Transmigrating to the Qi Family - Chapter 163

“Go, hurry up!”

In the pitch-black alley, voices echo deliberately lowered tones occasionally. Four or five men push wheelbarrows, peeking cautiously at the deserted street ahead, hesitating to take a single step forward.

“What’s wrong with you? Do you want the money or not?” a man with a scar on his face growls fiercely. However, his attempt at intimidation loses its edge due to the need to keep his voice down.

“There are patrols on that street ahead. What if the constables catch us?” someone mutters. It is already curfew, and apart from the night watchmen and patrolling constables, the streets are completely empty.

“Just cross that street, and we’ll be there. What are the odds of running into trouble? If anything happens, I’ll take responsibility!” the scar-faced man replies. He adjusts the burlap sacks on his wheelbarrow, glances left and right from the alley, and finally shoots a glare at the cowardly group before stepping out first, pushing his cart.

The sound of the wheel rolling over the ground makes a faint, grating noise that seems deafening in the silence of the night. Fortunately, it is already late, and the sleeping citizens on both sides of the street aren’t disturbed by the sound. The patrolling constables also seem to have vanished.

Seeing this, the others feel slightly reassured. They hunch their backs and cautiously push their carts to follow. After walking for a while without being discovered, their nerves relax a little, and their postures straighten slightly.

They are transporting the grain they purchase throughout the day from Harvest Grain Shop to Datong Grain Shop. Previously, when there are no limits on purchases, they only buy four dou at a time to avoid drawing attention. When rationing begins, they hire idle individuals to buy five sheng at a time. By the end of the day, they manage to acquire a significant amount.

However, the yard on this side isn’t suitable for storing grain. So, they plan to move the grain to the warehouse of Datong Grain Shop. But transporting such a large quantity of grain during the day would undoubtedly attract suspicion. Thus, they decide to make the transfer under the cover of night. Fortunately, Datong Grain Shop is also in the eastern part of the city and not far away; the journey won’t take long.

After walking nervously for some time, they round another corner and can already see the signboard of Datong Grain Shop. The tense expressions on their faces ease slightly, and they feel relieved that today’s task is finally nearing completion.

Unfortunately, life is full of unforeseen events, and disasters often strike in an instant. Just as the scar-faced man turns the corner, a group of people rushes out from the alley ahead, blocking their path. The men freeze in alarm, instinctively thinking to abandon their wheelbarrows and flee. But before they can act, more people appear from behind, trapping them in the middle of the street.

Someone lights a torch, and in the darkness of the night, the flickering firelight illuminates the faces of the constables in their uniforms. The eerie shadows make them look especially menacing.

The people are taken away, and naturally, the grain on the wheelbarrows is confiscated as well.

…

Early the next morning, the townsfolk wake to the sound of commotion in the streets. 

Curious, they step outside and see a group of people, shackled and wearing stocks, being paraded through the streets as a public spectacle.

They walk with their heads hanging low, looking like withered eggplants, while the constables beside them loudly proclaim their crimes all the way.

“These individuals violated the curfew and roamed at night. According to the law, they should be punished with fifty strokes of the cane. However, the esteemed Magistrate, considering this their first offense, has reduced the punishment to public humiliation and five strokes, sparing them the full fifty. Let this serve as a warning to others—do not test the law!”

The townsfolk, hearing this, cannot help but praise the magistrate’s benevolence. Fifty strokes could easily kill someone who is physically weak. Although being paraded around is humiliating, at least they keep their lives. The five strokes they receive back at the courthouse later are just superficial injuries—this could almost be considered a lucky escape.

Such a lively event is rare in Cangzhou, and the townsfolk are so captivated that they skip breakfast and follow the parade all the way to the magistrate’s courthouse. Outside, benches are already set up for administering the punishment. The offenders are made to lie on them, and the cane strikes land squarely on their lower backs and hips.

The group, initially frightened and then detained for most of the night, is dragged out at dawn, paraded through the streets, and subjected to public ridicule. After enduring five strikes with the board, they are left physically and mentally battered, unable to hold back their pain as they howl in agony.

In the crowd, a short man watches the scene with a face full of fear, his heart pounding. The others only know that these people are punished for breaking the curfew, but he is well aware that this is a warning from the magistrate. The night before, he hides inside the Datong Grain Shop and witnesses the entire incident through a crack.

These offenders aren’t caught by chance during a patrol; the constables are lying in wait for them all along, setting a trap for them to fall into.

The prefect must know their intentions from the start—perhaps even from the moment they begin buying grain at Harvest Grain Shop. Now, with both the culprits and the evidence in hand, the confiscated grain is returned to the shop, and the offenders are publicly humiliated and caned. It is a complete loss for them—a failure on all fronts.

Elsewhere, Jiang Miao grins as he looks at the piles of rice now filling his shop. If they want to buy low and sell high, they should’ve considered whether he’d let it happen. He has been racking his brains for a way to deal with them, but to his surprise, they ruin themselves instead.

What makes him angrier is discovering that they aren’t just ordinary profiteers—they are sent by a rival grain shop. They truly aren’t decent people. His shop has only been open for a day or two, and they already resort to such underhanded tactics.

However, after killing the chicken today, the monkeys no longer dare to act recklessly. The day’s accounts are perfectly normal, with all the grain buyers being commoners from the countryside who hear the news and rush to town. Since rural areas are far from the prefectural city, traveling such a distance to buy only five sheng seems insufficient.

Jiang Miao thinks for a moment and decides to revise the limit. He crosses out the five-sheng restriction and changes it to two dou, instructing someone to post the updated rule outside.

The people who hear the news are very happy. They have just been lamenting that the amount they can purchase is too little. Now, their complaints turn to joy. In high spirits, almost everyone buys the full two dou, intending to share it among households when they return to their villages.

In addition to those buying grain, the area for selling mountain goods is just as lively, with queues no shorter than those for grain. The sellers hear that mountain goods here are not weighed solely by the pound but are graded into three categories—superior, medium, and inferior—with prices adjusted accordingly. The earnings are several times, even more than ten times, what they used to make.

Those who have sold here before are calm, while newcomers crane their necks and tiptoe to catch a glimpse, eager to see if the buying method is truly as generous as rumored.

With nervous hearts, they finally believe it isn’t a scam only after they feel the heavy coins in their pockets or place them securely on their chests.

For the villagers, the money earned from selling mountain goods is best spent immediately. It is already December, and with only about twenty days left until the Lunar New Year, they can’t resist spending now that they have money in hand. After all, who can say if rice prices will rise again?

Besides buying rice, the villagers also visit other shops along the street, spending their earnings. The previously lifeless market street seems to burst with vitality, as if it has been infused with new energy, bringing everything back to life.

…

The person behind this transformation in Cangzhou is currently sitting in a room in the back courtyard of the grain shop, going over the accounts. Over the past few days, they purchase over 2,000 jin of various grades of mountain goods. Though each transaction only costs a few hundred copper coins, the cumulative expense amounts to a considerable sum of silver.

“Manager Chen, you’ll depart from Cangzhou today. By the time you reach Liangjing, it will be the peak season for capital residents to buy goods for the New Year. In previous years, demand always exceeded supply during this time. This batch of mountain goods is sure to fetch a good price,” Jiang Miao says, roughly estimating the earnings in his mind, excitement rising within him.

Manager Chen nods. “Exactly. By this time of year, no caravans usually enter the capital anymore. Our timing couldn’t be better.”

Jiang Miao continues, “The superior-grade goods will be sold in the inner-city shops, the medium-grade ones in the shops in the eastern outer city, and the inferior-grade ones can be sent to the Jiang family’s small shop in the western city for resale.” As he speaks, he writes down the addresses and shop names of the two other locations on a piece of paper and hands it to Manager Chen.

These shops are gifts from Pei Che to Jiang Miao as part of a betrothal offering. Initially, Jiang Miao is too embarrassed to accept them, but after solidifying his relationship with Pei Che, he feels no hesitation at all.

After taking the note, Manager Chen leaves. He has previously been an assistant manager at one of the Pei family’s shops. When he hears the Pei family intends to send someone south to purchase tea seedlings, he seizes the opportunity and personally approaches the head manager to volunteer. Although the trip doesn’t result in buying tea seedlings, it allows him to establish good business relationships with many southern merchants.

The rice they are selling now is sourced from a wealthy landowner who controls thousands of acres of fertile farmland.

Moving forward, they plan to regularly procure goods from the south, using Cangzhou as a midpoint to establish a new trade route between the southern region and Liangjing in one fell swoop.

The prospect of operating independently, free from external constraints, invigorates Manager Chen, who has always been ambitious. His mind becomes clearer when doing business.

After Manager Chen leaves, Jiang Miao pulls a ledger from a drawer and begins flipping through it. It is a catalog borrowed from a local property agency. He wants to buy a residence and move out.

For certain unspoken reasons, it is no longer appropriate for them to live behind the government office. When they first arrive, they choose to share the same courtyard as other officials to better manage the prefectural government. However, after more than half a year, Pei Che has firmly taken control of all six administrative offices within the prefectural government. Naturally, there is no longer any need for them to squeeze into a shared courtyard, enduring occasional snide remarks.

The property agency has several houses for sale. After much consideration, Jiang Miao narrows his choices to three. All three are located close to the prefectural office, are similarly sized, and consist of three interconnected courtyards—more than enough space for their large group. This also means those currently crowded in the grain shop can move in as well.

The only differences between the houses are their layouts and prices. Jiang Miao hasn’t visited them in person yet, so he plans to ask the property agent to take him there that afternoon for an inspection before making a decision.

In the afternoon, Jiang Miao visits the property agency, where the owner personally greets him. As one of Cangzhou’s rising elites, Jiang Miao is someone the owner is eager to befriend—hence his willingness to lend out the catalog in the first place.

“Master He, I’d like to trouble you to show me these three properties. If everything checks out, we can go to the prefectural office today to finalize the contract.”

“No problem at all, Lord Jiang. Please wait a moment. I’m just wrapping up another deal, and once it’s done, I’ll take you there right away. In the meantime, please enjoy a cup of hot tea and rest.”

After a short wait, Master He returns, beaming—clearly pleased with the success of his earlier transaction.

He takes Jiang Miao to inspect the three properties. After walking through each one inside and out, Jiang Miao finally decides on a house with a lotus pond.

To Jiang Miao, this property is far better than those with traditional gardens. The lotus pond not only allows for fish farming but also offers seasonal benefits: lotus pods to eat in summer, lotus leaves for cooking, and lotus roots to harvest in autumn. The thought of it all fills him with delight.