Chapter 87
After sending a letter to Yuchang Prefecture, Huo Shu began stockpiling food and supplies.
The most essential items were grain and salt.
By the end of last year, they had already stored thirty shi of rice. This amount was considerable, but the people under his command were not limited to just the Ji family.
[1 shi rice (unhusked): ~60–70 kg]
Huo Shu had witnessed too many battles. Once a war broke out, it was never resolved in just three to five days.
Short conflicts lasted ten days to half a month, while prolonged ones could drag on for three to five years without issue. Take the northern frontier, for example—he had spent ten years on the front lines there.
However, if the unrest was confined within the prefecture, it would usually end within three to five months.
But if it involved the border or the imperial court, then it was hard to say.
To prepare for the worst, he decided to stockpile as much grain as possible. If the conflict ended quickly, they could always resell the excess grain, even if it meant taking a small loss by lowering the price.
Huo Shu initially planned to buy another seventy shi to round out their reserves. But when he went to the grain merchants, he found that after visiting several shops, the price of grain had already risen.
Before the new year, one shi of grain cost a little over a thousand wen. Now, it had risen to fifteen hundred wen per dan.
The prefecture authorities had skillfully kept the news under wraps. While common villagers remained ignorant of brewing troubles, the merchant class had already caught the scent of unrest—and adjusted their prices accordingly.
There was no time to haggle. Instead of going himself, Huo Shu hired someone to make inquiries on his behalf.
His first attempt was bold: an order for fifty shi of grain in a single transaction. But contrary to expectations, the grain merchant showed no delight at the substantial purchase. Instead came an immediate refusal, saying they would sell no more than five shi at a time.
Huo Shu had expected the merchants to impose limits, but not this strictly.
Adapting swiftly, he devised a new strategy, sending people with different identities to various grain shops in the town. Surprisingly, the larger grain merchants imposed stricter limits, while smaller shops were willing to sell ten shi at once.
Within three to five days, Huo Shu managed to stockpile forty shi of grain.
To avoid drawing attention, they disguised the grain as horse feed for the horseback archery range when transporting it.
Next, he turned his attention to salt.
People couldn’t live without grain, and even less so without salt. Fortunately, salt wasn’t consumed in large quantities—two taels could last over half a month.
[1 tael = 37.5 grams]
There was a salt merchant right at the entrance of Xinjie Street. Though convenient, buying in bulk was still troublesome.
The salt trade was jointly controlled by the government and merchants. Only a select few wealthy or influential merchants could obtain official salt permits from the court.
While there were no strict purchase limits, buying too much would invite scrutiny, as authorities feared people might resell salt illegally in smaller towns.
Huo Shu personally bought ten catties of salt. Since the merchants on Xinjie Street recognized him and knew he ran two shops with many employees, it wasn’t unusual for him to need large quantities.
But ten catties was far from enough.
He then hired people posing as different identities to make additional purchases: one pretended to be a villager buying for their neighbors, another dressed as a servant from a wealthy household stocking up on spices, and a third acted as a kitchen worker from a restaurant.
By keeping the quantities reasonable for each identity, the salt merchants didn’t question them, assuming the purchases were legitimate.
Soon, Huo Shu had gathered fifty catties of salt.
Since salt couldn’t be resold later, it was only for personal use or gifting, so he didn’t stockpile too much.
Moreover, if authorities ever conducted inspections and found excessive amounts, it would be hard to explain.
Ji Taoyu looked at the fully stocked warehouse, feeling a sense of security.
Aside from grain and salt, he also had Huo Shu stock up on flour and dried meat. Even dried meat wasn’t easy to preserve—it needed constant ventilation.
Huo Shu partitioned a space above the kitchen stove and hung two pigs’ worth of meat there.
The daily cooking smoke would help cure the meat, preventing spoilage. They couldn’t store more than that.
Other essentials like oil, soy sauce, vinegar, and seasonings were also stocked in modest amounts.
Ji Taoyu reminded Huo Shu that these preparations were strictly for survival during wartime turmoil, not for maintaining comfortable living standards. Practical necessities took absolute priority—while luxurious items might improve daily life during peace, they would become utterly worthless in dire times.
Huo Shu acted on his suggestion and secretly paid a blacksmith to forge several proper weapons.
Government-approved ironworks rarely sold weapons—this restriction existed precisely to prevent commoners uprisings like the one in Quan Village.
Most shops only sold farming tools like sickles, which had some defensive use but were useless in real combat.
To get real weapons, one either needed connections or had to pay extra.
Last year, during his merchant travels, Huo Shu had acquired some weapons, but funds were limited at the time—the quality was mediocre at best. The sole exceptions were the high-grade arms gifted by Duan Chi.
But this year, he had already distributed those weapons to his merchant convoy without distinction, distributing both the superior and inferior pieces alike.
After five or six days in the city stockpiling supplies, they went to inform Huang Yinsheng and Wu Lianhe, advising them to be cautious and prepare their own reserves.
Once everything was settled, they returned to the village.
The incident in Quan Village had kept the entire prefecture government busy.
Spring was already a busy season for farming—peasants tilled the land, and officials handled more administrative duties than usual.
The uprising in Quan Village had erupted at the worst possible time.
You Lingxiao had been so busy he hadn’t returned to the village in days.
At noon one day, as he rode back from the city, he saw villagers carrying heavy loads along the road, as if they had just returned from shopping in town.
He stepped down from his carriage and stopped a couple: "What did everyone buy in the city? It looks like you all went together."
The villagers recognized You Lingxiao and quickly replied: "With the trouble in Quan Village, people are afraid war is coming. We had to stock up on grain."
"Has You Juren not heard of this?"
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