Looking north towards the rivers and mountains

Chapter 303 Rushing to the Market

Wang Huadu had just reached the village entrance when he received the news. He then straightened his clothes and walked over with an embarrassed smile.

Inside the newly built thatched pavilion at the village entrance, Shao Shuyi, with an air of authority, was flipping through account books.

In September, a considerable sum of money was received, increasing the cash balance to over 6500 ingots. However, after repaying debts, paying various miscellaneous expenses, and distributing a bonus, the cash balance decreased significantly.

A few days ago, Shao Shuyi sent Wu Heizi, who was staying at home to avoid trouble, to Yuzhou Island to pick up the last 200,000 catties of salt for the year, and to pay the second installment of the "ship purchase" fee to the Li family of Qushan, reducing the funds to around 2700 ingots.

Not bad! With both income and expenditure, the overall financial situation is continuously improving, and the most gratifying thing is the explosive growth in operating revenue.

As for the issue of increased revenue but not increased profit, it's simply because there are too many projects under construction. Fortunately, the company has relatively little debt and few financial expenses, which allows it to operate with a lighter burden.

The financial statements of Huangtian Trading Company, which mainly deals in canal trading and connects Pingjiang, Changzhou, Jiangyin, Zhenjiang and other prefectures and counties, are also passable. It has earned as much as 185 ingots this year, with a net profit attributable to the parent company of more than 90 ingots.

Of course, Shao Shuyi didn't intend to keep the 90 ingots of paper money; he planned to use them to give bonuses to senior executives and laborers at the end of the year.

When Wang Huadu arrived, Shao Shuyi put down his account book, glanced at him, and asked, "Where did you go?"

"Brother, what brings you here?" Wang Huadu asked, beckoning to his men.

A man, bound hand and foot, was pushed forward.

"I've caught Li Jimao's brother-in-law," Wang Huadu said triumphantly.

Shao Shuyi kept a straight face and didn't say anything.

Wang Huadu was taken aback and waved his hand behind his back.

Two men stepped forward and took the prisoner away.

The prisoner struggled and tried to beg for mercy, but he was quickly punched twice in the stomach and immediately lost his balance.

Wang Huadu forced a smile and said, "Brother, there weren't many casualties. We fought Li Jimao three or four times, with three people dead and two wounded. The main problem was that we were careless the first time and got cornered in the alley. Later, I got my revenge and personally led the charge, killing more than ten of them. My brother-in-law was also captured."

Shao Shuyi remained silent, his expression growing increasingly grim.

Wang Huadu sensed something was wrong, and his smirk deepened. He said, "The wounded are all fine. One has already returned to the unit, and the other will need to stay in bed for a while, but he will also recover and return. I've filled the vacancies for the three fallen soldiers. Two are refugees from Huainan in the village, and one is a fugitive salt worker. They're all brave and daring. The government is turning a blind eye, pretending not to see it, and dares not interfere."

Shao Shuyi remained silent.

Wang Huadu, left with no other option, finally explained, "Brother, I know it's wrong to start a war without authorization, but there are many people in Songjiang Prefecture. I didn't want the Li brothers to monopolize the situation, so I took action. It was bound to happen sooner or later."

"You still haven't figured it out." Shao Shuyi stood up, walked to Wang Huadu, sighed, and said, "What I'm worried about isn't the Songjiang Salt Road, but you."

Wang Huadu stood there, stunned.

Shao Shuyi lifted Wang Huadu's arm and found bloodstains on his sleeve.

"That belongs to someone else," Wang Huadu said instinctively.

Shao Shuyi ignored him and carefully checked Wang Huadu. After confirming that Wang Huadu was unharmed, he said, "What did I teach you before? Plan before you act. Think about it carefully. Did you leak the news and show too much malice, which alerted the Li family, who then struck first and attacked you ruthlessly?"

Wang Huadu lowered his head, pondered for a moment, and finally sighed, saying, "Perhaps I and the officials at the Xia Shachang were too talkative. The Li family mainly gets their goods from the Pudong and Yuanbu salt fields, but sometimes they also get salt from the Xia Shachang. The news must have leaked from there."

"Good to know." Shao Shuyi put his arm around his shoulder and said, "After the news leaked, the Li family was prepared, so it's not so easy to fight them anymore. Street fighting is difficult, and the terrain is complex. So what if they've trained their troops? A snipe from a rooftop can kill your men who have been training for over a year. The Li family has been deeply involved in Songjiang for many years, knows everyone, and has spies everywhere. If we could launch a surprise attack and kill them in one fell swoop, that would be fine. But now that it's turned into a messy battle, with your dozen or so men, your chances of winning aren't that great. Besides..."

At this point, Shao Shuyi lowered his voice and said, "What I'm worried about is how many employees will die and how much money we'll lose?"

Wang Huadu looked at Shao Shuyi in surprise.

"I'm worried about you," Shao Shuyi sighed. "I haven't found any relatives yet. The only people I have by my side are you, Baijianu, and Yushe, whom I've known since childhood. I consider you my closest family, and we'll share wealth and honor together in the future. If something happens to you because of your recklessness, how can I not be heartbroken?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Huadu was stunned for a long time before finally stammering, "I...I understand."

Seeing that he knew he had made a mistake, Shao Shuyi said, "You still don't have enough people on your side. Let's expand by adding another team. I'll have Zhao Xiaoer come over as the team leader. You two will each lead a team, but you will be the leader."

"Alright." Wang Huadu seemed a little distracted, and didn't seem as excited about being able to control more troops.

"I brought you seven hundred ingots of precious paper money." Shao Shuyi added, "When you have time, go and buy a piece of land at the mouth of the Wusong River, preferably with a dock. If it's just wasteland without a dock, that's fine too; we can build one ourselves."

Upon hearing this, Wang Huadu finally realized what was going on and asked, "What's the point of building a dock? Is it to moor ocean-going ships?"

Shao Shuyi nodded.

He was genuinely serious about getting into maritime trade. Without building docks, it would be inconvenient to moor ships; without building warehouses, it would be impossible to circulate goods. These were essential needs.

"I'm leaving all these matters to you. Don't let me down," Shao Shuyi said.

"Alright," Wang Huadu said in a deep voice.

"Let's get back to Li Jimao's matter. How's it going?" Shao Shuyi asked.

"Him... he's past his prime." Wang Huadu's expression became much more interesting when this was mentioned, but upon seeing Shao Shuyi's serious face, he dropped his arrogance and said, "I beat him a few times, and he's gone into hiding. But today I captured his brother-in-law and found out where he's hiding." Shao Shuyi listened, then fell silent in thought.

Before Wang Huadu could say anything more, seeing Shao Shuyi's expression, he immediately said, "I know... I know, I will make full preparations before I go."

"I'll send a squad to you, all at once." As Shao Shuyi spoke, he summoned Fu Jian and said, "Bring all five muskets." Fu Jian obeyed and soon gathered all the muskets from the guards, along with gunpowder and bullets, and handed them over to Wang Huadu's men. "Teach your men how to use the muskets," Shao Shuyi said. "Of the five muskets, three are old, and two are newly purchased from Huzhou. Be careful when using them, and don't load too much powder."

So far, they have worn out two muskets. One only developed a crack and was promptly discarded. The other musket exploded during the ambush of Wang Zongsan, but fortunately it only caused minor damage.

The combined power of five muskets firing at close range is astonishing. Upon seeing this weapon, Governor Wang Hua was overjoyed and said, "I'll teach them how to use it immediately, and we'll set off tonight."

"Will Li Jimao sense something is wrong and flee beforehand?" Shao Shuyi asked.

"Probably not." Wang Huadu thought for a moment and then said, "I've been keeping an eye on his brother-in-law for quite some time. This guy was ordered to go south to Jiaxing, saying he wanted to find Li Jimao's sworn brothers to help him. I followed them for a long time and captured the three of them, master and servant, in the middle of nowhere. I brought them back overnight, and no one saw it." Shao Shuyi didn't ask what happened to the other two, only saying, "You can handle it yourself. I'm leaving soon."

"Where to?" Wang Huadu asked, taken aback.

"Let's go to the county town," Shao Shuyi said. "Master Fei introduced several officials from the Maritime Trade Office, and we've arranged to have a drink in town tonight, so I have to go. Tomorrow I also need to rush to the mouth of the Wusong River to escort Liu Huipeng and the others to Chepu. This time..."

He stepped forward, straightened Wang Huadu's clothes, and said, "Be careful."

Wang Huadu felt a surge of warmth in his heart, but he smiled and said, "It's alright, it's alright. I've brought all the pot lids from the stove. They're made of elm wood and are very heavy; even arrows can't penetrate them. Then, we'll use muskets to clear the way, and we'll surely rout Li Jimao's army."

Shao Shuyi gave him an annoyed look and said, "Be more composed in the future, and don't be so frivolous, or people will look down on you."

"I understand, I understand," Wang Huadu laughed. "Don't worry, once we kill Li Jimao, the salt route in Songjiang Prefecture will be ours, and the trading companies in Shanghai won't have to pay for it anymore."

"If it were that simple, that would be good." Shao Shuyi smiled and said, "We need to make more contact with the officials at the sand quarries and try to bring back more salt. We also need to start making contact with the Qingcun, Yuanbu, and Pudong quarries. Alright, that's all for now, I'm leaving."

"Why not stay a few more days?" Wang Huadu said, "There are about four hundred acres of land in Sanlinli. I recently found another piece of land and we're still negotiating. We should be able to get it."

"Did you threaten them?" Shao Shuyi asked.

Wang Huadu avoided answering.

Shao Shuyi understood the situation, glared at Wang Huadu, and said, "This is a one-time exception, don't let it happen again."

After saying this, he took one last look at the Shao residence, which was still under construction, and then led his men onto two small awning boats, heading towards Shanghai County.

Wang Huadu was actually very ambitious, a fact that Shao Shuyi knew.

Seeing others making success in Jiangyin and Wuxi while he was stuck in Shanghai cultivating wasteland, anyone would feel bored, let alone someone as restless as Gou Nu.

Sanlinli is still quite far away, and Shao Shuyi can't manage it directly, so he can only temporarily entrust it to Jiang Bayue and Wang Huadu, the father-in-law and son-in-law. He is also adjusting his mindset.

Once they have territory, they certainly won't be able to manage everything perfectly; they'll have to delegate authority and let their subordinates do their own thing. If Wang Huadu can truly eliminate his competitors and control the salt routes of the two counties in Songjiang Prefecture, it will be a truly remarkable achievement for their rising new group. Gou Nu is undoubtedly his first high-ranking official in this area.

Wu Heizi, who was originally slated to sell salt in Suzhou, and Liu Xing, who was going to develop his business in Yixing Prefecture, were the other two.

Of the three places—Songjiang, Suzhou, and Yixing—Songjiang Prefecture was undoubtedly the most important, as it was related to maritime trade with foreign countries. Furthermore, due to its proximity to salt fields, it was also a transit point for smuggled salt, making its importance self-evident.

In the foreseeable future, he will travel back and forth between Jiangyin and Shanghai many times to handle various matters and lay a solid foundation step by step.

That night, accompanied by spice merchant Hu Guangyan, Shao Shuyi, along with Shen Ze, the director of the Maritime Trade Office, and Li Shujun, the judge, enjoyed themselves immensely until late into the night before departing.

After daybreak, they rushed to the dock to see off the Ma Jia and Ma Yi boats that were about to head to Chepu to wait for the wind.