xymnovel Chapter 124 Shopping Spree
Chapter 124 Shopping Spree
A salty, damp sea breeze swept over me, carrying the smell of rotting fish and shrimp.
Many small wooden houses were built along the riverbank, with fishing nets drying in front of them. The smell of fish was overwhelming, even stronger than that of the riverside fishing village that Shao Shuyi had visited last time. As you walked along, you could see one or two fishing boats overturned on the shore from time to time, with some craftsmen busy working nearby.
Shao Shuyi found it hard to believe that such a tiny fishing boat could sail the ocean and bring back a large catch.
Humans are truly amazing. Sometimes they dare not resist when faced with knives and axes, closing their eyes and waiting to die, while at other times they dare to sail such a small boat deep into the sea and fight against the wind and waves.
The shore was littered with debris, and the surging seawater often carried rotten vegetable leaves and dead fish and shrimp. Naked children, without any shame, giggled and chased after strangers until they received a piece of candy from them.
Shao Shuyi suddenly remembered Madam Liu.
She must have grown up in such an environment, right? It's just that her family couldn't make ends meet later, so she became a pirate, while the fishermen of Lüsi Port seemed to be able to barely survive.
"Who can predict life's circumstances?" Shao Shuyi held a conch shell in his hand, which he had traded a piece of candy for from a child. It was said to have come from the long beach, and when blown, one could hear the echo of the sea.
After wiping it carefully, he handed it to Tie Niu and said, "Wrap it up, don't damage it."
Tie Niu responded and carefully put the conch shell away.
Wei Erdi followed behind them, carrying a large cloth bag on his back, bulging with dozens of kilograms of white salt.
Wang Huadu and Jiang Sanbao walked over from a distance, each carrying a cloth bag.
"I'm exhausted." Wang Huadu put the cloth bag on the ground and said, "It weighed sixty catties in total and cost nine strings of cash. I've never bought salt this cheap in my life."
Jiang Sanbao was in even worse shape. He had been carrying fifty catties of salt all the way and was already panting heavily. He said, "Fifty catties of salt here cost eight strings of cash and two hundred and fifty coins."
"You've had a hard time," Shao Shuyi said. "Were you being followed along the way?"
"Cheng Ji is keeping an eye on things, so no one's watching," Wang Huadu said. "It's just that we're not collecting much salt."
"Are they all sold out?" Shao Shuyi asked.
"There must still be some, but we can't buy any more." Wang Huadu shook his head. "If we want to buy salt again, we'll have to go deep into the salt fields, or stay for another ten days and let everyone who hears the news come over."
"We can't wait any longer." Shao Shuyi rejected the suggestion and said directly, "Let's row west tonight to Yu Dongchang."
West of Lüsi Saltworks, there are six or seven other saltworks, including Yudong, Yuzhong, and Yuxi, all under the jurisdiction of Tongzhou.
In the north, there are also several salt fields in Rugao, Taizhou, Gaoyou and other places.
The Huai salt produced by the Lianghuai Transport Office was actually produced in this area.
Shao Shuyi silently recalled that as of today (the ninth day of the eighth lunar month), they had bought about 7,000 catties of dried seafood and more than 1,200 catties of smuggled salt in Lüsi Market, spending less than 40 ingots of cash in total.
He brought a full two hundred ingots with him when he went out, but now it seems he might have brought too much, as he can't possibly spend it all.
"Inform Steward Feng that we're going to Yu Dongchang tonight and ask him if he's going," Shao Shuyi instructed. "If he's not going, he can wait for me here for a few days. We'll come back as soon as we've bought the goods."
"Alright, I'll inform them," Wang Huadu said.
Shao Shuyi nodded and began helping to transfer goods onto the ship.
On the tenth day of the eighth month, the sea bream appeared near Yu Dongchang. After anchoring, it cautiously went ashore to see if there was any smuggled salt that could be bought.
Just then, a young boy rode in an oxcart out of Yu Dongchang, heading towards his family's boat. Upon seeing the sea eel in the distance, he couldn't help but observe it more closely.
He was more than 70% certain that the ship was there to buy smuggled salt.
"Sixth Brother, we've arrived," the driver reminded him.
"Thank you." Bian Yuanheng got out of the car and bowed with his hands clasped.
Despite being only seventeen years old, he was as strong as an ox and possessed astonishing strength, earning him the reputation of being able to lift a thousand catties.
Last year, when he was sixteen, he heard that there were tigers in a certain place, so he went there alone and killed the tiger "without any weapons".
The local people were amazed and called him "Tiger-Slaying General"—that's how the story goes, although killing a tiger with bare hands is a bit horrifying. His father, Bian Shizhen, was once the commander of Yudongchang. He resigned ten years ago due to the death of a parent and then did some business in various places near his home.
Now that Bian Yuanheng could help his father, he volunteered to go to Yudongchang and directly purchased several salt certificates from the salt warehouse, intending to transport them home to sell. However, he didn't really like this kind of life.
He prefers to write poetry and travel around to broaden his horizons, especially to his ancestral home of Suzhou, which he has never visited before.
At the beginning of this year, my cousin Shi Nai'an, who was teaching in Suzhou, wrote to me, inviting me to visit. I was already somewhat tempted at that time.
With the heart of a young boy, he even wanted to tell his cousin how he killed a giant, white-browed serpent with piercing eyes; it would be even better if he could write it into a story. "If I had a big ship like this, I could reach Fengqiao in a few days, right? I wonder if our ancestral home is still there." Bian Yuanheng stared at the sea bream with envy as he waited for the servants to load salt onto the small boat.
"Huh? These people don't seem to be good people." When he saw more than a dozen people disembarking from the wind-blown ship and landing on land in batches, he became somewhat wary and subconsciously ordered his servants to bring out the equipment.
"Don't panic, little one." Laughter drifted from afar on the sea breeze. A young man dressed in a scholar's robe waved and said, "If you're willing to sell your salt to me, I'll give you a fair price."
Bian Yuanheng relaxed slightly, but did not completely let his guard down. He replied loudly, "There isn't much salt left in Yu Dongchang. It was bought up earlier. You have a boat, so you can continue westward and try your luck in Yu Zhongchang, Yu Xichang, and Jinshachang."
"Thank you for telling me." The young man in the smuggled salt robe slowly walked over, followed by several men, each armed with weapons. They were clearly seasoned travelers. "It's alright," Bian Yuanheng said. "The salt merchants are in dire straits. Buying their smuggled salt is helping them. I can't wait for more people to buy smuggled salt." Shao Shuyi couldn't help but glance at him again, thinking to himself that this man was quite kind. At the same time, he was surprised to find that this young man was so strong, almost as big as Tie Niu, for some reason.
"I don't know how to address Xiaoshe," Shao Shuyi asked.
"Bian Yuanheng from Yancheng, whose ancestral home is Suzhou," Bian Yuanheng replied.
"Shao Shuyi from Taicang," Shao Shuyi said, bowing slightly.
"From Suzhou?" Bian Yuanheng's eyes lit up.
"Below Suzhou," Shao Shuyi said with a smile, "Have you heard of Liujiagang, the port of the Six Kingdoms?"
"I've heard of it, but I've never been there," Bian Yuanheng said. "Many merchants from Yancheng, Taizhou, Tongzhou, and other places have been to Liujiagang, and they all say it's very prosperous." Bian Yuanheng added, "If I have the chance, I'll definitely go and see for myself."
"Why don't you come with us to Suzhou now? We can bring the salt as part of the trip," Wang Huadu said with a grin, peeking out from behind Shao Shuyi. Bian Yuanheng shook his head and said, "My family also has a livelihood; this salt will be useful."
Shao Shuyi glared at Wang Huadu first, then looked at Bian Yuanheng and said, "If you come to Liujiagang, just come and find me."
His thoughts were actually the same as Wang Huadu's: Bian Yuanheng was too strong-looking, and at first glance, he seemed to have a decent character. If they could recruit him, that would be the best thing ever.
Of course, he didn't expect them to agree immediately; he was just casually mentioning it, not expecting anything in return.
The two groups quickly parted ways and said their goodbyes.
"Keep an eye out for any patrol officers," Shao Shuyi instructed. "Don't set the price too rigidly. You can decide as long as it's under two hundred coins. Don't ask me. Form groups of three or four. If anything goes wrong, gather here immediately."
"Okay!" everyone replied.
Shao Shuyi nodded, signaling everyone to leave.
For the rest of the day, they wandered around the shore looking for people selling smuggled salt.
Perhaps Bian Yuanheng was right; Yu Dongchang really didn't have much salt left. They had worked all day and only obtained 600 catties of smuggled salt, spending a paltry two ingots of cash.
That evening, the sea bream continued westward and arrived at Yuxichang. In one day, it obtained more than 1,500 catties of salt and spent more than five ingots of paper money.
On the 12th, Shao Shuyi and his entourage landed at Jinshachang.
Almost at the same time they landed, a clear gong sounded not far away.
Shao Shuyi was startled, thinking to himself that after walking at night for several days in a row, he had finally encountered a ghost.
He forced himself to calm down and quickly observed the situation.
The gong sounds came from two directions.
One was a small mound or sand dune to the northwest, about two hundred paces away, where several figures had already appeared, shouting loudly. The other was a thicket of reeds to the southwest, less than two hundred paces away, where the reeds were rustling and falling in clumps, clearly hiding many people. It was obvious that the newcomers were hostile; they were likely salt patrol soldiers or archers from the patrol office.
"You wicked scoundrel, surrender now!" A furious roar echoed from the sand dunes.
"Finally caught you. You damn bastard, you ran from Yuzhong to Yuxi, and then to Jinsha, you guys really know how to run!" A man emerged from the reeds and shouted, "Hand over the salt money, and I'll spare your life."
Shao Shuyi had calmed down.
He even felt a little amused, wondering if these people were government soldiers or bandits.
"Blow the whistle, form ranks!" he ordered without hesitation.
Now, it was too late to get back on the boat and cross the long mudflats.