xymnovel Chapter 224 Digesting the Dividend
Chapter 224 Digesting the Dividend
Chapter 224 Digesting the Dividends (Part 1)
Some changes may not seem drastic on the surface, but the undercurrents beneath the surface can be quite alarming.
From the end of August until mid-September, the freight transport landscape on the canal from Huangtian Port to Wuxi Prefecture underwent profound changes.
The direct cause was that Shao Shuyi, in the name of Huangtian Trading Company, bought four sea bass from Taicang—spending a total of 120 yuan.
At this point, Huangtian Trading Company still had about 38 ingots of paper money left in its accounts.
The owners of the four boats were also abducted to Jiangyin and put to work at the Huangtian Trading Company, continuing their old business of transporting goods. Naturally, these four boats were not registered with the government, and the canal administration still had the records of these four seafarers and their corresponding vessels, but in fact they had already fled, and the burden fell on the remaining people.
After the four ships entered service, Huangtian Trading Company's transport capacity directly exceeded 1800 shi (a unit of dry measure), so it began to take on its own business and no longer sublet to others. As for the boatmen, some were temporarily recruited locally in Jiangyin, and if that wasn't enough, seafarers from the Jiangyin and Changshu Thousand Household Offices of the Grain Transport Commissioner's Office were hired. In short, there was enough manpower.
As with freight transportation, the smuggled salt trade, which was the main business, flourished even more.
On the eighth day of the ninth lunar month, Shao Shuyi escorted a batch of fish and salt from Ma Tuo Sha to Shipai Township.
One after another, small, covered boats passed by the river in front of the Shipai Inspection Office, swaying and swaggering as if no one else was around.
During this time, he even made a temporary stop to eat in front of the Shipai Inspection Office. It wasn't a deliberate provocation, but rather that's how it is in the countryside. The only street in the entire Shipai Township where the Inspection Office is located has two restaurants serving tea and meals.
When the clerk Liu Xing arrived at the restaurant with several familiar archers, he saw the "waiters" sitting at several tables and felt a chill run down his spine; however, he did not show it on his face, only giving a perfunctory bow and saying, "Why did you summon me, Cao She?"
"Cao She".
"Cao Yishi"
"Brother Cao."
The archers stepped past Liu Xing and bowed.
Shao Shuyi looked him over, stood up and returned the greeting, smiling, "It's only been a few days, and we meet again."
Among the four who greeted him, one had fought alongside Shao Shuyi and stood in formation on the right side of the army, witnessing the entire battle.
Another person was not seconded to the battle, but he also witnessed the annihilation of the Huai bandits from the city wall and was very impressed.
As for the remaining two, they stayed at the patrol station, but that didn't stop them from coming over to say hello and get acquainted with the staff.
Liu Xing was dumbfounded.
In the patrol and inspection department, he was the closest and best friend of these four people. But now it seems that they actually have more respect for Shao Shuyi. All the money he spent on eating, drinking, gambling and whoring in the past was wasted!
"Sit down," Shao Shuyi said, gesturing to the area near the door. "Have you eaten yet?"
For some reason, Liu Xingming was clearly unwilling, but after seeing Shao Shuyi's unquestionable gaze, he subconsciously sat down and said, "I've already eaten at the company."
"7
"Have you been honing your skills lately?" Shao Shuyi asked, having finished his meal and rinsing his mouth with a bowl of tea.
"How can I not practice?" Liu Xing got a little angry when he talked about this, because his sister had also moved to Shipai Township and was constantly urging him to practice, so he didn't have much of a chance to slack off.
Shao Shuyi nodded and said, "That's good. You should be more sensible by now; you can't keep messing around like you used to."
The four archers who came with Liu Xing had strange expressions on their faces.
Cao She looked to be under twenty, but Liu Sili was well into his twenties. It was quite strange that the younger one was lecturing the older one, and that he did so in such a self-righteous manner.
"Strengthening muscles and bones and honing martial arts skills is not something that can be done overnight; the key is perseverance. I won't elaborate further." Shao Shuyi then changed the subject and asked, "You are a clerk, an assistant official in the patrol and inspection department, so you must be courageous in taking on responsibilities. Has anyone been smuggling salt in the Shipai area recently?"
These words made Liu Xing and the others feel somewhat embarrassed.
Aren't you smuggling salt? There are rows of boats moored under the willow trees by the river. What are they carrying?
"It seems there are smugglers from Yangzhou selling contraband salt. They appear and disappear mysteriously, and we've missed them several times." As Liu Xing spoke, he looked at the four people who had come with him, as if seeking confirmation.
"Indeed." The man nodded and said, "Inspector Jia led his men to make arrests twice, but they failed."
"Why not arrest the people who helped him sell salt?" Shao Shuyi asked.
"They have connections in the state, so it's not easy to arrest them arbitrarily."
"Whom did you rely on?"
"Jin Jingli, the clerk of the Household Department."
"Just a clerk in the Household Registration Office," Shao Shuyi scoffed.
He thought about it and realized he hadn't given this person any gifts, because he had invited him several times, but the person hadn't come out for dinner. In Shao Shuyi's view, this was a clear indication of his attitude.
As far as the past is concerned, the officials in Jiangyin Prefecture who accepted his money included Ge Daji, the clerk in charge of case handling; Chen Zi, the inspector of Chengjiang; Jiang Guanbao, the inspector of Matuosha; He Shuo, the clerk of the military affairs office; Han De, the deputy commander of Yangshe; and Meng Chaodong, the new clerk of the criminal affairs office who replaced Ge Daji.
I just sent money last month, and along with some of the clerks and officials who helped me with the tasks, I spent nearly sixty ingots in total.
As of now, Shengye Trading Company has approximately 607 ingots of cash and nearly 40,000 catties of salted fish in its accounts. Including the batch of Huai salt that was just delivered, it has more than 81000 catties of salt.
Business was booming. After the Battle of Qinwang Mountain, Brother Cao's reputation grew even more, and his business empire could expand further, allowing him to earn even more profits.
Therefore, Shao Shuyi was inevitably a bit high-spirited at this moment, and immediately instructed Liu Xing: "You are a clerk in the Shipai Patrol Office, you can't just loaf around all day, you should think about your family. In a few days, find an opportunity to go and ask that person who sells salt for the Yangzhou salt merchants if he can stop selling to them. If he agrees to stop selling to them, we can let bygones be bygones, and he can take salt from me every month, salted fish is also fine. If he doesn't want to, then come and tell me."
"Think of your family—" Liu Xing couldn't bear to hear those words.
"What?" Shao Shuyi glanced at him and put down his teacup.
Tie Niu, Bian Yuanheng, and the others sat next to him and all looked over.
Liu Xing avoided their gazes and said in a muffled voice, "He got the salt from the salt merchants in Yangzhou very cheaply, probably because he didn't want it."
"It's alright, just come and report to me," Shao Shuyi said. "If he doesn't listen, I'll have Jin Jingli talk to him. If he still doesn't listen, then I've already given you a heads-up, you can bring men to his door to arrest him and let him taste the bitterness of losing his family."
Liu Xing responded with an "oh".
Seeing his expression, Shao Shuyi shook his head and chuckled.
They complained and grumbled, but in the end, didn't they just have to swallow their pride and obey? They suffered a lot of anger and did a lot of things. It's unbelievable.
The four people who came with Liu Xing kept their heads down and remained silent.
When Brother Cao reprimanded the clerks, they didn't find it out of place at all. After all, he had killed more than a dozen fierce Huai bandits, so what was this little thing? From now on, the private salt trade in Jiangyin Prefecture would mostly be controlled by Cao She, possibly even surpassing Zhu Ding's control back then.
After finishing his meal at the restaurant, Shao Shuyi noticed a grain and oil shop across the street and asked someone to call the manager over.
"From now on, you'll listen to this man." Shao Shuyi pointed at Liu Xing and said, "I know you run a small business and don't earn much, so I won't charge you. But there's one condition..."
The shopkeeper was overjoyed to hear that he wouldn't have to pay and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Please speak, sir."
"How much grain does your shop usually store?"
"Twenty shi (a unit of dry measure)."
"Make some room to store more, at least thirty shi (a unit of dry measure)."
The shopkeeper looked troubled.
"Qian Laoba, don't push your luck." A patrolman from Shipai County scolded, "What's wrong with Cao She letting you store ten more shi? Money doesn't last long these days, storing more grain won't hurt."
"Yeah, Qian Laoba, Cao She wants to do grain and oil business. It's already a miracle he didn't send you packing your bags and home. What are you thinking?" another archer said. "Yesterday at Huangtian Port, the manager of Beiyuan Grain Shop offered him a silver ingot and promised to expand the warehouse this year, storing an extra hundred shi of grain and beans. Compared to that manager, what's your little business?"
Shao Shuyi glanced at him.
The archer immediately bowed and scraped, and said with a smile, "Cao She, Manager Yu of the Beiyuan Grain Shop is my uncle within five degrees of kinship."
"I see." Shao Shuyi nodded.
Interpersonal relationships in a small county town are that simple. You can find someone you know just by turning a corner. Although Jiangyin Prefecture, like the neighboring Pingjiang Road, is directly under the provincial government, it does not govern any counties. Its geographical scope is equivalent to the later Jiangyin City (a county-level city), plus parts of Changzhou, Wuxi, Changshu, Zhangjiagang, and Jingjiang (Matuosha). In fact, it is just a large county town.
The archer surnamed Yu just now said that he wanted to get involved in the grain and oil trade, which is both true and false.
He will indeed get involved in this business, and he will also have Shengye Trading Company raise funds to open a grain shop to test the waters, but not to make money, but to store grains and beans.
In addition to operating his own stores, he would also support Madam Liu in expanding the scale of her grain shops and storing more grain appropriately and reasonably.
The existing grain and oil shops in Jiangyin will be slowly inventoried and registered over several months, and then an attempt will be made to incorporate them into its underground system to exert direct or indirect control.
Shao Shuyi refers to all of the above as commercial storage.
Keeping paper money in your possession without spending it is insane. Sell the paper money, buy grain, and let's all work together to make Zhongtong paper money.
The biggest short seller of Zhiyuan banknotes.
"Alright." Seeing that the archer surnamed Yu was still trying to intimidate the shopkeeper, Shao Shuyi waved his hand and said, "The price of paper money is getting cheaper every day, can't you see that? Letting you expand the warehouse and collect grain and beans, would it harm you? If you don't have enough money, go to Huangtian Port and borrow some from Shengye Trading Company, it shouldn't be difficult."
The shopkeeper, Qian Laoba, nodded blankly.
Without further ado, Shao Shuyi, seeing that everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, ordered the bill to be settled and boarded the boat to leave.
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