Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Two days passed quickly. On this day, while the group was having breakfast at the inn, Murong Zhe's deputy general arrived.

"My lord, all the grain has been processed. My general sent me to invite you to the military camp for inspection before we depart."

"General Zhao, have you had breakfast yet?" Zhang Youtie asked the adjutant, putting down the steamed bun he was eating.

"This humble general has already eaten. Please have your meal, Your Excellency. We will wait outside the inn." The adjutant respectfully finished speaking to Zhang Youtie and then left.

After everyone left, Zhang Youtie said to Uncle Ma

"I don't think they've eaten yet. Have someone prepare some porridge and hot buns. Make sure there are plenty of buns; it's better if they can't finish them all than if there isn't enough for everyone."

"Yes," Uncle Ma replied immediately after hearing Zhang Youtie's instructions and headed to the inn's kitchen.

Soon, Uncle Ma led two workers in through the back door and placed the steamed buns from the baskets and the earthenware pots of porridge on two tables near the door.

Zhang Youtie put down the steamed bun he was eating and went outside to find the deputy general from earlier.

"General Zhao, there is porridge and steamed buns prepared here. Please come in and have a simple meal, brothers. I haven't finished eating yet, so you'll have to wait for me."

"I wouldn't dare trouble you, Your Excellency, I've already eaten." The meal was just rather simple. The last words Zhao said were in his mind.

“I know you’ve eaten, but a little more won’t do. You’re all strong men, and you’ve been busy coming to report to me. You probably haven’t had enough to eat in the camp. Go inside and have some more. It’ll just be simple steamed buns and porridge. After you’ve finished eating, we’ll go to the barracks together.”

"Then this humble general will respectfully accept your offer." Seeing that he was being so generous, and after glancing at the brothers who had come with him, Deputy General Zhao finally nodded in agreement.

"Good, that's more like it. Come on, brothers, let's go inside and have some food before heading back to the camp," Zhang Youtie called to the men behind him.

Seeing Zhao's meaningful glance, everyone happily followed him into the inn.

They said they had eaten, but the little bit of porridge and flatbread they had eaten had long been digested. Seven or eight people sat at two tables, and each person ate several more steamed buns and two bowls of porridge before finally putting down their bowls with satisfaction.

"Are you full?" Zhang Youtie asked, seeing that they had all put down their bowls before placing his own bowl of porridge on the table.

Hearing Zhang Youtie's question, the group scratched their heads somewhat embarrassedly.

"My lord, these buns are so delicious, we couldn't help but eat a little too many." The one who spoke was the one who ate the most, having eaten five buns.

"Haha, it's good that you can eat! Being able to eat proves you're strong. With strong men like you in the camp, our Great Huai army can win battles!" He then said to Deputy General Zhao.

"General Zhao, shall we go?"

"Please, Your Excellency."

This time, Zhang Youtie didn't ride in a carriage, but instead rode a horse like Deputy General Zhao and the others, accompanied by Nineteen and Da Niu. The soldiers were initially puzzled to see Zhang Youtie with two delicate young girls. However, after seeing the two girls mount their horses with such grace, they had no further doubts. They roughly understood that the two girls were guards or something similar.

When they arrived at the military camp, all the grain had already been bagged and neatly stacked on the wagons.

General Murong rode up to meet Zhang Youtie.

"My lord, all 670,000 catties of threshed corn are here. Please check them." He handed over a sampler as he spoke.

“No need to check. Although this is my first time dealing with the General, I know you are an upright man. You wouldn't do such despicable things, nor would you stoop to them.” He then glanced again at the wagons loaded with grain. He leaned closer to Murong Zhe.

"General, I am willing to donate 200,000 catties of grain to our soldiers as rations." Zhang Youtie's voice was not loud, but his words were deafening to Murong Zhe's ears.

"My lord, what's going on?" Murong Zhe was speechless; this was something he hadn't expected at all.

"General, the people I admire most are the generals who lead troops into battle, and the people I feel most sorry for are the soldiers who fight bloody battles to protect our country. You abandoned your parents, wives and children so that the people of Dahuai could live and work in peace. I cannot speak for all the people of Dahuai, but on behalf of my Zhang family, I sincerely thank you. This grain is like a drop in the ocean for our military camp, but it represents my heartfelt thanks."

Murong Zhe wiped his eyes, concealing his slightly moist gaze, dismounted, and bowed deeply to Zhang Youtie. He was moved by Zhang Youtie's words, and this bow represented all the soldiers' gratitude for his righteousness.

Although Zhang Youtie's voice wasn't loud, the junior officers closest to them heard him clearly. Following Murong Zhe, they dismounted and bowed to Zhang Youtie. The other soldiers, though unaware of what they were saying, saw their generals bowing deeply to Zhang Youtie and quickly followed suit. In an instant, everyone standing bowed low.

Their actions startled Zhang Youtie so much that he almost fell off his horse.

"General, gentlemen, please get up quickly. Aren't you making me feel uncomfortable? Get up, get up quickly." Jumping off his horse, Zhang Youtie helped General Murong and the other generals up one by one.

"If you ask me, let's not call each other 'Lord' or 'General' anymore. I'm a little older than you, so I'll take the liberty of calling you Brother Zhang from now on. And you shouldn't call me General or Sir either, it sounds tiring. Just call me Brother Murong, how about that?" Murong Zhe suggested to Zhang Youtie with a smile.

"Brother Murong," Zhang Youtie clasped his hands in greeting to Murong Zhe.

Brother Zhang

"Ha ha ha ha…"

Finally, Zhang Youtie, along with 470,000 jin of grain and 200 elite soldiers sent by Murong Zhe, joined the rest of the Zhang family and headed towards Zhangjia Village in Zhongzhou Prefecture.