Zhao Erlang angrily retorted, “You don’t even count the weight of a rope, but you count the weight of the copper powder that falls off from people handling the coins? You’re the one robbing people!”
Zhao Hu was incredulous. The foolish Zhao Erlang had actually become this shrewd. He was momentarily speechless, and it took him a while to find his voice. “You… has your brain gotten better?”
Zhao Zheng couldn’t help but cover his face with his hand.
Zhao Erlang’s face flushed almost to the point of dripping blood. His nose tingled, and with reddened eyes he shouted loudly, “There’s nothing wrong with my brain!”
The two ultimately parted on bad terms, but Zhao Erlang insisted on using scales to count the money. And indeed, this saved a tremendous amount of manpower. What originally required people to count string by string could now be weighed directly on the scale. In less than a quarter hour, the four hundred seventy thousand coins that Zhao Hu had brought were all weighed.
Of course, the weight was slightly off, so under Zhao Erlang’s ox-eyed glare, Zhao Hu had no choice but to have his servants take out two more strings of copper coins to add in. Only then was it enough.
He took one last look at the slightly raised scale, secretly circulated his energy to calm himself, and huffed his way out.
Of course, he took the contract with him. He indignantly said to Wuren, “Am I the kind of person who shortchanges others? I said four hundred seventy thousand, and it’s four hundred seventy thousand. I haven’t shorted him a single coin!”
Wuren repeatedly agreed, then asked in a low voice, “Since the Great Master already knew, why did you yield to him?”
He said, “Even Sanniang has to give the Great Master face. Erlang is really too inconsiderate.”
Zhao Hu helplessly waved his hand and said, “Forget it, forget it. We can reason with intelligent people and discuss favors, but can we bargain with a stubborn fool?”
Zhao Erlang was just an idiot, single-minded. Arguing with him about these matters would only infuriate oneself in the end.
So for these trivial matters, Zhao Hu could turn a blind eye whenever possible.
He even reproached himself internally—why did I have to argue with a fool? It made me look foolish too.
Zhao Hu exhaled, took the contract and newly prepared land deed and headed home. He said to Wuren, “Originally I planned to bring them out of prison today, but since I just had an argument with Erlang, it’s not appropriate to bring this up. Come back tomorrow to pick them up. Once you get them, tear down all four of those houses. I want to build new ones!”
Wuren acknowledged the order.
Zhao Hu clasped his hands behind his back, intending to go home, but remembering what he had promised Zhao Hanzhang, he turned his steps toward the tavern instead. He went to find several wealthy individuals he knew in Luoyang.
Zhao Hanzhang was right—when there’s money to be made, everyone should make it together. Rather than letting others profit, why not let his friends profit instead?
Besides these wealthy Luoyang residents, Zhao Hu was thinking more about his relatives and friends in Yuzhou, so he wrote letters to them one by one.
First he wrote to Zhao Song: “…with Zinian’s current official position, in the future he may well be enfeoffed as a marquis or appointed as prime minister. When that time comes and he comes to Luoyang, he can’t very well stay at his niece’s house. I certainly won’t allow him to stay at my house—I’m afraid seeing his face would ruin my appetite.”
“So Fifth Brother should prepare early. While Luoyang housing prices are still low, buy two or three properties,” Zhao Hu wrote. “There’s a section of burned houses outside the Imperial City that can be purchased. The base price isn’t high, and you can build according to your own preferences. It’s more economical than buying ready-made courtyards. Most importantly, the good locations with existing houses in Luoyang have all been taken. What remains is far inferior to this plot of land.”
“So if Fifth Brother is interested, please bring money to Luoyang as soon as possible to buy land. If you can build a house here, it will not only be convenient for Zinian’s comings and goings, but also benefit your children and grandchildren.”
Just think—in the future, the children would meet nothing but aristocratic families and powerful nobles. Even if descendants were unworthy, they wouldn’t immediately fall into ruin.
He also encouraged Zhao Song: “If anyone in the clan has surplus wealth, they can also come to Luoyang to buy land. Now that Luoyang is being rebuilt and the court has returned, there are opportunities to make money everywhere.”
He didn’t just write to Zhao Song—he wrote to many people in the clan. Anyone he thought had money, he wrote them a letter.
After all, they were all going back to Xiping anyway. Carrying one letter was the same as carrying many.
Besides relatives, there were also friends. Zhao Hu thought of everyone he could, including Yu Sanlang whom he didn’t particularly like. He even wrote him a letter with just one sentence: “Luoyang is covered in gold. If you want to make money, come quickly.”
Yu Sanlang didn’t want to believe him, but after receiving this letter, the phrase “Luoyang is covered in gold” suddenly popped into his head while eating. It popped up while drinking too. Even at night when sleeping, this phrase still emerged.
Yu Sanlang finally couldn’t bear it anymore. He crawled out of bed and called for his steward. “Leave immediately for Xiping and find out if the Zhao family has had any recent activities.”
The steward couldn’t be certain for a moment and asked cautiously, “Does the Great Master mean activities like… mobilizing troops, going to war?”
“War, what war?” Yu Sanlang was so angry he slapped the steward’s head and gritted through his teeth in a low voice, “If you dare inquire about such things, I wouldn’t dare listen! Do you think your life is too long?”
He softened his voice and said, “Ask if anyone has been going to Luoyang recently, what they’re taking with them, and also what business Zhao Hu is doing in Luoyang—is he making money or losing it?”
The steward had a sudden realization and nodded repeatedly. “This servant understands. This servant will go inquire immediately.”
Yu Sanlang waved his hand dismissively to send him away, muttering, “Truly worthless.”
The Xiping Zhao family was very lively. It had been lively ever since they received the letters.
Wang Shi had originally packed her things and prepared to go to Luoyang, but had to repeatedly postpone her departure because many people in the clan decided to go to Luoyang with her to take a look.
Of course, their purpose wasn’t sightseeing. Although there was no more fighting now, there were still many bandits outside, and they didn’t like traveling too far from home.
But the houses at the foot of the Imperial City in Luoyang that Zhao Hu mentioned were too attractive. They wanted to go see.
Since the Zhao Family Army was escorting Wang Shi to Luoyang anyway, they would just take advantage of her security forces.
As soon as Yu Sanlang heard this news, he immediately had people open the storehouses to count money. At the same time, he had all the silk, brocade, and other goods that could be packed loaded up. He planned to go to Luoyang to make a profit.
Then he also sent a card to Wang Shi, wanting to accompany her Zhao Family Army to Luoyang.
Besides him, quite a few friends who had received Zhao Hu’s letters also came calling, all wanting to travel together to Luoyang.
Wang Shi: …
Seeing the group growing larger and larger, with not only more people but each person bringing large quantities of goods, Wang Shi felt this matter was too big for her to decide alone, so she went to find Zhao Song for his opinion.
Zhao Song lowered his eyes and thought briefly, then said, “If they want to go, let them go. Luoyang needs revitalization after the devastation. The more people who go at this time, the more prosperous it can become.”
He said, “People are fundamental. As long as a city has people, it will be lively.”
Wang Shi bowed her head and said, “But with so many people, relying only on one thousand Zhao Family Army soldiers for protection, if we encounter danger on the road…”
Zhao Song waved his hand dismissively. “What difficulty is there in that? Write to Zinian and have him send troops for you. However, since we’re providing people, we can’t also provide provisions and supplies ourselves. You don’t need to handle this matter—I’ll speak with them and have the accompanying people prepare provisions.”
Wang Shi breathed a sigh of relief, lowered her head in acknowledgment, then bowed and withdrew.
Zhao Song watched her departing figure and couldn’t help shaking his head. “Fortunately our Sanniang doesn’t take after her. She takes after Zhizhi. Otherwise, there wouldn’t even be anyone in this family capable of shouldering responsibilities.”
—