novelAbuy Chapter 036 Self-sufficiency
Chapter 036 Self-sufficiency
Chapter 036
"Da Niu, how much silver do you have on you?"
Chen Daniu didn't have much silver on him; he only took out four or five taels. Although Chen Ying had promoted Chen Daniu to the rank of centurion, the problem was that Chen Daniu hadn't received a single penny of salary yet. This little bit of silver was the reward Chen Ying had given him for bringing the Buddha statue back.
"Take this little money...buy a coffin and hold a funeral. My condolences!"
"Thank you so much, young master. You're such a kind person... Ziyue, quickly kowtow to the young master. From now on, you belong to the young master. You must obey whatever the young master asks you to do, understand?"
The girl named Ziyue looked completely bewildered and kowtowed to Chen Ying in a daze.
Chen Ying was slightly taken aback. Ziyue is an elegant name for the eleventh month of the lunar calendar. As a girl's name, it implies tranquility and profoundness. It also shows that Ziyue's father is cultured and did not give her a common name like "flower," "grass," or "mother."
"No...get up! I don't want to buy her...I just want to help you!"
Chen Ying now has more than a hundred adopted children. If he were just the former Consul General of the Agricultural Implements Manufacturing Bureau, it would be fine, since skilled craftsmen adopting children to serve as free labor is a normal phenomenon.
Chen Ying is currently a military officer, a fifth-rank garrison commander. Although this is a very minor official position in the Ming Dynasty, the problem is that if he adopts the crown prince's son or daughter, it will give others ammunition to criticize him. After all, generals usually adopt sons to serve as loyal followers, while adopting daughters is to win over the officers below them.
Take Mao Wenlong, the commander-in-chief of the Dongjiang Army, for example. The Dongjiang Army was said to have 8,000 soldiers from the Mao family. Although this was an exaggeration, the problem was that Chen Jisheng, the only deputy commander-in-chief of the Dongjiang Army, was Mao Wenlong's son-in-law, two of the deputy commanders, Mao Chenglu, were his adopted sons, and another deputy commander, Shen Shikui, was his father-in-law. Shen Shikui's daughter was Mao Wenlong's concubine.
For example, Kong Youde named Mao Yongshi, Shang Kexi named Mao Yongxi, and Geng Zhongming named Mao Yongjie. They were all adopted grandsons of Mao Wenlong.
Chen Ying already has over a hundred adopted sons and daughters, so he can't take any more.
Chen Ying didn't continue speaking. Just then, the child suddenly moved. He ran to Chen Ying, knelt down before him, and pleaded, "Young master, please take me away. Then my mother won't have to kowtow to people everywhere!"
"this……"
"Young master, please take her with you. If she comes with me, she'll still die. Please, young master, have mercy..."
Chen Ying knew that what the woman said was true. More importantly, the child was a girl, and she was pretty. Her fate was probably not good.
"What will you do if I take her away?"
"I...I'm so tired!"
The woman looked relieved: "Now that Ziyue has a good place to go, I should go where I belong!"
Chen Ying realized that this woman had already resolved to die. When faced with absolute hardship, death was the best relief, freeing her from so much burden.
"Da Niu, send someone back and bring a flatbed truck. You help this woman bury her husband!"
"yes!"
"Ziyue, get in the car and warm up!"
The little girl held the woman's hand: "Mommy, let's go together..."
"Ziyue, be good, Mother..."
"Why don't you get on the bus too? It's warm inside!"
The woman also felt her hands and feet ache from the cold: "I'm afraid I'll dirty the young master's carriage!"
"Wash it again if it gets dirty!"
The woman and Ziyue boarded the carriage. Outside, the cold wind howled, but inside the carriage it was warm as spring. Before long, Chen Daniu arrived with two soldiers pushing a flatbed cart. They had bought a thin coffin before they came. They placed the body in the coffin and lifted it onto the flatbed cart.
"Lord Commander, where shall we bury him?"
"this……"
Chen Ying smiled wryly. Apart from the mass graves outside the city, the prerequisite for being buried in peace is having land.
Where are you from?
The woman choked back tears as she said, "We are from Qingzhou Prefecture in Shandong."
Listening to the woman's story, Chen Ying finally understood why no one in the capital dared to interfere with them. The woman's husband was Xie Yingchao, a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations. He was recommended by the Grand Secretary Ye Xianggao and gradually rose to the position of Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat. He, along with Wang Wenyan and Huang Zunsu, were known as the three great strategists of the Donglin Party.
Xie Yingqi once assisted Wang An, the former Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, in the palace coup case, in which he joined forces with the Donglin Party to remove Li Xuanchi from the Qianqing Palace, thus achieving a final victory in the palace coup case. He was regarded as a thorn in Wei Zhongxian's side.
Later, Wang An was killed by Wei Zhongxian and Madam Ke. As one of Wang An's advisors and a strategist of the Donglin Party, Xie Yingqi was the first to be implicated. He was reported and impeached by Huo Weihua, a censor, and was arrested and tortured to death by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Although the Donglin Party proclaimed themselves gentlemen and wielded immense power, after Xie Yingqi's death, no one cared for the widow and her orphan.
Chen Ying instantly realized that he had touched a hot potato he shouldn't have. Xie Yingqi was Wei Zhongxian's enemy, and a close and formidable one at that. What kind of business was it for Chen Ying to help Xie Yingqi's wife and daughters? Was he going against Eunuch Wei?
If I don't help, my conscience won't allow it; if I do help, I'll get myself into trouble.
Chen Ying quickly came up with an idea. He turned to Liu, Xie Yingqi's wife and Xie Ziyue's mother, and asked, "What are you planning to do from now on?"
"I intend to go down and keep Xie Lang company!"
Xie Ziyue was still young and didn't understand what it meant to go and accompany Xie Lang.
"I feel you shouldn't be so extreme. Live well and raise Xie Ziyue to adulthood!"
"I'm too tired, and I don't want to..."
"What do you think of Da Niu?"
Chen Ying pointed to Chen Daniu outside the car and said, "He is the centurion of our Shahe Garrison, and also my brother, a man who truly cares for me!"
Does Liu want to die?
The answer is that they don't actually want to die. If there's a way to survive, who would want to die?
Her husband was framed and persecuted to death, but the problem is, she has nowhere to turn for help.
If she could remarry with her child, that would be a way out.
Chen Daniu was tall and looked very strong. Although he was not as good-looking as Chen Ying, he still had regular features and was pleasing to Liu's eye.
"I am now yours, young master, and will obey your every command!"
When Liu said this, she was actually agreeing.
It wasn't that Chen Ying was taking advantage of Liu's misfortune and finding her any random man; he simply had no better option. This was true compassion. Giving money was useless; the mother and daughter probably wouldn't survive the winter.
"Da Niu, do you want a wife?"
Chen Daniu instantly understood Chen Ying's meaning: "She's willing?"
"willing!"
"want!"
Xie Yingqi's remains were eventually buried on an unnamed hillside outside Changping City.
There was no tombstone, no incense, only a mound of fresh earth, rising slightly in the snow.
Chen Daniu and several soldiers dug the pit. Liu Shi, holding Xie Ziyue, kowtowed three times in front of the grave, then followed Chen Daniu without looking back.
The atmosphere inside the carriage was somber on the way back to Changping.
Xie Ziyue nestled in her mother's arms, her big eyes filled with confusion. She was only six years old and didn't understand what death was. She only knew that her father was lying in a wooden box, buried in the ground, and that she would never see him again.
Outside the carriage, Chen Daniu was driving, but his ears were perked up. A blush crept onto his dark face, and he chuckled foolishly.
Beijing, Dongchang Hutong.
After hearing the report from his servants, Wei Zhongxian slammed the covered bowl he was holding onto the table.
"Chen Boying... took in Xie Yingqi's wife and daughter?"
"Yes. Yesterday outside Chongwen Gate, Xie Liu was selling her daughter on the street to bury her husband when Chen Ying happened to see it. Chen Ying gave five taels of silver to help bury Xie Yingqi, and also betrothed the mother and daughter to his close attendant Chen Daniu. Xie Yingqi's daughter, Xie Ziyue, was changed to Chen Ziyue, becoming Chen Daniu's daughter."
Wei Zhongxian squinted, and after a long while, he suddenly smiled.
"That Chen Boying... he really knows how to handle people."
The messenger was taken aback: "Master, that Xie Yingqi is..."
"But isn't he our family's rival?"
Wei Zhongxian picked up the covered bowl and slowly took a sip of tea: "That's why Chen Boying wanted to marry Xie Liushi to Chen Daniu and change Xie Ziyue's surname to Chen. This is to tell us that he saved people, but he saved pitiful people, not Xie Yingqi's wife and daughter. The surname has been changed, the identity has been changed, and he has cut ties with the past."
If Xie Yingqi had left behind a son instead of a daughter, Wei Zhongxian might have been a little worried. But the problem was that he only had one daughter. More importantly, Xie Yingqi's deceased wife had been given to a crude soldier.
This is tantamount to killing the Xie family and destroying their spirit.
"What does the Supervisor mean?"
"Send someone to Changping to deliver a congratulatory gift."
"Understood."
After the guards left, Wei Zhongxian sat alone in the warm pavilion.
Chen Ying, you're much smarter than those Donglin gentlemen who spout platitudes about benevolence and morality. You know what you can and can't do; you know that after saving someone, you have to clean up the mess.
That's good. We can trust someone with that kind of talent.
……
Another thing Chen Ying did in the capital is causing quite a stir.
Through Lu Jiucheng and Xu Xianchun's connections, Chen Ying sold all twelve four-wheeled carriages he had brought from Yongcheng.
The buyers were all wealthy and powerful, including imperial relatives, rich merchants, and several powerful eunuchs. The price of each carriage ranged from eight hundred to one thousand two hundred taels of silver, depending on the configuration.
These carriages quickly caused a sensation.
The high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital quickly discovered the benefits of this carriage, especially those who were old and had back and leg problems; sitting in it was like being a completely different person.
What's even better is that you can have private conversations or meet guests inside the carriage, and even take a break on the way to court, which is much more comfortable than riding in a sedan chair or an ordinary horse-drawn carriage.
The second user of the four-wheeled carriage, the young master of the Earl of Pengcheng, discovered that the sofa inside the carriage, with its springs, provided a unique experience during sexual intercourse.
Of course, there were quite a few talented people like Zhang Zhengyu in the Ming Dynasty, and many people discovered that this four-wheeled carriage actually had such an effect.
A four-wheeled carriage is like a thin sheet of paper; it's not that complicated, but it's not easy to imitate. First of all, the shock absorption cannot be replicated, especially the sofa inside the carriage.
Even Meixianglou, the largest brothel in Nanjing, sent people to Yongcheng to buy it when they saw that high-ranking officials actually liked this style. However, Chen Ying had already moved to Changping, so they followed him there and ordered twenty-eight four-wheeled carriages in one go.
Chen Ying sold twelve four-wheeled carriages in the capital and quickly received orders for twenty-five more, collecting over four thousand taels of silver in deposits alone.
They returned to Shahe Garrison Command, also known as Gonghua City.
Chen Ying then established an ordnance bureau specializing in the manufacture of cold weapons, responsible for improving the Apocalypse Armor, which is a non-powered individual exoskeleton. After disassembly, most of the technical problems were solved.
Seeing that Chen Daniu had a wife and children, although Daniu's wife was a widow, the problem was that Liu was pretty and, with a little dressing up, she outshone the female military households in the garrison.
At this moment, Wang Tiezhu also became anxious: "Commander... you went back on your word..."
"How did I go back on my word?"
"You said you'd find me a fat, chubby wife!"
"This matter... would you like me, the commander, to help you into the bridal chamber?"
Chen Ying said irritably, "There are disaster victims everywhere right now. You think it's easy for you to get married? You can't expect me to handle everything for you, can you?"
"Hmph, you're the one who doesn't keep your word!"
"Okay, okay, okay, I'll find you a wife sometime!"
"Lord Chiju!"
Seeing Song Xianze's grave expression, Chen Ying stood up and asked, "What's wrong?"
"this……"
"Back to the Thousand-Household Office!"
Back at the garrison headquarters, Song Xianze said, "The Ministry of Revenue has withheld our garrison's supplies!"
"As expected!"
Chen Ying said angrily, "I knew all along that these bastards who eat people's food but do nothing would use their power to pull this stunt!"
Wei Zhongxian has just seized power and is not yet the "Nine Thousand Years Old" he will become in three years. His influence does not yet extend to the three major ministries: the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Revenue. These three major ministries are still in the hands of the Donglin Party.
"How much food do we have left?"
"Less than a thousand shi!"
Song Xianze said with a wry smile, "Because of the heavy snow, we've taken in over a thousand more disaster victims. Now there are over seven thousand people to feed. Even if we're frugal, we still need to consume sixty or seventy shi of grain a day. We can only feed them for a maximum of half a month!"
"Where are the grain merchants in the capital? Weren't we supposed to send grain here?"
"We can't deliver it. Heavy snow in the capital has caused grain prices to skyrocket; people in the capital have no trouble selling their grain!"
"What about grain prices?"
"The price of brown rice is now 1.4 taels per shi (a unit of dry measure), an increase of nearly 30%, and it changes every day!"
"We still have to buy it!"
Chen Ying thought for a moment and said, "The food problem must be solved..."
"How much grain should we buy?"
"At least 20,000 shi (a unit of dry measure). The New Year is almost here; we must ensure the military households have a good holiday!"
"But at the current grain price, 20,000 shi would require nearly 30,000 taels of silver... Grain alone isn't enough; we also need vegetables, salt, oil, and charcoal for heating in winter..."
"Lord Commander..."
Following behind Song Xianze, Zhang Changgeng said, "Actually, we don't need to buy grain from the market..."
"Oh, if you don't buy grain from grain merchants, where do you buy it from?"
"The official granary!"
Zhang Changgeng said, "The Beijing garrison has 200,000 troops. If each soldier eats two catties of grain a day, that's 400,000 catties. The quartermasters are all reselling grain. We just need to give them a few dozen taels of silver, and they can easily turn one shi of grain into five dou. We can buy 20,000 shi of grain from there, and that will only cost us a little over 10,000 taels of silver!"
Chen Ying was stunned. He realized that reselling military rations was a serious crime, and buying them was also a crime. Ordinary people would not dare to buy large quantities of military rations. But Chen Ying was not afraid. He was a military household. Even if the court did not issue military rations, it would be fine for him to buy them. He could not let the military households starve to death.
Of course, in Chen Ying's understanding, everything was a fair trade, but the problem was that even if Chen Ying didn't buy these military rations, corruption in the army would still exist.
"Zhang Changgeng!"
"Your humble servant is here!"
"This commander hereby appoints you as the quartermaster of our Shahe Garrison!"
What is a quartermaster?
"It's about purchasing food, uniforms, and other necessities for our entire unit!"
Chen Ying could not possibly relinquish control of the finances to Zhang Changgeng, but he could certainly be in charge of procurement, with Song Xianze overseeing it.
"Oh, and besides food, we also need to buy some military uniforms, dried meat, and gunpowder!"
Chen Ying thought for a moment and said, "Our thousand-household garrison has many elderly, weak, sick, and disabled people who can't do heavy work. We can buy some live pigs, sheep, chickens, and ducks, and raise them ourselves to be self-sufficient!"