Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 710 Tied Together

Cao Yu noticed that the villagers were not avoiding talking about the Xie family at all.

Although He Dong's voice was soft and others probably couldn't hear it, this was still within the Xie family's residence.

They were talking in the Xie family's front yard, but the villagers acted as if they were in their own backyard.

This is only possible because of exceptional trust.

Seeing the expectant looks on everyone's faces, Cao Yu stood up and said, "I'll go and discuss it with Madam Xie. If they invite more people to go to sea, we'll see if they can think of us."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Cao Yu looked towards the inner courtyard, and Zhou Lanqi, who was beside him, said, "I'll go and talk to Mother Yu."

Just as his mother was reporting to him, Cao Yu still had a look of surprise on his face, not understanding why his usually timid and cautious wife would trust Xie Yuyan so easily.

Zhou Lanqi glanced at Cao Yu before saying, "You haven't heard about what Madam Xie did in Daming Prefecture and Longde Prefecture. You'll understand once you hear about it."

"What merits have they made in capturing the demon cult and serving as the military commander of Fujian Road? Would they bother to scheme against us?"

"What benefits can we offer her?"

They had no money, and their heads were worthless, so they were really of no use to them.

“And another thing,” Zhou Lanqi said, “that Madam Xie is really good at business. I’ve been learning a lot from her these past few days. Do you know how Madam Xie started her business?”

Cao Yu had heard something: "Selling porcelain?"

“No,” Zhou Lanqi said with a smile, “it’s selling hot water.”

Cao Yu was stunned.

Zhou Lanqi knew this would be the outcome: "When I first found out, I was also shocked."

"Those porcelain kilns...were all built later?" Cao Yu was truly astonished.

Thinking of Madam Xie's experiences, Zhou Lanqi felt both admiration and regret... Madam Xie had it tough, but it wasn't appropriate to mention it here. She simply said, "Those fleets and shops too... In short... I've met some merchants who do business, but I feel... none of them are as capable as Madam Xie."

Cao Yu and Zhou Lanqi followed Yu Mama forward. When they arrived at the flower hall in the backyard, they saw a man in his forties carrying several boxes of goods away with a servant.

The man's face was ashen, clearly having met with a rebuff. Seeing Cao Yu and the others, not wanting to lose face, he sneered and said, "If it weren't for the fact that we couldn't find a merchant ship, would I have sold the goods to her? She's being so picky; I think she doesn't know anything at all."

After the man left, Cao Yu looked at Zhou Lanqi with a questioning look in his eyes.

Zhou Lanqi lived in the courtyard and naturally knew some of the details: "They were the merchants He Dong mentioned who had goods they couldn't transport out and came to Madam for help."

"Some people just want to fish in troubled waters."

As soon as Zhou Lanqi finished speaking, Cao Yu saw someone carrying goods away again.

Xie Yuyan's voice came from inside the room: "I want as much of this silk as you can, and keep all the lacquerware and tea as well. But you must carefully distinguish them and not pass off inferior goods as superior ones."

"We need pepper, cloves, and cardamom from the merchants from the vassal states. The Duan family will come over in a few days to collect the medicinal herbs."

"As for gemstones, we can buy some cat's-eye, blue glass, and ordinary coral. When our caravan delivers porcelain, we can take these to the capital."

Upon hearing these two sentences, Cao Yu knew that Madam Xie's decision to become a maritime merchant was not a spur-of-the-moment thing. Cloves and cardamom were spices favored by the nobles of Bianjing, so knowing that was not unusual. However, gemstones were a different story. There were many kinds of gemstones, but Madam Xie only wanted cat's-eye and blue glass. Cao Yu had been at sea for so long and had only just heard that foreign merchants were trying to sell these gemstones, but the prices were not low, and to sell them well, they had to be sent to a place like Bianjing.

It seems that Madam Xie has her eye on this merchandise and is certain that the gemstones will catch the eye of high-ranking officials and nobles.

After Guo Chuan left with his men, Cao Yu and Zhou Lanqi entered and sat down.

After taking a sip of tea, Cao Yu looked at Xie Yuyan and said, "I just heard Madam say that if you want to buy pepper and cloves, the big ship must go to Srivijaya and Java. If you want to do even bigger business, you should go west to the Abbasid Caliphate."

“The sea trade is more profitable, but it is also more dangerous. We have to be wary of foreigners and pirates, as well as storms and reefs. Madam needs a steward to lead the fleet.”

Cao Yu decided to place all his bets on Xie Yuyan. He stared intently at Xie Yuyan and said, “I know how to observe the stars and find directions. I’ve led the villagers as far as Chorian. If our boat hadn’t been so bad, we might have been able to make the trip a few more times. With me leading the boat, we definitely won’t get lost at sea.”

Xie Yuyan nodded: "I do need a fire captain, as well as boatmen and hired laborers. If you come here to be my fire captain and help me lead the boats, what are your requirements?"

Cao Yu said, "To be honest, Madam, many people in our village have worked as boatmen outside. We don't lack manpower, but we lack large ships. When our ships encounter pirates, we are powerless to fight them. So every time we go to sea, we are risking our lives."

"If we can earn some money through Madam Xie, we can buy a bigger ship in the future."

"So, if we can bring the ship back safely, in addition to the daily wage of one hundred coins, the employer will give us an extra half-percent of the profit as a reward."

The room fell silent instantly.

Zhou Lanqi looked at Cao Yu and then at Madam Xie with some worry, fearing that her husband was asking for too much and had angered Madam Xie.

“I can give you 10% of the profits,” Xie Yuyan said, “but you have to serve as my fire chief for at least a year.”

After thinking for a while, Cao Yu nodded: "I agree."

Xie Yuyan instructed, "Have lawyer Zhao write a contract. We'll sign it now. Tomorrow, when Guo Xiong returns from the sea, you can begin preparations. Once everything is settled, we'll head to Srivijaya."

Having made up his mind, Cao Yu had no intention of going back on his word, and readily signed the contract with Xie Yuyan.

Xie Yuyan looked at the contract in her hand. Finally, her maternal grandfather's family was bound to her. Although it was only for a year, it was enough for her to arrange the rest of the matter. A single sentence could change a person's life. She had a year to take her time.

After doing all this, Cao Yu and Zhou Lanqi left with the villagers.

After returning to his residence, Cao Yu took out the contract and read it aloud to everyone.

He Dong said, "We can hire you, but why do you want to work for a full year?"

“Otherwise, how can we get a 10% profit?” Cao Yu said. “We have plenty of manpower and are familiar with everything at sea. What we lack is the money to buy a large ship. With this money, we can get a bigger ship.”

"By then, we will have our own fleet." A real fleet.

The people in several villages were all willing to listen to Cao Yu, but they were too busy with money to actually accomplish anything significant.

Now that he has a solution, how could he not be overjoyed?

Just as Zhou Lanqi and the other women were about to go out to prepare some food, they heard a voice coming from outside the courtyard: "Is Cao Yu here?"

The voice sounded strangely familiar.

Cao Yu thought carefully and immediately remembered someone: "It's Supervisor Sun, Lord Sun has arrived."

(End of this chapter)