Chapter 960: Difficult Beginnings

Even though Bai Lie was beaten black and blue by the Ya Kingdom, Lu Qinglin is currently fighting for the Mou Kingdom instead of Bai Lie. How could Old Six Lu be convinced? "Hmm, we need to have more contact with Old Six Lu."

Ding Zuodong gave a light cough: "I thought you would focus your efforts on Lu Qingan, the eldest son of Lu Zhensheng."

He Lingchuan smiled: "Do you think that because Lu Zhensheng is putting all his resources into his second son, it will make Lu Qingan dissatisfied? And that we would have a chance to sow discord between father and son?"

That was exactly what Ding Zuodong thought.

"You're half right; Lu Qingan will indeed be dissatisfied with his father's favoritism. But when it comes to sowing discord between the Lu father and son—" He Lingchuan shook his head, "Old Ding, you haven't stayed in a main family before, have you?"

"Yes, that's right." Ding Zuodong was previously a steward in Dunyu, also for the family of Third Master Shu.

It was First Master Shu who was the main family.

"If Lu Qinglin were a good-for-nothing, your idea would be entirely correct. But now that his rise to success is just around the corner, there is no actual competition between the brothers Lu Qingan and Lu Qinglin. Lu Qingan is responsible for guarding the home in Bai Lie, and Lu Qinglin is responsible for striving in the Mou Kingdom; they are in a cooperative relationship. Lu Qinglin has already risen steadily in the Mou Kingdom; why would he care about this little bit of property back home? Likewise, Lu Qingan is very clear that Lu Qinglin simply cannot be bothered to compete with him."

"Sibling rivalry is human nature." Just like how He Yue must also secretly compare himself to his older brother, "but this does not affect the big picture of the Lu family."

Therefore, that little bit of unhappiness between the Lu brothers is not a fundamental contradiction.

"Lu Zhensheng's full support for his second son seems biased, and the clansmen are pointing fingers, but in reality, he has taken great pains." He Lingchuan added, "Only by leaving Bai Lie and carving out a career in the vast world of the Mou Kingdom can Lu Qinglin jump out of the competition sequence with his brother. In this way, the two brothers will not only avoid fighting over the family business in the future but can also support each other, and the status of the Lu clan and Bai Lie can rise along with Lu Qinglin."

"This situation is simply too common in Beijia and the Yuan Kingdom. In a family, the legitimate eldest son guards the family business, while the concubine-born son goes out to strive. Once he achieves success, the whole family has a way out, and it also avoids sibling strife." It is just that Lu Zhensheng's approach is more extreme, with resources tilted toward the second son rather than the eldest.

"Lu Zhensheng is not a broad-minded man, but he truly did not do this wrong. If Lu Qinglin really climbs to a high position in the Mou Kingdom, Bai Lie's turnaround is just around the corner, and Lu Zhensheng cannot be said to have failed his ancestors. He is using his own method to continue the Lu bloodline."

The mirror in his bosom hummed: "How is that his own method? Maybe the Lu ancestors used it before!"

After all, every few generations the Lu clan produces a Child of Luck; if the bet is right, the family turns around.

He Lingchuan gave the mirror a light tap and spoke eloquently: "But he treats himself as the head of the house and drains the resources of the entire clan. This approach of strengthening the trunk while weakening the branches will surely breed resentment among the Lu clansmen."

Therefore, he must make contact with other members of the Lu family to find more opportunities.

When it comes down to it, the Lu clan is, after all, the family of his original body; blood is thicker than water. He cannot treat them like enemies and immediately employ cruel methods.

This kind of distant kinship is the hardest to handle.

Ding Zuodong thought for a moment and nodded: "The Proprietor is truly insightful."

He Lingchuan pressed his temples: "Let's talk about the ships."

Being a lord is like this; in the early stages of the struggle, business is not on the right track, and there is not enough manpower, so he has to look into everything, big or small.

Managing affairs on this little patch of land is no easier than being the Grand Commander of Yuheng City.

The rise in ship rental prices is because autumn is generally the shipping season for Blade Harbor. This ice-free port takes orders in spring and summer and ships goods in autumn and winter; the current routes are at their busiest, so how could there be many empty ships available for rent?

Want to rent? You have to pay more, a lot more.

As for the timber, Ding Zuodong has also recently purchased a large batch of wood, preparing to let the shipwrights of Centipede Island show off their skills.

Although the Yangshan Archipelago is full of wood and there is no shortage of thick, straight firs, the wood for making ships must be air-dried for two or three years so that the ships built will not easily warp or leak; some must also be smoked first to avoid future insect damage.

The wood currently being felled on the island cannot be used to build cargo ships.

"The Qing Kingdom doesn't produce much wood, so we still have to look to Bai Lie. However, three years ago, a forest fire in Bai Lie burned for three months, and the output of the fir forest farms was halved." The output at that time affects the current price, "Furthermore, several timber merchants in Bai Lie have connections with the Lu family. Once they raise the price, other merchants have to follow, and the price goes up—it's more than double the usual! Calculating it this way, the cost of building a medium-sized cargo ship is up to 1,600 or 1,700 silver taels; it's too outrageous!"

The Yangshan Archipelago only has a few dozen ships capable of carrying cargo, which is severely insufficient. They must be rented and they must be built; money cannot be saved on either side. Moreover, the production of suitable ship timber is limited; if we don't buy it now, the price won't drop within a year.

There are dozens of similar detailed accounts. Each one seems to be only slightly over budget, but when added together, it is a staggering number.

Not to mention anything else, with grain prices rising to this ghostly level, every month there is an extra expenditure of 1,700 or 1,800 silver taels. How much money does He Lingchuan have to be able to withstand such heavy spending? After Ding Zuodong finished reporting, sweat broke out on his own forehead:

Everything is expensive to buy.

He Lingchuan was clear in his heart: "Isn't it the Lu family playing tricks? They want to drive up my costs."

The forces capable of such actions, besides the Qing Kingdom, are the Lu family of Bai Lie. But the Qing Kingdom has no interest in a nobody like He Lingchuan; why would they have any interest in targeting him? Only the Lu father and son would hold such great malice toward him and hope he goes bankrupt soon.

It seems they have realized it and know they sold the island too cheaply, and they are unhappy about it.

Ding Zuodong cursed fiercely. The Yangshan Archipelago is like a complete set of machinery; once it starts running, it starts burning money, but the costs are far exceeding their own expectations.

The enemy's method is an open conspiracy; even if He Lingchuan snuck into Bai Lie and hacked this pair of father and son to death, it would be of no use.

This kind of economic offensive is not a problem that can be solved by individual force.

He Lingchuan is the one who sees things clearly: "There's no way around it. This loss, even if we have to hold our noses, we have to swallow it."

Who told him to be a newcomer? Who told him to be unfamiliar with the place?

Who told him to look like a fool with too much money? The losses that should be taken cannot be avoided.

The blood that should be shed cannot be saved by a single drop.

"The difficulty is only temporary; just endure it and it will pass." Instead, he smiled and comforted Ding Zuodong, "The Lu family cannot exhaust us; later it will be their turn to be unlucky."

He is calm, so his subordinates are calm.

The sparring between He Lingchuan and the Lu father and son has actually already begun.

Now it is just the first stage:

The Lu father and son attack, and he defends.

The other side is trying to use economic means to drag him down.

Business has always been a bloodless slaughter; He Lingchuan can only rely on his thick blood to hold on.

Once the Lu father and son find that playing dirty cannot harm him, they will have to switch to open cards.

By that time, this game will have truly begun.

And ever since learning that Zhu Erniang is being watched by Beijia, He Lingchuan has had to reserve energy to guard against Beijia making a move.

Ling Guang suddenly interjected from the side: "By the way, the batch of medicinal materials you ordered has arrived. I have already drafted the elixir formula and assigned it to the Rongshan people to refine; each person must refine at least two hundred Heart-Clearing Pills. Time is tight; shouldn't you and Dong Rui also..."

He Lingchuan rolled his eyes: "You handle my share; as for Dong Rui's, not a single one can be missing."

"...Oh."

Ding Zuodong added: "By the way, a clerk at Blade Harbor revealed a piece of news to me: the Yashan Chamber of Commerce in the west has gone bankrupt and is dumping twenty-seven cargo ships on hand; the age of the ships ranges from eight to fifteen years. The three largest are ten zhang long and have a load capacity of 400,000 jin (200 tons)." Ding Zuodong said, "I asked Old Zheng, the head shipwright of Centipede Island, to go and see them on-site. He said the ships are all quite good, made of pine or fir; the materials and craftsmanship are fine, and they have been well-maintained. Only a few have leaks, but that's not a major problem; they can all be repaired."

He Lingchuan frowned: "Dumping them at this time of year, it can't be cheap, right?"

It is currently the peak season for using ships; the chamber of commerce calls it a "dumping," but in reality, they have spotted a good time to sell ships.

"The three largest are priced at 1,200 silver taels each, and the other smaller ones decrease in price accordingly. I have the price list here. If we buy the whole package, the price can be negotiated further."

He Lingchuan asked curiously: "1,200 silver taels? So cheap?"

Now that the price of ship timber is skyrocketing, the cost of building a ship himself would be 1,600 or 1,700, not counting the labor costs of the shipwrights. By comparison, 1,200 silver taels is truly temptingly cheap.

"Ships of this capacity usually have a market price of 1,400 or 1,500 silver taels, and during the autumn and winter shipping season, supply cannot meet demand, so it rises to 1,700 or 1,800. I heard some sold for 2,000 last year." Ding Zuodong said, "The Yashan Chamber of Commerce is poorly managed, lost a large sum of money, and urgently needs to fill the hole."

"Blade Harbor is full of chambers of commerce, and this news has already spread. The clerk said that several firms are interested and have sent people to look; they are currently negotiating prices with the Yashan Chamber of Commerce. These ships will definitely be sold."

The Yangshan Archipelago is desperately short of ships right now; even if we wanted to rent, it wouldn't be that easy. If we had these twenty-plus cargo ships as a supplement, our transport capacity would be greatly improved.

"Is someone sending a pillow just as I'm getting sleepy?" With such a good thing, He Lingchuan hesitated instead, "Are the ships okay, and is the Yashan Chamber of Commerce okay?"

Ding Zuodong's answer was very conservative: "Nothing has been found yet. But among the stewards we are currently evaluating, one surnamed Guan believes that there is a catch to things being cheap, and this matter is worth scrutinizing."

"That's right. Our sources of information are too weak right now; I'm afraid of saving small money only to suffer a big loss." He Lingchuan made the final decision, "Let the insiders take advantage of this kind of cheap deal."

To buy those twenty-plus ships as a package would cost at least 20,000 more silver taels. The money he has on hand cannot withstand such spending; it is better to be cautious.

"Yes."

He Lingchuan is the Proprietor; whatever he says, Ding Zuodong does.

"How much is the total overspend now?"

"We originally estimated that we would spend 35,000 silver taels a month." Ding Zuodong gave a bitter smile, "But we have already spent 64,000 silver taels."

The month isn't even over yet, and he feels he is truly a spendthrift, having almost blown through half of the Proprietor's capital! If you count the money for buying the island, He Lingchuan has already spent 144,000 silver taels in just over a month.

(End of chapter)