Chapter 326: Grain Merchants from Other Prefectures

In the end, the donkey proved faster in the speed contest.

Yan Yu enjoyed the sensation of racing like the wind. She couldn’t estimate the exact speed, but she knew it definitely surpassed a horse. Moreover, the mechanical creation knew no fatigue. As long as the sun rose each day, it had virtually limitless power.

Gouzhu had fallen behind by a stretch. The donkey began to slow its pace, eventually coming to a gentle stop.

Gouzhu caught up, panting heavily with his tongue lolling out.

He plopped down on his haunches, then flopped over to rest.

He looked completely worn out.

Yan Yu walked over, ruffled his furry head, and with a laugh, picked him up. She waited for Sanbao to trot closer and placed the dog onto the ox cart.

Gouzhu didn’t get up, just gave his tail a gentle wag.

Yan Lao’er asked, “What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s tired from running.”

Yan Lao’er: “…”

Alright, that was very dog-like.

…

Both Liang Manshan and Yan Lao’er were going out to the villages to collect the grain tax for the first time.

Unlike the former, Yan Lao’er didn’t even have any prior experience, whereas Liang Manshan at least understood some of the intricacies involved.

He advised Yan Lao’er, “If you encounter anything improper, press it down for now. We can discuss it after returning to the city.”

Yan Lao’er wasn’t a complete novice either and nodded repeatedly in agreement.

The yamen runners assigned to collect the grain, while not as familiar with Yan Lao’er as Head Constable Li’s group, had after all shared the experience of the Crouching Tiger lockdown. Knowing the Magistrate valued Registrar Yan and that Yan Lao’er himself held a position in the Zhuang Unit^[1], they were relatively friendly towards him.

Hearing he was tagging along to buy grain, the runners exchanged glances and all said it was a small matter, they’d handle it.

Yan Lao’er realized they had misunderstood and hurriedly clarified. Their village’s grain reserves weren’t plentiful, and they wanted to buy more for the winter. They were willing to purchase at market price or even trade with vegetables.

Hearing this, the runners’ expressions grew even more agreeable.

While they had their greedy tendencies, their families had been native Crouching Tiger people for generations. If you really dug into the connections, they could find relatives in practically every village.

This was a mutually beneficial arrangement, and they were naturally happy to facilitate it.

When the government office sent people to collect grain, they always notified the villages in advance.

Each village had to prepare accordingly.

Once the officials arrived, they would directly weigh the grain on the scales, without any delay.

Liang Manshan’s group only brought one ox cart, carrying the measuring pecks^[2] and scales.

The Village Chief, a sturdy man in his thirties, greeted them warmly. Under a temporarily erected awning, he bustled about serving tea and water.

He discreetly distributed red envelopes^[3] all around.

Even Yan Lao’er didn’t miss out.

The lead runner, surnamed Wan, was the head of the Zao Unit^[4].

In the past, it was always the Fast Runners who went to the villages for grain collection. Since Magistrate Tian took office, he changed this rule. He arranged the three units of runners as he saw fit, and the clerks were made to handle the work of several people. There were plenty of runners, so it was all the same.

Rotating the duties like this had one benefit.

Regarding grain collection, both the Constable and Zao Units were novices. Their methods for deceiving superiors weren’t yet polished, so the grain tax collected in the past two years showed less “loss” than in previous years.

Magistrate Tian, having tasted the sweetness of this, was even more determined to stick with the rotation.

The Zao Unit had come once two years ago, so the villagers knew the drill and weren’t surprised.

Headman Wan weighed the envelope in his hand, got a sense of its contents, and signaled to a runner beside him.

The latter immediately understood and moved the large scale into position.

Seeing the large scale set down, the villagers felt their hearts settle, their smiles growing even brighter.

Headman Wan introduced to the Village Chief, “This is the newly appointed Registrar Liang. Get to know him, so you don’t offend him in the future.”

The Village Chief immediately bowed to Liang Manshan. “Registrar Liang, you’ve had a hard journey. I’ve long heard of your esteemed name, and finally get to meet you today. Please, take the seat of honor. We’ll handle these coarse tasks. We’ll just trouble you to keep count from the side. Lunch is all arranged, we’ve ordered a fine banquet from a city restaurant. Please honor us by tasting it, just a taste…”

Liang Manshan clearly anticipated this. He glanced at the Zao Unit men.

Headman Wan spoke up, “The brothers are all capable, we guarantee we won’t delay this afternoon’s duties. So, Registrar Liang, would you honor us?”

Liang Manshan smiled. “In that case, we’ll impose on your hospitality.”

“Not at all, not at all!” The Village Chief was overjoyed and hurriedly turned to make arrangements.

With this settled, each household lined up according to the order registered on the roster.

The grain was already pre-bagged but not sealed. After being carried over, the runners had them pour it into another sack. During this process, they checked how cleanly the husks had been removed.

After dipping a hand in to inspect, if a runner nodded, that sack of grain would be placed on the large scale.

The weight had to be a bit over. If it was deemed insufficient, the runner would shake his head, his expression turning unpleasant.

The household being weighed would become fearful, profusely apologizing, and hurriedly pour a lot more from their reserve grain bag…

Everything proceeded smoothly. No extra words were needed; everyone understood the routine.

What Liang Manshan needed to do was record the amount of grain each household handed over.

This wasn’t arbitrary collection. The government office had its own reserved land, which was also farmed seasonally. The tax was set at twenty percent of the harvest. This was a benevolent policy established by Prince Ying after he was granted Guanzhou as his fief.

This single policy won Prince Ying the hearts of all Guanzhou’s people. No one spoke ill of the Prince.

Although this benevolent policy benefited the people, it made the Prince Ying’s Manor, the various prefectural offices, and city yamens even more financially strained.

Unable to bear seeing Guanzhou’s officials in hardship, Prince Ying even contributed his own share to subsidize them. This was how Guanzhou managed to scrape by these past few years.

Yan Lao’er found an opportunity to pull the Village Chief aside.

The Village Chief was momentarily puzzled but followed him to talk privately.

Hearing this man state his purpose and repeatedly emphasize he would buy at market price, the Village Chief didn’t show a happy expression. Instead, he looked somewhat regretful.

“Brother, you’re a step too late. The surplus grain from our village has already been reserved by grain merchants from another prefecture. We’re just waiting to finish paying the grain tax and keep what we need for winter; the rest is to be hauled away.”

“Grain merchants? They definitely can’t be offering a higher price than me, right?” Yan Lao’er grew anxious. Where did these grain merchants come from?

“No, brother, your price is higher. If we sold to you, we’d earn more, but… we already gave our word to them.”

They weren’t far from the runners weighing the grain, close enough to be overheard.

“Reserved? Did they pay a deposit? A verbal promise without a deposit doesn’t count,” one runner sneered, thinking these villagers were fools. Selling to grain merchants fetched only a pittance. Yan Lao’er was buying at market price; they themselves were considering selling their own household’s surplus grain to him.

Besides, even if they paid a deposit, so what? Just return it to them. Most likely there’s no written contract; verbal agreements get broken all the time. An outsider from another prefecture, how could he possibly turn the world upside down?!

“They actually haven’t paid one yet…” the Village Chief said hesitantly.

The yamen runner immediately said, “Then what’s there to worry about? Brother Yan and his village couldn’t make it in time to plant grain. All the land they cleared is planted with vegetables. Look at those on their ox cart, all green and fresh. You can sell your grain for silver, or trade it for vegetables to store for the winter. What a great deal.”

Yan Lao’er, quick on the uptake, moved several baskets down to show everyone.

Not only could the Village Chief see clearly, but the villagers could too.

The price was higher than the grain merchant’s, and they could get either silver or vegetables. What was there to even consider?

Several people immediately crowded around, asking how much grain he wanted to buy and how the vegetable exchange worked.

Seeing this, the Village Chief sighed.

His brother came over and asked quietly, “Brother, what do we do about this? We already took that man’s silver…”

“Forget about that commission fee if we can’t get it. Since the deal isn’t going through, just return the money to him. After all, we didn’t promise anything definite back then, only said we’d help persuade the villagers to sell grain to him. Now someone’s offering a higher price, what’s he got to complain about? If he wants to buy grain, he can offer the market price too. We’d be happy with that. Selling to one or the other makes no difference.”

In that moment, the Village Chief’s mind cleared up.

That grain merchant’s five taels of silver had dazzled him, but upon careful calculation, his family had quite a bit of land. Add his brother’s and relatives’ land to that, the extra silver they’d get from selling at a higher price was far more than those five taels.

No matter how he calculated, selling to this Yan fellow was more profitable.

Later, when a yamen runner quietly hinted to him that this was the younger brother of Registrar Yan from the government office, the Village Chief had absolutely no more objections.

Sell to him. Must sell to him!

No one could stop this.

(End of Chapter)