Chapter 5: Procuring Supplies

Chapter 5: Stocking Up

After earning money, Zhao An embarked on a major shopping spree in Changxi County. Having lived through the catastrophe of the Spiritual Awakening, he had developed a slight hoarding tendency, valuing tangible goods far more than mere currency.

His first stop was a general store, where he purchased a variety of seasonings. Enduring bland food for so long had left him craving rich, flavorful dishes—hot pot, barbecue, luosifen—all of which he could still enjoy as a Supernatural Power user. So, he not only bought soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and other condiments but also acquired some Sichuan peppercorns and star anise to make braised meat. He even picked up some cumin, intending to use it for grilled fish when the opportunity arose.

The only regret was the absence of chili peppers, so he had to settle for braised meat. He recalled many novels featuring scenes of preparing braised meat. While such dishes already existed in this world, he knew he couldn't amass a fortune with this skill as depicted in those stories. Still, it would be more than enough to satisfy his personal cravings.

The total cost came to 102 *wen*. The shopkeeper smiled and said, "I'll round it down for you—just give me 100 *wen*."

Zhao An promptly handed over a string of coins to the grocer. Qintong, however, was visibly distressed. "Those small pottery jars for soy sauce and vinegar are so crudely made, surely from a local kiln and barely worth anything. Yet the shopkeeper charged five *wen* for them. Even with the rounding down, we're still losing out."

Zhao An simply offered the grocer a smile and led Qintong out of the shop. Then, turning to the pouting and annoyed Qintong, he said, "Let's go buy some meat for braised pork. Imagine the fatty, layered pork belly, braised until it's tender and fragrant."

Qintong had eaten braised meat before, even high-quality beef and lamb, during his time in the prime minister's residence. But having gone without good food recently, the thought of succulent pork belly made his mouth water and instantly brightened his mood.

"Young master, let's hurry to the meat stall!" he exclaimed, dashing off.

Earlier, while exploring the city, they had already pinpointed the meat market. Despite carrying a heavy load, Qintong ran swiftly. By the time Zhao An caught up, Qintong was already fixated on the glistening pieces of fatty meat at the stall.

After inquiring about the prices, Zhao An realized that, as expected in this era, fatty meat was indeed more expensive.

Pork lard was the priciest at 25 *wen* per *jin*, while layered pork belly was slightly cheaper at 23 *wen* per *jin*. Lean meat, however, cost only 18 *wen*. Bones were also relatively inexpensive. Apart from flavorful ribs, which also cost 18 *wen*, marrow bones could be bought for just five *wen* each, though the meat on them was meticulously scraped clean.

Firewood in this era also incurred significant labor costs. Even in the countryside, stewing food was not a casual affair. Thus, despite their low price, marrow bones weren't particularly popular. When the butcher heard Zhao An wanted two marrow bones, he even threw in an extra one for free.

Zhao An appreciated the gesture. He not only bought the three marrow bones and had the butcher cleave them but also purchased two *jin* of lard and two *jin* of pork belly. Another hundred-plus *wen* were spent, leaving him with less than 40 *wen*.

Though he had many other items he wished to buy, Zhao An had to stop. The remaining money was needed to buy grain back home. Grain was slightly cheaper in the countryside, and this sum could purchase over 20 *jin* of rice.

Even so, after leaving the city, he found the ox cart from Zhao Village waiting by the city gate to transport people to the market. He paid the driver two *wen* and rode back with Qintong.

Besides the master and his servant, the ox cart also carried a few villagers surnamed Liu. They regarded Zhao An with a peculiar mix of intense curiosity and fear.

During this period, Zhao An had mostly stayed around his house and wasn't very familiar with these villagers. He recognized the ox cart because he and Qintong had seen it at the village entrance that morning when they were heading to the city. At that time, Zhao An had wanted to hitch a ride, but the driver explained that the cart was too full with villagers' goods for sale in the city. He suggested they ride back instead, as by then most villagers would have sold their wares and wouldn't be carrying much, even if they bought a few things. Thus, he agreed to let them ride back.

The villagers, who even when going to the city had to wear patched clothes, dared not speak to the well-dressed and handsome Zhao An. However, they were somewhat familiar with Qintong. Once the cart started moving, a spirited young man began chatting with Qintong.

The young man first discussed with Qintong where the best firewood could be gathered and where the fodder grass grew most abundantly. Although Qintong wasn't responsible for gathering fodder grass, he engaged earnestly in the conversation and even shared a few spots he had observed with plentiful grass.

Once the atmosphere warmed up, the young man asked if Qintong had gone up the mountain the previous day and whether there were any mushrooms. Qintong answered him, even mentioning catching fish, but he didn't say a word about the strawberries.

The villagers were quite interested in wild game from the mountains, but they cared more about their farmland harvests. Going up the mountain required significant physical effort and consumed more nutrients, so aside from a few professional hunters, most villagers avoided the mountains.

Unless one possessed professional hunting skills, the gains from going up the mountain often didn't outweigh the costs. So, they only organized large-scale foraging trips for mushrooms, pine nuts, and other mountain goods during the downtime after the autumn harvest, treating it as an additional supplement to their yield.

Now, during the busy spring farming season, aside from selling chicken and duck eggs in the city for oil and salt, or spinning hemp yarn and cloth to earn money for the poll tax, hardly anyone ventured out.

Although the government stipulated that the poll tax was to be collected after the first corn harvest in summer, the authorities, fearing they wouldn't meet quotas, often began collecting taxes in the villages after late spring. Therefore, villagers usually sold the cloth they had accumulated the previous year in spring to avoid selling at a loss when cloth prices dropped closer to the tax deadline.

As Zhao An listened to the young man complain to Qintong about his mother's reluctance to sell the hemp cloth early, causing them to suffer from falling prices, he began considering how much poll tax he himself would need to pay.

As an official's son, the original Zhao An had never considered this issue. But according to the young man, every adult male had to pay 500 *wen*. Underage boys and women who had given birth were exempt, but unmarried girls had to pay 200 *wen*. This was why most women in this era married at a very young age—to avoid taxes. It was also a government policy to encourage childbirth.

When the young man brought up the tax issue, the other previously silent villagers also began discussing whether they had enough money to pay the tax. Qintong grew quiet, staring with a watering mouth at the basket he held in his arms.

But Zhao An was solely concerned about the tax issue. Upon returning home, he immediately asked Uncle Hai about the poll tax.

Uncle Hai said, "Our family no longer has farmland, so we don't need to pay grain tax. And there's only young master as the adult male, so we only need to pay 500 *wen* each year." He had originally been worried about this, but since the young master had earned a considerable amount of money in one trip, he felt relieved.

"So, you and Qintong don't need to pay taxes?" This was what Zhao An truly wanted to know.

Uncle Hai nodded. "We are both your servants. Why would we need to pay taxes?"

So, this was the government’s way of encouraging people to sell themselves into servitude, just like encouraging women to marry early.

Zhao An recalled fragments from novels he had read, such as policies like *tan ding ru mu* (incorporating poll tax into land tax) and the *single whip law*, which were designed to curb land annexation and population exploitation by large landowners. Yet, throughout feudal society, the issues of slavery and land annexation were never truly resolved.

By then, Uncle Hai had already started preparing the braised meat. He prepared the two-jin piece of pork, pricked the skin with bamboo skewers, and began stewing it in a broth of soy sauce, rock sugar, Sichuan peppercorns, and star anise. As the water boiled, the aroma wafted out, and the faint thoughts about tax reform lingering in Zhao An’s mind instantly vanished.

Even though the current system of collecting both poll tax and grain tax was problematic, Zhao An was now someone who had to expend great effort just to fill his stomach. These issues were beyond his current capacity to address, so he put them aside. For now, he only needed to save enough money to pay the taxes.

It was only then that Zhao An remembered he had originally intended to make the braised meat himself, but Uncle Hai clearly hadn't left him any opportunity to do so.

After finishing the braised meat, Uncle Hai took the 30 *wen* Zhao An gave him and went to the village to buy rice. Zhao An received a piece of steamed fish, which Uncle Hai told him to eat for fun.

Zhao An took a big bite of the fish. It wasn't fun at all, and it didn't taste very good either. With the aroma of braised meat lingering in the air, the fish, seasoned with only a bit of salt and grilled, tasted fishy and tough.

After a moment’s thought, Zhao An tore off the part he had bitten and handed the rest to Qintong, who was staring longingly at the pot of meat. Then, he went outside.

He stood under the courtyard wall, which was about two meters high, took a deep breath, exerted force through his feet, crouched slightly, and jumped. His hands grabbed the top of the wall, and his feet pushed against it, struggling to pull himself up.

Although the motion seemed relatively smooth, Zhao An’s face was already flushed, and sweat beaded on his forehead. He exhaled heavily a few times. Enjoying the breeze atop the wall, he felt pleased. He might not be able to leap onto a four-meter-high building in one go, but climbing over a wall was well within his abilities.

Back in the day, he had been a peak eighth-tier Supernatural Power user, moving like the wind and easily jumping three meters high. Even though he knew the spiritual energy in this world wasn't sufficient for him to return to his peak, with diligent training, he might not fare too poorly.

However, Zhao An’s good mood was soon ruined by a pair of shifty eyes. When he looked down, he saw someone hiding by the back wall of his kitchen, peering at him furtively. The moment their eyes met, the person turned and fled.

From the never-changing clothes, Zhao An knew it was Ah Wu, the laborer from the bamboo grove behind the house. Zhao An paid him no mind, only thinking that he should find an opportunity to ambush Zhao Tongming.