The Nine Cauldrons

Chapter 39: Delivery

“No problem,” Teng Qingshan replied.

Teng Yunlong reminded, “Bring along more beast hides and use them to wrap up the Frost Jade Sabers. Bandits probably won’t pay much attention to hunters entering the city to sell beast hide.” Teng Yunlong viewed this deal win very high regard. After all, it involved far too much money.

Although the amount of money may be nothing to a great salt merchant, this amount of money earned had taken the effort of almost the entire Teng Jia Village.

“Grandfather, don’t worry. If anyone dares to have ideas on our Frost Jade Sabers, I’ll kill each and every one of them.” Teng Qingshan said.

“Good!” Teng Yunlong smiled and pat Teng Qingshan on the shoulder. He then stood up, “Alright, I’m going to get to work with your father. You can head back first. Get your mother to bring lunch for your father later.”

“Mmm,”

Teng Qingshan threw a glance toward his father, who had his full concentration on forging weapons. He then turned and walked out of the weapon shop.

******

Early next morning, while it was still dark and most of the people in the Teng Jia Village had yet to wake up, the members of the Hunting Squadron, as well as the Chief of the Teng Jia Village, Spear Arts Master, and other important personnel had gathered outside the weapon shop.

“Bundle up ten Frost Jade Sabers together, dividing all of them into eighteen bundles with twelve Frost Jade Sabers in the last bundle!” Teng Yongfan instructed from the side. “Qingshan, you guys use the beast hide and wrap each bundle of Frost Jade Sabers carefully then put them into the sacks. They mustn’t look like weapons!”

The members of the Hunting Squadron were wrapping the bundles up together carefully.

A large number of hides they had gotten from hunting and killing wild beasts in the past had been brought out. In just a short amount of time, one hundred and eighty-two Frost Jade Sabers had been carefully stored.

“Yongfan, Qingshan,” Teng Yunlong walked over and looked at the two of them. “You guys must be careful on the trip! You mustn’t make any blunders!”

“Yes, Grandfather.” Teng Qingshan smiled and said.

Teng Yongfan said as well, “Teacher, you can just wait for the silver that we’ll be bringing back.”

“Qingshan, let’s set off!” Teng Yongfan said. Teng Qingshan immediately gave the order and all of the members of the Hunting Squadron held their sharp longspears, with some of them even carrying bow and arrows on their backs, and they left. Teng Yunlong, Teng Yongxiang, and other members of the clan looked at this scene from afar, hoping only for their trip to be smooth-sailing.

…

The sky completely lit up only after they had walked for an hour.

On the wide path, the hunters from the Teng Jia Village advanced while taking large strides while being cautious about their surroundings.

“Father, look.” Teng Qingshan pointed to the front where there were traces of corpses in the far distance. “Everyone be careful.” Teng Yongfan let out a deep bellow as the group continued to progress cautiously. When they got near, everyone could see clearly that there were a total of twelve sets of corpses, all of them being men.

The dried up blood traces had already turned black and the twelve of them had been removed of their possessions.

“They’d encountered bandits. Judging from the looks of their corpse, this happened late last night.” Teng Yongfan took a look and said, “Alright, let’s move on and stop looking.”

Teng Qingshan asked as they moved on, “Father, no one will clean up their corpses?”

“Of course there’ll be people cleaning up! With so many people dying everyday in this world, if no one were to collect the corpses and burn them up, there would have been plagues breaking out a long time ago.” When Teng Yongfan saw the corpses earlier, there had not been any changes to his emotions. He let out a faint smile, “When the people of the village near this place comes out to work on the fields, they’ll naturally dispose of those corpses when they see them.”

Teng Qingshan frowned as he said, “With the bandits running rampant, would we encounter bandits on our trip?”

“Qingshan,” a middle-aged man smiled and said, “Bandits do choose their targets. If their targets are low in number and are rich, of course they would rob them! If their targets have many people with them but bring along a large amount of money with them, they would probably get help to take action. As for poor hunters like us, we don’t seem to have a lot of money. Moreover, they would suffer more casualties if they were to attempt to kill hunters like us. It’s not worth it and they wouldn’t do it!”

Teng Qingshan nodded to himself.

Bandits would also assess if it was worth it to attack a target. Poor hunters did not have much money yet was extremely troublesome to deal with. Therefore, few bandits would get involved with them.

“Let’s move on quickly. It’s better to enter the city earlier” Teng Yongfan said.

As they progressed, they could see people working in the fields on both sides of the road.

Teng Jia Village was not considered to be close to Yi City, but neither was it considered to be too far. If one were to walk, it would usually take close to four hours to arrive.

Outside Yi City’s gates, a group of hunters wearing beast hide had appeared. It was Teng Qingshan and the others. They had set off when the sky was still dark and had finally arrived at Yi City when the sun was shining brightly. The fortunate thing was that they had not encountered any bandits on their way.

“We’ve finally arrived!” A smile appeared on Teng Qingshan’s face. This was the first time he had visited a city. As the world was very chaotic, the children from the village did not have many opportunities to enter the city.

“Two coppers per person.” The guard at the city gate said lazily. The entrance fee charged for people entering the city also depended on the identity and status of the person. Guards were too lazy to deal with hunters who were barbaric and poor. Therefore, they would only ask for the lowest amount for the entrance fee.

After paying sixty-two copper, Teng Qingshan and the group finally entered the city.

“Haha, the city is really bustling.” Teng Qinghu’s eyes gleamed, “Qingshan, look! There are so many people on the streets and the streets are filled with peddlers! We can’t even see the end of the street! Tsk tsk, how could we possibly see so many peddlers and see so many interesting things in our village?”

Teng Qingshan also felt the place was very prosperous. The shouts from the peddlers and the voices of inns and restaurants calling to attract customers were coming from all over the place.

“Sigh. Unless necessary, don’t fight with anyone in the city.” Teng Yongfan reminded. “Even if you were to encounter some scoundrels and wish to deal with them, do not take their lives! The government won’t care if you murdered someone outside the city. However, if you murdered someone in the city and didn’t manage to escape in time, you will be put behind bars and your entire life will be ruined.”

Everyone understood that the government’s power was only for the management of the city. As for the things that happened outside the city… No matter how rampant bandits were, the City Lord could not be bothered with these things. There was not enough manpower to deal with those issues either.

“This time around, don’t be running around. After we’ve sold the goods, we’ll just take a little look around and then head back. Understand?” Teng Yongfan said.

“Understood.” All of the clansmen nodded.

Usually, they would have a good time when they come to Yi City. After all, they rarely get to come to the city. For example, they would go to gambling dens and play a few rounds. However, on this trip, the amount of money involved was too great and no one dared to let down guard down.

*******

Teng Qingshan and the others entered a quiet and vast street which did not have many people passing by.

Teng Qinghu, who was beside Teng Qingshan, smiled and said, “Qingshan, even though there aren’t many people here now, this place is the liveliest place in the entire Yi City at night. Look at that three-story building. Do you know what place that is? Haha, you definitely won’t be able to guess it. The ladies there have really tender faces. It’s as if water would drip out if you were to pinch them!”

“Haha…” the other clansmen laughed out loud when they heard that.

“Qinghu, did you really pinch those ladies before?” Teng Yongfan asked as he laughed.

Qinghu rubbed his nose, “This place is good, but it’s far too expensive. Just drinking a cup of tea would cost one tael of silver! It’s said that spending time with a lady there is even more expensive! It’s really extortion.”

Teng Yongfan laughed and said, “Qinghu, think about it. Those three brothels are the most high-classed places, and they are built right next to the various great Chambers of Commerce. Why is that so? Their customers are those rich merchants and not people like us.”

“Qinghu, if you want to have a taste of a woman, go to that tofu shop at the front street. It’ll take only one string of coins each time.” the people from the clan teased.
TLN: Eating tofu is a phrase in China that means physically flirting

“Tsk tsk tsk!” Qinghu scolded them while laughing, “I haven’t gotten a wife yet.”

“Alright, let’s stop here. The Yangzhou’s Chamber of Commerce is just right in front.” Teng Yongfan said.

Teng Qingshan’s previous world was the modern society. Therefore, he had seen too many large cities in which one had to take a one to two hours drive just to cut across the city. How could Yi City be able to compare to those? Of course, the buildings he had seen in his previous life were all made of concrete and steel while the buildings here gave off a more archaic feeling. It was a totally different feeling.

“This area has the various Chambers of Commerce. Out of all of them, the Yangzhou’s Chamber of Commerce takes up the greatest land area.” Teng Yongfan pointed to the front and said, “That’s the Yangzhou’s Chamber of Commerce.”

Teng Qingshan threw a glance over there and gasped.

The doors to the Yangzhou’s Chamber of Commerce was over ten Zhang wide and it could allow twenty or thirty people to enter in all at once. The two big turquoise stone lions that were gleaming in golden light increased the feeling of power of influence the building gave off. Teng Yongfan exclaimed, “Qingshan, those two stone lions are entirely made from lapis. With their huge size, each of them would definitely weight at least ten thousand Jin. Just these two stone lions alone is worth several thousand silver taels!”

Yangzhou’s salt merchants were extremely wealthy. It was no joke.

“All of you, scram off.” One of the four strong guards at the entrance to the Yangzhou’s Chamber of Commerce shouted out toward Teng Qingshan and the others.

“We’re here to deliver the goods. Jiangning County’s Master Li has ordered goods from us!” Teng Yongfan said.

“Jiangning County’s Master Li?” One of them frowned and said, “Wait here. I’ll go in and report this.”

Teng Qingshan and the others waited quietly in front of the entrance. In just a short moment, two men dressed in black ran over, threw a glance outside, and after seeing Teng Yongfan, one of them spoke up in a loud voice, “You guys are from the Teng Jia Village, right? Come in.” After saying that, he turned and led the way while Teng Qingshan and the others quickly followed.

The things outside the Chamber of Commerce were merely the tip of the iceberg of Chamber of Commerce’s luxury. They were only able to truly witness the luxurious life of a great merchant when they had entered the Chamber of Commerce.

“Wow,” Teng Qinghu’s eyes opened wide.

Teng Qingshan also gasped. The roads were all paved with huge slabs of neatly cut limestones. How much manpower did that take? Many of the various plants and flowers at the side did not originate from Yi City and had been transplanted from other places. There were also a large pond and other water-typed constructions, including a man-made spring.

“The luxurious villas of the future can’t be compared to this.” Teng Qingshan thought. “And this is merely a Chamber of Commerce.”

Yangzhou’s Salt Chamber of Commerce was the number one huge merchant in the world. Only the Yuzhou Trade Conglomerate could be compared to them.

The buildings in the Chamber of Commerce were many large-scaled manors.

“Be careful. If you guys were to break the things here, you won’t be able to pay for them.” The man dressed in black who was leading the way said, “Some of the manors in the surroundings are occupied by important characters who are a match for our Master. If you guys were to offend any of them, all of you can forget about leaving this place alive. Be careful.”

“Yes, we understand.” Teng Yongfan smiled and said.

The people from the clan clearly became more reserved. Yangzhou’s Salt Chamber of Commerce was a super wealthy organization that was affiliated to the eight great sects in the Nine Prefectures. In the event that they were to kill some people, even Yi City’s City Lord would probably not take any action.

“This is it.” One of the men dressed in black said, “It’s sufficient to go through the steward for small transactions like this. Don’t take the front entrance. You’ll be in trouble if you were to disturb Master. Come with me and enter from the back door.” The man then went through an alley between two large manors and came to the door leading to this manor’s backyard.

There were quite a number of attendants and guards staying here.

“Oh, you guys have arrived.” the cavalry leader who had gone to Teng Jia Village to place the order was seated on a chair in an unreserved manner. He threw a glance toward Teng Qingshan and the others. “Come in. Bring out all the goods and lay them out on the floor.”