Chapter 159: Must Be Sold

The silk merchants had arrived, but the reeled silk could not be sold! No one was willing to sell the silk they had worked so hard to produce at such a pitifully low price, especially since most families had gone into debt for this silk!

Every household in the village was on edge. Except for the carefree children, no one had a smile on their face.

The “silk merchants” had not received any silk, but they had not left either. They all looked very confident. They found their familiar “lodgings” and settled down, spending their days drinking tea and chatting at the wild teahouse at the entrance of the village. No matter how much their old acquaintances pleaded and begged, they would not budge. They also had their own set of excuses: they just kept sighing about their hardships, saying they were “not in control of themselves” and did not want to treat the “villagers” so harshly, that it was all the “yamen’s” idea. In short, they gritted their teeth and would not budge, making it clear that they had a “you have to sell even if you don’t want to” attitude. They were sure that the “villagers” would have to cut their losses sooner or later. They were all old hands at this business. Right now, silk was the villagers’ only hope. If they could not turn it into cash, where would the money for the upcoming expenses come from? Besides, silk and cocoons could not be stored for long. No family could hoard them.

Finally, someone came up with an idea. Since the local silk firms had a public price, the neighboring prefectures should not have this rule. The price should be about the same as last year’s. They would simply go to Huzhou, Jiaxing, or Suzhou to sell their silk.

However, it was a long way to go from here. The nearest round trip would take five or six days. The travel expenses would cost money, and there would also be expenses for passing through the checkpoints. In the past, it would not have been worth it. But with the current market so low, the loss would be even greater if they didn’t make this trip.

Shen Kaibao made his calculations and decided to try his luck in Huzhou. He had been to Wuzhen when he was young and was somewhat familiar with the area. There were many silk firms there, and it was a major trading center. He should be able to sell his raw silk at a good price. He immediately instructed Daqing to get a few reed mats, and had his wife and Daqing’s wife cook a meal, wrapping it in bamboo leaves for the road. He also brought some roasted wheat flour to be mixed with boiling water and eaten on the way.

Daqing’s mother cooked the meal and packed it in a basket. She then reminded him, “Come back early after you sell it! We don’t have much rice left at home!”

Shen Kaibao shouted as if he was about to quarrel, “No matter how fast, I still have to row one oar at a time. I’ve been selling silk my whole life, and now in my old age, I have to be sent away like a convict!”

Daqing said to his mother, “We’re about to run out of food. You should go to the Shen family to borrow rice. Duoduo Niang said that Master Zhao is willing to continue lending.”

Shen Kaibao interrupted his son, “He’s willing to lend, but I’m not willing to borrow. Where will the one percent interest come from?! Repay with cocoons. At such a low market price, it’s practically robbery! You all just have to endure it. Wait for me to sell the silk and bring back silver to buy rice!”

The weather was clear for those few days. Shen Kaibao set out with Daqing in their boat. When the other families saw that the Shen Kaibao family had set out, they all followed in their boats. Those without boats borrowed them or asked someone to take them along.

The once faint flame of hope now burned brightly again. The faces of those left at home were once again filled with smiles. Heaven never seals off all exits. As long as the head of the household could safely reach the other prefecture, they could sell at a good price, and life would go on!

However, the silk merchants remained calmly drinking tea at the wild teahouse at the entrance of the village, their faces wearing inscrutable smiles. It seemed they had long had a plan in mind.

Sure enough, after two or three days, the boats that had gone out returned one after another. Many boats were empty, but the people on them all had long faces. Not only had they suffered hardships and worked in vain, but some had also been beaten on their buttocks and returned limping. It turned out that the water and land checkpoints out of Hangzhou had received orders from the yamen. This year, all silk and cocoons leaving the prefecture had to have a permit from the Famine Relief Bureau. Those without a permit who were stopped at the checkpoints would have their silk and cocoons “purchased” at a twenty percent discount from the “public price.” Those who showed the slightest disobedience would get a beating, which was a light punishment. Those who were put in the cangue were even more miserable. They couldn’t even return home and had to have their families immediately rush over with money to redeem them. Otherwise, they would have to be in the cangue for a month before being released.

Shen Kaibao’s family did not suffer any losses. He was a little clever. Although he was the first to set out, he hid at the back when passing the checkpoint. As soon as he heard that the news ahead was not good, he quickly turned his boat around and rushed back.

Although his silk had not been “purchased,” his family’s silk still could not be sold, and they had a lot of cocoons stored at home. This year’s silkworm harvest was good, and his wife and Daqing’s wife alone could not handle the silk reeling.

The families that were not so lucky were wailing. In particular, the heads of several families had been arrested and put in the cangue. They had to bring money to redeem them. But which family in the village had cash to spare now? And if they didn’t go to redeem them, being in the cangue in the open air day and night, without anyone to bring them food, they could starve or die of thirst. Besides, what about the month’s farm work? If it was delayed, the whole family would starve.

The sound of women and children crying drifted in from near and far. A sense of despair permeated the village. How could the common people fight against the yamen? Whatever you could think of, he had already thought of. You had no choice but to sell.

In the end, it was Wang Siniang who stepped forward to help, lending the redemption money to these few families.

The silk and cocoons had not been sold, but the creditors and the tax collectors had arrived. The creditors did not want silk or cocoons. They were very well-informed and knew that this year’s silk and cocoons could not be sold at a good price. They just put on a stern face and ignored them, relentlessly pressing for repayment. Those who could not repay had to quickly hand over their mortgaged land deeds.

Shen Kaibao’s family was still relatively well-off. After all, Master Cao had agreed that the principal and interest would be repaid at the Mid-Autumn Festival. The debt problem was not yet urgent. The only debt they had to repay now was the small one they owed to Shen Da’s master, Master Zhao.

After Duoduo Niang returned home, she had been helping Wang Siniang to urge the various households: after harvesting the cocoons, don’t forget to repay the debt to Master Zhao’s family. The debt for the borrowed rice and the debt for the mulberry leaves on credit, it didn’t seem like much when they borrowed it, but now that it was all added up, they realized it was a considerable sum. Fortunately, the interest was still low.

Repaying the debt to Master Zhao was easy. His family did not want silver or raw silk. They only needed to take the cocoons to settle the debt, which was the simplest for the farmers and also saved them a lot of trouble. It was just that the price of the cocoons set by Master Zhao’s family was no different from the price offered by the “silk merchants.” The sericulturists were still heartbroken, but they could not hesitate any longer. The silk merchants refused to raise the price, and if the cocoons were kept for too long, they would pupate and bite through, and could only be sold as silk floss.

A large, dark, oily scale was set up in front of the Shen family’s house. All the families carried baskets full of cocoons to repay their debts and interest. Wang Siniang had already spread the word outside that if you repay what you borrow, you can borrow again. Master Zhao was kind-hearted, and as long as everyone repaid their debts on time with cocoons, he would help them with any difficulties they might have in the future.

These words greatly accelerated the speed at which the sericultururists used cocoons to repay their debts. Some families simply did not reel silk and directly sold the remaining cocoons to the Shen family. After calculating, the families who made their own silk suffered heavy losses. The labor and firewood invested in reeling silk were simply pathetic compared to the current raw silk market. On the contrary, the few families with little manpower who could not afford the time and effort and directly sold their cocoons spent less and lost less.

Shen Kaibao’s family had been hesitating, but now they had no choice but to use the cocoons that had not yet been reeled at home to repay their debts. At the river landing in front of the Shen family’s house, some boats had appeared at some point. The cocoons that the sericultururists used to repay their debts were packed in wicker baskets with lids, filling the boat’s hold. They were covered tightly with reed mats and rowed away one by one, said to be sent to Master Zhao’s silk reeling factory.

The raw silk that had already been reeled had to be sold at the public price. Some was sold to the silk merchants, and some to Master Zhao. Although some young people indignantly said they would rather keep it until next year to sell, this was ultimately just an angry remark. Not to mention that the silk would turn yellow if kept for too long, even if it didn’t, there were too many expenses to be paid now. Even if the silk could be sold for one hundred taels next year, they could not wait.

In the end, the silk and cocoons that had been obtained with great difficulty flowed away from the fingers of the sericultururists who had worked hard for more than a month, in exchange for a pile of scattered silver and copper coins. This remuneration, which they had obtained with so much labor, would not be kept for long before it became someone else’s. The debts they owed, the government’s taxes, the family’s food, the rent for the cattle for the upcoming farming, the purchase of soybean cakes, the repair of farm tools… all these were waiting for money, and what they had was far from enough.

In their predicament, the villagers had no choice but to continue on their old path: taking on debt to survive. Fortunately, Shen Da’s master, Master Zhao, was willing to lend money without collateral, and the interest was still one percent. Thus, the villagers who had just paid off their debts to Master Zhao soon found themselves in debt again.

Wang Siniang and Lizheng were very happy. They had completed the tasks given to them by the master: they had bought enough cocoons, and at the same time, they had made the villagers take on more debt. As long as they were in debt, there was no fear that they would not submit.

Under the combined efforts of the government, the gentry, and Zhao Yigong, the sericultururists of Hangzhou Prefecture were thoroughly bled. The officials in charge, the members of the Famine Relief Bureau, the owners of the silk firms… everyone, from top to bottom, made a fortune, large or small. Zhao Yigong himself reaped a bountiful harvest. Not only did he obtain one thousand dan of raw silk at a very low price, but he also succeeded in getting the dozen or so villages where the cooperative activities were carried out to take on the cooperative’s debts.

And the sericultururists of the entire Hangzhou Prefecture were also on the verge of bankruptcy. Shanhai Wulu sent him a lot of news about this.

“These black-hearted people, they really eat people without spitting out the bones,” Zhao Yigong thought.

He knew they were ruthless, but he didn’t know they could be this ruthless. The purchase guidance price that Zhao Yigong had given to the Famine Relief Bureau this time was fifty taels of silver per dan, which was roughly the purchase price of the silk firms last year. He had originally estimated that after the Famine Relief Bureau took its cut, and the contracting silk firms took theirs, and the officials in charge took their share, the actual purchase price from the sericultururists would be around thirty taels.

He had not expected this group of people to actually “cut the price in half.” Their methods were so ruthless. This made Zhao Yigong wary of his “collaborators.” It seemed he had to organize some strong security forces to ensure the safety of himself and his industry.