Taiheiki

Chapter 104 Turnaround
"Brother Zhu is indeed as good as a god!" Huang Ping said with a smile: "The owner of this house is exactly as you expected!"

Zhu An smiled bitterly and said, "It's nothing, actually! They and I are all businessmen. To put it bluntly, we buy low and sell high. When it comes to things like the pricing of goods in a store, it's like touching the reverse scale on a dragon. It's a sign of good manners that I didn't jump in anger!"

"Yes! But now that so much ironware has been shipped here, we can't just ship it back out. Why not stay in the city for a few days and wait for a market day to see if we can make a name for ourselves and sell a few more?"

"That's the only way!" Zhu An nodded.

In this way, Zhu An and Huang Ping settled down in Zhu An's mansion in the south of the county town. They strolled around every day and met the peddlers who roamed around the countryside, hoping to open up a channel for ironware to the countryside through them. Although they did get some gains, it was a drop in the bucket compared to the thousands of sickles, knives and hoes on the ship.

Two or three days passed like this. The two men tossed around outside for another day and returned home at nightfall. As soon as they entered the door, they saw Zhu An's wife coming to greet them. She lowered her voice and said, "Why are you back just now? The owner of the Heji Ironware Shop in the city came here at noon and has been waiting for you at home for more than three hours!"

"Master He is here? What could happen to him?" Zhu An glanced at Huang Ping and found that the other's face was also full of confusion.

"Could it be that we've become famous for winning over the peddlers?" Zhu An suddenly came to his senses: "In theory, this could be considered as stealing their business!"

"Brother Zhu, don't worry. We will fight back if the enemy comes!" Huang Ping sneered, "Let's go and meet that guy!"

"Yeah!" Zhu An suppressed the panic in his heart and walked into the inner room with Huang Ping. Just after entering the second door, he heard the voice of He Dongzhu from inside: "Oh, we finally waited for you two. You really made me anxious to death!" Then he saw He Dongzhu running out hurriedly from inside.

"Master He, what are you doing--" Zhu An looked at the other person in surprise. He saw beads of sweat the size of soybeans on his forehead, and he looked like he was going crazy.

"How many iron tools are left of the ones you brought this time?" He Dongzhu grabbed Zhu An's arm and asked.

"This--" Zhu An was stunned by the question. He and Huang Pingling had sold some of them by hammering and pounding them these days, but he couldn't remember how much was left unless he looked through the account book himself.

"Okay, no matter how many Brother Zhu has left, I, He, will buy all the rest!" Owner He patted his chest, looking generous and magnanimous.

"Seriously?" Zhu An was shocked. "I have quite a lot of stuff on my ship. There are nearly three thousand swords alone. Do you really want them all?"

"That's right!" Mr. He laughed, "And it's in cash! Not only this time, but also the previous payment for the goods has been paid in full! How about it? Brother Zhu, Mr. He is quite straightforward, isn't he?"

The sudden good news made Zhu An at a loss for words for a moment. He subconsciously turned his head to look at Huang Ping, and found that although the other party was smiling on his face, there was no smile in his eyes. He immediately calmed down.

"When will the payment for the goods be delivered?" Zhu An asked carefully.

"Anytime. If you two are willing, you can follow me to the store now. I will pay the deposit first. Tomorrow I will bring people to count how much goods are left, and then pay the money. How about that?" Mr. He said with a smile.

Zhu An thought about it and felt that there was no problem, so he asked Huang Ping, "Brother Huang, what do you think?"

"Then you should follow Brother He and take the hard work!" Huang Ping said, "I've walked a lot today, and my legs and feet are a little uncomfortable. I want to rest early!"

"Alright!" Zhu An's heart moved, and he bowed to He Dongzhu: "Please!"

By the time Zhu An returned home, it was already late at night. He was accompanied by four servants armed with short swords and clubs, and an oxcart filled with money boxes. Zhu An had his family send the servants and oxcart away, and smiled at Huang Ping who came to greet him, saying, "What good luck! Owner He met a wealthy customer who liked his ironwork and came to visit. He not only bought all the ironware in his shop, but also asked for as much as he could get. That's why Mr. He came to my house!"

"Is this really true?" Huang Ping asked doubtfully.

"Of course it's true. I saw that distinguished guest with my own eyes. He was indeed a distinguished person. In his box were not only the deposit but also the deposit!" Zhu An must have been drinking, as his face was full of alcohol. "That distinguished guest also said that if we still have these ruler-shaped knives, he would take as many as he could. I have already agreed to send another 8,000 within the next month!"

"Eight thousand?" Huang Ping frowned. "Brother Zhu, have you ever thought about why that person needs so many swords?"

"Of course, we ship it somewhere else and sell it! What else can we do?"

"But you also know that foreign goods are hard to sell!"

"We are difficult to sell, but he is a big businessman, so how can it be the same!" Zhu An said with a smile: "Besides, as long as he pays, what do you worry about what he does with the money?"

"These aren't just one or two. If you add the eight thousand you promised later, the total is ten thousand. That's no small amount!" Huang Ping lowered his voice and asked, "Aren't you afraid that thieves will buy them?"

"Hahaha!" Zhu An laughed when he heard this. "That ruler-shaped knife is only a short thing. It's okay to use it to cut bamboo slips and protect yourself. But what thief would use it to do evil? That would be playing with his own life, wouldn't it?"

Huang Ping was silent. He knew that what Zhu An said was right. The foot-shaped knife was a kind of portable short knife developed from the pre-Qin Dynasty sharpening knife. The blade was only about one foot long. Its common use was to scrape off the wrong words on bamboo slips. At that time, almost every man had one. It was okay for self-defense in an emergency, but anyone who used this thing to rob was absolutely crazy.

"Perhaps what you said makes sense, but I still feel something is wrong. Let's go back and report this to my husband first!"

"Okay!" Zhu An naturally would not be stupid enough to argue with Huang Ping on this matter. After all, the other party had a much deeper relationship with Wei Cong than himself, and it was not safe to keep so many copper coins in his own home. He could either spend them to buy the supplies that were in short supply on Wei Cong's side, or transport them back to report. It was much better than keeping them in his own home.

But things happen unexpectedly. The next day, when Zhu An and Huang Ping were preparing for their return journey at the dock, a team of archers suddenly surrounded Zhu An's home in Nan Guo. Fortunately, a servant in Zhu's family escaped and reported the incident to the two busy people at the dock.

"Why are you here? Did something happen at home?" Zhu An was shocked when he saw the servant's face covered in black.

"The county government has sent archers!" the servant stammered. "They've arrested everyone in your family. They say you're colluding with bandits and plotting something bad!"

"What?" Zhu An was shocked. "How could this happen?" He paused and said to Huang Ping, "Brother Huang, let me go back and take a look first!"

"Brother Zhu, I don't think things are that simple!" Huang Ping grabbed Zhu An and said, "In my opinion, we should leave here first and take shelter until we understand the situation better before making any decisions!"

"Brother Huang, my parents, wife, and children are all at home. How could I abandon them?"

"Brother Zhu, if you run back now, you'll just be arrested and thrown into jail. What good will that do? Only if you stay outside can you save your wife and children."

Huang Ping's words woke Zhu An up from his dream, and he woke up immediately: "Okay, then, I have a private house outside the county town, which I use to hide some goods that are inconvenient to see people. No one else knows about it. I will go there to hide for a few days and investigate the whole thing. Brother Huang, you can go back first and report what happened here to my husband!" Huang Ping saw Zhu An's firm attitude and nodded: "Okay, let's do this first, then you have to be careful here!" Zhu An left his private house where he was hiding, turned around and left, and soon disappeared in the crowd.

--------------------------

Yuhan County, Nan Guo Zhu’s House.

"Where is Zhu An himself? Has he been caught?" Zu Huan, a clerk in the Thief Cao, asked the archer coldly.

"No!" the archer replied. "I heard from Zhuan's family that he has been very busy since returning from this trip. He leaves early in the morning and doesn't come back until after dark. I heard that he went to the dock outside the city today!"

"The dock outside the city?" Zu Huan sneered. He extended his hand to call over a man in blue clothes. "Li Chong, take twenty men to the dock outside the city and capture Zhu An. Also, seize the ship he's on, including the crew!"

"Yes!" the man in blue responded and was about to leave when Yuan Tian, who had been standing beside Zu Huan, hurried forward and said, "Sir, Zhu An is colluding with a powerful bandit. They have powerful bows, crossbows, and armor. We must not be careless. Could you please let me go with you?"

"You want to go too?" Zu Huan glanced at Yuan Tian. Honestly, he didn't think much of this sudden informer, but he nodded anyway: "Alright, then you can go along and take a look!"

"Thank you, my dear!" Yuan Tian responded and bowed to Li Chong: "Thank you for your help!"

Li Chong and his group exited the South Gate and headed for the docks along the Poyang River. Li Chong glanced at the pair of short halberds hanging from Yuan Tian's waist, estimated their weight, and suddenly laughed, "You just said these bandits were wearing armor. Is that true?"

"That's right!" Yuan Tian said seriously, "Maybe there's even armor!"

"Iron armor?" Li Chong couldn't help laughing. "You're kidding, right? Iron armor? There aren't many pieces of iron armor in the entire county armory. You think a group of thieves actually have iron armor?"

"These aren't just any thieves!" Yuan Tian replied. "Let me put it this way! They've already opened the river to smelt iron. That guy named Zhu An is working for them. Last time, they sold thousands of chisels to the He family's iron shop alone! As long as we arrest the owner of the iron shop and interrogate him, we'll know everything!"

"hehe!"

"Hahaha!"

"Is this guy stupid? He even wants to take the owner of Heji Iron Shop!"

"Yeah, I guess I'm dizzy!"

When they heard Yuan Tian say that he wanted to take down the owner of the He family iron shop, not only Li Chong, but also the archers nearby started laughing. They whispered to each other and stared at Yuan Tian with strange eyes, as if he were a madman.

"What's wrong? Is there anything wrong with what I said?" Yuan Tian asked.

"Listen up, man!" Li Chong sneered. "I don't care if you want to catch a thief or do something else, stay away from He Ji Iron Shop, or you won't be able to save your head even if you have a hundred!" At this point, he tapped Yuan Tian's shoulder with his scabbard. "Did you hear that?"

"I understand!" Yuan Tian suppressed the anger in his chest and said in a low voice.

"Hurry up! Don't delay!" Li Chong saw Yuan Tian lower his head and turned to shout at the archers behind him. However, by the time they arrived at the dock, the boat Zhu An had taken back home had already left, leaving only a surface of water covered with dirty floating debris, reflecting the stone railings on the dock.

--------------------------

Camp.

There was a raging storm outside the window. In late spring in Yuzhang, such sudden rain was very common. The men hurried back to their thatched huts and warmed themselves by the fire. The orange flames danced on the charcoal, emitting a comfortable warmth. Qian Wen took off his wet coat and placed it on the iron rack above the fire. White steam emanated from it, as if mist was rising.

"Is there any more wine? To warm yourself up!" someone asked.

"Let me see!" Someone picked up the pot and shook it, and the sound of water came out: "You should drink it sparingly!"

"Don't worry, I'll just take a sip!" The man happily took the pot, took a big sip, and then spat it out: "Damn it, which bastard drank it all and poured river water into it!"

A burst of laughter erupted from the fire pit. Someone jokingly said, "Yan Er, are you stupid? There are more than a dozen men in the room, how could there be any wine left? It's already fair to you that you poured water into it instead of urine!"

"Damn it!" the man cursed twice, but didn't get up to fight. The men in the room were chatting and laughing, when hurried footsteps were heard outside: "The higher-ups have ordered that it will rain today, so everyone should rest in the camp. Those who want to go out bird hunting or fishing are welcome, but they must report to the sergeant in advance!"

"Rest, that's great!"

"I can sleep for half a day again. It's so comfortable!"

"Yeah, this weather is perfect for sleeping in! The higher-ups are finally showing some mercy!"

"Qiantou, you were busy day and night these days, why are you taking a break all of a sudden?" someone asked Qian Wen.

"What's wrong, Huang Mazi?" Qian Wen said with a smile, "You were the one who complained about being tired at the beginning, and now you don't want to rest anymore?"

"That's not the case!" The questioner was a man in his early twenties named Huang. He had a lot of pockmarks on his face, which earned him the nickname "Huang Mazi." "Who wouldn't want to rest? I just feel a little guilty!"

"Look out the window!" Qian Wen pointed out the window: "What do you see?"

Everyone looked in the direction of his finger and saw the two iron furnaces connected together, one tall and one short. The two iron furnaces that used to be filled with billowing smoke and flames were no longer burning. They looked a little dilapidated under the cover of heavy rain.

(End of this chapter)