novelAbuy Chapter 88 Traveling Ten Thousand Miles
Chapter 88 Traveling Ten Thousand Miles
Chapter 88 Traveling Ten Thousand Miles (Part 2)
On the afternoon of the 24th, the fleet passed Caishiji without stopping.
"This is a good place." Zheng Fan stood at the bow of the Drilling Sea Loach, pointing to the rows of houses on the shore, and laughed, "Little Tiger, there's a lot of money there."
Before Shao Shuyi could react, everyone else on the boat turned their attention to him.
"These murderers!" Shao Shuyi shook his head and laughed.
Wu Heizi looked away sheepishly and said, "I was just admiring the scenery."
The crowd burst into laughter.
Manager Mo looked at this and then at that, his expression turning somewhat grim; he seemed to have sensed something amiss.
"Little Tiger, we should actually stop the boat for a bit," Zheng Fan said. "There are three famous things about Caishi. The first is Caishi wine, the second is Daxin pig's head, and the third is the prostitutes of Liujian."
"Sir, the name Caishiji has been renowned since ancient times. As far as I know, there were hardly any civilians here in ancient times, apart from military camps," Shao Shuyi said in surprise.
"Do you see those ships?" Zheng Fan asked, pointing.
Looking closely, Shao Shuyi indeed saw many boats moored along the river, quite a few in number.
"Those are all salt merchants' ships," Zheng Fan explained. "The Lianghuai Transport Office set up an inspection station here. All salt ships bound for the upper reaches of the Yangtze River had to anchor and wait for inspection. Therefore, many salt merchants simply resold their salt here instead of going upstream. Many salt merchants also settled here and opened shops, which eventually formed a town called Daxin Market," specializing in the trade of salt merchants, their families, and servants. Don't underestimate Caishiji; it is now a bustling and prosperous place, no longer the place of battle and strife it once was."
So it was a "policy city," Shao Shuyi understood.
Wherever salt merchants reside, that place gradually prospers. This was true of Qingjiangpu, and it was also true of Caishiji.
"Do salt merchants make a lot of money these days?" he asked again.
"Actually, it's not much," Zheng Fan said. "There's no other reason than that salt permits are too expensive. And the imperial court is issuing them indiscriminately, so it's not very profitable anymore."
"How exactly is this abuse of salt permits being implemented?"
Have you ever heard of "buying military rations from the market"?
"no."
"The merchants and salt merchants hired their own staff, purchased military rations, and traveled north to Karakorum. The officials paid in official banknotes or salt certificates, which cost much less than if the imperial court had transported the rations itself."
Damn it! The imperial court issues forced labor, essentially using free labor, yet the unit cost of military rations transported to the border is higher than that of the merchants.
You should know that businessmen have to pay their employees.
"This method has been used since the beginning of the dynasty. In fact, it existed as early as the Song Dynasty, but it was less common. After the grain transport teams arrived in places like Helin, the merchants preferred to collect salt certificates instead of Zhongtong paper money. As a result, salt certificates were issued more and more indiscriminately, and salt merchants did not earn as much as before. This was the case in the north, and it also happened in the south. A while ago, when bandits were suppressed in Huguang, there were merchants who transported grain to the battlefields, and the court paid them with salt certificates."
When there are too many salt permits, there's an abundance of salt, and it becomes less valuable. Therefore, salt merchants now often sell a mixture of official and smuggled salt.
"This is like drinking poison to quench thirst," Shao Shuyi said. "While smuggled salt is indeed cheap, and salt merchants can make a fortune by collecting it and reselling it, it will eventually drive down the price of salt in the long run."
"Why look so far ahead?" Zheng Fan laughed. "When salt prices drop, all salt merchants suffer losses. But if you secretly sell a stone of smuggled salt, you're the one who profits."
"That makes sense," Shao Shuyi nodded.
Even salt merchants are seeing a sharp drop in profits, so the imperial court's salt administration is probably not far from collapse. This is a vital source of revenue for the central government, and once it collapses, the imperial court will likely have to resort to robbing Peter to pay Paul or printing more money, further escalating social conflicts.
Vicious circle.
"Sigh, I'm not going to talk about it anymore. My mouth is dry, and the more I talk, the more I want to go ashore to buy wine." Zheng Fan waved his sleeve and went back to his cabin to rest.
Shao Shuyi stood still, quietly watching Caishiji.
The Yangtze River is very long, but there are only a few places where a large army can cross it to the south.
As far as Jiangning is concerned, Caishiji upstream and Jingkou downstream are of paramount importance. If these two places are blocked, the other places are either cliffs and high hills, mudflats, or wide and turbulent rivers, which can be monitored by a small number of soldiers. This is the so-called "focus on the big and let the small go."
It doesn't matter if they miss some. Those who sneak across from the unknown ferry crossing must be small groups of soldiers, lacking equipment and supplies. As long as there are mobile troops, they can be worn down and killed. The real danger is that the defending troops will lose all morale and collapse at the first contact.
Just copy the homework from the Southern Dynasties.
Some of them successfully blocked the enemy, while others failed, but the strategy was correct; it was just that the army's combat strength...
Internal strife and other factors led to failure at the last minute.
However—Shao Shuyi shook his head and chuckled, “It has little to do with me, who only has three boats. It’s still early.”
******
On the evening of the 26th, the three ships sailed in succession towards Wuhu, looking for an anchorage.
This place is located at the confluence of the Qingyi River and the Yangtze River, and its residents are wealthy and its commerce is thriving.
When Shao Shuyi and others went ashore to buy food and water, they saw rows of shops near the dock and piles of timber.
"That's a Huizhou accent," Mo Bei, walking beside Shao and Zheng, suddenly said. "I didn't expect that after twenty years, Huizhou merchants would still be so prevalent in this city."
"Oh? What kind of business do Huizhou merchants do?" Shao Shuyi asked.
"Pine, fir, lacquer, wax, tea, paper, and other goods," Mo Bei said. "They can be transported directly down the river to Jiangning, Taicang, and Liujiagang; or from Xuancheng via Piaoshui and Jingxi, heading straight for Taihu Lake; or even upstream to various parts of Jiangxi. Wuhu is truly a vital hub for Huizhou merchants. Back then—"
Shao Shuyi didn't care much about the trivial matters Mo Bei mentioned; he was only interested in the transportation routes.
It serves two purposes: firstly, it allows for business operations, and secondly, it enables military expansion; both are of great importance.
"The merchants from Huizhou are indeed very famous," Zheng Fan chimed in from the side.
As they were talking, several fishing boats sailed in from outside the dock. Judging from their appearance, they must have been in use for many years, looking old and worn, making one wonder if they could still withstand the wind and waves on the river.
But that's not the point. The point is that a group of people, young and old, disheveled and dirty, rushed off the ship, begging for food and crying, which made people feel sorry for them.
Shao Shuyi apologized to Zheng and Mo, then walked up to a woman holding a child and asked softly, "Where are you from?"
While speaking, he gestured to Yu Yuan to fetch the dried biscuits that had been prepared a few days ago.
The woman looked up at him, her face filled with hope. She instinctively opened her emaciated chest and cried, "My lord, please give me some food. My child is starving and won't speak."
Seeing that Shao Shuyi did not speak, the woman put the child on the ground, kowtowed repeatedly, and said in her awkward dialect, "My lord, please don't mind my ugly appearance. After I have eaten and washed up, I will definitely serve you well."
"Although I am not a good person, I do not want to take advantage of others in distress." Shao Shuyi bent down, helped the woman up, and then looked at the child.
The child was probably only four or five years old, with an enormous head and exposed ribs all over his body, a shocking sight.
Upon hearing Shao Shuyi's words, the woman's face showed despair.
After this ordeal, she seemed to have lost all her energy and spirit. Trembling, she picked up her child, leaned against the tree trunk, and closed her eyes, waiting to die.
The town was incredibly prosperous, with many people dressed in gold and silver and adorned in fine silks. However, perhaps having seen so many of these people fleeing famine from the south, they had become indifferent to them.
Shao Shuyi took the child out of her arms.
The woman struggled warily for a moment, then, as if remembering something, tears welled up in her eyes. She gave the child one last, lingering look, then smiled and said, "My lord, he's so obedient. He doesn't eat much, and he can help you with chores—"
Yu Yuan rushed over and was stunned when he saw the mother and son.
"Go to that shop and buy some porridge," Shao Shuyi said, pointing to a spot not far away.
"Oh, okay." Yu Yuan stuffed a stack of cakes into Shao Shuyi's hands and hurried away.
Shao Shuyi handed a bill to the woman and said, "Eat it, it's a gift for you, you don't need to do anything."
The woman took it dumbly, then stuffed it into her mouth and wolfed it down.
She ate while glancing at her child.
Shao Shuyi looked at the emaciated child in his arms.
The child's eyes were half-open and half-closed; he no longer had the strength to cry or fuss.
Shao Shuyi was well aware that the entire Henan-Jiangbei province had been on the verge of collapse last year due to famine and banditry. The Yuan court was not foolish; it also saw the crisis and printed large sums of money for disaster relief. Later, it found that this was not very useful, so it exempted some taxes in Henan, which had some effect, but not much.
Ultimately, the world is material; if there's no food, there's no food, and you can't conjure it up no matter how hard you try.
In the end, the Yuan court only provided the entire Henan-Jiangbei province with 100,000 shi of grain, and then left them to figure out their own solutions.
What could I do? Flee the famine.
Those living in the heart of Henan would flee to neighboring prefectures and counties.
Those who live near other provinces will go to other provinces.
The Jiangnan region is prosperous, and countless people flock here.
It's like two different worlds just across the river.
"The porridge is here." Yu Yuan hurried over, carrying a bowl of porridge in one hand.
The shopkeeper followed behind, hesitant to speak, because the young man had taken all the bowls. However, upon seeing the starving mother and child, he sighed.
His small business barely provided enough to support his family, so he couldn't bring himself to let his own family go hungry in order to help others.
He was happy to see someone willing to spend money to save lives.
Shao Shuyi handed the child back, saying, "Eat slowly, no rush."
Tie Niu and two other seafarers gathered around, their hands resting on the hilts of their swords.
The hungry people who were restless nearby were startled when they saw this and dared not approach any further. They could only plead desperately.
Shao Shuyi distributed the remaining dozens of pancakes to them, saying, "That's all."
The group thanked them profusely, glanced at the steel knives sticking out from Tie Niu and the others' waists, and finally left reluctantly.
"Brother Shao, this—the outside is already like this?" Yu Yuan withdrew his gaze, his face very grim.
"Henan and Jiangbei should be able to barely hold on, but they probably don't have much capacity for disaster relief," Shao Shuyi said. "The local people will live if they can, leave if they can't, and die if they can't leave. The government can't really do much more."
"I thought the people of Taicang were already in a terrible state, but I never imagined there could be something even more tragic in the world," Yu Yuan murmured.
Shao Shuyi gave a wry smile.
They were both miserable, but the degree of misery differed.
Taicang and Liujiagang are places that can exploit people, but where in Henan can they exploit people?
"Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles." Shao Shuyi patted Yu Yuan on the shoulder and said, "Staying in Liujiagang all day long can easily blind you to the truth and make you think that the whole world is like that."
"Brother Shao, did you already know?" Yu Yuan looked at Shao Shuyi with admiration and asked.
"It's no use if I know it myself; you all need to know it too," Shao Shuyi said. "This isn't something I can accomplish alone; it requires the collective effort. How can we achieve great things without the combined strength of many?"