usatvline Chapter 128 Trivial Matters of Return
Chapter 128 Trivial Matters of Return
The Taiyi ship quietly anchored at the mouth of the harbor.
After Yu Yuan and Kong Tie landed, they were informed by someone and soon arrived at a private residence.
"Brother Shao."
"Little Tiger".
The two men went up and greeted each other.
Shao Shuyi returned the greeting and asked, "How was it?"
Gao Daqiang and Wu Heizi were sunbathing in the courtyard.
Liang Tai is maintaining the equipment.
Tie Niu, dressed in leather armor with bullet holes, practiced sword and shield fighting techniques meticulously.
Wu Shangyuan and Wei Erdi were drawing water from the well to prepare a fire for cooking.
Kong Tie turned his gaze away from the crowd and looked at Shao Shuyi, saying, "Liujiagang is calm and peaceful, nothing has happened."
Everyone in the courtyard looked up.
Kong Tie remained expressionless and continued, "Master Cheng has been back at his post for several days now, and nothing has happened to him."
Zheng Yifang visited the blueware shop once, but seeing you weren't there, he seemed worried. He then boarded a boat and headed north, and may not return until late spring or early summer next year. Zheng's family sent a man named Zheng Sheng over five days ago. The Yu family said you had returned home for several days. This man was quite displeased and then left.
Manager Mo came by yesterday, and seemed hesitant to speak, asking if it would still be possible to transport dried seafood from Lüsi Market in the future.
All the fields in Sunchuan Town and Jianglu were sold off. The day before yesterday, the government issued a warrant to arrest him, but they found nothing. Rumor has it that he exchanged some valuables and secretly boarded a ship belonging to foreign merchants and seafarers at night, and escaped.
at last"
Kong Tie gave Shao Shuyi a strange look and said, "The manager of Fei Family Restaurant sent you a letter."
After saying that, he handed over the letter.
Shao Shuyi took the letter but did not read it immediately. Instead, he silently reviewed the recent events and analyzed them carefully.
All eyes were on him, waiting for his decision.
Shao Shuyi didn't keep them waiting too long.
After a moment, he smiled and said, "Even eating can cause choking. How can a man walk between heaven and earth without encountering trouble? Let's go back! Let's go back today! Yu She, come and take stock of the accounts."
The air in the courtyard loosened up.
Even seasoned killers like Wu Heizi and Gao Daqiang had smiles on their faces. Who wouldn't want to go home?
Once the plan was finalized, everyone began packing their things.
Shao Shuyi then handed over his notes and the remaining money to Yu Yuan.
Yu Yuan quickly did the math. This trip cost a total of 71 ingots for purchases, food, water, medicine, boat repairs, equipment, and personnel. In the last two days, they collected several hundred catties of roughly salted river fish, which cost another 4 ingots. To be honest, if they hadn't been staying at someone else's place and had no choice but to buy fish, the fish here would have been a real rip-off. Because they mixed official salt with private salt, they would sell you three or four hundred coins for a catty of salted fish, which was too expensive.
After deducting the rewards for those who offered suggestions, the cost of medicine for the wounded Li Fu and Jiang Sanbao, and the funeral expenses and pension for the fallen Bian Sandou, the total cost exceeded 80 ingots.
To be honest, the cost was a bit too high. The immediate reason was the raid by the patrol department, which prevented us from receiving more salt, while all the costs, including personnel, had already been incurred, resulting in low utilization.
"Brother Shao, Manager Mo has already delivered the 20 ingots for the water and freight. After deducting all miscellaneous expenses, you still have about 291 ingots and 45 strings of cash left." Yu Yuan concluded, "I will check the money box again when I get back to make sure the accounts match."
"The Inspector General of Yuxi has misled me!" Shao Shuyi shook his head and said, "If we could collect 10,000 catties of salt this time, we would make a lot more money."
"Brother Shao..." Yu Yuan stammered, "You've been spending money too extravagantly. You should save where you can. You're only going to Tongzhou for half a month, but you're paying them a month's wages. The sailors are also eating too much and too well every day. Who would spend so much money on food? Deducting half wouldn't be unreasonable. And you've given them too many rewards too."
"Alright, alright, I'm satisfied." Shao Shuyi laughed and said, "Why don't you say that ordinary merchants wouldn't buy so many weapons, wouldn't spend money to train their spies, and wouldn't spend extra money to favor their subordinates? If I were focused on doing business and being a qualified merchant, I would naturally do as you say, but I'm not. Oh well, I know what I'm doing. It was indeed a lot of money, but it wasn't wasted. Remember, merchants who are stingy and calculating will never achieve great things. It's those who are generous and lavish, who often let money slip through their fingers, that are destined for success."
"Let's go back to Liujiagang," Shao Shuyi said with a smile, putting his arm around Yu Yuan's shoulder.
On the afternoon of the 21st, Shao Shuyi returned to the old locust tree on the Taiyi boat and went back to the Qingqi shop to take charge.
"Brother Shao!" Cao Tong ran over from afar, but tripped and ended up sliding to his knees.
However, he quickly got up again, and said with a fawning expression, "Brother Shao, you're finally back."
"Did you need something?" Shao Shuyi asked.
Cao Tong's smile remained unchanged, but he lowered his voice and said, "Zheng Sheng came again this morning, asking where you'd been. I told him you returned the day before yesterday and have been inspecting the docks these past two days, preparing to welcome Ali back."
"Good, good." Shao Shuyi patted his shoulder and laughed, "Shitou, you've improved. Your fabricated lies are so convincing, they're flawless." Cao Tong smiled shyly and said earnestly, "Brother Shao, my family is very poor, and we have many expenses. I'm not as daring and adventurous as Liang Tai and the others. Even Liu Jiu sometimes thinks about strengthening his body and learning some farming skills so that Brother Shao might take notice of him. I'm too timid, far inferior to them, so I can only put in effort in other areas."
Shao Shuyi grunted and said, "Just focus on your work at the inn for now. After all, you're receiving your rations from there, and September will be busy." "Brother Shao, I've never slacked off at the inn," Cao Tong said. "I just wanted to help you out when I had some free time."
"Yes, do a good job, there will be opportunities in the future." Shao Shuyi patted him on the shoulder and said, "Everyone has strengths and uses, so don't underestimate yourself."
After saying that, he nodded to him and returned to his study.
Iron Bull was still standing guard outside the gate as usual.
The leather armor he was wearing had been removed. The reason was simple: it was too conspicuous.
Furthermore, although Batu is also physically imposing, he is ultimately not as strong as Tie Niu. That leather armor doesn't actually fit him very well, and he needs to find someone to alter it. He just doesn't know if anyone would dare to take on this job. He should be able to find someone daring if he looks carefully, but he just doesn't have the connections.
After wiping the table, Shao Shuyi sat down and took out the letters from his bundle to read.
Huh? It's a different person? The handwriting is even different.
Shao Shuyi first read it through roughly once, and then began to read it carefully a second time.
"...Who are you? Who is Amu? How long have you known her? How many letters have you exchanged? How deep is your friendship? And yet you dare to mention the place where her father died in a letter? Do you know that the four words 'Wanli Changtan' are just a place name to others, but to Amu, they represent a hidden pain in her heart and years of longing..." "If you truly do not know her family background, then to write this so rashly is to be careless;
If you have heard even a little about this and still bring it up, that is considered unkind.
If you are aware of her pain and are deliberately making veiled accusations, I do not wish to respond with harsh words. I leave it to you to decide!
"Holy crap!" Shao Shuyi thought as if he saw a fierce little girl standing with her hands on her hips, writing a letter to scold him for standing up for her best friend.
This is a little firecracker.
He took out paper and pen and wrote a simple reply: "Upon reading your letter, I was struck as if by thunder, trembling with fear and shame, and felt utterly ashamed..."
After writing hundreds of words, he skillfully put the letter into an envelope, sealed it, and then placed it with the conch shell, preparing to deliver it to Fei's Restaurant when the opportunity arose.
A month ago, he wouldn't have minded playing around with them, but now he wasn't in the mood. Most of his energy needed to be focused on making money. In Jiangnan, where order hadn't completely collapsed, money was extremely useful; it meant better weapons, higher morale, and more brothers. For the next period of time, the most important thing was his job: to manage the porcelain business for the Zheng family.
The second is buying a boat.
Thinking of this, Shao Shuyi got up and went out, where he found Yu Yuan chatting with Song You under the pear tree in front of the Jiaziku.
Upon seeing Shao Shuyi arrive, Song You rose, bowed, and took his leave.
Before their departure, he couldn't help but remind them, "Accountant, Ali's fleet is already in Shanghai. They've sold almost all the goods they needed to sell, and they'll be setting sail for Liujiagang in a few days. At this opportune moment..."
"Don't worry, I'll stay in the shop the whole time," Shao Shuyi said.
"That's all right." Song You bowed again and drifted away.
As Shao Shuyi watched his retreating figure, he thought to himself that this person had a strong sense of propriety and boundaries, and gave people a clear-headed feeling of being detached yet understanding everything. He thought he could try to get to know him better in the future.
"Brother Shao, is there something you need?" Yu Yuan asked, getting up.
"I'd like to meet your brother, is that convenient?" Shao Shuyi said.
"This matter is easy," Yu Yuan said.
After saying that, he blinked and looked at Shao Shuyi.
Shao Shuyi chuckled and said, "Don't worry, it's not a bad thing. I just want your brother to help me look through the grain transport registers and see who owns a large ship." Yu Yuan immediately understood and said excitedly, "Brother Shao, are you going to buy a large ship?"
Shao Shuyi nodded and said, "It's too slow to find out on my own. Let your brother investigate first, then I can be more targeted in my search." "How big of a ship do you want to buy?" Yu Yuan asked.
"It should be at least a shallow-water boat with a capacity of one thousand li," Shao Shuyi said. "If there are larger ones, I can go and take a look."
"You don't want the boat anymore?"
"Prioritize buying large ships. If that's not possible, a small seaplane will do, or even a canal boat—I don't mind if it's small." Shao Shuyi laughed, "Hurry up, this is very important."
"Oh, okay." Yu Yuan nodded emphatically.
At the same time, he had already begun to imagine the magnificent scene when Brother Shao's fleet had more than ten ships.
With the sound of war drums and the raising of banners, the warships cleaved through the waves, encircling the enemy in the center and annihilating them all.
When that day comes, the Zheng family won't be able to control them anymore, will they?
The government probably wouldn't easily cause them trouble. The reason is simple: wealthy landowners like Zhou Ziliang could be wiped out in an instant, easily apprehended. But the men at sea are different; they can truly threaten the canal transport. It's not that the government can't handle them, but there's no need to invite trouble.
If the cargo ships are damaged, the people held responsible will be none other than themselves. He just needs to get through his term and leave the problems to the next administration; what does it have to do with him? Yu Yuan left that very night.
On the morning of the 22nd, Zheng Sheng came to the Qingqi Shop and informed Shao Shuyi of some news: the Ye family's fleet from Chongming had returned from Srivijaya.