While Xu Huaiqian and Chen Liejiu were enjoying their private time in the room, Magistrate Wu and the other magistrates were utterly stunned by the sight of the densely packed boats at Taoyuan County's dock.
How could Chen Liejiu, a man, create such a huge stir just by selling charcoal?
Especially when the people who came on these boats to purchase showed their household badges—the magistrates were so frightened their legs went weak.
House of the sixth-rank Lord Feng from the capital, House of the fifth-rank Lord Liu, House of the fourth-rank Lord Su...
There were even purchasing servants from several third-rank high officials later on.
Although they were all servants, as the saying goes, "A servant at a prime minister's door is equivalent to a seventh-rank official." No matter their status, as long as they were from capital officials' households, they were not people these remote seventh-rank magistrates could afford to offend.
Magistrate Min couldn't handle it alone, so Magistrates Wu, Sheng, and the others had to step in and help. Who knows—if they could connect with one or two officials through these purchasing family members or servants, it would be a huge gain.
Taoyuan County was located on a branch downstream from Yong'an Prefecture. Being too close to Yong'an and on a tributary, it had a dock for berthing but saw very little boat traffic—it was quite deserted.
Now, with so many boats arriving at once, the desolate Taoyuan County instantly became bustling.
Common people in the streets and alleys were curious: what were these boats here for?!
The innkeepers of Taoyuan County, however, were overjoyed. Following the magistrates' instructions, they had their waiters clean out the best rooms for the guests.
Although not entirely sure what was happening, they knew that guests were guests—they had no reason to turn them away. Moreover, these guests were quite generous.
They gave tips to the servants—a whole tenth of a tael at a time, equivalent to a month's wages.
When the capital's purchasing staff first arrived in Taoyuan County, their impression was extremely poor.
The place was so poor it didn't even have proper docking posts.
But since the charcoal their masters wanted was only available here, they had to suppress their displeasure and disembark. However, it must be said that small places had their advantages.
Whether it was the magistrates, the inns, or even other locals, everyone treated them like honored guests, as if they weren't servants but officials from somewhere.
This was an attitude they, as domestic servants, never experienced in the capital or other prosperous prefectures.
So, even though the conditions were as simple as could be, they were happy to give tips like dignitaries, appreciating the service.
After all, a few tenths of a tael weren't that much.
The inns got money, the waiters got rewards, and the domestic servants felt comfortable—everyone was satisfied.
Back in Xinghua Village, the Chen clan elders had been waiting anxiously for Chen Liejiu's return. When Chen Qiang returned to report that Chen Liejiu had sold almost all their stockpiled charcoal—and to high officials in the capital—they were so shocked their legs gave way, and they collapsed to the ground.
"Brother Liejiu has such great skill!"
"Indeed," Chen Qiang nodded secretly. "We were almost losing hope in Yong'an Prefecture. Who knew there would be such a sudden and huge turnaround!"
At that time, they were so impatient in Yong'an that they were about to go work as dock laborers. Even though Yong'an had declined, it was still functioning. Having some income as loaders was better than sitting idle and depleting their savings.
Unexpectedly, such a large group of people suddenly appeared, holding silver and begging to buy their imitation silver frost charcoal.
Over a hundred cartloads were sold out in no time, and some were even clamoring for more charcoal.
Fortunately, from last winter until now, they had been continuously stockpiling charcoal. They had at least several thousand cartloads.
"Hurry, hurry, gather manpower!" Clan Elder Chen Pingsong, snapping out of his shock, scrambled up from the ground and leaned against the door to instruct the clan. "Mobilize all the ox carts in the clan to deliver charcoal for the officials. Be quick—can't let the officials in Taoyuan County grow impatient."
As the saying goes, ", share glory and loss together." Chen Liejiu had already opened up the sales channel for the imitation silver frost charcoal; the rest was up to the clan not to hold him back.
"Not enough, Elder." Chen Qiang quickly calculated after hearing Chen Pingsong's instructions. The clan only had over twenty ox carts—and that was after many families added oxen when they earned money.
With so few ox carts, trying to deliver a thousand cartloads of charcoal in a few days would exhaust the oxen to death.
"Rent them! Use money to rent!" The clan elder waved his hand. "Rent all the ox carts from outside villages. Can't delay the officials' time."
In the harsh winter, capital officials must be waiting to use the charcoal. What they needed was speed—can't let the capital officials grow impatient and dislike them.
"Alright, got it." Following the elders' instructions, Chen Qiang didn't dare delay and went to contact people to rent ox carts.
Fortunately, over the past year, the Chen clan had bought lumber from other clans and built good relationships with many.
When the Chen clan's charcoal sold out and they needed to rent ox carts, and would also be buying large quantities of lumber from their clans in the future, the other clan elders had no reason to refuse. They quickly arranged all their ox carts and even helped contact elders from other clans for more.
Just like that, all the ox carts in Mishan County were gathered at Xinghua Village.
Over a hundred ox carts set out from various villages in Mishan County toward Xinghua Village, all converging at the foot of the charcoal mountain, waiting to transport charcoal to Taoyuan County.
The sight of so many ox carts continuously hauling charcoal for over half a month stunned everyone along the route from Mishan to Taoyuan.
When had their remote, godforsaken county ever seen such a major event? Curious people eagerly inquired about what was happening.
As they asked around, they learned it was all about the Chen clan's charcoal mountain.
Last year, many clans knew the Chen clan was selling charcoal in the county. But since they sold at low prices and on a small scale, and out of respect for them being a clan, no one intervened.
Now, seeing their charcoal sell so well, many large clans were tempted. But as soon as they considered action, the Chen clan announced they were buying lumber county-wide—not limited to previous partners; any household with lumber to sell could contact them.
The condition was that no one should interfere with the charcoal transport teams. If anyone cut off this source of income, no one would benefit in the future.
The restless major clans held back. They had lumber to sell too, and besides, they weren't confident they had Chen Liejiu's ability to connect with the noble guests in Taoyuan.
Also shocked were the villagers of Xinghua, who had been marveling at Xu Huaiqian's huge profits from ginger.
They thought digging up some ginger from Xu Huaiqian's land or buying ginger seeds from medical clinics to plant next year would already be great—they could get rich like Xu Huaiqian.
But before they could react, they saw the Chen clan continuously hauling charcoal out for sale every day. The countless ox carts were beyond the comprehension of those who had never studied—they couldn't even calculate how much money that was.
Needless to say, the Chen clan had struck it rich this year, and definitely much more than last year. The villagers were once again envious of the Chen clan.
"Lucky them! With a money-maker like Chen Liejiu, the Chen clansmen can just sit back and enjoy life from now on."
Based on the daily haul of over a hundred cartloads of charcoal, everyone calculated that each Chen household would get at least thirty taels in dividends this year.
Thirty taels!
No matter how carefully they farmed, they couldn't earn thirty taels a year from the land. But the Chen clansmen could earn thirty taels a year just by sitting at home doing nothing.
Who in the village wouldn't be envious?
Growing ginger might be profitable, but it was too uncertain. They didn't have the connections to reach medical clinics in Shengbei; even if they grew it, they'd have to rely on Xu Huaiqian.
But the Chen clan was winning without lifting a finger. Many households didn't even burn charcoal on the mountain—they just had wooded hills waiting for someone to come buy trees.
Thinking about how the Chen clansmen, who used to be as poor and ragged as themselves, now dressed as finely as Chen Liejiu, built brick houses, and lived comfortably, while they remained as poor as ever, the villagers of Xinghua didn't know whom to envy anymore.
"You're all being stubborn," someone clever spoke up. "Instead of staring enviously, why not try to get close? I've already asked Matchmaker Hong to propose to the Chen clan. I don't care who—as long as they fancy my son or daughter, I'll marry them off. If any Chen son or daughter likes my child, we're willing to marry in too."
After all, if two families became in-laws, wouldn't the Chen clan help out with future opportunities for the sake of the relationship?
Everyone thought that made sense.
Don't let fertile water flow to outsiders' fields. The Chen clan had many bachelors, especially among the men following Chen Liejiu—they were the most bachelor of bachelors, none married.
Before, they were too poor and had a bad reputation from collecting debts with Chen Liejiu, so villagers looked down on them. Now they were hot commodities.
Matchmaker Hong visited these families ten times a day, proposing matches left and right until the families were dizzy and didn't know how to choose a spouse.
The changing winds in Xinghua Village were unknown to Xu Huaiqian and Chen Liejiu, who were far away in Taoyuan County.