xymnovel Chapter 108 Trust and Trade
Chapter 108 Trust and Trade
Shao Shuyi first looked at the envelope. There was clay sealing the outside, but after removing it, he found that there was still paste inside the seal.
He examined it carefully and found no signs of it being opened, so he was relieved and opened the letter to read it.
The letter paper was made of a material called "colored paper," similar to the patterned and colored paper of later times. It required dyeing, adding materials, and engraving patterns during production, and it was not cheap.
The letter contained little content, only an excerpt from the "Biography of Lord Mengchang" in the *Records of the Grand Historian* concerning Feng Huan, and concluded with a few words: "Although I have some literary knowledge, my understanding of history is only superficial. Everyone knows that Feng Huan played with iron, and that he was a guest of Lord Mengchang. However, for you, sir, to suddenly mention this man at this time and place must have a deeper meaning. I am dull-witted and have pondered this for many days, but still cannot understand. Is it a mockery of my greed, like Feng Huan? Or a comparison to his talent? Or perhaps something else entirely?"
Shao Shuyi felt there was a problem after reading it.
A moment later, he crossed his legs, leaned back in his chair, and read it over again from beginning to end, a smile gradually spreading across his face.
Shiliu might know some characters, but could she write this kind of content? Besides, this kind of calligraphy is not something a maid could possess.
This is the first time someone has called me, Lao Shao, "Young Master." Good, good, very polite.
Shao Shuyi rummaged through the bamboo box and finally took out two sheets of white paper of decent quality.
After grinding the ink, I dipped the brush in it and wrote back.
"Your letter has been received. Your inquiry about Feng Yuan demonstrates your extensive reading."
Feng Yuan is known to the world as the man who sold righteousness to Lord Mengchang, but few know that when he first arrived at Lord Mengchang's door, he sang while strumming his iron, "I have no fish to eat," "I have no carriage to ride in," and "I have no home to live in," and he was invited in three times.
I have often thought: A scholar should conduct himself like Feng Yuan; a ruler should conduct himself like Meng Chang. If Meng Chang had not fulfilled Feng Yuan's desires, how could he have devised the strategy of burning bonds to buy righteousness and cunningly seeking three escape routes...
In the end, he still pretended not to know who wrote the letter and continued writing: "I resigned from the engagement the other day for no other reason than that my parents passed away and I was unable to take care of them or provide them with medicine. This pain is ever-present in my heart."
"Besides, I often go to sea and know how treacherous the storms are. If the weather changes and the ship capsizes at sea, I can only become a ghost longing for home. Wouldn't that be a waste of our good fortune..." After writing this, Shao Shuyi checked it again, and after confirming that it was correct, he put it in an envelope, carefully sealed it, and wanted to affix his seal, but then gave up. He quietly put the letter away, and after nightfall, he took Wang Huadu, Jiang Sanbao, Wei Erdi, Li Fu, and Tie Niu to a restaurant called Hongyunlou and handed the letter to the manager surnamed Fei.
Wang Huadu and his three companions had no idea what Shao Shuyi was up to, and Shao Shuyi wouldn't say either, so they could only hold their tongues and enjoy a good meal. The conversation mostly revolved around their upcoming trip to Shanghai to investigate the smuggled salt trade, occasionally interspersed with discussions of the progress in their craftsmanship training.
Currently, Li Fu has been practicing the earliest, for more than half a year.
Now that he has enough to eat and wear, and with a tyrannical streak suppressed in his heart, he practices martial arts with great diligence.
Tie Niu had been training for much shorter time, but he was physically strong and powerful. After mastering some techniques, he was already able to spar with Li Fu for a while. Jiang Sanbao and Wei Erdi had just joined the group; one was a farmer, and the other a villager. Their martial arts training had only just begun, so there's no need to say more.
As for Wang Huadu, he started practicing around the same time as Shao Shuyi, and he had already mastered the anchor axe. However, he became a bit lax when he went to Shanghai and did not continue practicing. During the banquet, he inevitably received a scolding from Shao Shuyi.
"Understood, Brother Shao," Wang Huadu said. "I'll definitely train hard on this trip eastward; I can't just eat all this meat and fish for nothing." However, he picked up his wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp, saying, "Even with my current skills, I could take down several ordinary farmers."
"We still need to practice more," Shao Shuyi said.
In military campaigns, setting aside the talent of the commander, a fierce general who can break through enemy lines, capture enemy generals and seize flags generally needs physical fitness, martial arts skills, and the courage to fight.
Wang Huadu has no shortage of courage and his physical fitness is better than average. What he needs to improve now is his skills.
At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the main instigators were from the lower classes. In the early days, the soldiers were mostly farmers and religious believers who had suffered from malnutrition for many years, were thin and weak, had no skills, had just put down their hoes, and did not know how to distinguish the drums and flags. If a person dared to fight and had skills, and was equipped with a warhorse and iron armor, he could really become invincible.
Later on, even if you can't unleash your full power, that's another story. But in the early days when noobs are fighting each other, you have a huge advantage. You often don't need any strategy; just charging in and attacking wildly can be surprisingly effective.
Shao Shuyi now wants to select some brave and aggressive individuals, utilize existing resources to improve their physical fitness and martial arts skills, and later find a way to acquire more equipment to gain points and secure a good position in the early stages of the PUBG tournament.
On this day in the fourth year of the Zhizheng era, people like him who are so scheming are ultimately a minority.
Wang Huadu and his entourage left on the second day of the Lunar New Year, heading east towards Shanghai.
Before leaving, Shao Shuyi gave him ten ingots of paper money to keep as operating expenses.
Looking at Yu Yuanji's private account again, his "account balance" was still around 140 ingots.
There was no other way; he had to tip his underlings every now and then, take them out for drinks and meals, and buy them gifts to maintain good relationships. It cost him quite a bit of money. Fortunately, his salary consisted of four parts: cash, salt, pickles, and grain. He could eat at the ceramics shop, and he could save the latter three to transport back to his small courtyard by the river to support a group of people. There were still nearly ten bushels of rice and flour left there.
On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, Kong Tie returned from Tongzhou with three boats and anchored at Liujiagang.
After receiving the final payment for the water bill, Shao Shuyi put down his bow and arrow, called over Yu Yuan and Liang Tai who had come over for dinner, and then, along with his follower Tie Niu, carrying gifts, headed west towards the Shen residence.
To be honest, he currently only knows three women: Madam Liu, Amu, and Madam Shen.
The former hadn't made him any money yet; Amu was just a young girl raised in a secluded mansion, and only Madam Shen had made him earn money.
He originally thought he would only be able to fetch grain from Suzhou for her grain shop, but now it seems that he won't be going there empty-handed anymore. In addition, he has continued to develop the Liujiagang-Tongzhou route to transport grain and tea. After a few trips, he has earned as much as twenty-four ingots.
This is my benefactor! I must repay him properly.
After arriving at the door, they still did not see Lu Zhonghe.
Strangely enough, Shao Shuyi, who is his neighbor, hasn't seen him for a while. Could it be that he got a seaman's certificate?
After being informed by a servant, Yu Yuan and the others were left outside, while Shao Shuyi was arranged to wait in a small courtyard.
He looked closely and saw that this courtyard was only separated from the place he had visited before by a river, with the words "Spring Garden" written on the gate.
The courtyard wall borders a pond to the south, and bamboo groves line the east and west sides. Inside the courtyard are a tall pavilion, two gazebos, and more than ten elegant rooms, just the right size for a large family to live in.
Outside the room that served as a study, three or four people stood scattered about, whispering among themselves.
Voices could be heard coming from inside the study. Shao Shuyi listened carefully and realized it sounded like Old Mo.
Madam Shen's entourage is quite impressive. Should we get a number-taking machine next time so everyone can take a number as soon as they arrive? Shao Shuyi thought sullenly.
But that's just wishful thinking. Making money isn't so bad.
Mo Bei quickly came out of the study. When he saw the gift in Shao Shuyi's hand, he laughed and said, "Shao She is truly an honest man." The people standing next to him glanced at Mo Bei a few more times when they saw how enthusiastically he treated Shao Shuyi.
"Master Mo looks radiant; surely something good must be happening?" Shao Shuyi asked with a smile.
"It's really not a happy occasion, just a life of toil," Mo Bei sighed. "Originally, there was a grain shop here. We hadn't decided what the second shop would do yet, but now it's settled—it will specialize in copper and ironware. We're also going to open a third shop in Taicang. With my wife's trust, I'm in charge of everything. Sigh, I'm going to be busy again."
"A great deal!" Shao Shuyi exclaimed.
When he returned from Jiangxi last time, he brought back a lot of metals for Madam Shen, mainly copper, iron, and tin. Later, he transported these items to Suzhou and gave them to the Shen family to make castings and musical instruments.
It seems that Madam Shen is going to sell goods from that workshop in Liujiagang.
"It's just a clumsy thing, not really a good deal," Mo Bei waved his hand and said.
Shao Shuyi smiled but remained silent.
In times of chaos, aren't copper, iron, and tin hard currency?
If he had money, he would love to hoard more brass and bronze.
"What does the third inn do?" Shao Shuyi asked.
"What did you transport to Jiangxi last time?" Mo Bei stroked his beard and asked with a smile.
"Dried seafood, cotton cloth, silk, medicinal herbs, spices?"
"We mainly deal in dried seafood, cotton and linen, silk, and medicinal herbs, and also sell some small, miscellaneous items from Suzhou."
Shao Shuyi nodded. Oh, it's a general store.
"But I wonder where the dried seafood comes from?" Shao Shuyi asked calmly.
"Where else could it be?" Mo Bei held up two fingers and said, "One is Changguo Prefecture, and the other is Tongzhou. I personally went to both." "By boat?" Shao Shuyi asked in surprise.
Mo Bei nodded and sighed, "No wonder he's destined to be a hard-working person."
"I didn't expect there to be fish in Tongzhou," Shao Shuyi said.
"Near Lüsichang in Haimen County, Tongzhou, there are plenty of fish. When the fishing season comes, the catch is countless, to the point that the salt bureau refuses to sell salt." Mo Bei laughed, "It must be the Pure Yang Immortal manifesting his power, otherwise where would so many fish come from?"
Lüsi Saltworks was a saltworks under the jurisdiction of the Lianghuai Transport Office, located in Haimen County, Tongzhou. Legend has it that Lü Dongbin visited this place four times, hence the name. Like Kunshan Prefecture, Tongzhou was a sub-prefecture under Yangzhou Circuit, but Kunshan Prefecture did not govern any counties. Tongzhou governed Jinghai and Haimen counties, while Jiangyin Prefecture was a directly governed prefecture, directly under the provincial government.
Upon hearing this, Shao Shuyi became somewhat interested and said, "Would it be alright if we went there to buy some seafood?"
Mo Bei thought for a moment and said, "It should be fine. Sometimes, when too many fish are caught, the salt bureau runs out of salt permits, and the fish can only be sold cheaply." Shao Shuyi suddenly understood.
That makes sense. How could the Salt Bureau allow the Fish and Salt Bureau to sell salt without limit? There must be a quota.
"Master Mo, if I go to Lüsi Market to buy fish, I wonder if you could recommend some places?" Shao Shuyi said.
Mo Bei was taken aback and said, "Of course. But Xiao Hu, the dried seafood business isn't easy. You'd better..." Wait, why is it raining? Shao Shuyi looked up and realized that it had indeed gotten dark. He thought to himself, "There's been a lot of rain this spring. Could it be that there's going to be a flood?"
Just then, a maidservant hurried over, bowed, and said, "Master Shao, please come with me."
"Okay." Shao Shuyi nodded to Mo Bei and headed towards the study.