Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 823 Help
After Xie Yuyan finished reading the letter, Su Man immediately opened a tinderbox and lit the paper.

Xie Yuyan said, "Puheluo has learned that more than fifty ships have been coming this way recently, including at least ten Fujian ships and more than twenty medium-sized warships. These warships are equipped with iron plates and plowshare-shaped iron horns, which can be used to ram other warships."

Upon hearing this, Su Man looked at Xie Yuyan. His lord had asked him to carefully examine the imperial warships, and he knew some details: "The new warships that the imperial court has not yet built are equipped with iron plates. These people must have bribed the shipbuilding staff."

Since the landlord could take away the imperial army's weapons through Xia Mengxian and others, he could naturally also get the shipbuilding company to build large ships for them.

Officials would report these items as losses on the books, but secretly sell them for cash. This kind of shady business had been going on for years, and it had actually fostered a maritime hegemon.

The naval forces of Liangzhe and Huainan East Road only have a little over a hundred warships. The landlord can immediately provide fifty ships as reinforcements, and who knows how many more he has left. If this continues, in a few decades, even if the imperial court mobilizes the entire nation for a war, it may not be able to defeat him.

Fortunately, this battle was not at sea. They had come from afar to aid the Duke of Wei. These people would eventually have to land. What the court needed to do was to take advantage of the soldiers leaving the ships and attack them, thus completely cutting off their retreat.

Xie Yuyan gazed at the sea for a moment and said, "Our merchant ships with Srivijaya should continue to sail together, without any changes."

This would make the owners feel that the court was completely unaware of their plans.

Su Man responded.

“I need to see Puhara,” Xie Yuyan said, “to get something done through him.”

Su Man did not see the letter, but he met with Puhara's men. The messenger repeatedly said that this was all his master could do, meaning that no matter how the fighting went on, he did not want to get involved.

Seeing the hesitant look on Su Man's face, Xie Yuyan said, "Are you afraid I'll make a wasted trip?"

indeed.

Su Man was worried that his wife was overworked and that if she went to see Pu Heluo but came up empty-handed, she would definitely think of another way. Before leaving the capital, his husband had repeatedly told him to take good care of his wife. He still felt guilty about what happened to his wife at the Dali Temple and he couldn't let that happen again.

“I’m confident,” Xie Yuyan said. “Even if they want to stand by and watch, I can still drag them into the fray.”

There is no lock that cannot be opened, as long as you find the right key.

……

the other side.

Zhao Zhongliang bent down and walked into a courtyard.

The courtyard was silent, but once inside the house, the twenty-odd people all stood up.

Zhao Zhongliang exchanged greetings with everyone.

Cao Yu immediately stepped forward: "Everyone in the house is trustworthy. They all have boats and are willing to lend them to you, Madam." There were also some merchants who had quite a few large boats, but he didn't go to them. He couldn't reveal anything about this matter unless he trusted them completely.

Cao Yu took a deep breath. When Xie Niangzi invited him to work on the ship, he thought that she valued his familiarity with sea routes. He didn't expect that she also knew that he understood the merchants at sea. She instructed him to lead those merchants on trade routes and to select trustworthy people from among them and bring them into the hometown association so that everyone could help each other at sea.

Previously, because of Xie Yizhi and his employer's people at sea, small merchants who were unwilling to go along with them could only risk their lives to do small business. Like Cao Yu, they suffered a lot of losses for this, and people from both families died.

The master was more terrifying than pirates at sea, readily killing and robbing. Many people joined him, but just as many harbored deep hatred for him.

Those who resolutely refused to bow their heads weren't necessarily particularly principled; they were simply clear-headed and knew that once they pledged allegiance, they would only be at the mercy of others. Their employer was clearly opposing the imperial court, and when trouble arose at sea, these were the people pushed forward to take the fall.

After interacting with the Xie family's fleet for some time, and with the deliberate promotion of the fellow villagers, they also learned about Madam Xie's past deeds and were willing to be close to such a person. More importantly, Madam Xie was a veteran in the Bianjing porcelain trade and had previously worked with the imperial court to deal with Xie Yizhi and her employer, thus following an upright path.

Doing business openly and honestly was something they had always longed for. Now, following Madam Zhang, abiding by the court's rules, and cooperating with the court to revitalize the maritime situation, their previous crimes of smuggling to survive were even mitigated. In short, everyone here felt as if they had been reborn, transformed.

Now that the lady wants to use their boat, how could they refuse?

Zhao Zhongliang nodded and looked at Liu Tonghan beside him. Liu Tonghan distributed the contract to everyone and said, "Madam is borrowing a boat from everyone, so there must be a procedure."

"The borrowed boats will be returned in their original condition, and if there is any damage, Madam will compensate for it at the original price."

The merchants looked at each other, not surprised at all, knowing that Lady Xie would do the same.

"We will provide financial compensation for the delays caused to everyone's boats these days. If any boats are damaged and unable to go to sea, we can use Lady Xie's boats to transport goods until everyone gets their own boats back."

After hearing this, everyone felt completely relieved. After carefully examining the contract in their hands, they signed their names on it.

"I wonder if Madam Xie needs any more help?" a merchant asked. "Our boatmen are all honest and hardworking. If Madam Xie gives any instructions, they will do their best to fulfill them." He had a rough idea that Madam Xie was unlikely to use these boats for trade. It must still be related to matters at sea. The officials who were smuggling goods had been caught, but the owner was still nowhere to be found. He couldn't say this outright, but he wanted to help, since this wasn't just Madam Xie's problem.

"Yes, my family also has many boatmen who can do things for you, madam."

"Don't worry, Madam. We will select the most capable people and keep them in check... to prevent them from spreading rumors."

Zhao Zhongliang said, "To be honest, we do need help. The lady sent me here for this very reason."

The room fell silent again, and everyone listened attentively to what Zhao Zhongliang had to say next.

“We will pay five times the wages to any boatman who is willing to help, but he must leave with us after three days and cannot go home until the work is finished.”

"If we encounter any danger, we will pay the compensation as agreed by the caravan."

The merchants looked at each other, and Cao Yuxian said, "I and the people in the village can go. We don't need to pay five times the usual amount of money; just pay the usual wages."

Zhao Zhongliang laughed and said, "You have no choice but to go; we've already included you in our plans."

Cao Yu laughed upon hearing this. Zhao Zhongliang's words made him realize that his affection for Madam was different from that of others. It was truly strange; from the moment his family met Madam, they felt a deep desire to be close to her, especially his daughter, who would smile incessantly whenever she saw her.

Perhaps Madam Xie was the benefactor that Heaven had arranged for his family.

“My family can provide twenty people. I will go back and call them over for the Xie family to choose from.”

"My family also has more than a dozen members, and they are the people I trust the most."

"I have one at home..."

The merchants spoke up one after another, and amidst their words, Zhao Zhongliang bowed to everyone again: "Rest assured, everyone, the Xie family fleet will not forget your great help today."

(End of this chapter)