Chapter 2477: Distant Relative (Part 2)

"So it is my worthy nephew," Zhang Shizhong nodded and praised, "A man of striking appearance! Indeed, heroes come from the youth."

This Third Granduncle spoke with a voice like a great bell, loud enough to shake the dust off the beams. Li Ziyu felt his ears ringing and was instantly overwhelmed by his great uncle's imposing manner. He smiled apologetically, "You flatter me. Third Granduncle is the true hero, a warrior who has seen battle!"

"Don't speak of that," Zhang Shizhong sighed, looking dejected. "Your uncle joined the army at seventeen and fought in dozens of battles, losing more than winning. This time, I barely escaped with my life, crawling out from a pile of dead bodies, hiding here and there to escape the Tartars. I've fought a lifetime of battles, and it's been nothing but frustration!" He shook his head. "I had no choice but to come to this paradise of Guangzhou to seek refuge with my sister!" He stood up and bowed. "I will need rely on my worthy nephew's care for future matters."

Li Ziyu was so frightened he hurriedly stood up to return the bow: "Not at all, not at all, Uncle is my elder. And we are relatives, it is only right, only right."

"Come, let me introduce you." With that, Zhang Shizhong turned to introduce his family: Zhang Shizhong had truly moved his entire household this time, bringing not only his old mother, wives, and concubines but also his children, servants, and even some relatives—a total of more than twenty men and women. Li Ziyu greeted them one by one, addressing them with a confusion of titles. Finally, the introduction reached a middle-aged man and a young woman.

"This is..."

"This is Uncle's friend, named Huang He," Zhang Shizhong introduced. "He is a traveling merchant from Tianjin Wei. If not for him, this journey would not have been so smooth..."

It turned out that this Huang He was a small merchant from Tianjin Wei who usually traded in Australian goods. Zhang Shizhong's ability to smoothly board a merchant ship bound for Lingao was entirely due to him.

"Nowadays, no ship in Tianjin Wei dares to say they are going to Guangdong. Thanks to Master Huang's quick wits, our whole family was able to board the ship smoothly." Zhang Shizhong sighed with emotion. "He is also our family's benefactor."

Huang He quickly bowed and said, "Not at all, not at all, Master Zhang exaggerates. I intended to come to Guangdong anyway; we were just traveling companions."

Li Ziyu asked and learned that since the start of the Northern Expedition and the fall of Guangdong and Guangxi, the Great Ming had strictly strictly forbidden trade with the Australians and had even raided some merchants selling Australian goods. However, they hadn't caught a single real Australian, only arresting some unlucky locals and seizing some silver and goods. Merchant ships dared not say they were plying the route to Guangdong.

"Current merchant ships only go as far as Shandong, where they switch ships to come south. Some also transfer in Shanghai."

Under Huang He's leadership, Zhang Shizhong's whole family had transferred ships at Longkou, Shandong, and thus arrived in Guangzhou.

"Master Huang comes to Guangzhou for..." Li Ziyu's professional instincts kicked in.

"I won't hide it from Master Li, I got into some trouble in Tianjin Wei and had to bring... bring... my humble family to Guangzhou to seek refuge with relatives."

As he spoke, he looked quite awkward, and the young woman beside him blushed and lowered her head in silence.

Since becoming a police officer, Li Ziyu's ability to judge people had improved significantly. At a glance, he understood that this man and woman were not a normal couple, nor were they master and concubine or master and maid. Nine out of ten, it was an "elopement."

However, the police station did not concern itself with men and women eloping. Even if the aggrieved family came looking, it would be a lawsuit for the courts. He had no need to interfere.

"Since you intend to live in Guangzhou for a long time, you should register your household residence as soon as possible," Li Ziyu said, then turned to Ah Gui. "Tomorrow, speak to the people in the Household Registration Section and ask them to send two people to my house to register the household."

"Alright, Brother Jade!"

After the greetings were over, Zhang Shizhong finally discussed important matters with Li Ziyu. Since such a large family had come to Guangzhou, they naturally couldn't live in a relative's house for long. So the first task was to find a house; the second was to find a project for business and livelihood. After all, so many people couldn't just sit and eat through their savings.

"I have lived in the north for a long time and am completely ignorant about Guangzhou under the rule of the Great Song. This whole family can only be entrusted to my worthy nephew." Zhang Shizhong was very sincere.

"Uncle is an elder who has traveled a thousand miles to seek refuge with me, his nephew. How could I not help?" Li Ziyu had a very good impression of this distant uncle whom he had barely known. "Nephew will take care of these matters. But there are a few things Nephew must say first..."

"Please instruct me, worthy nephew."

"I dare not instruct." Li Ziyu immediately listed the daily matters to pay attention to, such as truthfully reporting household registration, not having a sense of privilege, and exchanging silver and copper coins for Australian currency. Finally, he said, "There is one more thing that Nephew must say bluntly in advance..."

"Speak freely."

"Uncle has brought many family members. Are there any..." Li Ziyu wondered how to phrase it, "hidden dangers among them?"

"What hidden dangers?" Zhang Shizhong was puzzled.

"Is there discord between wives and concubines, or anything among the servants..."

Zhang Shizhong suddenly understood and quickly said, "This, worthy nephew can rest assured. Although Uncle has a concubine, the wives and concubines are harmonious and there are no disputes. As for the servants who came along, they were also selected. Those who were unreliable or unwilling to come have been dismissed and sent back."

"Mm, that is good. Uncle may not know, but under the rule of the Great Song, the law is paramount. Every word and deed has rules. Uncle is new here and may not know some rules, and some rules are the opposite of the Great Ming's. Therefore, do not act rashly when encountering matters."

"Many thanks for the reminder, worthy nephew," Zhang Shizhong said solemnly. "Rest assured, since my whole family has come to seek refuge with the Great Song, we will naturally act according to the Great Song's rules and certainly will not violate the Great Song's laws."

With these words, Li Ziyu felt somewhat relieved. He had just roughly glanced at these relatives, and there were no people with wicked, sinister, or unruly faces. Uncle's appearance also suggested he could control the whole family.

Li Ziyu's parents took the servants to settle the relatives separately. With so many people, let alone beds, even bedding was lacking. Fortunately, the weather in Guangdong was not very cold, and sleeping on stick mats on the floor could barely make do. By the time they finished settling in, it was nearly the second watch. Li Ziyu was so tired he was staggering; tonight he could only squeeze into a room with Ah Gui.

"I must quickly find a house for this uncle tomorrow," he thought. "Living at home is unbearable."

Before he could finish this thought, he fell asleep.

Early the next morning, Li Ziyu went to the bureau to help Ah Gui ask for leave, letting him go home to help watch over things to avoid any mistakes during the household registration. He himself hurriedly went to the Ninth Section of the Municipal Bureau to make a report. Immigrant relatives from the north, and an official at that—given his status, this was a procedure that had to be done.

After finishing these things, he hurried to find Gao Chongjiu and asked him where he could pawn or buy a house.

"The place needs to be big, for more than twenty people."

"This..." Gao Chongjiu scratched his head. "Finding a house isn't something that can be done in a moment. Besides, how much money can your uncle's family take out? I need to have an idea."

"One hundred yuan." This was the bottom line his uncle had given him yesterday. For this trip south, he had sold all his family property and brought a total of more than five hundred taels of silver.

This amount of money was certainly not small, but considering the daily expenses of more than twenty people and the capital needed for future business and livelihood, the budget was set at one hundred yuan after discussion.

"The money is quite a bit. But housing more than twenty people is a bit difficult," Gao Chongjiu said. "Your relative is from a big family. Their housing can't be calculated like that of a small household. Ready-made large mansions aren't cheap."

"My uncle was just a military man in the Ming State. His family has a few more people, but it's not some great wealthy household. It doesn't need to be that exquisite, as long as it can house people!"

"Then just wait for my news!" To Gao Chongjiu, this was nothing at all.

"There is one more thing." Li Ziyu hesitated slightly, saying, "Do you know of any good businesses in this Guangzhou city?"

"Ah Yu, your question is too broad. There are too many good businesses: frying dough sticks on the street is a business, opening a bank is also a business," Gao Chongjiu joked.

"Sigh, I'm not joking with you. It's really that I don't know how to ask." Li Ziyu sighed and recounted the story of his relatives seeking refuge in full detail.

"My uncle's family is in a limbo. Either they are a wealthy and powerful family that has scraped together a lot of the people's fat and marrow; or they are completely destitute, not knowing where their next meal is coming from—both are easy to arrange. But they happen to be this kind of middle-class family with little money but who must keep up appearances!"

Gao Chongjiu laughed: "This is also easy. Nowadays, business opportunities are everywhere in Guangzhou city. Since your uncle's family has some silver, they can open a shop and do a small business..."

Before he could finish, Li Ziyu shook his head vigorously: "Brother Jiu, this uncle of mine held a hereditary military post in the Ming State. Generation after generation, they served as soldiers eating rations and pandering to superiors. Where would they get such skill! Although the family isn't rich, they are young ladies and masters who pretend and order servants around. How can such people do business? Even the best business would probably lose everything in their hands!"

Gao Chongjiu chuckled inwardly: You talking about your uncle is really like a crow landing on a pig! But thinking about it, it was true: take someone like Li Ziyu, what could he do besides serve as a runner for someone?

He thought for a moment and said, "There is one business, but it has some risk."

"What business?"

"Southeast Asia Development stocks."

"Stocks?" Li Ziyu opened his mouth wide. He knew about this Southeast Asia Development; it was established last year. It was said to be an enterprise under the Nanyang Company, specializing in Southeast Asian development. When it first opened, it issued bonds. The bonds were not sold publicly; they were all purchased by local bigwigs who had commercial ties with the Australians. However, he heard that the interest on the bonds wasn't high, and buying bonds was mainly to support the Australians and build connections.

"It is said that the Australians are going to start selling Southeast Asia Development stocks—publicly this time. These stocks are different from bonds; dividend distributions fluctuate with the market, unlike the fixed interest of bonds. In my opinion, the dividends will definitely be much higher than bonds. Your uncle might as well buy some."

"This matter is currently just a rumor. Besides, how much can he buy? It's just a drop in the bucket after all."

(End of Chapter)