The petty official replied, “Because the governor ordered so many, the coffin shop had to put in extra effort to gather enough wooden boards. And since they’re for imperial family members, there are many particular requirements, so the price is somewhat higher.”

Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand. “Just ordinary coffins, no need to be particular.”

She frowned. “Are wooden boards very difficult to gather?”

The petty official nodded. “Too many people have ordered coffins these past two days. Luoyang originally had twelve coffin shops, but now only four remain. The coffins they had made previously aren’t enough in stock, and now many families are waiting for them to make coffins.”

Zhao Hanzhang was about to speak when Zhao Erlang rushed in with a proud and imposing manner. “Sister, I have coffins, I have coffins!”

Zhao Hanzhang’s words caught in her throat. She was pulled by Zhao Erlang to see the coffins placed in the courtyard. Scanning roughly, there were twenty or thirty of them.

Zhao Hanzhang paused for a moment before asking, “Where did you get these?”

“I had people carry them over.”

Zhao Hanzhang gave him a tap on the head and asked, “Tell the truth.”

Zhao Erlang covered the spot where he was hit and said aggrievedly, “They were carried over. Today while patrolling, I saw many households dismantling their door panels, saying they wanted to send them to coffin shops to earn money. That’s when I remembered—I have several coffin shops, and they all have coffins inside, so I had people go carry them over.”

He said, “Sister, if you don’t want them, I’ll take them to sell to the coffin shops and make money.”

There were too many points to address. Zhao Hanzhang decided to ask the critical question. “…You have coffin shops?”

“Yes, General Xun said that we captured this city, so it belongs to us. The mansions and shops here that have no owners—we can all claim them. I claimed many at the time. Though later some people returned to live in them, there are still many that no one came back for. Aren’t those mine then?”

Zhao Hanzhang was speechless for a long moment. Under Zhao Erlang’s clear gaze, she raised her hand and patted his shoulder in praise. “Well done. But Erlang, they’re not yours—they’re mine.”

She said, “All war spoils must be handed over to me for safekeeping and distribution. Of course, your sister won’t treat you unfairly. Is there any mansion you particularly like? I’ll allocate one to you.”

Zhao Erlang grinned and shook his head. “Give them all to sister. I like living in the military camp.”

Living at home or in a mansion, Scholar Xie would always come looking for him. In the military camp, Scholar Xie would only come looking for him after a day’s interval.

Zhao Hanzhang looked at her good younger brother with relief, then gazed at the coffins arranged in the courtyard. “Count how many more we need. Go to the ownerless coffin shops and see if there are any coffin boards. Send them to the coffin shops and have people make them into coffins. If there are extras, sell them to the coffin shops.”

The petty official complied. After a pause, he asked, “Miss, many people in the city are now dismantling door panels to sell to coffin shops. Should we stop them?”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “If they’re selling their own household items, there’s no need to intervene. But mine—ahem, I mean, if they’re stealing from others, that’s not allowed. Even ownerless ones are not permitted.”

“Yes.” The petty official went down to make arrangements.

Zhao Hanzhang grabbed Zhao Erlang, who was about to run out the door again. “Do you still play with Xun Xiu?”

Zhao Erlang shook his head. “Didn’t sister have Xun Xiu beaten with planks? He’s lying on his bed unable to get up. Today it’s my turn to patrol, so I haven’t been playing.”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded and asked, “How is Xun Xiu?”

Zhao Erlang shuddered. “Too pitiful. His buttocks and lower back bled a lot. He said he can’t move anymore.”

Zhao Hanzhang scoffed. Did she not know that the soldiers administering the rod punishment had gone easy on him?

It only looked terrible.

Nevertheless, she still frightened Zhao Erlang. “Don’t learn from him. This time he was lucky and didn’t delay any military opportunity. But if this happened during wartime, it wouldn’t be as simple as beating the buttocks—heads would roll.”

On Xun Xiu’s return journey, scouts had discovered a convoy returning after delivering supplies to Shi Le.

Shi Le’s army’s supplies were transported by Jie and Xiongnu officials driving slaves. When Xun Xiu discovered that half the slaves in the convoy were Han people, he immediately led his troops to detour and seize this convoy.

There weren’t many supplies, but they captured a large batch of people.

Thus, the officials who had originally been transporting grain became slaves, while the Han people who had been slaves were brought back and became free citizens. The non-Han slaves remained slaves.

Zhao Hanzhang wasn’t angry that he acted on his own initiative to capture people. What angered her was that he didn’t return to the capital on time. Merit was merit, fault was fault. So Xun Xiu was punished, beaten quite severely—even more heavily than Beigong Chun and Mi Ce.

The coffin business in Luoyang suddenly flourished, becoming so prosperous that even neighboring prefectures and counties heard about it. Merchants began transporting coffins to Luoyang.

Merchants’ sense of smell was just that keen. In these times, as long as something could be exchanged for money, cloth, or grain, someone would be willing to do it.

With outside merchants entering Luoyang, expenses for food and lodging were generated.

The entire city of Luoyang didn’t have even one inn, so shrewd Luoyang residents opened their doors to welcome these merchants, charging only a small fee.

Others took vegetable seedlings grown at home and wild vegetables dug from the fields to peddle door to door.

It was spring—when all things revived and wild vegetables tasted best. Although the merchants didn’t particularly love eating them, when hungry, naturally they would eat whatever was available. So they opened their purses one after another to make purchases.

This activity caught the eyes of others. The next day, people went into the mountains to hunt, then carried game to hawk before those households. As it turned out, the merchants inside didn’t buy, but a nearby household of reasonable means did…

The long-dormant city of Luoyang came back to life in this confused and muddled way.

When Zhao Hanzhang heard about this, she fell silent. She never imagined that Luoyang’s economy would begin with coffins.

Ji Yuan observed all this and immediately said to Zhao Hanzhang, “Miss, didn’t the second young master claim several taverns and restaurants? They can be cleaned up to receive guests now.”

Luoyang now had at least a hundred thousand people. They had “come alive,” so business could naturally be conducted.

Zhao Hanzhang, who normally didn’t worry much about these matters but had recently been spending money too fiercely, couldn’t help but pay attention now. “They should indeed be opened. I’ll entrust this matter to you, sir. Please select a few people who are good at business and have clever ideas.”

Ji Yuan said, “We can select from the Western Ping Academy—those who studied calculation well and those whose culinary skills are good. They can all try. Some people are in Chen County, which isn’t far, but…”

“But opening shops requires capital, and miss, there’s no money left in your public accounts now.”

Zhao Hanzhang’s mouth fell open. “Didn’t we just dig up the treasure grandfather left in Luoyang?”

Ji Yuan said, “You must support so many troops. The refugees brought back also need relief. During this time, just buying grain and provisions alone costs an incalculable amount. Plus Young Master Fu keeps asking for money. In just this short time, he’s built brick workshops, glass workshops, papermaking facilities, and soap workshops, and he still needs to dredge waterways…”

“Oh yes, just dredging the waterways alone, he requisitioned one million coins.” Ji Yuan raised his eyes to glance at Zhao Hanzhang. “Miss, your public accounts now have less than a hundred thousand coins remaining.”

It still sounded like quite a lot, but converted to silver it was only about a hundred taels. She humbly asked for advice. “Then how much remains in my private accounts?”

Ji Yuan said meaningfully, “For that, miss will have to ask Ting He.”

Zhao Hanzhang’s private accounts had always been managed by Ting He. All the expenses for clothing, food, housing, and transportation for her, Zhao Erlang, and Fu Tinghan were disbursed from Ting He.