him, adding water for Lin Dao.

"Those military households took away the spoils from the military camp, which made the people in the fort jealous."

"Yesterday, the master gave them a reward. So much food, oil, and meat were transported into the fort by cartloads. Everyone inside was going crazy with jealousy."

The military households that Jinlian mentioned were those who had accepted Lin Dao's reward and went out of the city to fight against the Jiehu.

They are mainly composed of military households in Fengdunwu Fort.

As for the people in the fortress, they refer to the members of Feng Dun’s clan, as well as his retainers, confidants and other vassals.

These people did not respond to Lin Dao's call to go out of the city to fight, so naturally they were not eligible to receive the reward.

"I heard there was a commotion last night."

"Because it was late, it ended in nothing."

"This morning, Marshal Feng personally ordered that all military households must hand over half of their rewards, otherwise they will be expelled from the fort."

Hearing this, Lin Dao frowned, "Is Feng Dun so unwise?"

Feng Dun’s fort was a very typical structural framework at that time.

The core is Feng Dun's family and clan.

The middle-level vassals were mainly exiled officials, small and poor families, as well as craftsmen, chefs, doctors and other technical talents.

They serve as staff, are responsible for civil affairs, and serve as middle and low-level lieutenant officers in the military.

The lower structure is mainly composed of military households, who are eligible to live in the fort and are also the main source of combat power for the Qihuo Army.

The outermost group consists of refugees who are not qualified to live in the fort and can only build shacks outside the fort to survive.

Their main role was to serve as cannon fodder and to do tasks such as farming and chopping wood.

Feng Dun is no fool to be able to become the commander-in-chief of the defense department.

He also knew that robbing the military households of their rewards would lead to serious consequences.

However, he needs to rely on his family clan and the support of his vassals, which are the core pillars of his position as Wushuai.

When the family members and vassals became jealous and encouraged them to snatch the rewards from the military households.

Feng Dun had no other choice.

He has to support his core strength.

"Of course the military households refused."

Jinlian laughed as she spoke, and Lin Dao was worried that she would get a choke from laughing.

"The rewards given to them by the Lord are the lives of the whole family."

"They want to grab it, but they won't give it to you."

"The result was a fight, and many people died."

Lin Dao was silent.

This matter seemed absurd and ridiculous to him.

He did not die on the battlefield against the Jiehu, but instead died at the hands of his own people.

What is this?
Lin Dao stood up and prepared to stop this farce.

"Lord~~~"

The curtain of the tent was lifted, and Sun Rong walked in and saluted.

"What's the matter?"

Sun Rong bowed and said, "Master, Qin Ya is coming."

"Oh, Qin Lang is back."

Lin Dao smiled and stood up. "Please ask him to come in. Forget it. I'd better leave. The smell here is too strong."

This big tent is made of cowhide.

It was okay in winter, but now with the spring breeze and the rising temperature, the smell is unbearable.

That is to say, Lin Dao doesn't sleep here at night, otherwise it would have been demolished long ago.

"Mr. Lin."

Qin Lang, who was exhausted from traveling, stepped forward and saluted when he saw Lin Dao.

"Brother Qin."

Looking at the many soldiers behind Qin Lang, Lin Dao smiled and stepped forward to help him up. "What's wrong?"

Qin Lang exerted force with his arms but did not stand up.

He looked up at Lin Dao and hesitated for a moment, "We ask Mr. Lin to take us in~~~"

All the military households also saluted and shouted, "Please take us in, Mr. Lin~~~"

After falling out with Feng Dun, the military households had only two choices.

Or fight with Feng Dun and redetermine the ownership of the fort.

Or leave the fort and join others.

Feng Dun controls the most elite troops in the fort, mainly his clan members and vassals, and has hundreds or even thousands of soldiers under his command.

The military households lacked organization, especially a leading lion.

Although there are armor and weapons provided by Lin Dao, the outcome is still uncertain.

Even if you win, you will inevitably suffer heavy losses.

In the absence of a leader, the losses will be even greater.

As for joining others.

It is questionable whether other forts are willing to accept them.

After all, the military households' actions were tantamount to rebellion.

The defenders of other forts also had to worry about whether they would encounter the same thing.

At this time, Qin Lang, who had been chasing Li Nong before, came back.

Qin Lang, who achieved successive military exploits, quickly gained prestige among the military households.

When he proposed that everyone leave the fortress and join the army of Lord Lin Jia, almost no one objected.

the reason is simple.

Lin Jiazhu is really generous~~~
PS: I'm so sorry that I didn't post this chapter yesterday.
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(End of this chapter)