Chapter 2283: Secrets of the Boudoir (2)
Driven by high prices, although no large shipments of grain had arrived from Guangxi, small quantities from the surrounding countryside were trickling into Wuzhou. Some petty grain merchants risked taking boats along the various waterways branching from the West River, venturing deep into rural areas to procure rice. The Australians also encouraged landlords around Wuzhou to sell their surplus grain in the city. Every merchant and landlord who brought grain into Wuzhou reaped substantial profits, making Jiang Rongxian deeply envious.
But he wasn't a grain merchant—since ancient times, different trades might as well be different mountains. And given the dangerous conditions outside, he didn't dare stake his family's fortune and lives on such a gamble.
While he sat brooding, a servant boy brought in a lacquer box, reporting that his sister had returned with many "Australian pastries." The mistress suggested the master might like to try some.
"What pastries? I couldn't swallow a thing," Jiang Rongxian said with a bitter smile. "Just leave them there."
The servant boy withdrew. Jiang Rongxian sat numbly for a while longer, still without a plan. On an idle impulse, he opened the lacquer box. Inside were several round, flaky cakes in different colors, each giving off a different aroma. These Australians certainly were particular—transporting such things over a thousand li from Guangzhou!
At this thought, his heart stirred. The only ones capable of bringing large quantities of grain into Wuzhou were the Australians themselves! If his family could establish a connection with them and become "official merchants," wouldn't wealth come rolling in?
Speaking of connections, his family happened to have a uniquely advantageous position! Energized by this thought, Jiang Rongxian rose and headed toward his sister's quarters.
"So you're saying your brother wants to go into the grain business?" Yi Haoran was somewhat surprised when he heard the news. "Doesn't your family deal in silk? They know nothing about grain."
"Exactly!" Qiuchan's brow was furrowed. "He says that since I'm close to the Australian's concubine, I should find a way to have Cai Lan whisper in the right ear and help him get a foot in."
"Getting a foot in isn't difficult—surely the Australian would grant that much face. But your brother has no grain on hand. What would he use as capital?"
"He has silver, but nowhere to buy grain. That's when he remembered that Liheng is studying here, and that your employer is..."
Yi Haoran suddenly understood. His employer, Luo Yangming, was not only a grain merchant but also a committee member of the Aftermath Bureau and a member of the Grain Guild. Though his business wasn't large, he was one of the real power brokers in Wuzhou.
"I see. He wants to get grain from my employer."
"Exactly." Qiuchan nodded, her face slightly flushed. She had grown up in the inner quarters, never dealing with business transactions, and here she was having to look up and beg favors. If she weren't living under another's roof and afraid to refuse, she would never in a hundred years have agreed to lobby Yi Haoran like this.
"My family is going through such difficulties—things are very tight. My brother has no other options. When you're desperate, you try any doctor."
Yi Haoran's mind raced. He had been busy plotting the uprising these past days but hadn't devised a suitable plan. Hearing Qiuchan's request now, he instinctively connected this matter to their scheme to see if there might be an opportunity to exploit. He said at once, "Very well. Let me first sound out my employer, and then I'll give you an answer."
After Qiuchan left, Yi Haoran pondered for a long time but couldn't see how this could be useful. After all, it was just ordinary string-pulling—using connections through women to seek private profit. Whether he helped or not seemed neither to damage the Australians nor to lure that Hair thief Xie out into the open.
As he sat thinking, A-Chun suddenly came out to fetch him: Shopkeeper Li wanted to see him.
Yi Haoran didn't dare delay and hurried to the accounting room.
"Master Hao, we've just landed a big piece of business," Li Wensheng said. "We're going to purchase a large shipment of rice from Guangdong. Clear up all the accounts you can. Collect what's collectible. In short, get the silver and copper cash ready."
"Silver I have a handle on—more than three hundred taels but less than four. Outstanding debts that can be collected are mostly in. The rest probably can't be recovered any time soon."
"Total up whatever we have; the more the better." Li Wensheng didn't seem concerned.
Yi Haoran's heart stirred. He remembered Zhu Fuyuan of Dachang visiting not long ago. It seemed the Australians intended to sell grain to Wuzhou in large quantities! He said deliberately:
"That money could buy at most a little over three hundred dan of grain in Guangdong. Counting freight, barely three hundred dan. How does that count as big business?"
"Our shop has modest capital—we can't do big business. We're just taking the lead in managing things." Li Wensheng spoke modestly, but there was pride in his voice. "The Grain Guild is pooling funds. Probably needs about ten thousand taels of silver..."
"That's no small sum!" Yi Haoran feigned surprise. "Pity that Wuzhou isn't what it used to be..."
"You're right about that," Li Wensheng sighed, unaware of the schemes lurking in Yi Haoran's mind. "In the old days, ten thousand taels was nothing for the Grain Guild to raise. Even a small shop like ours could produce several thousand taels at any time! Now it takes the whole guild pooling together to come up with ten thousand!"
"Times are different, after all. I've heard that in the past, hundreds of thousands of dan of grain flowed from Wuzhou to Guangdong every year. Now it has to be shipped the other way."
Li Wensheng stroked his beard. "I only pray the fires of war die down soon and return peace to the common people! Rice prices are soaring. This shipment of grain coming in should at least ease the immediate crisis."
Yi Haoran remembered Qiuchan's request. Quick-witted, he put on an anxious expression:
"The only problem is the silver."
"The employer's been fretting over that very issue these past few days."
"Shopkeeper, I actually have an idea..." Yi Haoran said.
"What idea?"
"There are numerous trading firms in Wuzhou. Since the Grain Guild can't raise enough silver, why not invite other firms to buy shares? It's just everyone pooling capital for a joint venture." Yi Haoran explained, "Business is slow right now—every firm has more going out than coming in. If they could participate in this, they'd get a share of the profit. Even a modest return is better than sitting there watching their savings dwindle to nothing."
"That's actually a good approach!" Li Wensheng said. "When the employer returns this evening, you can discuss it with him."
Luo Yangming came back that evening. Ever since Zhu Fuyuan had entrusted him with the grain transfer task, he had been busy with nothing else. The various grain shops were naturally eager—though selling prices would be capped, this batch of rice was priced at only one tael and two mace per dan; getting their hands on it would mean substantial profit.
But though the various families were enthusiastic, they all faced the same problem: no money.
Grain merchants had been hit hardest among all of Wuzhou's trades. Most of their capital had been tied up in grain stock. After the fighting, nearly every family had lost their inventory. Capital losses ran seventy to eighty percent. A cargo payment of less than thirteen thousand taels including freight—any number of shops could have produced that amount at will in the old days. Now, coming up with a thousand taels felt difficult. So far the Guild had pooled only eight thousand; the remaining five thousand simply couldn't be scraped together.
In peacetime, families could always sell houses or land, or borrow. But right now no one was buying property, and no one was willing to lend—at any interest rate.
Of course, he could propose having Dachang advance part of the payment, to be repaid after the rice was sold. That was standard practice. But Luo Yangming knew the Senate was also strapped for cash; this money, once collected, had immediate uses elsewhere.
Now, hearing Yi Haoran's suggestion, Luo Yangming hesitated.
He had considered leveraging other trading firms' financial resources. But this was cross-industry operation; different trades were like different mountains. Would other firms be willing to invest? He had no confidence. Moreover, any such arrangement would require considerable returns for the investors. With the current chaos of war, who would willingly part with silver to do business? There would have to be excess profits.
Speaking of profits—the grain trade was certainly lucrative enough right now. Without price controls, doubling one's money was easy. But the whole purpose of this grain operation was to stabilize prices. One dan of grain would earn at most four or five mace of silver. For grain merchants, that was still decent; for outside investors contributing capital, it might seem paltry. Loan interest here in Wuzhou had reached sixty or seventy percent annually before the war; some usurers charged two or three hundred percent. At current market rates, no one was willing to lend.
"Your idea isn't bad, but this rice is price-controlled. High capital investment, low profit, and some risk. Other firms might not be willing..."
"Employer! You can't judge the present by the past, and you can't measure respectable shopkeepers by the appetites of loan sharks," Yi Haoran said. "Right now, every firm has more outflows than income. No one knows when the Guangxi campaign will end. Various families have no business to conduct; silver sitting idle doesn't breed more silver. If you could get Prefect Xie to call a meeting, summon the shopkeepers of various firms in his official capacity, and explain that transporting grain benefits both country and people—that everyone should contribute capital, pool resources, and share whatever profit comes from sales—there would be at least some income. That's surely better than watching their fortunes dwindle away to nothing."
These words were well-reasoned and persuasive, making the occasionally headache-prone Luo Yangming nod repeatedly. He hadn't expected this advisor to have such insights! He couldn't help studying the half-worn older man before him more closely. Though his clothes were threadbare and his appearance shabby, his speech and bearing were entirely different from ordinary private tutors.
When Ding A-tao had recommended him, he'd said the man was a private tutor who had worked for official families. But judging by his words and manner, he had probably also served as a private secretary—a mufu advisor.
Suspicion stirred in Luo Yangming's heart—the sixth sense his profession had given him. This Advisor Hao was probably not as simple as an ordinary private tutor. Though he had dutifully tended the shop these past days without doing anything strange, it would be wise to keep an eye on him.
Despite his suspicions, Luo Yangming betrayed nothing in his expression. He simply said, "You make good points. Tomorrow I'll discuss this with the various Bureau Directors and propose it to Chief Xie together."
After Luo Yangming returned to the inner residence, he asked Ding A-tao again about this Advisor Hao's background.
"Didn't I already tell the master his background?" Ding A-tao said, puzzled. "He's a relative by marriage of the Jiang family, who own the Ruijintang Silk Shop on West Street. He's from Teng County. He was working as a private tutor for official families somewhere. With the fires of war raging across the Two Guangs, he didn't dare go home, so he's been drifting around Wuzhou."
Next Update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Part 487 (End of Chapter)