novelAbuy Chapter 341 The Art of Reporting
Chapter 341 The Art of Reporting
On New Year's Eve, Huang Jing, the nephew of Li Daweng, who was on his way to inspect Ma Tuo Sha, arrived at Yang's Grain Shop with several attendants.
Shao Shuyi put down the children he was dealing with and had a private talk with them on the second floor of the grain shop.
"My uncle suffered a great loss back then," Huang Jing said, looking into Shao Shuyi's eyes. "Goods worth five thousand ingots disappeared overnight, and they couldn't even get a share of the profits when they got back."
"Oh?" Shao Shuyi asked, somewhat surprised, "Why didn't you ask Sun Chuan?"
"Why haven't you looked for us?" Huang Jing said, somewhat displeased. "That scoundrel initially said some nice things and played along, but later he colluded with the government and detained two of us. We don't know if we're alive or dead."
Shao Shuyi said "Oh," and then added, "He's probably dead. If you want to know where he's buried, I can help you find out."
"You!" Huang Jingyi glared.
"It is only natural to collect the remains and move them back to the hometown for burial. I will ask someone to inquire about it tomorrow," Shao Shuyi said.
Huang Jing was about to get angry when he suddenly realized that Tie Niu was staring at him with his big, bell-like eyes, his hand already on the hilt of his knife.
Huang Jing's imposing manner faltered for a moment. After a brief pause, he snorted coldly and said, "My uncle said that if you want to do business in the south in peace, you have to resolve this matter. Back then, he paid for the brothers' expenses out of his own pocket."
Shao Shuyi nodded and asked, "How does Elder Li intend to resolve this?"
"...Four thousand ingots," Huang Jing said. "Give me four thousand ingots of Zhongtong paper money, and this matter will be over. Otherwise, he'll rob every ship you send south."
"I only sold 1,500 ingots, where did I get 4,000 ingots? Don't try to cheat me." Shao Shuyi smiled and said, "Besides, I can't come up with 1,500 ingots right now. They've all been spent on the boys. You've seen them yourself, the expenses are huge. I have no money."
Huang Jing was about to get angry again when he saw the Fu brothers, Fu Jian and Fu Yong, come in with tea and snacks. They glared at him as they left.
Fu Jian, being the most sarcastic, said, "Brother, I heard there's a mass grave in Kunshan Prefecture. He must be buried there. Liu Yexian was greedy, but he did do one good thing: he set up a mortuary outside the mass grave to collect unclaimed corpses. There should still be plenty of empty coffins now, enough for them." "Get out of here," Shao Shuyi said with a laugh.
Huang Jing fell silent.
Shao Shuyi glanced at him, a cold smile playing on his lips. Did he really think he was some kind of saint? These pirates were indeed difficult to defeat on a ship. You'd be swaying and disoriented, while they were as agile as monkeys. But once ashore, they were no match. A hundred armored soldiers could easily push them straight out of the Tianfei Palace and into the sea. If it weren't for the grand plan of maritime trade, he would never have been in such a hurry to deal with this long-standing dispute. "Li Daweng, is this your first day in the game? Never experienced being double-crossed before?" "Well then," Shao Shuyi suddenly said, "I have a plan that can resolve this predicament."
Huang Jing looked at him subconsciously.
Both sides are pragmatic. The fact that he came here speaks volumes, and Li Daweng doesn't want to completely mess things up, otherwise he really won't get the money. "Besides maritime trade, what industry is the most profitable in Wenzhou?" Shao Shuyi asked.
Huang Jing thought carefully for a moment and said, "It can only be grain. There isn't much land, but there are a million people. One shi of grain would require a huge amount of ingots, which is truly terrifying."
Shao Shuyi nodded and said, "I have a grain shop in Wuyue. If you're interested, you can become the head of a branch. I'll provide 1,500 shi of grain, and he can send a ship to transport it back. If you think this business is good, we can do it regularly in the future. What do you say?"
Huang Jing thought for a moment and said, "Buying grain is easy, but selling it is not so easy. Some grain merchants either have connections in the government or are close friends with Fang Guozhen. If you openly sell grain, they will definitely keep an eye on you."
"Leaving aside the government, Fang Guozhen is also from the same prefecture. Doesn't he care about kinship? In terms of status, Li Da Weng is far more senior than him, isn't he? What's he afraid of? Is it a lack of men or boats?"
"Don't try to sow discord." Huang Jing wasn't stupid and immediately said, "Fang Sanlang is a man of honor, and many people are willing to follow him." "Not letting others sell grain, is that what you call honor?" Shao Shuyi sneered, "I have no money, I only have this thousand or so bushels of grain, take it or leave it, sir."
Huang Jing was immediately conflicted.
Fifteen hundred shi of grain transported back to Wenzhou could be sold for fifteen hundred ingots, which was no small sum. They had once thought the bad debts from years past were gone forever, but unexpectedly, things took a turn for the better. This Shao Shuyi, for some unknown reason, actually sent someone to convey his willingness to negotiate a settlement. However, he was only willing to offer fifteen hundred shi of grain; he had no cash, and the amount wasn't quite enough…
"That's all," Shao Shuyi said. "Why are you so worried about Fang Guozhen? Wasn't Cai Luantou stronger than him back then? When they were fighting over the prison basin, Guoxin was killed by him, and Guozhen couldn't get revenge, so he had to swallow his anger. Today, Luantou has become a stray dog. Why is that?" "The government?" Huang Jing asked subconsciously.
Shao Shuyi nodded, then asked in return, "What do you think he would do if government officials came to invite Fang Guozhen to the governor's mansion for questioning?" "He wouldn't go. He wouldn't dare," Huang Jing said directly, almost without hesitation.
Fang Guozhen investigated carefully and found that he was also covered in filth and had committed numerous offenses. Would he dare to go to the governor's mansion? No, he wouldn't dare. There was no trust between him and the government.
"Then that solves the problem?" Shao Shuyi leaned closer and lowered his voice, "Just have the government invite Fang Guozhen for questioning." "Why would the government want to question Fang Guozhen out of the blue?" Huang Jing asked hesitantly.
"How many ships did the Coastal Ten Thousand Household Office (located on Qingyuan Road) send to the prefecture?" Shao Shuyi asked.
"More than a hundred ships."
"Does Wen have a military advisor?"
"Yes," Huang Jing said. "We have troops from Suzhou (the Darughachi Wanhu Prefecture of the Mongol and Han Army stationed in Suzhou, Wenzhou, Chuzhou, etc.), as well as reinforcements from Quzhou (the Baojia Wanhu Prefecture of Quzhou) and Jiande (the Huaimeng Wanhu Prefecture of Jiande).
"What's the situation?"
"Very tense." Huang Jing sighed and said, "My uncle was forced to pay a thousand ingots, which wiped out his wealth. He almost rebelled." Shao Shuyi chuckled.
Back then, Li Daweng roamed the seas freely, but was later recruited by the government—though he wasn't given an official position—and only a few years later, the government is imposing levies again, truly showing a lack of learning.
Besides, isn't this Mr. Li incredibly poor? A mere thousand ingots could drain his working capital? Or is it simply that once he's on the government's watch list, getting anything done becomes incredibly difficult?
"My uncle isn't as useless as you think." Huang Jing glanced at Shao Shuyi with annoyance and said, "He just distributed a lot of money to the brothers. In the last year or two, because of Cai's rebellion, official ships have been coming and going, making it really difficult to do business. He also has a lot of unsold goods, and no one in Wenzhou dares to buy them." Shao Shuyi pretended to suddenly understand.
Actually, it's not that Wen has no one to buy the goods, but rather that the goods are a bit too hot to handle and difficult to sell, right? Under normal circumstances, there might be some bolder people willing to buy the filth, but what time is it now? Wen's army is amassed, with both land and naval forces gathered, and the officials are on edge, clearing the area and laying low. "In that case, things will be easier." Shao Shuyi smiled and said, "Cai the traitor has plundered the prefecture twice, hasn't he? It's unbelievable that he escaped unscathed both times. Doesn't the government suspect that there's someone on the shore acting as his inside man? Otherwise, how come the landing point happens to be a weak point in the government troops' defenses? As far as I know, the government troops are not stationed in one place permanently; they rotate every month. And the traitor didn't come when the government troops were stationed there, but he came as soon as they moved. What's the reason for this?" "There must be an inside man," Huang Jing said.
"Let me tell you, this inside man is Fang Guozhen," Shao Shuyi said with certainty. "After Fang Guoxin's death, Guozhen rallied his old followers, shouting loudly that he would avenge his brother, but he didn't take any action at all. Cai Luantou is still alive and kicking, which is quite suspicious. I boldly guess that there were hidden circumstances surrounding Fang Guoxin's death, and that Guozhen and Luantou were actually colluding."
Huang Jing was stunned.
"No, it can't be that bad." He said subconsciously, "Fang Guozhen is so loyal and often takes care of his widowed sister-in-law and nephew. He's always been very courteous. How could that be?"
Shao Shuyi glanced at Huang Jing with a hint of helplessness. "I've already said all that, why is he so dense? Has the sea breeze made him stupid?"
"If we take down Fang Guozhen, you can sell grain in Wenzhou. For goods that are difficult to sell, you can send them to Liujiagang or Matuosha; I have ways to sell them there," Shao Shuyi coaxed. "Guozhen has so much power in the prefecture; you must be having a tough time, right?"
Putting others' feelings into one's own, the life that Zhao Yangui of Shiqiao lived was the same life that Li Daweng of Zhou lived, because he did not submit to Fang Guozhen and still maintained an independent state—of course, perhaps Fang Guozhen did not manage these small hills in his territory, who can say for sure?
"Why did it have to come to this... why did it have to come to this..." Huang Jing muttered to himself, "This is too much of a breach of etiquette, I'm afraid people will gossip about us behind our backs." "Alright, that's all I have to say." Shao Shuyi said, "After the first month, my 1,500 shi of grain will be ready. If you're interested in joining the Wuyue Grain Company, you can continue to do grain trading in the future. We should do business with no capital, but we should also do legitimate business."
"Then," Huang Jing asked in a deep voice, "about the disposal of stolen goods..."
Shao Shuyi smiled but remained silent.
Huang Jing suddenly realized and couldn't help but ask, "Do you have a grudge against Fang Guozhen?"
"No grudges from the past, no enmity from the present." Shao Shuyi shook his head and said, "I just can't stand seeing Cai run away and poison the village, harming the people. If no one believed me, I would have reported him myself. But if you, sir, report him, the government will definitely believe you. They are also looking for accomplices now." Huang Jing remained silent for a long time.
Shao Shuyi stood up and said, "I have already shown my sincerity enough. How to handle this matter is entirely up to you, sir."
After saying that, he smiled and said, "Stay for a good meal tonight. It's not like you'll have to eat dry rations outside during the New Year." "Thank you." Huang Jing also stood up and bowed.
He seemed preoccupied and absent-minded as he spoke.