gnovel Chapter 123 Lü 4
Chapter 123 Lü 4
The area near Lüsichang is a semi-open sea, located at the southern end of Wanli Changtan.
The so-called "Wanli Long Beach" was actually part of the central Jiangsu region in later years—which was later land, such as Dafeng, Dongtai, Hai'an, Rudong, Qidong and other cities and counties, but at that time it was the sea.
Since the sea later became land, it means that a large amount of silt had accumulated beneath the surface, forming many large-scale underwater sandbars. Naturally, the water here was relatively shallow, making it very dangerous for large ships to navigate. They could easily run aground. Therefore, in the early days of the dynasty, most grain transport ships were flat-bottomed seagoing vessels, specifically designed to cross this stretch of ocean.
Similarly, the seawater here is rich in nutrients, and the convergence of warm and cold currents constantly stirs the seawater, bringing nutrients from the seabed sediment to the surface. As a result, algae grow in abundance, providing fish with plentiful food.
Lüsi Saltworks was a famous fishing port and also a very large saltworks, under the jurisdiction of the Lianghuai Salt Transport Office.
The three ships anchored a short distance away, and then boarded small boats in batches to unload a batch of grain and tea that they had brought with them ashore.
These items were in high demand; as soon as they were brought ashore, they were surrounded by people eager to inquire about the price.
Feng Shao remained unmoved and sent one of his attendants to the inland area of Lüsi Field to notify his old acquaintance to come and collect the goods.
Shao Shuyi, along with Wang Huadu, Liang Tai, Cheng Ji, and more than ten others, stood beside the goods, carefully examining their surroundings.
To be honest, Shao Shuyi originally thought that it would be quite conspicuous for them to come ashore with all sorts of long and short weapons, but he did not expect that most of the people coming and going near Lüsichang were carrying weapons, which made him feel like he had come to some wild western world, rather than a rich and peaceful Jiangnan town.
"Brother, been out for a while, haven't you? Missing some women?" Not long after, a shifty-eyed man walked over and said with a grin. Before Shao Shuyi could speak, Wu Heizi, carrying a large wooden club, laughed.
Shao Shuyi glanced at him, and Hei Zi lowered his head in embarrassment, saying, "There are so many people coming and going here, and the women aren't clean, so let it go." "How are they not clean?" the pimp said unhappily, "They're all respectable women who have recently fled famine, and some are even virgins. Their families have lost their breadwinners, so they have no choice but to sell themselves. They're perfectly clean."
"How did they lose their pillar of support? Did they starve to death or die of illness?" Shao Shuyi asked.
The pimp smiled but said nothing.
Shao Shuyi understood immediately.
It was perfectly normal to arrest entire families fleeing famine, force the men into slave labor, and sell the wives and daughters.
"No need," he waved his hand and said.
The pimp, unwilling to give up, said, "Let's go take a look. It won't hurt."
After saying that, he actually tried to go forward and pull the person away.
"Whoosh!" Iron Bull drew half of his steel knife from its sheath.
Upon seeing this, the pimp chuckled sheepishly and took a few steps back, saying, "Never mind, I'll find someone else."
After saying that, he turned and left.
Not long after the man left, an old man with a sorrowful face came over, opened a cloth bag in his hand, and asked, "Gentlemen, does anyone want salt? It's freshly boiled, good salt, without any mud or sand. If you want some, it's two hundred coins a pound."
Shao Shuyi glanced down and saw that it was indeed pure white, high-quality salt.
Just as he was about to say something, Wang Huadu quietly nudged him with his elbow.
Shao Shuyi's heart skipped a beat. He looked up and around and quickly spotted two or three men with knives and bows not far away. They seemed to be strolling around, but they were all paying attention to this area.
A honey trap? Shao Shuyi wondered to himself.
"Is this salt from Lüsichang? I've heard the salt here isn't very good quality," he said deliberately.
The old man was taken aback for a moment, then argued, "How is it bad? The ones from the Three Summons are not as good as ours."
Shao Shuyi reached out and grabbed some salt, examining it closely in his palm. He asked, "Why are you selling salt? Aren't you afraid of being arrested by the patrol inspectorate?"
The old man was taken aback for a moment, then said, "A patrol station only has thirty people. How can they possibly manage to oversee two hundred miles of territory?"
"Who are those people?" Shao Shuyi asked, pointing to the men with swords and bows in the distance.
The old man's expression changed, he quickly closed the salt bag, and turned to leave.
Wang Huadu, Wu Heizi, Gao Daqiang, and others burst into laughter, while some of them looked at the men who appeared to be archers from the patrol office with a defiant expression.
They also spotted Shao Shuyi and his group, but hesitated after seeing that there were more than a dozen of them, each carrying weapons, and even two archers.
After the old man failed to sell the smuggled salt, they finally made up their minds and disappeared into the crowd.
"This place is fucking chaotic," Wang Huadu clicked his tongue and said.
"We can't manage it all." Wu Heizi looked around and said, "If anything goes wrong, the patrol office will be burned down. What corrupt official would dare to interfere? They can only extort some unsuspecting foreign merchants, that's all."
Cheng Ji watched all of this quietly, remaining silent for a long time.
The government in the Huai River region was even worse than in the Jiangnan region, and the local officials were even more lenient. The world had actually come to this state.
"My lord, would you like some fish?" A voice called out from not far behind.
Cheng Ji turned around abruptly, his hand already resting on the hilt of his sword. At the same time, he secretly blamed himself for being distracted and failing to notice someone rowing a fancy boat closer.
"What kind of fish do you have?" Shao Shuyi's voice rang out.
"Stone croaker." The boatman who had spoken earlier picked up several fish and showed them to Shao Shuyi.
"Large yellow croaker? Small yellow croaker?" Shao Shuyi hesitated.
"Some people do call it 'yellow croaker,' but there's no difference in size," the boatman nodded.
Shao Shuyi understood.
It seems that at that time, fishermen did not distinguish between large and small yellow croakers, but referred to them collectively as "stone croaker" and "yellow croaker".
"Anything else?" he asked again.
"Ribbonfish, scaleless." The boatman scooped up another one and boasted, "None of the ribbonfish I catch are shorter than five feet. If you want to buy, I have hundreds of pounds." "Oh?" Shao Shuyi asked with interest, "Your little fishing boat carries hundreds of pounds of ribbonfish? Don't try to prove me wrong."
"We have big boats," the boatman explained. "Sometimes there are so many fish that we can't get them to shore in time, so we hand them over to the big boats at sea, where they kill and pickle them. In the summer, the sun is scorching, and some fish will spoil in an hour or two. We can't get them back in time, so we have to pickle them right there at sea." "What other kinds of fish do you have?" Shao Shuyi asked.
"We have pomfret, eel, and croaker, as well as shrimp and crab. Do you want some?" The boatman picked up one fish after another, enthusiastically promoting his wares. "Why don't you sell them in the city?" Shao Shuyi asked. "I just heard someone say there's a big market near Dongbinlou with all kinds of seafood." "They tax it there," the boatman said. "You've been asking so many questions, are you going to buy or not? Five hundred coins a catty, do you want it? If not, I'm leaving." "Is it pickled?" Shao Shuyi asked.
"Of course it's pickled." The boatman glanced at Shao Shuyi discreetly and said in a low voice, "But we didn't buy much salt, so we only need a small amount. Do you want some?"
"Is there sand in the salt?"
"no."
"Five hundred coins is too expensive."
"How much are you willing to pay?"
"One hundred coins."
The boatman looked at him in shock and said, "A pound of grain costs more than that, at least four hundred coins, otherwise I won't sell it."
"With things so chaotic in Lianghuai, it's normal for grain prices to be high. 150 wen per catty, that's all I can offer," Shao Shuyi said.
"You know rice is expensive in Huainan," the boatman complained. "One hundred and fifty coins is too little. I'd rather eat fish to fill my stomach. Three hundred and fifty coins is the lowest I can accept."
"Two hundred coins." Shao Shuyi held up two fingers and said, "Keep the rest for yourself."
"Two hundred coins is way too low. It should be at least three hundred, right?"
"You have too many fish bones; they won't fetch a good price. Fine, I'll give you a 20-coin discount, making it 220. How about that?"
"Sea fish are oilier; they're more filling than river fish. Two hundred and eighty."
"Some people don't like eating seafood, they don't have that habit, so I can't sell it to them easily. It's 230."
"I even used salt, it cost 270."
The two haggled for a long time before finally agreeing on a price of 261 coins.
The reason for the extra coin was that the boatman had been bargained down too much and was unwilling to accept it, so he insisted on paying an extra coin. Shao Shuyi did not refuse and agreed.
Wang Huadu and the others stared at him in disbelief.
Wu Heizi laughed and said, "Brother Shao is really something. Back when my family sold pork and mutton, even if someone tried to bargain, it was hard to get to this level." Shao Shuyi shook his head and said, "Actually, I was the one who took advantage of him."
Wu Heizi was taken aback.
"There are fish everywhere in Lüsi, how can he sell them for a good price?" Shao Shuyi said. "Besides, this stuff isn't as filling as grain, and Lüsi is a saline land where crops don't yield much. Grain is the most precious commodity here. If I had been a little more ruthless, I could have negotiated the price down a bit, but I just didn't want to do it that way." Wu Heizi understood and solemnly said, "Brother Shao is so righteous, always remembering the hardships of ordinary people."
"I'm not that good," Shao Shuyi laughed. "But I'm not that bad either."
The group chatted for a while longer, and as noon approached, the boatman returned, laden with hundreds of pounds of salted fish.
He didn't come back alone; he was followed by seven or eight boats, each carrying several hundred kilograms of fish—some soaked in brine, others pickled and dried.
At this point, Shao Shuyi had to settle accounts with them again, because fish soaked in salt water obviously couldn't be sold for the same price as dried fish. The two sides argued for a long time, and even Wang Huadu joined in, firing off a barrage of criticism. In the end, they bought nearly 4,000 catties of fish for 20 ingots each, and then transported them to the wooden barrels and sacks on the boat for storage.
Halfway through the move, Feng Shao returned with two attendants. Seeing this, he laughed and said, "Shao She is also doing business?"
As they were talking, a furtive-looking person was emptying a bag of white stuff into Wu Heizi's open pocket.
Wu Heizi casually tightened his pocket and smiled at Feng Shao.
Feng Shao pretended not to see and continued, "It's settled. Dried sea freight will arrive tomorrow, but unfortunately it's only 83,000 catties. Alas." "It's alright, we can come again next time," Shao Shuyi laughed.
"That's true." Feng Shao nodded and said, "Shall we go to Dongbinlou for a meal together?"
"We can eat when we leave," Shao Shuyi declined.
"Alright, we'll definitely treat you to a good meal then. We can't let you all go through all this trouble for nothing." Feng Shao readily agreed, because he saw an old man and a young man clutching a small bag tightly in the distance, sneaking over here.
They have legitimate business to do; they probably don't have time to have dinner with you.
Furthermore, these salt farmers were truly pitiful. They secretly saved up ten or twenty catties of salt, risking being caught to sell it, just to exchange for a little food to eat. For every catty of salt produced, the imperial court only gave them fifty coins for the cost of production. Even for the surplus salt produced, the cost of production was only sixty coins per catty. The Lianghuai Transport Office sold it to salt merchants for two hundred and fifty coins. In the end, the loose catties of salt were sold for more than a thousand coins on the market, and the majority of the profit went to the salt farmers.
They really have it tough.