Luo Lan recounted everything that had happened in the capital in her letter, then attached a ledger at the end, detailing every income and expense since their arrival in the capital, along with the current inventory.
“What’s wrong? Did something go badly for Luo Lan in the capital?”
Tang Xiaobei noticed Jin Feng’s odd expression and frowned as she asked.
“See for yourself.”
Jin Feng handed the letter and ledger to Tang Xiaobei.
Tang Xiaobei quickly scanned them, her eyes growing wider and wider.
When she reached the final total in the ledger, she could not help but gasp.
“Darling, what happened to Luo Lan in the capital? Was it not smooth?”
Guan Xiaorou, still unaware of what was going on, was extremely anxious.
“It’s not that it wasn’t smooth. It was too smooth.”
Jin Feng asked, “Do you know how much silver she earned in the capital?”
“How much?” Guan Xiaorou asked.
“Over eighty thousand taels!”
“Ei… eighty thousand taels?” Guan Xiaorou thought she had misheard.
She glanced at the parcels in front of Tang Fei and the others.
The back mountain warehouse currently held over four thousand taels of silver, packed into several chests.
Guan Xiaorou had never seen eighty thousand taels of silver, but by comparison, she knew it would be an enormous pile.
The parcels in front of Tang Fei definitely could not hold it all.
“Madam, the parcels are all gold bricks.”
Tang Fei smiled and signalled the veterans to open the parcels on the ground.
Piles of gold bricks gleamed under the sunlight, dazzling Guan Xiaorou so much she could barely keep her eyes open.
“All… all this was earned by Luo Lan in the capital?”
Guan Xiaorou swallowed hard.
“Not just this. Luo Lan also bought shops and residences in the capital, spending over ten thousand taels on purchases and renovations, and she still kept a few thousand taels for emergencies.”
Jin Feng sighed. “And she has thirty Black Swords left unsold. If they all sell, that would be at least another several tens of thousands of taels.”
“Are Black Swords that valuable? Thirty could sell for tens of thousands of taels?” Guan Xiaorou could hardly believe it.
“Madam, the gentleman is understating it. Black Swords are extremely popular in the capital now. The day before I left, Miss Luo Lan sold ten Black Swords for over fifty thousand taels.”
Tang Fei laughed. “Miss Luo Lan also said Black Swords will become even more valuable in the future.”
“This…”
Guan Xiaorou was stunned into silence.
With her worldview and values, she could not comprehend spending several thousand taels of silver on a single sword.
“Luo Lan is indeed remarkable, but the truly remarkable one is my husband.”
Tang Xiaobei finished reading the letter and ledger, turned to look at Jin Feng, her eyes sparkling. “Without the poems my husband wrote, Luo Lan would not have been so successful.
Sister, you don’t know, but my husband is now the most famous poet in the capital. Even His Majesty praised his poetry.
Those rich people are willing to buy Black Swords purely for the inscriptions on them.”
“Stop putting a tall hat on me. Hurry and count the accounts. Old Tang and the others are eager to go home.”
Jin Feng touched his nose awkwardly.
After all, those poems were not written by him, so being praised like this made him feel a bit embarrassed.
The gold bricks had fixed weights and were easy to count. In just over ten minutes, Tang Xiaobei finished.
Jin Feng pushed open the warehouse door and entered a room full of shelves, with baskets of copper coins on them.
Now, several thousand people worked under Jin Feng, and just paying wages each month required enormous amounts of copper coins.
This room of copper coins was only enough for all the workers’ wages for a few months.
Jin Feng passed through the layers of shelves, reached the very back, and stopped in front of an iron door.
He opened the thick iron door, revealing a cave over two metres high and three metres wide.
On the left side of the cave was another row of shelves, holding box after box.
The boxes contained silver ingots of various sizes.
“Old Tang, bring the gold bricks in.”
Jin Feng called out.
“Yes!”
Old Tang immediately led the veterans into the warehouse and, under Tang Xiaobei’s direction, neatly stacked the gold bricks into small wooden boxes, then placed them on the shelves.
“Xiao Bei, record the list of escorts who went to the capital this time and report it to Brother Liang. Their bonus for this month is doubled. The extra part, you cover from here to the Zhenyuan Escort Agency’s accountant.”
Jin Feng instructed.
The Zhenyuan Escort Agency was now on the right track, with its own cafeteria, dormitories, and accounting department, as well as a complete system of rewards and penalties.
Unless something particularly important came up, Jin Feng generally did not interfere.
But the journey to the capital was long. Though Old Tang did not say it, Jin Feng knew the hardships involved.
And with so much money gained at once, Jin Feng could not be too stingy.
“Thank you, gentleman!”
Old Tang and the others all grinned.
The Zhenyuan Escort Agency gave bonuses for escort missions. The farther the journey and the higher the danger, the higher the bonus.
This trip to the capital had a bonus higher than all their income for the past half year combined. Now doubled, it equalled over a year’s total income.
They could replace every room in their homes with brick and tile and still have plenty left.
“You’ve all travelled far and are surely missing your wives and children. Go home now.”
Jin Feng smiled. “Start a three-day rest tomorrow, then report back to the camp.”
“Got it!”
The veterans were even happier.
With money and time, they could take their wives and children for a proper trip to the prefectural city.
Now with the drawbridge, the prefectural city was closer than the county seat.
After all the veterans left, Jin Feng had Guan Xiaorou close the warehouse door, then lit a torch and walked deeper into the cave.
After about thirty steps, another even thicker iron door appeared.
Opening this iron door, the narrow cave suddenly became a stone chamber.
The stone chamber also had rows of shelves, holding gleaming heavy crossbows, as well as boxes of Black Swords and armour!
Hunters needed bows and arrows to hunt, woodcutters needed knives to chop wood, and women needed knives to cook, so according to Great Kang law, commoners could make and possess knives and bows, but could not privately forge armour.
This armour was secretly forged by Man Cang at Jin Feng’s request, then sent by Zhang Liang’s trusted men.
With this armour and Black Swords, plus well-trained veterans, if needed, Jin Feng could quickly assemble a steel-armoured team of several hundred.
Equipped with flash bombs and the more powerful heavy crossbows not yet revealed to the outside, plus the defensive works prepared around Xihe Bay, even if Qing Huai brought the Iron Forest Army, Jin Feng was confident he could handle it.
So, in fact, this stone chamber was the true core of the back mountain warehouse.
It was also Jin Feng’s greatest source of confidence.
The secret of the stone chamber was known only to Jin Feng, Guan Xiaorou, Tang Xiaobei, Zhang Liang, and a few trusted confidants.
There were only two keys. One Jin Feng carried with him, the other he had buried.
That way, even if he lost the key on him, he could dig up the other one.
