novelAbuy Chapter 34 Recommendations
Chapter 34 Recommendations
In late July, after reorganization, the Qingqi Shop got back on track.
On the 26th, Sun Chuan, who had been missing for a long time, suddenly made a move. He sent a nephew named Sun Chong to visit him.
Zheng Fan directly pulled Shao Shuyi aside and arranged a meeting with him.
Upon meeting, Sun Chong stared at Shao Shuyi with a look of surprise and displeasure.
Without beating around the bush, he went straight to the point: "I previously discussed with Manager Wang the sale of the blue ware in our shop to the foreign merchant Aihaminding for six thousand ingots. I wonder if that's still valid?"
"Was a contract signed?" Zheng Fan asked knowingly.
"No." Sun Chong's face turned even uglier.
"Last year, there were more than 27,000 pieces of celadon ware, and more than 8,200 ingots were sold. This year, there are 2,000 more pieces, of similar quality, but only 6,000 ingots have been sold. Why is that?" Zheng Fan asked.
"Doing business is like the tide, rising and falling unpredictably. What's so strange about that?" Sun Chong said.
Zheng Fan didn't want to argue with him and said, "That's too little. If it's not 10,000 ingots this time, I won't sell it."
Sun Chong's face twitched, and he immediately stood up and said, "I'll take my leave then."
Before leaving, he sneered and said, "It's already late July, sir, just wait and see if anyone comes to buy your blueware."
After all, walk away.
Zheng Fan slammed his hand on the table, splashing tea everywhere.
Shao Shuyi coughed and said, "Sir, how can selling blue-and-white porcelain to foreign merchants earn as much as selling it yourself? I heard that the court is recruiting officials to sail the seas, and the Yang family of Ganpu, the Ye family of Chongming, and the Fei family of Changxing have all volunteered. As the Deputy Commander of the Grain Transport Office, you should be concerned about what the court is in need. Why not take the imperial ingots, buy a ship, and go to sea with the Yang family of Ganpu?"
If you sail to Maraba (the southwest coast of India), you can easily make four or five times the profit.
As for Holmz and Basra, seven or eight times the profit is not a problem.
If you go a little further to Egypt, it will be ten times easier.
Zheng Fan remained silent.
Because he was going to be in charge of the antique shop, he had recently been cramming on maritime trade. In his opinion, Shao Shuyi, this young accountant, was quite capable.
The "Hommes" he just mentioned sounds a bit like the island of Korimas, "Basra" sounds like the port of Bishiluo, and as for "Egypt," he's never heard of it—he knows the names of these important trading ports, but the pronunciations are a bit strange, and he doesn't know where he heard them from.
Of course, none of that matters. What matters is that the imperial court did indeed have a "government-funded ship" system, in which the government provided ships, money, and even some goods to encourage capable individuals in the private sector to sail out to sea to do business. The profits were split between the two parties, usually 70/30, with the imperial court taking 70% and the person sailing out to sea taking 30%.
For impoverished people who had no money but dared to risk their lives at sea, this was a way to change their fate, so many people were willing to try it, and quite a few made a fortune overnight. In fact, the profits could be manipulated, and the imperial court had no control over them after they went to sea, so the gains were quite substantial.
But the Zheng family didn't actually need to take money from the imperial court; they could provide the ships and goods themselves. What the Zheng family lacked was manpower.
Navigation is a technical skill, especially certain routes, which not everyone can navigate. Transporting grain along nearby coasts is possible because the imperial court has explored and even optimized these routes twice, making them relatively safe—relatively speaking, of course.
However, the Zheng family couldn't manage to go south to Srivijaya, let alone to Malabar or other distant foreign ports.
Thinking of this, Zheng Fan hesitated and said, "You boasted to San She earlier that you would find Shen Wansan to cooperate with foreign powers. Now I can tell you that the Shen family actually doesn't have any ships; they rely on the ships and manpower of the Ye family of Chongming. In that case, it would be better to directly approach the Ye, Yang, Fei, and other clans."
"Wow! Is that true?" Shao Shuyi felt slightly embarrassed.
However, he suggested that cooperating with the Shen family wasn't solely for the purpose of trade with foreign countries. He said, "Sir, the Shen family's business extends far beyond trade with foreign countries. Even ordinary people, buying grain, oil, wine, or making clothes, can be connected to the Shen family. If you want to expand your business, cooperating with the Shen family is a shortcut."
"That makes some sense." Zheng Fan pondered for a moment and said, "Alright, I'll go back to the old house today and meet with San She."
******
Zheng Fan was in a great hurry and returned early on the third day, dragging Shao Shuyi out while he was having breakfast.
"My lord, what is this...?" Shao Shuyi asked subconsciously while he was enjoying his meal.
"Still eating? You'll choke to death!" Zheng Fan laughed loudly. "I talked with San She for a long time last night. He's about to be promoted to the position of Grand Canal Commissioner, so he can't afford to fight with anyone. Sun Chuan has some connections and influence in the Maritime Trade Office. He has people protecting him, so he's not easy to deal with."
The three words "difficult to handle" sum it all up.
Shao Shuyi guessed that the Zheng family might actually have considered "tricking" Sun Chuan, but the Grand Canal Administration and the Maritime Trade Office were two completely unrelated government departments. Ordinary matters were fine; everyone was on good terms, and helping each other was no big deal. But when it came to a conflict of interest, the Maritime Trade Office became a different story.
Sun Chuan was a major tax collector; the officials of the Maritime Trade Office, especially those of different ethnicities, relied on him to collect taxes. Furthermore, the provincial authorities treated these brokers with considerable leniency, given the increasing need for funds and the growing importance of commercial taxes.
No wonder he's so arrogant!
"So—" Zheng Fan patted Shao Shuyi on the shoulder and said, "I brought up the Shen family matter again. San She said that he couldn't bear the loss of face if the blueware was sold to a foreign merchant for six thousand ingots, so he could try to find the Shen family. As for the bait for the Shen family, haha, it just so happens that my family has some too."
Shao Shuyi didn't ask what the "bait" was, because he wasn't necessarily qualified to know. Anyway, the general direction was set, and if it really worked out, he would be credited.
At this moment, he seemed to remember something else and said, "Sir, nowadays money is cheap and goods are expensive, and the situation is worsening day by day. Perhaps we should stockpile more useful items. Fine ware, silk, cotton, hemp, grain, timber, tea, wine, salt, and iron—the more the better. It's only July, but compared to three or four months ago, the price of grain has already—"
"It went up?" Zheng Fan asked.
"It's gone up."
"How much did it go up?"
"More than ten percent," Shao Shuyi said. "Coarse rice costs thirty-four strings of cash per shi, and it only costs thirty strings in early April."
Zheng Fan slapped his thigh and said, "You're really observant! A monthly increase, that's a bit alarming."
Shao Shuyi agreed, saying, "With the rains in the north and the drought in the south, everyone knows that this year's harvest will be poor, and price increases are inevitable."
"Just because of that?"
"It's not just due to the poor harvest, but also to the corruption of the currency system," Shao Shuyi said. "Yesterday, a monk who came to buy blue-and-white porcelain told me that he was traveling in the north during the first half of the year, and many places suffered from disasters, leaving people homeless. The imperial court provided substantial disaster relief..."
Shao Shuyi was also somewhat shocked when he first heard what the wandering monk said, because it refreshed his understanding.
When natural disasters struck, the Yuan court did not ignore them; on the contrary, it actively provided disaster relief. However, you wouldn't believe how they did it: each affected household received half a tael of silver, and if someone died, they received an additional tael.
No food, only money...
Where did the disaster relief funds come from? By printing more paper!
Actually, it wasn't just this year; wasn't it the same last year? In the first month of the lunar calendar, Shun Ning and Bao An suffered from famine, and 10,000 ingots of paper money were distributed as relief; Guang Ping suffered from famine, and 50,000 ingots of paper money were distributed as relief.
In February, famine struck Anyang and other counties in Zhangde Circuit, and 20,000 ingots of paper money were distributed as relief; famine struck Hunyuan Prefecture in Datong Circuit, and 62,000 ingots of paper money and 20,000 shi of rice were distributed as relief; famine struck Daming Circuit, and 12,000 ingots of paper money were distributed as relief; famine struck Hejian Circuit, and 50,000 ingots of paper money were distributed as relief.
In March, Pingxiang County in Shunde Prefecture suffered famine, and 15,000 ingots of paper money were distributed for relief...
Almost every month, disasters and famines would break out in some places, and the Yuan court usually had only one solution: print money and distribute it for disaster relief.
Over a year and a half, these banknotes gradually flowed into the relatively less affected south, triggering a spiral of inflation.
With an average of several hundred thousand ingots of disaster relief funds per year, plus several hundred thousand ingots of funds for infrastructure projects (such as river repair and embankment maintenance), the amount of banknotes in circulation is increasing.
People in Jiangxi are also shameless; their counterfeiting technology has reached a new level, producing sacks and sacks of counterfeit money, more than the imperial court prints. After entering the market, coupled with reduced grain production, is it any wonder that prices have risen?
Therefore, Shao Shuyi suggested that Zheng hoard more physical goods and spend all the money.
Zheng Fan found this very reasonable and immediately said, "I'll write to the Third Dormitory right away and see what he has to say. Don't worry, if the Third Dormitory agrees, then you'll have done a good job."
At this point, Zheng Fan thought for a moment and then said, "Let's get back to the topic of celadon. Hmm, why don't you come with me tomorrow to meet someone and broaden your horizons?"
Shao Shuyi responded. He could sense that Zheng Fan had a fairly good impression of him.
"Our Zheng family is the fairest of all," Zheng Fan continued. "The internal and external accounting system you recently implemented is actually quite useful. San She mentioned that some large merchants' residences have separate internal and external accounting departments. My family has only been in business for a few years, and everything is still in its infancy, which is very troublesome. You have made a contribution in this matter. Well, your suggestion today is also commendable."
"It's just my duty," Shao Shuyi said with a smile.
"I don't care where you learned that from." Zheng Fan glanced at him and said, "Anyway, the Third Bureau promised to give you eight dou of rice, six liang of salt, two jars of pickles, and forty guan of cash every month. It's not just about making you an external accountant; you'll have to take on more of the inn's affairs. There are some things I can't do, and I don't like doing them."
"Yes." Shao Shuyi's expression turned solemn as he respectfully replied.
"What are you pretending for?" Zheng Fan laughed and scolded, "You weren't this honest when you were killing the river bandits, killing Zhang Neng, and capturing Wang Sheng."
Shao Shuyi smiled awkwardly.
Zheng Fan's personality is completely different from Zheng Song's, you could even say they're worlds apart. Zheng Song would never say these things, but Zheng Fan seems completely indifferent, so it's hard to know what to say.
"I heard you're looking for a place to live?" Zheng Fan asked before leaving.
"Yes," Shao Shuyi replied, then added, "I've found a place, but I don't have the money right now, so I can't move in. I'll have to wait until next month."
Where is your money?
"We still have some grain, but we used all our money to buy handguns."
Zheng Fan laughed heartily and said, "It was a good buy! Save up for it yourself, I won't lend you any money anyway."
Having said that, he swaggered away.
Shao Shuyi smiled upon hearing this. It was indeed time to start saving some things; prices were rising every day, a real headache. For now, he should be saving grain and salt. Once he received his monthly pay in a few days, he would exchange it for these two items and have Wang Huadu, who had already returned home, keep them for him.