Chapter 70: Sugar Ship Hijacked

Pei Xiuli came to serve the dishes again. “This is foie gras pâté,” she said. “This grape wine was a gift from Young Master Wu. As for their affairs, could you please trouble yourself to plan for them, Master?” She winked and, while serving the wine, leaned half her body against Guo Yi.

Wu and Dong were overjoyed to see this. They hadn’t expected Miss Pei to be so willing to help. She was truly a woman of her word! With her taking the lead, this matter was eighty percent likely to succeed!

Guo Yi’s body, however, was half numb. Although he knew it was an act, he was still complaining bitterly in his heart. He had to put on an appearance of enjoyment and said, “Of course! Of course, since you two think so highly of me, I will naturally plan well for you.”

“Thank you for your trouble! Thank you!”

Guo Yi said to the two of them, “I have a question.”

“Of course, of course. Please speak.”

“Since you two think so highly of me, I dare not but do my best. But first, I would like to ask you two how much money you have. To use this sum of money, there must be a plan. Do you need the principal back in one or two months, or is it fine if it’s for a year or so? How much profit do you want? I need to have a general idea first so I can make a plan.”

Wu Zhixiang looked at Dong Jizhong and consulted him with his eyes.

“Brother Ziyan,” Dong Jizhong said, “the silver is not much. I have fifty thousand, and Brother Wu has over thirty thousand. Together, it’s only about eighty or ninety thousand. The silver cannot be left idle for long; it needs to be turned over quickly.”

Nearly a hundred thousand taels of silver, and he says it’s not much. What a grand tone. The wealth of the officialdom is truly shocking, Guo Yi thought. No wonder the Ming Dynasty is doomed.

He nodded. “I understand what you two are thinking. This is not a big deal. But business values trust and righteousness the most. Now, all the various Australian goods sold by Zizhenzhai are sold on consignment by Master Gao. It is not convenient for me to go back on my word and release goods to you two without authorization. Otherwise, my credit in the business world will be gone.”

“Well, please help us, Brother Ziyan!” Wu Zhixiang quickly pleaded.

Help you? Why should I help you? Guo Yi thought. A profligate is a profligate. They don’t even know these basic social graces. However, although profligates were not well-versed in social graces, they had money. Now that he needed their money, “helping” them was also helping himself.

“I have another way to get rich. I wonder if you two are interested?”

“We would like to hear the details!” The two of them were immediately interested.

“Do you two know about sugar?”

“Yes, yes,” Dong Jizhong nodded repeatedly. “Sugar is a big business!” Although he was not in the maritime trade, he had heard a lot in Guangzhou and knew that sugar was a very good-selling foreign good, sought after by both the East and the West.

“In Australia, sugar also sells very well. So, in the next one or two months, I will be buying sugar in Guangdong. After buying the sugar, I will ship it back, and it will be silver. Are you two interested in investing a share?”

He didn’t mention borrowing because, firstly, the interest on borrowing was extremely high, and secondly, they had just said that they had great concerns about lending at high interest. So he only said that he was inviting them to take a share.

Wu Zhixiang did not hesitate. “Good, good, but I wonder what the profit will be?”

“It’s hard to say, but according to the usual practice every year, for every tael of silver invested, there is always a return of two fen.”

“How long will it take? It can’t be delayed for too long,” Dong Jizhong interjected.

Guo Yi nodded. “Of course! If it takes a year or so to get the principal and interest back, you two can just deposit it in the counting house of a large firm. My business will be settled in three months.”

In fact, it wouldn’t even take a month. Guo Yi had already calculated that it would take at most ten days for a ship of sugar to be transported from Xuwen and sold in Guangzhou. An interest of two fen over three months was very high, but it was much lower than the interest on borrowing. Moreover, in these three months, the money could be turned over one or two more times, which was equivalent to using it three times.

His thoughts having been exposed, Dong Jizhong’s face turned a little red. He quickly said, “That’s not what I meant! Brother Ziyan is helping us so much! How could I dare to ask for more and complain about less? It’s just that there are some inconvenient matters…” To show that he was not talking nonsense, he revealed a little bit of information, saying that some of this silver was “temporarily borrowed public funds” and could not be held for long. Guo Yi thought, how much public funds can a vice-commander’s father have? This sum of money is probably just military pay.

“It’s fine, it’s fine, we are all brothers!” Guo Yi put on a friendly look. “Come, come, drink!”

“Since it’s settled, where should we send the silver for collection?” Dong Jizhong was anxious to finalize this matter. “I’ll write a note right away and have someone go back to get it and deliver it to your residence immediately…”

“No need,” Guo Yi said firmly. “Since we are going to be partners, the first thing is credit, and the second is procedure. As for your two’s funds, I will have the Qiwei Escort Agency come to collect them when the time comes. You two just need to inform your doorkeepers and accountants. I will have Zizhenzhai prepare a passbook for you, stating that it is for three months, with an interest of two fen. If the market is good, I will also give you a bonus based on your share. Is that acceptable?”

“Acceptable, acceptable!” These words made the two of them nod repeatedly. They felt that this Owner Guo was both eloquent and reliable. They felt a little closer to him. With the major matter settled, their mood naturally relaxed. The wine they drank afterwards became more and more pleasant. Guo Yi also took the opportunity to inquire about a lot of official news.

What he was most concerned about was, of course, Guangdong’s attitude towards Lingao. In the official circles of Guangdong, the movements of Liu Xiang, Zhu Cailao, and others were much more noticed than Lingao. Dong Jizhong had not even heard of this matter—Lingao had reported bandit activity, but in these years, there were as many counties reporting bandit activity as there were hairs on an ox. Since Lingao county town was still in the hands of the government, no one paid any attention to it.

As for Beijing, Chongzhen was busy with “setting things right” and dealing with the remnants of Wei Zhongxian’s faction. Recently, he had already reprimanded the cabinet ministers for the third time for their ineffectiveness in liquidating the “rebel party.” It was expected that this year’s “capital inspection” in both the southern and northern capitals would see a major move to clean up Wei Zhongxian’s “rebel party,” so the atmosphere in the official circles was quite tense. The officials who had opposed Wei in the past would naturally take this opportunity to rise. Those who had secretly colluded would have to consider how to bribe their way out of trouble and hopefully keep their official positions. The fence-sitters would have to curry favor with the new court favorites to advance further… The entire court and officialdom were in a state of turmoil.

This was generally consistent with the news Guo Yi had obtained from the court circulars. Since no one in Beijing or Guangdong was paying attention, the construction of Lingao could still have a relatively stable buffer period. This news had to be reported to the Executive Committee as soon as possible.

The banquet lasted until three in the afternoon before they all dispersed happily. Guo Yi gave PEPI a few important instructions, especially to pay attention to whether anyone who came to Ziminglou recently mentioned anything about sugar. If there was any important news, she had to send someone to report it immediately.

The control of Leizhou sugar between the transmigrator group in Leizhou and the Haiyitang was bound to be decided. In Guo Yi’s opinion, no matter how strong the Haiyitang was, it could not compete with the powerful dragon of the transmigrator group. Even without using the Executive Committee’s special forces, just based on the operations in Guangzhou, the Haiyitang was bound to lose this sugar acquisition war—he became even more convinced of this after successfully raising two sums of funds today.

Now that the transmigrator group had a firm grasp on the funds, he was afraid that the Haiyitang could not have expected the transmigrators to have the ability to raise hundreds of thousands of taels of silver so quickly. In the next few days, there should be more funds that could be mobilized—PEPI said that besides Wu and Dong, there were several other young masters from official families. It was no problem to raise another forty or fifty thousand taels of silver. Two hundred thousand taels was enough to knock the Haiyitang off its feet.

China had always been called a black hole for silver, and Guangzhou was probably the place where the most silver was hoarded. Although the money supply was said to be tight, there were plenty of people with large amounts of ready cash! They just had to find a way to dig it all out.

In the past, he had only felt that with the Gao family’s connection, the transmigrator group would have no problem with money. But this time, after a small test in the sugar industry, he realized that they were still far from “abundant funds.” In the long run, raising funds from various sources was the most important thing. Along the way, he was thinking about how to raise more funds and further expand the business.

As he was deep in thought in the sedan chair, it suddenly stopped. The attendant came to report, “Master, someone from Manager Sun of the Qiwei Escort Agency has come to pay their respects. They request that you go to the escort agency immediately.”

“What is it?” Guo Yi asked, then realized his mistake. The person who came was just a messenger; what could he know? Manager Sun must have important news that had to be reported in person. He couldn’t find him on Huifu Street, and knowing that he had gone to Ziminglou, he had sent someone to find him on the way.

“To Qiwei!”

The sedan chair curtain fell, and they immediately headed towards the Qiwei Escort Agency. But he felt a little uneasy. Although he was ninety-nine percent sure about this matter in Leizhou, the closer they got to the final moment, the more they couldn’t afford to have any problems. The key to this battle was the price of sugar in Guangzhou. According to the recent market, the price had been rising steadily and had reached three taels and nine qian and two fen. He had learned from the South China side that according to the locals, the sugar output in Leizhou this year was “average.” But China produced sugar in more places than just Leizhou. Fujian, which was close by, also produced sugar, and he knew nothing about the local market there. If a large amount of sugar arrived and the price fell, the large sum of money borrowed at high interest would become a dose of poison!

At this juncture, he was most afraid of accidents. Guo Yi had already instructed Sun Kecheng that the branches and outposts in various places should report every three days. If they encountered sugar goods passing through, they should try to find out the origin and output of the sugar and where it was planned to be sold. They should have the escorts go to the teahouses more often to get useful information—even a few words could sometimes be extremely crucial.

The sedan chair arrived at Qiwei. It did not enter through the main gate. He was a shareholder here and a close friend of the manager. He came here every three or five days and was a very familiar guest. So the sedan chair went directly through the side door and stopped by the flower hall.

Sun Kecheng was already waiting under the eaves. It wasn’t that he was being polite, but the matter was urgent, and he had to tell Guo Yi as soon as possible.

“Owner Guo, something has happened!”

This was the first thing he said, which showed the urgency of the matter. Guo Yi nodded. “Let’s talk inside.”

Only then did Sun Kecheng realize that it was inappropriate to talk in the courtyard. He quickly led him into the flower hall and into a side room. This was where they held their secret talks.

“Yesterday, a sugar ship was hijacked at sea!”

Guo Yi’s heart tightened. Could it be the Dengyingzhou? This ship was a treasure. But then he thought, the Dengyingzhou had transported a shipload of sugar from Leizhou and had just left for Lingao two days ago, loaded with coking coal. It should still be on its way now, so it couldn’t possibly be it.

“It was the Guangbing!”

The Guangbing was a two-masted Guangdong junk with a carrying capacity of over 100 tons. It was a ship of the Gao Guang Shipping Company that specialized in coastal freight.

The so-called Gao Guang Shipping Company was a freight shipping company jointly established by the Guangzhou station and the Qiwei Escort Agency in the local area to make up for the lack of water transport capacity in Lingao. The ships used were all small coastal cargo ships purchased locally, and the sailors were also hired locally. The shipping company was managed by the Guangzhou station and was not under the jurisdiction of the Maritime Forces Department. Its only business was to run the Lingao-Guangzhou route.

Due to the busy business, the fleet expanded rapidly. It now had six two-masted ships, starting with Guangjia and sorted by the heavenly stems, all the way to Geng. They were responsible for more than half of the transportation of various materials to Lingao.

Originally, the ships of Gao Guang mostly returned from Lingao empty—the so-called “Australian goods” were small in quantity and high in value, and for safety reasons, they had always been transported by the Dengyingzhou of the Maritime Forces Department. Now that the raw sugar of the South China Factory was piling up and Guangzhou was also anxious to withdraw funds, the two sides discussed and decided to use the empty ships of the Gao Guang Shipping Company on their return trip from Lingao to load raw sugar. It was a convenient and profitable matter. Who would have thought that such a thing would happen!

Because the sea was not very peaceful, although the ships of the shipping company had no cannons, the sailors were all equipped with swords, spears, and matchlock guns for self-defense. They were also equipped with escorts who specialized in sea routes. The route basically did not go out to the open sea, but only sailed in the inner sea. Although the journey was slightly longer, it was safer. So the ships had been running for several months and had never had any problems—why did something happen as soon as they loaded sugar?

“What exactly happened? Tell me the details.”

Sun Kecheng said in a low voice, “The ship came back, but five people died.”

“Can the ship still be used?” After asking this, he couldn’t help but regret it. To ask about the condition of the ship before the casualties of his subordinates was too heartless. He quickly added, “Are there any wounded?”

“The ship is at the pier, and we are looking for people to repair it. There is some minor damage, but it’s not serious!” Sun Kecheng said. “The sailors are all resting at the Gao Guang Inn. Some are injured, and we are getting a doctor!”

“Is the ship’s master alright? What about the escorts?”

“I heard he was injured, but it’s not serious. But two of the escorts died!” Sun Kecheng was sad for a moment. “They were old brothers who had worked together for many years. I didn’t expect such a thing to happen!”

Although it was not uncommon for people to die in the escort agency, these two were old hands who had worked together for many years. Their relationship was naturally different from that of the new recruits.

“People cannot be brought back to life. I will definitely give them a generous compensation!” Guo Yi quickly patted his chest. “First, send two hundred taels of silver to each of the deceased’s families as a funeral gift. As for the compensation, you can help me look into it first, and we can discuss it together later—don’t be afraid to spend money!”