The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 174 The War of the Sheep

There wasn't a single sheep to be found in the entire border town and the surrounding villages.

Upon entering the border town, the children in the streets and alleys stared wide-eyed at the sight of this flock of sheep, their mouths watering with envy.

Before this year, which of them didn't raise a hundred or eighty sheep?

As a result of last year's snow disaster, the shepherds are now all unemployed.

Even if you don't have one at home, you can still enjoy looking at other people's.

The group of children followed the Gan father and son, and even after the father and son drove the sheep back to courtyard number 50, they lingered at the gate, reluctant to leave.

At this moment, Gan Mingshou was extremely pleased with himself.

He is about to become the only shepherd in the border town!
Unexpectedly, after learning the price of the sheep, Gan's mother became so agitated that she almost did the splits from shouting:
"Honey, what did you say? A six-month-old lamb costs three taels of silver?"

The children at the gate of the courtyard listened intently, and looked at each other in bewilderment.

Good heavens! A half-grown lamb for three taels of silver!
What a bunch of suckers!
Seeing his wife's actions and tone, Gan's father knew something was wrong and quickly explained:
“The price varies from place to place. The price of Tan sheep in Huyan County is usually 30% to 40% higher than in other prefectures!”

Mother Gan clutched her chest and murmured bitterly:

"It's too expensive, absolutely too expensive! In our Leyuan County, a pig weighing over 200 jin only costs this much! Are these sheep from Huyan County raised on celestial dew? How much would I have to sell a bowl of mutton soup to break even?"

Having broadened his horizons by going out with his mother, Gan Mingshou quickly stepped forward to appease her:

“Mother, last winter, the northwest snowed for two months. It is said that many cattle and sheep froze to death. Now, there are no more than a thousand sheep in the entire Huaiqing Prefecture.”

Even six-month-old lambs are hard to sell. My dad and I begged and pleaded for days before we finally managed to scrape together this amount from three different families.

Rest assured, we've had this mutton in Huyan County, and it truly tastes extraordinary! It's fresh, sweet, and has a milky aroma, and the broth from the bones is incredibly white! Add our own flavor-enhancing herbs, and the taste will be heavenly!
"If we stew all the offal, mutton, and trotters together, one sheep can easily make a hundred or so bowls! Then, we can sell each bowl for a hundred or two hundred coins. How much profit do you think we'll make?"

Gan Ming counted on his fingers:
"Eighty coins a bowl, eight hundred for ten bowls, and eight taels of silver for one hundred bowls! This, this, can you really earn that much?"

Gan's mother looked at the sheep tied up in the yard and felt a surge of excitement, but when she saw the size of the sheep, her spirits dampened.

"You brat, keep spouting nonsense in front of your mother! This sheep is only so big, and you expect to cook a hundred or eighty bowls of soup? How many pieces of meat will you even find in the broth? The diners aren't stupid!"

Seeing that his wife was no longer as agitated as before, Gan's father quickly comforted her:

"We're not going to slaughter them right now! We need to raise them for another two months, by which time the roots of the dog rice grass in both yards will have grown out."

The sheep seller said that sheep over eight months old can grow to about forty pounds.

The second son spent several days learning sheep-raising from a shepherd, saying he'd mastered the art. We'll entrust these sixty sheep to him!

Hearing this, Gan's mother finally breathed a sigh of relief. She had misunderstood before, and she finally showed some kindness to the father and son.

Seeing his mother's expression change from gloomy to cloudy, Gan Mingshou said with delight:

"Father, Mother, the headmaster of Qingshan Academy said that with my brother's current knowledge, he will definitely pass the imperial examination."

Now that our family has no worries, let my brother continue his studies at the Huaiqing Prefecture School.

I was neither good at academics nor martial arts when I was young, and I just liked to help my father with the business at the butcher shop.

From now on, I will stop studying and work with my parents to set up our family's mutton restaurant.

Hehehe, by then, in our Gan family, my brother will be the scholar, my sister the warrior, and I'll just be responsible for making money for the family! What do you think of my arrangement, Mom and Dad?

Gan's parents laughed and scolded in unison, "You sure know how to arrange things! You always pick the easiest tasks for us!"

Gan Mingfu, who was standing outside the courtyard gate, raised an eyebrow when he heard his family's conversation.

After twelve years of hard study, how could one not dream of becoming an official?
However, the imperial examinations have been suspended for two sessions. Even if special examinations are held again in the future, candidates will have to return to their ancestral home to take them.

His whole family had traveled for several months, like refugees, to reach the border town, and he didn't want to go back alone.

Should I continue my studies or abandon my studies and join the army?
He needs to think it over again.

Right now, the whole family's attention is focused on the flock of sheep in the yard.

"Second brother, you'd better keep these sixty sheep tied up! I can't let them steal the dog rice grass that I worked so hard to grow."

"Mother, please don't worry. I'll take them out of the city tomorrow and make sure they eat their fill before we come back."

The news that the family in courtyard number 52, who had been ripped off, had bought sixty half-grown sheep for three taels of silver each, spread throughout the entire border town as the children returned home.

Fatty had just finished lunch when he dashed off to his father's house.

"Grandpa, Grandma, where's the sheep?"

Wow! So many sheep!

Wow! They're so beautiful!

It's easy to see how appealing furry little animals are to a five-year-old.

The Huyan Tan sheep, with its black face, white fur, and big tail, is loved not only by Fatty but also by the neighborhood kids.

One wave after another came to watch the spectacle.

the entire afternoon.

Courtyard No. 52 was filled with a chorus of "Wow!" sounds.
Not only has the price of lamb in Huaiqing Prefecture increased several times compared to last year.

Even on the vast grasslands, the price of lambs shocked the entire grassland pastoral area.

The snow on the northern grasslands has finally begun to melt.

The herders came out of their snow huts.

The leaders of various tribes received one after another the cries of the herders in their tribes.

Not a single live sheep can be found.

Horses, more precious than women, also suffered significant losses.

Sheep and horses are like the money exchange for herders. Adult sheep give birth to lambs, and ewes can breed again after ten months. They can reproduce indefinitely to make money from money.

But now things are really messed up; the money shop is almost out of its principal!
As a result, groups of herders from northern Mongolia came to the southern grasslands to purchase goods.

When asked about the price, it turned out that even a lamb from the southern desert cost one tael of silver.

The nomads of northern desert are furious!
Even if they pooled all the resources of their tribe, they still couldn't buy 10,000 sheep.

can not afford?
Then grab it!
This is also the rule on the grasslands.

The Mongols in the northern desert were militarily superior, and they pursued the tribes in the southern desert with overwhelming force.

As the fighting progressed, they reached the vicinity of the city walls.

At this moment.

News of the peasant uprising in the State of Bei, in which elite troops from the nine key border towns were dispatched to suppress the rebellion, reached their ears.
(End of this chapter)