usatvline Chapter 93 Business Strategies
Chapter 93 Business Strategies
Chapter 93 Business Strategies
Perhaps because there were many people nearby, the monster stone sculpture was quickly covered with a tarpaulin and concealed.
Mo Bei walked over with a big smile and said, "I just made an appointment with Lord Tai Yue, and I will take you to Jingdezhen in the next two days."
He told me there were hundreds of porcelain kilns there, a truly magnificent sight, and that no matter what style you wanted to make, there was someone who knew how.
A smile appeared on Zheng Fan's face.
It's good to have a local guide, so you don't have to ask around blindly, explore aimlessly, or even get scammed. Although Shen Xie is from Suzhou, he has lived in Jiangxi for almost twenty years and knows the locals very well.
"Thank you, Mr. Shen." Zheng Fan bowed and then introduced Shao Shuyi to Shen Xie.
The three greeted each other again.
"I went out to buy some supplies today, which delayed me a bit. Actually, I had prepared tea and food at home to welcome our distinguished guest, but I didn't expect it to be so late. My apologies," Shen Xie apologized, then pointed to a horse-drawn carriage rumbling up behind the oxcart and warmly invited, "It's already late today, and the goods haven't been fully inventoried. Why don't you stay at my house for a couple of days before you set off?"
Zheng Fan looked at Mo Bei.
Mo Bei nodded slightly, indicating that what Shen Xie said was true.
Zheng Fan then stopped being coy and said with a smile, "Then I shall respectfully accept your offer."
"No problem, no problem," Shen Xie said politely, inviting everyone to get into the car.
Shao Shuyi apologized, then summoned Kong Tie and instructed him to temporarily act as the "fire captain" (commander-in-chief of the fleet) for the three ships. He then summoned Tie Niu and Yu Yuan and had them follow the oxcart behind.
The car headed west towards Dehua, the seat of Jiangzhou.
A gentle breeze lifted the curtain on the back panel of the carriage, revealing glimpses of the impressive stone carvings on the oxcart following behind.
Seeing Shao Shuyi's curiosity, Zheng Fan turned to Shen Xie and asked, "Master Shen, could the things carried on the oxcart be some kind of deity?"
Shao Shuyi also looked at Shen Xie, somewhat curious.
I caught a glimpse of the stone sculpture before and noticed that it looked like a human, but there were differences. I don't know if it was due to artistic techniques or because of the solemnity of a hidden religion, deliberately carving it like a monster to intimidate others.
"That is the Great Ming Cult's righteous god, Mani Buddha." Shen Xie did not hide anything and said frankly, "I bought it for my own use."
"As far as I know, the Mani Buddha statue at Qianguang Temple in Wenzhou is only about 50% similar to this stone sculpture. Is Master Shen really a disciple of the Ming Cult?" Zheng Fan asked, looking puzzled.
Shao Shuyi listened with great interest.
What "Great Ming Cult" and "Ming Cult Disciples"? Don't tell me this is the world of "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber".
Of course, he knew his idea was absurd and impossible.
"Da Ming Jiao" is just "Ming Jiao". The addition of "Da" is just to show respect. You can't call it "Holy Jiao", can you? "Ming Jiao disciples" is probably the common term used by believers.
"Since the Song Dynasty, we Ming Cult disciples have been eating vegetables and performing rituals," which the government has misrepresented as "eating vegetables and performing rituals against demons." Shen Xie smiled and said, "Over time, many believers have actually come to believe that they are eating vegetables and performing rituals against demons." Twenty-nine years ago, in Ningdu Prefecture, Jiangxi, Ming Cult disciple Cai Wujiu gathered a crowd at the Five Kings Temple, killed the prefect, besieged the prefecture city, and burned the four passes. The imperial court dispatched troops from Jiangzhe to enter the country, and together with the local troops, they were able to defeat Cai Wujiu.
The Mani Buddha enshrined in the Five Kings Temple at that time was in this form. When the Ming Cult disciples bound live people for sacrifice, the statue shone brightly, and the government soldiers cowered in fear, not daring to look at it.
The guards attacked Wang Rongshu with fire, but the fires were extinguished three times. The soldiers became increasingly demoralized and were on the verge of defeat.
Shen Xie stopped there.
Zheng Fan listened with surprise and uncertainty.
Mo Bei looked on with awe.
Shao Shuyi was practically bursting with laughter, but he maintained a serious expression and even asked, "And then?"
Shen Xie hesitated for a moment, then suddenly slapped his thigh and sighed, "Uncle Wang Rong is utterly depraved. He took a woman's undergarment and covered the shrine with it, which burned to ashes. The followers were utterly defeated, and Cai Wujiu was captured and killed by archers from the Shicheng Patrol Office."
Zheng Fan and Mo Bei's expressions grew increasingly solemn.
Shao Shuyi suppressed a laugh and pondered silently.
Without a doubt, Shen Xie had already joined the Ming Cult, which could be discerned from the tone of his voice.
The most obvious example is the ending of Cai Wujiu, which he described as "victimized." If it were a Jiangnan scholar who disliked supernatural phenomena, the word "executed" would probably be used.
In addition, he also discovered that the Yuan army was really not very good. They couldn't even defeat the Ming Cult disciples who started the uprising at the beginning. Saying that the Yuan army in the south was completely incompetent was probably too arrogant, but saying that half of them were incompetent was overestimating them.
"What a pity," Shao Shuyi said, echoing Shen Xie's words.
"Your insight is remarkable," Shen Xie said, clearly pleased.
Shao Shuyi then asked, "Won't the government intervene when Master Shen bought this statue?"
"Among the government officials and clerks, there are also Ming Cult disciples. Besides, I went into the mountains some time ago to retrieve the statue, and I returned on the exact day. After entering Daughter's Pool, I was a little careless. It's alright, just cover it up and everything will be fine." Shen Xie said dismissively.
His tone and attitude made Shao Shuyi realize that the grassroots order in Jiangxi was out of control.
The group chatted idly along the way and soon entered Jiangzhou City, stopping outside the Shen residence.
When he got off the bus, Shao Shuyi discovered that next door was an academy called "Jingxing".
Looking around, the area is not very bustling, but it is quiet and peaceful, with many tall houses and large courtyards.
A high-end villa district right next to a prestigious university, giving your child a head start, right? —
The gates of the Shen residence opened quickly, and the guests politely declined as they entered.
******
The servants of the Shen family reheated the food repeatedly, and once the host and guests returned, they immediately served the dishes.
Actually, there wasn't much good food; it was mostly vegetarian dishes, and there was no wine. Instead, there was loose tea from Fuliang. Since the mid-Tang Dynasty, Fuliang in Jiangxi has been a major tea distribution center, as evidenced by the saying, "I went to Fuliang to buy tea last month."
After finishing his meal, Shao Shuyi thought to himself, "How could vegetarians succeed in their rebellion? Their bodies can't handle it!"
Zheng Fan was also somewhat helpless. But that's just how the Ming Cult disciples are; what could he do?
After the meal, everyone moved to the study to begin formally discussing business.
Mo Bei and Shen Xie will negotiate the deal themselves. If nothing unexpected happens, unloading will begin tomorrow and be completed by the day after tomorrow at the latest.
After selling the goods, they still had to buy more. This time, the Shen and Zheng families bought together—to be precise, this was a private transaction between Madam Shen and Zheng Fan, and had little to do with their families.
"Since you've decided to buy the porcelain yourselves in Jingdezhen, I can't say anything." Once the business topic came up, Shen Xie lost his mystical air and his thoughts became very clear. "Jiangxi is famous for its products, so next up is tea."
"I won't buy tea," Zheng Fan stated directly.
Shen Xie smiled, indicating his understanding.
During the Yuan Dynasty, the annual tea tax amounted to 250,000 to 260,000 ingots, with the tea tax alone reaching 180,000 ingots in the Ningguo, Huizhou, and Guangde circuits of the Jiangzhe Province. In addition to these three circuits, Huzhou, Changzhou, Hangzhou, and other places also produced good tea, but the tea mountains were mostly occupied by the imperial court and became tribute tea planting areas, which were unrelated to local tax revenue.
In contrast, the tea administration offices of Jiangzhou and Xingguo (under the jurisdiction of Huguang), where Shen Xie was more familiar with people, only had an annual tax of 35,000 ingots.
Jiangxi tea is really not comparable to that of Jiangsu and Zhejiang; it simply can't sell well. On the contrary, famous teas from Jiangsu and Zhejiang are sometimes sold in Jiangxi.
Our brands aren't as well-known as others; that's just reality.
The same principle applies to grains as to tea.
To this day, the Jiangzhe province remains the largest grain-producing region under the rule of the Yuan Dynasty. The grain output of Suzhou, Songjiang, and Changzhou in western Zhejiang is particularly high. The autumn tax of Changzhou County, where Suzhou is located, is 400,000 shi (a unit of dry measure), which is almost half of the tax grain of the entire Huguang province.
Jiangxi is indeed a major grain-producing province, but its only advantage is that grain is cheap.
Transporting grain from Jiangxi back to Jiangsu and Zhejiang for sale is definitely profitable, but you need to go for high volume to make big money; small-scale operations are meaningless.
"If you're not buying tea, you must be buying bamboo and wood." Shen Xie skipped over grains, silk, and hemp, and said, "Huguang sandalwood can be used to make seats and crown stands, and it can also be dyed. Recently, wealthy families have even used it to coat their whitewashed walls."
The cypress and nanmu wood from Mahu Road in western Sichuan is rare even in Sichuan, and most of it is transported to Jiangxi for distribution.
Sichuan and Hubei also have Phoebe zhennan wood, which is yellow in color and fragrant. It can be used for making plaques.
I remember that the square bamboo of Western Sichuan also grows on Feilai Peak in Hangzhou. The bamboo nodes have thorns, and the people of Sichuan call it thorny bamboo.
Another type is Xiang bamboo, which has fine spots and a light color with a halo effect and a purple dot in the center. It is the most valuable for making flutes and pipes.
Snow bamboo, cymbal bamboo, child bamboo, and peach bamboo are all not found in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and can be purchased in large quantities to make walking sticks.
Qi bamboo from Hubei and Hunan can be used to make flutes.
The flowering vine can be used as a walking stick or a horsewhip.
Returning to shipbuilding, isn't the purple cedar from Xiangdong a top-grade material? Actually, it's not expensive, and it's better than ordinary cedar.
Oh, and the giant fir trees of Chenzhou. Back when I lived in Suzhou, old fir trees in Chenzhou were the first choice for wealthy families to make coffins. Alas, when someone died in the family, people would compete to bid, some paying tens of thousands of coins, others a thousand, to make a beautiful decoration; otherwise, they would be ridiculed.
At this point, Shen Xie looked somewhat nostalgic and smiled, "I wonder how things are now."
"Now the bidding is even fiercer," Zheng Fan laughed. "The old fir trees from Chenzhou were snapped up as soon as they arrived. Even if they didn't need them right away, they bought them first. Some wealthy families just can't see the difference and insist on using them for coffins."
"Nothing has changed at all." Shen Xie laughed heartily.
Shao Shuyi listened attentively and took careful notes throughout.
This was something he had never been able to understand before.
After today, I have a clear understanding of the bamboo and wood business in Jiangxi.
It is indeed very profitable, and if you can continue doing it for a long time, the accumulated wealth will be astonishing.
Most importantly, this can maintain a large-scale water transport and security force, which can be transformed into a navy in critical moments.
The only downside was probably Shen Xieming's status as a disciple, which worried Shao Shuyi about potential trouble.
"Little Tiger, how is it?" Zheng Fan didn't think too much about it. He turned around and asked with a smile.
"I think it's good." Shao Shuyi answered truthfully: "The logs are released from upstream and float downstream, and they will reach Liujiagang in no time. The planks and bamboo can be loaded onto the boat, or used as ballast, with some fine goods placed on top, and then hauled back to Liujiagang together."
If one persists in this way, it will be difficult not to become wealthy and powerful.
"Do you know why not many people did this business before?" Zheng Fan asked in a questioning tone.
"We lack shrewd and capable people like Mr. Shen, who are also very familiar with the area," Shao Shuyi replied.
Shen Xie chuckled and waved his hand modestly.
Zheng Fan nodded, then added, "The world is in turmoil, and we'll need someone to protect us along the way. That's your job."
"Rest assured, sir," Shao Shuyi assured him.
In fact, this deal generally requires several elements: first, procurement channels in Jiangxi; second, sales channels in Liujiagang; third, sufficient capital; fourth, transportation and security capabilities; and fifth, official support.
Having one of these features is not unusual, having two is much rarer, and having all five is extremely rare.
This business isn't something just anyone can do.