usatvline Chapter 112 Group
Chapter 112 Group
The boats were still moored at Zhengji Greenware Shop's private dock.
The boatmen who were idle at home received work again and gathered from all over Taicang and Liujiagang. The daily wage rose to 750 wen, which was slightly higher than the market price.
Temporary stoves were set up near the dock.
Su Niang and her second sister also rushed over to help, working with Huang and her niece to prepare food and meals for a few days, earning a few days' wages. The second sister was the refugee mother they had rescued in Wuhu before. Her surname was Zhang, and she was from Suzhou. She had no name and had been called "Second Sister" since she was a child, which made her very opportunistic.
Several children were also there.
They are young and can't do heavy work, but they can still manage to carry firewood, wash and prepare vegetables, and start a fire.
Among them, Sihai was the leader, being the oldest at eight years old, while his younger sister Rongniang was six.
Su Niang's daughter, Daohua, is also six years old this year, while her second sister's son, Wujin, is five years old.
The four children grew up in Shao's "den of thieves," practically future bandits. They're currently learning literacy intermittently, mostly taught by Shao Shuyi, but not frequently or systematically. They've only managed to experience the learning atmosphere and barely recognize a few characters. Children are naturally playful. Sure enough, while picking vegetables, Rongniang and Daohua started playing in the water, giggling incessantly.
Wu Jin had just stumbled over with a bundle of dry straw and wanted to go over and play with it, until Si Hai, like a little adult, seriously stopped everyone's fooling around and urged them to do something important, like helping the adults cook.
The meal was actually very simple: a mixed vegetable soup with a little bit of dried meat, and a few barely visible oil bubbles floating on top, plus steamed rice or flatbread.
But this meal was anything but ordinary; it was something the seafarers working at the time would never normally eat.
As they carried the heavy porcelain, they inhaled the aroma of food, feeling as if they were in a dream—their most beautiful dream was simply to eat their fill while working.
"Including this batch, the inventory of porcelain should be around 36,000 pieces, right?" Shao Shuyi asked, standing under the locust tree and watching the seafarers carrying the porcelain back and forth.
"That should be the number without a doubt." Yu Yuan flipped through the account book and said, "Another eight thousand pieces of Chuzhou blueware will be delivered in ten days, most of which will be sold to Ali. At that time, it will exceed forty thousand."
"How much can it store at most?" Shao Shuyi asked.
"Around 60,000," Yu Yuan said. "I looked through the old account books, and there were once 60,000 items stored during the Zhiyuan era, but there haven't been that many since."
"There are still 10,000 pieces in Jingdezhen," Shao Shuyi sighed, "I'll have to make another trip there."
"After this trip, the boat will need repairs."
Shao Shuyi hummed in agreement and asked, "After paying for the water and fare, how much is left?"
"Brother Shao, you still have 252 ingots of Zhongtong paper money, 30 strings of cash, and 600 cash," Yu Yuan replied.
"That's quite a lot," Shao Shuyi laughed. "A year and a half ago, I never imagined I would have so much money. At most, I'd have a fraction of thirty strings of cash."
"It seems that Zheng Guoqing, who came to give money today, hinted that he should have been bribed," Yu Yuan said angrily. "People of the Guo generation should be closer to the main branch than Zheng Yifang, but I didn't expect them to be like this."
Shao Shuyi wasn't as indignant as Yu Yuan.
I've seen this kind of thing far too often, working on projects for my boss in my past life. Is it easy to chase after final payments for projects? It's incredibly difficult.
Yu Yuan is still young and not used to these things.
Shao Shuyi was sixteen years old physically, but his mental age was much older, so he was used to it. Of course, he didn't give Zheng Guoqing any gifts either, simply because Zheng was not worthy of them, and he had many other expenses.
"Chang Xue..." The sound of a gong rang out from not far away.
The ship owners, who were unloading goods, quickened their pace, finished transporting the last batch of porcelain, and then sat around the pier to prepare for their meal. Many people greeted Shao Shuyi and Yu Yuan as they passed by.
They were all veterans who had worked there several times, so they knew each other quite well. Now, Shao Shuyi's recruitment of manpower was relatively fixed; he would generally ask about those who had come before, as long as they weren't on the grain transport route and had time.
The same applies to the tailwaters of a running boat.
Zeng Yi also came this time, still holding that flag, standing at the stern of the boat.
Of Wu Heizi's butcher sons, all five, including Heizi himself, came except for two who didn't.
Gao Daqiang didn't come this time; apparently, he had something to do at home. Bian Da came, bringing his younger brother Bian Sidou with him.
The staff is basically fixed, with only 10-20% changing each time.
The advantages are obvious.
Shao Shuyi walked straight over, patted someone on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "Waiter, how's things at home?"
Zhao Xiaoer tried to get up, but Shao Shuyi stopped him, saying with a smile, "Let's talk while sitting down."
"If you have work and can get paid, life isn't so hard." Zhao Xiaoer pointed to his younger brother sitting opposite him and said, "My brother and I can earn more than a tael of silver each time. It's enough to support our family and barely pay our taxes."
"Where's Xiao Si?" Shao Shuyi asked.
"He took a random job as a laborer at the government-run boatyard. He wasn't paid, only given one meal a day. The two of us helped him out a little, and we managed to get by. "It was still a struggle," Shao Shuyi sighed. "He worked all day, but always lived in constant fear."
Zhao Xiaoer nodded repeatedly, then glanced at Shao Shuyi, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.
"Say whatever you want," Shao Shuyi encouraged.
Zhao Xiao'er and his younger brother Xiao San exchanged a glance and said in a pleading tone, "Brother Shao, sailing can only barely make ends meet. I want to do something more profitable."
The others reacted with varying expressions upon hearing this.
Shao Shuyi laughed and said, "Some businesses are indeed profitable, such as selling blueware to foreign merchants and sea travelers."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiaoer became a little anxious: "Brother Shao, I'm ready to fight!"
Shao Shuyi smiled without saying a word, then patted him on the shoulder and said, "There will be opportunities."
Having said that, he headed to the next gathering place.
Zhao Xiaoer felt a little relieved as he watched his retreating figure.
The younger brother, Zhao Xiaosan, looked at his older brother with a slightly resentful gaze, as if he was blaming him for not speaking clearly enough.
There are no impervious walls in the world.
Bian Sandou's younger brother, Sidou, was loose-lipped and once let slip that his brother and Brother Shao had done something big at sea and shared a large sum of money. Also, a while ago, when they were recruiting workers to move porcelain, many people saw someone (Li Liu) come looking for Brother Shao. As that person left, he was fuming and muttering that he dared to steal but didn't dare to admit it, which was overheard.
The matter has already spread within a small circle, and after being embellished by others, it has become incredibly exaggerated.
Each time the information was passed on, it became distorted. Now, some people were saying that Shao Shuyi had robbed ten ships at sea, sold goods worth 100,000 ingots, owned several gardens in Suzhou, and had dozens of concubines. The reason he was still working as an accountant was simply because he admired Zheng Guozhen's daughter and wanted to marry into her family... The Zhao brothers couldn't tell the truth, but they were very envious and wanted to follow him to do great things.
On the other side, Shao Shuyi walked over to Wu Heizi, chatted with him for a few moments, and then handed a packet of medicine to Wu Shangyuan, a cousin of Wu Heizi, saying, "The medicine was bought back from Suzhou. Here you go."
"Brother Shao, you still remember this?" Wu Shangyuan asked with a look of surprise.
"It was really hard to buy. I went to Suzhou twice and made an appointment with someone before I finally got this package. It doesn't cost much, but take it. Go back and use it to make medicine for your mother so she can get better soon and you can have peace of mind."
"Brother Shao, I must give you the money. No, it's not about the money, I..."
"Alright, we're all brothers, no need to be so polite." Shao Shuyi laughed and said, "I've already spoken to Manager Mo. He'll be going to Suzhou next month and will bring some back for me. I reckon it'll be enough for you until the end of the year."
After saying that, he told her to "eat well" and then went to the next place.
Wu Heizi glanced at his cousin and said, "Brother Shao is a warm-hearted person and doesn't like fussy talk. Just don't shy away when I need you in the future, it's no big deal."
Wu Shangyuan nodded blankly.
He had seen Manager Mo once from afar; he was a favorite of Shen Wansan's daughter, and he was helping him buy medicine? Wu Shangyuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what others thought, if something happened in the future, he would definitely not have the face to hide behind them.
After making his way around, Shao Shuyi returned to his old companion, the Drilling Wind Sea Loach, and ate with Yu Yuan, Liang Tai, Tie Niu, and Kong Tie in the cabin. "If we're going to do smuggled salt, we'll need some capable men," Kong Tie said, handing Shao Shuyi a steamed bun and glancing at Liang Tai.
Liang Tai ate his food in silence, and after a moment said, "The stall is up and running."
Shao Shuyi had always valued his opinion, so he asked, "Foya, the Ma Tuosha Patrol Inspectorate only has thirteen men and two bows. If they resort to force, how will you handle it?"
Liang Tai kept picking at his food, as if this was no problem for him at all, and casually replied, "Ten people, with all the equipment."
"Which instruments?"
"Ten long spears, seven knives, two shields, two bows, and two long-handled axes."
Holy crap! This must be a military tactic. Is it overkill to deal with organized crime?
"How should we combine them?" Shao Shuyi asked humbly.
In his previous life, he was a seasoned socialite and businessperson, familiar with interpersonal relationships, proficient in project management, skilled at office flirting, and adept at making grand promises. However, he had no experience with military conflicts and killings, so he needed to learn from scratch. Therefore, he valued the opinions of professionals.
"Two people, each equipped with a knife and a bow;
Two people, each equipped with a knife and a long-handled axe;
Two people, each equipped with a knife and a card;
Everyone should be equipped with a spear, whether we need it or not is another matter.
"Why aren't there any muskets?" Shao Shuyi asked.
Liang Tai hesitated for a moment, then said, "We won't use the soldiers from Pizhou Prefecture."
Shao Shuyi understood.
People cannot imagine things they have never seen. It is incorrect to say that the Yuan army did not use firearms, and it is an exaggeration to say that they valued firearms; these things do indeed have great limitations nowadays.
The Yuan army may have organized firearms units, but it's unknown how they would be used or whether they had corresponding tactics. "We need to get a military treatise to look at," Shao Shuyi said.
"Choose people first," Kong Tie reminded them.
Shao Shuyi hummed in agreement.
As the saying goes, "prevention is better than cure."
Everyone knows that salt smugglers can make a lot of money, but the risks are also very high because they are taking away an important source of national tax revenue.
However, these small salt-selling groups could not provoke regular troops; they usually outwitted and outmaneuvered government officials and patrol officers.
Bribing officials is definitely a tactic that needs to be used, but you also need to be strong yourself. It's not just about dealing with government officials; the more dangerous opponents are often your own colleagues. To put it bluntly, you're trying to seize territory.
Zhu Ding is an unavoidable obstacle for those smuggling salt to Jiangyin Prefecture. The next step is to accumulate strength while simultaneously inquiring about this person.