Surviving in the chaos of war begins in the wilderness.

Chapter 31 Making the Most of Every Penny

For the next three days, Zhou Ye wandered around the county town. Besides buying a lot of household items for his new home, he mainly wanted to familiarize himself with the area.

This includes the shops and markets in both the outer and inner city, the situation in one's neighborhood, and the gossip circulating in the city...

As for the inner city? Not for now. My status is still too low; entering the inner city would draw too much attention, which doesn't suit my cautious, underhanded style.

Of course, this also included the martial arts schools in the city. They didn't choose to go directly to inquire; they just gathered some information indirectly.

That day, Zhou Ye walked into a blacksmith shop in the outer city. He was going to upgrade his equipment.

Interestingly, the blacksmith's shop owner's surname was Sun, and he was also an outer member of the gang. He simply came from another large gang in the county town—the Black Iron Gang.

After these few days of investigation, I've learned that there are actually three major gangs in the county town—the Woodcutter Gang, the Canal Gang, and the Black Iron Gang.

The woodcutter's gang was a group of mountain herders. The canal gang was a group of members from waterways and docks. Not only did they monopolize the water transport industry, but members of the canal gang also frequently smuggled goods.

The most lucrative business was smuggling salt, and the entire salt smuggling market was almost monopolized by the canal gangs.

Therefore, when Zhou Ye sold salted fish, he actually harmed the interests of the canal gangs. So, he was an obstacle on their path to wealth.

The Black Iron Gang refers to the mines and related industries. It mainly consists of miners and blacksmiths.

That said, the mines were almost all owned by the government and powerful families. Without the Black Iron Gang's mutual support, the miners would have been living hand to mouth. After being exploited by the mine owners, the miners didn't even know how they died.

Besides the three major gangs, there are hundreds of other gangs of varying sizes in the county town.

That makes the situation very complicated. Some are attached to a particular official, some to powerful figures, some to large gangs, and some have grown independently and unchecked...

Perhaps a gang will suddenly rise to power, or perhaps another gang will suddenly fall. Nobody knows the specifics of what's going on.

For example, the place where Zhou Ye lived was a small gang called the Flower Snake Gang. This small gang had only a little over 100 members, but they ran rampant in the surrounding streets.

Leaving aside the chaos and disorder in the county town, the blacksmith shops here had a full range of items, and Zhou Ye quickly selected a bundle of arrows and five iron javelins. With these iron tools, the wooden javelins and bamboo arrows could be completely replaced from now on.

Iron is definitely much more powerful than wood or bamboo. Aside from regular training, it will no longer be used in battle.

After selecting his items, Zhou Ye took out the fish-scale shield and asked the blacksmith, Mr. Sun, "Mr. Sun, could you please take a look? Could you add an iron arm guard to the back of the shield? I can wear it on my left arm later..."

After hearing Zhou Ye's specific requirements, the blacksmith Sun inquired about some details. Although he had some doubts about the material of the fish-scale shield, he still followed the rules of the trade and didn't ask questions he shouldn't.

"Adding it in is no problem; it's just a matter of attaching a base for the iron arm guard. Including the other items you requested, it'll be seven taels. Come pick it up in five days?"

"OK!"

According to what I've heard, this blacksmith Sun is quite skilled. He's especially trustworthy and very tight-lipped. Want to forge weapons privately... well! Private weapon forging in the county town's blacksmith shops is already an open secret.

He spent all his money again. A day later, Zhou Ye left the county town and returned to his small home in the mountains.

Since my agility has reached +7, and my basic movement technique has also reached a minor mastery level, I can travel lightly into the mountains and reach my destination within a day. However, if I carry heavy loads, it will take two days to return to the mountains.

By now, Zhou Ye had a basic understanding of the prices in the county town.

Ordinary rice and noodles cost 7 wen per jin; better quality rice and noodles cost 10 wen per jin; pork cost 30 wen per jin; fish and poultry were slightly cheaper; and beef and mutton were slightly more expensive, reaching more than 40 wen per jin.

Firewood costs 85 copper coins per 100 catties, and charcoal costs 350 to 400 copper coins per 100 catties, depending on the quality of the charcoal. This is the purchase price offered by the woodcutters. If you were to buy it directly, it would certainly be more expensive.

Salt cost around 200 wen per jin (approximately 500 grams). That was the price of smuggled salt; official salt was even more expensive. Salted meat cost around 100 wen per jin. This was because the meat would shrink during the curing process, and the cost of the salt also had to be factored in…

Zhou Ye was surprised to find that the price of salt for "selling salted fish" was actually much higher than the price of the fish.

In addition, the prices of furs and herbs fluctuate greatly, so you'll need to check the market price.

So, the nearly 8000 catties of salt here must be worth 1600 taels of silver? That's a huge sum of money. The only pity is that it absolutely cannot be sold outside the county town.

In addition, there are animal hides and herbs. However, obtaining these items is largely random and cannot be a stable supply.

The only thing that can be supplied stably is bamboo rat skin.

However, Zhou Ye had just observed the bamboo rats in the bamboo forest. The bamboo rats that had just overwintered were still quite small and thin, and had entered their breeding season. Therefore, it was best to hunt them in the summer or autumn. That would make it seasonal.

In addition, there are various kinds of meat, fish, and poultry. These are actually not very valuable.

On the other hand, since it can be made into various pickled products, it can gradually consume salt. After all, one pound of meat requires two ounces of salt.

From this perspective, hunting and fishing played a significant role.

Finally, there's the charcoal. Including the old campsite, there should still be over 2000 jin (1,000 kg) left... right?

After much deliberation, Zhou Ye decided to make the most of every penny. Of the four elements—wealth, companions, methods, and location—wealth comes first!

After checking the farmland, I found that the wheat seedlings had already sprouted from the soil, so I cleared away the weeds and applied fertilizer.

Now that the decision has been made to move to the county seat, there will be no need to farm anymore. However, the relocation will be a long process, so this season's wheat still needs to be harvested.

Next, the brick kiln was renovated and converted into a charcoal kiln.

Charcoal making is much easier. In just two days, Zhou Ye produced a kiln full of charcoal, weighing over 4000 jin (approximately 2,000 kg).

In the following days, Zhou Ye made several trips back and forth to the old camp, carrying all the charcoal back here.

Now that he had joined the woodcutter's gang and assumed the identity of a woodcutter, he needed to maintain his disguise and deliver firewood and charcoal every now and then.

Realizing that it was almost time, Zhou Ye set off again for the county town.

Since Strength has been increased by 2, and all other basic stats have also been fully upgraded, you can now carry around 250 jin (approximately 125 catties) of goods using a carrying pole.

They took 100 jin of salted fish with them, and left only one set of all the extra tools here. In case they get damaged later, they can always bring more from the county town.

In addition, there were two salted geese, a piece of salted meat, and various grains. These were all for my own consumption.

When we reach the mountain pass, we'll chop some more firewood. It would be ridiculous for a woodcutter to have to buy firewood himself later.