Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 283: Chapter 374: From the temples to the countryside, the presence of people from the worldly society is everywhere.

”This...” Luo An felt entangled for a while before saying: ”If it’s just a small amount, then spending a bit more Silver Coin can still get you some. But if it’s a large quantity, then we might need to approach those big cloth merchants!”

The Lu family is also considered a big cloth merchant, but the Lu family’s cloth business is mainly in Chongshan Town.

In Jing’an Prefecture, the Lu family can only be considered a small cloth merchant.

”General needs a large quantity of cotton cloth, the more the better!” Wu Zhan said in a deep voice.

Luo An naturally knew who the General referred to by Wu Zhan was, but still said helplessly: ”Mr. Wu, I really can’t help. I am of low status and simply can’t be in charge of such a big business deal.”

He was just a Shopkeeper, and although Luo Shang had passed on a message for him to help the Yang family to the best of his ability, his best effort was limited to what he could do within the Lu family’s shop. Beyond that, he was just a Shopkeeper.

”Only if the Family Head can come over, but the Family Head is currently at Chongshan Pass, and it may take six or seven days to get here!”

Wu Zhan frowned deeply.

Waiting for Luo Shang to come over, then letting Luo Shang negotiate the deal, and after the deal was settled, transporting the cotton cloth to the Tenglong Guard, this would take at least half a month.

That’s under the best of circumstances. If things don’t go smoothly, it might take a month to complete.

Wu Zhan felt that he couldn’t wait for Luo Shang to handle this matter; he had to figure out a way himself.

After thinking for a moment, Wu Zhan said: ”First, pass a message to Mr. Luo, tell him the General wants to see him and ask him to make a trip to the Tenglong Guard.”

”Alright!” Luo An quickly agreed, but then asked, ”What about the cotton cloth?”

Wu Zhan replied: ”I will first visit a few fellow members of the worldly society to see if they have a way. If I need your help, I’ll come to find you again!”

”Understood, I’ll be waiting here. If Mr. Wu needs me, just come directly here!” Luo An said.

If it were someone else handling this matter, they might very well return empty-handed.

But Wu Zhan was different, he used to be a Disciple of the Sky Blue Sword Sect and had traveled in the worldly society, knowing quite a few people from that circle.

Moreover, Jing’an Prefecture is not far from the Sky Blue Sword Sect, and the Sky Blue Sword Sect still has some influence here.

So Wu Zhan planned to first seek out his relationships in the worldly society to see if there is a way to buy cotton cloth.

Do not underestimate the people of worldly society; from the temple halls to the mountains and fields, the presence of worldly society’s people can be found.

And it’s not only officials that merchants need to deal with but also Jianghu forces.

There are several Jianghu forces in Jing’an Prefecture, among which the Shang family of Jing’an has the most renowned name.

The Shang family is a Martial Arts Family with hundreds of years of history. However, the Shang family has always been moderately successful. While they have a long heritage, they are not considered a top Martial Arts Force in the entire Liaodong region, not even comparable to the Tianqing Sword Sect.

There is some relationship between the Tianqing Sword Sect and the Shang family, and this relationship seems to be quite the gossip.

It is said that the Family Head of the Shang family, Shang Mingde, once pursued Hua Jinqiu and almost managed to marry her.

However, whether this gossip is true or not, Wu Zhan is not clear about, as he only heard people mentioning it.

With some preparation, Wu Zhan took a formal visitation card and went to the Shang family.

The Shang family has a family residence within the prefectural city, but most of the Shang family members live in Ancheng County, to the south of Jing’an Prefecture. Shang Mingde, however, often resides in the family residence within the prefectural city.

Shang Mingde happened to be in the Shang family residence today.

Seeing Wu Zhan’s visitation card, Shang Mingde felt puzzled.

”Wu Zhan? Is there such a person at the Tianqing Sword Sect?”

It wasn’t that he was ignorant. It was simply that Wu Zhan’s reputation in the worldly society was too small or rather non-existent.

Although Wu Zhan had also traveled outside in the past, he was just a minor Martial Artist back then and did not make a name for himself in the worldly society.

And Wu Zhan has been staying with the Yang family these years, which made his reputation even less prominent.

Shang Mingde thought about it and felt it was better to meet with Wu Zhan.

Although he had not heard of Wu Zhan’s name, the Shang family’s relationship with the Tianqing Sword Sect was still significant.

Especially after Hua Jinqiu became the Sect Leader, he personally went to congratulate the Tianqing Sword Sect. However, Hua Jinqiu didn’t seem to pay much attention to him.

Soon, he arranged for servants to invite Wu Zhan to the hall.

”Junior Wu Zhan pays respect to Senior Shang!” Wu Zhan greeted with a salute.

Shang Mingde looked him over, noticing the sword he carried, and showed a gentle smile on his face.

Wu Zhan’s sword bore the emblem of the Tianqing Sword Sect, which, while not guaranteeing Wu Zhan was a disciple of the Tianqing Sword Sect, at least served as some evidence.

”So it is Nephew Wu from the Sect, haha, I wonder which senior brother from the Sect has sent you here?”

Wu Zhan also knew that he was just an unknown junior, and of course, Shang Mingde wouldn’t know him, so he said: ”My master is Su Kun, but my visit this time is not on my master’s command, but on the order of Commander Yang Zhenshan of the Tenglong Guard!”

Shang Mingde was initially taken aback, then he immediately remembered who Master Yang was.

The marriage of Yu Qingyi to Yang Zhenshan was no secret; most of the Jianghu forces in Liaodong were aware of it. Not only did they know, but when they got married, it also caused quite a stir in the Jianghu circles of Liaodong.

A Jianghu woman marrying a Secondary Third Rank Tenglong Guard Commander tugged at the heartstrings of gossip.

Some people admired it, some envied it, some were optimistic, some ridiculed, some thought it was a good thing, while others were just waiting to laugh at Yu Qingyi.

At that time, many people felt that Yu Qingyi was marrying above her station and even thought that her life in the Yang family would be difficult.

But as time passed, those who were waiting to laugh at Yu Qingyi were left with nothing but envy and admiration.

Not only did Yu Qingyi live well in the Yang family, but she also bore children to carry on the family line, securing her position as the main lady of the Yang family.

Naturally, Shang Mingde was aware of the connection between the Sky Blue Sword Sect and the Yang family, so as soon as Wu Zhan mentioned Master Yang, he thought of Yang Zhenshan.

”Is Nephew Wu here on Master Yang’s orders?” he asked with some uncertainty.

”Exactly!” Wu Zhan smiled and said, ”However, Master Yang did not ask me to visit Senior. He simply asked me to come to Jing’an Prefecture to buy a batch of cotton cloth!”

Shang Mingde suddenly understood; he thought to himself, his family had no acquaintance with Yang Zhenshan, so why would Yang send someone to visit?

”As for cotton cloth, our Shang family does have a batch. If the General needs it, our Shang family is naturally willing to offer strong support!”

It’s just cotton cloth, not any precious item; there’s no reason for him to refuse such a small matter.

However, the quantity he was thinking of was obviously not on the same scale as what Wu Zhan was speaking of.

Yang Zhenshan needed enough cotton cloth to keep tens of thousands of people warm for the winter, which would require tens of thousands of bolts of cloth.

Although the Shang family had many business avenues, in terms of cloth trading, they were merely dabbling and could not compare to the business of the Luo family’s cloth shop in Jing’an Prefecture. Thus, the batch of cotton cloth he mentioned was at most only a few hundred bolts.

Wu Zhan, of course, understood the situation clearly. In a low voice, he said, ”The General intends to purchase cotton cloth for the military households of the Tenglong Guard, so the amount required might be quite large!”

Shang Mingde’s expression paused, feeling that he had perhaps been a bit foolish just now.

Since Wu Zhan was carrying out tasks for Yang Zhenshan, it certainly wasn’t a small matter.

If it were just a few hundred bolts of cotton cloth, Wu Zhan wouldn’t have come to them for help, but if it were a large bulk, it seemed his family couldn’t produce that much.

”This... Our family’s cloth shop is very small-scale!”

”The younger generation is aware, which is why I hope Senior Shang can help reach out to the major cloth merchants in Jing’an City!” Wu Zhan said.

”Is that so! Haha, easy to say!” Shang Mingde immediately felt relieved. It was just a matter of making an introduction, which was easy to handle.

Shang Mingde was very eager to help with anything involving Yang Zhenshan.

Yang Zhenshan, personally appointed by the Emperor as the Standard Third Rank Tenglong Guard Commander, was considered a big shot in the eyes of the Shang family.

More importantly, Yang Zhenshan was also from Jing’an Prefecture, a fellow townsman of the Shang family.

Actually, Shang Mingde had long wanted to establish a connection with Yang Zhenshan, but he had never found the right opportunity, and now that the opportunity had come to him, naturally there was no reason to decline.

Without another word, Shang Mingde took Wu Zhan out to visit several major cloth merchants in Jing’an City.

Despite his carefree Jianghu wanderer appearance, Wu Zhan was a man with firm ideas.

Without specific orders from Yang Zhenshan, he didn’t become timid and wait for instructions; instead, he took the initiative to negotiate a good price with several major cloth merchants.

In terms of price, the Luo family had supplied cotton cloth to the Tenglong Guard at market rates, so Wu Zhan also negotiated with the major cloth merchants based on the price provided by the Luo family.

Initially, the major cloth merchants wanted to raise the price since such a large batch of cotton cloth going to the Tenglong Guard would surely increase the price of cotton cloth in Jing’an City, and they wanted to take this opportunity to hike up the price.

However, with Shang Mingde mediating in between, and knowing that they would be selling to Yang Zhenshan, they gave up on the idea of raising the price.

The Shang family was a Martial Arts Family in Jing’an Prefecture, but the Yang family was also an official family of Jing’an Prefecture. If there were to be a family ranking in Jing’an Prefecture at the moment, the Lu family would undoubtedly be the first, but the second must be the Anning Yang family.

Shang Mingde’s influence was considerable, but the Yang family’s influence couldn’t be disregarded.

Moreover, these major cloth merchants all knew that Yu Qingyi was supported by Yang Zhenshan, and the Luo family had become wealthy merchants in Chongshan Town because of Yang Zhenshan’s support.

They also wanted to use this chance to build a relationship with Yang Zhenshan.

In just two days, several major cloth merchants gathered ten thousand bolts of cotton cloth and sent them off to the Tenglong Guard.

At this moment, Yang Zhenshan had no idea about what Wu Zhan had done in Jing’an City; if he knew, he would certainly praise Wu Zhan heartily.

The heavy snow had been falling intermittently for three days, and today it finally stopped.

Even though Yang Zhenshan had early on ordered each household to reinforce their houses, and had Xie Yuan inspect the fortifications, many military households’ homes were still collapsed under the weight of the snow.

A foot-thick layer of snow was a disaster for the entire Tenglong Guard.

The impoverished military households simply did not have the ability to cope with such a natural disaster.

The collapse of houses brought problems that weren’t as simple as just needing a place to live.