MLMD -Chapter 303 Hong Chengchou’s Resolve

Hong Chengchou’s ability to keep his temper was naturally far superior to Hong Antong’s. Quibbling with a grain shop clerk over such a matter was something he simply would not do. He reached out to stop Hong Antong and said to the clerk with a smile, “Young man, we’re merchants who just arrived from out of town. Today we were strolling around the streets and, seeing that grain prices here are so low, we couldn’t help but feel curious, so we asked an extra question. Please don’t take offense.”

As he spoke, Hong Chengchou shot Hong Antong a look. Only then did Hong Antong somewhat reluctantly take out a small piece of silver and toss it to the clerk. The clerk took the silver, weighed it in his hand, and his face immediately broke into a broad smile.

“Oh my, sir, please don’t be angry. I really was too busy just now and thought you were here to cause trouble, so my words were disrespectful. Please forgive me, sir!”

“It’s no matter,” Hong Chengchou waved his hand, then continued with his earlier question. “Young man, with grain prices this cheap here, aren’t you afraid that merchants from other places will come and buy everything up, then resell it elsewhere?”

“They’d dare?” The clerk said disdainfully. “Sir, you’re from out of town, so you may not know our area very well. Our Northern Route is not like other places. Here, every purchase of grain must not exceed thirty jin. And if outside merchants want to buy large quantities of grain, they must have an approval document from the Civil Administration Office. Otherwise, you won’t be able to ship that grain out of the Northern Route at all. What, do you think the people at the Civil Administration Office are just there to eat for free? Once you’re caught, at best you’ll be fined silver; at worst you’ll be sent to the mines to dig ore. In the beginning, plenty of people didn’t believe it and wanted to buy grain here cheaply and sell it elsewhere to get rich—but now all of them are swinging sledgehammers in the mines of Yingzhou Prefecture! They really didn’t think it through—do they think the cheap prices of our Northern Route are that easy to take advantage of?”

Hong Antong couldn’t help but ask from the side, “With your grain prices so cheap, haven’t people from nearby prefectures come to buy grain?”

“Of course they have,” the clerk said with a smile. “For these neighbors, we can give them some consideration. But Marquis Yue has said it clearly: we’re not running a soup kitchen. If you want to buy grain… sure—but you have to move to our Northern Route and register your household here. Only then can you buy grain at cheap prices.”

Looking at the clerk’s proud expression, Hong Chengchou felt a jolt in his heart. An ordinary person might only see the clerk’s greed for money, but Hong Chengchou saw something else in him—the sense of identity with, and pride in, being part of the Shanxi Northern Route that this ordinary commoner possessed.

After finishing, the clerk added, “Sir, I advise you: if you want to buy a large amount of grain, you still need to go to the Civil Administration Office to apply. Otherwise, if you buy too much and get caught, it’ll be troublesome.”

Hong Chengchou smiled faintly and was about to leave when he saw Yingniang return with a gloomy look on her face. She tugged at Hong Chengchou’s sleeve and said coquettishly, “Master, just now your concubine went to buy a piece of clothing and gave the shopkeeper a silver ingot. But the shopkeeper gave me two round little things as change, and I don’t know what they are. I wanted the shop owner to exchange them for silver, but he said that these things are commonly used here. I refused, but he said there was no other way and that he would refund the silver instead. But I really liked that piece of clothing, so I accepted those things. Look, these are them.”

As she spoke, Yingniang handed several round objects to Hong Chengchou, then looked at him somewhat nervously, afraid that he would scold her.

Hong Chengchou took them and examined them. His expression first stiffened, then turned to surprise. There was no doubt that these round objects were made of silver, and he could tell that they were cast from silver of very high purity. He weighed one in his hand and found it to be about eight or nine qian—less than a tael—but the workmanship was extremely exquisite. The outer edge of the silver coin was serrated; on one side were cast the words “Great Ming, Ten Thousand Victories,” and on the other side the words “One Tael of Refined Silver.” Beside the characters were engraved mountains and rivers, the craftsmanship exceptionally fine.

He turned and asked the clerk, “Young man, do you know what this thing is?”

The clerk smiled as soon as he saw what Hong Chengchou was holding. “Sir, the thing in your hand is called a silver dollar. It’s a newly issued type of currency here. One piece can be used as one tael of silver, and everyone here accepts it.”

Hong Chengchou was startled when he heard this. “Young man, this silver dollar is clearly less than one tael. You really accept it? If that’s the case, wouldn’t outside merchants be able to mint this kind of silver coin in large quantities and make huge profits?”

The clerk laughed. “Sir, you’re joking. Just look at this silver dollar—this workmanship. Is it something that can be casually counterfeited? Even if it could be copied, the cost of making one would probably exceed one tael of silver, wouldn’t it?”

“Hm… that’s true,” Hong Chengchou thought it over and felt it made sense. With such exquisite craftsmanship, large-scale minting would be impossible. It could only be slowly carved by hand, and if done by hand, the cost would make any counterfeiter bleed money.

At this moment, Hong Antong snorted coldly. “Your Shanxi Northern Route dares to privately mint currency—this is a grave crime. Aren’t you afraid of the court’s punishment?”

“Punishment from the court?” The clerk’s face immediately darkened. He said coldly, “Sir, these silver dollars were ordered to be minted by Marquis Yue himself. Marquis Yue has imperial permission to establish his own headquarters and staff, and minting currency is also within the Marquis’s authority. You’re really being unreasonable. If it weren’t for the sake of this elderly gentleman here, I’d report you to the authorities right now and have you arrested!”

“You—!”

Hong Antong had never suffered such humiliation. In his rage, he was about to teach the clerk a lesson, but Hong Chengchou shot him a glare. His courage immediately shrank, and he withdrew resentfully.

After leaving the grain shop, Hong Chengchou walked slowly along the road with his hands clasped behind his back. Yet his gaze was no longer on the street before him. Behind him, his concubine Yingniang followed quietly, and further back were Hong Antong and several personal guards.

After walking for a long time, Hong Chengchou felt an oppressive weight in his chest. Everything he had seen and heard on the streets today made him feel both unfamiliar and fearful. Elite troops, excellent equipment, abundant grain supplies, popular support among the people, and even the private minting of silver currency—all of these kept turning over and over in his mind.

The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became. If this Yue Yang harbored any disloyal intentions, the danger would be immense. And as the Governor-General of Xuan-Da, if Yue Yang were to rebel, he himself would likely be the first to suffer.

“No—this won’t do. I must hurry to Datong to take up my post as soon as possible, and I must quickly train a strong army!” Looking at the bustling crowd, Hong Chengchou silently made up his mind…