Chapter 338: Speaking of Commerce

"General Wu, yesterday a bird-ship returned from Lüshun and said General Chen would be back very soon. If you could wait just two more days, he may arrive today or tomorrow." In the civil affairs office beside the Dengzhou military camp, Liu Minyou spoke to Wu Xiang, who stood before him.

Wu Xiang wore a blue-collared scholar's robe, looking refined and graceful. He had already been here two days. He owned a shop in Dengzhou, which served as the liaison point for the Guanning Army in Wendeng. As soon as news of the great victory at Fuzhou reached Dengzhou, someone from the trading company had gone there to deliver a message. Wu Xiang had ridden hard overland to Dengzhou and was waiting for an audience with Chen Xin.

As it turned out, neither Chen Xin nor Song Wenxian was there. After waiting two days with no word, he came to the parade ground again to request a meeting with Liu Minyou. Since meeting Chen Xin in the capital this year, this man had already sold two batches of horses to Dengzhou through the trading company, over three hundred in total, mostly medium-grade warhorses. He had also helped the Four Seas Trading Company open a branch in Ningyuan, handling the transit of tobacco, tea, and sugar sold to the Kalaqin Mongols. The man was unreliable in battle, but he was quite adept at business. As a major client, Liu Minyou felt he should grant him a meeting.

Wu Xiang carefully sized up the man before him. He was dressed simply but cleanly, spoke amiably, and was fairly tall. The Guanning Army in fact paid close attention to Dengzhou and Laizhou, and Wu Xiang had frequent dealings with the trading company. He had heard of Liu Minyou, knew he was the second-in-command of Dengzhou Garrison and the proprietor of the Four Seas Trading Company. When Chen Xin was away, this man managed Dengzhou's affairs. Wu Xiang found it a bit strange, because this man had not the slightest hint of killing intent; he wondered how he kept those men below him in line.

Behind Liu Minyou stood a huge, burly bodyguard, a superbly stout fellow even by Guanning Army standards. Wu Xiang saw no steward or the like. He had originally intended to offer some favors, but there were only a few guards at the door, neither a gatekeeper nor a steward, so of course he could not very well hand it to Liu Minyou in person. That would be far too rash; if it were refused, everyone would be very embarrassed. He quickly thought of another method.

"I have long admired your great name, Lord Liu. Meeting you today is enough to satisfy a lifetime's wish. I have not come today to ask anything of you, my lord. I am actually escorting a batch of mixed horses to Dengzhou for sale. Upon arriving in Dengzhou, I suddenly heard of the great victory at Fuzhou, and my heart is truly overjoyed. Now that the strong garrison of Dengzhou has bravely dealt a blow to the Jianzhou bandits, that joy is hard to express in words. I came this time merely to pay my respects to Lord Chen and to express a small token of my regard."

With that, Wu Xiang had his attendant bring out a wrapped bundle and hand it to the simple-minded monk behind Liu Minyou. Liu Minyou hurriedly stood up to refuse, but Wu Xiang rose and bowed deeply. "This is my regard for the fallen heroes of Dengzhou Garrison, not a gift for you, Lord Liu, or Lord Chen. Many years ago, I came to Liaodong. This vast, fine land was eventually turned into a realm of ghosts by the Jianzhou bandits. The hatred in my heart is not something I can easily speak of to others. This small token is entirely for the future livelihood of those heroes' families, and has no other meaning."

Liu Minyou was stunned. From the clinking sound inside the bundle, it had to be gold ingots. A bundle that large was at least several hundred taels. This was no light gift. He immediately said, "Our Dengzhou Garrison provides pensions for those families. They have absolutely no worries about livelihood. This..."

Wu Xiang immediately knelt down and said, "Though I lack surpassing talent, I still hold the nation's cause in my thoughts. Now, holding no official post, the only way I can contribute to the recovery of Liaodong is that I still have some spare wealth. I beg you, Lord Liu, to grant me, a righteous commoner, this small wish."

Liu Minyou hastily helped him up and said, somewhat awkwardly, "In that case, I will accept it on behalf of those families for now, and when the time comes, I will certainly inform them that it was General Wu's kind regard."

Liu Minyou was also willing to add a sum to the orphans' fund, though of course he would not tell them it was Wu Xiang's regard.

Wu Xiang had given his gift in a way that left everyone comfortable, and his speech was refined. Although Liu Minyou deeply disdained him for fleeing the battlefield, he found the conversation pleasant. Hearing this, he could not help but ask, "Last time I heard that because of the Changshan affair, General Wu was sentenced to military exile in Jizhen. If you are away for too long, will you face difficulties?"

Wu Xiang smiled faintly. "I now hold no official post. As for the exile, it has already been offset by some minor past merits."

Liu Minyou was again taken aback by Wu Xiang. For such a grave crime as losing an army and sacrificing a division at Changshan, mere exile was already lenient, and now even the exile had been canceled. The influence of the Guanning Army was truly extraordinary.

Wu Xiang said calmly, "Last year, I rendered service at Xifengkou and Hongshan, which should have been rewarded last August. But detestably, the Jianzhou bandits came swiftly, and the Ministry of War had no time to attend to it. Later, I was implicated at Changshan by Zhang Chun and others and sentenced to exile. Though I felt wronged, a commander must bear responsibility. Even if it was not my fault, the great defeat at Changshan is still a fact. Fortunately, His Majesty is wise and ordered Wang Daozhi to re-examine the merit counts from Xifengkou and Hongshan. Thus I was able to return to Liaozhen. Though no longer in exile, I am still a commoner."

"So that is how it is." Liu Minyou mentally reviewed the Intelligence Bureau's investigation of the Battle of Changshan and was not deceived by Wu Xiang. He clearly knew Zhang Chun could not return, and indeed Zhang Chun had not died a martyr's death. The Emperor was furious with him, and no one at court dared speak for Zhang Chun, so Wu Xiang simply shifted all the blame onto Zhang Chun's head.

Wu Xiang was highly capable in maneuvering. The Zhili Regional Inspector Wang Daozhi had initially impeached him vigorously, but later actually spoke to clear his name, saying the Changshan defeat was caused by the cavalry running amok, and thus Wu Xiang's case was pardonable. Liu Minyou was now a man of the official world himself; he could figure out with his toes what kind of deal lay behind that.

Liu Minyou knew this Wu Xiang was full of lies. In the past, he would not have wanted to deal with such a person at all. But now, responsible for feeding so many people, as long as Wu Xiang could improve performance, he would hold his nose and associate with him. Still, he did not want to hear Wu Xiang's wretched tales of lost battles, so he changed the subject. "This year, the Ningyuan shop has enjoyed General Wu's patronage and has topped the performance among the northern branches. In the future, the sums of money changing hands will certainly be large. Last time General Wu sent men to deliver horses, they insisted on taking cash before leaving. I was worried they might have an accident on the road, affecting our cooperation. I suggested your man accept silver notes and exchange them in Ningyuan, but he adamantly refused, saying he could not make that decision. Now that you are here, Lord Wu, I will bring up this old matter again. In our future dealings, we could transact via silver notes. After delivering goods in Dengzhou, Lord Wu could take the silver notes back to Ningyuan and exchange them directly. What is your opinion, my lord?"

Wu Xiang quickly turned the matter over in his mind. Last time, that household servant had not mentioned this to him after returning to Liaoxi. This year, the sales of southern goods and tobacco from Dengzhou in Liaoxi were astonishing, especially toward the Kalaqin Mongols. Tobacco went without saying; those sugars, teas, cotton cloth, and pepper were also major items. Wu Xiang had been a horse trader since his youth, doing border trade in places like Guangning in Liaodong. He was among the most proficient in the Nine Border Garrisons at the ways of border smuggling. In the past, he sourced goods from two directions: the Tongzhou Canal and Liaohai smuggling. His prices held no great advantage over other official merchants.

Currently, Dengzhou imported most of its southern goods by sea. The costs along the route were far lower than the canal. After resale, the price was over ten percent cheaper than in Tongzhou. Tobacco was shipped by the Four Seas Trading Company's boats to Liaodong and delivered by the boatload, making the price even cheaper. Liu Minyou had the accountants carefully calculate this price. If Wu Xiang transported goods overland to Tongzhou, the total price would be slightly higher than at the Dengzhou shop in Tongzhou, but it would not affect the direct-sale store's business.

Wu Xiang had initially only hoped to build a relationship with Chen Xin through trade. Now he discovered it had become his largest source of profit growth. From a purely business perspective, Wu Xiang also needed to curry favor with this wealthy patron, Chen Xin.

After weighing the matter, the horse price was only a few thousand taels of silver, and he could withdraw it upon returning to Ningyuan, so he immediately agreed. Liu Minyou was very pleased to have secured another deal. Wu Xiang was undoubtedly a major client. The Guanning Army had plenty of silver anyway. By first laying a foundation through trade, as commerce expanded, the Guanning Army would have transaction silver maintained in the money shop every month. Once a dependency formed, at least half of the Guanning Army's Liaodong military tax could serve Dengzhou.

Liu Minyou continued his pitch. "My Four Seas Money Shop also has strong backing at court. Lord Wu can rest assured. In the future, I plan to establish this money shop everywhere. For your silver transactions with other places, you can also use this money shop. It is extremely convenient and reliable. For amounts over twenty thousand taels, there is even monthly interest. Though not much, it is still better than leaving it untouched in a cellar..."

"There's interest?" Wu Xiang interrupted. "You mean you pay interest on deposits? Why is that?" For a moment, he forgot himself and even omitted the address 'Lord Liu'. Money shops at this time did not offer interest. Generally, depositing silver notes or promissory notes required paying a handling fee. Moreover, wealthy households were skeptical of the creditworthiness of ordinary silver shops, so most still preferred to store their wealth in cellars and hire a bunch of household guards to watch over it. So when Wu Xiang heard that depositing money earned interest, he suddenly felt Liu Minyou seemed like some swindler from the jianghu.

"Of course, but for now it's only for amounts over twenty thousand taels. In the future..."

Before Liu Minyou could finish, the door creaked open. Someone had actually entered without knocking. Liu Minyou, who was just getting into his stride, stared at the doorway with displeasure, wondering who could be so detestable. At that glance, both Liu Minyou and Wu Xiang's mouths dropped open simultaneously. Chen Xin, who had come in, was dressed like a common soldier. He took off his soldier's cap, looked at the two of them, and smiled. "You two look well. Seeing you, I am at ease."

Wu Xiang was stunned for a moment. He looked Chen Xin's clothes up and down, then asked in surprise, "General Chen, why are you dressed like this?"

Chen Xin laughed heartily. "A few days ago, I made a calculation by pinching my fingers and felt some happy event was approaching. I wondered if Lord Wu had arrived. After parting in the capital, I have missed you greatly, brother. Unable to restrain myself, I returned early. But a general not accompanying his troops is always improper, so I changed my attire. Having now seen General Wu, I must return to the fleet."

"Lord Chen, you still have to go back to the fleet?"

Chen Xin said calmly, "General Wu is a veteran of military campaigns and naturally knows there are many affairs to handle after a battle. This Fuzhou campaign was vast in scale, with many rules and details. I have been so busy that I haven't even finished verifying the battle merits."

Wu Xiang immediately caught on. So Chen Xin had made a special trip back to deal with him, to confirm how many heads he wanted. If Chen Xin went directly to Dengzhou, once the headcount was reported, it would be difficult to add or subtract.

Wu Xiang cupped his hands in admiration. "I am not skilled in much else, but having spent many years in Liaodong, I can still competently help Lord Chen verify the heads."

Chen Xin shot Liu Minyou a glance, then said to Wu Xiang, "General Wu is greatly talented. To have your help in counting and verifying, I could ask for nothing more. Please follow me to the study so we can discuss in detail how to verify them."

Wu Xiang cupped his hands toward Liu Minyou. "I beg your pardon, Lord Liu. In a couple of days, I will consult you further on the matter of depositing silver." Then he extended his hand toward Chen Xin. "My lord, please."

(To be continued)