My Emperor Father Can Read Minds

Chapter 303: Returned from Great Liang

Just having returned to Great Wei, it was no longer possible to continue the journey.

The border town’s locals were too enthusiastic, blocking the caravan to purchase goods, not even sparing some of the specialties they had brought back from Great Liang!

Deng Guang had no choice but to settle everyone in the border city to rest for a day and record the orders here before moving on.

At dusk, inside the inn, Deng Guang sat on a chair counting orders.

The table was covered with papers—all of which were orders given by the townsfolk of the border city earlier that day.

While counting the orders, Deng Guang muttered to Uncle Wang, the accountant sitting beside him, “Uncle Wang, you see, there are so many locals here at the border who want to buy goods from the Merchants' Alliance, and the Merchants' Alliance is so far away. How about we open a shop here in this border city, just like the Merchants' Alliance itself? What do you think?”

Uncle Wang had been the accountant for the Deng family for many years and had basically watched Deng Guang grow up. He spoke to Deng Guang far more kindly than an ordinary servant.

Hearing Deng Guang’s words, Uncle Wang just smiled and said, “Young Master Guang, if you want to open a shop here, this old servant has no say. You’d have to get approval from His Highness the Wise King and the Fifth Master first.”

Deng Guang gritted his teeth and glanced at the table full of order sheets. He sincerely felt that if they could not open a shop here, it would truly be a waste.

Thinking of his younger uncle who was still in Great Liang and unsure when he would return, Deng Guang clicked his tongue and shook his head. “Such good business right at our doorstep, yet my younger uncle ignores it. What a pity.”

Uncle Wang chuckled, “Young Master Guang, the Fifth Master is in Great Liang, and he is also doing big business. Earning money from the people of Great Liang is much more satisfying than from our own people!”

“Heh!”

Deng Guang slapped his thigh, his eyes burning as he looked at Uncle Wang, smiling so hard his eyes disappeared. “Uncle Wang, you’re absolutely right! Just the thought of all that silver from the people of Great Liang makes me feel much better about them!”

As for the exact amount of silver earned by the caravan in Great Liang, Deng Guang wasn’t clear.

After all, although the Merchants' Alliance and the Yizhou noble family went together, once they passed the checkpoint, they split into several smaller caravans, heading to different parts of Great Liang.

Deng Guang led his own small caravan heading to the southern part of Great Liang.

Generally, the southern part of every country is a prosperous area, and Great Liang was no different from Great Wei. Wherever Deng Guang’s team passed in southern Great Liang, no matter how much the goods were priced, the locals almost bought everything without batting an eye!

If it had been selling to Great Wei people, Deng Guang might have felt guilty selling items at three times the original price or more and perhaps lost sleep at night. But here it was Great Liang!

Selling at high prices to the wealthy people of Great Liang and ultimately feeding the silver back to their own Imperial Court — wasn’t that exactly what a patriotic and capable young man should do?!

Anyway, after a round trip to southern Great Liang, Deng Guang returned with plenty of silver, valuable paintings, calligraphy, antiques, jewelry, jade pendants, and also quite a few local silver bills from Great Liang.

Deng Guang had no intention of making a one-time deal. Now that he had made many acquaintances among merchants in southern Great Liang, all interested in importing Merchants' Alliance goods—just like the pre-orders from the border city folk—there were many large orders waiting from the Great Liang’s merchants side as well.

Once everyone safely returned and confirmed that trading in Great Liang was feasible, Deng Guang planned to cooperate amicably with some merchants in the south.

The specific cooperation would be just as outlined in the business plan given by His Highness originally: the Merchants' Alliance headquarters online, with the merchants in Great Liang acting as regional branch offline.

They would sign contracts with the Great Liang merchants, who would only be responsible for supplying goods and collecting payment from the people of Great Liang. As for how pricing and sales were handled in Great Liang, even if they sold at a high price, it was none of their concern.

On the first night staying in the border city to count orders, Deng Guang was worried about when his younger uncle would return. Meanwhile, Deng Zhengde, who was being thought of by Deng Guang, was also counting orders and thinking of His Highness at the same time.

In a desolate wilderness, on a flat spot, several bonfires were burning one after another, the flames lighting up the night sky, making the starry sky appear even clearer.

Many people were sitting around these bonfires—over a hundred, by the looks of it.

Beside each bonfire, there were two or three carts fully loaded with goods. Some people chatted leisurely around the fires, some leaned against the carts to rest, and others took out food from their pockets to eat.

Deng Zhengde sat on a wagon counting orders. By the candlelight, he checked the numbers in the ledger while mulling over things in his mind.

“Knock, knock.”

Someone knocked twice on the beam outside the wagon, then whispered softly, “Fifth Master, are you asleep?”

Deng Zhengde lifted the curtain of the wagon and looked outside.

The visitor was a young servant whom Deng Zhengde brought out from the Deng family, named Ah Da. Because of his good skills, he had always accompanied Deng Zhengde, traveling far and wide.

“What’s the matter?” Deng Zhengde asked him.

Ah Da frowned, looked around, and then leaned in to whisper, “Fifth Master, in two days we’ll arrive at the border. Should we still keep those few strangers who are following our caravan with us?”

Ah Da had always been very wary of the few strangers now in their group.

What could he do? Those few were from Great Liang!

Moreover, they had followed them since near the capital city of Great Liang, claiming to be merchants wanting to see the caravan master.

Ah Da had accompanied Deng Zhengde through many places and had seen more scenes than Deng Guang. He had encountered ruthless business rivals before. Now that they were in Great Liang and saw how the locals were crazily chasing after the goods they brought, Ah Da really couldn’t help but think more deeply about it.

Deng Zhengde sat inside the wagon illuminated only half by the dim candlelight. Because of the environment, to outsiders, he might have seemed somewhat gloomy, but he had a dignified and steady aura. Fifth Master Deng had always been a calm and composed person.

Understanding what Ah Da meant, Deng Zhengde smiled. “You think those few people were sent by others to spy on us?”

Ah Da nodded seriously. “Yes, I’ve been watching them these days. Although they eat and live just like us, that one called Liu San is somewhat guarded by others. The other day when we entered the city, I even saw him enter a silver jewelry shop. He stayed for about a quarter of an hour and left without taking anything.”

Ah Da pressed his lips, looked at Deng Zhengde, then hesitated before saying, “Fifth Master, I think Liu San might be someone sent by a certain household from the capital city of Great Liang.”

Though this was a bit presumptuous, how could someone with a delicate complexion like Liu San, be just a servant from a wealthy family?

Of course, this didn’t include someone like their Fifth Master, who was born with a delicate complexion.

Deng Zhengde couldn’t help but laugh.

He reached out and tapped Ah Da. “Some things are better left unsaid. Since they dare to follow us, let them follow. Once we reach the border, everything will become clear.”

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