xymnovel Chapter 6: Ordering Armaments and Assembling a Regiment
Chapter 6: Ordering Armaments and Assembling a Regiment
After seeing off the garrison commander's convoy, Li Xuan, unaware that he was being watched, thanked Li Hua for his help: "Today's harvest is all thanks to Uncle. I would like to offer fifty strings of cash as a tea fee for Uncle."
Li Hua refused unhappily, saying, "Brother Xuan, what are you doing? Are you looking down on your uncle? It's just a small matter, why are you talking about tea money? The reason I gave the blackfish to the garrison commander's office is simply because you and Brother Ji are struggling to make ends meet. If we could have some more money, it would be helpful in times of emergency."
"Are you after your means of survival? Don't mention money again. By the way, the official tickets are with me. One hundred strings of cash and twenty bolts of silk may not mean much to you, sir, but they're quite a lot in copper coins. You two children certainly won't be able to transport them back."
The world is in turmoil. If Li Xuan and Li Chang were to carry one hundred strings of copper coins onto a ship, not only would the ship be unable to handle it, but they would also inevitably be targeted by river bandits along the way. River bandits in the Guangling region are rarely professional; almost all of them are fishermen from the villages along the coast. They are half bandits and half civilians, only interested in finding fat targets and whether they can succeed.
There were only two people, Li Xuan and Li Chang, on the boat, with only two bows and fifty arrows. It was almost impossible for them to save one hundred strings of cash.
Li Xuan thought for a moment and said, "Could we exchange them for silver ingots at the money shop? That way, we can put them in the book box and carry them back to the boat. If Uncle brings twenty bolts of silk, we can say that the twenty bolts of silk are for the fishing expenses."
Li Hua was about to say this when Li Xuan reacted first, prompting Li Hua to secretly praise Li Xuan's cleverness. Li Chang suggested from the side, "We came in a hurry today and didn't bring our books. However, there are baskets and carrying poles on the boat. We can carry the silk onto the boat and hide the silver ingots inside, without anyone noticing."
Li Hua nodded with a smile: "In that case, quickly sell the rest of the catch. I'll go to the money exchange first, and you brothers can come find me when you're done."
A standard guan (a unit of currency) weighs six jin and four liang (another unit of weight), so one hundred guan would be six hundred and twenty-five jin. Under Li Hua's management, this was converted into twelve jin of silver ingots and three hundred wen (another unit of currency).
One hundred coins were strung together and hung around the waists of Li Chang and Li Xuan, while twenty bolts of silk carrying silver ingots were transported directly to the riverbank by Li Hua in a cart. Thus, a simple fish-selling transaction was finally completed.
Li Hua patted Li Xuan and Li Chang on the shoulders and said, "How was it? Doing business isn't easy, is it? You can make so much money selling a fish. It shows how difficult it is to make a living in this world. You two must work hard and strive to get ahead as soon as possible. Back then, you'll have the protection of the government when you go out, and you won't have to sneak around like you do today."
Li Xuan and Li Chang both clasped their hands in gratitude, saying that Li Hua's teachings were profound and full of the care of an elder for a younger generation.
As it was getting late, and Li Ji was about to finish school, Li Xuan and Li Chang bid farewell to Li Hua, one rowing the boat and the other carrying a bow as they gracefully departed. Li Hua stood on the shore to see them off, inwardly marveling at the formidable talent of the younger generation.
On the way to Lijia Town, Li Chang happily discussed with Li Xuan how to use the money.
As Li Xuan rowed, he said, "Chang-ge will be of marriageable age next year, and it's time to think about marriage. You and your uncle are both from good families, so it's perfect for you to marry a girl from a respectable family. I've heard that in this day and age, the biggest hurdle in marriage negotiations is property. You already own property, and this time I'll give you one hundred taels of silver, which should be enough to marry a daughter from a well-off family. If they think your house is too small, there's land in front and behind, and the whole village can lend a hand to expand it. We can build the house next spring and get married in the summer."
Li Chang blushed and said, "Brother Xuan, don't talk about me. You're still unmarried. If you don't get married, I won't either. We'll advance and retreat together; how can I leave you behind and get married first? I think we should get some rattan shields, spears, and Brother Xuan should also have a horse lance. We'll be raising troops next year, so we can't be without supplies. After all, the troops need better bows and arrows. The ones we make ourselves are fine for hunting wild ducks, but they might not be enough against fierce bandits."
Li Xuan laughed and said, "Marriage is a matter of fate, how can we force it? Forget about the horse lance, a good horse lance costs hundreds or even thousands of strings of cash, I can't afford it even if I sold it. Why don't we go and find the clerk in the warehouse of Guangling City and see if they have any used military lances for sale?"
Knowing that Li Chang valued his reputation, Li Xuan stopped mentioning the money and instead decided to secretly give one hundred taels of silver to Li Yuantu. Li Yuantu was also a man of unwavering integrity, but Li Xuan had a way of doing things. As the head of the family, he had to obey the orders of the head of the family, whether he understood them or not.
Li Chang said with anticipation, "Brother Xuan, next year when we get a new troupe, I'll have to be a troupe supervisor and have some fun."
Li Xuan said irritably, "Next year we can only recruit six people at most, and with you and me, that's eight. We won't even be able to become squad leaders in the army. You're quite good at giving yourself an official title. I've thought it through. We'll have two boats. When we go to Hailing, you take three people and I'll take three. It'll be much safer than now."
Li Chang was very satisfied and quickly said, "Three people are good, three people are easy to order around and command. Hehe, it's quite impressive to have three people following behind."
As they spoke, they arrived at Li Family Town, but Li Ji had not yet reached the dock. Li Xuan left Li Chang on the boat to wait for him while he disembarked and went into town. Li Xuan was not going into town to pick up Li Ji; Li Ji was grown up and would wait for him at the dock himself.
Li Xuan sought out the militia captain of Lijia Town. Both the Great Yu Dynasty and the current Yu State established numerous militias throughout the country to bolster their military forces. Since these were militias, their armed forces were naturally controlled by local powerful clans; otherwise, they would have been government troops.
The fighting strength of the local militia depended entirely on whether the local powerful families were willing to invest money and manpower. As the core settlement area of the Li clan, the militia in Lijia Town not only mostly belonged to the Li family, but their equipment was also decent, barely reaching the level of the county soldiers.
The captain in charge of the local militia was also a member of the same clan, so Li Xuan naturally sought him out to discuss the military equipment of his troops.
There is evidence to support the claim that the equipment of the militia barely met the standards of the county soldiers. This is because they directly purchased "outdated weapons" from the warehouse manager who oversaw the logistics of the county soldiers. Not only did they look exactly the same as those used by the county soldiers, but they were actually of the same origin.
Since these are old weapons, the price is naturally much lower. In any case, the expenses of the hundreds of thousands of imperial guards, county soldiers, and garrison troops in the Yu Kingdom are enormous, and the number of weapons that need to be replaced every year is countless. Mixing some orders in will be done without anyone noticing.
Li Xuan's arrival was exactly what the captain had expected, as Li Xuan wasn't the first.
As soon as Li Xuan briefly explained his needs, the captain readily agreed.
Five lances cost a total of eighty strings of cash, five infantry spears cost fifty strings of cash, four hard bows cost eighty strings of cash, a pair of iron maces cost ten strings of cash, four hundred cone-shaped arrows cost four strings of cash, and five rattan shields and five wooden shields were also included as a bonus.
As for why I didn't buy swords, well, when traveling, the simple knives from the blacksmith shops in the towns are more cost-effective.
Two hundred strings of cash was no small order. The captain was all smiles as he personally saw Li Xuan off, even giving him a few meat buns to eat on the way. He told Li Xuan to go back and prepare for the autumn harvest, promising that the goods would be ready before the spring planting next year.