xymnovel Chapter 276 A Visit
Chapter 276 A Visit
Chapter 276 A Visit
The wedding was held as scheduled on June 26th.
At dusk, surrounded by a crowd, Wang Huadu rode a horse to Shanghai County to fetch his bride.
The scene was very lively, with wave after wave of children helping to stop the cars. Each child received candy, preserved fruit, or other small gifts and was overjoyed.
After entering the city, they were stopped by Jiang's relatives and friends, but after each of them gave them two strings of cash, they were allowed to pass through without any hindrance.
Shao Shuyi did not follow, but instead looked through the account books in his own home.
There are currently more than 278 mu of farmland in Sanlinli, Pudong. More than 200 mu of them are already cultivated land. After the wheat harvest in May, rice was planted immediately in preparation for the autumn harvest. The remaining dozens of mu were only leveled last year and are considered wasteland with little output.
The average yield of winter wheat is one shi per mu, which is not high, but considering that some of the land has only been cultivated for three years and the harvest has not yet been fully stabilized, this figure is understandable.
There are 44 farming households that cultivate these fields. They are all migrants from Jiangbei who have been gathered together. Each person has about six mu of land, which is considered good in Jiangnan and can barely support a family.
If the opportunity arises later, we should still buy back the land.
Prepared land rarely circulates in the market because, even if someone wants to sell it, according to established custom, the first person to ask is one's clan, then relatives, then neighbors, and finally locals. Only after all of them refuse to buy it will it be sold to outsiders.
If Shao Shuyi wanted to buy, he should keep a close eye on those out-of-towners who held official positions in Shanghai. Only if they had both the means and the ability to acquire land would they be able to sell it when they were transferred or resigned, at which point you would have a chance to compete with the locals.
After conducting an on-site survey, Shao Shuyi discovered two plots of land nearby that were worth paying attention to.
One is wasteland, exceeding 300 acres, with soil that is said to be slightly saline, suitable only for growing cotton even if cleared. However, some say that after years of erosion, the land is now suitable for growing grains, though this cannot be verified.
Secondly, there is cultivated land, which belongs to the clerk of Shanghai County. This person was originally a clerk in the Hangzhou Provincial Secretariat. After passing the three examinations, he was appointed as the clerk of Shanghai County. Now, after some maneuvering, he is preparing to return to his hometown of Hangzhou. He does not intend to settle down in Shanghai. The land is obviously going to be sold. It is more than 100 acres in total, all of which are cultivated land.
Wang Huadu also set his sights on this plot of land. It is said that there were originally three potential buyers, but he persuaded one of them to leave. The third one refused to give up despite all the persuasion, but Wang Huadu climbed over the wall at night, brandished a knife, and threatened him, finally making him decide to withdraw.
Now that he's the only one buying it, I can take the opportunity to lower the price.
Shao Shuyi was speechless at the time.
His subordinates have very different styles of doing things, and when they take charge of their own territories in the future, their methods of managing their territories will certainly be very different as well. He has to keep an eye on them and make sure they don't mess things up.
As the moon rose above the willow branches, Wang Huadu returned from welcoming his bride, followed by a series of lengthy wedding procedures.
When the newlyweds released the geese—in ancient times wild geese, which gradually evolved into geese—Shao Shuyi appeared amidst a crowd of people. However, he didn't stay long and left after a few rounds of drinks, leading many guests to speculate about his identity.
Of course, most people were unaware of this. Only a very few close relatives and friends of the Jiang family knew that this person was the owner of the Taicang Shengye Trading Company, who was used to water transport and trading, had many subordinates, and was a wealthy and powerful figure.
******
The next day, Shao Shuyi did not delay. He instructed Wang Huadu to rest well for a month or two before preparing to leave.
Before leaving, he pulled Jiang Bayue aside and secretly gave her some instructions.
"Gou Nu is a bit impulsive and often likes to take shortcuts. You can help keep things under control," Shao Shuyi said. "He likes leading troops, so let him lead them. All agricultural affairs are in your hands; I only trust you."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Bayue didn't react in any particular way, only nodding and saying, "I've left everything at home to Sanlang and Yao'er. The land around Sanlinli is all good; if anyone's selling, it's worth buying. Shao She, don't listen to what others are saying. Decades ago, some land might have been remote and barren, but that's no longer the case. It's just that Pudong is sparsely populated and desolate, and it's all just hearsay."
"I believe you," Shao Shuyi said. "That troublesome clerk from before, number 7..."
"Let's spend the money to stabilize things first." Jiang Bayue glanced at Shao Shuyi and said, "Isn't Shao's main focus currently on Jiangyin?"
"We all need to put in a lot of effort," Shao Shuyi said. "Just as you said, Pudong is relatively desolate, but it's a good place for farming."
If you manage to cultivate thousands of acres of fertile land in the future, you will have made a great contribution.
Jiang Bayue nodded and said, "Sanbao's skills are average, and he's not really suited to lead troops. I'm still a little worried that you've entrusted him with such an important task, Shao She. If he makes any mistakes in the future, I hope you'll forgive him for my hard work."
"6
Shao Shuyi was taken aback; the hearts of parents are always full of love and concern.
"Don't worry, Sanbao is still very diligent," Shao Shuyi said. "Once he's on the field, he's also brave and determined to fight."
Jiang Bayue hummed in agreement and said, "Everything's alright here. Shao She, if you have something urgent, you should go back first. Keep those hundred taels of salt at the house for now; if any boats come later, I'll have someone deliver them to Jiangyin."
"No, send it to Suzhou," Shao Shuyi said. "I plan to have Wu Heizi go to Suzhou to sell salt in a while. Let's try it out with these 100 samples first. If it sells well, all the salt we get from the Xiasha quarry will be sent to Suzhou from now on."
"Hei Zi is lucky," Jiang Bayue remarked.
"There's no such thing as good or bad luck," Shao Shuyi laughed. "There are many salt sellers in Suzhou, and the government is very strict. Wu Heizi has to fight for it himself, and fighting is inevitable."
Finally, Shao Shuyi added, "If you have connections, recruit as many craftsmen as possible; you need all kinds. Once they arrive, settle them down and don't let the government cause any trouble. I'll need them in the future."
Jiang Bayue agreed.
Shao Shuyi then greeted the governor of Hua again before leaving in a hurry.
A group of more than ten people boarded two small boats, intending to visit the Fei family, located near the mouth of the Wusong River.
After marrying into the Liu family in Jiaxing, the Fei family ancestors lived in the Liu family mansion in Shanghai.
Later, something happened that Fei Xiong started to return to his hometown of Changxing to look for his ancestors' graves. He funded their repair and erected a monument with inscriptions, something that his grandfather and father had never done, to the point that the ancestral graves were almost lost.
The Liu family mansion in Shanghai was transformed into the Fei family mansion, with the son-in-law becoming the head of the household, which was quite surprising.
Regarding this matter, the boatman who took Shao Shuyi and the others into the city remarked with great relish: "What happened to the Liu family back then has now come true for the Fei family. Master Fei only had one son, who died young, and then had three daughters in succession. Could it be that there is some divine will at play?"
Upon hearing this, Shao Shuyi chuckled and said, "Is the boatman so talkative that he's not afraid of Master Fei?"
The boatman shrank back and said sheepishly, "How could Master Fei stoop to the level of a country bumpkin like me?"
"Master Fei is extremely wealthy and getting old, so he can't stand these kinds of things," Shao Shuyi said with a wicked smile. "He's very worried that some son-in-law will seize his family business and repeat the mistakes of the Liu family of Jiaxing."
"How could it come to this—" the boatman murmured, his mouth agape.
Upon seeing this, Shao Shuyi burst into laughter and said, "I was just joking with you."
Just then, the boatman's wife brought over some snacks, saying, "These are the daily meals of people on the boat; they are rather simple, please forgive us, guests."
"It's alright." Shao Shuyi invited the others to sit down and eat together.
The snack was a large plate of crab claws, which Shanghainese especially love to eat and call "parrot beaks." Actually, there's not much meat in them; they're just something to snack on. And believe it or not, the service on this professional passenger ship is quite thorough; they even provide snacks during the journey.
"If we can't meet them this time, we'll just take a boat and leave for Liujiagang," Shao Shuyi said. "Going overseas to trade with foreign countries isn't something the Fei family can't do. If all else fails, we'll see if we can get in touch with the Ye family of Chongming through the Shen family."
No one objected.
In fact, ever since those two large ships were "borrowed" back, the matter of going to sea to trade with other countries has been frequently mentioned.
Admittedly, the two ships named Ma Jia and Ma Yi could indeed haul cargo on the Yangtze River, but each ship had a cargo capacity of over 3,300 shi (a unit of dry measure), making it difficult to allocate cargo and resulting in low utilization.
Furthermore, using such ships for transport on the Yangtze River always feels like a waste of their potential. Their best use is for international trade. The Li family of Xiongshan had already planned to run a route to Korea, so their purpose was quite clear.
However, going to sea to trade with foreign countries has always been a "game" for a select few, with a very high barrier to entry. The top-tier maritime families in the vicinity are the Yang family of Ganpu, the Fei family of Shanghai, and the Ye family of Chongming, with smaller families such as the Ni family of Qingyuan and the Zhu family of Taicang following closely behind.
Further south, in Quanzhou and Guangzhou, there are the Chen and Pu families, as well as some Semu families, who often combine official and commercial activities and are also skilled in this line of work. However, they are too far away to be contacted for the time being.
The only connections Shao Shuyi could make were with the Ye family. He was passing through Shanghai and decided to visit the Fei family to see how his luck would be.
The boat rocked and swayed until the afternoon before finally arriving near the Fei residence.
After asking someone for directions, Shao Shuyi brought gifts and went to visit the person.
I didn't have high expectations, since I hadn't sent my name card in advance. But after hearing that Fei Xiong was stationed at the Shanghai branch of the Grand Canal this year and often stayed at home, I hurriedly went to visit him.
After waiting for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the servant who had announced the arrival came out with the steward.
"Which one of you is Cao Luo?" The chubby butler looked him over and fixed his gaze on Shao Shuyi.
"I am," Shao Shuyi stepped forward and bowed.
"Please follow me." He beckoned, then pointed to the group of assassins behind Shao Shuyi and said, "They're exempt. The Prime Minister is holding a banquet in the garden, and all the guests are renowned scholars from Songjiang Prefecture. We can't afford to offend them."
Shao Shuyi turned around and used his eyes to stop everyone from acting rashly. After much persuasion, he led Tie Niu, Liang Tai, and Bian Yuanheng inside, claiming that they needed to carry gifts.
The butler glanced at the large and small bags that Shao Shuyi and the others had brought, and without uttering a word of objection, nodded in agreement.
The group then entered through the gate.
The others waited anxiously outside, feeling rather uncomfortable.