Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

His godfather, seeing that he couldn't persuade him otherwise, sighed, patted him on the shoulder, and went into his tent to sleep.

Zhang Youtie went to the village chief's house the next day when he had some free time.

"Uncle, I want to tell you something!" Zhang Youtie said to the village chief, sitting on a stone stool under a tree in the yard.

"What's wrong? Tell me," the village chief asked.

For a moment, Zhang Youtie didn't know where to begin. After pondering for a while, he finally spoke.

"I was thinking of going out to buy some grain during this time, in case the crops really don't turn out well in the fall and we have nothing to eat. But the price of wheat flour is too high right now, so I'm thinking of buying more corn. Hopefully, that will help us get through the next two years." He paused and then continued...

"I came to see you to ask if anyone in our village needs it. I'll bring it back with me and cover the transportation costs, but each family will have to pay for the grain themselves."

After hearing Zhang Youtie's words, the village chief fanned himself with his palm-leaf fan, thought for a while, and then spoke again.

“What you said makes sense, but cornmeal isn’t cheap these days, so I don’t think people will be willing to spend the money to buy it.”

“Uncle, if a disaster really strikes, even with money, there's nowhere to buy food. We can earn money again, but if people are lost, we'll have nothing left,” Zhang Youtie advised. It wasn't just the weather; there was also the news his daughter had brought back—war might break out again. Even without a disaster, if war broke out, food prices would still rise.

"Let me think about it. I'll come to your house tonight to talk to you." The village chief thought for a moment and decided to ask his family first.

Zhang Youtie knew that grain prices had increased several times over, and everyone was tightening their belts to eat sparingly. If they were asked to spend large sums of money on expensive grain now, and it happened to rain in a few days, or the autumn harvest didn't decrease, they would suffer huge losses. It was understandable that the village chief was hesitant.

“Okay, Uncle. I’ll go back first and wait at home. If you make a decision, don’t forget to let me know.” Zhang Youtie said to the village chief with a smile.

After seeing Zhang Youtie off, the village chief turned around and saw his wife standing at the door of the main room, looking at him.

"What are you standing there for? You're not making a sound. Are you trying to scare me to death?" The village chief was getting a little annoyed, and his usual good temper was gone.

"You old fool, you've been in a really bad mood these past few days. I heard what Zhang's third son said just now," the village chief's wife said, patting him on the shoulder with her fan.

"So what are your thoughts?"

“I think the third brother is right. Look at this weather, it’s really hard to say. If it doesn’t rain for another half month, the corn seedlings in the fields will all die of drought. Besides, the third brother’s family has been really lucky these past few years. Look at everyone in our village, those who follow the third brother’s family in everything, which one hasn’t made a fortune? Not to mention others, our family has also saved up quite a bit of money these past few years,” the village chief’s wife whispered to the old man.

"Well, what you said makes sense, but I'm afraid. What if the price of grain comes down after a while? Wouldn't we regret buying so much expensive grain now?"

"You old man, how come you've developed such a miserly nature in your old age? What if the autumn harvest is poor and there's no food left? Are you going to watch your family starve to death?"

“I used to think I could save money, but I only managed to accumulate a little over the past few years. Besides, all the children need money for school. Even though I have some, I still have to be frugal.” The village chief’s words were harsh, but Zhang Youtie’s and his wife’s words still resonated with him. After thinking for a while, he slapped his thigh and said…

"Fine, I'll listen to you. We should follow the third brother. I've been blinded by money, so let's prioritize safety. How much silver do we have now? How much grain do we have? We need to make sure we have enough by next autumn, in case any relatives are struggling financially, we might need to help them out."

Now that he had figured it out, the village chief started thinking about what to do next. It wasn't just about his own family; he also needed to notify everyone in the village.

Having made up his mind, the village chief didn't linger and hurried to Zhang Youtie's house.

When Zhang Youtie got home, his clothes were soaked with sweat.

"You too, I'm telling you, the sun has been blazing these past few days, and you don't even wear a straw hat when you go out. Aren't you afraid of getting sunburned?" Liu complained as she fetched water for him.

“Working in the fields all day, how can you be so delicate? You’ll get dizzy after being in the sun for a while.” Zhang Youtie took off his sweat-soaked clothes and washed himself with warm water and scented soap, using the water Liu had prepared.

Then he changed into a loose robe made of silk by Liu.

The two were talking inside when they heard Green Cloud's voice coming from outside the window.

"Madam, the village chief has arrived. He says he wants to see the master."

"Please ask the village chief to wait in the flower hall. The master will be here shortly," Liu instructed Lüyun.

"Yes, ma'am."

Then came the sound of Green Cloud's footsteps fading into the distance.

"Mother, quickly help me tie my hair up. We can't keep the village chief waiting." Zhang Youtie said to Liu Shi after drying his feet with a cloth and putting on his shoes.

After quickly getting ready, Zhang Youtie hurried towards the flower hall. When he arrived, the village chief was drinking a fruit drink that a maid had brought him.

"Uncle, have you thought it all through?" Zhang Youtie sat down in the chair and went straight to the point without beating around the bush.

"I've thought it through. We'll do it your way. But I just did a rough calculation. If everyone in the village wants it, it'll be a huge amount. Can we even afford that much grain these days?"

"Let's see how much everyone needs first. If we really can't buy that much, then we'll divide it among the people in our families. In short, every family should have some, so that we can live in peace."

“Yes, you’re right, that makes sense. But we need to do this quietly, asking each household one by one. If we make a big fuss about it, and word gets out, when we run out of food, the starving people from the surrounding areas will come and cause trouble in our village.”

"Uncle, you've thought it through perfectly. We really shouldn't let anyone else know."

“You’re still young; you haven’t seen cannibalism during famine years. When I was a child, there was a severe drought one year, and everyone had no food. Even the grass roots on the mountains had to be dug up. Later, when everyone was starving, rumors spread that people were eating each other. At that time, we were very fortunate to have your family. Your great-grandfather took out his own grain to help the villagers, and our village was finally spared from starvation until the government opened the granaries and distributed grain.” As the old man spoke, he slowly fell into deep thought, as if he had returned to that time of hunger.

"But if the government has grain, why not distribute it earlier instead of waiting until people are starving to death?" Zhang Youtie didn't understand this.

"I asked that same question back then. But no one could answer me. So many years have passed, and I often think about it now. I think I understand why the imperial court did what it did back then." The village chief sighed.

"Why?" Zhang Youtie asked.

"I figured it out myself, and I don't know if it's right. The government was afraid that some people would leave their own food uneaten and take the government's food first. Once everyone's food was gone and people started starving to death, it would prove that everyone was indeed out of food and needed the court's disaster relief. If everyone could survive, then the government's granaries would be saved. Fortunately, there was no foreign invasion that year. If there had been a war at that time, the soldiers' rations might not have been sufficient."

The matter of fighting was something he had just remembered while he was speaking, since Da Huai had just fought a battle with Japan not long ago.

"Uncle, there's no time to lose. Let's go to the village now and ask around to see who needs to buy grain. We'll tally up the quantities, and the price will be ten coins per pound, based on the current market price. What do you think?" Zhang Youtie felt even more strongly that this matter needed to be resolved quickly after hearing the village chief talk about the war.

"Third brother, if you still pay ten coins a pound, you'll probably lose money." The village chief knew that grain prices were rising very quickly these days, and the price in three to five days would be different from today's.

"Let's put it this way for now. In the past two years, thanks to the help of the brothers in the village, I've made some money. If the price of grain really goes up, I'll use it to make up for it. It's my way of contributing to the villagers of Zhangjia Village!" Zhang Youtie said to the village chief after thinking for a moment.

"Third brother, this, this, this is quite a sum of money." The village chief was moved. His third brother was now a nobleman with a title, yet he still cared so much about the villagers.

"No matter how much, it's not going to benefit outsiders anyway," Zhang Youtie said sincerely to the village chief after thinking for a moment.