Chapter 97 - The Qiewei Inn

Qiewei’s initial success in Guangzhou was largely due to Zhang Xin introducing modern transportation concepts: providing convenient, comfortable, and safe passenger and cargo transport services at relatively low prices.

Although Shanghai was a small county town in this era, it held a crucial position in the Planning Department’s transportation plans. Placing Qiewei’s Jiangnan headquarters in Shanghai instead of Nanjing or Guangzhou fully demonstrated Wu De’s emphasis on the location.

Mao Sansheng, the Guihua manager of the Shanghai headquarters, learned from a coded message from the general administration that his superior had arrived in Hangzhou. Not daring to delay, shortly after arranging for the inspection team to go to Hangzhou, he himself immediately brought his aides to Hangzhou to report and ask for instructions.

As the head of the Hangzhou station, Zhao Yigong had the highest supervisory authority over the specific operations of the entire Shanghai headquarters. However, in his public identity, he had no connection with Qiewei Escort’s Shanghai headquarters. Therefore, Mao Sansheng’s visit to Hangzhou was not a subordinate meeting a superior, but a business owner visiting a major client. Apart from him, no one else in the headquarters—including other Guihua—knew Zhao Yigong’s true identity.

Zhao Yigong received Mao Sansheng in his private residence in Qinghefang. He was already overwhelmed with building the Phoenix Mountain Villa, preparing for the sericulture industry, and setting up a bookstore, but he still had to oversee the matter of the long-distance transport company. After all, the next step of collecting and transporting refugees would rely on Qiewei’s network.

From Mao Sansheng, he learned that transportation in Jiangnan primarily relied on boats. Few people, rich or poor, traveled long distances by land. The sedan chair business could be postponed for now, concentrating efforts on shipping.

The inland river shipping business in the Jiangnan region was basically operated by individuals, with one family running one boat. Large boats that could carry dozens of people traveled between towns and counties, while smaller ones were like the “Wuxi Kuaizhou” (Wuxi fast boats). Besides individual operators, there were also some shipping companies, but they were small in scale and mainly operated on the Grand Canal and the Yangtze River.

However, it was not easy to enter the shipping business. For north-south shipping in the Southern Zhili and Zhejiang provinces, the most valuable route was the Grand Canal. This canal was a major north-south artery, and countless people made their living from it. The most formidable group was the grain transport boatmen. In the Ming Dynasty, there was no “Grain Transport Gang”; the personnel responsible for grain transport were soldiers by status, belonging to the garrisons (Wei-Suo) of the various prefectures and counties along the river. Each garrison had a fixed quota of grain transport soldiers (Caoding) and dedicated official lands.

The grain transport soldiers had heavy duties. Due to various systemic flaws, they often had to bear losses when transporting grain, causing them great hardship. However, these soldiers had an official status, which gave them special privileges for passage and customs on the canal. Whether heading north with grain or south with empty boats, carrying passengers and cargo along the way was an important source of income for them. If the shipping company established by Qiewei were to operate on the canal and compete for business, it would likely face resistance from the grain transport soldiers.

The grain transport soldiers were numerous, powerful, and united. With their official status for transporting grain, Qiewei would be no match for them in any conflict, whether it was a legal dispute or a private brawl.

Zhao Yigong frowned. “So, we can’t even touch this canal?”

Mao Sansheng said, “From Hangzhou to Nanjing and Yangzhou, it’s still manageable. The grain boats are heavily loaded on their way north, so even if they take passengers and cargo, the quantity is limited. People with a little money are unwilling to be squeezed in with grain sacks. But on the way south from Yangzhou, the boats are empty. They definitely won’t give up that profit.”

Whether heading north or south, carrying passengers and cargo was a side business for the grain boats, so their fees were relatively low. This would create competition for Qiewei’s mass-market routes. Even if the grain boatmen didn’t cause trouble, Qiewei might not have a guaranteed victory in pure competition.

After arriving in Shanghai, Mao Sansheng had toured the Jiangnan region to investigate the local conditions. He was not very confident about starting a shipping company.

“If we start, I’m afraid it will be difficult for us to get involved in the business on the canal. There are too many unofficial rules and fees at the locks and gates,” Mao Sansheng said.

Zhao Yigong said, “Since it’s not easy for us to get involved on the canal, let’s start with the Yangtze River.”

Mao Sansheng said with difficulty, “I’m afraid the Yangtze River won’t be easy either.”

The Yangtze River was a natural golden waterway, but in this era, navigating it was very risky. Besides the pirates that roamed the waters, the river channel had not been dredged, and there were no hydrographic data. Navigation relied entirely on the oral traditions and experience of sailors. Those unfamiliar with the conditions risked running aground or hitting reefs, even in the wide and deep section of the Yangtze.

The sailors on the Yangtze were also organized into cliques and gangs. Recruiting sailors who could navigate the river was not something that could be done overnight. The structure of ancient society was highly stable; people rarely left their groups to join others, especially a complete outsider like Qiewei.

“No matter,” Zhao Yigong said. “They aren’t the only ones who can sail. They’ve just been sailing the river for a few more years, that’s all. They just have some experience. If they won’t come work for us, we have ways to survey the channel ourselves.”

Surveying the Yangtze River channel was already an important mission for the Hangzhou station. Therefore, Zhao Yigong was not concerned about a potential lack of pilots. They had channel surveyors trained with modern technology and didn’t need to rely on traditional, purely empirical sailors.

Zhao Yigong and Mao Sansheng discussed for a whole day and finally decided to first set up direct-operated branches in five cities: Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Huzhou.

The direct-operated branches would mainly handle passenger and cargo transportation. They would operate under the name “Qiewei Inn,” with a smaller subtitle “A Qiewei Escort Agency Affiliate.”

Each Qiewei Inn would have a warehouse, an inn, a sedan chair service, and a shipping service. Besides providing transportation, it would also offer accommodation and cargo storage for merchants. In the future, they planned to act as agents for Delong’s remittance services and postal services within the inns, creating a truly integrated service.

According to Zhao Yigong’s instructions, each branch should be located as close to a waterway dock as possible—preferably with its own self-built dock—to facilitate the use of boats.

Since building their own fleet was not something that could be done overnight, the shipping service would initially operate on a “joint venture” model. Boat owners would join the venture with their own boats, and the Qiewei Inn would be responsible for soliciting business. Passenger and cargo transport would have unified freight rates according to the headquarters’ regulations.

Boat owners would transport goods according to the manifests issued by the branches, following designated routes to the destination. The boat owner would not collect any fees from the cargo owner or passengers; all fees would be paid by the clients to the branch. Since his time in Guangzhou, Zhang Xin had abolished the custom of “tips.” He stipulated that all fees must be charged according to the price list, and soliciting “tips” was forbidden.

The reason why transport and inn services were so disliked was largely that the owners paid their employees extremely low wages, sometimes none at all. The employees’ income depended entirely on “tips.” Therefore, whenever they had leverage, the staff would inevitably demand “tips,” which became a corrupt industry practice. Although escort agencies never solicited tips, it was customary for clients to give a “tip” after a successful escort, which was an important source of income for the escorts. When Zhang Xin abolished this custom, he explicitly included personnel salaries and allowances in the transport prices, completely eradicating this bad practice.

After a boat owner completed a delivery, they would settle the freight charges at the dispatching station with the stamped waybill from the destination station, with settlements made monthly. A 2% deduction would be made from each monthly settlement as transport accident insurance. If a boat, while sailing on its designated route and schedule, sank, was damaged, was robbed by pirates, or if the boat owner or a sailor died accidentally, Qiewei would be responsible for compensation.

This insurance premium was actually collected by the Delong Bank’s Shanghai branch for underwriting. In addition to shipping insurance, Qiewei also sold cargo damage and passenger personal injury insurance. The premium was included in the freight rate, and compensation would be provided in case of an accident.

Originally, when Zhang Xin promoted this insurance system in Guangzhou, he had wanted to list the insurance premium as a separate charge, allowing passengers and cargo owners to choose whether to buy it. However, Sun Kecheng thought it was unnecessary. In this era, boat owners had no obligation to guarantee the safety of people and goods. In case of cargo loss or death, whether the boat owner compensated depended entirely on the client’s status. If the client was a gentry official or a powerful local figure, the boat owner would have to pay even if it meant bankruptcy. If it was an ordinary person, it all depended on the boat owner’s reputation and conscience; the amount of compensation was not mandatory.

Escort agencies, on the other hand, had a long-standing rule of compensating for lost goods. Of course, their fees were much higher than those of shipping and transport services. Therefore, Sun Kecheng suggested not explicitly mentioning the insurance fee, but simply including it in the freight rate and clearly stating that cargo loss would be compensated and that compensation would be given for personal injury or death. This would not only avoid disputes over whether to buy insurance but also enhance Qiewei’s reputation.

Boat owners participating in the joint venture transport must accept the dispatch from the central dispatch center and the branches. They must load personnel and goods according to the manifests issued by the branches and were not allowed to carry private passengers or cargo. Boats had to sail according to the specified routes and schedules. Departure and return times were registered, and each trip had a clear arrival and return time. If a return was delayed without a valid reason, a “delay fee” would be deducted. This ensured that joint venture boat owners would not take detours for private business.

Depending on their condition, boats would undergo “minor maintenance” every three months and “major maintenance” once a year. Maintenance included not only hull repairs but also repainting and refurbishment to keep the boats clean and tidy. During maintenance, the Qiewei shipping service would provide a living allowance, and the maintenance costs would also be paid by the shipping service.

Boat owners were paid according to their work; the more they worked, the more they earned. To encourage long-term service and reduce turnover, Zhao Yigong stipulated that during the off-season, the Qiewei Inn would still pay a basic living allowance even if the boats were not dispatched.

Every boat participating in the Qiewei Escort Agency’s “joint venture” had to fly the Qiewei flag, have the Qiewei emblem inlaid on the bow, and be marked with its home branch, passenger/cargo type, and a serial number from the Thousand Character Classic for easy identification.