Chapter 82: Buying a Ship

Yan Ning went to Huaiqing Shipyard with her father and Wu Jiangjun to personally select a ship.

Wu Jiangjun explained, "Huaiqing Shipyard is a time-honored brand in Haicheng. Their family has been building ships for generations, and the shipwrights here are also very skilled. Surely, we should be able to buy a ship here."

Yan Ning nodded, "Indeed, this ship must be chosen carefully; we cannot have one that looks good but is useless. Does Wu Jiangjun know how to inspect ships?"

Wu Jiangjun smiled proudly, "That goes without saying."

The three of them went to Huaiqing Shipyard, chatting and laughing.

However, after walking around once, they did not see anything that caught their fancy.

"This ship is a bit small; I fear it will be especially cramped."

"This ship is large enough, but I always feel it is lacking something."

"Sigh, if only this ship were a bit bigger, it would be perfect in every way, but it is just a little too small."

"This ship is fine, but the wooden planks look a bit thin. Can this be used?"

The ship captain who was leading them around had a frown deep enough to crush a fly, "Are you people actually buying a ship or not?"

This person had completely run out of patience.

The captain grumbled, "This won't do, that won't do, and you won't allow custom orders. Are you here to cause trouble?!"

Wu Jiangjun was immediately displeased, "This General is going to lead two thousand soldiers to crusade against Woguo. If the entire army is wiped out because of the quality of the ship, who will take responsibility?"

Upon hearing that he was a general, the captain immediately changed his expression.

The captain's face was filled with smiles, "General, I didn't mean it just now. Why don't I take you to the shipyard next door to take a look? Perhaps there is something there that suits your fancy."

However, after walking around again, there was nothing suitable.

Wu Jiangjun sighed, "How about we just buy that smaller ship? At worst, we will just have to squeeze in."

Yan Ning thought of the shipwrights at home.

She said with a smile, "That works out perfectly. I have shipwrights at home helping to build a ship, and several of them are working overtime. That ship is almost finished; in three months, it will certainly be ready."

Wu Jiangjun went to check the situation at Yan Ning's place, still feeling uneasy.

Thus, they rested in Haicheng for one night and only returned early the next morning.

Sure enough, a ship that was custom-ordered with details communicated bit by bit was truly excellent.

As soon as Yan Ning went up, she asked the shipwrights, "How long will it take to build this large ship?"

A carpenter smiled and said, "I'm afraid it will take six months."

Yan Ning frowned and asked, "Can it be compressed to three months?"

The shipwrights were a bit unhappy, "We are already working overtime; to go any faster is truly impossible."

Yan Ning looked at the dozen or so shipwrights, "If it can be finished within three months, I will add a bonus of two thousand taels for you all to split. If it is still not finished after three months, then this bonus will be gone."

The shipwrights' eyes lit up on the spot. With over a dozen of them, each person could get at least one hundred and fifty taels; this was their entire year's wages.

It was not just over a hundred taels, but also their regular wages. Yan Ning was generous with money, paying each person fifty taels a month.

Usually, carpenters building ships elsewhere would make at most twenty taels of silver a month.

Yan Ning gave too much; they were willing to work overtime!

The shipwright said, "Rest assured, we will certainly be able to finish it within three months."

Yan Ning thought for a moment and added, "You are all working overtime here, which is truly hard work. Let's add another fifty taels to your monthly wages."

Watching this scene, Wu Jiangjun scratched his head, "This... everything is being paid for by your family; I am truly embarrassed."

"It is a pity that the national treasury is empty and has not yet recovered..."

Yan Ning said with a smile, "It is fine. Whether you come or not, we were already planning to go and finish off those Japanese pirates."

Wu Jiangjun looked at the ship that was nearly taking shape, feeling that it was quite sturdy, and coupled with Yan Ning's words...

Could it be that they had long had the intention to subdue the Japanese pirates?

But they could only bring a hundred people at most.

Wu Jiangjun thought to himself that the Emperor truly had no vision to have directly exiled the First Prince's family.

This spirit of the First Prince was not something an ordinary person could possess.

It was said that the deposed Crown Prince not only dared not fight, but was also secretly trading with enemy nations.

He was simply not a decent person!

Wu Jiangjun was feeling indignant when he saw Yan Ning send Er Gouzi to purchase a large amount of grain, and Wu Jiangjun felt even more apologetic.

Wu Jiangjun said solemnly to Yan Ning and Yan Ze, "This is troubling you. If you have any needs in the future, just speak up; I will do my best to help you!"

Yan Ning maintained her original attitude, "My family has nothing else, but we have plenty of silver. Those who are capable should do more."

Thinking of the Glazed Glass business that Yan Ning and the others were doing...

Very well, they were truly wealthy.

Wu Jiangjun did not stay there long and returned directly to the Haicheng Garrison.

At this time, Ji Yang walked toward Yan Ning, his face filled with irrepressible joy, "Cousin, this is our profit sharing for this month. There is actually this much!"

Yan Ning looked at the account book and marveled in her heart; this month, she had done nothing and earned a net profit of ten thousand taels of silver.

Ji Yang also said, "It is probably because the method you gave us for brewing wine is effective. This Fruit Wine tastes good and the brewing cost is low, which is why we earned so much."

At this time, Bai Yu also came to their village.

Bai Yu was also very happy. He smiled and said to Yan Ning, "Miss Yan, it is the beginning of the month. Take a look at the accounts for the past month or so and see if there are any errors."

Yan Ning began to flip through them.

The Fireworks sold in a single day were actually this many!

Yan Ning's eyes were full of surprise, "How can there be so many?"

The New Year had already passed, yet there were still so many people playing with Fireworks.

Bai Yu smiled and said, "Half of the sales of these Fireworks are sold as Signal Flare to various places, and for the remaining half, I had people spread the word: one should set off Fireworks when encountering a happy event."

"Look at this, sales have shot up all at once, especially in Yangzhou; the money of the people in Yangzhou is truly easy to earn!"

This time, the profit share for Yan Ning was actually fifty thousand!

The feeling of having a large sum of money come in without doing anything at all is truly great.

Ji Yang, who was to the side, was stunned; this, in just two short months, there was actually a profit share of fifty thousand!

Yan Ning sighed with emotion: "Your business acumen is actually this impressive."

Bai Yu said with a beaming smile: "My grandfather also says that I am the person with the best business talent in the Bai Family."

Yan Ning only felt that cooperating with him was quite worry-free.

Bai Yu asked again: "Is there anything else we can cooperate on together? I guarantee you will make a fortune."

Yan Ning:...

Thanks, but she is not short on money, and is even worrying about how to give the money away.

Seeing that Yan Ning had no intention of cooperating for the time being, Bai Yu was not annoyed, and instead turned to look at Ji Yang.

Bai Yu said with a beaming smile: "Brother Ji, has the production volume of your Fruit Wine increased? We agreed back then that once production increased, you would cooperate with me."

Ji Yang had initially wanted to save trouble, to avoid the two families arguing over quantity.

But now, seeing Bai Yu, who clearly had better business acumen, Ji Yang began to feel restless.

Ji Yang also revealed a brilliant smile: "Although the production volume has not increased by much, I think we can discuss the matters of cooperation."

"It just so happens that I can let my cousin earn some more silver."