lovenovelstory Chapter 269 Branch Bases and Agents
Chapter 269 Branch Bases and Agents
Chapter 269 Branch Bases and Agents
The northeast wind was quite strong, making the pine forests on the island rustle.
Shao Shuyi stood at the entrance of the stone house, looking at the two large ships on the sea in the distance.
The ship's hull was painted with dark brown tung oil, its masts were towering, and the ship was slightly upturned, making it look like two giant beasts poised to pounce on the shimmering sea.
"Big brother, Li Heng is here." Gao Daqiang ran over from the direction of the mudflats, his steps quick.
Shao Shuyi raised an eyebrow and asked, "Alone?"
"One person." Gao Daqiang grinned and said, "He has a bow at his waist and a gun in his hand. He doesn't look like he's here to collect money; he looks like he's here for revenge."
"Are you itching to get your hands dirty?" Shao Shuyi said with a laugh. "Have him come over here."
After saying that, he turned around and went back to the stone house, tidied up the mess on the table, and then stacked three hundred ingots of precious paper money in one corner of the table.
After a moment, a young man walked in.
The man was in his early twenties and very tall, only half a head shorter than Tie Niu.
He had a square face, thick eyebrows, a straight nose, tightly pursed lips, and a jawline as sharp as if it had been carved with a knife.
He wore a dark blue short brown coat with leather straps at the cuffs and a wide leather belt around his waist with a quiver hanging from it.
A black lacquered bow was slung across his back. The bowstring was made of twisted ox sinew and looked like it had been used for many years. The bow arm was wrapped with a moisture-proof oilcloth.
He held an iron spear in his right hand. The shaft was made of white waxwood and painted black all over. The spearhead was shiny and clean, without any tassels.
His gaze was fixed on Shao Shuyi from the moment he entered the stone house. He didn't look around or at Tie Niu, Liang Tai, Gao Daqiang, Bian Yuanheng, and the others standing beside him.
The presentation was good, and Shao Shuyi nodded secretly in approval.
"Which one of you is Master Wu?" The young man stood in the middle of the room, his voice neither loud nor soft, carrying an air of aloofness that kept people at a distance.
"That's me." Shao Shuyi pointed to a low stool opposite him and said, "Sit down."
The young man did not sit.
He leaned the iron spear against the door frame, making sure the shaft was firmly against it, then untied the bow from his waist and placed it beside the spear along with the quiver.
After doing all this, he walked to the table, sat down on the low stool, straightened his back, placed his hands on his knees, and looked directly at Shao Shuyi.
"My name is Li Heng," he said in a deep voice. "My father is Li Yuanshan, a native of Xiongshan. A few days ago, the man from the wealthy family seized two boats at Xudupu. Those were my father's properties. The man sent someone to tell me that the boats were considered a loan, and that I should return three hundred ingots first, and that the Li family should send someone to collect them. So I came."
Shao Shuyi pushed the three large stacks of banknotes in front of Li Heng and said, "Three hundred ingots, count them."
Li Heng glanced at the three stacks of banknotes but did not reach out to touch them.
He raised his head, his gaze lingering on Shao Shuyi's mask for a moment, without revealing any unusual expression, only slightly frowning.
"The brave warrior said this ship is borrowed and will be returned slowly later." Li Heng's voice was calm. "A ship worth nine thousand ingots, when do you plan to return it?"
Gao Daqiang coughed and said, "What kind of attitude is this? My elder brother said he wouldn't rob ordinary people, so he gave you three hundred ingots."
"If it were anyone else, they wouldn't give me a single ingot."
Li Heng didn't look at him; his gaze remained fixed on Shao Shuyi.
Shao Shuyi raised his hand to stop Gao Daqiang and said, "Young Master Li, aren't you afraid?"
"What are you afraid of?"
"This is a den of thieves. You came alone, carrying a bow and a gun. Aren't you afraid I'll turn on you, detain you, and then demand three thousand ingots from your father?"
Li Heng was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "If a brave man were that kind of person, he wouldn't have sent someone to deliver the message of three hundred ingots first."
Stealing a boat and then paying the thief—I've never heard of such a thief. Before coming over, I thought about it carefully; this guy is either a fool or a real tough guy. So I decided to come and see for myself.
17
Upon hearing this, Shao Shuyi was pleased and asked, "Now that you've seen it, what do you think?"
Li Heng looked at Shao Shuyi carefully, his gaze sweeping over the mask before settling back on his eyes, and slowly said:
'
It's not obvious yet.
Shao Shuyi laughed heartily.
He stood up, walked to the door, picked up the iron spear that Li Heng was leaning against the door frame, and weighed it in his hand.
The shaft was heavy, made of white waxwood, smooth and cool to the touch, with blood grooves on both sides of the spearhead, worn smooth enough to reflect a person's image.
He glanced at the black lacquered bow again, picked it up, and tried to draw the string. It required considerable force; at least a two-stone bow.
"Good gun, good bow." Shao Shuyi put the gun and bow back where they were, turned around, and said, "Young Master Li, with all your skills, you're just stuck in Xiongshan County watching over your father's shops and estates?"
Li Heng did not answer the question, but instead asked, "Did you invite me here just to ask this?"
Shao Shuyi walked back to the table and sat down. He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then put it down. Looking into Li Heng's eyes, his tone sounded very sincere: "Young Master Li, I won't lie to you. I did indeed rob your family's two boats. But I have my own rules. I don't rob ordinary people, nor do I bully the poor. Your father is a wealthy merchant, but nine thousand ingots for a boat is no small sum. Since I took it, I won't take it for nothing. Three hundred ingots is the initial payment, and you'll have to pay back three thousand ingots every year thereafter, until it's paid off in three years. If you don't believe me, we can draw up a written agreement."
This is actually a small amount of interest, though it's better than nothing.
Li Heng remained silent for a long time.
He looked at the three neatly stacked stacks of banknotes in front of him, then at Shao Shuyi's hand resting on the edge of the table. The fingers were thick and calloused, with thick, yellowish calluses on the base of the thumb—marks left from years of handling knives and guns.
"You said you'd pay back three thousand ingots every year." Li Heng looked up and asked, "Where will you get so much money?"
Shao Shuyi smiled and said, "That's my business. You just collect the money."
Li Heng's lips twitched slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but then he swallowed it back.
He reached out and gathered the three stacks of banknotes in front of him. He looked around and found a piece of linen next to the stool. He picked it up, wrapped the banknotes in it, tied it tightly, and placed it beside his leg.
Finally, he stood up, cupped his hands in a respectful bow to Shao Shuyi, and said, "I've accepted the money, but a written agreement is unnecessary. If you are truly a man of your word, you don't need a written agreement. If not, a written agreement is useless."
Shao Shuyi also stood up and returned the greeting.
Li Heng turned around to grab the gun and bow leaning against the door frame, slung the bow back to his waist, held the gun in his hand, and took two steps toward the door.
He stopped abruptly at the threshold, without turning around, but simply halting his steps.
"Brave man." He had his back to Shao Shuyi, and his voice suddenly lowered. He said, "You just said that I have a lot of skills, but I am stuck in the county looking after shops and farms." Shao Shuyi looked at him but did not say anything.
"I went up the mountain with my master to suppress bandits when I was sixteen, and led a team to Bianliang when I was nineteen. Last year, I traveled to and from Goryeo with others. I have been as far north as Dadu and as far south as Quanzhou. I have seen a lot of things. The Yuan Dynasty probably won't last long." Li Heng's voice was very calm: "But my father is old and in poor health. I don't have many years left to enjoy his company."
He slowly turned around, meeting Shao Shuyi's eyes, and asked again, "You want me to join you?"
Shao Shuyi walked out of the stone house, looked at the seagulls flying aimlessly in the distance, and said, "I just came back from Shandong and saw many things. Salt farmers suffer, fish farmers suffer, ordinary people suffer, all living beings suffer. Huai'an Road may be a little better, but you have traveled all over the country for so many years and should have seen a lot of things outside. Don't you know that when the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact?"
Your household may have some retainers, clan members, or even caravan guards, all skilled in martial arts, enough to protect you. However, the world is deteriorating day by day. How many retainers, clan members, or guards do you have? How many bandits can they withstand? Ten? A hundred? What if there are a thousand or ten thousand bandits? Can they still hold them off?
Furthermore, over the years, I have seen many once wealthy landowners and landowners become seafarers, transporting grain across the seas, only to lose everything within a few years, their families torn apart – such is commonplace. Your family may have some connections in the county, but the imperial court's appetite is ever-growing; after devouring others, will it devour yours? Have you ever served as a village head or a chief official?
Li Heng was silent for a moment, then said, "After the autumn tax is collected, it will be time to take the position."
"You must have some connections to have made it this far to become a village head," Shao Shuyi chuckled. "You're in such a hurry to go overseas to find new sources of income to cover your expenses, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"There's not much time left," Shao Shuyi said. "After you become the chief of the capital, you'll become the village head, and after that, you'll be a minor official with no real benefits, but you'll have to constantly subsidize the court's deficit. In the end, you won't be able to keep your shop or your land and houses. All the wealth accumulated by your family over generations will be gone."
At this point, Li Heng's originally aloof expression finally changed slightly.
"The world will become increasingly chaotic in the future," Shao Shuyi continued. "I took two of your boats, so I guess I got a good deal. Now I'll give you a way to make ends meet."
Li Heng glanced at him.
"I never send a ship to load salt empty-handed; that would be too wasteful. It always carries some cargo," Shao Shuyi said. "The Li family has considerable influence in Xiongshan County and Haining Prefecture, and they are also major merchants. They should know which goods sell well and which don't. You can make a list, and I'll send someone to load the goods onto a ship and deliver them to you for sale. That should help you make some extra money."
Li Heng's expression grew increasingly tense, and after a moment he asked, "What do you need me to do?"
"This is meant to supplement your income, so you don't need to do anything," Shao Shuyi said. "If you have time, you can first build a warehouse on Yuzhou Island and wait to receive the goods. The salt delivered from the salt fields can also be stored in the warehouse first, and I will send a ship to transport it later."
At this point, Shao Shuyi looked around and said, "I see that Yuzhou Island is not small, but it only has a few hundred households and a lot of wasteland. If you have time, you can organize people to reclaim the wasteland, so that we won't be short of food in case of emergency in the future."
"I don't like farming." Li Heng shook his head.
Shao Shuyi laughed, took two steps closer, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "If you won't plant it, I'll find someone else to plant it, okay?"
Keep an eye on them for me, make sure the corrupt officials don't come and harass them.
Li Heng froze for a moment, then slowly relaxed.
Unbeknownst to him, the balance of power had shifted. Without his knowledge, he was swayed by a few words and became a "regional agent" for the "Shao Group" on Yuzhou Island, a position involving numerous related transactions.
Having accepted bribes, one naturally loses their backbone.
Shao Shuyi glanced at Li Heng discreetly, feeling satisfied, and asked, "You've been waiting by the sea for ages, haven't you eaten yet? I haven't eaten either, let's go, let's have some food and drinks together."
Li Heng opened his mouth, but ultimately couldn't bring himself to refuse.
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