gnovel Chapter 117 Two Parties
Chapter 117 Two Parties
The Confucian Temple, also known as the Academy, is a place for worshipping Confucius.
The Jiangyin Confucian Temple was originally located outside the city and was then called the "Temple of the Former Sage". During the Jingyou era of Emperor Renzong of Song, the military governor of Jiangyin felt that it was disrespectful for the Confucian Temple to be next to the prison, so he moved it to the city and rebuilt it.
Today, the Confucian Temple covers a vast area, with magnificent and winding buildings, making it quite impressive.
The temple complex includes buildings such as a school, a charitable granary, and a library. A new river was dug in front of the temple for easy access, and a lotus pond was built on the east side, with the Guangfeng Pavilion and Jiyue Pavilion on it. The Junzi Hall was also added...
The scholars' lives were getting better and better. If only that rogue Zhu Ding didn't loiter around the Confucian Temple! But why shouldn't he? The area around the Confucian Temple was so lively; how could that esteemed Zhu not come?
At noon, the Dayanlou Restaurant was completely booked out.
Ruffians from all directions flocked to this side.
The thirteen people closest to Zhu Ding followed him upstairs and ate and drank to their hearts' content—well, to be precise, there were only eleven left, because two died yesterday, but it doesn't matter, we can find two more to replace them in a few days.
The first floor was also full of people, but most of them were hooligans from the outside world, and Zhu Ding might not recognize them all.
Even the ruffians might not get to see Zhu Ding. Besides delivering salt and collecting money for him, they spent their days gathering information. Zhu Ding only gave them twenty strings of cash every one or two months, which wasn't enough to support them. The ruffians had other jobs to do.
This pattern is actually similar to that of Shao Shuyi.
Shao's core group in Taicang consisted of only a dozen or so people, but there were many peripheral members. They usually did odd jobs or worked in transportation. If they relied entirely on Shao Shuyi to assign them jobs, they would probably starve to death.
However, a man who dares to go out to sea and fight against the wind and waves is ultimately different from a rogue; he is a bit of a higher class.
On a two-story building diagonally opposite the Confucian Temple, several people sat by the window, secretly observing the Dayan Tower through the cracks.
"Now, grab a bow and wait. If Zhu Ding dares to open the window, we might find an opportunity to shoot him dead," Liu Xing whispered, squinting. "Why make it so troublesome? Even if we miss this time, there's always next time," Liu Ming laughed. "Do these wandering knights and heroes never leave their homes? Never interact with people? As long as we have patience, we'll always find an opportunity. The only ones truly willing to die for Zhu Ding are about ten people. If we kill them all, those scoundrels on the first floor will immediately switch allegiances without hesitation."
"So what if we kill Shao Shuyi?" Liu Xing turned his head and said, "If we kill Shao Shuyi, only about seven or eight of his men might come after you for revenge. Most of the seafarers who used to swagger around with him will just sigh a few times and then go about their business."
"Seven or eight people seeking revenge is enough to give you a headache." Liu Ming thought for a moment and said, "If I were someone like Wang Huadu by his side, I would inquire about your whereabouts every day, keep my composure, and strike with lightning speed when you let your guard down."
After saying that, he looked at Madam Liu, who was sitting not far away sipping tea, and said, "Sister, regarding the assassination, part one..."
"Zhu Ding doesn't always come here to sit and collect money," Madam Liu said. "This is the first time this has happened. I wonder what has happened recently that has led him to host such a grand banquet."
After saying that, she shook her head and said, "Why fight and kill? Isn't it better to earn money peacefully? You guys always feel that you're at a disadvantage if others earn more than you. You're just being foolish, wanting to get all the money into your own pocket."
At this point, she chuckled and said, "My only worry about selling smuggled salt is Zhu Ding, Chen Xianwu, Wang Zongsan, Zhao Yangui, and others, with Zhu Ding being the most likely culprit. Wouldn't it be better to let Shao Shuyi handle such a menace? Even if he can't, he'll be the one who dies, and it won't harm me. At worst, I can just give up this shop."
Liu Ming seemed thoughtful, while Liu Xing was somewhat unconvinced, but Liu Ming stopped him. After a moment of contemplation, the latter asked, "Sister, can Shao Shuyi handle Zhu Ding?"
"That's his business." Madam Liu sneered. "This young lad seems to have some tricks up his sleeve. Maybe he can kill Zhu Ding? If he can't, it doesn't matter. He can just sell a pound of salt if he brings one, or a fish if he brings one. We can settle accounts every few days and send the money to Yunting City at night. If anyone comes knocking on our door in the future, he won't be able to steal anything."
You shouldn't keep showing yourselves here; it's not good if people see you.
Leave the surveillance to the Liu brothers as much as possible. They're from Jiangyin, so they won't attract attention.
The rest is up to Shao Shuyi; let's see what fate has in store for him.
"Sister is truly shrewd and calculating," Liu Xing said, after a moment of surprise.
"Actually," Liu Ming closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then said, "Shao Shuyi does have some ability. Don't let his sixteen years fool you; his interpersonal skills and strategic planning are far beyond those of an inexperienced youth. Sometimes I always feel that he..."
"What's wrong with him?" Liu Xing pressed.
Liu Ming took a deep breath and said, "It's like I've been possessed by an old ghost."
Liu Xing stared blankly at his second brother.
"Don't disbelieve me. Last year's 'Ghost Case of the Secretariat' was widely known. Who doesn't know about it? Some things are hard to explain. It's better to believe it exists than not to believe it doesn't," Liu Ming said.
Upon hearing this, Madam Liu covered her mouth and chuckled, saying, "Even if it is a ghost, it must be an old ghost with some tricks up its sleeve. Let's see how it does it." After saying that, she stretched and said, "Let's go. This shop is too conspicuous; we shouldn't stay here any longer."
A moment later, an oxcart drove out from the back door and quietly disappeared into the streets and alleys.
After leaving the city, we traveled eastward for ten miles until we reached Yunting City, where Madam Liu had opened her second shop in Jiangyin.
Not long after he sat down, a servant came to report: the wife of the Assistant Magistrate had invited him to go on an outing.
Madam Liu hummed in response, but did not reply immediately. Instead, she unfolded a letter that had been sent from Wenzhou.
After reading it, she thought about it, picked up her pen and wrote a letter, sending someone to find an opportunity to bring it back to Wenzhou.
Life wasn't easy over there either, and some of the wealthy seafarers who had once come ashore were getting restless again.
The reason is simple: Wenzhou has little land, and even less land available for sale. Some people who couldn't buy land had no choice but to open inns. As a result, they used to make some money, but now they are subject to frequent tax levies and are losing money hand over fist.
Those who had kept large amounts of cash were the worst off; they were practically in despair.
A thousand ingots back then would be worth at least three hundred now. They were used to spending money lavishly, and their expenses were impossible to reduce. After getting married and having children, their burdens became even heavier, so it was only natural that they wanted to return to their old ways.
Some of them were her relatives, her father's former subordinates, her late husband's former subordinates, and even former law-abiding citizens...
After much deliberation, Madam Liu still felt that these people were more reliable.
Although he said he would let Shao Shuyi deal with Zhu Ding, how could he not make more preparations himself?
Men, huh.
Besides their love of money, all they care about is their own beauty.
It wasn't that she couldn't give herself to someone, but money, power, influence—you have to have at least one of those, right? Otherwise, it would be really hard to open her legs, and she wouldn't be interested. After writing this letter, Madam Liu organized the information she had recently gathered about Zhu Ding and copied it all onto the letter paper.
After sealing it, he sent a trusted confidant to deliver it to Liujiagang.
On July 29, Shao Shuyi reached an agreement with the abbot of Chongsheng Temple on the lease of land and buildings.
There were no written contracts; it was all verbal agreement.
Chong Sheng Temple rented out nine vacant houses in the village and twenty or thirty acres of nearby wasteland for one ingot of silver until the end of next year. The price was extremely cheap, and no one knew why; perhaps the monks were kind-hearted.
Before leaving, Shao Shuyi took a careful walk around.
The houses were very dilapidated; some were barely habitable, while others needed repairs.
The wasteland is truly desolate.
The tall grass was knee-high, and shrubs covered the ground. If this were to be used as a workshop in the future, it would require considerable effort to clear it away.
Fortunately, the location is good.
The wasteland is bordered by a river on the west side, namely Yaqian Port. This is a north-south oriented port river, more than ten miles long, through which salted fish can be transported by small boats to the riverbank and then loaded onto large ships.
It's even possible that there's no need for large ships to transport them; these small boats could simply row directly to the south bank of the Yangtze River.
In short, the transportation was very convenient, which was very conducive to the illegal salt trade.
The only obstacle now is Zhu Ding.
Shao Shuyi hadn't figured out how to deal with him yet. He would need to gather intelligence and discuss it with everyone when he got back.
One thing is certain: Zhu Ding was unaware that a ruthless fellow was lurking in the shadows in Taicang, ready to kill him at any moment. This was a case of the prepared man catching the unprepared.
Of course, when you're out in the world, you're bound to get hurt sometimes.
Perhaps in the future, he, Shao, will be accused of being scheming against someone unintentionally, but we'll deal with that later later. First, we need to expand and strengthen the private salt business; that's more important than anything else.
After completing his rounds, Wang Huadu was also very pleased, exclaiming, "Brother Shao, it has to be you! If I were to deal in that smuggled salt, I would run into this trouble one minute and that problem the next, and I would get discouraged and give up halfway through. You are different. You think so thoroughly about where to get the salt, where to buy the fish, where to pickle it, how to transport it, who to sell it to, and how to collect payment afterwards. Everything is well-organized and orderly. I admire you." Shao Shuyi smiled gently.
Running a project, coordinating various departments, streamlining processes, and handling all sorts of situations is no easy task. It's not something you can just shout to the heavens, "I want to smuggle salt," and expect to succeed immediately. The entire chain is complex and involves many intricate details.
"It's not a success yet," Shao Shuyi said. "At first, we might make a little money selling them, but in time, Zhu Ding will find out, and that's when we'll truly face the test. Come on, on the ship back later, let's discuss how to kill Zhu Ding."
"Hey, I love thinking about these kinds of things. Let's go," Wang Huadu laughed loudly.
When the sun was high in the sky, the three boats left Matuosha one after another.
As the booming sound of drums echoed across the river, the three boats maneuvered in formation as they sailed downstream toward Liujiagang.
On the afternoon of the first day of the eighth lunar month, the three boats arrived safely at the old locust tree and moored at the shore.
Upon hearing the news, Zheng Guoqing arrived the next day, looking at Shao Shuyi with a forced smile, and said, "Prepare five hundred shi of grain quickly."