Chapter 1183 - The Path to Wealth

Seeing that Zhao Yingong was deeply interested in maritime navigation and spoke quite knowledgeably, Shen Tingyang was delighted. Scholars interested in such matters were rare these days, and he felt a strong sense of finding a kindred spirit.

Discussing the Northern Ocean route, Shen Tingyang explained that this route had actually been operating all along, though previously—due to maritime prohibitions and Wakō pirates—few dared to run ships on it. Only during the Longqing reign did sand junk traffic on the Northern Ocean route truly flourish.

The Northern Ocean route departed from Shanghai, exited Wusong estuary, sailed east to She Mountain, then turned north toward Tiecha Mountain. After reaching Cheng Mountain it turned west toward Zhifu Island, then slightly north to reach Tianjin—a total distance of 4,000 li by water.

Generally speaking, they still navigated by compass bearing, following coastal landmarks in winding routes along the shoreline. So even with favorable winds, the voyage took ten days; adding wind-waiting time, a single trip required about fifteen days; including loading and unloading, each round trip consumed roughly forty days. By modern standards, this was quite inefficient. But compared to tribute boats whose single voyages often stretched several months, it was remarkably fast.

Zhao Yingong calculated mentally: if he provided pilots and modern route charts, distances and speeds could be dramatically reduced—the modern Shanghai-Tianjin route was only 1,300 kilometers total. Efficiency could improve enormously.

"Nowadays the Northern Ocean business gets worse by the day," Shen Tingyang said after a few more cups. He was a forthright character, and could not help speaking truthfully when tipsy. "The capital region was devastated by the Tartars; there's famine everywhere, chaos and war—business is very hard to do."

Fortunately, as the capital, Beijing still concentrated China's consumption power as always. The high officials and nobility continued their debauchery, unaffected by the chaos beyond the city walls. This alone kept the Shen family's north-south goods trade alive.

However, even so, his family's sand junks were somewhat too numerous and often ran half-empty. They owned over a hundred large sand junks alone, not counting medium and small vessels. So they had already converted some ships to the Shanghai-Wuchang-Hankou Yangtze River route.

"Once you enter the Yangtze, business is also difficult. River pirates are everywhere, and at the docks there are brokers obstructing you. Now I've instructed my managers: just transport cargo, don't engage in trading—saves endless trouble."

"If tribute rice could go by sea, wouldn't Brother Jiming make a great fortune?" Zhao Yingong said flatteringly.

"Not at all, not at all. Though Brother Tianru is willing to help, the chances of success are still only one in ten. If we could just secure Taicang white grain sea transport, that would satisfy me." Shen Tingyang shook his head.

"So you're saying, if the court shows any flexibility on this matter, Brother Jiming would certainly exert his full effort?"

"Naturally!" Shen Tingyang said resolutely. "It benefits the nation, the people, and myself—I must certainly cooperate." He smiled. "I won't hide it from you, Brother—for the past several years I've been planning this matter, so I've read and re-read the sea transport charts and books from previous dynasties. If you asked me to transport grain, I'm not boasting—I could prepare a hundred large ships and transport three to four hundred thousand shi of tribute rice in a single trip. All the over one million shi of tribute rice shipped north from Jiangnan could be completed in three round trips. Why would we need over a thousand tribute boats and tens of thousands of tribute boatmen and grain chiefs?"

Speaking of this, his heroic spirit rose, and he could not help criticizing current abuses. "Take the Guanning military supplies. They're currently shipped from Tianjin to Dengzhou first, then wait for favorable winds at Dengzhou before shipping to Guanning. If I handled it, why so roundabout? Ship directly from Tianjin! Think of all the manpower and resources saved! I'm not bragging—if the court gave me the contract for tribute transport and Guanning military shipping, I could save at least half the costs!"

Zhao Yingong nodded repeatedly, thinking: far more than half! If the Senate's shipping companies handled it, they would not need even a tenth.

Had it not been for the current shortage of shipping capacity and the need for a legal front to conduct business ashore, there would be no need to contact you at all.

"Brother Jiming is truly bold!" Zhao Yingong smiled. "But court matters can only be handled gradually and carefully—no rushing."

"Of course, of course." Shen Tingyang smiled. "But if this matter can be accomplished, I wonder what you plan to do afterward?"

Zhao Yingong thought: so now we're getting to the terms of cooperation. How each party would participate and divide profits—now was the time to show their hands.

He had considered this many times and had the Great Library assist with references. Broadly speaking, Zhang Pu did not need profit allocation—his motive was mainly to "relieve hardship" for grain households in his hometown of Taicang; accomplishing that alone would earn him credit. The Xu Guangqi family was merely a tiger-skin banner he was borrowing; making donations to the Shanghai church in his capacity as a believer would suffice. The real issue was profit allocation between the Senate and Shen Tingyang.

But on the surface, he still had to fly the Xu Guangqi family's flag. So he proposed a plan: both parties would establish a jointly managed shipping firm. The firm would be jointly capitalized by the Shen family and Zhao Yingong—the Shen family could use ships to offset their cash contribution.

Total capital would be set at 30,000 taels. The Shen family would contribute 10,000 taels, Zhao Yingong 10,000 taels, and the remaining 10,000 taels would be raised from outside investors—100 taels per share. Shen Tingyang figured the so-called 10,000 taels from Zhao and the 10,000 from investors undoubtedly included shares from Elder Xu or Revival Society luminaries. These people simply could not appear publicly, so they had created this "share offering" as pretense.

In fact, the share offering was not fictitious. Zhao Yingong genuinely intended to offer shares in Jiangnan—this was where the Great Ming's wealth was concentrated. Not using the silver hoarded by the wealthy would be letting them down.

"Capital is easy to discuss. But I'm uncertain where this firm should be located?" Shen Tingyang asked. "I have many properties here in Chongming. I can allocate a few buildings. Ships can easily dock and depart from here..."

Zhao Yingong shook his head. "Jiangnan is a land of rivers and lakes. Grain households transport grain by small boat. If they had to bring it to Chongming, small boats cannot withstand the Yangtze's winds and waves, and there would be an extra layer of transshipment losses. Better to establish warehouses directly in Shanghai County town to receive grain."

Shen Tingyang thought this was right. Besides, Elder Xu's family was right in Shanghai. He was Shanghai's foremost gentleman-scholar; neither officials nor private parties dared offend him. This was indeed an excellent protective umbrella—once Taicang white grain was approved for sea transport, they would offend countless rogues and scoundrels who fed off the canal. Having this umbrella would help greatly.

"But I don't know when this matter can be accomplished," Shen Tingyang sighed. If this did not succeed, all these plans would come to nothing.

Zhao Yingong sensed the moment had arrived. He said: "Once the firm is established, why would we fear being unable to do business? I hear that maritime trade to Japan is quite profitable. Has Brother Jiming ever considered it?"

Shen Tingyang started. Suddenly realizing the other party had Australian connections, for a moment he did not know what intentions lay behind the question. He could only say vaguely: "Sand junks have never ventured to foreign waters, and we have no compass bearings to use." He took another sip of wine and mused: "It's not that I haven't thought about it. I have over a thousand men to feed. But Japan is unfamiliar territory..."

The Shen family dominated the Northern Ocean route and wielded some influence on the Yangtze. But sand junks did not enter the Grand Canal, nor did they go south to Fujian or Guangdong. Though this was not a written rule, it was "unspoken." The Japan trade had always been run by Fujian maritime bosses. While South Zhili merchants could go to Japan if they were willing to pay Zheng Zhilong for sailing permits, he himself firstly had no sailing masters familiar with the sea routes, and secondly did not know how many connections would need to be made—he did not dare rashly get involved.

Shen Tingyang said: "This trade isn't something ordinary people can do. I hear that anyone wanting to engage in major Japan trade must prepare at least one large ship plus a full cargo—at minimum 10,000 taels of silver—and if pirates or storms strike halfway, that 10,000 taels simply vanishes."

Small merchants did not need so much—they could board ships with just a few hundred taels of cargo. But by contemporary thinking, this was still betting one's life. Though Shen Tingyang was far more broad-minded than average, human thinking could not escape its era. For him, trading with Japan was a very risky venture.

He mused: Zhao Yingong's words seemed to indicate he intended to enter the Japan trade. Mentioning this to him was probably because he had his eye on Shen's sand junks—but Japan trade could not be done simply by having ships.

Zhao Yingong said earnestly: "I won't hide from Master Shen—since childhood I've gone to sea on trading ships, befriending various foreign merchants. I'm familiar with sea routes. Especially from the Australians, I've learned secret navigation methods. Without compass bearings, I can navigate by observing celestial positions. Setting out from Shanghai on the fastest route, I can reach Japan in ten days. As for capital, I can certainly afford it."

Shen Tingyang was skeptical. He knew Westerners navigated without compass bearings, using another celestial observation method to chart courses across open ocean. But he had never seen it personally. That Zhao Yingong knew it was not surprising. But his claim of having the fastest route and reaching Japan in ten days seemed like boasting.

He had heard that going to Japan required departing from Fujian—otherwise compass bearings were useless. Could this Manager Zhao possess different compass bearings? If so, would Manager Zhao not have an unprecedented path to vast wealth in his hands? This seemed almost too fantastical to believe!

Thinking this, he carefully observed Zhao Yingong's features and eyes, looking for signs of fraud. But the other appeared both frank and confident—not like a deceiver.

Zhao Yingong knew what he was thinking and smiled. "I know Brother Jiming must not believe me..."

"It's not that I don't believe—it's just too—" Shen Tingyang searched for the right words.

"Incredible."

"Too harsh! Too harsh!"

Zhao Yingong smiled and proposed a plan: he would rent four large sand junks from the Shen family, including their sailors, and he would personally fund the Japan trade venture.

"As for rental fees, Brother Jiming may name his price."

Shen Tingyang studied him for a moment, then said firmly: "What are you talking about, Brother? I won't take a single copper for rental. Only—for this Japan voyage, I want to count as having one share."

(End of Chapter)