The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 28 Anse County
Young Yu Chengye looked at Jiang Han with a suspicious expression:
"Uncle Jiang, please don't lie to me."

"A pile of broken porcelain and tiles can be crushed into powder and sold for tens of thousands of taels of silver?"

Jiang Han glanced at the kid, his face full of mockery:
"You don't believe me? Fine, then let's go to Anse County and show you."

Yu Chengye was stunned:

"Really go?"

Seeing this, Shao Yong quickly stepped forward to strike up a conversation:
"Lord Jiang, don't take this kid seriously. He's just joking. There's no need to go to the county town, is there?"

Jiang Han shook his head. It wasn't that he wanted to take this kid seriously, but he really needed to go to the county town.

He needs to sell the cement to buy grain. Hei Zi had calculated that the remaining grain would only last for three months, and the spring wheat, planted in February, would not be harvested until at least July or August.

Based on this calculation, Jiang Han and his group were still four months short of food.

Moreover, the army was in dire need of many things, such as sulfur, saltpeter, and iron.
These all need to be purchased in the city. If they are not available in Anse City, then we have to go to Yan'an Prefecture to find them.

If we could recruit some craftsmen to make firearms and armor, that would be great, since many of the firearms in the army are old items.

Many soldiers even took up firearms from the Yongle era to fight the enemy.

However, it must be said that the firearms produced during the Yongle era were better than those issued by the imperial court in recent years.

But it was old and in disrepair, and using it always made people worry.

Jiang Han plans to manufacture a batch of durable three-barreled guns, or even muskets, so that everyone can be equipped with one.

To gain a foothold in this chaotic world, the bravery of the border troops under his command is not enough; he also needs excellent equipment.

"Shao Yong, go prepare the carriage."

Jiang Han gave the order.

"Go and call Li Laowai again, and bring seven or eight good men with you. It will be safer on the road."

A moment later, the group was ready to depart.

Before setting off, Jiang Han made sure everyone took off their armor, removed their waist knives, and threw all their weapons and equipment into the carriage.

After all, they were there to do business, and brandishing weapons would be too conspicuous.

The carriage traveled south along the Yan River, and in just two hours, the outline of Anse County became faintly visible.

However, before they even got close to the city gate, a group of ragged, starving people swarmed around the carriage.

"Sir, please have mercy and give me a bite to eat."

"Sir, my daughter has just turned eight. I only ask for a few pounds of grain in exchange."

The cries of begging and pleading rose and fell, and withered, emaciated arms reached out from all directions, surrounding the carriage.

Upon seeing this, Shao Yong and Li Laowai immediately drew their broadswords and led their men to block the carriage.

To avoid attracting attention on the road, Jiang Han and his group had already disguised themselves as merchants.

The goose-feather saber in his hand was replaced with a simple broadsword commonly used by ordinary people.

After all, carrying a goose-feather saber is too conspicuous and makes it easy for people to recognize one's identity.

The goose-feather saber has a hilt, a handle, a clasp, and a tail grip; those who know their weapons can recognize it as a standard-issue weapon at a glance.

The broadsword, on the other hand, is simply a staff and a machete, and is not classified as a controlled weapon.

Many traveling merchants and laborers carried a broadsword with them, because even the most rogue government officials would not use machetes and cudgels as standard weapons.

As someone who's in a hurry, it's perfectly reasonable for me to carry a machete on my belt to clear mountains and ford rivers, right?
It's reasonable for me to carry a trekking pole when walking on rugged mountain paths, right?
So, it makes even more sense that I accidentally attached the head of a machete to my hiking stick in order to protect myself from refugees.

Don't be fooled by the pitiful appearance of these refugees; if they find an opportunity, you'd be lucky if they robbed you of everything.
If you encounter someone who's starving, they really will eat people.

Faced with the gleaming blade, the starving people scattered like birds and beasts, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Upon reaching the outside of the city walls, one could see deep pits littered with corpses, bodies lying dead by the roadside, and starving people barely clinging to life.
The scene was one of utter desolation and a pervasive stench.

Jiang Han felt like he was walking in hell, feeling extremely uncomfortable, and rushed into Anse County as if he were fleeing.

Once you enter the city gate, the scene changes completely.

Although there are still a few beggars begging on the streets, the situation is vastly different from the dire conditions outside the city.

Jiang Han was somewhat surprised:
"Are these starving people so law-abiding? They'd rather starve to death than come into the city to beg for food?"

Just as Jiang Han was wondering, a team of constables rushed over from the street corner, carrying fire and water sticks, and drove the beggars out of the city gate with a mix of beatings and curses.

"Get out of here! The county magistrate is kind-hearted and can't bear to see anyone starve to death in the city!" Jiang Han suddenly realized that this explained why the city was a completely different place.

He sighed helplessly and asked around for directions to the largest inn in town. A passerby pointed to the end of the road:

“Go to the end of this road, and it will be right across from the county government office.”

Jiang Han and his group arrived at the inn. The waiter, seeing that there was business, immediately came to greet them attentively.

"Sir, are you looking for a place to stay or a meal?"

"Let's eat first, and check into the hotel later."

Jiang Han casually gave the order.

"Find me a quiet place."

The waiter nodded repeatedly and led everyone up to the second floor, finding a room by the window.

"Sir, are you satisfied with this seat?"

"The street view is nice, but it's definitely not noisy."

Jiang Han nodded lightly, then invited everyone to sit down and eat.

The meal was served, and although it wasn't lavish, it was a rare treat in these chaotic times.

While eating, Jiang Han mentally listed the items he needed to buy.

"Sulfur and saltpeter, give us 1000 jin first. We need to put the improvement of gunpowder on the agenda."

"Then we need to purchase some iron. Iron smelting is not feasible at the moment, so we can only try to buy some."

"I don't know if we have enough money. If we sell the cement and still don't have enough, we'll have to borrow some more money from a few wealthy people."

Just as I was pondering this, a commotion suddenly arose downstairs.

Jiang Han frowned and peered out the window. He saw a woman crying out for justice, surrounded by a group of constables trying to drive her away.

The woman knelt at the entrance of the county government office, pleading incessantly:
"My lord, please release my husband. I'll give in, okay?"

Jiang Han was somewhat surprised and looked at the servant boy serving beside him:

"what 's wrong?"

The servant craned his neck to look out the window, looking as if he understood perfectly:
"Hey, who do we have here? Isn't this Zhao Er's wife? She's causing trouble at the county government office again."

Jiang Han glanced at the servant, somewhat curious:

"you know?"

The servant nodded and replied:
"The Li family has their eye on the Zhao family's paper mill and wants to force them to buy it."

"This is the Zhao family's ancestral property, so Zhao Er naturally disagreed. The Li family then found a pretext to lock Zhao Er up in jail."

"Sigh, it's been almost half a month already. Zhao Er's wife comes to beg for mercy every day. I reckon even if she gets out, she'll only be half alive."

The waiter shook his head and sighed:

“They were targeted by the Li family in the Yan’an area, and they couldn’t even file a lawsuit, so they had no choice but to submit.”

Jiang Han raised an eyebrow:
"how do I say this?"

The servant glanced around warily and lowered his voice:

"Sir, you seem to be a merchant from out of town. There are three families in Yan'an Prefecture that we absolutely cannot afford to offend. I have a few important words for you to remember."

The servant paused, then recited a few lines of doggerel, swaying his head as he did so:

"Li Wugang, silver paved the ground and gold built the windows."

"The Qin King's Mansion, the Nine Border Granaries, the Crimson Dragon Swirls Across the Land and Devours Eight Villages."

"Eight hundred li of Qin Chuan cannot fill the stomach of one Prince Zhu."

"The Yellow Hall does not display the laws, but only engraves the patterns of white silver."

"In times of famine, we burn incense to burn bones, and boil the soup to nourish the common people!"

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(End of this chapter)