Chapter 818

No one paid any mind to the matter of the tribute grain. The grain sat stored in the Qingjiangpu warehouses, which was exactly the opportunity for underhanded dealings. Besides, how could official business possibly compare to the importance of one's own trade? Even Lian Ping'an was only anxious about whether his family business would turn a profit or a loss. As for the tribute grain, all he thought about was whether the consequences would affect his own moneymaking. As for whether people over there went hungry or whether military morale grew unsteady, why bother with them?

The group chattered and debated until they came up with an idea, then immediately crowded around Zhou Xuezhi, tentatively asking: if the canal at Qingjiangpu was severed, could they use carts and horses to transport goods to Lake Luoma to board ships there, or even as far as Jining to board ships?

The answer they received left every one of them dejected. When Zhao Battalion planned things, they naturally would not leave such an obvious loophole for people to exploit.

The entire line from Lake Luoma to Qingjiangpu was blockaded, and all the overland routes from South Zhili heading north were also sealed off, because those several land routes all lay within the Xuzhou and northern Huai'an Prefecture region.

"Master Zhou, we've never done anything wrong in ordinary times. The deeds of those treacherous villains in the capital have nothing to do with us. We'll certainly find someone to help mediate, but how many days will that take back and forth? Our business will be held up right here! Master Zhou, please show some kindness. We will certainly not fail to show our gratitude."

Everyone knew that Zhou Xuezhi would never accept favors, but they truly had no other recourse, so they could only try their luck with this.

Zhou Xuezhi merely swept a faint glance over them, then spoke with an air of utter composure: "I do have a method, but I'll say this upfront: once you use this method, you cannot use any other!"

"Master Zhou, please speak!" The moment they heard there was a method, everyone immediately grew excited and hastily urged Zhou Xuezhi to speak.

"I'll say this first. If it weren't for the fact that all of you usually get along well with Zhao Battalion, I, Zhou, would not be telling you this method. To be honest, this method is also Lord Jin showing you mercy. Otherwise, once it's locked, it's locked!" Zhou Xuezhi said calmly.

No one made a sound, only waiting for Zhou Xuezhi to give the answer. But Zhou Xuezhi reached out and pointed toward the east, saying leisurely: "If you don't take the canal route, you can take the sea route."

Hearing this, the crowd surrounding Zhou Xuezhi immediately fell silent. Only after a while did someone speak up: "Master Zhou, you couldn't be talking about the Yu Family Shipping Company, could you?"

They were all shrewd businessmen with well-informed news. They naturally knew that many goods in Qingjiangpu nowadays were sea goods and foreign goods shipped from Clam Port to the east. They also knew there were ships sailing south along the Yellow River, loading and unloading cargo at Clam Port. That place was controlled by Zhao Battalion, but the ones shipping goods and doing business there were all sand ships of the Songjiang Yu family. As for whether Cloud Mountain Company held any shares or dividends in it, no one could quite say for sure.

A single large sand ship carried several times the cargo of the largest tribute barges, and taking the sea route north to Tianjin took several times less time than canal transport. The shipping fees were naturally not too expensive either. Yet the reason everyone dared not choose it was that they instinctively felt the sea was dangerous. If the cargo capsized, they would lose their entire investment. Although they could afford the loss, the larger the family business, the more they sought stability.

"Precisely the Yu Family Shipping Company. Theirs is a family with deep roots. If it were any other, I, Zhou, would not dare recommend them to you all," Zhou Xuezhi said with a smile.

The merchants all forced dry laughs. Zhou Xuezhi said no more, only speaking: "Lord Jin wants everyone to be at ease. The troops around Qingjiangpu have all been beaten senseless by our Zhao Battalion. No one dares come here to cause trouble. Even if they dared, Zhao Battalion could drive them out. Zhao Battalion has taken your silver, so naturally we will not treat you poorly."

The crowd again nodded with ingratiating smiles, though what they were thinking in their hearts was hard to say. They looked at one another. As things stood, they could only follow Zhou Xuezhi's method: first go inquire at the Yu Family Shipping Company, then watch how the wind blew without delay.

As the others dispersed, Lian Ping'an lagged a few steps behind and said quietly to Zhou Xuezhi alone: "Brother Zhou, this matter is too great. It's not proper for me to conceal it. I must immediately submit a report upward. This is also the rule. I beg Lord Jin to be magnanimous, and Brother Zhou must also put in a few good words for your brother here."

Zhou Xuezhi nodded and said with a smile: "Do what you ought to do. No one will blame you for this!"

Lian Ping'an was somewhat baffled. Although he was single-mindedly devoted to making a fortune, he had still heard sayings like "speed is the soldier's asset" and "secrecy comes first." Yet the arrangements and behavior of Zhao Battalion today were truly bewildering.

As they hurriedly dispersed, at the spot where the canal was blocked, able-bodied young men had already begun busying themselves. They were plainly preparing to dig channels on both sides of the river-blocking position, diverting water to connect through, so as to prevent trouble with the water flow.

Seeing this scene, those who understood the trade sighed even more heavily. Everyone could see clearly: it looked as if Zhao Battalion intended to maintain this blockade for the long term.

The Yu Family Shipping Company was also one of the foremost great merchant houses of Qingjiangpu. The wealthy merchants soon arrived. The Yu family's Second Young Master, who normally rarely appeared, happened "by coincidence" to be here and "just happened" to come out to receive them.

Once they inquired about the sea freight charges, the previously anxious crowd instead did some mental arithmetic. Even when smuggling goods on tribute barges, one still had to pay off the tribute soldiers and grease palms in every direction, which was also a kind of shipping cost. The Yu family's sand ship freight charges were several tenths lower than the costs of using tribute barges.

As for the risk of ocean storms, Second Young Master Yu, Yu Zhiyuan, also thumped his chest in guarantee. He used his own family as an example to explain: in all the years the Yu family had sailed, they had never met with any disaster. The only real misfortune had been when the Lake Tai bandits came to burn their ships. These sand ships traveled along the coast; there were no great storms near the shore, so safety was also high.

Moreover, if they truly worried about risk, Second Young Master Yu also had a method: add twenty percent to the shipping fee, and if any disaster truly occurred and the cargo suffered loss, the Yu Family Shipping Company would cover the compensation. This was the so-called insurance fee.

When everyone calculated this, they also understood the Yu family's business logic. The total insurance fees from everyone added up to quite a sum, yet not everyone's cargo would necessarily meet with disaster. The Yu family came out ahead no matter how you figured it. If a problem truly arose, they could simply shift everyone's insurance fees to cover that one person.

Yet even with this insurance fee added, it still worked out cheaper than canal transport. The most crucial point was that it did not delay time; it was much faster than before.

After learning all this, everyone began to be tempted. This was no longer a choice made out of helplessness, but a calculation weighed from a businessman's perspective. Sea transport was indeed more suitable.

The wealthy merchants of Qingjiangpu also all understood the inside story of the Yu Family Shipping Company. Behind it, nine times out of ten, stood Cloud Mountain Company. With such a large and established enterprise, there was no need to worry about them being unable to pay compensation or trying to pull a fast one.

One after another, the merchant houses hurriedly arranged sea transport with the Yu family. Li Ziyou, the major shareholder of Tongbei Firm, who did business with Liaodong, was even more interested in this. Most of the goods he shipped out from Liaodong already went by sea. The Yu family's sand ship trade aligned perfectly with his. Moreover, he could discern some clues this time: likely all future sea transport business in Qingjiangpu would use this Yu family alone. Getting on good terms in advance could never hurt.

Everyone at the shipping company, from top to bottom, was somewhat baffled by the sudden influx of so much business, but business coming to the door was always good. Everyone busied themselves ceaselessly. Several senior managers and supervisors had originally thought the Second Young Master was squandering the family fortune. First building ships, then buying ships, and also recruiting shipwrights and sailors—spending a great deal of silver without nearly enough cargo to ship. Some had privately grumbled about reckless foolery, just playing along with that local tyrant and martial ruffian from Xuzhou. But today, they were all thoroughly convinced. So the Second Young Master had foreseen this all along.

Yu Zhiyuan was busy until evening. From holding a smile all day, his cheeks were aching slightly. Only when the sky darkened did he have a moment of leisure to sit alone.

The old steward, beaming with delight, brought in dinner and was about to arrange for maids to attend him, but Yu Zhiyuan wanted to be alone for a while. He sat alone in the room without lighting a lamp, so no one saw him trembling. Yu Zhiyuan shook all over with excitement. Switching from canal transport to sea transport—this was the first step taken. Yu Zhiyuan had not imagined it would begin this way. Yet aside from excitement, he also felt a faint worry. Stirring up trouble this big, could it really succeed?

Thinking of this, Yu Zhiyuan felt a faint excitement again. Could the trouble grow even bigger?

That night, the stirred emotions were not limited to Yu Zhiyuan. For him, it was shock, delight, and worry, but for many more people, it was fury and frustration.

The Warehouse Commissioner Lian Ping'an and the Ministry of Revenue Supernumerary Secretary, as officials connected to canal transport, naturally had the duty to report upward. The two of them were forthright enough about it. They had already scooped up enough wealth for themselves; if they could not keep their posts, so be it. It was merely a question of how to extricate themselves peacefully.

The wealthy merchants of Qingjiangpu, however, were not at all pleased. In particular, the major households connected to the tribute grain were all unhappy. Cutting off the canal and blocking the tribute barges' route south and north—who knew how much business would be delayed, how many avenues of profit severed? They themselves would suffer losses, and they could not deliver results or give an accounting to those above. But Zhao Battalion was truly not to be offended, so they could only write letters pleading for urgent help.

These urgent pleas for help all stated the matter very clearly. First, they said that those who had cut off the canal transport had grievances, that their fathers had been thrown into the celestial prison in the capital on charges of plotting rebellion. Second, they said that this martial ruffian from Xuzhou was truly lawless beyond all bounds, that if this continued, sooner or later the entirety of Qingjiangpu would fall under their control, and everyone would be squeezed until they could not breathe.

To phrase it this way in the letters was simply to give those above a choice: either conciliation or thunderous measures. If they merely complained of hardship and said they themselves were helpless, that would not do.

As they wrote to this point, there was not a person who did not curse. What grievances? Wasn't this simply rebellion? Cutting off the canal in broad daylight, preventing the tribute grain from going north—this was rebellion of the first order!

South Zhili had two Grand Coordinators: one was the Fengyang Grand Coordinator for the north of the river, and the other was the Yingtian Grand Coordinator for the south of the river. The Fengyang Grand Coordinator's title also carried the function of Director-General of Grain Transport, so matters related to canal transport naturally fell under his jurisdiction. The Fengyang Grand Coordinator had originally been stationed at the secondary capital Fengyang, and later shifted to Taizhou. For a place as important as Qingjiangpu, the Fengyang Grand Coordinator naturally had to place his own eyes and ears and trusted agents there.

As soon as the incident occurred during the day, an urgent report was sent out by fast horse. This was a matter of the highest urgency; even at night, the rider had to press on at full speed. Just past noon the next day, the letter was already delivered into the hands of the Fengyang Grand Coordinator.

Thanks to old friends "Yuan Heng Li Zhen," "Shan Lin," "123," and "Qi San Wen" for the tips, and thank you all for your subscriptions and monthly tickets.