Chapter 429: Shen Tingyang

Shen Tingyang had long been on the radar of the Great Library and Zhao Yingong. This wasn’t just because he was a famous figure in the late Ming Dynasty, but more importantly, because of his background with the sand ship guild.

There was little personal information available about Shen Tingyang. However, the facts that he was an Imperial University student and could fund the construction of his own sand ships for sea transport spoke volumes. At the fall of the Ming, he was able to immediately produce one hundred large ships, all indicating that the Shen family was a wealthy, sea-faring dynasty. Consider that in the late Ming, each of his large ships would have cost at least one to two thousand taels of silver. Based on his report to the court in the first year of the Hongguang Emperor’s reign, where he mentioned possessing one hundred ships capable of carrying two hundred soldiers each, the value of these vessels alone was over a hundred thousand taels of silver. And it was unlikely the Shen family only owned these ships; they surely had many smaller ones as well. Furthermore, following the common practice of great merchants of the late Ming, they would typically invest in large tracts of land and open shops, engaging in various industries. All told, the Shen family’s total assets were at least half a million taels.

The Shen family wasn’t just any large merchant family. Shen Tingyang had a past connection with Hong Chengchou. After Shen was captured, Hong even tried to save his life. This suggested that Shen’s origins were not humble; the Shen family was not an ordinary wealthy merchant clan but likely had connections with high-ranking officials at court.

A merchant with such deep official backing, along with vast capital and a fleet of ships, was the perfect agent to challenge Zheng Zhilong.

The problem was persuading this Master Shen to cooperate with him. On this front, through his connections with the Restoration Society, especially with the grain transport by sea policy he had boasted about, he had won the favor of Zhang Pu and had already made a small name for himself among the scholars of Jiangnan. The word that “Master Zhao” of the Wanbi Bookstore in Hangzhou was a man of “practical studies” had spread far and wide. This, combined with his bookstore’s “Australian style” and its many novelties and books, had made it a hot topic among the Jiangnan literati. Therefore, he was confident that when he sent someone to express his desire to visit Shen Tingyang, he wouldn’t be turned away.

It seemed that no matter the time or place, if you wanted to do great things, you needed a bit of fame. Otherwise, even if you possessed world-changing skills, people would most likely just dismiss you as a madman—finding a true talent scout was not easy.

If the Foreign Intelligence Bureau and the Colonial Trade Department hadn’t set up this bookstore for him to “cultivate his reputation,” it would have been impossible for him to achieve anything significant in Jiangnan.

On his way, Zhao Yingong kept pondering how to persuade Shen Tingyang. Historical records indicated that Shen Tingyang was a very capable man, with significant achievements in sea transport: he had the skills and was willing to take risks. Born in 1594, he was now in his late thirties, at the peak of a man’s physical and mental prime. He must have harbored ambitions to accomplish something great.

Zhao Yingong knew that directly convincing Shen Tingyang to get involved in the Japan trade might not work—it was too big of a move, like a gamble for people of that era. So, he decided to propose Shen Tingyang’s own historical suggestion a few years early: switching the grain tribute transport from canals to the sea.

The fact that Shen Tingyang had been able to propose this to the court in history meant he had clearly planned it for years, which was why it succeeded on the first try. If he brought it up now, Shen would surely respond positively. Moreover, Zhang Pu was also very interested in shifting grain transport to the sea. As a Jiangnan scholar, it would be difficult for Shen Tingyang not to be influenced by Zhang Pu.

If they could pull it off once, Shen Tingyang’s trust in him would increase. Then, the proposal to go to Japan would have a much higher chance of being accepted.

As Zhao Yingong mulled this over, his sedan chair was already approaching the county seat of Chongming.

Chongming Island had a short history as an administrative center. The first county seat was established at Yaoliusha during the Yuan Dynasty. Due to the constant erosion of Yaoliusha to the south, the administrative center was moved north twice. In the second year of the Hongwu Emperor’s reign in the Ming Dynasty, Chongming was downgraded from a prefecture to a county, and the seat of government was moved successively from Yaoliusha to Sansha and then Pingyangsha. In the sixteenth year of the Wanli Emperor’s reign, the administrative center of Chongming finally settled in Changsha, which later became the location of Chongming County Town.

In this time, Chongming County was under the jurisdiction of Suzhou Prefecture, which is why Shen Tingyang was enshrined in the Suzhou Five Hundred Sages Temple after his martyrdom. He was from Xinhe Township in Chongming, and his residence was not in the county town. However, Zhao Yingong had received a message from Shen’s servant, inviting him to meet at a villa in the suburbs of the county town.

Due to its geographical environment, Chongming Island had a highly developed shipbuilding and shipping industry, especially for the Yangtze River and coastal shipping. The Chongming sand ships, suitable for navigating the shallow shoals and hidden sandbars, originated from Chongming and became famous throughout the country. Along the way, one could see many shipyards next to the docks outside the county town, with sand ships under construction standing on wooden frames on the tidal flats. The coastal docks were also a forest of masts, with many large and small sand ships moored there.

Zhao Yingong knew that sand ships, with their flat bottoms, were particularly suitable for the shallow and sandbar-ridden waterways of China’s coast and major rivers. They were not afraid of running aground and were highly adaptable to different docks and channels. Because of their flat bottoms, their cargo holds had a large effective volume and carrying capacity, making them a very economical and practical type of coastal cargo vessel. At the same time, they also possessed a certain long-distance navigation capability.

Shanghai was a major construction site and shipping port for sand ships. During the Qing Dynasty, the port of Shanghai had over five thousand sand ships, with an annual throughput of two million tons. The British demand to open Shanghai as a port after the Opium War was not simply based on its geographical location.

Zhao Yingong had conducted a preliminary investigation into Shanghai’s shipping industry: although the sand ship guild of the late Ming was not as large-scale as in the Qing Dynasty, it still had a fleet of over a thousand ships. These sand ships sailed annually along the coast between Tianjin and Shanghai, transporting large quantities of civilian goods.

Shen Tingyang’s own family operated a sand ship business, so switching the grain tribute to sea transport would not be a difficult matter for him. It was likely that the Shen family had always hoped to undertake the court’s grain sea transport business, recreating the glorious scene of the Yuan Dynasty when Zhu Qing presided over the northern transport of grain.

With these thoughts, the sedan chair was carried into the reception hall of the Shen family’s villa and set down. Zhao Yingong, with a smile on his face, slowly stepped out of the chair.

He was greeted by a young man in his twenties—probably a nephew of Shen Tingyang’s—dressed in the blue gown of a student. His attitude was respectful, and his words were well-chosen as he led Zhao Yingong into the main hall.

Shen Tingyang was already waiting in the main hall. This Master Shen was a student of the Imperial University. In the late Ming, many students of the Imperial University gained their status through hereditary privilege or purchase, merely to obtain the status of a scholar. Zhao Yingong guessed that Master Shen’s case was similar—for a large family like the Shens, obtaining a student status was an easy matter.

This Master Shen was about thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old, with a dignified appearance, a dark complexion, and a sturdy build—clearly a man seasoned by the elements, not a frail scholar who spent all his days in a study. Judging by his appearance, he had probably been to sea and sailed ships himself.

His demeanor was bold, and his every move carried an air of chivalry. His Chongming dialect, though not loud, was crisp and clear. Zhao Yingong felt a growing confidence in the success of this visit.

Meanwhile, Shen Tingyang was also observing Master Zhao. He had long heard of his fame: not only was the Wanbi Village renowned, but he had also heard that he was highly regarded by Zhang Pu. Shen Tingyang was not a member of the Restoration Society, but Zhang Pu was a leading figure among the Jiangnan scholars. Anyone esteemed by Zhang Pu, he would naturally hold in high regard. Moreover, it was said that this Master Zhao’s relationship with Xu Guangqi of Shanghai was also extraordinary. It was even rumored among the Jiangnan scholars that the successful escape of Sun Yuanhua, the in-law of the Grand Secretary Xu’s eldest son, was partly due to this Master Zhao’s efforts.

All these factors combined made Shen Tingyang very much look forward to Zhao Yingong’s visit. What could be the purpose of this Master Zhao’s visit?

Whatever his intentions, Shen Tingyang was very interested in making the acquaintance of such a person.

After the two had exchanged greetings and were seated as host and guest, tea was served. They inevitably began with a round of pleasantries like “I’ve long admired your name” before gradually turning to the main topic.

Zhao Yingong shifted the conversation to the malpractices of the grain transport system, which he had discussed during his recent visit to Zhang Pu. He then brought up the topic of “abolishing canal transport in favor of sea transport,” relaying the content of his discussion with Zhang Pu to Shen Tingyang. Of course, through his clever phrasing, the idea of switching to sea transport became a case of “heroes thinking alike,” rather than his own suggestion.

As expected, this topic immediately struck a chord with Shen Tingyang. Just as Zhao Yingong had guessed, Shen Tingyang had a keen interest in sea transport for the grain tribute. He had long been paying attention to this critical state affair. He hoped to emulate his local predecessor, Zhu Qing of the Yuan Dynasty, by transporting southern grain to the capital by sea, thereby saving a huge amount on transport costs. Shen Tingyang was well aware of the court’s current financial difficulties, and eliminating the expense of maintaining the canal and the grain transport soldiers would be extremely attractive to the emperor.

His fellow townsman and predecessor, Zhu Qing, had started transporting grain from Liuhe Port in Taicang using precisely the sand ships built in Shanghai. In the first year, he transported 40,000 shi of grain, and at its peak, the annual transport reached three million shi, with losses so small they were almost negligible. This was without mentioning the endless human and material resources saved from dredging and repairing the canal and maintaining a large, inefficient fleet of grain transport boats and soldiers.

His considerations were not only driven by political ambition but also by practical interests. The Shen family was the largest sand ship guild at the mouth of the Yangtze River. If the grain transport were to be switched to the sea, the enormous revenue from the shipping fees would be incredibly tempting.

For the past few years, Shen Tingyang had been studying Zhu Qing’s sea routes, trying to figure out a route that was both fast and foolproof. After all, the grain tribute was a matter of state importance and could not be trifled with.

However, being from a merchant family, his mind was very flexible. He understood at once that this was a leading question: this Master Zhao had come to see him with this idea in mind!

This Master Zhao is truly remarkable! Shen Tingyang was a “chivalrous” man. He knew this matter was fraught with difficulties, but the greater the difficulty, the more interesting the challenge.