xymnovel Chapter 131 Bringing Good News
Chapter 131 Bringing Good News
When we arrived at the Zheng family's old residence in Yantietang, it was already night, and Zheng Guozhen was still working in the government office and had not yet returned.
Inside the room, Shao Shuyi asked the maid who brought him tea and snacks, and learned that the Third Chamber had recently been working overtime regularly, often returning very late. Combining this with the information he had gathered, Shao Shuyi deduced that it was still related to the grain transport.
The Spring Festival ferry fleets have been returning one after another these past few days, while the autumn ferry fleets have just set off. There's certainly a lot to do. Considering that next year's Spring Festival travel rush is scheduled for early March, many preparations have already begun, so it's not surprising that the entire canal administration is so busy.
Shao Shuyi waited until the beginning of Hai hour (around 9 PM), and tea had been served twice, but Zheng Guozhen still hadn't returned home. At this moment, Shiliu quietly arrived. Upon seeing Shao Shuyi, she looked slightly embarrassed and uneasy, and said softly, "Madam Ning sent me."
"Oh, I understand." Since no one was in the room, Shao Shuyi stopped hiding his intentions, took out an envelope and a conch shell from his bundle, and handed them to Shiliu, saying, "Please give this letter to Madam Zheng. Also, this conch shell, I found it on the long beach. According to the fishermen, things that suddenly appear before you must have a reason. After thinking it over, I think it's best to give it to Madam Zheng; it'll be a keepsake."
Shi Liu hummed in agreement and turned to leave.
Shao Shuyi called out to him, asking, "Where did Furong go?"
Shi Liu's face showed lingering fear as she said, "I married Fang Shiyilang."
After saying this, he bowed and left in a hurry.
Shao Shuyi continued to wait in the back room until half an hour later, when Zheng Guozhen returned to the mansion and sent someone to summon him.
The meeting took place in the study of Chengjingyuan.
When Shao Shuyi arrived, Zheng Guozhen was still talking with several clansmen and stewards.
He first gestured for Shao Shuyi to sit down, then continued to the person beside him, "Master Bian doesn't care for money, only for refined objects. You should take that painting with you; just say it's a token of my appreciation."
"Yes." After replying, the man asked, "Third Quarter, next year's Spring Festival grain transport will be supervised by General Bian, but what about the Summer transport?"
"We'll see when the time comes. Fei Gong might not have the time; my father will probably have to go first," Zheng Guozhen sighed.
Only then did Shao Shuyi realize that they were discussing the matter of the grain transport supervisor.
The grain transport supervisor for the autumn transport fleet that just set sail is Xia Di, the deputy commander of ten thousand households, the same one who was stationed in Taicang this year. Judging from their tone, the deputy commander of ten thousand households, Bian Zuo, will lead the fleet for next year's spring transport. The grain supervisor for the summer transport has not yet been decided, but the maritime transport coordinator for next year has been confirmed: the newly appointed Vice Minister of the Jiangzhe Province, Qin Congde. The fact that the candidates were decided so early shows that the imperial court regards the grain transport as of paramount importance and cannot tolerate even the slightest mistake.
"The Third Department is of utmost importance in organizing the grain transport registers. The old prime minister made his name through this task back then, and the Third Department should follow his example. If we do it well, we can gain a good reputation and accumulate a lot of goodwill. We must not take it lightly." Just as Shao Shuyi was lost in thought, someone else said.
"Indeed." Zheng Guozhen nodded with a smile and said, "What Shan Jing said is quite right. The canal register has not been sorted out for many years, and now the names do not match the reality, which makes the boat owners all resentful. This matter was requested by my father, and I have no choice but to take on the responsibility. You all have to work hard and start visiting various places tomorrow to find out the type and number of boats under each person's name, so that I can take targeted measures."
"Yes," the others replied in unison.
Zheng Guozhen smiled and glanced at Shao Shuyi, then turned to the others and said, "It's getting late, so go to the kitchen for some food and drink before you leave." "Thank you, San She." The others agreed, bowed, and departed.
Zheng Guozhen got up and saw them to the door. After standing there for a moment, he returned and looked at Shao Shuyi, saying, "I've been sorting out the grain transport registers lately. There are so many things to sort out, it's really giving me a headache."
Shao Shuyi knew these words were meant for him, so he said, "I truly admire Sanshe for his hard work for the country and for relieving the people's suffering."
Zheng Guozhen smiled, sat back down at the table, and said, "Little Tiger, has your 'Drilling Wind Sea Spinner' been cut yet?"
"It's been over-cut."
Zheng Guozhen praised, "If everyone were like you, the court would save a lot of trouble, and some boat owners wouldn't have been forced to ruin their families. Some people don't own a single boat, but they are listed in the grain transport register and are hired to transport grain. Some people own several boats, but none are listed in the grain transport register, so they don't undertake grain transport tasks for a long time. It's best that you took the initiative to transfer the boat. If you buy a boat in the future, you must not follow their example and trade privately, which would cause chaos in the grain transport register." Shao Shuyi lowered his head and agreed.
"The list of boat owners for next year's Spring Festival travel rush must be finalized by mid-October at the latest," Zheng Guozhen added. "The boats will be detained at the beginning of November for unified supervision, and they cannot be used privately. In December, the maritime transport commissioner will come to Taicang, and the Censorate of the Southern Terrace will also come to supervise and check for any favoritism or corruption." At this point, Zheng Guozhen glanced at Shao Shuyi and said, "Your boat is registered in the grain transport register. If your boat is not on the Spring Festival travel rush list, then there will be no problem. But if your boat is on it, then you cannot use it privately."
"Understood," Shao Shuyi replied.
Sanshe is giving him a warning again. This is clearly telling him that whether or not he is on the Spring Festival travel rush list depends entirely on Zheng's mood.
"Alright, let's not talk about that anymore." Zheng Guozhen then asked, "What brings you here so late at night?"
"These past few days I've been at Shen's warehouse, taking inventory of all the goods on the Chongjia ship..." Shao Shuyi recounted his work over the past few days in detail, and then added, "Shen's is willing to buy a portion of the goods belonging to Zheng's for 13,000 ingots of Zhongtong paper money. If the three houses are unwilling, they can divide the goods into ten portions, send six portions to Yantietang, or sell them on their behalf."
"Selling on behalf of others?" Zheng Guozhen thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "They'll definitely prioritize selling their own goods. Who knows when they'll finish selling them all, or even how many they'll have sold? Xiao Hu, what do you think of the price of 13,000 ingots? Is it fair?"
"I think it's very fair," Shao Shuyi said. "If we take the goods back and sell them ourselves, we might not get this much, and it would take a lot of effort, which is not worth it. It's better to sell them directly to them and get the money in hand, which will make everything easier."
Zheng Guozhen grunted, not answering directly, but instead asked, "Xiao Hu, what do you think we should do to prepare for my family's foray into maritime trade?" Shao Shuyi looked up in surprise and said, "San She, this is no simple matter."
"Why isn't it simple? Tell me about it." Zheng Guozhen gestured for Shao Shuyi to continue.
"I heard that in the past, Zhao Weigong was extremely wealthy. He mortgaged his fields and houses to raise a lot of money, but he dared not hire sailors to sail to foreign countries. In the end, he could only give the money to the Fei family in Shanghai and let his son-in-law purchase goods for him to profit from the trade." Shao Shuyi said, "The Fei family had people in Quanzhou and Guangzhou, which made it convenient for them to resupply on land. After leaving the country, they had connections with the chieftains of the foreign countries along the way, which gave them great advantages. Not only was it convenient to purchase food, water and goods, but they could also avoid storms and pirates, and even leave sick crew members in foreign ports to recuperate and pick them up on the return journey."
Not to mention that the Fei family of Shanghai had been sailing for generations, familiar with wind direction and ocean currents, knowing where the dangers and relative safety lay, making it less likely for their fleet to encounter accidents. Once at their destination, without acquaintances among the foreigners or someone fluent in their language, purchasing goods would be difficult. Foreigners were cunning, frequently raising prices on the spot, and even resorting to fraud, deception, and selling inferior goods—something only the Fei family could handle; Zhao Weigong could not do it.
In short, this is not something that can be accomplished overnight; it requires the accumulation of several generations.
Zheng Guozhen sighed and said, "That's true, Xiaohu, you have insight. It's laughable that many in my Zheng family are arrogant, thinking that what the Ye family of Chongming, the Fei family of Shanghai, the Yang family of Chepu, and the Zhu family of Taicang can do, they really don't know the difficulties involved. Now, back to today's matter..." Zheng Guozhen closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then said, "Thirteen thousand ingots... Fine, let's sell them to them at this price."
"Yes, sir," Shao Shuyi replied.
As he spoke, he looked at Zheng Guozhen, as if reminding him of something.
Zheng Guozhen seemed oblivious, and instead asked, "Where did you go in the first half of August?"
"They've gone to deliver the goods," Shao Shuyi replied.
Zheng Guozhen glanced at him quietly and asked, "Who are you transporting goods for?"
"Official Yifang".
Zheng Guozhen was silent for a moment, then said with a stern face, "You are still working at the Qingqi Shop, so don't mess things up."
"It won't happen again next time." Knowing he was in the wrong, Shao Shuyi readily agreed, and added, "Don't worry, Sanshe, Ali and I are on good terms, there won't be any problem with the porcelain. Perhaps, seeing that the porcelain we made by running around was quite exquisite, he will buy more next year." Zheng Guozhen's expression relaxed slightly.
After a long silence, he waved his hand and said, "Do your job well. The reward I promised will be yours, so don't worry about it. Here, the capable rise, the mediocre fall, and those who are both incompetent and immoral are simply swept out the door. You'd better take care of yourself and leave."
"Yes." Shao Shuyi bowed and slowly withdrew.
After his figure disappeared, Zheng Guozhen closed his eyes and pondered.
To be honest, although he had mentioned to Shao Shuyi that some of the Zheng family members were "arrogant," even he himself was a little dazzled by the huge profits from maritime trade.
Who wouldn't want to get involved in such a big deal? It's just that they don't have the connections.
Thinking of this, Zheng Guozhen's heart skipped a beat. The one who frequently associated with Amu…
I wanted to call my niece over and ask her, but then I realized it was too late and she was probably already asleep, so I held back and decided to try again the next morning.
Meanwhile, in Ganzeyuan, not far from here, Amu was still awake, or more accurately, unable to sleep.
She wrapped herself completely in the blanket, staring intently at the mosquito net, her eyes slightly red and swollen.
She didn't know how much time had passed, but she reached out her slender, fair hand, picked up the conch shell from beside her pillow, and quietly placed it to her ear.
It was as if she could hear her father's voice that way.
The evening breeze wafted through the window, gently stirring the letter on the desk, where words such as "Wanli Long Beach" and "A Person Longing for Home" were clearly visible.