bullyxtreme Chapter 243 Monk
Chapter 243 Monk
Chapter 243 The Monk (Part 1)
In the latter half of the winter month, Shao Shuyi spent half his time at Zheng Silk Shop under the Tianfei Palace, studying account books, and the other half at the old Yicang warehouse, where his main task was to purchase ships.
On the last day of the winter month, two canal boats, two sea bream boats, and one shallow-water boat were successively finalized, with a total cost of more than 160 ingots.
If you need to worry about manpower when buying boats elsewhere, you really don't need to in Taicang.
On the 30th of the eleventh lunar month, when a large group of people came to his door "looking for jobs", Shao Shuyi was even shocked: He hadn't been back to Taicang for half a year, so why was the unemployment rate so high?
"Shao She, come to me if you need any work," said the gray-haired boatman. "I've been sailing for decades, I can navigate both the sea and the river, and I can spot any problem with a boat at a glance."
Shao Shuyi glanced at him and asked, "Don't you have your own boat?"
"I used to have one," the man said. "But the old ship became unusable, so I stopped using it. Now I can only make a living by working for others."
"Okay." Shao Shuyi didn't waste any words and said, "Go register your name with the trading company. They'll call you if there's work."
"Thank you very much, Shao She." The man was moved to tears.
Shao Shuyi waved his hand and said, "I also come from a seafaring background. These days the world is not easy, so we should help each other out."
"Shaoshe, I've been a captain for ten years, I've worked on all kinds of ships." Another man squeezed forward, his words very earnest: "You must be short of sailmen here, right? Look for me."
"Oh? Next year, when grain is shipped out by sea, won't anyone hire you?" Shao Shuyi asked.
"Sailing out to sea is inherently unprofitable," the man said. "They prefer to hire their own people, saving every penny. Besides, there aren't that many ships going out to sea, but many people want to be a captain and receive a share of the pay, so—"
"Go register your name," Shao Shuyi said.
The man thanked him profusely, and before leaving, he said, "Shao She is truly a timely rain in Taicang; my whole family owes their lives to you."
"We're all on the same side, no need for that," Shao Shuyi said, patting him on the shoulder.
"Shaoshe, I can not only steer and raise the anchor, but also hoist the sail."
"Okay, go register."
"Shao She, although I only know how to set anchor and raise anchor, I have practiced a few techniques. If we encounter bandits, I can fight them."
"Okay, we need someone like you. Go register."
"Shao She, I will—"
Wherever Shao Shuyi went, a group of people would always surround him, pleading and begging for a meal.
He registered almost twice as many people, all of whom were available at any time, and quickly gathered the manpower needed for the newly purchased ships. At the same time, he felt a bit emotional, as it seemed that every year, jobs for seafarers were disappearing in large numbers, and the unemployment rate was rising steadily, to the point that many people were scrambling for the same position.
This is the subtle shift in the situation.
A single falling leaf heralds the coming of autumn; before the world collapses, wise people can often discern clues from these social phenomena.
Manager Mo is clearly a smart man.
He saw the increasingly difficult lives of the seafarers, saw Shao Shuyi give a pancake to everyone who came looking for work so that they wouldn't come for nothing, and he also saw Shao Shuyi's growing reputation among the seafarers.
He waited silently until noon before finally meeting Shao Shuyi.
"Master Mo." Shao Shuyi sat down at his desk and instructed Liu Huipeng to brew tea.
Liu Huipeng certainly wouldn't cook it himself, but instead notified the general affairs office. Soon, two people got to work, bringing out tea cakes and tea cauldrons, preparing the water, and starting the tea to boil. Everything proceeded smoothly. After more than half a year of improvement, Shengye Trading Company had more and more people and was becoming more and more like what it was all about.
"Little Tiger, I'm afraid there will be no response to what you said earlier about finding the officials on Jiqing Road," Mo Bei said bluntly.
"Oh? Why?" Shao Shuyi actually had a vague idea of the reason, but he still asked.
"The area around Jiqing Road is being ravaged by bandits who have fled south, and everyone there is heavily reliant on Zhu Chen," Mo Bei said. "They would never want to be harmed at this critical juncture. Besides, Zhu Chen has a wide circle of friends, and many people are willing to speak on his behalf, so it's best not to ask any questions to avoid alerting him."
"I understand." Shao Shuyi nodded and said, "Then let's not ask about Zhu and Chen, and only discuss business?"
"Perhaps," Mo Bei said.
"That's fine then." Shao Shuyi said with a smile, "I'll leave this matter to you, Mr. Mo."
"I have no say in this," Mo Bei said with a wry smile. "It will have to be Rongfu Gong or his wife who intervenes."
"I see." Shao Shuyi pondered for a moment and said, "It seems we need to show some real skills and complete a shipment properly before we can have the confidence to make demands."
""
Mo Bei didn't seem very interested in this. After hesitating for a moment, he couldn't help but ask, "Shao She, do you have any strategies? If we fail and people become wary, things will become difficult."
Shao Shuyi hummed in response, without addressing Lao Mo's concerns.
In the past ten days, Cai Luantou has plundered Changguo Prefecture, killing several officials and acting with extreme arrogance. At the same time, people have also judged Cai Luantou's strength by the scale of the plunder: a core of more than a hundred pirates, plus hundreds of fishermen, salt farmers, and seafarers from Wenzhou and Taizhou who he has incited.
Such strength might be manageable on land, but it would be very troublesome at sea. Even if they could defeat the enemy, they might not be able to accurately track them down.
Fang Guozhen, a salt worker from Taizhou, seemed to have escaped a disaster and even benefited from it. He seized the salt fields left behind by Cai Luantou, paid for them, and his power expanded rapidly.
The provincial and southern regions were drawn to this matter, and Zhu Chen, as a capable enforcer of the government, was probably also paying attention to it, thus ignoring everything else.
Shao Shuyi decided to make a trip to Longwan City next month to take the opportunity to find out more about the situation.
The general affairs staff quickly brought over the tea.
Shao Shuyi personally took the cup, handed one to Mo Bei, and then asked, "Is there anything else?"
"Is Shao She going to Jiangyin?" Mo Bei asked.
Shao Shuyi hummed in agreement and said, "I might come back for the New Year."
Mo Bei hesitated for a moment, then said, "The lady asked me to pass on a message."
"Please speak," Shao Shuyi said, his expression turning serious.
"Even if it is unavoidable, there are things we should do and things we should not do," Mo Bei said.
Shao Shuyi silently chewed on the text twice, then nodded and said, "I understand."
******
On the first day of the twelfth lunar month, Shao Shuyi boarded his newly purchased "Kunbing" boat and sailed down the Loujiang River, heading straight for Liujiagang.
Before leaving, I visited Zheng's boat shop near Yantietang and gave Li Zhuang some gifts for the Laba Festival.
After arriving in Liujiagang, he spent half a day with Qian Baishi and gave him a gift as well.
Without stopping, the boat traveled upstream and arrived at Matuosha on the evening of the fourth day of the twelfth lunar month.
As darkness fell, the group arrived at Chongsheng Temple, where Li Fu, Bian Yuanheng, Gao Daqiang, and others who had stayed behind came to pay their respects.
"News has come from Jiangyin. Wang Bai sent someone to Huangtian Port with a message," Li Fu said. "Just four words: 'This was done.'"
Shao Shuyi felt relieved, then looked at Li Fu and smiled, "You don't seem very willing?"
Li Fu hesitated for a moment, then said, "All we do all day is kill each other, and we're only killing one kind of person."
"How can we accomplish great things without killing Zhu and Chen?" Shao Shuyi retorted.
Li Fu remained silent for a moment, then cupped his hands in a respectful gesture and asked no further questions.
Bian Yuanheng then said, "Brother Shao, the Jiang and Zhan families have sent twelve more sets of leather armor, waiting for you to come back and distribute them."
"Has the payment been settled?"
"We'll wait for you to come back and give it to us. Yu She is still in Taicang, and Lu Chaoen doesn't dare to make the decision."
"Okay, I'll use the money to approve the printing costs right away." Shao Shuyi nodded and asked, "When will the third batch be completed?"
"It will probably be at the end of January."
"I understand." After thinking for a moment, Shao Shuyi said, "Big Spear, your team picks nine suits of armor first, and the rest are for Brother Wu."
.
Gao Daqiang was very happy and said with a smile, "Now that's all done, I'll find some time to give them a good training session."
Bian Yuanheng was somewhat disappointed, as their team would probably not be fully assembled until the end of January.
"We need to find a few more people to make the armor," Shao Shuyi added. "Jiang Guanbao said there are leatherworkers on Gushan Island; perhaps we can persuade him to help make the armor. This matter..."
Shao Shuyi looked at Li Fu.
Li Fu nodded immediately. He might have disagreements about dealing with Zhu Chen, but he was never ambiguous about anything that could help in rebellion.
Shao Shuyi then inquired about the training, and after learning that they had been training according to plan and had not slacked off, he gave them a few words of advice and then dismissed them.
Before they had rested for long, Abbot Huiyong of Chongsheng Temple came running over again.
"Something wrong?" Shao Shuyi asked in surprise.
Huiyong nodded and said, "Two monks came here in the winter month. After learning their purpose, I took it upon myself to detain them."
Shao Shuyi frowned and asked, "Didn't you tell Jiang Guanbao and Li Fu?"
Hui Yong shook his head and looked at Shao Shuyi with some trepidation.
Shao Shuyi sighed and said, "Don't act on your own initiative in the future."
Hui Yong bowed his head in agreement.
"Why did you detain them?" Shao Shuyi asked.
Hui Yong immediately perked up and said, "So that Cao She may know, one of them is from the Huai Xi Xiang Hui, perhaps here to recruit followers. The other is from Jiangning, and is subtly inquiring about you, Cao She."
Good heavens, these two aren't even on the same side!
Shao Shuyi's heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "Why did they come to Chong Sheng Temple?"
"When monks are traveling and have no food or clothing, they either have to beg for alms or stay in the temple for a few days. This is a common occurrence."
Hui Yong replied.
Shao Shuyi nodded slowly and asked, "Has there been any interrogation?"
"I asked a few questions, but one person was very stubborn and I couldn't get anything out of him," Hui Yong said. "I didn't dare to use torture, so I'm just waiting for Cao She to come back."
Shao Shuyi looked at him with amusement.
Is a temple a proper temple where the abbot detains people at the drop of a hat and constantly talks about "torture"?
"Lead the way, I'll go take a look," Shao Shuyi stood up and ordered.
Hui Yong bowed and led the way.
>