Translator: Ink Hub

Editor: Yoog

Several people sat around a large stone stool, the atmosphere heavy and subdued.

Shen Li sat to the side, looking somewhat restrained. Luo Yu had specifically asked her to participate in the meeting. Because the refugees were responsible for cooking and distributing food, and Shen Li was their leader, she was currently in charge of all logistics. No one knew better than her exactly how much grain remained in their stores.

Luo Yu glanced at Shen Li. “How much of the grain we brought from Yunyang Pass is left? How many days will it last?”

“Three days, at most,” Shen Li replied immediately. She carefully inventoried the remaining grain every day, not daring to miss a single sack.

“Three days.” Luo Yu calculated the numbers in his head. “I have about two hundred taels of silver left. This money needs to cover military pay and buy more grain. We are stretched thin.”

“There is no rush for the pay. These brothers have all rolled through the gates of hell with us; waiting two months is no issue,” Han Shuo said in a heavy voice. “The main problem is the food. We are felling timber and building walls every day, which consumes a massive amount of physical strength. If they do not eat, men will truly starve to death.”

Xiao Shaoyou began to tally the costs. “With over four hundred people, if each person eats two jin of grain a day, that is eight hundred jin daily. In a month, we will need 24,000 jin of grain, which is equivalent to 240 shi. Even if one shi of grain sells for only one tael of silver, we do not even have enough to buy a single month’s worth of supplies. Even if we ration it or find a way to buy low-priced grain, the Jun family has already collected three months of land tax in advance. No matter how we calculate it, we cannot scrape together enough food for the next three months.”

“This cannot continue. We must find a way to get money and grain.” Luo Yu looked at the others and asked, “As a city lord, is collecting taxes the only option? Are there no other ways to make money?”

“Of course there are. Doing business, trading—anything works. If you are shameless enough, you could even rob the commoners,” Xiao Shaoyou said with a bitter smile. “But right now, we can barely fill our stomachs. Where would we get the capital to start a business? Besides, business is not that easy to conduct. The Sanqi Mountains are nothing but rocks and trees. Is everyone supposed to chop firewood to sell?”

The group fell silent. They were men who made their living with blades. Even if they had the capital, they were not cut out for trade.

“Sigh.” Han Shuo let out a breath, looking dejected. “I thought following City Lord Luo would mean drinking good wine every day, but now we cannot even get cold water. A miscalculation, truly a miscalculation.”

A joke meant to lighten the mood suddenly made Luo Yu’s eyes light up. “What did you say, Brother Han?”

“Uh, I said I originally wanted to drink the fine wine you brewed, but now we do not even have cold water,” Han Shuo said awkwardly. “Do not take it seriously, I was just joking.”

“Haha! You just reminded me. We can sell wine!” Luo Yu felt a sudden wave of clarity. “Brother Han, do you think the wine I brew could fetch a good price?”

“Wine? Right! We can sell wine! Such excellent wine would surely sell for a high price!” Han Shuo practically bolted upright. He knew better than anyone the quality of Luo Yu’s wine, but he quickly became worried again. “But to brew such good wine, the cost must be very high. How much can we even make with two hundred taels?”

“Oh, do not worry about that.” Luo Yu waved a hand dismissively. “Actually, there is almost no cost. It is incredibly cheap.”

“What? Almost no cost?” Han Shuo’s eyes widened. “Did you not tell me back then that brewing this wine was labor-intensive and extremely expensive? You even used twenty jars of wine to trade for twenty of my warhorses! I have not even seen a single jar of that wine to this day!”

Realizing he had let the truth slip, Luo Yu hurried to change the subject, “Rest assured, there will definitely be good wine to drink in the future. Right now, let us focus on making money to fill our stomachs! I want to ask, is there a larger, more prosperous city nearby? If we are going to sell wine, the common towns and poor folk certainly will not be able to afford the good stuff. We can only sell to the wealthy.”

“There is, of course there is.” Han Shuo pointed toward the southwest. “About sixty li to the southwest is Fengchuan City in Que Prefecture. It is considered one of the most prosperous major cities in the region. The Sanqi Mountains are a dead end that cannot connect the two prefectures, but Fengchuan City happens to be one of the vital thoroughfares connecting the two lands. Traveling merchants pass through there in an endless stream. There are many restaurants in the city with plenty of customers. If we transport the wine to Fengchuan to sell, we will surely make a fortune.”

As Han Shuo spoke, drool practically pooled at the corners of his mouth. It seemed he had frequented Fengchuan City for drinks in the past.

“Excellent. This is truly heaven helping me.” A plan formed in Luo Yu’s mind. “Shen Li, you should know what is needed to make the wine steaming pots, right? Go and purchase the materials; we need to build them again. Also, buy about ten days’ worth of grain. Use all the remaining silver to buy cheap rice wine, as much as possible. Brother Han, take some brothers and go with her.”

“Spend all the silver?” Shen Li asked in shock. “Not a single cent left? If the wine does not sell, we will all starve.”

“Not a single cent!” Luo Yu was extremely firm. “The marketplace is like a battlefield; if you want to make money, you must learn to take a gamble. That is how we will do it!”

* * *

Over the next few days, the camp became increasingly bustling. The young, able-bodied men continued to build the defensive walls, while Luo Yu busied himself with distilling wine.

There were ten wine steaming pots in total, which Luo Yu had built together with Shen Li. He simply could not handle the workload alone. He specifically warned Shen Li that this method must never be leaked to outsiders.

Shen Li was very sensible. She understood that Luo Yu’s ability to brew fine wine was definitely related to these wine steaming pots. The young girl even used her life as a guarantee that she would never speak a single word of it.

Han Shuo led men to purchase a large amount of rice wine from the local villagers. It was all home-brewed and low-priced, costing only half a tael of silver per jar. They brought back a full two or three hundred jars, piling them high inside the military tents.

Shen Li led a group of women, distilling the rice wine day and night with total devotion. She was well aware that this batch of wine would determine whether they all starved to death in the wilderness.

By the fourth day, the first row of the camp walls was finally finished. A row of wooden stakes, nearly two people high, was driven into the ground along the mountain pass from east to west. From this moment on, the entire mountain range was effectively sealed. One could only enter the inner mountains by passing through this defensive wall.

As night slowly fell, all the tents were moved to the northern side of the wall, providing a basic layer of protection.

After days of grueling labor, everyone sat on the ground, exhausted. They finally had a rare moment of rest. The campfires illuminated their faces, which were drenched in sweat.

Though they were tired, they were happy. At least they now had a place to settle down and build a life.

Luo Yu brought out the first jar of brewed wine and poured a full bowl for everyone. The fragrance of the wine drifted through the entire area.

Whether it was the wine-loving veterans or the women and children who had never touched alcohol, everyone’s noses were twitching. Just from the scent alone, they knew this wine was extraordinary.

Luo Yu climbed onto a pile of grain and looked out over the crowd, his face filled with apology. “Everyone has followed me all the way from Yunyang Pass to Cangqi, only to end up sleeping in the wilderness. Right now, the grain stores in the camp are low, and I might even have to let you go hungry. It is I, Luo Yu, who has failed you. I have let down your trust!”

The Luo Yu of the past would never have said such things. But since these hundreds of people had chosen to follow him, he felt an inexplicable weight on his shoulders. He had to think for them, and he had an obligation to let them live a better life.

“City Lord, please do not say that,” an elderly refugee, who had been with Luo Yu from the very beginning, spoke with a trembling voice. “In these times, for someone to take us in and give us a bite to eat is already a heaven-sent kindness. What does a little hardship or exhaustion matter? Who among us hasn’t gone hungry before? You haven’t failed us; it is we who must thank you for giving us a path to survival.”

“That’s right! You took us in, so it is only natural for us to work. There is no talk of being tired.”

Countless voices of agreement rose from the crowd.

After experiencing battle after battle and spending two months together, they understood that although Luo Yu could be cold and relentless at times, he harbored good intentions in his heart. At the very least, he treated them like human beings.

They trusted Luo Yu completely!

“Thank you for your trust. I promise you all here today that in the future, Cangqi will become the largest and most prosperous place in Longxi! Every one of you will be able to eat your fill, wear warm clothes, and live a peaceful life!”

Moved, Luo Yu raised his wine bowl high and shouted, “From this day forward, this place is our home!

“For our home, drink up!”

NOTES

Jin (斤): A traditional Chinese unit of weight, standardized at 0.5 kilograms.

Shi (石): A traditional Chinese unit of measurement of dry volume for grain, roughly equivalent to 100-120 jin.

Ren (人): While not a formal unit, “two people high” (两人高) refers to the height of two men stacked.

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