novelAbuy Chapter 77 Shipment
Chapter 77 Shipment
Chapter 77 Shipment
After returning to the ware shop, Shao Shuyi received two months' wages of eighty strings of cash and New Year's Day gift money of twenty strings of cash, totaling two ingots.
Then he asked Yu Yuan to fetch him 1.6 shi of rice, 1.2 jin of salt, 4 jars of pickled vegetables, and some salted fish, cured chicken, and dried meat. After work, he borrowed the shop's carriage to deliver them to the small courtyard by the river for storage.
He now supports a large number of people, and grains, salt, and pickles are all necessities for him.
When paying his bill, he casually asked how much a shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice cost now. Yu Yuan told him that a shi of coarse rice in Liujiagang had risen to thirty-seven guan (a unit of currency), and in Taicang it was even five or six hundred wen (another unit of currency) more.
When the food supply dries up, grain prices are expected to rise again.
Shao Shuyi clicked his tongue in amazement. Rice and noodles were the most expensive of all foods. The inflation was really sticky; once it went up, it never seemed to come down.
Food prices are rising, clothing prices are rising, ship repair prices are rising, everything is going up, shouldn't my wages go up too?
On the twentieth day of the first lunar month, he took Yu Yuan and Liang Tai to the "club" that he had visited with Zheng Fan before.
"Accountant Shao, please come with me." Mao Shiba was waiting at the door and immediately waved when he saw Shao Shuyi.
Shao Shuyi told Yu Yuan and Liang Tai to go play by themselves, while he followed Mao Shiba through a maze of twists and turns until they entered a stage.
A dozen or so people sat scattered in front of the stage, all dressed in fine clothes, looking like officials, gentry, and wealthy people.
Mao Shiba pointed to a spot below the stage.
Looking over, Shao Shuyi discovered that Shen Rong had actually come in person and was sitting with Zheng Fan, with no one else around.
VIP seating?
He bowed to Mao Shiba to express his gratitude, and tiptoed over. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Zheng Fan point to the chair next to him.
Shao Shuyi then sat down, unsure whether he should speak.
On stage, the actress was singing with great emotion: "Since the top scholar wants to keep me company, how can I refuse? But my mother is powerful and her cangue is heavy; I'm afraid you can't handle her."
After saying this, a slick-haired, powdered-faced man replied generously, "As long as my sister agrees to Wang Huan's proposal, even if your grandmother is powerful, Wang Huan can handle this kind of family arrangement—"
Shao Shuyi's attention was slightly drawn.
Is this a Yuan dynasty drama? It looks somewhat similar to modern drama. It's quite interesting, and the actress is quite pretty.
"Have you become obsessed?" Zheng Fan leaned closer and asked in a low voice.
"You jest, sir," Shao Shuyi replied in a low voice. "An actor may be deeply moved on stage, but I doubt he'd even glance at me offstage."
"You're not an ordinary person anymore," Zheng Fan said with a wicked grin. "The owner behind this theater is a man named Zhu Chen, who is domineering in the village and has many wealthy followers. He owns inns and theaters on Pingjiang Road, Changzhou Road, and Jiqing Road, and he may also be involved in the illegal salt trade. If you can kill him, this theater will be yours."
Shao Shuyi was dumbfounded. How come this is like the mafia?
"My lord, I do not commit any crimes," Shao Shuyi said righteously.
Zheng Fan rolled his eyes at him and said, "Have you taken a fancy to Zhengdan yet?"
New Year's Day? The first day of the Lunar New Year? Shao Shuyi was full of questions.
"Dog meat is not fit for formal occasions," Zheng Fan said with a laugh. "It's that woman on stage, too."
Shao Shuyi glanced over instinctively and realized, "Oh, there's more than one woman on stage."
There's a female lead, a female supporting character, and a female extra. Which one is it?
However, he also figured out something. The gist of the play was that a scholar went to a brothel, and the prostitute, for some unknown reason, not only didn't give the scholar his gold coins, but fell in love with him and then used all her wealth to help him take the imperial examination.
The typical villain is the brothel madam who interferes. After the scholar runs out of money, she drives him away and forces her "daughter" to work as a prostitute, thus separating the male and female protagonists.
The scholar overcame numerous difficulties to go to the capital to take the imperial examination, passed it, and then returned to marry the courtesan, reuniting the couple.
It's both green and makes you stupid!
However, Zheng Fan and Shen Rong seemed to be enjoying the show immensely, suggesting it wasn't their first time watching it, and was probably watching it for the second or even third time.
Impressive! Shao Shuyi thought to himself, you should go read some online novels from later generations, they're all more interesting than this ridiculous drama with its NTR characters, green light, and illogical plot.
"If you like her, just name her name after you leave the stage and have her come drink with you." Zheng Fan added, "This woman is new, from a fallen official family, still a virgin. We haven't even had a chance to get close to her yet."
Shao Shuyi shook his head repeatedly and laughed, "Forget it, I don't have the money."
This so-called "Zhengdan" might actually be a "rising star" from Liujiagang, a first-tier city. He can't afford to play that game.
Zheng Fan chuckled and said, "You're a rich man now, aren't you, Rongfu?"
Hearing this, Shen Rong, sitting on the other side, smiled slightly and asked, "How much stock do you have?"
Zheng Fan gave a signal with his eyes.
Shao Shuyi understood, changed his seat, and sat down next to Shen Rong. He whispered, "Sir, I have 1,500 pieces of Goryeo blueware, 500 bolts of hemp cloth, 300 furs, 300 barrels of Silla yellow lacquer, 100 pieces of Goryeo brocade, 30 pieces of bronzeware, 5 boxes of pearls, and ————
Shen Rong closed his eyes and pondered for a while, then said, "The Koreans learned porcelain-making techniques from the Central Plains and created a unique method of carving and firing porcelain, which is quite skillful. I haven't seen those celadon pieces, but I estimate there are at least three to five hundred ingots."
Korean hemp cloth is not as good as silk. It is cheaper in the north, about four strings of cash. It is more expensive in the south, about five or six strings of cash. Five hundred and forty is worth fifty or sixty ingots.
The fur, however, is of unknown origin and cannot be generalized. It cannot be silver fox fur or mink fur, can it? Moreover, the price fluctuates greatly. When the imperial court banned its hunting, the price was sky-high, and when it was not banned, the price was very cheap. Now the ban has been lifted.
Goryeo brocade was a tribute item, and if it was woven with gold, it would be very expensive. I would be willing to give one ingot for each bolt.
Goryeo bronzes are also fine goods. Their craftsmen learned from the Jin dynasty, and after assimilating and integrating these techniques, they innovated and created new pieces. These items were widely used in the imperial court and even bestowed upon princes and ministers. "I say, Shao, how do you always manage to get your hands on these fine items?"
Shao Shuyi was overjoyed, but he remained outwardly calm and said, "If you like them, sir, I will pick a few and send them over."
Shen Rong waved his hand and said, "I won't take it for free. Besides, Silla yellow lacquer is worth about ten guan per jin. How many jin are your three hundred barrels?"
"It's about twenty pounds in a bucket," Shao Shuyi said.
"That makes 1,200 ingots." Shen Rong nodded and said, "Northern pearls are hard to say; the price is negotiated on a case-by-case basis, according to weight. One qian is roughly equivalent to a little over two guan of paper money. How heavy are your pearls? And how many are there?"
As the performance was about to end, Shen Rong roughly estimated the total price: four thousand two hundred ingots.
Of course, this only represents the value of the goods, not necessarily the amount he would spend to buy them. In reality, very few people have the financial capacity to purchase such a large quantity of goods at once, as it ties up their cash and carries the risk of losses due to price fluctuations. Therefore, you need to offer him a discount.
"Rongfu, this is Xiaohu's first time doing business, so don't bully him," Zheng Fan said from the side. "Everyone knows that Wan Sangong is the richest man in Jiangnan. Give him a good price, consider it helping out a junior. Xiaohu is daring and ambitious, you might need him in the future."
Shen Rong shook his head and chuckled, saying, "Since Yi Fang has put it that way, I'll offer three thousand ingots to buy it, how about that?"
Shao Shuyi quickly calculated and felt that it was only about a 30% discount, which was very generous, so he immediately agreed.
As for the profit-sharing ratio with others, it's impossible for it to be divided equally.
This wasn't some loose change that was stolen from Zhou Ziliang's master and servant and then divided up; it was a genuine, substantial sum of money.
He took charge, providing information, gathering manpower, and preparing ships and provisions.
They ran around doing all sorts of things and spent a lot of effort to clean the goods.
This time, we still need to find sales channels through Zheng Fan's connections, not to mention that the goods are stored near Wang Huadu's uncle's house, which is also a cost, a cost of personal relationships.
As agreed beforehand, he would take two-thirds, and Yang Liu and Gao Daqiang would split the remaining one-third.
In other words, if everything goes smoothly, he can receive a huge sum of two thousand ingots.
However, he doesn't really like banknotes because they keep depreciating.
After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Does the gentleman know how much an acre of land in Pudong costs?"
"Shanghai?" Shen Rong was taken aback.
"Yes."
"It's just Shanghai, not like Taicang where land is incredibly expensive, so it shouldn't be considered too expensive," Shen Rong said. "I just talked about this with an old friend before the New Year. In Pudong, an acre of land would cost about eleven or twelve ingots. It's hard to say about wasteland; it depends on the land tax. Often, it's a different price for each person, so I can't say for sure. What? You want to buy land and rent it out? That's a good business for long-term profits."
"The sea is treacherous, so buying land is a safer bet," Shao Shuyi said with a smile. "I'm thinking of acquiring some property for myself and my loved ones."
Shen Rong gave him an approving look and said, "Xiao Hu is a steady person."
Zheng Fan, who had been listening for a long time, was now somewhat envious and said, "Unconsciously, Xiao Hu has become a wealthy and powerful man."
"My lord is laughing at me again," Shao Shuyi said with a wry smile. "I heard that Zhou Ziliang's family was raided, and at least five hundred acres of top-quality paddy fields were given to Darughachi Buhua Gong. What is this compared to that?"
He was telling the truth.
The Darughachi doesn't even need to fight on the battlefield; he can have hundreds of acres of paddy fields at home. Isn't that enviable?
Compared to land, a little wealth is nothing. The truly powerful "old money" people value land and houses the most, as these are the foundation of their family's existence.
Furthermore, the gap between the rich and poor in this world has reached an extremely alarming level.
The poor had nowhere to stand and struggled to survive on their daily wages. They couldn't afford taxes, they couldn't get enough to eat, and they had hardly any money on them. At the slightest sign of trouble, they would collapse on the street.
Shao Shuyi had already experienced this; he used to be that kind of person.
Wealthy families like Zhou Ziliang might not be able to produce two thousand ingots of cash in a hurry, but how much were their land properties worth? Would they be worth ten thousand ingots or even more? In fact, unless it was wasteland, good land was hard to sell, after all, selling ancestral property would be a disgrace.
How can he reach the same level as Zhou?
Even with painstaking efforts, there's no chance in this lifetime, because the Zhou family's wealth wasn't accumulated in just one generation.
There's no other way but to rob it.
The most basic logic of this world is violence. Raising an army and seizing thousands or tens of thousands of acres is not a problem.
The underlying nature of chaotic times is indeed the redistribution of resources.
While she was pondering, the play on stage had already ended, and the lead actress had also stepped down from the stage to thank everyone.
Shao Shuyi glanced at her furtively; she had big breasts, a perky butt, and a face that looked like a mistress's. Not bad at all.
"Shao She—" Zheng Fan patted him on the shoulder and laughed, "Aren't you going to ask his name?"
"Now I'm only focused on making money, I have no other thoughts," Shao Shuyi said.
"That's boring." Zheng Fan saw no amusement in the story and said, "You're sixteen this year, don't you have a wife you like?"
"I haven't thought about it yet."
"Alright, I'll go back and ask." Zheng Fan stretched and said, "Last time you sent me jewels and furs, my wife was very happy. She not only let me out to play, but also said she would help you find a suitable daughter. I wonder if she has found one yet."
"Is this for real?" Shao Shuyi asked, somewhat surprised.
However, he wasn't in a hurry.
Regardless of social class, marriage is a very important life restructuring and must be approached with utmost care.
In plain terms, Shao wants to cash out at a high price, rather than sell himself now.
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