Looking north towards the rivers and mountains

Chapter 170 Huangtian Trading Company

The arrival of the twelfth lunar month seems to be a psychological suggestion; regardless of officialdom or commoners, rich or poor, the pace of life slows down suddenly for everyone who has been busy for most of the year. However, there are exceptions; isn't Brother Cao busy right now?

After Yu Yuan and his group arrived at Xiapu, before they had even stopped their boat, they turned east again and docked at a certain point in Huangtian Port. It was already evening on the first day of the lunar month. "This is..." He hesitated as he looked at the brick and stone courtyard in front of him, almost thinking that he had come to the home of a wealthy family in the countryside.

On either side of the tall gate, a lantern made of white Korean paper hangs, swaying in the wind.

It was just getting dark when the lamp wick was lit, casting a cold light on the wet stone slabs in front of the door.

"Yu She is back?" Wei Erdi and a seafarer stood at the door. Upon seeing him, they immediately opened the door and invited him in. "I'm back." Yu Yuan bowed to them and entered the door carrying his bundle.

Braziers were lit in the courtyard and main room, burning driftwood collected from the riverbank, with occasional small sparks crackling and popping.

"Yu She, come here." Shao Shuyi greeted him with a smile as he sat behind a large rosewood table.

Inside, Tie Niu, Wu Heizi, Gao Daqiang, and others were sitting around an eight-immortal table, idly wiping down equipment. They greeted Yu Yuan when they saw him.

"Brother Shao, what is this?" Yu Yuan asked subconsciously after glancing around.

"It's a newly rented place, costing ten ingots in total, with a year's rent prepaid. From New Year's Day to Lunar New Year's Eve next year, it's like they gave me a month for free." Shao Shuyi stood up and said, "Come, let me show you around."

"Okay, sure," Yu Yuan replied, putting down his bundle.

After passing through the main hall, you'll find yourself at the warehouse.

As soon as Shao Shuyi opened the back door, a cold wind mixed with rain and snow rushed in. It started raining and snowing in the afternoon, and it was still quite cold.

The warehouses were mostly built of bamboo and wood, some old and some new, but all of them had newly woven straw curtains on top to prevent snowmelt from seeping in.

There were no stockpiled goods yet. Inside the room were many jars and pots, wrapped with straw ropes. There were red tags on the mouths of the jars with the words "Jiangyin Laojiao" written on them. They should be local bulk liquor, but I don't know what they were used for.

"Once the trade starts, these warehouses can be used to temporarily store goods awaiting shipment." Shao Shuyi walked along the muddy dirt road, pointing to the warehouses on both sides, and said, "Well, at first we might also need to help store some fish and salt."

Yu Yuan watched quietly, feeling both curious and delighted.

"Come on, let's go take a look at the signing room up ahead," Shao Shuyi said, pointing to a house with lanterns hanging in front of him.

Yu Yuan then followed.

As he walked, the slippery dirt road under his feet turned into wooden planks. He subconsciously looked down and suddenly realized that these planks, along with the so-called signing room, were actually suspended over the water.

"Aren't you surprised?" Shao Shuyi laughed. "It looks a bit like a water fortress."

"It does resemble a water fortress," Yu Yuan nodded.

Liujiagang has the Changqiao Naval Base, which is very spectacular. It is filled with a large number of flat buildings extending into the water – basically, the buildings are constructed by driving piles into the water and then laying wooden planks on top to build houses.

Thinking of this, Yu Yuan looked down.

Perhaps because it was the dead of winter, the tide was a bit low, and the sound of the river water under the floor was not as loud as usual, but it still surged up and receded wave after wave, repeating this process.

Shao Shuyi pushed open the door to the signing room. The lights were on inside, and Yang Jin was talking quietly with a young man. Upon seeing Shao Shuyi and Yu Yuan, Yang Jin immediately pulled the young man to bow.

"This is Lu Chaoen, Yang Fucai's brother-in-law," Shao Shuyi introduced. "He's educated and came here to help with the accounts."

Yu Yuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief; finally, he had an ally.

At Yang Jin's signal, Lu Chaoen stood up, bowed, and addressed him as "Master Yu".

Yu Yuan's heart stirred, and he looked at Shao Shuyi.

"I told him to call me that," Shao Shuyi said. "Even though the trading company hasn't been established yet, let's start calling it that first. You'll be in charge of the accounting." Yu Yuan, who couldn't escape, understood that he didn't need to hide his identity from Yang Jin and Lu Chaoen, so he immediately returned the greeting and said, "No need for formalities. We're all brothers, and we're usually very casual with each other, without so many formalities."

Lu Chaoen felt somewhat uncomfortable with the phrase "his own brothers," and might even have felt a bit of aversion to it.

Yang Jin saw this and felt slightly embarrassed. His brother-in-law didn't think much of him; what could he do?

Shao Shuyi went to the window, gently pushed it open, and the silhouette of a tall ship appeared.

Everyone looked over.

Yu Yuan recognized it as a flat-hulled ship, which was originally moored near Xiapu, but had now been moved to Huangtian Port.

The ship's lights were on, indicating that there were people on board. However, the ship's draft was very shallow, suggesting that it was not loaded with cargo, and the hold was empty.

"All six ships from the transport depot have arrived and can be parked here." Shao Shuyi closed the window, turned around, and asked, "Isn't this place nice?" Although calling him "Brother Shao" shouldn't be a problem, Yu Yuan was still a little cautious and changed his form of address, saying, "Brother Gongming, who will be in charge of this place from now on?"

"Good question." Shao Shuyi smiled and said, "You've been following me for so long, it's time for you to get some benefits. I intend to open a new trading company here. You can put up some money and invest as a shareholder. If we make money in the future, we'll split the profits according to your respective shares."

Although somewhat surprised, Yu Yuan agreed immediately, as if he would accept anything Brother Shao gave him, good or bad. "Brother Gongming, do you have a stake?" Yu Yuan asked again.

"I will contribute 'Shengye Trading Company' as a stake, taking half, and you can share the rest," Shao Shuyi said.

"Shengye Trading Company?" Yu Yuan was taken aback, as if he had realized something.

Shao Shuyi looked at him and said, "Yes, that's exactly what you think. Shengye Trading Company will be established in Taicang after the New Year, and I'll use it to do business everywhere."

Yu Yuan seemed to understand.

Shengye Trading Company belongs to Brother Shao alone, but the newly established trading company in Huangtian Port belongs to everyone, only Brother Shao has the largest share. This is somewhat similar to when they teamed up to steal Li Daweng's goods, and also somewhat like when the Zheng, Shen, and Ye families partnered up to do business in Srivijaya, sharing the profits according to their respective shares.

Yu Yuan didn't care much about the Huangtian Port New Trading Company, but he also knew that his indifference didn't mean others didn't. Giving them benefits would make them work harder, because it truly concerned their own interests.

Brother Shao really enjoys sharing profits with others.

"Have you figured it out?" Shao Shuyi walked over, patted him on the shoulder, and asked.

"Understood," Yu Yuan replied.

Shao Shuyi came to the table, picked up a brand-new account book, and said, "This is the Huangtian Trading Company's account book. You will record things in this book after the New Year. You will take care of Chao En for now, and then let him handle things after he is familiar with it."

"Alright." Yu Yuan had no objection.

As they spoke, he casually flipped through the ledger and found that most of it was empty, except for the last page, which was filled with writing, seemingly detailing the respective shareholdings. Shengye Trading Company held 50%, while Wang Huadu, Kong Tie, Liang Tai, Wu Heizi, Gao Daqiang, Cheng Ji, Li Fu, Bian Yuanheng, and himself each held 5%. Even Yang Jin had 30%, and Mo Bei had 20%—Yu Yuan suspected that Manager Mo might be aware of this. "Brother, Huangtian Trading Company has no ships or money on its books..." Yu Yuan reminded him.

"I'll contribute fifty ingots as a share in Shengye Trading Company, with ten ingots as rent. You can then count forty ingots from the cash box and deposit them into the account later," Shao Shuyi said. "Each shareholder will contribute one ingot per share (1%). I've already spoken with them; some have some money, some don't, but there's no rush. They can contribute after the New Year. Manager Mo's share is fine; he can help sell the goods, so he doesn't need to contribute. Besides recruiting manpower, the invested money can also be used to find ships."

Yu Yuan nodded, then asked, "Brother, do you have that much money in your account?"

"While you were gone these past few days, Ma Tuo Sha delivered another 8,000 catties of salted fish. I now have 125 ingots of cash. After deducting 10 ingots for rent, I still have over 100 ingots left," Shao Shuyi said.

"But we might need to buy salt next," Yu Yuan reminded him.

"No rush," Shao Shuyi waved his hand and said, "Not many people are willing to work before the New Year. But you're right, we should definitely prepare more. Hmm, I'll take some time these next couple of days to go into town and borrow some money."

Yu Yuan understood; borrowing money was indeed a good solution. As for who to borrow from, wasn't that obvious? In Jiangyin Prefecture, Brother Shao had no one else to borrow from, so he could only go to Madam Liu.

After recounting this, Shao Shuyi pulled Yu Yuan away from the signing room and stood by the reeds on the riverbank, asking, "Tell me about going back."

Yu Yuan recounted the events of the past few days in detail.

After listening, Shao Shuyi commented, "Manager Mo has been immersed in the business world for decades; he's truly incomparable to ordinary shop managers. Alas, only large merchants possess such talent. The suggestion for improvement is reasonable. However, it's already December; let's wait until after the New Year to discuss it."

Yu Yuan looked at Shao Shuyi and said, "About the Zheng family..."

"It's nothing," Shao Shuyi laughed. "I didn't really want to do it anyway, I was too busy. The silk shop at Tianfei Palace was originally managed by Lu San, but after Wang Sheng's incident, he nervously resigned from his position as manager, and I haven't heard anything about what happened to him since. Let him go, we still need to maintain a facade of harmony with the Zheng family."

"Are you sure you can manage?" Yu Yuan asked Shao Shuyi with concern.

"Even if I'm busy, I still have to keep busy." Shao Shuyi shook his head and smiled, "I've been busy all year, so I should take good care of myself in December. Tomorrow I'll go to Jiangxia City to buy some gifts; I'll need them."

"Will you use it for visiting before the New Year?" Yu Yuan asked.

"Almost there, get it ready as soon as possible."