xymnovel Chapter 76 The Difficult Whitewash
Chapter 76 The Difficult Whitewash
Chapter 76 The Difficult Whitewash
On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, the government finally had time, and it was Xue Qian, the prefectural judge who led the team to confiscate the property, who stepped forward.
He was accompanied by four or five constables, ten archers from the patrol office, and dozens of soldiers from the capital city who had been borrowed again.
Coincidentally, Cheng Ji was in the army. It seems he successfully bribed his superiors, but who knows how much money it cost.
On the river, three canal boats sailed by—and coincidentally, they were the same type as the Zhou family's boats back then.
"Where's the goods?" Xue Qian was as decisive as ever, or rather, arrogant. With a single command, the constables and archers first seized Shao Shuyi...
Yu Yuan, Liang Tai, and Li Fu surrounded them, and even Cao Tong, who had come to deliver food, was unable to escape, his face contorted with grief and extreme anxiety.
"It's on the boat." Shao Shuyi pointed to the sea bream moored beside the pier.
Xue Qian glanced at him, then summoned a minor official and said, "Have the boatmen start loading the cargo."
"Yes." The clerk accepted the order and left.
Others went to the ceramics shop and brought back a table and chairs.
Xue Qian waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need to sit, and went straight onto the drilling ship, inspecting each compartment one by one.
The first few compartments were filled with blue and white artifacts, bronzes, brocade, ginseng, pearls, and yellow lacquer, which Xue Qian found quite satisfactory.
When we reached the fifth, sixth, and seventh compartments, the quality of the cargo suddenly dropped; apart from a few furs, it was all ramie cloth.
Xue Qian was a little annoyed, but he suppressed his temper and continued the inspection.
Paper and books were placed in the seventh, eighth, and ninth compartments.
Although Korean paper is described as "made from silkworm cocoons, white as silk, tough as silk, and excellent for writing, producing beautiful ink," and is of good quality and writing experience, making it very popular in the Central Plains, Xue Qian's face still fell.
Is this valuable? It's nowhere near as valuable as the previous ones!
He could already feel the anger rising in his chest. That boy named Shao Shuyi was nothing but a scoundrel, a dog-like scoundrel, how dare he try to fool the government like this!
Xue Qian continued walking forward with a livid face.
Three whole compartments full of dried seafood!
Although the northern seas are colder and the seafood caught is different from that caught in the warm waters of the south, dried seafood is easy to sell in the Jiangnan region. But is it really worth money?
Xue Qian snorted coldly and looked at the last three compartments.
Almost all of them were wild mountain products, medicinal herbs, sesame oil, mercury, and handicrafts with a touch of Korean style.
"Bang!" He slammed his fist on the bulkhead of the cabin, and perhaps he used too much force, because the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
A moment later, Xue Qian, with his hands behind his back, stormed off the boat, ready to give Shao Shuyi a good scare. But then he saw Ni Guangye, the Assistant Prefect of Kunshan Prefecture, and Zheng Fan coming together. So he forced himself to calm down and went forward to greet them.
"I originally intended to ride in the same carriage as Judge Xue, but who knew you left early this morning? I couldn't catch up, so I had to come with Yi Fang instead," Ni Guangye said with a smile.
Zheng Fan also smiled and greeted them, while glancing out of the corner of his eye at Shao Shuyi and the others who were surrounded.
Feeling embarrassed by this confrontation, Xue Qian waved his hand, dismissing the constables and archers surrounding Shao Shuyi and his group.
Actually, he and Ni Guangye didn't have much of a relationship.
He was a native of Taicang, starting as a minor official in the grain transport office. Later, because the minor officials in the grain transport office had to accompany the chief official (the grain supervisor) on a sea voyage, he felt it was too dangerous, so he used his connections to transfer to Kunshan Prefecture (an upper prefecture), where he still started as a minor official and rose all the way to become a judge of the seventh rank.
Ni Guangye is from Dadu, a graduate of the Left List of Jinshi, and currently serves as a sixth-rank Tongzhi.
They're not on the same page.
Ni Guangye had served as an official in Yingde Prefecture many years ago, which was very close to Shaozhou Road, so he might have had some dealings with the Zheng family.
Xue Qian had some doubts that Ni Guangye's visit today was actually at Zheng's request.
Having been subtly mocked, he could no longer maintain his arrogance. He turned and instructed his attendants to count the goods before sitting down to the side, ignoring Ni and Zheng.
Ni Guangye apologized to Zheng Fan, then came to Xue Qian's side. After waving the others away, he said in a low voice, "Judge Xue, there are some things I shouldn't have said, but we are colleagues and see each other all the time, so I couldn't help but say a few words. Please don't take offense."
Xue Qian stood up, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Please speak frankly, Assistant Magistrate."
"Alright." Ni Guangye didn't stand on ceremony. After stroking his beard, he asked, "Do you know who Shao Shuyi is?"
"A scoundrel? A desperado?" Xue Qian asked, puzzled.
"He's a piece of shit." Ni Guangye said something completely out of character for a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), leaving Xue Qian utterly astonished.
Ni Guangye, however, remained unconvinced and continued, "A man like him probably doesn't have much money on him unless he's robbed something. Even if you capture and kill him, what will you get?"
Xue Qian seemed to be deep in thought.
"Such a person has a wide circle of friends. If there are a few people who have received favors from him and are willing to die for him, they might come looking for revenge and attempt assassination." Ni Guangye said, "You are a judge, and you often leave the prefectural office and go to the countryside, right? Even with constant vigilance, there are always times when you are careless. If you are not careful, someone might shoot an arrow at you and kill you. Can you escape unscathed?"
Xue Qian's expression changed.
"If he were incredibly wealthy, taking some responsibility wouldn't be a problem, but what does he have? Does he have as many servants as Zhou Ziliang, or as much money as Sun Chuan?" Ni Guangye concluded. "So, this kind of person is just stinking dog shit. He smells awful, and getting involved with him is even more disgusting. The best way is to ignore him and stay far away. Don't you agree?"
After listening, Xue Qian remained silent for a long time.
The words may be crude, but the principle is sound. People can be greedy sometimes, but it's better to be more restrained at other times. Unless a good opportunity is found to wipe out all their followers, these desperate criminals who dare to "do big things" at sea will face endless troubles in the future.
Thinking about this, Xue Qian thought to himself that Shao Shuyi, this scoundrel, wasn't entirely useless; at least he knew to share some of the profits with the government and didn't try to keep it all for himself.
"Alright, I'll leave once I've finished the inventory." Xue Qian sighed, then said, "Make him hand over that ship. Don't hide it. What's written in black and white on the confession can't be easily changed. If there are any missing goods, don't make a big fuss about selling them; the Maritime Trade Office won't issue him any receipts."
Ni Guangye stroked his beard and smiled without saying a word.
Xue Qian bowed and turned to leave.
Ni Guangye quickly arrived at Zheng Fan's side.
"How is it?" Zheng Fan asked.
"Tell your attendant to be more discerning," Ni Guangye said. "Sell the Korean goods slowly, don't make it known to everyone all at once. And don't sell them in Suzhou or Hangzhou, it's easy to run into trouble. Just sell them within the Kunshan Prefecture. Xue Qian will turn a blind eye, he's the judge, if he says it's fine, then it's fine."
"What if we go to another province?"
Ni Guangye pondered for a moment and said, "It might not be a big problem. But it's best not to go, to avoid suspicion."
Zheng Fan nodded.
There are generally two methods to turn a batch of stolen goods into legitimate merchandise.
One method is to distribute them to multiple locations and shops, mixing them with various goods, and slowly sending them out little by little, so that they are not easily detected by the government.
Secondly, the government turns a blind eye. As long as you don't make too much of a fuss, you'll be reported every few days, and they can still take action.
There aren't many people who can do the first kind of thing. Shen Wansan probably could, because his family had so many shops that selling some dubious Korean goods wouldn't even attract attention, since his family already had that kind of business.
The second type requires official connections, which is also not simple, and also requires certain sales channels.
This world isn't so kind to ordinary people who have nothing. Even if you pick up a boatload of goods, it's not easy to turn them into money without connections, and the risks are huge.
Just as Zheng Fan was thinking about how to sell the goods for Shao Shuyi, Shao was still chatting with his men.
"These soldiers aren't very good," Shao Shuyi laughed. "They can bully the servants and retainers of the Xia Zhou family without much trouble, but if they were to fight on the battlefield, it would be a different story."
"Actually, they might not be able to beat Zhou Ziliang's retainers and guards," Liang Tai said.
Shao Shuyi was initially surprised, but then he seemed to understand.
Liang Tai was not a military household member, but he was from a military family and was very familiar with the situation in the army. In his eyes, at least the Pizhou Wanhu Prefecture (stationed in Jiaxing) was a force to be reckoned with.
Their soldiers were incompetent; they might not even be able to defeat the local powerful families.
When I heard that the government raided the Zhou family's home, the thugs and guards they had hired didn't dare to resist, probably because they hadn't quite come to terms with it yet.
In this world, someone always has to be the first to expose the Yuan Dynasty's weakness and inspire others. This is the great significance of the "first uprising." Although the person who initiates the uprising may die the most tragically, they are still worthy of respect. — Well, it seems that Fang Guozhen, the first uprising at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, did not die and was recruited by the government.
Shao Shuyi pondered Liang Tai's words and secretly felt that he needed to instill in his men the idea that the Yuan army was not so terrible, so that when facing the government's encirclement and suppression, these originally brave and daring men would be afraid and hesitant, unable to unleash their true strength.
While he was pondering this, Zheng Fan slowly walked over and whispered, "We've already reached an agreement. You should pick up the goods as soon as possible."
"Okay." Shao Shuyi was secretly delighted.
"What are your plans?" Zheng Fan asked.
"Please enlighten me, sir," Shao Shuyi said sincerely.
He understood that without a sales network or significant connections in the business community, things would be difficult. After all, you can't exactly push a cart along the street and hawk your wares, or simply set up a street stall, can you?
"Sell it to Shen Rongfu, it'll save you trouble and effort," Zheng Fan said. "If you're willing, I'll ask him to send someone to Liujiagang."
"I'm willing." Shao Shuyi agreed without the slightest hesitation.
"Then let's handle it that way." Zheng Fan nodded, then added, "Once you're done with this, you need to focus on the important matters. Samples were fired up in Quzhou before the New Year and sent over; I saw they were quite good. Go check them out at the shop when you have time. We also need to make a trip to Jingdezhen, and then to Dadu—"
Shao Shuyi nodded repeatedly.
When Sun Chuan targeted him before, he went to the countryside to avoid trouble. He was at sea for a long time, and when he came back, it was Chinese New Year, which really delayed a lot of important matters.
His job was to help the Zheng family make money through legitimate business.
Thinking of this, Shao Shuyi chuckled and said, "Sir, haven't I received my wages for the winter and twelfth months yet?"
Zheng Fan was furious and said irritably, "Go and get it yourself."
Shao Shuyi laughed heartily, "Alright, I'll pay myself a salary in a bit."
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