Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 533 Ability
Xie Yuyan sat in the porcelain shop, with many accounts still incomplete in front of him.

Several accountants sat to her left and right, fiddling with counting rods and beads, the room filled with the crisp sound of beads clinking together.

Liu Zhi came over with a stack of contracts, his brow furrowed, his face full of worry, anxious for Madam Xie. Merchants came to the porcelain shop every day with contracts in hand.

He originally thought that only merchants from Bianjing who traded porcelain would come to his door, and that as long as he handled the first few days well, the number of contracts he received would gradually decrease. However, he did not expect that after he had sent away so many merchants, many more people would still come.

Liu Zhi was a little busy, it was just checking the contracts and finding any loopholes to prevent his wife from being cheated. If any merchants tried to take advantage of the situation, he would immediately report it to the authorities. But his wife was different; every transaction here had to be handled properly.

Xie Yuyan looked up and saw Liu Zhi's worried expression. She asked, "Has Lawyer Liu found another problematic contract?"

Liu Zhi shook his head and then sighed: "No, it's just that... how can we possibly manage so many contracts?"

"No rush," Xie Yuyan said, his brows relaxed and his face unusually calm. "We can handle it little by little."

Liu Zhi wiped the sweat from his forehead: "I think they're just deliberately making trouble. Many contracts don't specify when the goods will be delivered, but they're forcing us to take the porcelain now."

These contracts were left by Han Si. Usually, the goods were delivered at the end of the year, but now he is forcing Madam Xie to take them out immediately.

"Why don't we just send it to the yamen and let them deal with it?" Liu Zhi said. "Anyway, it was all Han Si's doing. Han Si is already in jail, so we're not afraid of adding another charge to his list."

Xie Yuyan took the contracts and looked at them: "What will be the result if we send these contracts to the yamen? How will the yamen rule on this case?"

"Since the contract states that merchants can come to Bianjing to pick up their goods at any time, what's wrong with them coming to ask for them now?"

Liu Zhi was speechless.

Xie Yuyan said, "I am a veteran in the porcelain trade. If we have to go to the government office to handle all these matters, what is the point of the porcelain trade? The Market and Exchange Bureau has resolved these issues, so from now on we will have to follow their instructions in everything we do."

Liu Zhi hadn't thought of these things, but now that Madam Xie brought them up, he suddenly realized... there was such a problem.

"Will they still fight for power?"

Xie Yuyan said, "The imperial court established the Market Exchange Bureau to stabilize prices and curb land annexation. However, this is a new policy of this dynasty. There was no similar government office before. No one knows what the Market Exchange Bureau can do or how it will do it."

Liu Zhi frowned: "Logically speaking, shouldn't the market exchange policy be a good thing?" He remembered that Madam Xie supported the new policies. When they were in Daming Prefecture, the court opened up the market, and Madam Xie said that these new policies were very good and that they should seize the opportunity.

Could it be that Madam Xie took over the porcelain business because she saw the potential in the market exchange law?
Xie Yuyan said, "The new policies are certainly good; at least they are intended to stabilize the people and the Liang Dynasty."

"But many things, once implemented, may not necessarily achieve the desired results. The same applies to the Market Affairs Bureau. If they are involved too much, it is equivalent to handing over all the business in Bianjing to the officials for control. In that case, all the guilds will become the officials' money bags, at their mercy."

“I see,” Liu Zhi said. “If Madam doesn’t do her job well, the Market Management Office will have a good excuse to take over.”

No wonder the eldest daughter-in-law insisted on doing everything herself.

If it were him, he wouldn't even realize that someone had taken his power.

“This is too… complicated,” Liu Zhi said. “It turns out that being an elder is not so easy.”

“When Han Si was in charge of the porcelain industry, he relied on officials like Xia Mengxian, who opposed the new policies, to restrain the Market and Exchange Bureau,” Xie Yuyan said. “Now that Xia Mengxian and Han Si are gone, it seems that we have no obstacles and can do things smoothly as long as we rely on the Market and Exchange Bureau, but that’s not the case…”

“We are the porcelain guild, not the market trade guild. Do you understand the difference?”

Liu Zhi nodded.

“If one day the guild leaders become the henchmen of the imperial court who oppress merchants and common people,” Liu Zhi said, “it would be better if the guilds didn’t exist.”

Seeing that Liu Zhi understood, Xie Yuyan stopped discussing the matter and instead focused her attention back on the contracts. Liu Song went over and explained the general details of each contract to Xie Yuyan.

It took the two of them a long time to go through all the contracts for the day.

Xie Yuyan said, "Tell them that I need to deal with the contracts first, and that they should wait in Bianjing."

Liu Song responded.

"In the next few days, I should be able to find a few more merchants like Shang Wenchao. I will write new contracts with them. Once there are more merchants like him, others will naturally follow suit."

Liu Song asked, "What about the rest?"

Xie Yuyan said, "Ten days later, have them all come to the porcelain shop, and I will give them my answer then."

Liu Song nodded. After hearing what Madam Xie said, he would respond in the same way no matter how many people came afterward.

After Liu Song left, Yang Xiaoshan went into the room.

Xie Yuyan asked, "How is it? They've all left?"

Yang Xiaoshan said, "Send out seven people to buy porcelain from all over the place. We will buy separately and in small quantities so that we won't attract attention."

Merchants who absolutely needed porcelain had to buy it from outside Bianjing because there wasn't enough. They would inevitably lose money by buying it and then reselling it. But Xie Yuyan wasn't worried about that. She would naturally earn back double the money she spent today from these people.

The key is to catch these people off guard.

Now she has manpower and a fleet of ships. The bodyguard team led by Sun Changchun can temporarily act as a merchant caravan to help her transport goods, and these porcelains can be delivered to Bianjing quietly.

"Don't worry, Madam," Yang Xiaoshan said, "I will definitely handle things well."

The current Yang Xiaoshan is different from the one in Daming Prefecture. He has many people under his command and can get information from all sides. Xie Yuyan is very relieved to entrust this matter to him.

The next step is to meet with the officials in charge of market transactions.

Xie Yuyan instructed her mother, "Prepare some gifts; we're going to the market tomorrow."

She paused for a moment, then said, "Just bring a few pieces of porcelain, but remember not to make them too valuable." As long as the gifts are delivered and the manners are impeccable, that's enough; don't spoil their appetites.

Otherwise, we'll have to keep sending them money and valuables.

Madam Yu replied, "This servant understands."

Xie Yuyan stretched her arms slightly, about to pick up the tea to drink, when suddenly a weight settled on her legs as a furry little thing snuggled into her arms.

Xie Yuyan smiled and reached out to hug the cat.

Presumably guessing that she would be busy, Wang Yan specially asked Sang Dian to send the cat over.

Every time the raccoon jumps over to act cute, she is forced to take a break.

Stroking the cat's big head, Xie Yuyan couldn't help but smile.

Seeing this, Madam Yu breathed a sigh of relief. In the end, it was Wang Langjun who had a solution. She had advised the eldest daughter-in-law to rest, but the eldest daughter-in-law would always just give perfunctory replies. Now that the cat was there, the eldest daughter-in-law had no choice but to spare some time.

That's why you have to read more books! The more you read, the better your brain works, and you can always make your wife happy.