xymnovel Chapter 92 Daughter's Pool
Chapter 92 Daughter's Pool
Chapter 92 Daughter's Pool
Although Chizhou and Jiangzhou are not far apart, it takes a considerable amount of time for boats to travel between them.
On the morning of the eleventh day of the second intercalary month, three boats, one large and two small, finally arrived at Dehua County, the seat of Jiangzhou Road.
There are two main reasons.
Firstly, there are many shallow shoals near Taiziji in Anqing, requiring extreme caution during navigation and causing delays.
Secondly, a strong wind swept through the Leichi area, which was quite frightening and forced the ships to hurriedly find sheltered anchorages.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly in the end, and the fleet docked at Nü'erpu in southeastern Jiangzhou.
This port is one of the major wharves near Jiangzhou. When the water level rises, it can accommodate more than a hundred merchant ships. At this time, there are only about thirty or forty ships, and business is relatively slow.
"Was it easy to get into the lake?" After reaching the shore, Shao Shuyi looked at Gao Daqiang and Liang Tai and asked.
"The water at the lake's mouth is shallow; it doesn't seem easy," Gao Daqiang said. "Could there be a sandbar below?"
Liang Tai wasn't as knowledgeable about water navigation as Gao Daqiang, but he was observant. He pointed to a sandbar northeast of the dock and said, "Isn't that the sandbar exposed in the middle of the water? The locals call it the Golden Sandbar. It will definitely be submerged during the summer floods."
"There are many sandbars and the waterways are narrow, but they widen considerably once they enter the lake," Shao Shuyi said. "If the two armies were to clash on Poyang Lake, how would they fight?"
Gao Daqiang glanced at Shao Shuyi and chuckled, "Brother Shao, do you perhaps frequent the theaters to discuss military matters?"
Shao Shuyi smiled slightly and said, "I do often go to the theater and have seen a lot of ancient military struggles, so I'm a little curious and thinking about how I should fight when I command an army."
"If we proceed from the west of the Yangtze River, our fleet consists of large ships and warships with deep drafts, which will cause some trouble when entering the lake," Gao Daqiang said. "But we don't know how deep Poyang Lake is, or whether our large ships can maneuver freely."
Shao Shuyi then looked at Liang Tai.
After a moment of silence, Liang Tai said, "Why don't we take the routes in Jiangxi first, and then receive the fleet after we have a foothold?"
"A combined land and water offensive?"
"Advance by both land and water."
Shao Shuyi understood.
Gao Daqiang, a seafarer by trade, focused on specific tactics, while Liang Tai, less knowledgeable about watercraft, spoke more on general principles. Each had their own emphasis.
"Big Gun is right," Shao Shuyi said. "Large ships and small ships each have their advantages and disadvantages. Large ships are tall and can attack from above, gaining a great advantage. They can also carry more soldiers and even cannons, making them extremely powerful. However, small ships are light and agile. Once a large ship is lured into shallow waters, or if the wind is favorable, it can employ various tactics that the large ship cannot react to. Military competition is essentially about maximizing strengths and minimizing weaknesses, but I still think large ships have more advantages, it just needs to be used well."
"Buddha's tooth isn't wrong either," Shao Shuyi continued. "Going upstream along the Yangtze River, we should first take Jiangzhou and then hold Hukou in our hands. Then we can advance or retreat as needed. We can advance into Fanyang Lake and attack the surrounding cities, or we can retreat and build a water fortress to maintain our foothold. Therefore, the key to Jiangxi is Jiangzhou, and the key to Jiangzhou is Hukou."
Shao Shuyi's words were only a general outline; the actual implementation would involve many variations. However, for now, it was enough to say this much, to boast to his subordinates, and to give them a strategic perspective.
Zheng Fan, Mo Bei, and the others also quickly disembarked.
"What are you doing stuck here? Is there a beautiful view? Or a beautiful woman?" Zheng Fan joked.
"My lord, there are indeed many beauties." Shao Shuyi pointed to the red-sleeved beauties on the distant high-rise building and laughed, "They are usually kept in check by their wives, so it's rare for them to come out—"
Zheng Fan shook his head slightly and said, "Business is more important. Let's go and investigate the celadon trade first. Jiangzhou is a major port, and most of the Jingdezhen porcelain is concentrated here, sold to Huguang, Huainan, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang. How can we not take a look? Besides—"
He glanced at the brothels in the distance and chuckled, "These people are mostly for the boatmen who've been holding back all the way. They're not good-looking, and they might even be sick. Oh well."
"You're very safety-conscious." Shao Shuyi cupped his hands in a gesture of respect.
Meanwhile, Wu Heizi was already winking and saying he was going to buy some local specialties, and then he and several others ran off in a flash.
Shao Shuyi did not stop it.
Although he had been trying to formalize and quasi-military them, they were not officially a military entity. The relationship between them was that of a boss and employees, so it was not appropriate to manage them too closely.
Fortunately, they were aware of the situation and traveled in batches. Since it was a bustling market, there wasn't much of a problem.
Zheng Fan and Shao Shuyi, each accompanied by a follower, soon arrived at the market.
In Nü'erpu, the porcelain business isn't the biggest, but it's still quite large.
They even saw celadon from Longquan kilns here, products from the "Tu Longquan" kilns in Fujian.
The latter was a replica of a Longquan kiln piece from Chuzhou, a major export item from Quanzhou Port, and of slightly lower quality. This is actually normal; if the quality were good, the non-Han people wouldn't have gathered in such a large number at Liujiagang.
However, the largest quantity of porcelain actually came from the kilns of Jingdezhen, but—
Shao Shuyi picked up a bottle at random and asked, "Where does this come from? It's not porcelain, is it?"
The shopkeeper had just finished settling the bill with a customer, glanced at the bottle, tapped it lightly to produce a buzzing sound, and chuckled, "Guess, sir."
"Bronze ware?" Shao Shuyi guessed.
Zheng Fan also took the same bottle from the shelf, examined it for a while, and nodded, saying, "It is indeed a bronze ware."
But it looks familiar; I think I've seen it in Dadu (Beijing).
"Sir, you have good taste," the shopkeeper said. "Mongol princes and officials of various ethnic groups in Dadu love this item the most."
"It seems to be from outside the Central Plains."
"This is a ceramic piece from the Da Shi (Great Food Kingdom)," the shopkeeper said.
"Does the Arab world also produce pottery?" Zheng Fan asked, somewhat surprised.
"Yes, we do." The shopkeeper picked up another bottle, pointing to its surface and saying, "Look at the millet-like patterns and floral spikes. It's made of copper, and the five-colored flowers have been fired with chemicals; it's very beautiful. Now, touch the bottle; isn't it as smooth as solidified fat?"
"It's somewhat similar to the inlay technique used in Goryeo bronze ware," Shao Shuyi said.
"Young master, you are knowledgeable," the shopkeeper praised. "Arabic bronzes are decorated with inlay techniques, as are Goryeo celadon. Arab wares often feature wheat ears as embellishments, while flowers meander across the body of the vase, whereas Goryeo celadon is often adorned with birch blossoms."
"I see." Shao Shuyi put down the bronze vessel and then looked at the other vessels with exotic flair.
I must say, this shop had a lot of tableware from overseas, so I asked, "Shopkeeper, do these large-scale ceramic wares sell?"
"Of course, there are more buyers," the shopkeeper said without hesitation. "We have vases, incense burners, boxes, cups, and the like, mostly for women's use in their boudoirs, not for the refined objects of scholars' studies. My shop sells more than a dozen items every month, sometimes dozens, all to women from Jiangzhou."
"They're making money off women!" Shao Shuyi understood, and then asked, "Where did they come from?"
"It won't hurt to tell you," the shopkeeper said. "The foreigners call Quanzhou 'Zaitun City' and Guangzhou 'Suikenike City,' and these wares were transported from these two places, uniformly called 'Ghost Country Kiln,' and the inlay technique used on the kiln wares is called 'Ghost Country Inlay.'"
Shao Shuyi and Zheng Fan exchanged a glance but remained silent.
While the foreigners certainly liked to come to Liujiagang, many also did business in Quanzhou and Guangzhou, since these two places were further south and closer in distance.
Transportation between Jiangxi and Quanzhou and Guangzhou seemed to be relatively good, so much so that a large amount of overseas goods were transported to the Poyang Lake area for distribution, and then loaded onto ships for distribution to places like Huguang and Huainan. Even people in Sichuan who wanted to buy foreign goods had to go through Jiangxi.
In this way, Jiangxi merchants had the advantage of acting as middlemen and third-tier dealers, and made a lot of money.
"Aren't you going to buy some to give as gifts?" Zheng Fan glanced at Shao Shuyi and asked.
"My lord, what would I do with something a woman would use in her boudoir?" Shao Shuyi said helplessly.
"Buy it and give it to a woman," Zheng Fan joked.
"I don't mind, but would any woman dare to accept it?" Shao Shuyi blinked and asked.
"I'm afraid Madam Shen wouldn't dare accept it." Zheng Fan shook his head seriously. "Sun Chuan is about to fall from power. Will his wife accept it? His son even tried to curry favor with you. Hmm, if Madam Liu also doesn't dare accept it, then go to the opera house and give it to that leading lady. You're a respectable person now, you should give some gifts to the leading ladies of the opera house and the courtesans to earn a reputation for being charming. Otherwise, they won't even want to play along with you. You know, many deals are made in teahouses, opera houses, and even brothels."
Holy crap, business is being discussed at a private club!
Shao Shuyi was speechless, yet he also felt that it made perfect sense.
The shopkeeper listened from the side and looked at Shao Shuyi with admiration.
This little horse pulling a big cart is quite impressive.
However, this young man seems to have a good physique, and I reckon he can still grow taller and stronger. Women love this kind of boy the most.
The only drawback is that he's not pretty enough, but thick eyebrows and big eyes are not bad either. At least his features are well-proportioned, and he has a masculine air, so much so that it's almost like a murderous or bandit-like aura.
While observing, he calmly removed the kiln pieces one by one, and then called his assistant to start packing them up.
Zheng Fan noticed his little trick, laughed it off, and didn't seem to care at all.
I bought it, it's no big deal.
He dared not venture overseas to do business, for although the profits were enormous, the risks were also immense. However, he was somewhat interested in opening up the Jiangxi market and traveling back and forth between Liujiagang and Jiangzhou to earn a steady stream of profits.
Now, it's time to discuss cooperation.
Seeing that Zheng Fan did not object, the shopkeeper added a few more items and instructed the shop assistant to pack them carefully.
After spending several dozen ingots to buy a bunch of Guiguo kiln products, Tie Niu and Zheng Fan's entourage, along with the porcelain shop's employees, carried the goods toward the dock.
Zheng Fan and Shao Shuyi continued to stroll around.
They looked around the timber shop next door for a long time, until noon, when they got hungry and started to head back.
Just as they returned to the dock, they saw Manager Mo arrive, accompanied by a plump middle-aged man in a wide robe and purple crown, with a kind face.
Behind the middle-aged man was an oxcart, loaded with all sorts of goods, the most eye-catching of which was a huge stone sculpture of a monster.
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