usatvline Chapter 214 Old Friends
Chapter 214 Old Friends
Lu Zhonghe, Zhang Qiujiao and others soon arrived at a residence located on the banks of Zhihe Pond.
This house is a waterfront property; you can see the gently flowing Zhihe Pond as soon as you open the window, but unfortunately it's a stinking ditch.
Rotten vegetable leaves, tattered clothes, dead chickens and ducks, even household sludge—you can find almost anything in the city's rivers, not to mention the waterways with heavy traffic.
Wu Qingjiang, a scholar from Cheung Chau, reluctantly closed the window and turned to look at Yang Liu, who had just changed his clothes, his eyes full of curiosity.
Lu Zhonghe walked in, looking at Yang Liu who was slightly more sober. His stomach was still churning, but having suffered a loss, his understanding of the art of forbearance had deepened. So he forced a smile and said, "You know Shao Shuyi?"
"Money," Yang Liu said, uttering only one word.
Lu Zhonghe felt a little uncomfortable. "I'm asking you a question, and your first reaction is to ask for money."
He looked up at Zhang Qiujiao and Huang Landu, who had just walked in.
Huang Landu shook his head.
He was the second poorest of the four, his family situation only slightly better than Lu Zhonghe's. He usually didn't have much money on him and mostly relied on others for food and drink. Now, in Jiangyin prison, even the few dozen strings of cash he had were confiscated, leaving him heartbroken and desperate for money. Zhang Qiujiao threw a stack of banknotes in front of Yang Liu, then sat down next to Lu Zhonghe and said, "I just got it from the counter."
"Will everything be alright?" Lu Zhonghe asked anxiously.
This is a shop-in-the-front-and-courtyard structure, meaning the front is a counter for opening and selling goods, while the back is for living.
It's hard to say whether Zhang Qiujiao got the money from the counter with the shopkeeper's permission. If her father finds out, they'll all get a severe scolding.
"It's nothing," Zhang Qiujiao shook her head and said, "Manager Gu isn't here."
Now all three of them turned their attention to this. The shopkeeper was not there, and the young master had stolen money, which made the problem even bigger.
Yang Liu snatched the banknotes away without counting them and stuffed them into his pocket.
Zhang Qiujiao didn't seem to care, only touching the bruise on her forehead and sighing, "When will the swelling finally go down?"
After sighing, he became angry and said, "A pair of shameless, despicable women, like dogs, actually plotted to put me in jail. I will not be a gentleman if I do not avenge this. When I get back, I will definitely send that slut to a brothel to entertain customers day and night."
"Wouldn't that just do her thing?" Wu Qingjiang said.
Everyone was taken aback at first, then burst into laughter.
Yang Liu watched coldly, but before he knew it, the smell of alcohol made him a little dizzy again.
After everyone finished laughing, Lu Zhonghe looked at Yang Liu again and said, "Can you tell me now?"
"Do you have a grudge against Shao Shuyi?" Yang Liu asked back.
"It's none of your business." Lu Zhonghe felt increasingly uncomfortable.
Fortunately, Yang Liu didn't provoke him further. After shaking his head, he recounted the events of that year in fits and starts.
When the last word was uttered, the room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Lu Zhonghe was somewhat surprised, and also a little disappointed.
Sun J Chuan had vaguely mentioned this matter to him before, and now that he knows the details, he can completely outline the ins and outs of the whole thing, but ultimately there is nothing new.
Zhang Qiujiao didn't even touch the bruise on her forehead. She looked at Yang Liu, then at Lu Zhonghe, and hesitated to speak.
Wu and Huang remained silent, heads bowed.
They excel at romanticizing nature and composing poetry, but when faced with a ruthless and aggressive person like this, they are completely at a loss. Perhaps the only option is to report it to the authorities?
"Scared?" Yang Liu glanced at Lu Zhonghe and asked.
Lu Zhonghe was indeed a little scared. He was scared when Sun Chuan first mentioned it, but when he thought about how his wife had repeatedly entrusted the goods to Shao Shuyi for transportation, his heart felt like it was being bitten by a venomous snake, and he could not calm down.
"Afraid?" Lu Zhonghe smiled, his voice slightly hoarse.
Yang Liu understood and scoffed.
Lu Zhonghe was both ashamed and angry, and said, "What else do you know? Tell me all at once."
Yang Liu held out one hand and said, "I still owe a tael of silver at the brothel."
Lu Zhonghe suddenly stood up, stood still for a moment, then sat down gently and looked at Zhang Qiujiao.
Zhang Qiujiao avoided his gaze.
"Brother Zhang, this is the last time. I'll return it to you in a couple of days," Lu Zhonghe said.
Zhang Qiujiao sighed, got up and left the room, then returned a moment later, placing a coin in front of Yang Liu.
Yang Liu quickly put it away and laughed, "I can go have some fun for a few more days."
Lu Zhonghe stared intently at him.
"Alright, enough. You weak scholar, you can't kill me even if you glare at me all night," Yang Liu said mercilessly. "Shao Shuyi doesn't intimidate people with his loud voice or glaring eyes. He's ruthless and decisive. How can you compare to him?"
After saying that, he glanced at Lu Zhonghe, who was gripping the armrest of the chair so tightly that his knuckles had turned white, and said, "There's a butcher named Wu Heizi in Zhangjing West City, and an archer named Qi Erlang in Gutang Patrol Office. They used to be my men, but now they're following Shao Shuyi. They've probably done some murder and robbery before. If you want revenge, you might as well investigate these two people; you might be pleasantly surprised."
Lu Zhonghe was overjoyed and lowered his head in deep thought.
"Don't even think about reporting this to the prefectural government," Yang Liu added. "Prefectural judge Xue Gan has probably taken bribes; it's hard to say whether he'll take any action against you."
Lu Zhonghe was taken aback upon hearing this, then felt somewhat disappointed, but he quickly rallied...
On June 27th, Shao Shuyi drove to the Tianfei Palace Wharf early in the morning to pick up Zheng Fan, who was returning from Dadu, and then went back to the silk shop. Accompanying them were a large fleet of boats for the Spring Festival travel rush. The wharf was bustling with activity and people, making it seem as if the prosperous times had returned.
"It must have been more than half a year since we last met, right?" Zheng Fan smiled as soon as he sat down, saying, "I didn't even have time to go home before you brought me here." Shao Shuyi quickly looked Zheng Fan up and down, noticing his stubble and weary face; clearly, his time in the north hadn't been easy for him. "Don't look at me like that," Zheng Fan shook his head and smiled, "When I was seventeen or eighteen, I traveled all over the place as a swordsman, and I never felt tired. Now that I'm over thirty, I'm starting to feel a bit weak, and I just want to stay at home and not go anywhere. By the way, how's home?"
"Everything is fine," Shao Shuyi said.
"That's good." Zheng Fan breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "I just heard someone mention a trading company. Do you own it?"
Shao Shuyi nodded and recounted the events involving Shengye Trading Company and Huangtian Trading Company.
"Jiangyin Prefecture?" Zheng Fan thought for a moment and said, "When I went to Jiangning years ago, I stayed overnight in Xiapu and thought the local boat girls were quite pretty." Shao Shuyi laughed and said, "If you still can't forget the boat girls, sir, you can go again. I'll make the arrangements."
The boatwomen of the floating villages are not simple. They often "part-time" while their husbands keep watch and the wives entertain the guests. It is more exciting than ordinary brothels, and many merchants and travelers have this kind of taste.
"Let me rest at home for a while first," Zheng Fan sighed. "After Tuotuo left his post, there's no one in the central government who can overpower his peers. They're constantly attacking each other, creating a chaotic atmosphere. I don't want to go back."
Shao Shuyi echoed twice, then asked, "Was this effective?"
"There might be a little, but it seems like there isn't. Doesn't the old master still have to escort the ship north?" Zheng Fan wasn't very sure, and said, "The matter of the three houses has been almost settled. Next year during the Spring Festival travel season, we'll donate some grain to take Liu Juren's place, and there shouldn't be any major problems."
Liu Juren was one of the two commanders of the Qingshao Thousand-Household Office. He was from Chongming, and his hometown alone showed that he was skilled in water navigation.
By next spring, Zheng Guozhen will have served as the Director of the Grain Transport Office for more than two years. With the donation of grain to the capital and his efforts in lobbying for official positions, it is indeed highly likely that he will be appointed as a fifth-rank commander.
For the Zheng family, this is something they really need to get on their feet with.
Last year, the imperial court ordered the grain transport department to send high-ranking officials to accompany the ships and supervise the grain transport. Deputy Commander Bian Zuo and Xia Di went to sea one after the other. This year's Spring Festival transport was supposed to be Zheng Yonghe's responsibility, but the court issued an edict questioning why the Commander-in-Chief hadn't gone with the ships. Left with no choice, Commander-in-Chief Fu Gong went north to Dadu, transporting over 800,000 shi of grain, allowing Zheng Yonghe to escape unscathed. However, the summer transport fleet, which is set to depart next month, will require Zheng Yonghe's involvement; there's no escaping it.
His health was already poor, and the hardships at sea were a minor matter. What the Zheng family was most worried about was that he would fall ill due to the change in environment in Dadu, which would be disastrous. Therefore, the matter of arranging for Zheng Guozhen to serve as the commander of Qingshao Thousand Household had to be expedited and could not be delayed for even a moment.
Shao Shuyi felt he should visit Zheng Yonghe soon, but he didn't know if Zheng was willing, since Zheng's ambiguous status in Taicang made many people suspicious.
"Is Madam Shen delivering goods for you now?" Zheng Fan seemed to think there wasn't much to discuss about the official appointment, so he changed the subject. "Of course," Shao Shuyi said. "Shengye Trading Company relies on Madam Shen; she's really helped me a lot."
The transportation business directly provided by Madam Shen accounted for about half of Shengye Trading Company's business.
Of the remaining half, the vast majority were merchants who had dealings with the Shen family of Suzhou. Seeing how much Madam Shen was cultivating Shengye Trading Company, they would occasionally give them some business.
In the entire transportation business, the customers Shao Shuyi brought in himself accounted for at most 20% of the cargo volume, and the profit share was even less than 10%. Zheng Fan nodded with satisfaction upon hearing this, and said, "When Rongfu told me that his sister was opening a shop in Liujiagang, I immediately thought this was a good opportunity. Xiaohu, you must remember, Madam Shen is indeed skilled in business, but she is, after all, a woman, and there are many things she can't do well. Transportation may smell bad, but it's very lucrative. If you do it well, no one can compete with you. But you must be careful not to overstep your bounds."
"Thank you for the pointers," Shao Shuyi said sincerely.
He comes from a very humble background, so the path he can take to climb up the social ladder is very limited.
He had fantasized about using the "legendary" talents of time travelers to make inventions, but upon closer examination, he knew it was impossible.
Nothing more than that. They'll smash your business, frame you, and throw you in jail. That's how simple and straightforward real business warfare is.
As for relying on historical trends to act as a strategist or to gain fame in cultural circles by copying poems, don't make me laugh, Brother Shao. After a long period of contact, people can see at a glance that your words, actions, vision, and talent are simply not enough to support your insightful suggestions or your eloquent poems and articles.
He could only engage in trades that scholars and officials wouldn't touch, such as freight transport, which has always been fraught with criminal activity, and even the smuggling of salt.
To put it bluntly, for someone like him, a normal career path would inevitably involve involvement in organized crime followed by an attempt to clean up his act and return to a legitimate social status, although Mr. Shao no longer intends to do so.
Of course, Zheng Fan's advice to "be mindful of his limits" is also a wise saying.
"Let me go home and rest for a few days first." Zheng Fan stood up, stretched, and said, "After I recover, I'll take you to see Madam Shen and say a few good words for you."