xymnovel Chapter 173 Deepening Cooperation
Chapter 173 Deepening Cooperation
After lunch, Shao Shuyi went up to the second floor, opened the window facing the street, and looked across the street while cracking pine nuts.
Two constables arrived on the street, one carrying a notice and the other a bucket of paste. They went to the front of the Dayan Tower and began posting it. The shopkeeper came out of the shop and kept talking to the constables, but they remained unmoved. While posting the notice, they addressed the crowd of people who had gathered around: "Fellow villagers, the salt fields of the Liangzhe Transport Office have been repeatedly robbed, with thousands of yin of salt stolen. All of this is the work of the Red-Browed Thieves. These thieves are incredibly audacious. Some are even using the stolen official salt to make salted fish for private sale, thus violating salt laws and showing contempt for discipline. Their crimes are unforgivable."
After speaking, he paused, and after everyone had digested the information, he continued, "This gang of thieves may have already entered the territory of this state, or be hiding in the countryside, or be mingling in the city. All soldiers and civilians in the state are hereby ordered to report any information they may have. Once verified, a reward of ten ingots will be given for each person captured. Those who harbor thieves will be punished equally, and those who help others but fail to report will be implicated."
Finally, he tapped the newly posted notice with his finger. It was stamped with a large vermilion seal, the inscription of which was so bright red it was almost blinding, symbolizing the authority of the government.
The people listened to all of this in a blank state.
What business is it of theirs? Since the woman with the red headband was able to rob thousands of taels of government salt, she is obviously quite powerful. Is this something they can interfere with?
Furthermore, those damned officials! Don't they even know what kind of salt the government sells? Is the salt law corrupt? Doesn't mixing mud and sand into government salt count as corrupt salt laws? Some people even looked delighted. The woman with the red headband has done something so significant—it's a boon to the people! I must prepare my money and buy plenty of salted fish to stock up at home; what if I can't buy it one day?
Therefore, the crowd gradually dispersed, except for a few ruffians who, tempted by the reward, stood there hesitant. Shao Shuyi withdrew his gaze, cursing inwardly that these people were really tired of living and wanted to taste his iron fist.
At some point, Madam Liu entered. She listened to the official repeating his words a second time, then glanced at Shao Shuyi, smiling without saying a word. "What are you looking at?" Shao Shuyi, somewhat embarrassed, quickly added, "What's it to me?"
Madam Liu gently closed the window and smiled, "That way, you won't have to worry about it."
Shao Shuyi simply sat down, crossed his legs, and said, "If one day I'm really chased to the point of having nowhere to run, I'll come here and accuse you of harboring a criminal."
Liu covered her mouth and chuckled, sitting down beside him. She gently stirred the steaming teacup and said, "Don't worry, I won't report you." Shao Shuyi glanced at her.
"Because reporting me to the authorities wouldn't end well," Liu said leisurely. "The officials probably see me as a woman and want to seize my wealth, label me an accomplice, and make it an ironclad case. So, I had no choice but to pack my valuables and run back to Wenzhou to hide for the time being."
Shao Shuyi chuckled softly.
This is Madam Liu's predicament: she is rich and beautiful, but the key is that she cannot withstand investigation. Therefore, once something happens to her, there is no possibility of clearing her name.
Even now, he can only live cautiously in the shadows, unable to see the light, and his nerves are probably no more relaxed than Shao's.
"Are you tired?" Shao Shuyi asked.
"Hmm," Liu replied, looking blankly at the teacup.
"I'm thinking about one thing," Shao Shuyi pondered for a moment, then said, "whether we should shift our focus here. Too many people are watching Liujiagang; if something happens, it'll be difficult to maneuver. Jiangyin is where I make the most money right now, and..."
"What?" Liu asked.
Shao Shuyi shook his head and didn't say anything more.
There was only one garrison in the entire Jiangyin Prefecture, namely the Han Army under the jurisdiction of the Jiangyin and Hupu Interpreter Office. This local garrison force, mainly composed of Khitans and descendants of Jin people who had migrated south to surrender to the Song Dynasty, had a roster of no more than three thousand men, but in reality, it was probably only two thousand. It was stationed in Jiangyin Prefecture and Changshu Prefecture (Hupu), including several hundred naval personnel and more than a thousand land troops.
In other words, the military garrison of Jiangyin, a directly governed prefecture, was extremely weak, and it was not certain that they could suppress an uprising. Given the Yuan Dynasty's current tendencies, they might very well offer amnesty, although Shao Gongming in this life was not keen on being offered amnesty.
From this perspective, Jiangyin is clearly more suitable for accumulating assets and personnel, while Liujiagang is used to make money.
"If you have some free time, you can help me recruit some people," Shao Shuyi said.
"What do you want to do?" Liu asked him curiously.
"Self-preservation."
"Recruiting people costs money."
"You can use this as a starting point," Shao Shuyi said matter-of-factly. "When I come back after the New Year, I'll see how these people are doing. If they're not good enough, I'll have to send them away." This time, Madam Liu didn't refuse, but pondered in silence, clearly weighing the pros and cons.
Shao Shuyi continued, "I've done a lot, and you've seen the results. You might not lose money by investing this money; it could even save your life in a critical moment, right? You need someone like me. You can't be in the open, so you have to hang out with me."
"That's such an unpleasant way of putting it," Liu said with a smile.
"I'll vouch for you, and I'll keep my word." Shao Shuyi gently grasped Liu's hand.
Liu struggled, but couldn't break free.
"Even if you are framed by the government and have nowhere to go, I will risk exposure to protect you and help you leave Jiangyin," Shao Shuyi added.
Liu's struggles gradually weakened.
Shao Shuyi looked at her quietly for a while, and then felt reassured.
"Wait for me to come back," Shao Shuyi said. "If you need to hire people, you can go to the canal and look for unemployed boatmen. You can hire fifty or a hundred people, and in the end, I will weed out the weak and keep the strong."
The swaggerers were a highly organized and disciplined group.
This is a technical job.
First, a certain level of physical fitness is required; weak people cannot do this.
Secondly, they need to cooperate. They have long been used to this in their long-term traction career. They are very familiar with each other and can even be said to have tacit understanding. They know how to exert force, when to exert force, and how to cooperate in action with just a glance.
Secondly, this industry requires fierce competition for business, and fights are common, sometimes even resulting in deaths.
In the Jiangnan region, where the local customs are generally laid-back and literature is highly valued, boatmen, miners, dockworkers, and mountain dwellers are probably the most cooperative, fearless, and daring among ordinary people.
"When will you be back?" Liu asked after a moment of silence.
"You already asked that before," Shao Shuyi said with a smile.
Liu withdrew her hand and said, "I'm afraid you'll die."
"It'll be quick. Go find all the men first," Shao Shuyi said. "You must have been quite famous back in the day. Have you forgotten all that, living a life of luxury these past few years? There are some things that others can't do, only you can."
Liu glared at him and said, "I've spent my whole life saving money so I wouldn't have to do what I did before. I've really fallen for your trick." Shao Shuyi chuckled and said, "You're just unlucky. What can you do when the world is like this? I'm leaving. Be careful." Liu gave a soft "hmm."
Shao Shuyi quickly went downstairs, settled accounts with the drivers and boatmen, and then disappeared into the snowstorm with his group of brothers.
After returning to her room, Liu changed her clothes and casually styled her hair into a neat bun. She then called over the Liu brothers, Liu Xing and Liu Ming, and recounted the instructions Shao Shuyi had given her. Finally, she asked, "What do you think?"
Liu Ming pondered for a long time before saying, "Sister, there are indeed quite a few unemployed boatmen on the canal, but hiring one, even just providing meals, would cost a lot of money. And just providing meals probably wouldn't be enough; we'd also have to pay them ten or eight strings of cash. So, each person would cost at least thirty strings per month, and fifty people would cost thirty ingots. Is it worth it?"
Liu Xing didn't seem to care much, only saying, "Hiring people is good, hiring people is good. I'll go to the theater later and see who dares to compete with me."
Liu's stern gaze swept over them.
Liu Xing gave an awkward smile and said, "I was just kidding."
Liu simply ignored him and looked at Liu Ming, saying, "Tomorrow you will take people and head along the canal towards Wuxi. Ask around along the way to see if there are any unemployed boatmen at home. If they look decent, recruit them."
"Since you've made up your mind, what can I say?" Liu Ming said with a wry smile. "Alright, I'll leave tomorrow, and I'll have Lao Qi and the others go with me. Shao Shuyi has opened a trading company in Huangtian Port, and I'm afraid there won't be anyone to look after it during the New Year. You can arrange for a few more people to go and keep an eye on it." Liu added, "They don't need to be brave or daring. Just leave them there and they can keep watch on petty thieves."
"Okay." Liu Ming agreed without further ado.
Without further ado, Madam Liu quickly let them leave.
He then returned to his room, took a sword from the wall, and gently drew it out, its cold light gleaming.
She was no weak woman who could not even kill a chicken. Having lived a life of luxury for nearly ten years, the wildness within her had merely lay dormant, not disappeared. After returning to Huangtian Trading Company, Shao Shuyi did not go out again.
During this period, Manager Huang and others were summoned and spent a whole day discussing in detail how to improve the process and enhance product quality in order to meet the standards.
On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, he unexpectedly found someone delivering salt. After much deliberation, he spent 300 ingots to accept the 20,000 catties of Huai salt and delivered it to Matuosha for storage that night.
After the 20th of the twelfth lunar month, the shopkeepers and ruffians from all directions began to send money back one after another.
On the 25th of the twelfth lunar month, Yang Jin and Wu Heizi went out together with seven or eight people to collect the money. Except for a few people, they collected most of the money back. Once they knew where the people lived, the money couldn't be lost, unless it had already been spent.
On the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, Shao Shuyi and others handed over the Huangtian Merchants' Association to several servants sent by Madam Liu, then boarded a flat-bottomed boat and sailed downstream, arriving at Liujiagang that evening.
The fifth year of the Zhizheng era (1345) was approaching.