Chapter 33: Trading Convention

  Seeking a patron...

  The common people can relax, but Wu Tao dare not slack off in the slightest. He doesn't have a strong desire to catch Wang Yonggui, he's very clear that to catch Wang Yonggui, an extremely huge price must be paid, and it's unknown how many lives will be lost. Not to mention other things, just the silver needed to comfort the families of the dead subordinates is enough to make him scratch his head.

  Wu Tao's idea was simple, to learn from the methods of Shaoyang County, to shift the disaster eastward, and drive Wang Yonggui out of Sanshan County. Then, no matter where Wang Yonggui went to cause trouble, as long as he didn't stay in Sanshan County, Wu Tao would be relieved. However, Wang Yonggui was like a turtle that had eaten iron filings, stubbornly insisting on staying in Sanshan County, and no matter how many people Wu Tao sent to drive him away, he refused to leave Sanshan County.

  Wu Tao even once sent someone to shout at Wang Yonggui, as long as Wang Yonggui was willing to leave Sanshan County, he not only would send Wang Yonggui five hundred taels of silver but also was willing to send someone to escort Wang Yonggui out of the border. However, Wang Yonggui didn't pay attention to him that time.

  Wu Tao was at his wit's end, and apart from continuing to apply to the magistrate for more assistance, he also hung up a wanted notice at the city gate, recruiting brave men to assist the county government in capturing Wang Yonggui.

  This made the already somewhat relaxed county town atmosphere tense again, and many ordinary people were so frightened that they dared not go out of their homes.

  Li Wenjun also felt the change in atmosphere, his alchemy was unsuccessful, he could only seize the time to practice martial arts and strengthen his body, spending more than half an hour every day in the martial arts hall.

  Sanshan County was an inconspicuous small county in the entire Song Dynasty, with no great status, so the martial arts hall set up here was nothing special. Whether it was the master of the martial arts hall or the boxing and kicking masters, their skills were limited.

  Li Wenjun learned ordinary kung fu here, but what's different from others is that he insisted on practicing "Changchun Gong" every day. The little heavenly energy he absorbed every day would have a positive effect on his tendons and bones, making him stronger than others, faster than others, more agile in reaction, and more flexible in movement.

  Up to now, Li Wenjun has been learning martial arts for several months. Although he can't say anything else, if he really can't make a living in the future, becoming a bodyguard at a security firm would definitely be a qualified job and he would have no problem making a living. However, this is not the life he wants, what he misses is still cultivation.

  That day, Li Wenjun returned from the martial arts hall and turned into the vegetable market to buy an old hen. He asked the chicken seller to help him clean it up and bought some wild mushrooms and other things, preparing to go home and stew the chicken for dinner.

  Every day, he practices martial arts and endures hardships, which is also very tiring. If his nutrition can't keep up, he won't be able to hold on. To say the least, this is all thanks to him stealing the old Daoist's storage pouch back then. It was precisely because of the gold, silver, and precious jewelry inside that he didn't need to worry about money.

  Back home, Li Wenjun sat beside the stove, first filling water into the iron pot and adding seasonings, then putting the processed old hen into the iron pot. He grabbed a handful of wheat straw, ignited it, and filled it into the furnace, gradually adding firewood inside, quickly burning the fire up.

  After the pot boiled, it didn't take long for the aroma of chicken to waft out. Li Wenjun sniffed his nose, smelling the aroma of chicken, and suddenly felt his stomach growling with hunger.

  Li Wenjun's big dog ran over, lay down at his feet, absorbing the heat emitted by the stove on one side and staring at the iron pot with eager eyes, hoping that its owner would give it some meat to eat soon.

  Li Wenjun patted the big dog's head and scolded with a smile: "Glutton."

  At this time, the big dog suddenly stood up and ran towards the gate of the yard. Soon, Sun Jianing's voice came from outside the gate. "Wen Jun, are you there?"

  "Is that Jianing? Your nose is quite sharp, you arrived right on time for lunch. Hehe, come quickly, today I'm having braised chicken and I won't be able to finish it by myself, let's finish it off together, brother." Li Wenjun said with a smile.

  Sun Jianing didn't stand on ceremony with Li Wenjun, and Li Wenjun often came to their home for free meals. The two were already familiar with each other. He walked over to the stove, bent down, and took a deep breath of the rich aroma coming from the iron pot.

  "It smells so good!" Sun Jianing rubbed her hands together and said, "Wen Jun, you take a break first, I'll help with the cooking."

  Li Wenjun got up and gave his seat to Sun Jianing. He didn't leave, but instead moved a stool to sit down beside the stove. It was cold outside, so he sat here where it was warm.

  "Wen Jun, with this chicken stew, I remembered something. My parents mentioned you the other day and said that you're living alone here, eating and dressing every day without any income, which isn't a long-term solution. Especially since you occasionally want to eat meat, go to the martial arts hall to practice, and go to the tea house to listen to books, even if you had more money, you wouldn't be able to sustain this kind of lifestyle. Wen Jun, don't you think you should think of a way to make some money?" Sun Jianing said.

  Li Wenjun smiled and said, "It's okay, I can still hold on for a while."

  "Wen Jun, it's impossible to say this. As the saying goes, 'If one does not plan for the future, he will worry about the present.' You and I are both getting older, these two days, there have been people coming to my house, talking about matchmaking and marriage proposals. I think you're also at that age, we should think of ways to save more money, so in the future, someone can introduce a beautiful wife for you, then your sister-in-law will give birth to several children for you, a whole family, what a wonderful life it would be." Sun Jianing said.

  Li Wenjun chuckled and said: "Jianing, how old are you? You're thinking of being a father to kids already."

  "What's wrong with this? Here, who didn't come like that?" Sun Jianing said without any hesitation.

  Li Wenjun shook his head. In his hometown, customs were not much different from those in Sanshan County. At his age, getting married and having children was nothing unusual. If it had been in the past, he would have just followed suit. Whatever his parents arranged, he would have listened to. But now, his horizons had broadened, and he had greater aspirations. His ambitions were no longer focused on that.

  "Wen Jun, don't be unconcerned. Today, Matchmaker Zhang came to our house with a marriage proposal, and the bride's family immediately asked for ten taels of silver, plus some satin and silk fabrics. Our family's annual savings are probably around that amount too. It's so hard to marry off a daughter, if we don't start thinking about saving money early on, how can it be done?" Sun Jianing still had a childish face, but with a weightiness that didn't match his age.

  Li Wenjun smiled and said: "If you're short of money, I can help you out. Well, even if it's a loan to you, whenever you have the money, you can return it, and if you don't return it, that's okay too."

  Sun Jianing shook her head and said, "I know Wen Junge is good to me, but I can't take Wen Junge's money. Don't worry, Wen Junge, I have a way to make money."

  "What's the method? Tell me about it." Li Wenjun asked casually. Sun Jianing was loyal and honest, so there was no need to worry that he would do anything deceitful or illegal.

  Sun Jianing said: "Wen Jun, you also know that our Sanshan County is the intersection of three mountains. The three mountains are Wufeng Mountain, Shaowei Mountain and Tianhua Mountain. Many medicinal herbs grow on the mountain, so there are many medicine collectors in our Sanshan County. The business of buying and selling medicinal materials here has always been very prosperous."

  Every year before the Spring Festival, there is a medicinal herb trading conference here. The venue of the trading conference is in Fengshou Town at the foot of Tianhua Mountain.

  Every year when the annual Herb Trading Convention is held, merchants of medicinal materials from all over the world gather there, and there are many opportunities to make money. The day after tomorrow is the opening day of the convention, I want to go and take a look, see if I can find any opportunities to make money."

  Li Wenjun's heart skipped a beat as he asked, "Is that place where you can buy all kinds of medicinal herbs?"

  Sun Jianing said: "It can be said that it is, and it can also be said that it is not. Most of the medicinal materials at the trading conference are common and commonly used, while those rare herbs appear less frequently at the trading conference. Like our family, we usually send precious herbs to the prefectural city and sell them to pharmacies like Hui Chun Tang, so we can earn one or two percent more silver. However, for large quantities of medicinal materials, it is still more cost-effective to trade at the trading conference."

  Li Wenjun nodded and said, "Alright, I'll also go take a look at the trade fair in Fengshou Town later."

  Sun Jianing became excited and said: "Alright, I'll tell my dad, tomorrow we'll set off to Fengshou Town together, it's also good to have someone to take care of each other on the way."

  Li Wenjun thought of something else and asked: "Wang Yonggui has not been caught yet, the trading conference is still being held as usual, isn't he afraid that he will make trouble in the past?"

  "My dad said, as long as the sky doesn't fall down and we don't get killed by a collapse, what's there to be afraid of? We'll still have to live our lives as usual. Besides, with so many people in Sanshan County, how could it possibly be so coincidental that we ran into each other?"

  Li Wenjun nodded as if he had suddenly realized something.

  The next day, Li Wenjun and Sun Baicao, along with his son Sun Jianing, set out on the road. Sun Baicao rented a horse-drawn carriage at the transportation hub, which carried them, as well as a large quantity of medicinal herbs they had accumulated over nearly a year, towards Fengshou Town.

  Everything went smoothly and safely all the way, and arrived at Fengshou Town.

  On the road, chatting casually, Sun Baicao mentioned some interesting stories about the Trading Conference to Li Wenjun.

  At the trading conference, the medicine traders who came to purchase medicinal materials not only purchased wild medicinal herbs collected by the herbalists but also encouraged local people to open up medicinal fields and plant those medicinal herbs in high demand. They often signed contracts with the medicinal farmers, specifying the quantity and price of the next year's purchase, buying and selling as needed. Some medicinal farmers were greedy for cheapness, seeing what kind of medicinal herb was good for sale and making a lot of money, so they followed suit and planted it the following year, resulting in more losses than gains.

  The phenomenon of breach of contract between medicinal material businessmen and medicinal plant farmers is not uncommon, with several lawsuits filed every year. To deal with these matters, the government set up a branch office in Fengshou Town, where the deputy county magistrate, also known as the county lieutenant, was stationed.