novelAbuy Chapter 136 Farewell
Chapter 136 Farewell
After Kong Tie's fleet returned, they provided all the goods that Ali needed. Including the goods that Shen Niangzi had collected in Taicang and Liujiagang, they sold a total of around two thousand ingots.
Shao Shuyi was initially quite proud of this figure. "My first time working part-time as a broker, and I've closed such a big deal! Sixty ingots in commission! Pretty impressive, right?"
However, after seeing more ships arriving from all directions, carrying cotton cloth, silk, ironware, grain, tea, medicinal herbs, lacquerware, bamboo ware, and even furniture, he felt that his vision was too narrow.
It was at this time that he finally made some initial contact with the world of brothel dealers.
People with teeth exist everywhere, even in the salt trade.
When wealthy salt merchants conduct business, they also need brokers as intermediaries. Brokers belong to various transport offices. At first, they only hired rogues and scoundrels, but recently the system has become more regulated.
Maritime trade encompasses a wide variety of goods, with porcelain and silk being the two largest sectors. Most renowned brokers come from these two trades, and those standing at the forefront are also primarily from these professions. Brokers from other trades, due to their smaller sales volumes, are not valued by the Maritime Trade Office and can only stand further back, wearing obsequious smiles. Everywhere is divided into different classes!
Shao Shuyi wanted to talk to them, but they were all arrogant and ignored him. In the end, he could only chat with the small and medium-sized dealers who were standing far away.
"Young man, what do you do? You've got quite a business, dealing in all sorts of things." A white-haired broker greeted him with a smile, "My name is Xu Lun, from Zhenzhou." "Shao Shuyi from Taicang." Shao Shuyi bowed and said, "Just a small business, please excuse my presumption, elder."
"Alas, in the business of trade, there is no distinction between young and old; being able to make money is what matters." Xu Lun quietly pointed to the big merchants not far away and said with a wry smile, "I am fifty-four years old this year, and I have been busy for most of my life, but I have never done any big business. The most I have ever done was 1,500 ingots. Now, I would consider it good if I could make 1,000 ingots. The officials of the Maritime Trade Office don't really like to pay attention to me."
"You flatter me, sir," Shao Shuyi said. "May I ask what kind of business you engage in?"
"We dabble in everything that makes money, but mainly deal in grains and oils," Xu Lun said. "Just now I saw the young master with Manager Mo from the Shen family. Could it be that you've met Manager Mo a few times and know him?" Shao Shuyi said.
"I suspect it's more than just acquaintances," Xu Lun chuckled. "You were the one who facilitated this deal, weren't you?"
Shao Shuyi smiled but remained silent.
Xu Lun was filled with awe: "The younger generation is truly formidable, just like Sun Chuan back then."
Shao Shuyi was speechless. How could you compare me to him?
Xu Lun seemed to realize he had said the wrong thing, gave an awkward smile, and changed the subject, saying, "You haven't been in the industry for very long, have you?"
"I do it occasionally," Shao Shuyi said. "I usually work transporting goods on the Yangtze River."
"Oh? What kind of goods are you transporting?"
"We transport everything: porcelain, timber, medicinal herbs, dried seafood, ironware, bronzeware, and so on."
"These goods of yours, the shipping cost must be very high, right? The Yangtze River is not peaceful now, and the shipping cost is increasing day by day. It's not easy for us grain and oil traders to make a living." Xu Lun sighed.
Shao Shuyi hadn't expected to get any business from him after learning he was in the grain and oil trade, for no other reason than he couldn't afford the transportation costs. There was a price difference of about five guan between grain from Jiangxi and Huguang and that from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, sometimes even close to ten guan. If you really wanted to transport it, most of the profit margin would be eroded by the transportation costs, so you had to sell in large quantities.
With larger volumes, they gained bargaining power, could lower the freight charges, and were less afraid of being robbed—when there were many people and boats, small and medium-sized bandits were less likely to board.
Of course, grain merchants had another trick for making money: hoarding and speculating. This was something they wouldn't tell outsiders; the profit margin was entirely determined by the market conditions. "If Master Xu needs to transport goods in the future, he can come to Zheng's Ceramics Shop to find me," Shao Shuyi said. "The freight charges are negotiable."
Xu Lun smiled and said, "Of course, of course."
It's easy to say but hard to say; everyone understands that.
Shao Shuyi then chatted with a few other brokers. If he had business cards, they would have been handed out everywhere by now; they were all potential clients. Chatting with them was free, and who knows, maybe one day someone couldn't find a boat and would remember that he, Shao, was also in the water transport business? These brokers were quite enthusiastic; after all, Shao Shuyi and Manager Mo were chatting and laughing, so in their eyes, Shao Shuyi must be someone important, and getting closer wouldn't hurt.
They chatted until noon, when Shao Shuyi took a trip along the "Frankincense Road" to say goodbye to Ali.
"I'm giving the order to set sail now, so you'll have to come with me to Basra," Ali said with a smile, sitting cross-legged on the carpet. Tie Niu's eyes widened in alarm.
No matter how strong he is, he can't break through this ship. Putting everything else aside, the few black warriors that Ali carefully selected are tall and have a wild look on their faces, looking like they could hunt down a lion with a bow and spear.
Shao Shuyi patted Tie Niu's hand, signaling him to calm down, then looked at Ali and said with a smile, "Then you'll have to buy me land and houses, and also give me four wives as a bonus."
"I have nineteen daughters. Which four have you taken a fancy to?" Ali asked with a smile.
Holy crap! Shao Shuyi was astonished. When Ali wasn't at sea, he was at home. Wow, so many kids!
Fortunately, Ali stopped joking and said, "Looks like you've lost the power to make decisions and are just an advisor now?"
"Even worse than that one." Shao Shuyi didn't hide anything and asked, "What about the other two?"
"One of them is fairly professional, while the other is as clumsy as a camel in the desert," Ali commented.
Shao Shuyi laughed loudly: "Are you coming again next year?"
"It depends on the will of the Creator," Ali said. "It could be a member of my family or a relative by marriage who comes."
Shao Shuyi seemed to be deep in thought.
"I hope that by this time next year, you can be a fair intermediary, providing me and my family with more, better, and cheaper porcelain—the porcelain I need," Ali said, blinking.
Shao Shuyi looked at Ali and smiled. This was an implication that he should start his own business, compete with the Zheng family, and provide him with more sources of goods. To put it more bluntly, if you all get involved, he'll be the one who benefits.
Shao Shuyi doesn't plan to do that for the time being, at least he won't take the initiative to promote it. Although custom-made porcelain will eventually spread slowly, it's quite interesting who starts it first.
He doesn't want to escalate the conflict with the Zheng family right now; there's no need.
The two then talked about other things in a relaxed atmosphere, mainly about their experiences overseas.
For example, Ali said he traded a small bag of grain for a large, perfectly round pearl, and a sharp dagger for a considerable amount of gold dust. Most remarkably, Ali obtained the grain and dagger in Quanzhou at extremely low prices, and then traded them with the savage tribe for priceless items from the civilized world.
This is the enormous profit that seafaring brings.
But the prerequisite for huge profits is sailing, which means you have to leave your comfort zone, risk your life to sail far away, explore places that others have never been to, and make money by taking advantage of information gaps.
Shao Shuyi longed for this, but it was a field he couldn't get involved in.
However, we might participate in the future, who knows? In the late Southern Song Dynasty, foreign trade accounted for a very high proportion of the government's fiscal revenue. Such a lucrative business would be coveted by everyone.
After their chat ended, the two hugged and said goodbye.
On September 15th, despite the lack of rain, Shao Shuyi still arrived at the Shen residence.
Mo Bei rose to greet him, then had someone bring a money box, saying, "The second payment of four ingots for water and transportation, plus sixty ingots for brokerage fees, is all here. I was planning to send it over, but I didn't expect you to come in person, which is good."
Shao Shuyi was overjoyed and immediately told Yu Yuan, who had come with him, to put away the money.
I've been spending money too much lately. The shallow boat that shelters the ocean in Gutang and the sea bream that pierces the wind in Banjing have already been purchased, costing a total of seventy ingots. In addition, the boat I bought from Wang Dajiang has brought the total to one hundred and sixty ingots.
Adding in the miscellaneous expenses from Ma Tuo Sha and Liu Jia Gang, his "account balance" had plummeted to a mere 54 ingots and 40 strings of cash. Today's income of 64 ingots was a much-needed recovery, significantly replenishing his cash flow.
The next step was to ask Zheng Guozhen for his commission.
According to Song You, the chief clerk, after the goods were sold to the Shen family for 13,000 ingots, the Zheng family calculated the costs, including all expenses, and even took into account the devaluation of the paper money in the past year. They ultimately determined that the deal would earn them 9,500 ingots.
According to the commission promised by Zheng Guozhen, 285 ingots of Zhongtong banknotes should be paid.
Song You said that because he had earned so much, San She was very happy and his opinion of Shao Shuyi had changed. He instructed his servants to send the money over in the next few days. As a result, Shao Shuyi's cash holdings exceeded four hundred ingots, which was already a considerable fortune.
Shao Shuyi always felt that the paper money was a hot potato and he definitely wanted to find a way to spend it, which would be the focus for the next period of time.
Mo Bei was unaware of his "grand plan," and only rambled on about what was happening outside: "In July, Guo Huonichi, a salt merchant from Yidu, rebelled, leading his men to attack Taihang, enter Huguan, and then to Guangping, killing the military commander. Now he has returned to Yidu, and the court is helpless, which has spread throughout the world."
"This..." Shao Shuyi was somewhat surprised.
Although this involves a lot of abstract concepts, it's rare to see it reach this level.
This salt farmer named Guo Huonichi, whose ethnicity is unknown, rebelled because he couldn't survive. He traveled westward from the Shandong coast, traversing the entire Hebei province, ascending the Taihang Mountains, entering Shanxi via Huguan, then returning to Hebei. In Guangping, he killed the "military commander," and finally returned to Yidu. Isn't that outrageous? Absolutely outrageous; even tourism isn't this easy.
"I heard it from Madam, so it shouldn't be a rumor," Mo Bei said. "Madam was very worried when she mentioned this matter. Alas, she's only nineteen years old after all. Some things are difficult even for us, let alone Madam. Oh, by the way, what brings you here? Madam returned to Suzhou today, and I don't know when she will return. If there's anything you need, I can help pass on your message."
So she went back to her parents' home. Shao Shuyi felt a little disappointed.
"Let's discuss the matter of transporting goods to Jiangxi in the winter. At that time, I will have two shallow-duty boats, two sea bream boats, two canal boats, and two Yellow River cargo boats, which can carry approximately 3,500 shi of goods."
"We don't need that much." Mo Bei waved his hands repeatedly and said with a wry smile, "One thousand shi is enough. If you can't leave, you can send a trustworthy person to lead the team. As for the water transport fee, I still need to see what we're transporting, and then we'll discuss it further."
"Okay." Shao Shuyi had no objection.
"You bought so many ships, will you even need them all?" Mo Bei asked again. "Don't be greedy. These old ships have a lot of problems, and repairing them will cost a lot. If you can't transport any cargo, you'll lose money. You can try looking for other ships. If that doesn't work, I'll ask around for you."
"Thank you, Mr. Mo." Shao Shuyi bowed, thinking to himself that the gift he had bought today at a "huge expense" of a single ingot of paper had indeed come in handy.
"Furthermore," Mo Bei hesitated for a moment, then said, "Alright, after observing you for the past six months, I've seen that you know your limits, so I won't say any more. In short, you should keep in mind that Master Wan is becoming increasingly protective of his reputation, and has repeatedly told us not to associate with scoundrels. That's all I have to say. Think it over carefully."
Shao Shuyi nodded slightly.
"Is that all?" Mo Bei asked, glancing at Shao Shuyi's brand-new robes.
"There's one more thing I need to ask of you, Madam," Shao Shuyi said.
"What is it?"
"Could you please introduce me to Commander Ye of Songjiang Prefecture?" Shao Shuyi asked.
Mo Bei fell silent for a moment, then finally said, "It's difficult. To put it bluntly, you are indeed not qualified to meet Lord Ye."
"We should at least give it a try," Shao Shuyi said with a smile.
"It depends on what Madam thinks. Let's wait until she returns." Mo Bei shook his head and said, "Lord Ye is not short of money; all he desires is an official position. You can't help him with that."