Looking north towards the rivers and mountains

Chapter 198 Maintaining Major Client Relationships

On April 12th, in late spring, the farmland in the rural areas of Liujiagang was already lush and green.

Next month will be the wheat harvest season.

The people have already cultivated rice seedlings in the small fields. Once the wheat in the large fields is harvested, they will start to soak the seedlings in water in preparation for transplanting, thus beginning a new round of rice-wheat rotation.

When Shao Shuyi stood on the second floor of Zheng Silk Shop below Tianfei Palace, this was the bustling scene he saw.

In truth, farmers in the south have far less free time than those in the north, and correspondingly, the time for military drills is also greatly reduced. In fact, Shao Shuyi had never seen anyone conduct drills. The Baojia system, which had been passed down since the Song Dynasty, had long since existed only on paper. He didn't even know who the Baozhang of Zhangjing East Second Capital was, nor did he know who the Baihu of the Caofu was.

This world is truly a place of ease for dynamic individuals.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs.

A moment later, Xu Yuanqi from the inner accounting office, Fang Chang from the outer accounting office, Zheng Du from the warehouse, and Sheng Yongqing from the martial arts office came over and bowed in unison.

Shao Shuyi waved his hand and said, "We're all working for the Zheng family, no need for formalities. I'll get straight to the point: how many bolts of cloth of each type do you have in the shop? Is it enough? Would you like to buy some more?"

Zheng Du, the clerk, held the booklet, flipped through it, and said, "Manager, last month the old residence sent people to raid the accounts. The inn was closed for several days. After the inventory check, we found 3,000 bolts of cotton cloth from Jiangyin, 500 shi of raw silk, 1,000 bolts of printed cloth from Songjiang, 5,000 bolts of silk from Huzhou, 10,000 bolts of silk from Suzhou, and 5,000 bolts of mixed-color cloth (mainly linen)."

"That's too little," Shao Shuyi said. "Six thousand bolts of cotton cloth from Jiangyin will be delivered this month, and another seven thousand will arrive by the end of the month. You all need to be prepared to receive them." "Manager, may I ask how you plan to receive them?" Xu Yuanqi, the outer accountant, asked.

"Huangtian Trading Company has ships coming from Jiangyin that dock directly at Tianfei Palace Wharf. They will provide oxcarts and hire people to deliver the cloth directly to the shop. You just need to check and put it into storage; you don't need to worry about anything else," Shao Shuyi said.

Xu Yuanqi remained silent.

There's really no need to worry, but since Huangtian Trading Company delivers to your door, the price will naturally be a bit higher. Besides, hiring oxcarts and laborers is a lucrative business, and now we don't need them to do it anymore.

"In early May, another 500 shi of raw silk should arrive, followed by the final batch of 5,000 bolts of Jiangyin cotton cloth in mid-May, and by the end of the month, 1,000 shi of Jiangyin raw silk and 10,000 bolts of Wuxi silk, all transported by the Huangtian Trading Company," Shao Shuyi said. "The remaining 15,000 bolts of silk, 1,500 shi of raw silk, and 15,000 bolts of linen cloth..."

At this point, Shao Shuyi glanced at them and said, "You all swore you could buy this much stock back then, don't come back to me saying it's impossible now. It's already April, I'll ask you one more time, is it possible or not?"

"Okay," the four replied one after another.

This is the space Shao Shuyi left for them. If they have the ability, they can find the goods themselves. As long as they can withstand random checks and the quality is not a problem, they can buy them. Anyway, the price will double when they sell them to the maritime merchants. They don't care if the purchase price is a penny or two more expensive. The important thing is to complete the purchase task with guaranteed quality and quantity.

"In that case, I have nothing more to say," Shao Shuyi said. "I'll have someone do a new inventory check tomorrow, so don't let me find anything out."

Everyone's expressions tightened, and they all agreed.

The new manager has taken office, and they've heard he's a ruthless character. So they've held back for now and haven't dared to do anything underhanded. If they're going to do anything, it's not now; they'll observe for a while first. Now it seems that their caution was the right thing to do.

Shao Shuyi then asked about some other matters in the shop. After discussing them one by one, he waved his hand and said, "Go and get busy." Everyone bowed and withdrew in turn.

Shao Shuyi stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the vast river in the distance.

Until late April, he was busy working for the Zheng family and fulfilling his duties as manager.

The sooner we finish preparing the goods for this year's maritime trade season, the sooner we can put our minds at ease and do our own thing with confidence.

He no longer cared about the few scoundrels in the shop, and he was too lazy to play mind games with them.

His primary concern was completing the procurement task and, incidentally, contributing to the development of his business in Jiangyin.

After working at the Xia Zheng silk shop for several days, Shao Shuyi finally received news from Manager Mo and arrived at Pixiang Pavilion on the 16th. "Shao She, you've come all this way, why are you being so polite?" Mo Bei looked at the gifts Shao Shuyi brought, declined them slightly, and then accepted them, handing them to his nephew who had come with him to learn.

"Of course," Shao Shuyi said. "Huangtian Trading Company's business largely depends on Mr. Mo."

When Huangtian Trading Company was mentioned, Mo Bei's expression became quite subtle.

He had tried his best to refuse, but Shao Shuyi refused, saying that only a few people knew about the shareholder list and that he shouldn't be nervous. If all else failed, they could remove Mo Bei's name from the list publicly, but secretly still distribute the money according to the 20/20 ratio.

Left with no other choice, Mo Bei had no choice but to acquiesce.

His concerns were not unfounded. Since the beginning of the year, Pixiang Pavilion had purchased 500 ingots of cotton cloth, raw silk, and silkworm cocoons from Jiangyin Prefecture, and this month's purchase amount doubled to 1,000 ingots.

With such a huge amount involved, even if Mo Bei insisted that he had strictly checked the quality and had not done anything to favor anyone, the question was whether others would believe him? At this moment, some people within the Shen family had already expressed their dissatisfaction after seeing that a large number of goods were purchased from Jiangyin Prefecture and Wuxi Prefecture instead of Suzhou. Once they learned that Mo Bei held shares in Huangtian Trading Company, it would be too late for them to say anything.

"Once we finish this month's purchases, we'll buy another batch of horse-drawn silk next month, and that should be enough." Mo Bei came to Shao Shuyi's side and said in a low voice, "This is Madam's idea; she also needs to consider the opinions of all parties."

"Okay." Shao Shuyi had no objections, then asked curiously, "What's the quality of the silk from the horse-drawn carriage?"

"Not bad," Mo Bei said. "To be honest, the quality is similar to that of Suzhou and Huzhou silk, maybe slightly inferior. This isn't a problem with the silk itself, but rather that the farmers and weavers aren't skilled enough. They didn't pay enough attention to the picking and reeling process, hence the slight difference in quality. However, it's cheap, so it's still a good deal."

At this point, Mo Bei pointed to the east and said, "Some of the raw silk was sent to Songjiang Prefecture and handed over to local weavers to weave. The silk produced was quite good and there was no problem selling it to foreign merchants and sea travelers. Even if it were sold locally in Jiangnan, there would be no problem."

"Then I'm relieved," Shao Shuyi said with a smile. "Tell me in detail later what's wrong with the horse-drawn satay silk, and I'll have them fix it when we get back." Mo Bei, upon hearing this, exclaimed, "Shao, your words really carry weight in Jiangyin. I've encountered several merchants in the past who, when asked to make changes, always said there were too many complications and preferred to sell at a lower price rather than change it. How did you manage to do that?"

Shao Shuyi smiled but remained silent.

Mo Bei understood and laughed, "I see, I should have thought of that sooner."

After saying this, he looked around and saw that the staff were either greeting customers or cleaning. He then pulled Shao Shuyi a little further away and whispered, "The son-in-law's boat has been built. It's a shallow boat with a capacity of 1,000 liang (approximately 500 meters), which has already made two trips to Suzhou and Taicang, transporting more than 1,000 shi (approximately 500 bushels) of grain. Now, with his confidence greatly increased, he is preparing to do business along Taihu Lake."

Shao Shuyi thought about it carefully.

Loujiang is one of the waterways flowing out of Taihu Lake. Going upstream from Liujiagang, one can reach the city of Suzhou. A little further on, one can enter Taihu Lake and connect with places like Huzhou Road and Changzhou Road.

If you turn northwest outside Suzhou, you can follow the Grand Canal all the way to Zhenjiang.

The waterways are extensive, making transportation a very popular business.

"What goods is he planning to transport?" Shao Shuyi asked.

"I've already taken on a job transporting tea to Yixing Prefecture," Mo Bei said. "I heard that after Pixiang Pavilion bought a lot of cotton cloth, raw silk, and Wuxi silk, they plan to go to Wuxi Prefecture and Jiangyin Prefecture to pick up more goods."

"Damn it! They're trying to steal my business." Shao Shuyi's eyes darted around, and he asked, "What did Madam say?"

"Madam neither agreed nor disagreed," Mo Bei said. "The matter of transporting goods to Wuxi and Jiangyin was proposed by Zhang Qiujiao, one of the Four Friends of Songzhu Garden. She said that we could travel along the Grand Canal, enjoy the scenery, and make friends through poetry and literature. My son-in-law and the others are somewhat interested."

Shao Shuyi nodded slowly.

Are these rich young men doing business or traveling? I don't quite understand them.

This is because they haven't encountered highway robbers yet; they have to suffer a major setback before they can truly learn their lesson.

"Is Madam here?" Shao Shuyi asked, glancing at the exquisitely decorated Pixiang Pavilion.

"I'm here," Mo Bei said. "Come with me."

"Thank you." Shao Shuyi waved to the distance, signaling Tie Niu and the others to wait, and then followed.

Madam Shen was receiving the steward from the Shen family in the backyard.

Mo and Shao waited outside for a while and found that Madam Shen seemed to be asking the steward if a batch of silk could be woven according to her design and sold to foreign merchants and sea travelers.

Shao Shuyi was somewhat surprised. "Impressive! That's the ability to apply what you've learned to other situations."

Mo Bei was also very proud, and said softly, "Madam has been intelligent since she was a child."

"Has Master Mo also met your wife when she was a child?"

"Of course I've met her. Madam was very quiet when she was a child. She liked to read alone and also liked to write and draw by herself."

Shao Shuyi responded with an "oh".

The two had not talked for long when they were summoned by a servant and went inside to pay their respects.

"You're back?" Madam Shen asked casually, her head bowed, seemingly very busy.

"Yes," Shao Shuyi replied, then added, "In February, I went to Jiangyin, first to purchase cloth for the Xia Zheng silk shop, and then to select cotton cloth, raw silk, silkworm cocoons, and silk fabrics for the Pi Xiang Pavilion. I traveled all over Jiangyin and Wuxi, and finally..."

Shen raised her head, glanced at him, as if to say, "Who asked you?"

Shao Shuyi's smile froze, and he stopped talking.

"The cotton cloth from Jiangyin is quite good," Madam Shen said. "I showed the 10,000 bolts you brought over to the cloth merchants in Songjiang, and they had nothing to say about it. They dared not mention raising prices again."

Shao Shuyi had nothing more to say.

So, I was actually a little touched before, thinking you were taking special care of my business, but it turns out you were using me to suppress the Songjiang cloth merchants—of course, Shao Shuyi knew that Madam Shen probably had two purposes.

"We'll ship some more raw silk and silkworm cocoons over around April or May," Madam Shen said. "Will you be able to manage?"

"It's alright, I can manage," Shao Shuyi quickly replied.

Madam Shen hummed in agreement and said, "The raw silk and silkworm cocoons you brought over are not only sold to foreign merchants. Many weavers in Suzhou, Huzhou, Jiaxing, and Songjiang don't have enough raw silk produced by themselves and need to purchase large quantities from outside. If you can find raw silk from Matuosha, this business can continue in the long term. If the quality is good, I will also purchase some in the second half of the year."

Shao Shuyi was relieved. Not only were there orders for export, but there were also domestic orders, which was good enough.

"Thank you, Madam," he said sincerely.

"You've made quite a bit of money this year, what did you do with it?" Shen suddenly asked.

"I bought a plot of land in Jiangyin and recruited some displaced people from the Huai River area to cultivate it. We train them in our spare time to prepare for any emergencies," Shao Shuyi said, glancing at Madam Shen.

Madam Shen lowered her head to look at the account books again, and said, "There's been some turmoil in Jiangyin lately, hasn't there? All the officials in charge of cases in the prefecture have been imprisoned and sentenced to death. I heard that several salt merchants have also died. Be careful."

Shao Shuyi was taken aback.

He was unsure of Madam Shen's intentions. Was she kindly reminding him, or was she subtly hinting at something? He glanced at Manager Mo out of the corner of his eye and saw that the other man was also somewhat surprised, which only made him more confused.

"Thank you for the reminder, Madam," Shao Shuyi said. "I will be careful."

"Wherever you go, trouble follows," Madam Shen said expressionlessly. "I have to remind you."

Shao Shuyi was immediately embarrassed; it seemed that was indeed the case.

"I still have some old brothers around me, so I should be fine traveling around," he said.

"Shao She, you'd better be careful," Mo Bei said from the side. "Yesterday I heard that several bandits from Huai River region fled south to Fushan Port, killing and robbing. The patrol officers went to arrest them, but they ended up killing and wounding several people instead, and ultimately they caught nothing. Things are not peaceful everywhere now, Shao She, you must not be careless." "Is that so?" Shao Shuyi was somewhat surprised.

Mo Bei nodded heavily, then sighed and said, "The patrol office is getting worse and worse, and the government troops are probably not much better off." Shen's movements as she flipped through the account books slowed down.

"Where did these thieves go?" Shao Shuyi asked.

"But I don't know," Mo Bei said. "I only know that the ship they brought was destroyed by archers in the fighting, and they probably didn't return to Jiangbei. They are probably wandering around Changshu and Kunshan prefectures now."

Shao Shuyi nodded slowly and said, "I'll gather my old brothers together in Liujiagang for a few days before returning to Jiangyin. Business and trade aren't important."

Madam Shen continued to look through the account books, and after a long while, she said, "If there's nothing else, go back first. Make a trip to Jiangxi for me next month."

"Yes." Shao Shuyi bowed and took his leave.