novelAbuy Chapter 327 I've Got You!
Chapter 327 I've Got You!
Few people knew that Shao Shuyi had returned to Liujiagang.
After the ship docked at the pier late at night, he went directly to the old Yicang headquarters and slept fully clothed until the afternoon of the next day when he invited Zhang Dawang and his nephew Zhang Heng to come.
As soon as he entered the courtyard, Zhang Dawang clicked his tongue in amazement and said, "I've heard that Shao rented a dock here, but I didn't expect it to be so spacious. How much is the annual fee?"
"It was originally fifteen ingots, but this year it has increased to twenty ingots," Shao Shuyi said.
"Worth it! It's totally worth it!" Zhang Dawang exclaimed. "If I were given this place, I could keep hundreds of livestock."
Shao Shuyi laughed and said, "Master Zhang runs a big business, how could he possibly look down on such a small place?"
After saying this, he invited the uncle and nephew to go upstairs for tea.
After everyone was seated, Zhang Dawang expressed his envy for the large room with a direct view of the river, saying, "It's even better than the signing room at the Grand Canal office I visited yesterday."
"Oh? The master went to the canal administration to discuss business?" Shao Shuyi asked.
"The canal administration bought a hundred sheep, which isn't a big deal," Zhang Dawang sighed. "In the past, I would send my nephews and nieces to handle these kinds of transactions, but things aren't going well this year, so I went to visit them."
"Is the Grand Canal out of money?"
"We really have no money left," Zhang Dawang said helplessly. "This year's autumn grain transport has involved several wealthy families. They may not need to go out to sea themselves, but you'll have to pay for boats, navigators, and prepare the grain."
"What's so strange about that?" Shao Shuyi said. "When haven't wealthy households been issued certificates?"
"But it wasn't a wealthy household that was approved," Zhang Dawang said. "My family actually contributed money, one hundred ingots of paper money plus three hundred and fifty shi of regular grain and one hundred shi of consumable grain, but they didn't approve me as a seafarer. Do you know the Ni family of Qingyuan? They have many connections in the grain transport office and know people in Kunshan Prefecture. In the end, they still hired four boats to transport grain for the imperial court."
Shao Shuyi's heart skipped a beat.
Those who expend resources to transport grain have largely expanded from ordinary wealthy households to the bureaucratic class's vassals and relatives by marriage. A little over a year ago, these people were safe, but starting in the latter half of this year, they too have begun to be exploited.
"But Shao She, you are quite something," Zhang Dawang looked at him seriously and said, "You have quite a few ships, yet you never need to transport grain. You have deep roots."
Shao Shuyi smiled modestly.
Mongolians like to talk about lineage, and my lineage is self-made and constantly growing stronger; it's stronger than anyone else's. Of course, he's no longer afraid of transporting grain. It's just a matter of spending some money; with so many unemployed seafarers, he can easily hire a few to transport grain for him. "The reason I invited you here today, sir, is actually to buy some livestock," Shao Shuyi said, getting straight to the point, not wanting to waste any more time with Zhang Dawang. Zhang Dawang had expected this and asked, "What kind of livestock do you want?"
"Buy all of them: cattle, sheep, horses, donkeys, and mules."
"Cattle and sheep are easy to find, and there are some donkeys and mules, but horses are very rare," Zhang Dawang said truthfully.
Upon hearing this, Shao Shuyi immediately asked, "How many horses does the master own?"
"Only ten or so," Zhang Dawang said. "These are so sought-after; they're sold as soon as they arrive. I just brought these horses from Luzhou." "Luzhou?" Shao Shuyi was taken aback. "The horses of the 'Big Seal'?"
Zhang Dawang nodded slightly nervously, then added, "It has the 'Yue Si Gu' seal."
Upon hearing this, Shao Shuyi was slightly disappointed.
The so-called "big-marked horses" were basically from the fourteen official horse farms under the jurisdiction of the Taipu Temple. Among them, only two were located in the south: Luzhou Horse Farm (located in Hefei) and Yixi Buxue Horse Farm (located in present-day Bijie area). The horses kept there had a brand on their left thigh, hence the name "big-marked horses".
Those bearing the "Yue Si Gu" seal are fraudulent horses. What's the point of buying them? They're illegal to begin with, and it's easy for people on the street to know that they're stolen government horses that have been cheated. They can't be used for breeding, so they're not very meaningful.
Some might say that Ma Bu-bian's temperament was too bad, making him unsuitable as a military horse. Yes, that's true, but Shao Shu-yi clearly had other plans—breeding mares one by one. He couldn't rely entirely on Zheng Fan, could he? You need a backup plan.
However, horses are consumables on the battlefield, so he rallied himself slightly and asked, "How much is this horse?" "Fifty-five ingots a horse," Zhang Dawang said, holding out one hand.
"Why are you cheating me, sir?" Shao Shuyi said helplessly, "Isn't it too expensive?"
Zhang Dawang shook his head and said seriously, "Shao She, I only gave you this price because I saw that you asked about it several times and were sincere in wanting to buy it. I would have added a few more ingots for most people."
"What is the price offered by the imperial court?" Shao Shuyi asked curiously.
"Eleven ingots."
Upon hearing this, Shao Shuyi thought to himself that Zhang Dawang selling him a horse for over fifty ingots was indeed not expensive, considering that the purchase price was already eleven ingots. This thing was only slightly more shameful than robbery.
To be honest, he had never bought a horse before. The carriages that Shengye Trading Company was currently using were taken over from Wang Zongsan, along with the horses. He had no idea they were so expensive.
"Sir, I sincerely want to buy it," Shao Shuyi said, "but this is a large-scale horse, you can't just ride it around outside. You probably didn't pay much when you bought it, why sell it for over fifty ingots? Forty ingots would be more reasonable. Besides, these ten or so horses you have are a waste of money and not safe to keep at home every day, it's not a good idea."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Dawang said, "Shao She, don't joke. Ordinary people don't dare ride horses with large seals, and you don't dare either?"
Shao Shuyi shook his head and said, "I have always been law-abiding and law-abiding."
Zhang Dawang hesitated for a moment, then said, "These horses cost me over forty ingots just to get them from Luzhou. Selling them to you for forty is a real loss; they should be at least fifty. These are all warhorses, not draft horses."
"forty……"
After some debate, the deal was finally struck at 45 ingots, for a total of 16 large horses, for a total price of 720 ingots.
After finishing their business, the three relaxed and casually discussed the cattle and sheep trade while drinking tea.
Finally, Shao Shuyi asked curiously, "May I ask, sir, is there only one horse farm in Luzhou?"
"Not only that." Zhang Dawang put down his teacup and explained carefully.
Originally, the horses of the Yuan Dynasty were divided into official horses, military horses, post horses (about 4.4 horses), horses of princes, and horses of commoners.
The official horses were under the jurisdiction of the Taipu Temple, which had fourteen horse farms throughout the country. Seven of these farms were located on the Mongolian grasslands, three in the interior, one in Ganzhou, one in Goryeo Tamna, one in Luzhou, and one in Yunnan (present-day Bijie, Guizhou). The exact number is unknown.
The military horses were mainly distributed in areas with Mongol and Tanmaqi troops, with the vast majority located in the north and a few scattered in the south. For example, the "Mongol-Han Army Ten Thousand Household Office" (actually "the whole army was Tangut") of Luzhou had its own horse farm.
So, strictly speaking, in addition to the official horse farms, there were also military horse farms in Luzhou, but Zhang Dawang said that neither the official nor the military farms were doing very well.
The Tangut soldiers of Luzhou Garrison often had to pawn their wives in order to raise enough horses to fight for their country—a truly darkly humorous situation.
After learning about these circumstances, Shao Shuyi finalized a deal with Zhang Dawang to buy cattle and sheep for 500 ingots each—paying per head until they had enough livestock worth 500 ingots.
After seeing the uncle and nephew off, Shao Shuyi breathed a slight sigh of relief.
However, the most important mare hasn't been bought yet; we need to go to Liujiagang.
As a port for six nations, this place truly offers everything you can buy if you have money—even black slaves are available, but Shao Shuyi suspects they are Negritos from the Andaman Islands.
Just as Shao Shuyi was on his way to Liujiagang to buy mares, Jin Shiye Erjini, the Director of the Zhejiang West Circuit's Censorate, hurriedly arrived at the Kunshan Prefecture prison. He looked at the two men who had just been arrested the day before and nodded slightly.
The clerk, Chen Zhang, stood respectfully to one side.
"Has it been reviewed?" Yelgini asked.
"It's been reviewed." The clerk handed over a confession.
Yeljini took it, but without looking at it, he asked, "Have the governor and the Darughachi seen it?"
Chen Zhang replied without changing his expression, "No."
Yeljini laughed and said, "Really?"
"Really." Chen Zhang's back was slightly sweaty.
Yeljini snorted, picked up the petition, and after a moment, clicked his tongue in amazement: "What audacity! This Shao Shuyi, should I call you incredibly bold, or just reckless and stupid?"
Chen Zhang lowered his head and remained silent.
He had interrogated the prisoner, so of course he knew what was written in the confession. It was an old case, investigated for a long time, and now they finally had a lead. In August of the fourth year of the Zhizheng era, Batu, the patrol inspector of Yuxi Patrol Office in Tongzhou, led his troops to inspect smuggled salt and was killed by thieves. Yangzhou Road and Tongzhou had been investigating north of the Yangtze River for a long time without any results, so they sent a letter to Hangzhou requesting the assistance of the Jiangzhe government. Because it involved two provinces, it was extremely complicated and had been delayed until now. Now, two years later, they finally had a clue. These two seafarers, after drinking, boasted that they were sailing to Tongzhou to collect salt when they encountered government soldiers who indiscriminately killed them, even the patrol inspector.
These words had been spoken more than once, but no one paid attention. Even those who were interested heard them were too lazy to report them to the authorities. But after two years, they finally reached the ears of the censor, who then suppressed the government's investigation.
Chen Zhang was actually unwilling to take on this task, but Judge Xue had thrown it at him, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and do it.
After the interrogation, he went home and drank heavily all night. At dawn, he sent his family to Hangzhou, instructing them not to return for the time being. Having served as a clerk for so many years, he knew all too well what he could and couldn't do. This matter was one he couldn't touch—you laugh at the officials for being too stupid, I laugh at your inability to let go.
"Who do they usually associate with?" Yorgini handed the confession to his entourage and continued to ask.
"I don't know," Chen Zhang shook his head.
"Don't know? Then investigate," Yeljini scoffed.
"My lord," Chen Zhang hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.
"Speak," Yerjini said, waving his hand.
"Some things are fine as long as we know who did them; why dig deeper?" Chen Zhang said, mustering his courage. "Even if we do find out, how do we arrest them?"
"Nonsense!" Yerjini said, "If we keep fooling around like this, how can the affairs of the country be any better? This Shao Shuyi has committed at least two major crimes. Besides killing Inspector Yu Xi, I suspect he is also involved in the fall of Lü Sichang. We should investigate this thoroughly and verify the facts. As for how to arrest him, that is not your place to interfere."
"Yes." Chen Zhang bowed his head and admitted his mistake.
When the nation is in peril, it needs loyal and capable officials to turn the tide. Yeljini can perhaps be considered a conscientious person; he didn't let go of the old case from two years ago and has been investigating it all this time. Chen Zhang expressed his admiration for this.
The problem is, he's not an outsider, which makes things a bit complicated.
Yeljini glared at him again before heading to the state office.
After meeting with Liu Yexian, the prefect of the state, he would make another trip to Hangzhou.
Shao Shuyi is a scoundrel; the Pingjiang Circuit alone cannot touch him. He will need to discuss the specifics with Vice Minister Han, and it might even require the assistance of the Jiangzhe Province—another difficult matter, given that the officials in Jiangzhe are currently very conservative, prone to appeasement and leniency when faced with problems, their tolerance and indulgence are astonishing.