The Great Ming in the Box

Chapter 414: Lead the Way

Iron Bird Flies greeted Xing Honglang and clasped his hands in salute. “Boss Xing, finally, I’ve been looking forward to your arrival. The things you’ve brought this time seem quite abundant.”

He turned his gaze to the three ships!

He saw figures disembarking from all three vessels. From the ship hauling the oil cart came merely a group of salt smugglers. But from the warship, soldiers were alighting—a huge number of soldiers, equipped with armor, spears, waist knives, hand crossbows, and many holding firearms. With such gear, their setup easily surpassed that of the officials by more than a level.

On one of the flat ships, they were unloading horses!

Once these horses left the ship, a soldier would smoothly mount one immediately. The movement was fluid and natural, showing they were clearly well-trained cavalrymen.

Iron Bird Flies thought to himself, alarmed: What lavish equipment was this? Was it something a mere salt smuggler should possess?

Then he saw Gao Chuwu walking over, head drooping. Xing Honglang tugged him to her side and smiled. “This is my husband. In the jianghu, he’s known as Big Fool. He’s a famous hero in Shaanxi.”

Iron Bird Flies thought: Famous? I’d never heard of his reputation. I only knew of Wang Chuying, Zijin Liang (Wang Ziyong), Bai Yuzhu, King of Disruption, Bu Zhan Ni, Wang Zuogua, and others. Where had this Big Fool sprung from?

Xing Honglang snorted: “What? Look down on my husband?”

Iron Bird Flies quickly put on a serious expression. “No, no, absolutely not. This Big Fool strikes me as a top-notch fine fellow.”Gao Chuwu grinned at him. “You’re a decent chap, speaking such sweet words.”

Iron Bird Flies thought: No wonder he’s called Big Fool. This fellow doesn’t even recognize polite flattery.

He leaned close to Xing Honglang’s ear and whispered: “Boss Xing, what is this…?”

Xing Honglang responded: “As you see, I’ve rebelled too! My husband happened to have a few hundred brothers under his command, so he came to assist me. Now I have ships, soldiers, and grain too. Hehehe, I’m back this time to eliminate those scoundrels who bullied my hometown folks.”

As soon as she spoke, cheers erupted from the dock.

“Great!”

“Boss Xing has come to back us up.”

“Those damn drifters have made us suffer badly. Boss Xing, stand up for us!”

“Boss Xing, I’m hungry.”

Hearing these chaotic sounds, Xing Honglang didn’t hesitate and waved her hand. “Start unloading the goods.”

The tarpaulin on the cargo ship was pulled back, revealing it was entirely filled with flour—huge sacks of flour, stockpiling the whole craft. One salt smuggler carried down a sack, opened it on the bank, and everyone peered inside.

Even though they had suspected it was food, seeing it firsthand gave them a major fright.

“Is the sack full of grain?”

“Are all the sacks on the ship like that?”

“My god, how many jin must this vessel carry?”

“Dear heavens, this ship’s grain alone could feed folks from several towns.”

Iron Bird Flies watched, utterly bewildered. “Boss Xing, where on earth did you obtain so much grain?”

Xing Honglang chuckled. “This was granted by the heavens.”

Iron Bird Flies didn’t believe a word about heavenly gifts. He thought: Boss Xing wouldn’t reveal it. That wasn’t surprising—with such a prized supply channel, he wouldn’t either. Monopolizing the source alone maximized profits.

“Boss Xing, no more chitchat. For this grain… quote me a price.”

Iron Bird Flies’s question echoed what everyone on the dock was wondering. They weighed their somewhat thin purses and thought: Last time, Boss Xing transported it over at 400 wen per dou for us. This time, it probably shouldn’t rise, right?

They had just thought of that when they heard Xing Honglang loudly say, “This time, the goods are plentiful, two hundred wen per dou!”

“Wow!”

Everyone was overjoyed.

At that time, the grain price in Shanxi had soared to eight hundred wen per dou, and in many places, there was no market at all. They hadn’t expected Xing Honglang to come and directly push it down to two hundred wen. This wasn’t like doing business; it was like engaging in charity.

A large crowd surged around, shouting, “Give me two dou!” “I want five jin!” “Twenty jin!”

The crowd at the dock was in a frenzy.

Iron Bird Flies didn’t rush to move. He was different from those engaging in small trades. If he took goods, it would be more than ten cartloads at a time. He chuckled and said, “Boss Xing, what you’re doing… If I take goods from you, I’d be embarrassed to sell them at a higher price again.”

Xing Honglang replied, “Nonsense, of course, you can’t sell high. See the large cargo ship behind me? I don’t just have this one ship; I have a second, a third, a fourth… I have as much grain as you could need.”

She laughed and said, “I came back to Shanxi this time specifically to suppress the grain price. If any bastard dares to hoard grain and inflate prices, I’ll break them until they go bankrupt and have to sell their underwear.”

Iron Bird Flies inhaled sharply and said, “There’s that much? So when the next ship arrives, it might be even lower, right?”

Xing Honglang smiled and said, “Exactly! My ultimate goal is to press the grain price down to its usual annual price.”

Iron Bird Flies thought to himself: the usual annual price is only seven wen per jin.

This…

In an instant, Iron Bird Flies changed his mind. He decided not to sell grain. After all, he was originally a salt smuggler, and grain selling wasn’t his field. He shouldn’t chase such dishonest money. Better to avoid becoming a target of Xing Honglang’s crackdown.

“I’d better sell salt,” Iron Bird Flies said with a laugh. “Last time, Boss Xing said you wanted salt. I managed to deliver quite a lot for you.”

He led Xing Honglang to the side of the grass hut, pulled open the door, and pointed inside.

Xing Honglang glanced at it. There were thirty or forty salt bags as big as a human head. For common citizens, that was a massive amount; a town’s people would eat it for a year or two. But for Gaojia Village’s alkali production, such a small quantity was practically nothing.

She pointed at the cargo ship behind her and said, “Look at this ship. If I carry just a few of your salt bags like this, might it not seem a bit improper? Is that all you can manage? Can’t you bring more salt? Enough to fill this ship?”

Iron Bird Flies said, “Gasp? This big ship? Full of salt? How many years would it take for how many people to finish eating it?”

Xing Honglang replied, “Never mind how many years it takes. I need more salt. This isn’t enough; I’ll have to make a trip to Jie Pond myself.”

Iron Bird Flies looked at the army behind Xing Honglang and lowered his voice, “Boss Xing, are you planning to fight your way back to Jie Pond? Hedong Road has the imperial court’s regular army stationed there. If you try to battle through to grab salt, it would blow up into a big mess.”

“I’m no fool; I’m certainly not going to fight it directly,” Xing Honglang said.

Xing Honglang added, “The imperial garrisons are north of Jie Pond. I plan to go around to the south of Jie Pond and contact the salt craftsmen there to produce salt for me. I haven’t sold salt for years, so I’m out of touch with the ways there. You come guide me and help me get the salt routes straightened out, and I’ll make sure you profit.”

Iron Bird Flies chuckled, “Hee hee hee, I’m very familiar with the south of Jie Pond. But… about this guiding thing… Boss Xing, name your price.”