My eunuch godfather

Chapter 19 The Way Out for the Sun Family

The villagers of Xinzhuang were very enthusiastic, and in less than half a day, they had already filled the quota of two hundred people.

Zhang Kun was also somewhat surprised, as many of them came from well-off families and had no need to leave their hometowns for the capital.

Even if someone comes from a wealthy family, they may not necessarily be more intelligent, but they will certainly be more physically robust.

As long as you're not too stupid, you can at least be a good team leader.

So Zhang Kun released another 100 places for the villagers of Xinzhuang, which were quickly filled.

These three hundred men were reorganized into Battalion C, and unlike Battalion B, they were not drawn from Battalion A to train new recruits.

"Uncle Kun, Sun Jing from the Sun family has come from Hejian and is currently at your maternal grandfather's house."

Early in the morning, Zhang Kun was at the temporary camp, directing his skilled men and servants in training, when Xu Xin came to report.

Upon hearing this news, Zhang Kun's eyes lit up, and he instructed Yang Desheng, "Desheng, you continue to keep an eye on things."

Riding back to the Wang family home, Sun Jing stood in the courtyard without going inside, while Wang Fusheng stayed by his side, talking to him.

"uncle,"

Zhang Kun dismounted and looked at Sun Jing beside Wang Fusheng. "And who is this?"

The young man before him was Zhang Kun. Sun Jing immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying:

"My name is Sun Jing. I greet you, Commander. Thank you for your rescue!"

Wang Fusheng, standing nearby, was dumbfounded. This Sun Jing was dressed and spoke with great refinement, clearly indicating that he was either rich or noble.

Unexpectedly, upon seeing his nephew, he suddenly knelt down and kowtowed.

"Oh dear, Master Sun, please rise quickly."

Zhang Kun quickly stepped forward, helped Sun Jing up, and said with a smile:

"Zhang was merely fulfilling his duties; Master Sun need not perform such a grand ceremony."

"Commander Zhang, don't be so modest."

Sun Jing sincerely thanked Zhang Kun:

"This matter was not within your duties; it was your noble character and courage that led you to act righteously!"

Moreover, if it weren't for your secret method of healing, my ignorant daughter would have already lost her life!

Turning around, he urged those behind him, "Shuyun, come quickly and thank our benefactor!"

Sun Jing's daughter, Sun Shuyun, came over and knelt down to kowtow to Zhang Kun.

"Please rise quickly!"

"I can't help her up," Zhang Kun said gently, raising his hand to support Sun Shuyun.

"Miss Sun, the blame lies entirely with the thieves; please don't blame yourself!"

Wow, this girl is pretty!

That day, she hanged herself until she was half dead. Her face was swollen and bluish-purple, making it impossible to tell whether she was beautiful or ugly.

Looking closely now, she looks a lot like Li Yitong... Li Qin... Bai Lu... or maybe Sun Yi? Anyway, she's very pretty.

That Guo student is such a coward and stupid guy, how could he not want such a beautiful wife?

"Thank you for your advice, Hundred-Household Commander."

Sun Shuyun gave a weak reply, stood up, and suddenly her body went limp and she fell forward.

Zhang Kun quickly helped Sun Shuyun up, and heard her say weakly:

"I...I feel a little dizzy..."

Pale-faced, trembling and sweating, Zhang Kun pressed his fingers against the carotid artery in Sun Shuyun's neck, and her heart was pounding.

It's probably low blood sugar.

Wang Fusheng, standing nearby, was once again dumbfounded. What was his nephew doing? He was directly reaching out and touching someone's daughter's neck!?

When Sun Shoucheng saw Zhang Kun being so disrespectful to his sister, he turned pale with anger and was about to pounce on him when Sun Jing stopped him.

"Has Miss Sun not been eating much these past few days?"

Zhang Kun, supporting Sun Shuyun, said to Sun Jing and Sun Shoucheng:

"If so, then it's just low blood sugar—it's just a lack of qi and blood, drinking some sugar water will help."

"Go quickly and buy some white sugar!"

Sun Jing gave an order to Sun Shoujing, then glared at several maids. The maids quickly came over to take Sun Shuyun away.

"Uncle, could you please find a doctor to come and take a look?"

Zhang Kun gave Wang Fusheng a word of advice, and then explained to Sun Jing:

"Zhang only learned a few skills from a friend in the Imperial Medical Academy; he can't be considered a proper doctor."

The maids helped Sun Shuyun into the room, and when Sun Shoujing returned with the white sugar, they diluted it with water and fed it to her.

A moment later, Sun Shuyun regained consciousness.

Sun Jing was about to kneel down before Zhang Kun again, but Zhang Kun stopped him and thanked him:

"Commander Zhang has saved my daughter's life again; I truly had no idea..."

"He was simply too grief-stricken to eat or drink, resulting in a deficiency of vital energy and blood; he was far from being able to be saved."

Zhang Kun interrupted Sun Jing, saying, "Please, Master Sun, try to comfort Miss Sun. If she can't eat, then she can have some sugar water."

"I understand."

Wang Fusheng rushed back with the doctor, and after examining the patient, he also said that the patient was weak in qi and blood, and prescribed some warming and tonifying formulas.

Sun Jing showed it to Zhang Kun, who didn't understand traditional medicine. Seeing that it didn't contain anything high in sugar, Zhang Kun thought it wasn't very reliable.

Adopting the air of an official, he said to the doctor in a stern voice:

"In the future, if you encounter similar symptoms again, unless it is diabetes, you should first give the patient some sugar water or honey water!"

The doctor was very indignant, but could only agree repeatedly.

After reviewing the prescription, Zhang Kun and Sun Jing went to another room and got straight to the point:

"Master Sun has become enemies with the Guo family, and it will be difficult for him to continue operating in Hejian in the future."

The Guo family had prospered for generations, and their foundation was much deeper than that of the newly emerging Sun family.

As long as the Guo family, including the scholar and his son, remained within the gentry circles of Hejian, it would be difficult for the Sun family to make connections with other gentry in Hejian.

Without the protection of the gentry, the Sun family was just a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered, and sooner or later they would be torn apart by one or more parties.

The Guo family, with its deeper roots, had ancestors who had not achieved official rank for several generations and had lost most of their family business!

"Zhang Baihu is right,"

Sun Jing rose and knelt before Zhang Kun for the third time, pleading:

"We beg Commander Zhang to lend a helping hand again and give the Sun family a way out."

"Master Sun may already know,"

Zhang Kun helped Sun Jing up, explained his background as a eunuch godfather, and suggested:

"When Zhang was young, he went to the capital to make his way in the world and became the adopted son of Zhang Neixiang of Hejian."

My adoptive father is now a court attendant in the Directorate of Ceremonial, the head of the Imperial Horse Administration, and an imperial commissioner to supervise the tax collection in Tongwan, Zhili, Xuanda and Dali.

"Master Sun can first move his family business eastward along the Grand Canal, and then northward to Zhangjiawan in Tongzhou, which is managed by his adoptive father."

"Commander Zhang, the Sun family doesn't have much disposable income; I'm afraid they can't afford to take on this responsibility."

Sun Jing looked troubled, explaining that the family's cash flow was tight, making it difficult to transfer assets.

"I've been asking around these past few days,"

Zhang Kun used the Sun family's history of wealth and success to persuade Sun Jing:

"The reason why the Sun family was able to prosper was fundamentally due to their brewing skills, not the wineries and millet fields they have today."

I previously hosted a banquet for my fellow villagers in Xinzhuang and tasted the wine brewed by the Sun family. It was fragrant, mellow and strong, something I had never tasted in the capital!

Master Sun sold his winery and millet fields, among other properties, and used the cash to travel to Tianjin and Zhangjiawan.

With my godfather protecting us, how could we not revive our family business?

Sun Jing was very hesitant:

Zhang Kun made it sound very nice, but in reality, he sold off his assets and ran off to Tianjin and Zhangjiawan, places where he had no foothold.

The Sun family will be even more vulnerable then than they are now; they will be at the mercy of others!

However, without heeding Zhang Kun's advice, the Sun family had no better way out.

"...Commander Zhang, if I were to sell my property..."

Sun Jing remained silent for a while before speaking to Zhang Kun:

"Those corrupt officials, wicked bureaucrats, and scoundrels will swarm over and use all sorts of means to force me to sell to them at a lower price."

"The money from selling it then won't be enough to rebuild the family business, let alone support the family!"

"If Master Sun is trustworthy, how about I help you sell it?"

Zhang Kun, with a confident expression, asked Sun Jing:

"First, there are those stewards, managers, and craftsmen who don't have the surname Sun and won't follow the Sun family."

Master Sun summoned them one by one and, under the guise of rewarding them for their years of hard work, sold them some shares.

Zhang then sought out some wealthy buyers to help Master Sun negotiate a fair price.

The assets that couldn't be sold were given away for free to some powerful figures, so that they wouldn't cause trouble for the Sun family.

What does Master Sun think?