Ways to Make Money

Several people gathered around a large stone stool, the atmosphere somewhat somber.

Shen Li sat somewhat awkwardly on the side, specially invited by Luo Yu to participate in the discussion. As the leader of the refugees responsible for cooking and distributing food, she was in charge of the entire logistics and knew exactly how much food remained in the camp.

Luo Yu glanced at Shen Li:

"How much food do we have left from Yunyang Pass? How many days will it last?"

"Three days at most."

Shen Li blurted out, having carefully counted the remaining food every day, not daring to miss a single bag.

"Three days."

Luo Yu calculated in his mind:

"I have about two hundred taels of silver left. This money needs to be used for military pay and buying food, it's really tight."

"The military pay can wait. These are all brothers who've been through life and death with us, it doesn't matter if it's delayed two months."

Han Shuo said gravely: "The main issue is food. We need to cut wood and build walls every day, the men are expending a lot of energy, they'll really starve to death without food."

Xiao Shaoyou did some calculations:

"Four hundred people, two pounds of food per person per day, that's eight hundred pounds a day, twenty-four thousand pounds a month, which is two hundred and forty shi. Even if we sell grain at one tael per shi, we don't even have enough for a month's worth of food.

Even if we save and try to buy cheaper grain, with the Jun family having already collected three months' worth of taxes, we can't possibly gather enough food for three months."

"This can't go on. We need to find ways to make money and get food."

Luo Yu countered:

"Does being a city lord mean we can only collect taxes? Are there other ways to make money?"

"Of course there are. We can do business, trade, or even rob people if we don't care about our reputation."

Xiao Shaoyou smiled bitterly: "But now we can't even feed ourselves, where would we get capital to do business? Besides, business isn't that easy. All we have in Sanqi Mountain is rocks and trees. Are we supposed to have everyone chop wood to sell?"

Everyone fell silent. They were all warriors, not businessmen, even if they had capital.

"Ah."

Han Shuo sighed gloomily:

"I thought following City Lord Luo would mean drinking good wine every day, but now we can't even get cold water. What a mistake, what a mistake."

A joke to lighten the mood made Luo Yu's eyes suddenly brighten: "What did Brother Han say?"

"Um, I said I wanted to drink your good wine, but now we can't even get cold water." Han Shuo said awkwardly:

"Don't take it seriously, I was just joking."

"Haha, you've reminded me. We can sell wine!"

Luo Yu suddenly saw a way forward:

"Brother Han, do you think the wine I brew could sell for a good price?"

"Wine? Right, we can sell wine! Such good wine would definitely fetch a good price!"

Han Shuo jumped up immediately. He knew exactly how good Luo Yu's wine was, but then he became worried:

"But to brew such good wine, the cost must be high. How much can we brew with two hundred taels?"

"Don't worry about that." Luo Yu waved his hand: "Actually, there's no cost, it's very cheap."

"What? No cost?"

Han Shuo stared wide-eyed: "Didn't you tell me before that brewing this wine was time-consuming and expensive? And that you traded twenty jars of wine for twenty warhorses! I haven't even seen one jar yet!"

Realizing he had spoken out of turn, Luo Yu quickly changed the subject:

"Don't worry, we'll definitely have good wine to drink later. Let's focus on making money and filling our bellies now!

I want to ask, are there any larger, more prosperous cities nearby? If we really want to sell wine, ordinary towns and poor people definitely can't afford good wine. We can only sell to the rich."

"Of course there are."

Han Shuo pointed:

"About sixty miles southwest is Quezhou's Fengchuan City, one of the most prosperous cities in Quezhou. Sanqi Mountain is a dead end, unable to connect two prefectures, but Fengchuan City happens to be one of the key routes connecting the two areas. Merchants come and go constantly.

There are many taverns in the city with lots of customers. If we transport our wine to Fengchuan to sell, we'll definitely make a good profit."

Han Shuo's mouth watered as he spoke, clearly having visited Fengchuan City many times to drink wine.

"Perfect, it's like heaven is helping us."

Luo Yu suddenly had a plan:

"Shen Li, you should know what's needed to make a distillation pot, right? Go buy the materials and we'll rebuild the distillation pot. Also buy enough food for ten days, and use the rest of the silver to buy cheap rice wine, as much as possible.

Brother Han, take some men with you."

"All the silver? Are you sure?" Shen Li asked in surprise: "Not a single penny left? If we can't sell the wine, we'll starve!"

"No leftovers!"

Luo Yu was very determined:

"Business is like war. To make money, you have to be willing to take risks.

Let's do it!"

...

Over the next few days, the camp became even busier. The young men continued building the camp wall, while Luo Yu busied himself with distillation.

They built ten distillation pots, which Luo Yu built with Shen Li's help since he couldn't do it alone. He specially instructed Shen Li not to reveal the method.

Shen Li was very understanding, realizing that Luo Yu's ability to brew good wine must be related to the distillation pot. The girl even swore on her life that she wouldn't say a word.

Han Shuo bought large quantities of rice wine from the villagers. All homemade, cheap at about half a tael per jar. They brought back two or three hundred jars, filling the military tent.

Shen Li led a group of women to distill the rice wine day and night, working hard. She knew this batch of wine would determine whether they would starve in the wilderness.

By the fourth day, the first section of the camp wall was finally completed, with wooden stakes nearly two men high planted from east to west along the mountain pass. From now on, the entire mountain range was sealed off, and one would have to cross this camp wall to enter the interior of the mountain.

As night fell slowly, all the tents were moved to the north side of the camp wall, providing a simple layer of protection.

After days of hard work, everyone sat exhausted on the ground, finally getting some rest time. The bonfires illuminated their sweat-covered faces.

Although tired, they were happy, at least they had a place to live.

Luo Yu brought out the first jar of wine he had brewed, pouring everyone a bowl. The aroma of the wine filled the air.

Whether it was the old soldiers who loved wine or the women and children who had never drunk wine, their noses kept sniffing. Just by the smell, they could tell this was no ordinary wine.

Luo Yu climbed onto the grain pile, looking down at the crowd from above, his face apologetic:

"Everyone followed me from Yunyang Pass to Changqi, but I've made you camp in the wilderness. The food in the camp is running low, and we might even starve.

I, Luo Yu, have failed you, I've let you down!"

The old Luo Yu would never have said such words, but since hundreds of people chose to follow him, he felt an inexplicable burden in his heart. He had to consider these people and had an obligation to help them live better.

"City Lord, don't say that."

An old refugee who had been with Luo Yu from the beginning said tremulously:

"In these times, just having someone take us in and give us food is a great kindness. A little hardship is nothing. Who hasn't been hungry before?

You haven't let us down. We should thank the City Lord for giving us a chance to live."

"Right, you took us in, we work for our food. There's nothing to complain about."

Voices of agreement rose from the crowd.

After experiencing one battle after another and two months of living together, they understood that although Luo Yu could sometimes be cold and ruthless, he actually had a good heart. At least he treated them like human beings.

They completely trusted Luo Yu!

"Thank you all for your trust. I promise here that Changqi will become the largest and most prosperous place in Longxi!

Each of you will have enough to eat, clothes to wear, and a peaceful life!"

Luo Yu was moved, raising his wine bowl high and shouting:

"From now on, this is our home!"

"For our home, cheers!"

"Cheers!"