usatvline Chapter 143 Trading
Chapter 143 Trading
On the night of the fourteenth, the moon was full over the great river.
Several small fishing boats sailed from Jiangnan, approached Matuosha, and went straight into Yaqian Port, finally stopping near a pine and cypress forest.
As Liu Xing disembarked, three or four people suddenly sprang out from the woods ahead, the bushes on his left, and the reeds on his right. After ascertaining the situation, one of them ran off to report.
The brothers Liu Xing and Liu Ming exchanged a glance and noticed that each other's faces were tense.
Four or five followers disembarked from the three boats behind them. Some appeared calm and were clearly experienced, while others were rather inexperienced, perhaps relatives or fellow villagers recently recruited from their hometown of Wenzhou. They were all unanimously surprised to see that the other side had arranged so many sentries. "I say," Liu Ming glanced at Liu Xing, "Third brother, when we get back, shouldn't we find a military manual and train our men?" "That's expensive," Liu Xing replied.
"You've already taken your ninth concubine, have no fewer than twenty maids, and even hired a variety show troupe. How much money must that have cost?" Liu Ming asked, somewhat displeased. "Shao Shuyi is certainly much more frugal than you."
"Everyone has their own way of living," Liu Xing said. "Shao Shuyi has just risen to prominence and hasn't enjoyed life yet. Once he's had a few good days, he'll change. Zhu Ding is buying up land in Shipaishu and building magnificent mansions. If that money were used, how many people could he support? But people aren't willing to do it. Isn't the point of risking their lives to live a good life? If they have money and still live so frugally, wouldn't they have risked their lives for nothing?"
Liu Ming laughed in exasperation, saying, "You've got a whole bunch of nonsense. Shao Shuyi says you're tall and strong, and should diligently practice your skills—swords, spears, bows, and shields—you could even buy a horse if you're willing to spend the money. Can't you just listen to that?"
"Why should I listen to outsiders?" Liu Xingqiang said, "He has designs on my sister, and I don't like that."
Liu Ming was too lazy to say anything more, so he simply found a tree stump to sit on and waited quietly.
Liu Xing, however, wouldn't let him off the hook, asking suspiciously, "Second Brother, why have you been speaking up for Shao Shuyi so often lately?"
Liu Ming scoffed and said, "You don't understand."
"What don't I understand?" Liu Xing was even more puzzled.
"You only know how to play with women, you don't know how to appreciate a man," Liu Ming said. "Two people, perhaps without exchanging a few words, can be judged by their character and conduct. Shao Shuyi lives a simple life, is not interested in women, and has great ambitions. I find him pleasing to the eye."
Liu Xing listened with a mixture of belief and doubt.
Liu Ming ignored him and just stared quietly into the distance.
Under the moonlight, a team appeared on the distant horizon.
They worked in pairs, carrying one wooden bucket after another.
The bucket was tightly sealed, but a slight salty, fishy smell still wafted out in the evening breeze.
Before long, the group was right in front of us.
"Brothers, would you like to check?" Shao Shuyi's cheerful voice came from the middle of the group.
Liu Ming looked closely and saw Shao Shuyi and Wang Huadu carrying a large bucket of salted fish, slowly approaching.
"No need." Liu Ming stepped forward and said, "I trust Brother Shao."
"Okay. Let's start loading then," Shao Shuyi said.
After saying that, he waved his hand, instructing everyone to carry the salted fish one by one onto the small boat brought by Liu.
"A total of eight thousand catties, half fish and half salt. Be careful when selling it. It's best to spend a few coins to wrap it in paper, otherwise the salt will spill," Shao Shuyi casually advised.
Liu Ming had someone open a wooden barrel, but what he found inside was not the slightly reddish dried fish he had imagined, but a completely white mass. He forcefully broke off a small piece of fish meat and put it in his mouth to chew.
Not long after, his brows furrowed suddenly. It was so damn salty!
Looking at the salt crystals covering the dried fish, it's safe to say that one pound of fish and one pound of salt are likely true, without a doubt.
"Starting next month, with the Winter Solstice, the Laba Festival, New Year's Day, and the Lantern Festival all coming one after another, the price of salt will definitely rise, and we can sell it for a good price." Liu Ming spat out the dry, hard fish meat in his mouth and laughed, "Thank you, Brother Shao, for bringing so much fish and salt on your first try."
"You decide how much to sell; I don't care," Shao Shuyi said with a smile.
Previously, Madam Liu said that two catties of salted fish would sell for one tael and six or seven mace, but Shao Shuyi only took it with a grain of salt. It might be true, but the possibility that they raised the price could not be ruled out.
Nowadays, the official salt sold by the government bureau, which is mixed with mud and sand, fluctuates between one and a half to eight taels per pound. Smuggled salt, which is free of mud and sand, is priced similarly, perhaps slightly cheaper.
There's a pound of salt in every two pounds of salted fish. Although the fish is a free gift, it's not unreasonable to charge a little extra. Even if Madam Liu sold it for two strings of cash, she might still be able to sell it. After all, it's disgusting to eat government-made salt with a mouthful of sand, and private salt is generally in short supply.
But that's their business, it has nothing to do with him.
Seeing that the salted fish had already been loaded, Liu Ming stopped dawdling, summoned his attendants, took out bundles of banknotes, and said, "Shao She, please count them. Eight thousand catties of salted fish, one thousand catties of salt, a total of one hundred ingots."
"Can't you charge for the fish? I spend more on fish than on salt," Shao Shuyi asked with a smile.
"I knew you'd ask that," Liu Mingyi laughed. "There are actually 150 ingots here. I'll give you 5 ingots off; that should make up for quite a bit, right? We're new to this business, so it's best to be careful. If one day we can sell salt directly without having to cover it up with salted fish, wouldn't we save that money?" "Madam is so generous," Shao Shuyi praised. "I'm looking forward to the day we can sell salt directly."
Liu Ming quickly took out a few more sheets of paper from his pocket, and handed them to Shao Shuyi discreetly. He whispered in Shao Shuyi's ear, "Shao, this is a map of the streets and buildings near the Confucian Temple and the Imperial Academy drawn by my sister. Take a good look at it first. Next time you come to collect the fish, bring the map of Nanzha with you."
Shao Shuyi nodded slightly, took the blueprints without making a sound, and hid them away.
On the 16th, Kong Tie, along with Wu Shangyuan, Su Shuisheng, Guo Xian, and three others, stayed behind at Matuosha to also pickle salted fish. The vast majority of the others received their wages and rewards and returned to Liujiagang by boat.
At this point, after deducting the building materials and fifty ingots of paper money left to Jiang Bayue, Shao Shuyi's "account balance" was 207 ingots and 32 strings of cash. In addition to cash, there were also physical assets.
Not counting the barren fields, weapons, boats, 100 shi of grain in the riverside courtyard, and the rented house in Sanlin, he still has more than 800 ingots of fish and salt to sell. He is just waiting to get rid of them. In fact, he still has 175 ingots of accounts payable. If he wants to save face and decides to give them some interest, he may have to pay more than 200 ingots.
Overall, while it might not be as much as the money Sun Chuan was extorted from by the government in one instance, it was still quite astonishing for him at this stage. Some salt smugglers, having reached this point, would start buying land, building houses, and hiring servants to enjoy life, keeping only a portion of their money for the next salt trade. But Shao Shuyi, adhering to the spirit of expanding and strengthening his business and creating new glories, continued to invest money in reinvestment to increase his assets. The next area where he needed to spend money was clearing and leveling the land in Sanlinli, investing in the construction of a wharf in Matuosha, and the remaining money could be used to continue smuggling salt.
Wang Hua even made a new suggestion.
"Among those who often come to train, I see about ten of them are all alone, without any ties. Why don't we ask them if they would like to come to Ma Tuo Sha? We can pay them money and food every month and support them."
Upon hearing this, Shao Shuyi thought to himself that this meant they were going to raise "full-time" thugs, instead of the previous "part-time" underlings.
"It's worth considering," he nodded. "If we could gather a team to stay permanently in Matuosha, it would be much safer here. I just don't know how many people would actually be willing to give up the prosperity of Taicang to come here and enjoy the river breeze."
"Look carefully. Even those who haven't been trained before are welcome to start from scratch, as long as they're willing to come," Wang Huadu said. "Those who don't want to come are fine. At most, we can use them when hauling goods or selling salt. If they can't keep up, it's their bad luck."
Shao Shuyi grunted in response.
Indeed, you can't expect everyone to stay with you until the end.
Life is like a marathon; some people accompany you at the beginning, some accompany you halfway, and only a very few accompany you to the end. From the very beginning, Qi Dalang and Bian Sandou have already died in battle.
Qi Erlang went to work as an archer at the Gutang Patrol Office and now has a proper job.
Lu Hongyi died in a boat accident during the Spring Festival travel rush at Chengshanjiao.
Li Chouqiu transported grain by sea, but he was losing money every day.
Persuaded by his family, Bian Sidou temporarily stopped engaging in the dangerous business of beheading and instead stayed at home to serve his parents and take care of his younger siblings.
Yang Liu spent his days indulging in brothels and drunken revelry, his money rapidly disappearing...
The saying "the great waves sift out the sand" perfectly describes this situation.
The good news is that he has gained a lot more regular members around him. These are people who are willing and able to move forward with him and will not leave in the short term. This is his real asset.
"Start looking next month. Ask our old acquaintances first, and if that's not enough, recruit new people. You and Baijianu will handle this," Shao Shuyi said. "Okay," Wang Huadu readily agreed, as this was his favorite thing to do.
"We can try to find some military households." Kong Tie had been listening silently without saying a word, but seeing that Shao Shuyi had made a decision, he reminded him. "Dog Slave, go back and find Master Cheng and ask if he knows any deserters from the Crossroads Army." Shao Shuyi instructed.
"Alright," Wang Huadu readily agreed.
"I'll also write a few letters back. There are quite a few deserters from Pizhou Army in Jiaxing Road. I'll ask around first, but they might not come," Liang Taiyi said. "Yu She, give Buddha Tooth a few ingots of paper money and take them back with the letters," Shao Shuyi instructed.
"Okay, Brother Gongming." Yu Yuan nodded repeatedly.
Liang Tai did not object. If you invite someone to come, they should at least have enough money for travel, right? His old acquaintances are probably all just drifting around somewhere now, mostly doing poorly. Even if they really wanted to come, they might not be able to afford the travel expenses.
"It's settled then." Shao Shuyi waved his hand and laughed, "Come on, we've just finished something important, we can catch our breath now. Come with me to Jiangyin and have some fun, see what this place is like."
The crowd responded enthusiastically, overjoyed.