Chinese New Year

Chapter 1406 Sun Family
On August 14th, a day when the heavens are said to avert illness, Huan Si had already arrived in Jianye.

The more than 300 horses that Huan Si brought were mainly bought by local scholars and wealthy people. At least when Huan Si tried to sell the horses to the Jin brothers, Jin Zhu and Jin Shou, the two brothers were not very interested, but they still came over to take a look and each bought a rather fine horse.

The brothers Sun Ling and Sun Xi also arrived, each selecting several horses.

They weren't short of horses, after all, they could get some from Guanzhong. They just bought a few because the Liaodong horses were rare and different in appearance from the Guanzhong horses.

Sun Ling bought a total of five horses, all paid for by his younger brother Sun Xi.

No doubt about it, the two brothers are getting along great. The younger brother used to be good-for-nothing, and the older brother took care of him. Now that the younger brother is wealthy, what's a little money for him to buy a horse for his older brother?
Huan Si had also heard of Sun Xi, but he only knew that Sun Xi was now mainly studying philosophy and that his family ran three workshops: one for retting hemp and making paper, one for tanning leather, and one for making soap.

I heard that he gave the papermaking workshop to his second brother, Sun Ling, and sent most of the money from the leather workshop back to the Sun family mansion in Luoyang for his father, brothers, and sisters to spend. He only kept a soap workshop for himself, which he didn't pay much attention to, and the money he earned was mainly used for his "squandering".

Sun Ling was very satisfied with his younger brother, but his only dissatisfaction was that his brother was still single.

Even if you become a Taoist priest, you can still get married and have children. You're already twenty-one years old, it's so worrying.

However, there were other reasons why Sun Xi did not marry.

This fellow had a bad reputation since childhood. Although he made a great name for himself after coming to Jiangnan, people had mixed opinions about him. It wasn't easy for him to find a suitable match, let alone since Sun Xi already had a seven-year-old child.

If all else fails, the only option is to find a woman from a local scholar's family in Jiangnan—but nowadays, intermarriage between the North and South is not common, and people from the North and Wu are used to marrying each other separately, so it's best to take your time to find someone suitable.

What was said without intention was taken seriously by the listener. Sun Ling's outpouring of grievances caught Huan Si's attention; after all, I have so many sisters!

The Huan family of Guangling, being mere merchants, was incredibly fortunate to have the connections of the Sun family of Liangzhou.

However, now is not the time to talk about this. He laughed and said, "Recorder Sun is overthinking it. Your brother is a scholar of the Imperial Academy of Works, and his name is known throughout the land. Finding a wife is not difficult for him. If he makes any more trouble, the Emperor will probably invite your brother to Luoyang to preach again."

It was just a casual remark, but to everyone's surprise, Sun Ling nodded and said, "My brother has been studying principles recently and has indeed made some progress. Have you ever heard of soap?"

"I've heard of it, and my family has bought quite a few. The women in the household are very clean and can't live without these every day," Huan Si said.

“Most soaps sold nowadays are soft soaps, but my brother has developed a hard soap that is just as effective,” Sun Ling said. “You’ve traveled all over the country and are familiar with commerce, but do you know if this product will sell?”

"How did this happen..." Huan Si asked subconsciously.

"It was obtained by burning seaweed." Before Sun Ling could say anything, Sun Xi casually blurted it out from the side.

Sun Ling could only smile wryly. After thinking for a moment, he realized that his younger brother had already sent the article about "algal alkali" to the Institute of Crafts, and it had already been included in the anthology and printed. So he said nothing more.

Huan Si was greatly surprised.

He knew that "grass alkali" was obtained by burning grass and wood, and he had now basically figured out which grass and wood to burn to get more grass alkali, but he could also burn seaweed.

Upon further reflection, it seems quite reasonable. What hasn't Sun Xi burned? He's even burned the finest linen; what's wrong with burning seaweed?
To be fair, collecting seaweed washed ashore by the waves might not be easy, and it must have cost a lot of money.

Perhaps only wealthy "madmen" like this can squander money so recklessly.

Huan thought about many things, but never considered why the alkali obtained from burning seaweed was different and why it was specially named "algae alkali".

“It should be able to be sold everywhere.” Huan Si gave a definite answer: “If it can be sent to the palace and used by the empresses and concubines, its fame will soar and demand will exceed supply.”

“If word of this becomes out,” Sun Xi said confidently, “the Emperor will surely praise me.”

Huan Si smiled and agreed.

Sun Ling glanced helplessly at his younger brother and said, "Just don't burn down the doors next time."

Sun Xi shook his head dismissively: "The door panel is made of elm wood. Burning it will only yield alkali. Brother, you don't understand the properties of things or reason. You shouldn't make a fool of yourself."

Sun Ling was speechless, but he couldn't blame his younger brother, because his third brother had really brought him a lot of benefits. His family's paper mill used alkali, which made the paper whiter and easier to sell at a higher price.

Even the eldest brother, who helped his father manage the family business, was speechless because he had used the money from his third brother's leather workshop.

Sigh, I need to find a more assertive wife for my third brother so she can keep him in check.

The Sun family has reached this point, there's really no need for them to be famous anymore. They should just focus on making their fortune in Jiangnan.

"Have all the horses been sold?" He turned to Huan Si and asked.

“They were mostly reserved, and the last twenty were given to the Bian family,” Huan Si replied.

“His family definitely needs horses,” Sun Ling chuckled. “Recently, quite a few people have gone to Xin’an to reclaim land, and they’ve gotten into fights with the locals. The Bian family owns the most land in Xin’an, and they probably can’t do without horses. And with horses—”

At this point, Sun Ling smiled proudly: "As long as they are veterans who have served in the army, with a horse, a suit of armor, a bow, and a spear in hand, they are invincible."

Huan Si disagreed.

In the mountainous region of Xin'an, there are few flat areas, so even skilled horsemen and archers have limited opportunities to prove their worth. However, he had to admit that if the Bian family could raise twenty armored cavalrymen, charging out during large-scale battles with the natives when the enemy's formation was unstable would make the entire battle much easier, effectively reducing their own casualties.

There aren't many people in Jiangnan, so every single death is a bonus. If we can capture a large number of prisoners, that would be even better.

Therefore, buying horses is a worthwhile investment, as they are needed for both daily travel and competing for water and land. The only concern is the high price, which necessitates more people selling more horses. "Anything fun to do in Liaodong?" Sun Xi suddenly asked.

“Liaodong is mountainous with numerous rivers and even lakes, so the Goguryeo people did not have to worry about water shortages when building cities on the mountains.” Huan Si said, “When the King of Yan ruled Liaodong, he also liked to build mountain cities, and his capital Xiuyan was located in the mountains.”

"The climate there is mild and cool, and the three southern counties have a similar climate to Youzhou, which is beneficial for the growth of grains and livestock..."

Sun Xi listened with great interest, but Sun Ling was not interested and only looked at the farmland not far away.

This year, his family still planted millet and wheat, following the traditional two-year, three-crop system popular in the north. But next year, he plans to try something different and experiment with rice cultivation, exploring planting methods suitable for the Jiangnan region.

In addition, there is still a lot of open land around the manor, which can be used for a second round of land reclamation.

Currently, his estate has 400 households of servants and over 100 hectares of land. Although the scenery in Jiangnan is beautiful and the harvest is plentiful, after deducting the servants' food, there is not much surplus. Now, after two years of saving, there are some savings in the estate, and after winter this year, he can organize the servants to clean up the weeds and dig ditches.

A branch of the Taishan clan, numbering several dozen, recently moved to the west, accompanied by no fewer than five hundred households of servants. They brought a considerable amount of wealth and immediately went to the city to buy grain.

If possible, work together with his family to build a small pond, and the water stored therein can be divided equally between the two families.

The third thing was to help my third brother manage the manor.

His family lived in Jurong and originally owned more than 50 hectares of land, but they hadn't reclaimed it for many years—there wasn't much open space around, but it wasn't entirely undeveloped; it was just that the third son was lazy or uninterested.

Furthermore, even if land reclamation is not possible, is it difficult to dredge ditches and clean up ponds? Is it difficult to prune orchard branches and plant more mulberry trees on unused, scattered plots of land?
Considering that his third brother was not yet married and the manor did not even have a matriarch, as the elder brother, he had an inescapable responsibility to lend a hand.

"What does the new ship that the Prince of Yan received look like?" Sun Xi's voice came again: "I have read the compilation of the Wanxiang Institute. Shen Shao's theory of buoyancy makes a lot of sense. I am preparing to have a ship built to see if the waves will force the ship to right itself."

Sun Ling coughed upon hearing this.

Sun Xi wasn't stupid; he knew what his brother meant, so he remained silent.

Shipbuilding is expensive, even if it's just a small ship used to test his ideas. In reality, ordinary people certainly can't afford it, but he might be able to, though it's really unnecessary to spend the money.

"The Prince of Yan's territory is in dire need of rebuilding, and he must require a lot of goods from the Central Plains, right?" Sun Ling asked Huan Si.

"In my opinion, the most scarce commodity is grain," Huan Si said. "But it is not easy to transport grain from Jiangnan. It is only profitable to transport grain from Qingzhou and Jizhou. If Secretary Sun wants to sell goods from Jiangnan, I think tea and porcelain would be the best choices."

"Tea..." Sun Ling hesitated for a moment, then looked at his younger brother and said, "Third brother, doesn't your family have a tea plantation?"

"It's only a hundred or so acres, I'm too lazy to take care of it, it's almost turned into wild tea." Sun Xi said in a smug tone.

Sun Ling really wanted to punch him, but in the end he sighed silently and said, "I'll go to Jurong in a few days."

After saying that, he looked at Huan Si and said, "As for porcelain, I've heard that the Wang family has some."

Huan Si was very excited after hearing this.

The "Wang family" mentioned by Sun Ling could only be the family of Wang Que'er, who was in charge of military affairs in Yining and Ningzhou.

Has his family acquired a manor in Kuaiji? Huan Si wasn't entirely sure. If it were true, he could discard the families who used to supply him with porcelain; they were unimportant. Climbing the social ladder to become a prince was the most important thing.

"Do you know Wang Shuang, the Prefect of Kuaiji, who is also the Attendant Gentleman of the Jianye Military Office?" Sun Ling asked.

"We have no chance to meet, but I hope the clerk can introduce us," Huan Si said with a smile.

“He is one of the most outstanding people of our generation,” Sun Ling said. “If you want to buy porcelain, I will write you a letter, and you can take this letter east to Kuaiji.”

"Thank you for your help, Registrar," Huan Si said sincerely.

"It's alright." Sun Ling waved his hand and said, "You can come with me to the Jurong Tea Garden in three days."

At this point, he looked at Huan Si solemnly and said, "I have been in Jiangnan for several years, but I have not made any progress in my official career. If it weren't for my father's mention, I wouldn't even have wanted to be the registrar of Jianye. I would have focused solely on managing my property. But I have many children, and when they grow up, they will need to expand their family line. Even if each of them has their own estate, it will cost a lot of money..."

Huan Si understood.

This registrar, Sun, has many children, and he may have to go to another prefecture to manage his property in the future, so he should start making preparations now.

Easy! If it can be solved with money, it's not a problem.

"What is your family's relationship with Huan Wen?" Sun Ling suddenly asked at the end.

"A distant relative," Huan Si replied vaguely.

Sun Ling did not delve into the matter, only saying, "If you are not busy, please make a trip to Luoyang for me in a few days."

"What's the matter?"

“Send several hundred bars of hard soap to the palace, in my third brother’s name, and I will send someone to accompany him.”

“Okay,” Huan Si readily agreed.

(End of this chapter)