Chapter 340

The king asked for an outside helper, feeling relieved, and turned to throw himself into his grandiose vending business.

Bai Yang saw the high-spirited king every day, arriving at Phoenix Market on time with his small bundle.

Selling ink, paintings, bronze ware, tiger corpses? In his world, such goods would earn him a silver bracelet in a minute.

No mistake, it really is a tiger corpse.

Asked, it was loot the Owl Cavalry brought back from a drill.

Bai Yang walked around and said, "Take a look at your stall—it's all smuggled goods. Tigers are at least protected animals where we come from, but in your hands, King, they're nothing!"

The king also had an opinion: "It's not easy to sell either. Next time have them catch live ones to try. As long as it brings money, it's a good tiger."

Qiao Yi wondered, "... With your income, how can you spend it so fast? Disaster relief?"

The king rested his chin and sighed long, "About right! I now have over 200,000 troops, but I haven't issued horses, armor, or weapons fully, and they still need to eat—this little silver is hardly enough!"

Didn't you agree with the weapons seller to pay with copper and iron?

He still wants part of the payment in ingots, refusing to pay entirely in copper and iron.

That's right; he also needs ingots as official currency for spending.

Sigh.

But they can't keep relying on you alone to feed them; next year, with so much more territory, you'll be able to collect more tax, right?

The king said, "A big territory doesn't mean many people! We're vast but sparsely populated, the climate is strange, and we can't do without my support… I realized that in the Northern Border's climate, to have food we must grow corn. I plan to open up large tracts of land next year to plant corn—boohoo, I'll have to spend money buying these seeds."

Qiao Yi: ……

Too miserable.

Bai Yang followed him around for two days, taking in a pile of seed and food orders; today he finally couldn't hold back—although getting kids to work for him is a bit 'immoral', but for the money, he doesn't mind losing face.

My king, your stall brings in money—open it and you'll eat for three months—but it's not easy to keep open. Have you thought of a better way to make a fortune?

The king flung down the pen he was playing with, tightly clutching his small moneybag, which held the physical ingot card he used at home.

What a classic scam opening line!

Bai Yang: "... Funny, huh? Anyone still able to scam you?"

Da Wang remained wary: 'Well, you go ahead and tell me what channel it is!'

Baiyang: '……Did Da Wang forget our cooperation's high-end seafood brand?'

Da Wang opened his purse: 'Remember—weren't the good fish hauled up by the treasure ship all left for Zhu Ti to pass to you?'

Baiyang flung out his prepared bill: 'Your captain only likes to catch big fish! We have no worries about food and clothing now; we just want to eat something good. I haven't received sea cucumber or sea urchin in ages! Isn't half a year's income been exchanged for cotton cloth and grain? You have no idea! Our seafood brand is very profitable!'

Da Wang took it and examined closely: 'Of course I have no idea—cotton cloth has all been made into uniforms and issued to soldiers; grain has also been transferred to the northwest; I, the king, have nothing left in my hands… wow, so much money!' Soldiers aren't fine just wearing armor; their regular clothes and the lining inside the armor also need to be issued. Cavalrymen aren't like Da Wang, who isn't afraid of the cold; in winter they also need to be issued cotton coats. Da Wang's little money is flowing out like water every day.

Da Wang quickly calculated how much these converted to silver, and it was quite a lot.

Da Wang realized: 'You want me to go fishing?'

'That's right. Isn't the New Year coming up soon? We need a batch of good goods to capture the market. During the Spring Festival, no matter the era, it's when ordinary people are most willing to spend money; we can't give up this business opportunity, can we?'

Da Wang was quite tempted, but…… 'It's only a few days until the New Year; if I go out I can't go too far before I have to come back. The nearby seas have been fished for years—what good goods could there be?'

'You really know nothing about the abundance of the sea two thousand years ago—you've only hauled up a few sea cucumbers! The sea off your doorstep is also a famous sea cucumber producing area in later times. Actually, variety doesn't matter; as long as it's rare, it's fine. You don't realize that your captain only chases big schools of fish—our shop caters to high-end clients; even the most delicious big croaker, if they eat it year after year, they'd get tired of it.'

'You can't blame the captain; our transportation is inconvenient, so most of the treasure ship's catch has to be made into dried fish. The nearby commanderies and counties that have experienced warfare are even harder to sell in—they just turn big fish into dried fish or salted fish to sell to the Great Jin; the small ones don't fetch a price.'

Going out to sea is also a way; Da Wang promised to get him a batch before the year ends in Bohai Bay.

Da Wang immediately asked about the captain's location; hearing that they could dock in two days, Da Wang calculated that he could go out for seven or eight days and return just in time for the New Year.

With a new approach, this bundle of goods will be ready to go.

His older brother Qiao shouted at him: 'You're leaving early like that? Where's your usual diligence at the stall?'

Da Wang waved his hand without turning back: 'I'm busy; my treasure sword isn't even sharpened yet—I'm going to bed early today~'

'What treasure sword?'

Da Wang had already disappeared at the intersection……

Xie Yuan settled the affairs of the academy and descended the mountain a day early.

He didn't enter the city alone; he also brought his beloved disciple—Zhou Huang, the child laborer appointed by Da Wang.

'Sir, Zhuque Avenue looks even livelier than before!'

'It's almost the year's end, and the common folk are all at leisure.' Xie Yuan thought to himself, not knowing how many cities and how many people in the south have this idle leisure to join the festivities, looking forward to the New Year.

The further we go, the more people there are, and it's unusually many.

It's already reached the point of crowding.

'Could there be some festivities today?'

Zhou Huang grabbed an old woman going against the flow to ask; the old woman, upon hearing someone ask about this, felt as if someone had handed her a pillow when she was sleepy!

She finally had a chance to show off: 'Look at this pen—my grandson got it for free at the newly opened shop thanks to his own ability!'

Xie Yuan found it very familiar, and immediately recalled that it was… the pencil that Da Wang had been fussing about promoting that day?

'Hey, take a look at this young man's robe—isn't it from the Northern Border Academy?' That old lady recognized Zhou Huang's 'uniform'.

Zhou Huang: '……Exactly.'

'……So you've come to the city today, right? Although the young lord may not be short of silver, I hear this pen is only available in our Youzhou! Hey, go straight ahead to the east; there's a newly opened shop up front, with a Thousand Character Classic displayed at its door—anyone who can recognize five characters gets a free pen! Isn't that generous? My grandson, after two years as an apprentice at the cloth shop, learned to recognize them; young lord, you'll definitely be able to get one if you go!'

There's still such a good thing—Zhou Huang is eager to give it a try.

He led the way ahead, bringing the teacher through the crowd; the further we went, the more people there were. Xie Yuan was about to say he didn't want to join the hustle, when he turned his head and his sharp eyes caught the conspicuous large banner hanging down from the shop's second floor—red in color.

He narrowed his eyes, couldn't make out what was written; this signboard was really strange.

Not sure, let's look again.

He followed Zhou Huang a bit closer, and this time he saw it clearly.

The inscription reads: '【Xie Yuan personally selected pencils have arrived!】'

Xie Yuan:...