The bitter cold of the frontier lasts for six months of the winter, while the scorching summer does not exceed two months. Aside from the uncertainty brought by the Northern Nomads, goods can be stored quite durably.
The real problem was where to transport the goods from and which route was the safest.
Law and order in the Dayu Dynasty was good, without too many bandits. As long as there was a guide and people just did business and paid taxes honestly, they would be protected by the law.
At times like these, the advantage of traveling south and north became apparent. Zheng Ruqian held a tree branch, drawing and marking on the ground - labeling this place, labeling that place after a while.
The few people who were willing to go along to transport goods were confused. As their representative, the youth asked, "Young Master, what is this?"
"You don't understand? This is a map of the distribution of prefectures in our Dayu Dynasty." Wang Xiaosong said proudly. "It was groped out as the family traveled south and north.”
The younger ones were shocked into silence. Only one older person frowned and asked, "Maps are classified information of our dynasty. How can you just draw them out like this?"
This remark was not wrong. No matter which dynasty, a country's detailed maps were a fatal existence. If they fell into the hands of the enemy army, it could even lead to the subjugation of the country.
But the premise was that it had to be detailed. For a map to be considered classified, not only did it need to show the distribution of cities, it also had to mark which places had mountain ranges, lakes, wheat fields - even detailing how many acres they covered.
What Zheng Ruqian drew was just a rough outline of the distribution of prefectures. It was far from having such an impact.
But Wang Xiaosong didn't know this. He wanted to defend the family, but couldn't give a reason. He could only stutter, "You want to transport goods for us, yet you're questioning this and that. In the end, who is the boss here..."
"That's enough, Xiaosong," Zheng Ruqian interrupted him and clapped his hands as he stood up. "See if what I drew is wrong."
"Boss!" Wang Xiaosong's face was almost red with anxiety. "He just questioned you. Why don't you refute him?"
Divulging classified information was a capital offense. How could he let a long-term worker smear him with a few words?
"What is there to refute?" Zheng Ruqian smiled. "When you become the boss, you will know that people who question you all day long are too numerous to count. If I have to explain it one by one, won't I be tired to death?"
"I'm the boss. I hired you with money to work. If you're willing to work then work, if not then forget it. Why make so much fuss about it?"
Although the youth spoke lightly, without even getting angry, his words made the listeners feel heavy-hearted.
Wang Xiaosong was even more dumbfounded, as if seeing the boss in a new light.
The few long-term workers who were about to be hired shrank their necks, henceforth having awe towards the young boss.
"Although there is war at the frontier, the common people on the outside can still farm and live normally, especially in areas bordering Hebei Commandery." Zheng Ruqian drew circles on the map. "It's just that due to the long winter, they can only harvest one crop a year. So most of the grain still has to be transported from Jiangnan."
That was the land of Jiangnan where Danyang Prefecture was located - life there was quite abundant, with fertile fields everywhere.
But that was all.
The Dayu Dynasty focused on agriculture rather than animal husbandry. There were few cattle and sheep, even pork was something ordinary commoners had only started to eat in the past few decades. Going back a few hundred years, commoners could only eat vegetables.
Occasionally slaughtering chickens and ducks was a New Year's treat. Cattle and sheep were even more out of the question - they belonged exclusively to the aristocracy. Sometimes when commoners got to eat them, it would be oxen used for ploughing who died of illness or old age.
Of things that could be transported and afforded, only pork remained as an option.
Zheng Ruqian soon made a decision to transport fresh pork to the 5th Company during winter. In other seasons, he would transport sausages and cured pork to reduce decay and damage.
The sausages and cured pork would of course be transported from Anshui Prefecture. As for the pork, he just needed to choose the nearest and most cost-effective source.
Luckily, the reason the northern frontier was named as such was because it bordered the northernmost edge of the Dayu Dynasty - depicted on a map as a long line, adjoining the Heluo territory of Hebei Commandery, and also overlapping with Shang Commandery, the northernmost part of Fengjing, even running through Ningxia Prefecture.
These places did not have expensive goods and were cold enough, transportation would not be a concern.
The biggest remaining problem, and why many merchants did not dare set foot in the northern frontier, was the occasional encounters with Northern Nomads. Getting away with merely losing all goods was considered the lighter outcome - in worse cases, people lost their lives.
Zheng Ruqian was trying to improve the lives of soldiers, not to send them off to their deaths for amusement.
He went to find Fang Heng and the two brothers chatted for a long time before Fang Heng made a decision. "Send out a squad to stand guard at the frontier. The long-term workers can hand the goods over to the army when they arrive, then leave. This would maximize safety."
This was already the greatest convenience that Fang Heng as a squadron captain could mobilize for his elder brother.
Unexpectedly, Zheng Ruqian rejected it outright.
"Does Eldest Brother have other ideas?" Fang Heng was very confused.
Zheng Ruqian grinned. "Your brother is a businessman. Making trip after trip delivering goods for free does not take into account the costs - just the labor itself is a lot of money. Although this is to improve the lives of the soldiers, we can't operate at too huge a loss!"
Fang Heng nodded. "I will hand over all of my monthly salary to Eldest Brother."
"You only get a few coins." Zheng Ruqian waved his hand and secretly leaned in to ask, "It can't be that your entire army is made up of ordinary commoners. There must be sons of prestigious families, right? There must be families who are well-off, right?"
"When their own children don't return home for two to three years, their elders must be anxious and want to send some things over, or send letters to assure safety, right?"
Zheng Ruqian patted his chest earnestly, his tone sincere. "From now on, your brother will take care of these things. As long as some money is paid, any goods can be delivered home."
If he had not laughed craftily with eyes full of cunning, it would have been more convincing.
Fang Heng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He hadn't expected Second Brother's ambitions to be so great, but he also knew this was a win-win situation.
According to military regulations, soldiers only had one chance per year to write letters, and only got to go home on leave once every two years. They could only alleviate their longing for family members in their dreams.
For those from slightly better-off families, they might occasionally receive small packages sent by concerned parents or elders through others' help. But those were incomparable to Zheng Ruqian's bulk transports.
If this channel really got up and running, the biggest beneficiaries would still be the soldiers of the army.
Fang Heng nodded solemnly. "I will report this to the General."
As the captain of the 5th Company in the 3rd Battalion of the Northern Frontier Army, he could command these few hundred men under him but had no jurisdiction over all the Northern Frontier soldiers.
Zheng Ruqian said there was no hurry and that hurrying would be of no use anyway. Currently, all the Northern Frontier soldiers were resisting the desperately hungry Northern Nomads. They would at least have to wait until spring returned and flowers bloomed before peace could return.
He simply signed six new long-term workers and took them onto the carriage, bidding his younger brother farewell under the clear blue sky as they headed towards Anshui Prefecture.
"Smelly Third, wait here. Eldest brother will let you eat meat every meal."
Fang Heng smiled helplessly as he watched his loved one go far away, the resolute look on his face still revealing some reluctance.
He took out the pastries hidden on him and wanted to take a bite, but upon seeing the remaining pathetic amount, carefully hid it away again.
