xymnovel Chapter 216 Value
Chapter 216 Value
On the fifteenth of July, boats lined the area near the Tianfei Palace pier.
The summer fleet, which had been delayed for so long, has finally set sail today.
With Zheng Fan's assistance, Shao Shuyi met Zheng Yonghe.
He was probably truly exhausted; he sat alone on the porch, watching the ships depart one after another, silent for a long time.
"Spending your whole life dealing with the same thing is probably quite tedious." After a long silence, Zheng Yonghe opened his eyes, sighed, and asked, "Xiao Hu, what do you want to do in your life?"
Shao Shuyi was surprised that Zheng Yonghe didn't talk about business but instead chatted with him about life. However, he quickly replied, "I have no other wish. Being a wealthy man is enough."
Zheng Yonghe remained noncommittal, only looking at the densely packed masts on the river. After a long while, he said, "This is not easy for you." Upon hearing this, Shao Shuyi's dark, purplish heart was actually somewhat moved.
After all these years, is it only Old Zheng who realizes how hard it was to build his fortune? Yes, his family wasn't like this when he was young. They were just small landowners, maybe without any descendants. But he passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi, and through his own business acumen, he gradually rose through the ranks.
"The cotton fabrics in the silk shops are very good, and the silk from Wuxi is also excellent," Zheng Yonghe added. "The fact that you can find such fine goods in Jiangyin and Wuxi shows that you have extensive connections in the area."
"I do know a few people," Shao Shuyi said.
"Did the cloth and silk merchants in Jiangyin pay you any brokerage fees?" Zheng Yonghe asked.
"I was too embarrassed to accept it," Shao Shuyi replied.
In fact, they did collect the money, but they just told them to hand it over to Huangtian Trading Company.
Shao Shuyi himself was the manager of the Xia Zheng silk shop, and it wasn't appropriate for him to openly collect brokerage fees in his personal capacity; it would seem like soliciting bribes. "Lately, some people in the clan have been whispering in my ear that cotton cloth from Songjiang Prefecture can't be sold, and no one is buying Suzhou silk anymore; it's all your fault," Zheng Yonghe smiled and said, "I've driven them all away. Jiangyin has been growing cotton for longer than Songjiang Prefecture, and the quality is excellent. So what if we buy it? Recently, didn't the inn sell some to foreign merchants? What did they say?"
"We sold over 12,000 bolts of Jiangyin cotton cloth and nearly 10,000 bolts of Wuxi silk, and no foreign merchants or seafarers raised any objections," Shao Shuyi said. Zheng Yonghe nodded, looked at his third son Zheng Guozhen, and said, "Third son, if anyone makes a fuss again, don't be polite to them."
Zheng Guozhen responded, then looked at Shao Shuyi without saying anything.
"Many people don't understand what's most valuable in this world today," Zheng Yonghe sighed. "Cotton cloth and silk are trivial matters; compared to family fortune and clan, they're not worth mentioning."
At this point, Zheng Yonghe actually stood up, stared intently at the north, and said, "Last year, Guo Huonichi roamed freely in the belly for more than two months. In the Battle of Guangping, he charged straight at more than 10,000 government troops with only 300 men, and utterly defeated them, killing their commander. I was quite surprised when I first heard this, so I wrote to him to inquire. An old friend replied, saying that after Guo Huonichi returned to Yidu, the government pardoned Zhao San and Wang Xi, salt workers from Hejian, for their crimes, and ordered them to lead their men south to Yidu to assist the government army in defeating Guo Huonichi. The matter was settled, but after this battle, the people of the belly all thought that the government army was useless."
Shao Shuyi listened attentively; these were details of Guo Huoni's rebellion that he had never known before, and they were quite interesting.
In the end, it was the Salt Gang's armed forces that spearheaded the attack and wiped out Guo Huoni's Red Army.
Looking at it this way, the local garrison troops in the belly are indeed weak in combat and not very useful—at least they are not very useful now that they have not been reorganized. "However," Zheng Yonghe changed the subject and said, "Guo Huo, you once recruited soldiers twice in Huguan and Guangping, but few responded. None of them were willing to follow him in rebellion. This is the main reason why he was eventually wiped out."
After saying this, Zheng Yonghe shook his head and smiled, saying, "I'm getting old, my words are incoherent, I'm not going to say anything more."
Zheng Guozhen glanced at his father, carefully trying to guess his intentions.
Shao Shuyi also discerned a hint in Zheng's words; there was something more to them. However, his attitude was quite intriguing. Had he been startled by Guo Huonichi? Or had the incident at the Lüsi saltworks made him realize that not only were the government troops within his own ranks useless, but Henan itself was also inadequate?
Shao Shuyi really wanted to ask him what he thought about the state of the world, but he couldn't bring himself to ask, so he had to give up.
Overall, Zheng, as a beneficiary of the existing system, probably still intends to maintain the Yuan dynasty's rule, but his confidence has wavered. His words today are certainly not unfounded…
"Take good care of the silk shop. As for all matters, as I said before the New Year, you'll be in charge of them yourself." After saying this last sentence, Zheng Yonghe walked towards the dock.
Zheng Guozhen hurriedly followed, seeing him off on his final journey. The officials from the Grand Canal Bureau who had accompanied him on the voyage also gathered one after another, boarding the ship with Zheng Yonghe. Shao Shuyi clasped his hands in greeting from afar, not caring whether Old Zheng could see him or not.
Three days after the summer transport ships left, Kong Tie's fleet also returned from Jiangxi and docked at Tianfei Palace.
Surprisingly, two people were lost during this cargo transport operation; both were seafarers from Taicang.
"When we stopped in Wuhu, bandits launched a surprise attack in the dead of night. The sentries noticed and sounded a gong to warn us." Kong Tie's expression was grim. "In the ensuing fierce battle, Li Siwu and Sun Dong were killed. We were in a hurry to continue our journey, so we bought coffins on the shore and buried them in the wilderness, only bringing back a few clothes." Shao Shuyi listened, nodded slowly, and then asked, "What about the other merchants? Did you hear of any looting?"
"Yes," Kong Tie said solemnly. "According to the locals of Wuhu, the number of merchants robbed this year is much higher than in previous years. Bandits are running rampant everywhere, and more and more people are joining them. The waterways to Jiangxi are not as easy to travel as before."
Shao Shuyi sat back down behind his desk, called Liu Huipeng over, and said, "Jiming, go to Taicang to handle the funeral arrangements for the two brothers. All the money should be paid from the trading company's account, and each of them should receive a pension of three ingots."
Liu Huipeng was taken aback for a moment, then said, "Okay, I'll take care of it right away."
After Liu Huipeng left, Shao Shuyi tapped the table lightly with his right index finger and said, "I didn't have any clue before, but after hearing what you said today, Baijianu, I have a better idea."
Kong Tie looked at him, puzzled.
Shao Shuyi gestured for him to sit down, and then recounted what had happened to him recently.
Kong Tie frowned and pondered for a moment, then looked into Shao Shuyi's eyes and said, "Xiao Hu, you're actually overthinking it."
Shao Shuyi nodded, signaling him to continue.
Kong Tie pointed outside and said, "The Loujiang River is filled with boats, and the banks are lined with famous buildings and markets. There are countless wealthy people there. How many of these people are completely clean? If we really investigate them thoroughly, we'll find that they all have something to do with each other."
In the past, I worked for the Zhu family in Taicang. Many people said that the Zhu family were ostensibly maritime merchants, but in reality, they were half merchants and half pirates. Once they encountered a lone and weak sea traveler, they would rush up, kill him, and seize his ship.
The story has been circulating with great detail, and I think it's mostly true. Yet, all these years, the Zhu family has remained standing, and the government has ignored all the rumors. Why? Because they are useful, able to help officials make money through trade, and the government is also afraid of cornering these powerful figures who roam the seas, leaving them with no way out. If something happens, they'll be the ones who suffer.
At this point, there's not much to say. They need to suffer some losses to realize your worth. They always said they needed you for shipping, otherwise things might go wrong. That's what they said, but no one has actually seen it. How can you convince someone who hasn't experienced hardship?
Xiao Hu, you might as well wait patiently. The bandits of Chaohu Lake are not what we used to see. I heard their numbers have increased dramatically, and there are many more desperate criminals. The Shen family learned how dangerous it is after being robbed once.”
Shao Shuyi looked at Kong Tie, suddenly laughed, and said, "Baijianu, you wouldn't have said so much in one go before."
Kong Tie's dark face showed little expression. He simply said, "I said a few more words on a whim."
Shao Shuyi hummed in agreement.
Zheng Yonghe's words that day actually conveyed the same meaning. In order to suppress Guo Huonichi, the imperial court actually pardoned the crimes of salt smugglers and allowed them to build up the Yidu salt households who were rebelling. Isn't this just like Song Jiang fighting Fang La?
Of course, Zheng Yonghe also mentioned from the opposite perspective that Guo Huonichi couldn't recruit soldiers in his belly and no one would rebel with him. This was actually a warning to Shao Mouren not to be arrogant and think that he could do anything just because he had some influence among the seafarers.
"I understand." Thinking this, Shao Shuyi said, "Now we've reached a crossroads. If we stop here, it might not end well. On the contrary, if we maintain a sense of proportion while ensuring that no one can ignore the capital we have, there might still be a glimmer of hope. As for Taicang..." Shao Shuyi shook his head and said, "Actually, it's not very meaningful. After I sell all the goods I bought at the Xia Zheng silk shop, I'll go to Jiangyin to make arrangements. Your family..." "I'll send my younger siblings to Ma Tuo Sha as soon as possible," Kong Tie said.
Shao Shuyi nodded happily and said, "You pick a good place yourself."
Kong Tie hummed in response and didn't say anything more.
Starting in late July, Shao Shuyi remained at Tianfei Palace, negotiating with foreign merchants and travelers.
During this period, the transportation tasks assigned to Madam Shen's side did decrease, mainly because the business of transporting grain to and from Suzhou completely stopped, and the work of transporting tea to Tongzhou and Yangzhou was also assigned to other people.
Shao Shuyi remained unmoved.
He wanted to see if water transport was really that easy to do, given the deteriorating security situation.
By mid-August, the silk shops in Xiazheng had sold out almost all their fabrics, thus completing Shao Shuyi's mission in Liujiagang.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, Shao Shuyi had just returned to his small courtyard by the river and was having a drink with everyone when Manager Mo suddenly came to visit, asking him to send a boat to Wuhu to transport a batch of dried seafood, cotton cloth, spices, and copperware. On the return trip, he was to also bring back Xuancheng carpets, raw silk, and satin to Liujiagang.