Taiheiki

Chapter 103 Turnaround
If I were the owner of this ironworks, seeing so much unsold goods piled up there would probably make me choke with worry. But the question is, what are this man's costs? He doesn't pay any iron taxes to the government; the iron sand is dredged up from the river. The wood for charcoal is readily available, and he doesn't pay for the land. His only expenses are the wages and food for his soldiers and sailors. And what's that? Besides, if he doesn't do all this, does that mean he won't pay for food for his soldiers and sailors?
"Okay, get on board!" Wei Cong didn't bother talking nonsense. He patted his two men on the shoulders and sent them aboard. Ever since the ironworks opened, he had been extremely busy, sleeping only three or four hours a day. His eyes were dark, so he didn't have the energy to talk nonsense with them.

But there was a benefit to being so busy: no one wanted to run away and go home anymore. Even the guys who had just been whipped and paraded at the camp gate had no complaints and worked very hard. Ultimately, those who ran away and went home simply felt that they had no hope under Wei Cong. Giving money to such people was useless. After all, at that time, having money without power meant death faster.

The baskets of various iron tools behind the ironworks were the best proof of his strength. Even a blind man could see what it meant to be able to create so many fine iron weapons and tools out of almost nothing. Wei Cong even forbad people to look after the ruler-shaped knives. At first, someone stole one, sharpened it himself, and tied it to the handle with a rag rope for his own use, but soon no one did that - the ruler-shaped knives were the most produced in the workshop, with four to five hundred coming out every day. Anyone who would steal this thing would be laughed to death by others.

Zhu An returned eight days after his departure. On board, besides grain, salt, and sundries, were a dozen slaves and five oxen. Wei Cong was delighted and praised Zhu An profusely. Then, pointing to the large bamboo baskets behind the ironworks, he urged Zhu An to set off for his second trip as soon as possible. Zhu An's expression suddenly darkened.

"What? Can't sell it?" Wei Cong asked, "How could this happen? Are our goods not good enough?"

"No, no!" Zhu An shook his head. "It's not that it's bad. Take the ruler-shaped knife for example. In terms of steel tip and firing temperature, there's nothing in Yuhan County that can compare to yours. Even in Yuzhang County, there are few that can match it. Even the best Bing knives may not be as good as yours!"

"The price is still too high, ordinary people can't afford it?" Wei Cong frowned. "Then I can lower the price! I can sell the sword for 200 coins each!"

"No, no!" Zhu An hurriedly shook his head. "We can't surrender any further. If we do, I'm afraid the knife makers and blacksmiths in Yuhan County will fight us to the death. My dear, it's not because of the high price, it's already very cheap.

The main reason is that you have too much merchandise. Just think about how many households there are in Yuhan County? Last time we delivered over 3,000 swords. Excluding women, children, poor men, and slaves, the remaining ones that can carry a sword are enough for everyone to have one. Who else can we sell them to? To be honest, I've already pledged 200,000 yuan for the goods this time. Those ironmongers have pledged their property deeds and land deeds to me. If you ask me to deliver a few thousand more this time, what else will they pledge to me?

"Then they can't sell it to the next county?" Wei Cong asked anxiously. "Also, I see many common people still use clam shell sickles and wooden plows. They still need a lot of iron tools, right?"

"Sir, the neighboring county also has its own merchants and craftsmen. It's not like knives can't be produced here. Selling them there would just ruin their livelihoods. I wouldn't be surprised if they pissed me off and chopped you off!" Zhu An said with a wry smile, "To be honest, if I weren't a native of this place, it wouldn't be surprising if I were attacked for transporting so many iron tools to Yuhan County to sell!"

Wei Cong glanced at Huang Ping next to him. He could tell from his men's eyes that Zhu An was not lying, so he nodded helplessly, cursing inwardly: "This natural economy is indeed a stumbling block to the development of productivity!"

Despite the difficulties, business still had to be done. Wei Cong had no choice but to temporarily stop the ironworks from forging tools like rulers, axes, and hoes until Zhu An and his men had sold out their inventory. Of course, the workshop couldn't sit idle either. Instead, they began forging armor plates, preparing to upgrade their soldiers' iron plate armor. The large iron bars used to roll wrought iron were already ready. When the time came, the freshly-made wrought iron would be pressed into wrought iron plates of a certain thickness like rolling dough. Then, using a high-hardness steel blade made of crucible steel, the iron plates would be cut into wrought iron sheets of varying sizes. After drilling holes, they would go through a carburizing furnace for surface hardening, quenching, and low-temperature tempering. Then, they could use ropes to string the plates together, overlapping them both horizontally and vertically. This type of armor plate was essentially immune to most bows, crossbows, and swords, and was a rare high-quality armor during the Han Dynasty.

What Wei Cong hadn't anticipated was that his decision to change the workshop's production would serve as a final wake-up call for Yuan Tian. He could clearly see the ultimate purpose of the thin sheets of iron being churned out in the workshop. If crafting sickles, swords, and axes could be explained as a pursuit of wealth, then privately manufacturing armor (especially iron armor) would have been a clear sign of treason in every dynasty. Not to mention Wei Cong, a fugitive convicted of murder, even high-ranking officials like the Three Dukes and the Grand General would have been imprisoned for possessing armor, let alone forging iron armor. So, he secretly prepared a bamboo raft and hid it in the brush by the river. One quiet night, he grabbed some dry food, boarded the raft, and fled downstream.

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"Boss, we've arrived at Yuhan County!" The waiter's voice came from outside the cabin.

"Finally, we had a safe journey!" Zhu An let out a long sigh.

"Brother Zhu, you're too nervous!" Huang Ping said with a smile, "There are more than twenty people on the boat, all strong men, fully equipped with bows, crossbows and armor. Which blind thief would want to target us?"

"It's mainly because I'm used to it!" Zhu An sighed. "When I used to travel on this river, I was always so nervous. If I encountered thieves during a siege, losing money was a small matter. I was afraid of losing my life!"

"That's easy! When we get back this time, we'll talk to my husband and clear out both sides of the Po River. Take away all the thieves, and peace will naturally return!"

"Really?" Zhu An widened his eyes, looking incredulous.

"Of course it's true!" Huang Ping said with a smile, "In my opinion, even if we don't say it, it won't be long before the young master takes action!"

"Why is that?" Zhu An looked at Huang Ping in confusion. Based on his past impression, although Huang Ping was witty and talkative, he was not the kind of person who would speak carelessly or without any sense. "But you are not a patrol officer or a thief in the county. Why would you take the initiative to do such thankless tasks?"

Huang Ping smiled and asked, "What do you think my dear is most lacking right now?"

"Short of money?" Zhu An realized something was wrong the moment he said that. It's said that everyone in the world is short of money, even the emperor in Luoyang City is no exception, but Wei Cong always acts like he has plenty of money. Not to mention how generous he was when hiring himself, he was also very generous to his soldiers, sailors, and craftsmen. More importantly, when he was selling his ironware, he had a completely generous attitude of "as long as it can be sold, it doesn't matter whether I can get the money back or not". Not only were the prices low, but he also allowed various kinds of goods to be used to offset the payment, and even took the initiative to allow the other party to make a large deposit. He had been a businessman for so many years, not to mention seeing or even hearing about such a boss. Okay! He admitted that the cost of Wei Cong's ironware was very low, and even if he sold it in such a random way, he could still make a lot of money, but who in the world would complain about making too much money?

"Hehe! You're wrong. Langjun isn't short of money, at least not now! What he's short of now is people!" Huang Ping laughed, "Didn't you notice? Before we left, he ordered only one boat to go out to collect iron sand. But how many boats could he have? Think about why?" "Are you saying that Langjun will use this opportunity to send the captured thieves to work?"

"Hehe!" Huang Ping lowered his voice. "I'm afraid it's not just thieves. This is just an excuse. If my guess is correct, those small villages closer to the riverbank and the scattered residents will also be dragged here. Just think about it, there are so many things to do there! Felling wood, burning charcoal, building houses; even raising pigs, growing vegetables, herding cattle, and farming are all fine! The land vacated by the felled trees is very fertile, and it's not far from the river. With a little work, it can become a good farmland. Although we can buy food from outside now, it's not a long-term solution after all!"

"Yeah!" Zhu An nodded. Although he didn't know how to govern a country and strengthen the army, as a businessman, he felt very sad that the large tracts of land left empty after Wei Cong cut down the trees were just sitting there. He only planted some vegetable gardens, and had to spend money every month to buy thousands of dan of grain from outside to feed his subordinates. Those were all golden copper coins! Even if he could just plant some beans! After all, there was no one there, so he could only leave the good black land there to bask in the sun. It was really a pity.

"That's fine. I'll talk to my husband about this when I get back!" Zhu An slapped his knee and stood up. "Let's go visit those ironware shops first and see if we can sell this batch of goods quickly!"

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Smelling the burnt odor coming from behind the shops along Iron Street, Zhu An took a deep breath, lifted his knees and climbed the steps in front of He Ji Ironware Shop. He forced a smile and said to the shop assistant who came up to him, "Is your owner here? Zhu An from Nan Guo wants to see you!"

"It's Mr. Zhu! It's early today, and the owner is still at home!" The shop assistant seemed particularly enthusiastic: "What a coincidence, the owner mentioned you yesterday! Please come in and wait a moment, I will go and notify him right away!"

"Okay, okay!" Zhu An smiled and went in with Huang Ping to sit in a side room behind the inn. About halfway through their meal, they heard the owner's voice from outside: "Oh, I was thinking about you yesterday, and I didn't expect you to come today!" As he spoke, the door curtain opened and a dark-faced man came in: "Brother Zhu, what brings you here today?"

Zhu An pointed at Huang Ping next to him and said, "Brother Huang Ping is the owner of my batch of iron goods. He came to visit you today to discuss the ironware business with you!"

"Oh, nice to meet you, Brother Huang!" The owner looked at Huang Ping in surprise. Zhu An was a middleman, but he brought the owner of the goods to see him. Didn't he want to make money?

"Boss, is my batch of ironware okay?" Huang Ping said with a smile.

"The goods are indeed good!" The owner of the ironware shop nodded and asked tentatively, "Are you here to collect the payment for the goods? But I have already discussed with Brother Zhu that the payment for this batch of goods will not be paid in full for six months. I have also pledged my house deeds and land deeds to Brother Zhu! It's not that I deliberately delayed the payment, but the quantity of the goods is really too large. I hope Brother Huang will forgive me!"

"No, no!" Huang Ping quickly waved his hands in denial: "Since Brother Zhu and you have already made an agreement, I will naturally not change it. I came here today to discuss the next batch of goods with you!"

"The next batch of goods? Ironware again?" The owner of the ironware shop was stunned.

"Yes, they are iron tools. There are ruler-shaped knives, axes, sickles, hoes, etc. Of course, if you have any requirements, I can also ask my craftsmen to make them according to your requirements!"

"This, this—" The iron shop owner laughed bitterly. "You're kidding, aren't you? Didn't I just tell you that the last batch of goods wouldn't be settled until six months later? You have a new batch, what do you want me to do with it?"

"If it's about the payment for goods, we can discuss it!" Huang Ping said with a smile: "Whether it's using physical goods to offset or withholding the payment, we can discuss it!"

"Brother Huang, this isn't about the payment, it's about who we sell to!" the owner sighed. "Our county is small, and every village and town has its own blacksmith. Your goods may be good, but you can't possibly take over all the business. Honestly, after you sell your last batch, our ironware business will likely be much worse next year and the year after, let alone another batch!"

"What about the neighboring counties? I see many villages still using wooden plows and clam sickles!"

"The neighboring counties also have their own shops. If I sell there, I'll be stealing their jobs, which will be a disaster! As for the villages below, they can't even afford the inferior goods produced by the village blacksmith shops, so how can they afford our products?"

"Then we can lower the price!" Huang Ping said with a smile, "Don't worry, our shipping price can also be reduced accordingly. In the end, we won't let you suffer any loss!"

"This..." The owner of the iron shop looked embarrassed and turned his gaze to Zhu An. Zhu An coughed and said with a smile, "Brother Huang, let's put aside the price reduction for now! We have a few places to visit today. Why don't we come back to your store in a couple of days?"

"Sure, sure!" The owner laughed dryly and sent Zhu An and Huang Ping out the door. As soon as the door closed behind them, they heard a voice scolding from inside: "Lower the price, lower the price! How can you do business like this? It's easy to lower it, but it's hard to raise it again. The next time these two come, just say I'm not here!"

(End of this chapter)