Starting from 1618 of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 152 Smooth Sailing

Summer of the sixth year of the Tianqi reign.

This is Lu Yan's third full year in Dengzhou.

A southerly wind blew in from the sea, causing the shop signs on the stalls in Dengzhou to flutter. The teahouse banners billowed back and forth. The men loading and unloading goods at the docks, shirtless with only a cloth tied around their waists, bent over, sweat streaming down their backs, glistening in the sun. This summer, Dengzhou was filled with an inexplicable liveliness; it wasn't just the hot weather, but the emotions in people's hearts that were heating up.

Hu Jingshui arrived almost half an hour earlier than usual today. When he entered, the soles of his boots were covered in wet mud from the dock, but he didn't notice it. When he reached the door of the study, he paused at the threshold, looked at the soles of his boots, and went in without saying anything.

Lu Yan was inside, reviewing official documents with his head down. When he saw him come in, he raised his eyes briefly, and without stopping, he signed the last half-line of the document, put down his pen, and said, "Sit down."

Hu Jingshui placed the small canvas bag he carried with him on his lap. Inside was the bill for this ship, cut into small pieces and folded together. He touched it but didn't take it out. He spoke first: "The Japanese line returned to port last night," he said. "The cargo brought back has been unloaded, and the bill has been settled. There is a net balance of two thousand four hundred taels. This includes the ship's fare, bribes to various places, and the cargo damage from the small storm at sea. This is the amount we received."

"Two thousand four hundred," Lu Yan said, pressing down the number, "less than the last time."

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"It's less, but it doesn't mean business is bad," Hu Jingshui said, her voice steady and confident. "It's just that the principal has been distributed. Last month, we arranged two more supply trips to Dongjiang Town, using the official guise of your position, the logistics and military supplies accounts. We've taken care of everything, we know the route well, and we have people to look after us on the way there and back. The profits from these two trips aren't as high as the Japanese route, but they're more stable and less risky."

What do you think of the Dongjiang Town line?

"We can do this for a long time," Hu Jingshui said. "What Lord Mao Wenlong needs isn't a one-off deal; he needs a stable supply. Grain, iron, and medicine are in short supply every year, and the imperial court's payments have been delayed year after year. He can't handle this himself, so we're doing it for him, and we'll have income from both sides." He paused, "As long as nothing happens in Dongjiang Town, this line can continue indefinitely."

Lu Yan ignored the part about "as long as Dongjiang Town doesn't get into trouble" and instead asked, "How many armed merchant ships are there now?"

"Ten ships," Hu Jingshui said. "Two new ones were launched last month. Zhao Tie was overseeing the construction. The timber was supplied by the same timber merchant as before. He inspected it himself and found it to be more robust than the first two batches, with no compromises. The two ships together, including ironwork, sails, and gun mounts, cost about four thousand taels of silver." He draped the canvas bag over his lap and patted it. "Boss, ten ships, is this number intended to be left here for now, or should we continue shipping?"

"Stay here for now," Lu Yan said. "Ten boats are enough. If we go up, we won't have enough people if we have more boats." He placed his hand on the table. "Having enough is one thing, but having enough is not the same as being satisfied."

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Upon hearing this, Hu Jingshui pondered the phrase "good enough is not satisfactory" and felt that it had another meaning. Without asking further, she simply said, "A new leather goods route has been established in North Korea. Would you like to hear about it, sir?"

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"explain."

"They have furs from Liaodong, tiger skins, mink skins, deer skins. The local price isn't high, but if you transport them to Jiangnan, you can easily make three or four times the price," Hu Jingshui said. "But this route is long. A round trip takes about twenty days even with good sea conditions, and even longer if there's bad weather. The risk is twice as high as the Japanese route." He paused. "My suggestion is to test the waters first. Send only one ship for the first trip, don't fill the hold, let it go halfway, test the waters, test the other side's people, and then we'll proceed as planned."

"Just do as you said," Lu Yan said. "You arrange the first trip, and report back to me afterward."

Hu Jingshui agreed, slung the canvas bag over his shoulder, stood up, walked to the door, stopped at the threshold, and turned back to say, "Boss, these past six months have been relatively smooth in all aspects, without any major problems, but I'm still a little uneasy."

Lu Yan raised his head, glanced at him, and said, "Go on."

"That's the feeling," Hu Jingshui frowned, as if trying to find a word for something she couldn't quite explain, "When things go smoothly for too long, you start to feel like something's not right."

"Everyone who does the accounting has this feeling," Lu Yan said, his tone even, not joking, but serious, "Your kind of unreliability is much more valuable than those who only know how to be happy."

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Upon hearing this, Hu Jingshui stood at the door, paused for a moment, and whispered, "Does the master think so too?"

'

"Hmm," Lu Yan took his hand off the table and placed it on his lap, "So when you go back, sort out the accounts again, make two sets—one set that is aboveboard, so that no one can check and there will be no problem, clean and clear, with all the official documents clearly documented; and another set that is belowboard, where those things that are not easy to do openly are hidden, and they are covered up with a thick layer of documentation. It is better to record a few less entries than to let the two sets of accounts have any connection."

Hu Jingshui understood and nodded, saying, "The master is on guard against—"

'

"I won't say anything about the precautions," Lu Yan interrupted him, his tone not harsh, "I'm just keeping them in reserve. Things are going smoothly because the current situation is still there, but the situation won't last forever." He paused for a moment, "If the accounts are clear, it's easier than anything else; if the accounts are messy, and something goes wrong, it'll be difficult to salvage the situation."

Hu Jingshui stood at the door for a moment and said, "Master, there is one more thing I would like to mention."

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"explain."

"Wei's reputation has been working smoothly for the past six months, but the longer it's used, the deeper the debt will become," Hu Jingshui said, lowering her voice. "The boss understands this better than I do. I won't say much, but those few transactions in the accounts that have dealings with the eunuch system, if we need to cut them off in the future, we need to sort out the loose ends now."

6

The study fell silent for a moment. Lu Yan suppressed his words and did not respond immediately. After a while, he said, "You're right. I'll remember this. You may leave now."

Hu Jingshui bowed and left.

The mud from his boots left several shallow marks on the veranda floor, which gradually disappeared as he walked away.

Lu Yan was left alone in the study.

He didn't immediately pick up the document. Instead, he took a blank sheet of paper from the drawer, picked up a pen, and wrote a few numbers on it:

Ten armed merchant ships operated on the Japan, Liaodong, and Korea routes, generating approximately 3,000 to 4,000 taels of silver per month. In addition, there were large-volume settlements, resulting in a net surplus of about 16,000 taels for the first half of the year. The Changshan Island warehouse expansion was completed, with the workshop producing 35 guns per month. Small artillery parts production was stable, and Zhao Tie's team began testing a new rolling and welding process, with results expected next month.

After he finished writing, he looked at the numbers line by line, then looked at them again, and wrote two words at the bottom: "enough."

Then he stopped writing and added three more words next to it:

not enough.

It wasn't pessimism; it was because he had worked in engineering for many years and seen too many projects with smooth sailing—smooth sailing was often a harbinger of impending disaster. Success was borrowed, and it would have to be repaid sooner or later. His writing "not enough" here wasn't out of dissatisfaction, but as a reminder to himself: if all that he had now were to disappear one day, how long could he sustain himself?

He had estimated the answer to this question, but it wasn't good enough.

He folded the paper into thirds, pressed it into the bottom of the drawer, not on top, but tucked it under a stack of account book summaries, and then closed the drawer.

Outside the window, another gust of south wind blew, causing the lantern under the eaves to sway slightly. The chain made a soft tinkling sound, then fell silent.

For the past six months or so, Dengzhou City has been peaceful, and the Wei faction's reputation in Shandong has grown stronger. When people go out to do things using this name, checkpoints that used to be reluctant to let them go are now less demanding, and the amount of money they have to bribe is less. People along the route are willing to cooperate, and those who are unwilling to cooperate will cooperate after seeing the invitations from the eunuch system.

This is with the wind.

But Lu Yan knew that good fortune wasn't the norm. Good fortune was just a period of luck, or perhaps someone hadn't had a chance to collect a debt from him yet.

He listened to the gust of wind, then lowered his head again, picked up his pen, turned to the next official document, and began to approve it.

There's quite a stack of official documents; they've been piling up for two days. They need to be approved today, otherwise another new stack will be piled up tomorrow.

The afternoon sunlight slanted in through the west window, illuminating a bright square on the floor of the study. Time moved slowly in that light, and the sea breeze blew the window paper up and down, up and down again. Lu Yan sat on the edge of that light, reviewing documents one by one.