xymnovel Chapter 56 Response
Chapter 56 Response
Compared to a few months ago, the bustling atmosphere of Zhangjing Wharf has faded somewhat, most notably in the reduced number of passengers.
Perhaps business was slow, or perhaps it was too cold, but people were reluctant to go out.
When Shao Shuyi rubbed his hands together and disembarked, this was the bleak scene he saw.
"This world is getting worse every year." Zheng Fan also got off the boat and looked at the sparse figures on the long dike. He sighed, "If things continue like this, who will still have the mind to be loyal to the country? We might as well take advantage of the situation and make some money while we can, and not care what happens in the future."
"There are still good officials." Shao Shuyi lifted the paper package in his hand and laughed, "The sugar that you bought, sir, is thanks to Lord Li. Otherwise, not only would ordinary people complain about the price of sugar, but even wealthy families and gentry would find it too expensive."
Zheng Fan sighed and said, "There are still too few people like Lord Li."
"Li Gong" is named Li Duoerzhi, and is currently the Left Vice Minister of Jiangzhe Province. When he served as the Chief Administrator of Chuzhou Circuit, he outmaneuvered the Kheshig "Commissioner" who was in charge of procuring arrow bamboo, thus relieving the local people of many burdens.
Back when he was the governor of Chuzhou, the local specialty, sugarcane, was supplied annually to the Hangzhou Sugar Bureau. At that time, the sugar officials were mostly Huihui (Jews), who were greedy by nature, deceiving their superiors and subordinates, and accumulating wealth.
One day, Li Duo'er sent someone to a fruit and wood shop in Hangzhou to buy ten catties of sugar. After obtaining the shop's receipt and calculating the price, she discovered that it was dozens of times more expensive than the cost of sugar produced by the sugar bureau. Upon further inquiry, she was told that the sugar official was making excessive demands, thus inflating the purchase price. Therefore, she submitted a petition requesting to be dismissed from her post and return to her original position as sugar official.
With this, sugar prices were brought down, benefiting many people.
As the two were talking, they saw a person rushing towards them, his hair and eyebrows covered in ice crystals, and they didn't know how long he had been waiting there.
"Yu She?" Shao Shuyi asked in surprise, "Why are you in such a sorry state? Did you sleep outside last night?"
"Brother, you're finally back." Yu Yuan almost cried, grabbing Shao Shuyi's hand and saying, "Run! The authorities are coming to arrest you."
Although Shao Shuyi was startled, he remained calm, gently freeing himself from Yu Yuan's grasp, and said softly, "Can't you see Lord Zheng? Aren't you going to pay your respects?"
Yu Yuan then came to his senses and hastily gave a bow.
Zheng Fan, however, was somewhat moved and said, "I was walking side by side with Xiao Hu, and you came from afar, your eyes only on him, only thinking about reminding him to escape trouble. Even among brothers, how many could do that?"
After his reflection, he felt even more favorably disposed towards Yu Yuan and said with a smile, "Tell me, what's the matter that you're in such a hurry? Which government office wants to arrest Little Tiger?"
"The Maritime Trade Office." Yu Yuan stared wide-eyed at Shao Shuyi and said, "Yesterday evening, a judge named Zhu Jin came over with more than ten constables. He arrested you on the spot, accusing you of giving gold, silver, weapons and other contraband to foreign merchants."
"Oh?" Shao Shuyi raised an eyebrow and said, "Such an obvious false accusation, and the Maritime Trade Office believed it immediately and even sent people to arrest me. Someone must have paid them off."
After saying that, he smiled and said, "This person is so hard to guess."
"Do we even need to guess?" Yu Yuan said urgently, "I've been thinking about it all night, it must be Sun Chuan."
Zheng Fan didn't laugh; his expression gradually turned serious. He said, "Xiao Hu, in this matter, you actually took responsibility for the Zheng family. Don't worry, San She is a reasonable person. Since he agreed to make porcelain for Ali, he already considered who he might offend. He doesn't even consider Sun Chuan a threat. But—"
Zheng Fan didn't finish his sentence, but Shao Shuyi understood.
The Grain Transport Office was essentially a "centrally-owned enterprise" with an administrative rank, but it couldn't manage anything other than transporting grain. On the contrary, the Grain Transport Office's revenue came from local governments like the Jiangzhe Province, Pingjiang Circuit, and Kunshan Prefecture, which made it somewhat dependent on them. This was evident in the fact that local officials stood in the center during sacrificial ceremonies, while the Grain Transport Office officials stood on either side of them.
The Qingyuan Maritime Trade Office and its subordinate Taicang Maritime Trade Branch Office were government offices under the Jiangzhe Province system. While they were powerless against the Zheng family, they were emboldened to find excuses to target a few of the Zheng family's "henchmen."
That's the problem.
Shao Shuyi is now Zheng's lackey. Before the Zheng family and the Maritime Trade Office determine a victor, he could be crushed.
Even if the Zheng family and the Maritime Trade Office eventually compromise and reach an agreement on the distribution of profits, can the dead henchmen be brought back to life?
He dared not gamble that Zheng Sanshe would completely overturn the table with the Maritime Trade Office for his sake.
Zheng Fan comforted him, saying that it only represented Zheng Fan, not Zheng Guozhen, much less Zheng Yonghe.
However, it would be good to be able to use the Zheng family's influence.
After a moment's thought, Shao Shuyi said, "Sir, the matter of commissioning porcelain for the foreigners is already set in stone and must be carried out. If we can sell 30,000 to 50,000 pieces next year, that's a business worth tens of thousands of ingots. With this, the Zheng family's foundation will be greatly solidified. If we miss this opportunity, it may be difficult to have another one."
Zheng Fan nodded and said, "Actually, Sanshe said that in the decades since Liujiagang opened as a port, which business is run by which person is predetermined. If you want to expand your family business, you can only snatch food from the tiger's mouth. There is no other way. Xiaohu, the path you have taken is very much to Sanshe's liking. This is something that must be continued, so—don't worry, it's fine."
Shao Shuyi hummed in agreement, but he didn't dare to be as optimistic as Zheng Fan.
Of course, things must go on, but can't we have someone else do it? He might be a talent in Zheng Guozhen's eyes, but he's not someone who can't be discarded. If you're not in trouble, or only have minor issues to resolve, Zheng Guozhen wouldn't mind lending a hand. But if you have major issues that require the Zheng family to expend huge resources to rescue you, then it's hard to say.
Are you worth the price?
Sun Chuan's decision to have him arrested might have been partly due to personal grudges, but it certainly wasn't entirely driven by them. Perhaps that short, stocky guy simply wanted to kill a henchman who fought for the Zheng family, to demonstrate his unwavering stance.
Damn! So this is Shao's true status in Liujiagang.
"My lord," he said, turning to Zheng Fan, "you should return to the old residence at Yantietang as soon as possible to meet with the three of you and discuss countermeasures. Sun Chuan's visit is ill-intentioned; we must be cautious."
"And you?" Zheng Fan asked.
Shao Shuyi bowed and said, "I still have a group of younger brothers who need to be settled, lest something unexpected happen."
Upon hearing this, Yu Yuan, who was standing nearby, was about to say something, but Shao Shuyi stopped him.
Zheng Fan gave him a deep look and slowly said, "Okay."
******
The two parted ways at the dock. Shao Shuyi, carrying the sugar, went straight to Dongyidu with Yu Yuan. It only took him half an hour to arrive at Li Fu's house.
In the small courtyard, three little children, Daohua, Sihai, and Rongniang, were playing a game.
Su Niang was cooking in the kitchen, and wisps of smoke rose from the chimney.
Wang Huadu, Kong Tie, and Li Fu were huddled together, seemingly talking about something.
"I'm back." Shao Shuyi took a deep breath, tossed the sugar to Wang Huadu, and laughed, "Look at you guys. What? Planning to storm me out of the execution ground?"
"It's not impossible." Wang Huadu stood up in surprise and said, "Yu She really picked you up?"
Shao Shuyi nodded and said, "Aren't you going to ask how my trip to Suzhou went?"
"How is it?" Wang Huadu asked, following his words.
"I sold the frankincense, and the pharmacy gave me thirty ingots," Shao Shuyi said. "Then I went to Qiao Sikong Lane, the location of the main government office of the Grand Canal Bureau. It's much more impressive than the branch office in Taicang. Hmm, the young ladies in Suzhou are quite beautiful; they almost blinded me."
Wang Huadu laughed heartily.
After laughing, he was a little surprised because he realized that he hadn't laughed at all since yesterday, whereas he used to laugh all the time.
"How have you been lately, Baijianu?" Shao Shuyi asked again.
"I've lived like this for the past sixteen or seventeen years, what's so good or bad about it?" Kong Tie looked intently at Shao Shuyi and said, "But I've been worried about you for a long time."
"What's there to worry about?" Shao Shuyi shook his head and asked, "If I went to the prefectural government office now and beat the drum to appeal for justice, would that do any good?"
"Useless," Kong Tie shook his head.
"If I go to Zheng's residence at Yantietang and kneel down to beg for help, will that do any good?"
"It's hard to say. Maybe it was handed over in exchange for Sun Chuan making concessions," Wang Huadu interjected.
"So what if we become fugitives?" Shao Shuyi asked his third question.
"There's no escaping it..." Li Fu sighed from the side.
"If that's the case, what else is there to say!" Shao Shuyi sneered, walking into the house as he said, "If we can't solve the problem, then we'll deal with the person who caused it."
Upon hearing this, Wang Huadu perked up and said, "Brother Shao, you're back and things are different. The thing that has been troubling us for so long is so simple in your mouth."
"It's simple, but not that simple. It's nothing more than fighting for survival." Shao Shuyi took the bow tip off the wall, weighed it in his hand, and said, "Actually, after buying the boat, I originally wanted to transport goods, smuggle salt, and help everyone live a peaceful life, save some money. When I went out, people could call me 'Master.' Fighting and killing really has no meaning. But there are always people who don't want me to have a good life, so there's nothing I can do."
Yu Yuan had just brought over the quiver when he heard this and shrank back, because he saw that look of madness in Shao Shuyi's eyes again.
Ever since the incident with the bandits on Taihu Lake, Brother Shao seems to have developed a chronic illness that has never fully healed.
This time, Sun Chuan's words have spurred me to the brink of a worsening of my condition. What should I do?
The sun was shining brightly, but Yu Yuan seemed to see a deep crimson hue.