novelAbuy Chapter 22 Secret Meeting
Chapter 22 Secret Meeting
May 26th, sunny.
Wu Youcai returned from Chuzhou, bringing with him a large number of bronze artifacts.
Early in the morning, martial arts master Zhang Neng led three or four young and strong men, along with seven or eight hired assistants, carrying weapons, and went out to the dock to prepare to receive the ship.
Shao Shuyi watched all of this silently.
He had been working at the shop for some time and had vaguely heard that Zhang Neng had a complicated social network and knew many people. This time, when he was taking over the ship, he took two ingots of cash from his account, saying that he wanted to hire strong and capable men to pick up the blueware at the dock, and also to guard against any unforeseen circumstances.
The price was very expensive, but the shopkeeper agreed, and Shao Shuyi had no objections; he simply completed all the formalities.
As before, Zhang Neng was somewhat unhappy because Shao Shuyi had clearly stated the personnel and labor costs, and the daily wage for each person could be calculated. In addition, Zhang Neng's handprint was very conspicuous.
Shao Shuyi knew very well that part of the two ingots of paper money would be embezzled by Zhang Neng, while the other part would be used to hire people he knew at high prices, as a way to give his underlings some benefits so that they wouldn't be unable to be used in the future.
Another thing that surprised Shao Shuyi was that this group of people could openly carry weapons and go about their business without anyone interfering.
He once asked others, "Didn't the imperial court forbid Han Chinese and Southern Chinese from carrying weapons?" The people he asked all looked blank and said, "I don't know. Who told me that?"
Shao Shuyi quickly understood. Laws are laws, and reality is reality; there is a process called "execution" in between.
The Yuan Dynasty had very poor enforcement capabilities. Many laws and regulations were selectively enforced by the lower and middle levels. That is, they would enforce what they wanted to enforce and passively resist what they didn't want to enforce, thus rendering the laws ineffective.
I heard that seven or eight years ago, the powerful minister Bayan requested the extermination of the five surnames Zhang, Wang, Liu, Li, and Zhao, because they had the largest populations in the land. Such an outrageous policy was, of course, impossible to implement; it didn't even become a policy before the emperor directly rejected it.
After the person left, Shao Shuyi sat in the shop, waiting with the shopkeeper Wang Sheng.
This time, the goods were delivered directly from Chuzhou, totaling over ten thousand pieces of celadon ware of various sizes. They're almost enough to fill the remaining warehouse, and this is the last large-scale restock this year. Regardless of market conditions, there are only fewer than thirty thousand pieces in total; once they're sold out, that's it.
After sitting for a while, Wang Sheng was greeted by a guest, who turned out to be his old acquaintance, Sun Chuan.
He smiled and stood up to greet him, saying, "You have news?"
"Aihmartin's ship has arrived in Qingyuan and will come to Liujiagang in about a month." Sun Chuan's face was covered in a layer of oily sweat, clearly indicating that he had rushed over. He said, "But the price—"
"Let's talk in the inner room." Wang Sheng glanced at Shao Shuyi as if he were not paying attention.
Sun Chuan nodded. It was truly inconvenient for an outsider who wasn't on their side to suddenly appear in the ware shop.
The two of them arrived at Wang Sheng's room one after the other.
Wang Shengxian glanced around to make sure no one was nearby before closing the doors and windows. He then turned and sat down opposite Sun Chuan. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "Master Sun, let's be frank. There have been some changes at the old residence. The old master rarely goes to the government office anymore, and he's even less capable of handling household affairs. Now he's in charge of the third quarter. He's not very polite to us old folks, so some things aren't so easy to deal with."
Sun Chuan seemed to have guessed this already; his expression remained unchanged as he lazily asked, "So, are you going to do it or not?"
Wang Sheng hesitated.
"Look at you, acting like a coward." Sun Chuan scoffed and asked, "Of these 30,000 pieces of celadon in the warehouse, how many are high-quality official kiln pieces?"
"The number one in three," Wang Sheng said, his eyes flickering.
"What is its value?"
"I haven't calculated it in detail," Wang Sheng shook his head and said, "There are at least four thousand ingots."
Porcelain varies in origin, shape, and size, so naturally, prices also differ.
Cheaper porcelain bowls, such as those produced by the official kilns, cost only three to five hundred coins. Ordinary people in the Yuan Dynasty used even cheaper porcelain bowls, which could be bought for a few dozen coins, but they were generally not exported.
Porcelain plates are a bit more expensive, generally costing over 500 coins, while those from well-known brands and of better quality are close to 100 coins.
Other types are hard to say, with fine pieces ranging from a few strings of cash to tens or even hundreds of strings of cash.
If an official kiln receives a commission to make porcelain for the imperial palace and high-ranking officials, and secretly keeps some pieces after they are fired to sell on the market, the price will be unpredictable. This is because such exquisite pieces use rare raw materials presented by the Western Regions, have complex processes, and are extremely costly. They are rarely circulated on the market and can be described as having a price but no market.
The foreign merchants who frequently came to trade also knew their goods and recognized that these were high-quality items that could be presented to nobles back home. Therefore, they were very willing to pay high prices, with several thousand or even tens of thousands of strings of cash per piece being quite normal.
Wang Sheng roughly estimated that the total value of this batch of porcelain was over four thousand ingots, which was roughly correct. And this was only the local price; wouldn't the price be higher if sold to the foreigners?
If you're really ruthless, when you encounter a foreign merchant who doesn't understand the market, doesn't know how to negotiate, and doesn't have a local network, you can sell it for three to five times the price.
Foreign merchants like Ahmadin, who have made more than one trip, know the market well, and have brokers to help them, naturally cannot sell like this, but it is not uncommon to mark up the price by 60% or 70% or even double it.
Business is inherently a game of negotiation between buyers and sellers. Would the foreigners take it back and sell it without raising the price? They'd probably raise it even more.
Therefore, Wang Sheng is now facing a huge deal worth seven or eight thousand ingots. Although the final decision will be made by the Zheng family members, it doesn't mean he can't exert influence and profit from it—in fact, he has done it more than once, from being timid at the beginning to being greedy now, in just a few years.
"A deal involving several thousand ingots, if you loosen your grip even slightly, could result in a loss of several hundred ingots..." Sun Chuan said with a half-smile.
"Keep your voice down," Wang Sheng said in a low voice, glancing instinctively at the closed doors and windows.
"What's the big deal?" Sun Chuan scoffed. "Who are you afraid of? That new kid?"
Wang Sheng was unwilling to admit it, but under Sun Chuan's intense gaze, he reluctantly nodded and said, "He was recruited by Master Zheng. On the surface, he is a down-on-his-luck seafarer, but I don't believe it."
Why?
"He was well-versed in arithmetic and had beautiful handwriting, somewhat resembling the style of Zhao Weigong."
Sun Chuan also hesitated. Unless they were from Confucian families, how many children from ordinary households, seafaring families, artisan families, post families, military families, fishing families, etc., could read and write well?
Don't tell me about secretly learning from a private school; that's just something he brags about to others. Sun Chuan doesn't believe it anyway.
"Could we try to win this person over?" Sun Chuan asked after thinking for a while.
Wang Sheng frowned and said, "You saw it too, he didn't even accept a single ingot of tea money. Last month, a few pieces of the celadon ware that were delivered were accidentally broken when they were put into storage, and he even asked where the fragments went. Fortunately, Wu Youcai was the one keeping the accounts at the time, and he forced himself to write it down."
"So ungrateful?" Sun Chuan was slightly annoyed.
Wang Sheng sighed.
In theory, the business with the foreign merchant Aihmadin was none of anyone else's business. He was responsible for negotiating the price, and Shao Shuyi was just keeping accounts, just like Lu San was responsible for the business of the silk shop.
But things were clearly not that simple. Shao Shuyi was, after all, the accountant, and there were many situations where he couldn't be avoided. Over time, with so many people involved and so much gossip, who could guarantee there wouldn't be any slip-ups? In fact, even though he had previously managed the entire inn like an ironclad fortress, quite a few rumors still leaked out. Otherwise, why do you think Shao Shuyi was here?
Furthermore, this new accountant is inflexible. He insists on seeing fragments even when the artifact is damaged normally; who can tolerate that in the long run?
While the shopkeeper, Wang Sheng, could indeed make money through other means, Wu Youcai, Zhang Neng, and others relied on the losses from the loss of precious artifacts. Cutting off this source of income would certainly make them dissatisfied with the new accountant, but as the saying goes, it's not scarcity that's the problem, but inequality. If the shopkeeper makes a fortune while they get nothing, would you be happy? It could easily lead to chaos.
"Let's think of a way," Sun Chuan suddenly stood up and said.
Wang Sheng was startled and stared at him blankly.
Sun Chuan paced around the room a few times, then suddenly asked, "Do you know any salt farmers from other states?"
"Salt farmers?" Wang Sheng asked, puzzled.
Sun Chuan sneered and said, "Sometimes salt merchants from Jiangbei cross the river by boat to smuggle and sell private salt. These people are brave and ruthless, mostly desperate criminals. You can entrust them with tasks that are inconvenient to do. After they're done, they can return directly to Jiangbei, and no one will know."
Wang Sheng was startled and quickly said, "It's just about making money, why go to such lengths?"
Sun Chuan's sneer grew even louder as he said, "Don't think I don't know how Zhao Nan died."
Wang Sheng was almost afraid to look him in the eye, and kept saying, "Accountant Shao has only been in the shop for a month. Isn't it strange that something happened at this time? This is not right, not right."
Sun Chuan shook his head, seemingly extremely disappointed.
"There must be another way," Wang Sheng said in a low voice. "Let me think about it carefully..."
"Take your time thinking about it. I'll find the right people first, just in case we need them later." Sun Chuan sneered. "Don't worry, the salt farmers in Taizhou, Jiangbei, are far away. They can row back to Taizhou by boat the same day they finish the job, and there's no way they'll be traced back to us."
Wang Sheng did not object this time, which seemed to be his tacit agreement.