Tie Niaofei spread his hands: "Relax, Chief Xing. This memorial is just my copy—I didn't dare touch the original. Let it go through to the court. I'm Hedong Tie Niaofei, also a Shanxi man. I'm not about to cut off Shanxi's last thread of hope."
Xing Honglang lowered her raised fist and sighed: "Forget it. Even if this memorial reaches the court, they're not going to send relief grain to Shanxi. Shaanxi's been in chaos for years and the court hasn't lifted a finger to help. Shanxi can expect even less."
Tie Niaofei frowned: "If the court won't help... then..."
Xing Honglang: "If the court won't help, help yourself. You're a salt smuggler who's spent maybe three days of your life following court regulations, and now you're pinning your hopes on the government?"
Tie Niaofei looked simultaneously amused and miserable: "Chief Xing, this concerns millions of people in Shanxi. What virtue or ability does Tie Niaofei possess to save anyone? Look—if you hadn't shown up just now, I'd be dead on this dock already, chopped to pieces by bandits. With my capabilities, who can I possibly save? This kind of thing can only be handled by the court."
"Not strong enough, so you don't try?" Xing Honglang snorted. "One person isn't enough, get two. Two aren't enough, find more. If enough people who care about our homeland contribute even a little, Shanxi can naturally be saved."
Tie Niaofei: "That sounds lovely in theory, but actually doing it..."
Xing Honglang turned and shouted to her forty-two subordinates: "Get on the ship. Roll the grain carts down."
Tie Niaofei: "What? Grain?"
At the word "grain," Tie Niaofei's eyes lit up—with the gleam of copper coins.
Xing Honglang's people returned to the ship, set up a long plank, and rolled down a dozen grain carts, lining them up on the riverbank.
The moment those grain carts appeared, all hell broke loose. Everyone on the dock turned to stare, executing what could only be called a ceremonial salute with their eyes, practically reaching out with their pupils.
Xing Honglang: "This Shanxi—I'm damn well saving it."
Tie Niaofei: "How much for this grain?"
Xing Honglang kicked him straight into the water: "Damn it! First thing out of your mouth is asking the price."
Tie Niaofei surfaced, sputtering: "Chief Xing, you can't hit me for that! Don't tell me you're giving this away for free—I wouldn't dare take it. You have to name a price before I can accept it."
He turned to the crowd of merchants and old acquaintances of Xing Honglang on the dock: "Everyone agrees, right?"
The group's opinion was, remarkably, unanimous. They all nodded: "Yes!"
Xing Honglang thought it over. They had a point—charging money had far more benefits than not charging: "Tie Niaofei, you name the price."
Tie Niaofei: "Four hundred wen per dou. How's that?"
One shi was about a hundred-some catties. One shi equaled ten dou, meaning one dou was roughly ten-some catties. Tie Niaofei's quoted price worked out to around thirty-something wen per catty.
Xing Honglang calculated rapidly. If Tie Niaofei dared accept at this price, it meant Shanxi's grain prices had already climbed to at least seven or eight hundred wen per dou. Though still short of Shaanxi's thousand wen per dou, it wasn't far off. Clearly the drought here was severe too.
Add to that the court's perpetual ostrich policy—when Shaanxi had bandits, they'd banned grain shipments into Shaanxi. Now that Shanxi had bandits, the authorities had certainly banned grain shipments into Shanxi. At this rate, grain prices would only keep rising.
The people of Shanxi were racing down the road of misery, nearly catching up with the people of Shaanxi.
Gaojia Village's current retail grain price was seven wen per catty. Compared to the people of Shanxi, they were blessed many times over.
Xing Honglang rolled her eyes: "Tie Niaofei, at a time like this, can you possibly take a smaller profit?"
"Sure, of course I can." Tie Niaofei said: "Chief Xing just saved my life. Taking less profit is no problem at all. How about this—I'll pay six hundred wen per dou."
Xing Honglang's voice shot up eight octaves: "When I said take less profit, I didn't mean raise your purchase price from me. I meant lower your selling price to the common people."
Tie Niaofei froze for a moment, finally understanding. He sighed and performed a deep bow toward Xing Honglang: "Chief Xing, we're both salt smugglers, but my character doesn't come close to yours. I understand now. Whatever goods Chief Xing gives me, I'll sell to the common people at six hundred wen."
"That's more like it." Xing Honglang knew six hundred wen per dou was still expensive—roughly equivalent to a retail price around fifty wen per catty. It would still be hard for common people to afford grain at that price, but she couldn't sell directly at Gaojia Village prices right now.
Pricing too low would just result in someone buying in bulk, hoarding it, or reselling it countless times until it reached the common people at sky-high prices anyway.
Only by setting the price slightly below market rate could she ensure no one hoarded or repeatedly resold it, allowing more people to actually buy it.
Xing Honglang said: "Do you know why I'm entrusting the goods to you?"
Tie Niaofei paused, thought for a moment, then suddenly understood: "I have the ability to move goods while dodging trouble."
Xing Honglang: "Exactly! With chaos everywhere, ordinary merchants can't transport goods. Now we can only rely on people like you. You avoid the main bandit forces and can deliver these goods to villages and towns, selling directly to common people. You can make some profit, but don't take too much—consider it doing your part to save your homeland."
Tie Niaofei's face took on an embarrassed expression: "Used to dodge government troops while selling salt. Now I have to dodge bandits while selling grain. Really, it's just... ugh..."
Xing Honglang took two carts of grain and sold them on the spot to the merchants, fishermen, and farmers on the dock. The rest she handed entirely to Tie Niaofei: "Sell it and get back to the dock quickly. I'll figure out how to get more grain. From now on we'll meet and exchange goods at this dock. Let's sell as much grain into Shanxi as we can. If the court won't relieve the poor, we will."
Tie Niaofei clasped his fists: "Good!"
Seeing Xing Honglang's group preparing to return to the ship, his gaze followed that great vessel. He looked left, looked right—the more he looked, the more he liked what he saw: "Chief Xing, that ship of yours—name your price."
Xing Honglang raised her bowl-sized fist.
The bow cannon swiveled to aim at him.
Tie Niaofei jumped in fright and quickly ducked back.
Just as the ship was about to depart, Xing Honglang thought of something else. She turned back and shouted to Tie Niaofei: "Next time we meet, bring lots of salt. I need salt—large quantities of salt."
Before she'd left, Shansier had specifically sought her out, asking her to procure some salt. Salt was one of the important raw materials for making alkali, and Shanxi's Puzhou was the homeland of salt smugglers. This trip of Xing Honglang's also carried the weighty mission of establishing procurement channels for chemical raw materials.
Tie Niaofei laughed: "Now that's more like it! We should be selling salt—that fits our original identity. What kind of salt smuggler just sells grain? For a moment there I almost thought I was about to go legitimate."
Then he suddenly thought of something else and bellowed at the departing ship: "Chief Xing, for the salt you want, at least name a price!"
A merchant who can calculate profit margins while drowning will never starve, though he may occasionally get kicked into rivers.