Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Deputy General Zhao left with his men only after distributing the grain to Zhangjia Village. Although the grain had been distributed to each household, Zhangjia Village's reputation had spread. Now everyone knew that the people of Zhangjia Village had no shortage of food.

On the afternoon of the day Vice General Zhao left, someone came to the village to borrow grain. In fact, it was not at the point of needing to borrow grain to eat. It was just that they knew the village had recently bought a lot of grain and thought they might as well take advantage of the situation.

The people of Zhangjia Village had anticipated this problem. After discussing it together, they concluded that since they had all bought their grain with silver, it was impossible to borrow it. However, if the villagers wanted it, they could sell it to them for ten copper coins per pound of corn.

"Pah! If I had that kind of money, would I be buying your corn? The corn flour ground in town is only eleven coins a pound."

“In that case, Uncle, it’s more cost-effective to buy flour. After all, our corn was bought from outside by the Duke with great effort, and labor costs were added. But it’s thanks to these corn being transported to Ming’an County that the price of corn flour here hasn’t risen too much. I heard that the price of corn flour in the neighboring county has already risen to twelve wen per jin.” Tian Guihua slammed the sewing basket she was holding onto the table with a bang, and then continued.

"If you ask me, Uncle, you shouldn't be so stingy with your money. After all, no matter how good money is, it's not as good as the whole family being together. It's the right thing to do to buy some grain before the prices here go out of control. If we wait until the dead of winter, when it snows heavily and grain can't be transported in from outside, the price of grain in town will rise even more. My family has already emptied our savings to buy these few hundred catties of corn, and we're counting on this to last until next spring."

Tian Guihua was quick-witted and sharp-tongued. Seeing her husband being spat on in the face by some random, distant cousin, she couldn't help but retort. She spoke rapidly, shutting down the cousin's attempts to interrupt several times. Finally, he could only point at Tian Guihua's face and question Wang Youcai.

"Youcai, is this the wife you married? Sharp-tongued and disrespectful to her elders, aren't you going to do anything about it?"

Wang Youcai bowed his head and apologized.

"Uncle, don't be angry. She's just a woman and doesn't know anything. Although her words are rough and unpleasant, she's doing it for the good of your family. Uncle, what my wife said earlier is absolutely right. Now is not the time to be stingy with money. If we really don't have enough food at home, we should stock up on more so that we can at least last until next spring."

"You, you, you!" He stammered for a long time without saying a word, and finally stormed off in anger. He could tell that the couple were playing the good cop and the bad cop, one teasing the other.

Although she was gone, he had taken some of Tian Guihua's words to heart. He went home and discussed the situation with his family. They realized their food supplies wouldn't last until next year. Finally, gritting his teeth, he took out the money he had saved over the years and planned to buy some grain from the grain shop in town the next day, just in case.

Actually, when news of what happened in Qi'an County came a few days ago, upon learning that Zhang Youtie had gone out to buy grain for the villagers more than a month ago, some quick-thinking people figured it out and promptly took out their family's money to buy grain.

So, in a short while, the grain stores in the town suddenly became bustling again after being quiet for several months. People had stockpiled a lot of summer grain recently, and with the hot weather and plenty of vegetables in their gardens, even though the autumn crops in the fields were practically dead, no one was willing to pay high prices for grain.

Now that hundreds of thousands of kilograms of grain have been transported back to Zhangjia Village, everyone is envious. And when they hear that the village is buying corn for ten coins a kilogram, the price of cornmeal at the town's grain store for eleven coins a kilogram seems acceptable. Moreover, the autumn harvest has truly been a total loss.

However, when everyone rushed to the grain store to buy grain, they discovered that the store had started limiting purchases. Each person was limited to two jin (approximately 1 kg) per day. This news caused an uproar. No one complained about the high price of grain anymore; now, being able to buy it was a good thing. So, the whole family, young and old, lined up, each buying two jin, gradually stockpiling grain.

In fact, conditions in Ming'an County are quite good. In recent years, thanks to the Zhang family's efforts, villagers in the surrounding areas have started growing watermelons and chili peppers, and some have even worked in the Zhang family's workshops. The overall income level of the villagers has long surpassed that of other counties in Zhongzhou Prefecture, so even though grain prices are high, everyone still has money to buy some.

However, the situation was far less optimistic in other counties of Zhongzhou Prefecture. Faced with high grain prices, even those who wanted to buy grain lacked sufficient funds.

At the suggestion of Deputy General Zhao, Zhangjia Village organized a patrol team of dozens of men to patrol the village daily to ensure its safety. However, as soon as the patrol team roster was announced, some people jumped out to object.

“Village chief, this is not fair. Why should my husband be sent to the guard team? He's out training and patrolling every day, and when he comes home, he has to eat an extra steamed bun. He's protecting the people of the village, and he's eating our own family's food. How can it be so easy for him!”

Her words resonated with many. Yes, she was doing village work and protecting the villagers, but she was eating her own family's food—it seemed unreasonable. Many people echoed her sentiments.

The village chief frowned upon hearing her words. He hadn't considered this issue before, but it was indeed a significant problem. He then addressed the villagers...

"I hadn't considered this before. I'll go and discuss it with the Duke. Let's call it a day and talk about it again this afternoon."

At this moment, at Zhang Youtie's house, Zhang Youtie and Liu were listening to the servants report on the events that had occurred in the family over the past two months.

"Master and Madam, because of the drought we suffered this year, the rivers have dried up. Recently, many cloth merchants have written to say that they cannot come to our house to pick up goods until shipping resumes. As for the deposits they have already paid, they can keep them for now and pick them up when they can come again. A few days ago, I took it upon myself to stop the workshop's work. If the merchants don't come to pick up the goods, and we continue to produce like this, our warehouse will be overflowing."

"Hmm, well done. Have everyone's wages been settled?" Liu asked the steward.

"It's all settled. Here's the ledger. Everyone put their fingerprints on it after receiving their money. It's just that we're afraid we'll have a lot of materials piling up in our warehouse."

"Alas, there's nothing we can do about it. The river has dried up, and traveling by land is too dangerous. It's understandable that people are worried. I can't blame them. You've worked hard at the workshop these past two months!" Madam Liu sighed as she flipped through the account books.

"I dare not accept your praise, madam. This is what this old servant should do."

"Aunt Ma, go tell the accountant that Granny Gao did a good job and should be given an extra month's pay," Liu said to Aunt Ma.

"Yes, ma'am!"

"This old servant thanks Madam for the reward!"

"Go ahead, things aren't so busy now, you should take a few days to rest," Madam Liu said gently to her.

Aunt Ma looked at Grandma Gao and smiled.

"Sister Gao, let's go together."

The two bowed to Madam Liu again before leaving together.