Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 362 Fleet
Xie Yuyan looked at Guo Xiong and Guo Chuan. The two brothers were much calmer now than when they first entered the room.

“This case is all thanks to Lord Xu,” Xie Yuyan said. “If it weren’t for someone in the government intervening, you wouldn’t have been able to get away so easily, and the He family would never have been investigated.”

Guo Xiong and Guo Chuan nodded.

Guo Chuan looked ashamed again. If his elder brother hadn't followed the rules of sailing and hadn't violated the laws of Daliang, how would they have dared to report him to the authorities?

This was a lesson he learned, and he never dared to have such thoughts again.

Xie Yuyan said, "The Feng family's case still needs to rely on the government office. All you can do is write down everything you know in the complaint."

The two brothers responded.

Guo Xiong paused for a moment and said, "It won't be so easy for the Feng family to seek justice."

He knew more than Guo Chuan.

"When Brother Feng went to the capital, he told the Feng clan members to move to the south to avoid being implicated. He also left a message saying that he and his sister would definitely not return this time, but as their children, they could not fail to seek justice for their parents."

Before leaving, he warned his clansmen not to go to Bianjing to do business, because the waters there were very deep, and they should never join any guilds.

"They didn't say anything about the Feng family case."

Xie Yuyan said, "Since we are afraid of implicating our clansmen, we will not reveal any more details."

Guo Xiong nodded.

Guo Chuan asked, "Are guilds really that powerful?"

Guo Xiong said, "Just like on the Bian River, you have to join a guild to do business in the capital. There are grain shops, cloth shops, wine shops, and even flower shops. Although we don't feel how deep the water is in other guilds, the tension on the Bian River is right before our eyes."

Guo Chuan thought about it carefully and realized that this made sense. The reason they didn't know was because they had never been in that industry.

As he spoke, Guo Xiong looked at Xie Yuyan and said, "Madam should know about the porcelain business. The head of the porcelain business is Han Si, the one who went to Daming Prefecture this time."

Xie Yuyan easily defeated Han Si in Daming Prefecture because Prefect Liu and others were arrested, the Xie family was imprisoned, and the porcelain industry in Daming Prefecture was leaderless, with no one to help Han Si.

Things are different once you enter Bianjing. Han Si has someone backing him up, so it's not easy to suppress him.

This is why Xie Yuyan hesitated to join a guild, instead establishing a village association in Daming Prefecture. If it were a porcelain guild in Daming Prefecture, they would have to abide by the rules of a guild. Their village association, however, was based on the people of their village; the villagers' business extended beyond porcelain, thus preventing a sense of isolation. Even if their business extended to Bianjing, they could still exchange goods and services within the village association.

The biggest difference between a village association and a guild is that Xie Yuyan focused on uniting people from the very beginning, rather than prioritizing personal gain. This is why Wang Yan was wary of her from the start, saying that she had ulterior motives.

She had ulterior motives, but the person who was wary of her before has now become another source of support for her.

Therefore, she arrived in Bianjing earlier than expected.

Xie Yuyan said, "The Feng family has entered the cloth trade."

Guo Xiong nodded and said, "That's right. The Feng family's business has always been good in the county. They would use any surplus money to help the villagers, which is why their shops became more and more prosperous. So they thought of opening a shop in Bianjing, thinking that business would be even better, but they didn't expect it to bring them trouble." Without needing to verify, they knew that the Feng family must have been harmed by those big merchants and officials in the capital, but they had no evidence and didn't know who to point the finger at.

Guo Xiong mentioned the Feng family's case to remind Madam Xie that she needed to be careful in everything she did if she wanted to establish herself in Bianjing.

Xie Yuyan naturally understood Guo Xiong's meaning, but in her eyes, the guilds in Bianjing were insignificant. She didn't care about them, nor was she afraid of the powerful families and high-ranking officials behind them.

Those aristocratic families all desired to prosper for a hundred years, stuffing their sons into the imperial court. However, decades later, the Northern Qi invaded Bianjing twice. The Liang emperors were like stray dogs, lacking even the courage to fight, and fled south with their officials. Numerous scions of noble families were captured by the Northern Qi, and many more fled at the mere sight of them, robbing ordinary people of their carriages, horses, and boats to transport their wealth.

Those people all have their own agendas and are only after their own interests. When things are good, they can help each other, but when trouble comes, they will only try to protect themselves.

Xie Yuyan had already clearly seen their true colors when the country was destroyed and his family was ruined, and he only felt disgusted when he faced them.

Guo Xiong and Guo Chuan saw no worry or fear on Madam Xie's face, only a calm and composed demeanor.

Xie Yuyan said, "The Feng family's case will take some time to investigate. I will have people inquire about the situation. There's no rush to get involved." She was also in no hurry to see Feng Erniang. With Xu Huaiyi around, Feng Erniang would report any information she knew to the court.

To thoroughly investigate the Feng family's case, we need to wait for the right opportunity.

"Right now, we need to take advantage of this case to establish a foothold on the Bian River," Xie Yuyan said. "We'll start training the fleet starting tomorrow."

Guo Xiong listened attentively.

Xie Yuyan said, "I brought a few men from the Yang family to work for you."

Guo Xiong and Guo Chuan responded.

"As for your wages, it will be as I said before: Guo Xiong will receive 300 coins a day, and Guo Chuan will receive 200 coins a day. After three years, we will give you three boats. If the boatmen are willing to follow you, you can take them with you."

After saying this, Xie Yuyan took out a map and handed it to Guo Xiong and Guo Chuan: "I want you to familiarize yourselves with this waterway and make at least one round trip every day. If you encounter any blockages in the waterway, report to the local government and we will send troops to clear the blockages."

Ships clearing silt are given priority passage on this waterway, as is customary. Naturally, if the imperial court requires it, the ships will also be allowed to transport goods for the court.

“This waterway,” Guo Xiong frowned, “rarely sees ships coming and going. It doesn’t produce grain or much cargo. Is Madam sure we want to take this route?”

Xie Yuyan said, "Our fleet mostly travels on this waterway. We don't have enough ships right now. You need to be prepared that we may add a dozen more within a few months."

Guo Xiong's eyes widened, and after a long while, he finally asked, "Then... what are we transporting?"

Xie Yuyan said, "When transporting clothing, food and other miscellaneous goods from Bianjing, I will have someone rent out a few shops there to temporarily store rice, cloth, ceramics and household items, as well as some goods that are not easily damaged."

"You just need to handle the transportation."

"Then what about transporting it to Bianjing? What needs to be transported?" Guo Xiong asked again.

Xie Yuyan said, "We don't have anything yet, so we'll just come back empty-handed."

How much manpower and resources does this back and forth consume? Are you really not buying anything?

Guo Chuan said, "Can't boatmen earn wages while they're idle?"

Guo Xiong shook his head: "We won't be idle; we still need to clear the sludge." But what happens after all that is done?
Seeing the two looking blank, Xie Yuyan knew that Guo Xiong could figure it out eventually even if she didn't say anything, but to avoid making them rack their brains, she simply revealed the answer: "Coal."

We need to transport coal to Beijing in the future.

Once the news spreads, many more boats will appear on this waterway, and they will gain a foothold by virtue of their familiarity with the waterway due to their dredging work.

It's late today. During the Chinese New Year, gatherings disrupted my train of thought and rhythm. I'll update Chapter Two later.