Chapter 403: The Ins and Outs of Canal Transport

Businessmen tend to exaggerate, but since we're all family here, with the ties of elder and junior, Sun Jia certainly wouldn't speak frivolously. Yet if his words were true, they were simply too incredible.

Wang Zhaojing didn't know what to say for a moment and simply turned to look at Zhao Jin. Zhao Jin smiled and said, "What method does Uncle Sun have? Your nephew truly can't imagine it. Please, Uncle Sun, tell us."

Since he didn't know, he might as well just ask. Only then did everyone begin to sense something — the expression on Sun Jia's face closely resembled the smugness of an elder teasing a junior, or an elder recounting some novel affair to a junior. Realizing this, Zhao Jin found it rather amusing despite himself.

"You all still remember the Vast Transport Granary, right?" Sun Jia asked.

Everyone nodded. Before the canal was rerouted, Xuzhou had a large granary for storing and transshipping tribute grain, managed by a secretary of the Ministry of Revenue. That granary was called the Vast Transport Granary. Zhao Jin and the others had even gone there to play. But once the Jia River was opened and the canal was rerouted to Pizhou, the granary naturally fell into disuse.

Still, the old folk of Xuzhou city remembered the bustling scene before its abandonment. The Vast Transport Granary had stored a colossal amount of tribute grain, with carts and boats coming and going daily. The granary grounds alone were practically the size of a small city.

Sun Jia smiled and continued, "About two hundred li from Yutou Town is Qingjiangpu. Qingjiangpu still has the Ever-Full Granary. Back in the day, that one was larger than the Vast Transport Granary, and even now, it hasn't fallen into disuse."

A brief silence fell over the room. Zhao Jin suddenly looked up, and Wang Zhaojing clapped his hands together heavily. The others, however, still looked somewhat bewildered.

Among the companions, only Zhao Jin and Wang Zhaojing understood matters of commerce. What Liu Yong handled were all details, so naturally, those two were the first to figure it out.

Seeing Zhao Jin and the others react like that, Sun Jia laughed again. After laughing, he said, "Qingjiangpu stores a million shi of grain year-round. That's just the official granary figure. The private numbers are even larger. Everyone is thinking of turning that grain into silver!"

The Southern Metropolitan Region was divided into Jiangnan and Jiangbei. Jiangnan was the most prosperous and wealthy region under heaven, while Jiangbei was comparatively poor and bitter. Yet there were a few exceptions. Yangzhou, whose wealth surpassed all under heaven, went without saying. Qingjiangpu was in no way inferior to first-rate prosperous centers like Suzhou and Songjiang. Ranked third was Yutou Town, though it had risen late; despite its wealth and prosperity, its scale was far smaller than the two before it.

The Yellow River carries silt, silting up its lower reaches and causing constant floods. After southern boats traveled north past Qingjiangpu, the canal and the Yellow River merged for a stretch. This section, relative to the lower reaches, was shallow and difficult to navigate. Thus, canal transport regulations dictated that civilian boats could not proceed north after Qingjiangpu. Only tribute boats, tribute vessels, and official boats could pass. A vast quantity of goods was unloaded at Qingjiangpu and then loaded onto carts and horses to travel north. Qingjiangpu thus became the Grand Canal's most important transshipment point and pivotal bottleneck.

The tribute rice from Huguang, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang provinces also had to be gathered first at Qingjiangpu before canal transport could proceed. The volume of grain stored there was likewise enormous.

The "private numbers" Sun Jia mentioned and the tribute grain used to trade for liquor at Yutou Town were of the same ilk — those who live by the water naturally feed off the water. People involved in canal transport naturally fed off the canal transport.

Qingjiangpu had the large Ever-Full Granary, overseen by a branch secretary of the Ministry of Revenue. The granary also had a granary commissioner. From this Ministry of Revenue secretary and the granary commissioner, all the way down to the granary laborers, tribute laborers, and transport soldiers, every single person took a bite out of the tribute grain.

Huge quantities of grain were embezzled and skimmed off. And since Qingjiangpu was a bustling commercial center where cash transactions were the norm and barter was unworkable, this grain naturally had to be turned into silver to count as a real benefit. Naturally, the price couldn't be driven high.

"Originally, I had no idea there were so many twists and turns. But as the business of trading tribute grain for liquor grew larger and larger, grain merchants from Qingjiangpu began seeking us out. They could transport grain directly to Yutou Town, and the price was even cheaper than from the tribute laborers. We did a few deals at first, and later, as we grew familiar, we came to understand," Sun Jia said with a smile.

At this point, aside from Zhao Jin and Wang Zhaojing who had already figured it out, the others grew even more curious. Ji Xiang couldn't help but ask, "Uncle Sun, we need to supply thousands, tens of thousands of men. Does Qingjiangpu really have that much grain?"

"And it's over two hundred li from Qingjiangpu to Yutou Town. How do you transport it?" Liu Yong also asked.

"Yutou Town has over a thousand large carts. Do you know how many large carts Qingjiangpu has?" Sun Jia was clearly in a good mood, pausing to build suspense. Then, answering his own question, he declared, "In Qingjiangpu, just the carts that pay taxes to the authorities number a full ten thousand!"

Hearing the figure of ten thousand, everyone was shaken. Wang Zhaojing nodded and said, "Southern boats, northern horses. I'd only heard people say that before. Hearing Uncle Sun speak of it today, I can roughly grasp it now. Aside from official boats and tribute grain, all those civilian goods heading north — most of that cargo must be loaded onto ox and horse carts. Ten thousand carts is not surprising at all."

"In winter, you can only use carts and horses. Once the canal thaws in spring, without spending much silver, the tribute boats will help deliver goods right to Yutou Town. That saves even more time and money," Sun Jia said.

"Smuggling?" Zhao Jin asked doubtfully.

"Exactly, smuggling. Little Jin, you really do know a lot!" Sun Jia praised him. Zhao Jin glanced at the companions around him and said with a smile, "Uncle Sun, our side will be dealing extensively with canal transport matters in the future. Please explain these ins and outs to us in detail, so we won't be left in the dark later."

This was precisely what Sun Jia intended. Though he had a bit of a penchant for lecturing, he also wanted to pass on everything he knew to Zhao Jin and the companions. Zhao Jin could understand this sentiment. Sun Jia was a merchant. If he wanted to seek greater profit, he ought to avoid discussing certain information. Yet Sun Jia held nothing back. This was the attitude of someone who truly regarded himself as a family elder and treated everyone as his own.

Of course, the Sun family had lost a son, but because of the Zhao Character Camp, they had made a great fortune and lived in prosperity, safety, and prestige. Now, to ensure this glory endured, they had sent another son over and held nothing back in sharing information. This was also to bind themselves more tightly to the Zhao Character Camp. Even if everyone could guess such a cynical interpretation, no one would ever voice it.

Hearing Zhao Jin's words, Sun Jia smiled and nodded repeatedly, then continued, "It was only after I got to Pizhou that I learned of so many intricacies. Things I heard myself, things others told me — truly an eye-opener. Just now I said that civilian boats at Qingjiangpu must switch from water to land. But how much does a single cart cost to go north to the capital? Dozens of times, even a hundred times more expensive than shipping by boat. And one boat can carry far more than one large cart..."

"... So, spend a bit more money and have the tribute laborers and transport soldiers haul your goods for you. The boats carrying tribute grain have plenty of space anyway. Stow a few less sacks of grain and load more cargo — convenient for both public and private sides. Some big shots on the official side even use tribute boats directly to ship private goods. That's even more extraordinary. That is what's called smuggling..."

"... Just now Ji Xiang asked whether Qingjiangpu really has that much grain. I didn't know the figure before either, and it shocked me when I found out. Every year, the total tribute grain sent from the south to the north is just over four million shi. Yet the transport fees and wastage along the way amount to over eight million shi. At least one-sixth of that stays right in Qingjiangpu..."

After he finished this sentence, everyone in the room drew a sharp breath. Shipping naturally had its own costs — boat wear and tear, crew provisions, the risk of capsizing, bandits and thieves along the canal, losses from robbery and theft. But these costs and losses were certainly far smaller than land transport. Even a ten percent ratio would be considered exaggerated. How could it possibly be double the total shipment amount? This was simply too outrageous.

Everyone knew the vast majority of those eight million-plus shi represented benefits for various parties, but the figure was too staggering. These parties were feeding far too shamelessly. After their shock, everyone looked toward Wang Zhaojing. Among the companions, only Wang Zhaojing had traveled widely and was experienced and knowledgeable. He might know something about this. The reason they waited for Wang Zhaojing's confirmation was that they simply couldn't believe it.

Even knowing Sun Jia wouldn't deceive them, everyone still found it unbelievable and needed confirmation to feel at ease.

"My father did indeed mention it," Wang Zhaojing replied with a wry smile. For some reason, this answer made him feel rather ashamed. A thought inexplicably rose in his mind: How could the Great Ming still maintain an era of peace when it was being bled dry and rotted to the core like this?

Zhao Jin couldn't help but shake his head. These people in canal transport really had it easy getting rich. They were raking it in ruthlessly!

"... When I first arrived at Yutou Town, I thought the amount of tribute grain skimmed there was astonishing. Once someone told me about Qingjiangpu, I realized how terribly limited my vision had been..."

"... All that grain sitting in the granary will just mold and rot. Only by selling it off quickly and turning it into silver is it useful. Are we short on silver? Since we're not short on silver, why worry about grain..." Sun Jia's words served as a conclusion.

When the conversation began, Zhao Jin and his companions had been solemn and serious. By the end, relaxed expressions appeared on everyone's faces.

With so much grain available, easily obtainable, and with convenient transport methods, there truly was nothing to worry about.

"Grain is not in short supply. That place is a hub for goods distribution, so other goods are surely not in short supply either," Zhao Jin said.

Sun Jia nodded in reply, "You won't lack for anything there. It's where southern and northern goods converge. Even when the canal is frozen over, the warehouses and shops hold massive stockpiles. That said, Yutou Town can also supply goods, and it's more convenient."

A smile spread across Zhao Jin's face. Plans he had been mulling over for days had mostly found their answers today. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Uncle Sun will likely be spending the New Year at Yutou Town this time. When Uncle Sun returns, I'll arrange for someone to follow you back. The silver and grain that haven't been settled this year can stay with Uncle Sun for now. Use them to cover the expenses for buying grain and procuring supplies. Doing these things all at once in huge quantities is too easily discovered. Better to let it flow steadily, a little at a time. Let's start right now!"

"That's a good plan. Around the New Year, many people are desperate to celebrate, many are desperate to settle accounts. Everyone wants to offload goods cheaply. Buying at that time can yield considerable bargains," Sun Jia said, his face full of excitement. All these deals would pass through his hands. Even if Zhao Jin sent someone to oversee things, he could still reap ample benefits from it and accumulate enough prestige within the merchant circles of Yutou Town.