Chapter 360

First Volume, Chapter 360: Directly Storm the Yellow Dragon Palace

With these twelve hundred men garrisoned outside Tangxi City, Qin Feng now had the capital to challenge them.

On the other side, Lu Ming also received the letter and personally led a fifty-man merchant caravan, fully loaded with candies produced by the Tianji Camp Workshop, arriving in Tangxi shortly.

Because it was his first time in this place, there were many trivial matters—he spent the entire day inside the merchant shop.

Only when nightfall came, as the shop prepared to close, did Qin Feng suddenly realize that the bustle on the streets outside had not diminished at all!

This also shocked Xiao Xiangxiang greatly; she followed Qin Feng to stand at the shop's entrance and watch the spectacle.

This master and servant looked like country bumpkins entering the city, finding everything fresh and novel.

"I never expected—truly never expected—that Tangxi City has no curfew, and still remains this lively at night," Qin Feng couldn't help but sigh.

Xiao Xiangxiang's face flushed with excitement: "In Jingdu, although noble sons and daughters openly flouted the curfew and wandered the streets at night, common people dared not break the law—once darkness fell, they all went to bed. But here in Tangxi, doors are left unlocked at night, and the streets remain deafeningly loud well into the evening, far more lively than Jingdu."

Jing Qianying appeared beside Qin Feng without warning; having traveled widely in her cultivation, her experience far surpassed his, and she regarded this scene with calm detachment.

"Tangxi has always been like this as the largest city in Jiangnan. Had it not been for the National War and the sheer number of Beidi Spies, it would be even livelier—these very merchants would stay open until Zishi Hour Hour Hour Hour Hour Hour Hour Hour Hour Hour Hour Hour Hour Hour."

My god.

Looking at this scene, Qin Feng felt a pang of melancholy, as if some long-buried memories had been stirred.

This vibrant night scene made Qin Feng recall the "night markets" of his past life—he longed to open a big outdoor grill stall right here, with skewers and barbecue.

Sipping wine, grilling skewers, and boasting with friends—perfect.

Not just Qin Feng—even everyone around him loudly lamented they should have come to Tangxi long ago, having missed so much liveliness in their lives.

The deafening crowd noise stirred Qin Feng's blood; he silently resolved to make his mark in this city.

Yet excitement aside, reality still had to be faced.

Qin Feng quietly turned back to the Back Courtyard, sat beside the StoneTable, holding a fan in his left hand and a grape in his right, occasionally taking a bite, looking leisurely at ease.

Meanwhile, the Jin Yi Wei messenger appeared as if out of thin air, standing before Qin Feng to report on the Jin Yi Wei's investigation of Tangxi.

"Young Master, Tangxi has four major merchant houses: Zhang, Li, Chen, and Wang."

"The Zhang household specializes in tea and sugar. The Li shop deals in silk and cloth. The Chen shop handles ceramics. The Wang shop is in the grain business."

"These four merchant houses are enormous—any one of them rivals the Jingdu Merchant Guild. Jingdu merchants are directly controlled by the court and constrained at every turn. Jiangnan merchants, however, have far fewer restrictions; with enough silver, even ghosts will push the mill—so their commercial scale is simply incomparable to Jingdu's."

Qin Feng nodded and asked casually: "What about the Lin Family?"

The messenger replied without hesitation: "The Lin Family is not among the four—they stand alone in a separate tier."

"Combined, the wealth of the four merchant houses still falls short of one-fifth of the Lin Family's. The Lin Family's business spans tea, sugar, alcohol, silk, salt, grain, and ceramics—each single trade alone is enough to crush the four merchant houses. In other words, these four are merely picking up the Lin Family's scraps and serve as their lackeys."

Thus, in Jiangnan, any sizable commercial enterprise is, to some degree, tied to the Lin Family.

To describe the Lin Family as "wealthy enough to rival a nation" is no exaggeration.

Fortunately, Qin Feng had long known the Lin Family's power, so he was not surprised.

Start with these four merchant houses!

"The Wang shop specializes in the grain business? How much grain do they hold?"

The messenger flipped through his notes and replied softly: "Exact figures are still unconfirmed, but the Wang shop alone earns three hundred thousand li of silver annually from buying and selling grain—not counting their stockpiles. Conservatively, the Wang shop currently controls about one hundred thousand shi of grain."

One hundred thousand shi?!

Unscrupulous merchant!

Currently, Shedynasty faces internal turmoil and external threats, with constant famines and corpses littering the land, while the border stands in standoff with the Beidi Spies—demand for grain and forage grows daily.

Everyone is struggling for grain, yet a single Jiangnan grain merchant holds one hundred thousand shi.

He'd rather let it rot than contribute a single ounce to the nation.

What was that saying again?

Merchants chase profit—they have no nationality!

If profit is to be made, merchants can betray the nation without a shred of guilt.

Qin Feng himself is a merchant, but he has always upheld the principle: "When the nation prospers and the people grow strong, so do I"—placing himself at the top of the moral hierarchy.

Qin Feng narrowed his eyes and snorted: "What's the current market price for grain?"

The messenger knew this well and answered without hesitation: "Since the beginning of this year, grain prices have surged to twenty wen per sheng. In Jiangnan, affected by the Lin Family, grain costs forty wen per dou—double the price of the North. But the official purchase price for relief grain and military rations is only ten wen per dou."

The official purchase price for relief grain and military rations has always been half the market price—first to ease pressure on the National Treasury, second to compensate the shortfall through tax reductions or other benefits.

Qin Feng waved his hand, signaling the messenger to withdraw, then called Ning Hu over.

Ning Hu had suffered greatly in Beixi County; now back at Qin Feng's side, he looked utterly "carefree," plopping himself onto the StoneTable, legs crossed, smirking: "Brother Qin, if there's nothing urgent, don't waste my time watching girls at the door. Hehe, Jiangnan girls are truly extraordinary—much more open than our women in Jingdu, walking the streets without even avoiding stares."

Qin Feng chuckled—was it really worth being amazed that girls didn't avoid people?

Jingdu women avoided strangers only because of the National War and proximity to imperial power, leading to more rigid formalities.

In the provinces, such restrictions were far fewer.

Even in Qin Feng's time, aside from the Ming Dynasty, every Han-led dynasty had an extremely open social climate.

"Wife's Authority Over Husband," "Three Obediences and Four Virtues"—wherever it's cool, stay there. Women divorcing and remarrying was perfectly normal.

But now, Qin Feng had no interest in admiring girls.

He pulled out a banknote worth ten thousand li of silver and handed it to Ning Hu.

"Go to the Wang Ji Grain Shop and buy ten thousand shi of grain."

At this, Ning Hu nearly fell off the table, stared at the silver note, and swallowed hard: "Brother Qin, did you grab the wrong note? Ten thousand li for ten thousand shi? Are you joking?!"

"Grain prices in Jiangnan are always high!"