Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 554 Where to go
When Xie Yuyan returned to the South City Wharf, Yang Xiaoshan, Zhao Zhongliang, Zhou Guangyuan, Jiang Qi, Liu Erlang, and Zheng Sanye were already waiting in the courtyard.

Master Zheng was meticulous in his work. After Xie Yuyan arrived in Bianjing, he wrote to Master Zheng asking him to come to the South City Wharf to help.

Master Zheng watched as the shops at the South City Wharf grew from nothing to something, the perfume shops became more and more bustling, and the post stations were packed with people every day. He saw everything that Lady Xie did and learned a lot from it.

Now that two new perfume shops are opening in the city, Xie Yuyan asked Master Zheng to be the manager.

Master Zheng was busy at the perfume shop. Hearing that Madam was having trouble with the porcelain shop, he was also anxious. Unfortunately, the perfume shop had not yet opened for business and was not making any money. He could only do his job well and not cause any more trouble for Madam.

He was relieved to hear that the porcelain merchants had been taken away by the government when he came to the South City Wharf today.

Xie Yuyan sat down in the room and first looked at Zhou Guangyuan: "The porcelain business already has a set of rules. From now on, when merchants come, just do as I said before."

"For those who are willing to sign new contracts, give them new contracts. For those who are unwilling to sign, as long as the contract is in order, take out the porcelain from the porcelain warehouse and give it to them. However, make sure they transport the porcelain out of Bianjing as soon as possible."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Guangyuan couldn't help but ask, "Wasn't it supposed to be transported away within three days?"

Xie Yuyan said, "I told the merchants in the porcelain business that it would be within three days because they had previously stockpiled porcelain in Bianjing, and I did not trust them."

"Han Si profited from the porcelain business and failed to properly regulate the hoarding of goods, resulting in many goods being left unattended. If it is found that those merchants did not deliberately inflate market prices, I will plead with the Market and Exchange Bureau to give them a lighter punishment."

Xie Yuyan paused here: "A lenient punishment does not mean no punishment. These people must leave Bianjing within three days, while the others do not have to."

It was really just an excuse to punish the merchants who conspired with Chen Yixiu to scheme against Madam Xie.

The three-day period was also set for them. Transporting goods out of Bianjing within three days meant spending a lot of money on carriages, horses, and laborers. Even if these merchants didn't end up in jail, they would still suffer a significant loss.

This is Madam Xie's "punishment".

Only through punishment can fear be instilled later.

If anyone tries to harm the eldest daughter-in-law again, they'd better think about what the consequences will be.

On the contrary, as long as people act properly, Madam will not make things difficult for anyone. Whether they sign the contract or not is their own choice.

In fact, as long as no one instigates it, even if all transactions are conducted according to the old contracts, the porcelain business can manage.

Xie Yuyan continued, "After this incident, the storage yard will strictly deal with the issue of hoarding goods, and our porcelain business will also supervise the process to prevent anyone from deliberately hoarding goods again."

Zhou Guangyuan nodded.

Xie Yuyan looked at Yang Xiaoshan: "Is the porcelain we've bought enough to cover the contracts that are being handed to us right now?"

Yang Xiaoshan nodded: "Four boats of porcelain arrived today. Apart from the merchants who were taken away by the government, there is more than enough to deal with the remaining merchants. After all the porcelain in these contracts is delivered, the porcelain warehouse will still have half of its inventory left."

Xie Yuyan said, "There's no need to purchase any more porcelain within the next three months."

Yang Xiaoshan nodded.

Xie Yuyan instructed Liu Erlang: "Tell the accountant of the porcelain shop that if the porcelain warehouse is still short of goods after three months, then report back to me."

Liu Erlang wanted to say something, but he kept quiet and responded.

Liu Erlang could hold back, but Jiang Qi, standing beside him, subconsciously asked, "What if the porcelain warehouse runs out of goods within three months?"

Zhou Guangyuan took a deep breath. He had been pondering these things, so he hadn't had time to give Jiang Qi a meaningful look, which led to... this fool speaking up. Xie Yuyan said, "The inspection of the storage yard isn't just about porcelain. As long as there's hoarding, no matter what kind of goods they are, they will be investigated."

"So it's easy to imagine that a large amount of goods will need to be transported out of Bianjing City next."

Liu Erlang's eyes lit up; he had figured it out, but Jiang Qi was still completely confused.

Zhou Guangyuan couldn't stand it any longer. After giving Xie Yuyan a look, he said, "As long as there are caravans coming and going, the flow of goods will be accelerated."

“After the caravan leaves the capital, it can’t come back empty-handed. Whatever the capital needs, they will bring back.”

"The porcelain in our porcelain warehouse all come from various parts of Daliang. In the past, it might have taken a long time to hire caravans to transport porcelain. Now that there are more caravans, not only do we not have to wait, but the transportation price will also be much cheaper. Those kiln owners will not let this opportunity pass by and will take this opportunity to send their porcelain to the porcelain shop."

"Their delivery is fast, so our porcelain warehouse naturally has no shortage of goods."

"On the contrary, everyone is in a hurry to take goods out of Bianjing right now. Bianjing is short of caravans and laborers, and the transportation price will inevitably be high. Which merchant would rush to Bianjing to buy porcelain at this time, unless they are deliberately trying to cause trouble for the merchants?"

Jiang Qi interjected, "Who would dare to cause trouble?"

After saying this, Jiang Qi slapped his forehead: "Oh, so that's how it is. If the inflow exceeds the outflow within three months, the porcelain warehouse will have plenty of goods."

If the inventory is still insufficient after three months, the old lady will think of another way.

From this perspective, there seems to be no mistake at all.

Jiang Qi said blankly, "Old Xing didn't just solve the immediate problem, he's taking care of everything that follows!"

Zhou Guangyuan smiled; now they would have time to slowly reorganize the porcelain business. Who wouldn't respect such a respected elder? He stood at the forefront, helping them solve problems, so they only needed to focus on doing their own jobs.

That concludes the story about the porcelain shop.

Xie Yuyan looked at Zhao Zhongliang: "Now that things in Bianjing are settled, you can take your men back to the Northwest to make preparations."

Zhao Zhongliang laughed and said, "There are so many merchant caravans leaving the capital, and some of them must need escort teams. We can make some money from that."

Xie Yuyan nodded: "Tang Xing will come to see you in a while."

Zhao Zhongliang replied, "Then I'll wait in the Northwest."

The next step is to deliver the goods to the border market intact. As long as there are no problems with this trade route, both the porcelain merchants and the village associations can stand firm.

After Zhao Zhongliang finished speaking, the room fell silent for a moment. Liu Erlang looked at Xie Yuyan and said, "Madam, I want to go to the Northwest with Zhao Zhongliang and the others." He thought about it and realized that staying in Bianjing wouldn't be of much use; at most, he would just be a mediocre accountant. But going with Zhao Zhongliang would be different; he could help Zhao Zhongliang expand the militia.

This was the result of Liu Erlang's repeated deliberations.

Moreover, while in Bianjing, he had to consider the Liu family and his father, whereas in the Northwest, the sky was high and the birds could fly freely, with fewer constraints.

Besides, he had done something wrong before, and Wang Yan always had a stern face when he saw him, so keeping him around would only make him disliked.

I recommend a friend's new book, "Asking the Mountains and Rivers," a thrilling and action-packed story about infrastructure development in a chaotic world.

Xiaoqing's output is stable, high-quality and consistent. Those who are interested can check it out.