Looking north towards the rivers and mountains

The fifteenth of the eleventh lunar month, sunny, but a bit cold.

Liang Tai placed a brazier on the ground. Shao Shuyi and Zheng Fan sat around it, warming themselves by the fire and chatting idly.

In the courtyard just five or six steps away from them, several pottery craftsmen brought from Quzhou were talking incessantly with two foreigners—through a translator, of course.

"Yesterday I visited some old friends at the prefectural government office and sat there for half a day. I found that both the north and south are in great turmoil this year," Zheng Fan said. "In February, there was a rebellion of wild men in Liaoyang. In June, more than 500 Hui people raided Jie, Ji, and Xi prefectures. In August, bandits burned and looted Yanzhou in Shandong. In September, there was finally some good news: the leaders of the Yao bandits in Daozhou and Hezhou, Tang Da'er and Jiang Renwu, were captured and sent to the capital in prison. However, there are still remnants of their followers causing trouble, and they have captured Lian and Gui prefectures. So many things have happened in just one year. I don't know what's wrong with this world."

Shao Shuyi suddenly realized. No wonder he found so much levy when he looked through the account books earlier; it turned out that the money was used to quell the rebellion in Huguang.

"My lord, the north is plagued by heavy rains and floods, and there must be many rebels. Fortunately, we are traveling north by boat," Shao Shuyi said.

For some reason, this year the north has been hit by either earthquakes or floods, and the famine has spread to a wide area. It's obvious that local order must be in complete chaos, and traveling to the capital by land is extremely dangerous.

Furthermore, during that meal with Yu Chu at the riverside courtyard, he mentioned that at its peak, the imperial court collected 1200 million shi of tax grain annually, of which 450 million shi came from the Jiangzhe province, about 260 million shi from Henan, and less than 230 million shi from the rest of the country. The latter two combined already exceeded the amount collected by Jiangzhe.

Considering that Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces alone have more than 28 million people, while Henan and the four provinces of Hebei and Zhejiang combined only have more than 7 million people, the taxes levied on the people in the north are really heavy. In fact, there are more types of taxes in the north than in the south. This may be related to the appeasement policy that Kublai Khan adopted towards the former territories of the Southern Song Dynasty. The taxes collected in the south were also collected in the north, and the taxes that existed in the north were not necessarily collected in the south.

There is no doubt that the North is gradually heading towards collapse.

"Speaking of the boat, did you succeed?" Zheng Fan asked Shao Shuyi.

Shao Shuyi found the word "successful" a bit strange, but he couldn't correct Zheng Fan, so he could only say, "They've already had it dragged here."

"Hmm?" Zheng Fan asked, somewhat surprised, "Where?"

"It's that Qian family's boat shop on the west side," Shao Shuyi said.

"Oh, that one tucked away in the harbor? It's a little shop."

"Yes, it's the one in Luhua Port."

According to the system, "the water conservancy of a town, the confluence of rivers is called a river, and the branches are called harbors."

Loujiang (Liuhe) can be called "river", but its tributaries can only be called "ports" - also known as "ponds".

Qianjia Boat Factory is located at the confluence of Luhua Port and Loujiang River. The sea bream can barely moor at the confluence, but it is definitely not possible to go any further in, since the bottom is more than 50 feet long, while "the port is 36 feet wide and 16 feet deep" - the water depth is enough, but the width is not enough.

"How much are you prepared to spend on repairs?" Zheng Fan asked again.

Shao Shuyi sighed softly and said, "At most ten ingots."

"It's a complete waste of money," Zheng Fan commented again without any politeness. "Besides, if you buy a boat and then just repair it without using it, the money will be wasted even more."

"My lord—" Shao Shuyi's eyes darted around, and he chuckled, saying, "Is it worthwhile to transport goods from Jiangnan to Dadu?"

"Dadu has a population of 400,000, and it's a hub for high-ranking officials and nobles. What do you think?" Zheng Fan chuckled and said, "That's true. We'll be heading north next spring. If we could load a boatload of southern goods to sell in Dadu, we could make quite a bit of money. It's a pity you don't have the capital; you can only watch this opportunity slip away."

"Isn't the gentleman wealthy?" Shao Shuyi laughed. "Why not buy some tea, silk, stationery, lacquerware, and the like, and sell them in Dadu? I'll just charge a small fee for the water and water."

"Get out of here," Zheng Fan said with a laugh.

"I'm thinking of you, my lord," Shao Shuyi said, feigning surprise. "You have two sons and two daughters. Your daughters will need dowries when they get married, and your sons will need betrothal gifts when they marry. It's also time to renovate the house. You love fine horses and swords, enjoy music, and appreciate landscape paintings. All of these things cost money. We should take advantage of this opportunity."

Zheng Fan got annoyed by his words and said, "The three departments give me several dozen ingots every year, which is enough. Besides, I have some property at home."

Although he was rejected, Shao Shuyi did not give up and continued, "Last time I went to Sima Bridge in the old city, I saw many abandoned gardens. Why don't you buy them, clean and tidy them up? In the future, when you no longer need to travel, you can live leisurely in the gardens and enjoy your life. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"You're really obsessed with money." Zheng Fan couldn't do anything about him, so he got up and went into the courtyard. Looking at the potter and the foreigner who were talking, he asked, "How is it? Can you finish it?"

An old kiln craftsman with a wrinkled face bowed and said, "Sir, it's not difficult to make, but the kilns in Quzhou all produce white porcelain."

"They don't want white porcelain?" Zheng Fan asked.

"It's not that I don't want any of them," the potter replied with a bitter face. "Celadon and white porcelain each make up 30%, and I've heard that we also need celadon and white porcelain."

"This is really troublesome," Zheng Fan sighed, and asked, "Where can I find the best celadon porcelain?"

"Jingdezhen," the potter answered without hesitation.

Zheng Fan said "Oh," then turned to look at Shao Shuyi, who had just arrived, and asked, "Did you hear that?"

"I heard you," Shao Shuyi said. "The craftsmanship of the kilns in Jingdezhen is quite good, comparable to that of Longquan kiln. Your Excellency can send someone to purchase some celadon porcelain there and store it in the shop. We'll see if the foreigners like it next year."

"Hmm." Zheng Fan nodded, then looked at the kiln worker and said, "Your kiln owner is an old acquaintance of Master Zheng, and their relationship is quite close. You are also a veteran at the kiln, so you should know that this matter is confidential and must not be spoken of recklessly, understand?"

"Don't worry, sir, I won't say anything." After saying that, he turned to the kiln workers who had followed him and said, "Keep your mouths shut when you get back."

"Yes," everyone responded in unison.

The two foreigners looked completely bewildered, having no idea what they were talking about.

Shao Shuyi glanced at the two men and noticed that they seemed to have gained weight. Of course, with Zheng Sanshe not letting them run around in the outer room and treating them so hospitably, it would be strange if they didn't get fat.

That's good too; the cost of supporting two people is a minor issue. Once the porcelain meets the foreign merchants' requirements, we can sell tens of thousands of pieces next year, and the profits will be enormous.

"When will you open the kiln?" Zheng Fan asked again.

The old potter pondered for a moment, then looked up and said, "I'll open them when I get back, and send a few dozen over before the New Year for the official to inspect."

"Good." Zheng Fan was very pleased and said, "If the white porcelain produced suits the tastes of the foreigners, it will be made every year, and the quantity will only increase. Not only will the kiln owner benefit, but you will also receive more money."

The old kiln craftsman nodded repeatedly, his face beaming with joy.

He wasn't a novice; he naturally knew that the prosperity of the porcelain kiln was related to their livelihood. Perhaps it wasn't just people like him who had spent their lives firing porcelain who would benefit; even their relatives who farmed on weekdays and helped out at the kiln during busy seasons could also benefit.

These days, there aren't many opportunities to do odd jobs in the countryside, and many people in the village want to sell their labor but have nowhere to do so.

"Alright, that's settled then." Zheng Fan waved his hand happily, then looked at Shao Shuyi, chuckled, and said, "Once the first batch of porcelain arrives, this matter will be resolved."

"My lord, you've forgotten, they also want celadon and celadon-white porcelain," Shao Shuyi reminded him.

"It's alright. Tomorrow, the owner of the Chuzhou kiln will visit the Third Bureau at Yantietang. We'll talk to them then." Zheng Fan said, "Forget it, what's the point of talking about this on such a cold day? Let's warm up some wine instead."

"Sir, you have a refined taste," Shao Shuyi said with a smile. "I'll instruct the cook to prepare it right away."

"You're already showing some of the airs of a manager," Zheng Fan chuckled. "Compared to me, aren't the people at the inn more afraid of you now?"

"You flatter me, sir. I'll have the cook prepare a couple more dishes," Shao Shuyi suggested with a laugh.

"So eager..." Zheng Fan pointed at Shao Shuyi and said, "I won't hire your boat. But I can point you in a way."

"Thank you, sir." Shao Shuyi was overjoyed and immediately went to instruct the cook to prepare some of his signature dishes.

Zheng Fan is right. He may not have the title of manager, but he has the function of one.

……

As evening fell, the pottery craftsmen from Quzhou left the celadon shop.

A moment later, the two foreigners also boarded a carriage and drove away.

Inside the Chen Family Winery not far away, a servant-looking man watched all of this in astonishment.

He didn't know the potters or their identities, but the foreigners were easy to recognize; he could spot them at a glance.

Admittedly, Liujiagang is not without foreigners; on the contrary, there are quite a few, some of whom have even settled there permanently. But why did they come to Zheng's blueware shop?

The servant instinctively felt this was valuable information, and that if he rushed to tell Zhou She, he might receive a reward.

He was quite composed.

After looking away, he slowly finished his food and drink before getting up to pay the bill and quietly leaving.