gnovel Chapter 121 Lack of preparation leads to failure
Chapter 121 Lack of preparation leads to failure
The word "difficult" perfectly encapsulates all the helplessness.
Shao Shuyi seemed to understand but not quite, and couldn't help but ask, "May I ask, Madam, if the number of bandits increases in Suzhou, how will you defend yourself?" "If they appear on our own territory, we will pay the government to send troops to eliminate them," Madam Shen replied.
Shao Shuyi remained silent.
This is the attitude of the powerful families of Jiangnan towards bandits. Of course, it might not be a bad thing for him.
The Shen family, a wealthy and powerful family in Jiangnan, naturally had servants and martial arts instructors.
However, the former can only be lackeys; they can bully others if they want, but they shouldn't risk their lives. Real, ruthless bandits would scare them to death. The latter are just employees; they can guard the house, but they'll get extra pay if they risk their lives.
Even with extra pay, their servants and guards would only risk their lives to watch over the house and protect the owner's safety; going out to recruit followers was out of the question. To put it bluntly, the servants and guards of these large families might not even be as daring and aggressive as some of the smaller families.
Small families might be involved in organized crime and risk their lives from time to time, while large families don't even need to get involved in organized crime to make a fortune; they're simply spoiled.
Shao Shuyi recalled the two hangers-on Zheng Guoqing had brought. They were skilled with knives and swords and were more than capable of collecting rent and oppressing ordinary people, but when they encountered a ruthless person, they immediately knelt down.
This is the "strength" of a large family.
They have potential, but lack the motivation and actions to translate that potential into real strength. By the time chaos truly strikes, they'll be scrambling to recruit and build up their forces, but who knows if they'll even have the time then?
"Madam, there's something I'm not sure if I should say," Shao Shuyi said.
Madam Shen turned to look at him and said, "Please speak freely."
"I've heard that the bandits on Taihu Lake are still robbing merchants and travelers, and they can't be eradicated. Relying on government troops is probably futile," Shao Shuyi said. "A few days ago, pirates from Taizhou stormed Liujiagang. The navy outnumbered them, but still suffered a considerable loss, which shows how lax our military preparedness is. The Shen family is large and powerful, so perhaps they have many concerns and are being watched by many people, making it inconvenient for them to do certain things, but I can do them."
Madam Shen glanced at him curiously and said, "There are many merchants in Suzhou who rely on my family. After making money, they often hire famous teachers to instruct their children and grandchildren. Or they build luxurious houses and cultivate an air of refinement. All the money is spent on these things. Have you spent it all on supporting people? With so many despicable scoundrels supporting you, it will be very difficult for you to associate with scholars and officials. Even if your descendants marry in the future, they won't be able to find good families. Is it worth it?" Shao Shuyi thought to himself, "Even if I don't know the course of history, just looking at Sun Chuan's fate, I should understand that the ceiling is not so easy to break. You try to squeeze your way up, but do people even look at you? Has your Shen family succeeded in squeezing through?"
"Madam, everyone has their use," Shao Shuyi said. "For example, in business, some people are responsible for comparing prices from three different vendors and purchasing all the necessary items; others are responsible for bribing the government officials to prevent them from doing anything wrong."
Someone was responsible for selling them to various places and exchanging them for money;
There are also people specifically responsible for escorting them along the way to prevent them from being robbed, or to negotiate if they are threatened. That's what I do. Forgive my frankness, but while the Shen family is naturally successful in business in Jiangnan, long-distance transport to Lianghuai, Henan, and Jiangxi becomes a bit difficult. Along the way, they might be targeted not only by government officials, but also by various bandits and outlaws. Someone has to step in and deal with these situations.”
Madam Shen was silent for a moment, then said, "My family doesn't do business in Henan. We only deal with the prefectures and counties along the Yangtze River, including the Huai River region. But what you said makes sense. The last time I asked you to transport some grain and tea to Tongzhou, that was actually the first time this year. In previous years, my family transported much more than that. We always felt that they were short of money."
"Madam's keen insight is truly admirable," Shao Shuyi said sincerely.
He observed with his eyes and used historical data to aid his judgment, but Madam Shen discovered this through financial data, even though she lacked a more intuitive understanding.
"You've told me so much today, what do you want?" Madam Shen slowly sat back down behind the table, her phoenix eyes quietly looking at Shao Shuyi, and asked. "Madam has already helped me a great deal, I have no other requests," Shao Shuyi said.
"Understood." Madam Shen nodded and said, "You can go to Lü Sichang in the next couple of days. If there are no problems, you can go there from now on. You can get the 100 shi of grain directly from the warehouse. I'll have Manager Mo arrange it. It'll cost you 75 ingots of cash. Just pay it before the New Year."
"Thank you, Madam Xie." Shao Shuyi bowed.
Madam Shen suddenly asked again, "You keep coming this way. What will Zheng She do if he finds out?"
Shao Shuyi was startled. Was this a direct attack on him? Was he implying that he was two-timing?
"If Madam wants to transport goods, she will need to hire boats and porters. I have boats and men, so it's quite common for me to do some freight business," Shao Shuyi replied. Madam Shen remained noncommittal.
After a moment, she said, "I hope you remember what happened today."
"I will never forget," Shao Shuyi assured him.
Madam Shen hummed in agreement and said, "If you have something to attend to, you may leave."
Shao Shuyi bowed and took his leave.
After his figure completely disappeared, Madam Shen secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and her tense face slowly relaxed.
Seeing that most of the people in the room were her own servants, she gently leaned over the table.
I'm exhausted, especially mentally exhausted. I don't even want to move a finger.
Shao Shuyi hummed a little tune as he slowly strolled back to the small courtyard by the river.
People need choices to feel at ease.
If things aren't going well at the Zheng Group, I'll just go to the Shen Group's annual meeting. So what? Nobody's going to call me a traitor.
When I pushed open the gate, the kitchen was already filled with smoke, and there was a pile of rice steamers buried in the corner of the wall outside, obviously steaming rice.
There are more and more mouths to feed these days.
Shao Shuyi roughly calculated that there were two medium-sized people (women), four small people (children), plus Wang Huadu, Jiang Sanbao, and Wei Erdi, who ate here regularly. They consumed about one and a half dou of grain every day, which amounted to four and a half shi of grain per month.
He spent all eight dou of rice he received from the ware shop each month on this, and it was far from enough.
Fortunately, Wang Huadu often bought grain and meat, which covered a lot of the expenses, and the three big mouths could eat outside from time to time. But even so, Shao Shuyi still had to put in nearly two ingots of cash every month.
Raising children is really not easy.
"Brother Shao, come and eat! I just bought some mutton from the market." Wang Huadu sat in the courtyard and waved repeatedly.
Upon seeing Shao Shuyi and Tie Niu, Wei Erdi and Jiang Sanbao immediately stood up and bowed.
Yu Yuan was also there and said, "Brother Shao, I brought a bowl of soup with me from the road."
Shao Shuyi returned the greeting and said with a smile, "There's something delicious to eat."
He then took two prayer mats, one for himself and one for Tie Niu, and sat down, asking, "Yu She, have you found a house yet?"
"Watch closely." Yu Yuan nodded and said, "It's right here."
"We'll talk about it later." Shao Shuyi gestured to stop him from continuing, saying, "Is there anything else at the shop?"
"Official Yifang was passing by in a hurry. Hearing that you had gone to the Shen residence, he did not go in. He also mentioned something: Ali's fleet has arrived in Qingyuan. He sent an interpreter by land to report that they will stop in Shanghai in the latter half of this month and arrive at Liujiagang in early next month," Yu Yuan said.
Upon hearing this, Shao Shuyi exclaimed, "They've finally arrived!"
Since the beginning of June, Liujiagang has entered a period of prosperity, as can be seen from the number of foreign ships docking and the prices of labor recruitment at the dock.
Sailing at sea relies on monsoons and ocean currents. Now that the southeast monsoon season has begun, it is expected that Ali will arrive at Liujiagang by selling goods along the way and catching the tail end of the monsoon.
However, the Chongming Ye family's fleet that had gone to Srivijaya had not yet returned, and Shao was in dire need of money.
"Yu She, prepare two hundred ingots of paper money; I need them," Shao Shuyi instructed.
"Brother Shao, are you going?"
"Let's go to Lüsichang," Shao Shuyi said. "I'll go there myself the first time, but next time you'll probably be the ones going back and forth."
"Is everything alright at sea?"
"Li Daweng has fled back to Taizhou. The imperial court is investigating this matter, and he probably won't dare to show his face again anytime soon. Recently, the navy has been patrolling incessantly, and there are far fewer pirates at sea, making it a good time to set sail."
"Okay." Yu Yuan didn't ask what the banknotes were for and simply agreed.
Brother Shao has his reasons for doing things.
"Dog slave, gather the men together," Shao Shuyi ordered again.
"Are they still the same old brothers? Some of them may have already gone to work at the docks," Wang Huadu said.
"Call them back." Shao Shuyi tapped the table and said, "A round trip to Tongzhou, including the time to buy dried seafood, should take ten days. Give them a month's pay. This time it's at the mouth of the Yangtze River, so the hiring fee will be increased by ten strings of cash, including meals."
"They made a profit," Wang Huadu laughed.
"People will only come if they can make a profit," Shao Shuyi said. "You can't be too stingy in business. You might be able to save money on small amounts, but not on big amounts."
"One more thing," Shao Shuyi thought for a moment, then added, "Go to Taicang again, the sooner the better, and ask Cheng Ji if he's coming. Also, check if the soldiers who were willing to sell weapons to you earlier still stand by their word. If they really want to sell, hurry up, preferably before you set sail, and settle the payment immediately." "Alright!" Wang Huadu patted his chest and said, "This is exactly what I like to do. Drilling troops all day long is so tedious." "You dog," Shao Shuyi said, "you can't just act on your whims. When you're out in the world, nobody will indulge you. Battlefields are ruthless." "You'll understand later."
"Okay, okay, I understand now, it's just that I'm not happy about it," Wang Huadu said with a smile.
Shao Shuyi then said no more.
He outlined his upcoming schedule. Completing the final porcelain transaction for the Zheng family was the priority, followed by the smuggling of salt; the two could be done simultaneously. He wasn't sure if the Zheng family would still want him working at the porcelain shop.
Perhaps he would be willing, because he has indeed made great contributions to the production and sales of custom-made porcelain. Zheng Guozhen may allow him to continue working for the time being due to the opinions of others.
He might not want to, because the Zheng family could easily send a trustworthy person to replace him and keep this lucrative business firmly in their own hands. So he had to prepare for both possibilities.
What will you do if you are "transferred" or even "unemployed"?
Forewarned is forearmed, without prejudging the waste.