Chapter 78 Lack of Spices Again

According to Da Zhou's calculations, it was almost July at this time, and it was calculated that it had been ten months. Ling Qingyu stood on the bow of the ship, looking at the familiar sea area in front of him, which was already close to Da Zhou's territory.

"Master." Shen Zhan rubbed his feet on the ground and called.

"Ah? What's the matter?" Ling Qingyu turned around and asked with a smile. She liked Shen Zhan's sailors very much. He didn't talk much and was very hardworking. During this trip, he was already very skilled at steering and sailing, and after being trained by Yang Zhao for so long , has been transformed from technical workers to combat effectiveness.

"Master, can people from our village also go to Lingjia Village?" Shen Zhan asked with his head lowered.

"Ah?" Ling Qingyu didn't react for a moment.

"Everyone in our village is very willing to work, and they are not afraid of hardship, and they don't have any second thoughts," Shen Zhan said anxiously. Seeing Ling Qingyu's look, he slowed down and said, "Our place, Mr. Tian, ​​is tax-paying." It’s heavy, and some people starve to death every year. When we go out to run boats, it’s hard to find a good owner. Nine out of ten of us will die at sea. Only by following you, the boss, can we live such a good life. If it’s troublesome , the head of the house, just pretend that I didn’t say that.”

Seeing Shen Zhan blushing and turning around hurriedly to leave, Ling Qingyu hurriedly grabbed him and said, "Wait, wait, wait, I'm worrying about where I can find suitable people to cultivate the wasteland. One of you is the best. Come on, come on, Come with me and tell me how many people there are and where they live now? We have to figure out how to get them out."

After hearing Shen Zhan talk about the situation in their village, Ling Qingyu couldn't speak for a while. Although he knew that Qiongzhou had always been the most oppressed, he didn't expect that the situation was even more serious. The officials were greedy and the rich were unkind. They treated the poor people like rotten dogs. Not to mention such oppression, they can't even afford food and clothing, let alone dignity.

"Shen Zhan, when you go back to the village, don't talk about the situation here in Lingjia Village. Just ask if you are willing to sell yourself to the Lingjia. After working for a few years, you can return the deed and have some leftover wealth. You must choose well. , not everyone can save the leader here." Yang Zhao, who had been standing nearby and listened, said calmly.

"I know that there will never be that kind of white-eyed wolf." Shen Zhan nodded. Song Li's matter is more or less a thorn in the side. Now that the head of the family is willing to give everyone a way to survive, he must not find those who will harm the head of the family. Shen Zhan calmed down from the ecstasy when he heard Ling Qingyu's promise at first, thinking that he couldn't shout to everyone. Come on, you need to choose carefully.

It was very hot in Quanzhou in July. Fan Ye was so hot that he fell on the bed and shouted for more ice.

"Master, it will naturally cool down when you are calm. It will be bad if there is too much ice." Yang said, shaking his fan leisurely. With such a large amount of income last year, the business of the Ling family's shops was also very good. They received a bonus during the Chinese New Year, and the income was very considerable. With this money, we can live such a good life. If it was like before, how could we have time? There is ice in the room.

"Hey, how can I be calm! You said that from last year to now, there have been many fleets out, right? Why haven't I seen one come back?" Fan Ye frowned and sighed: " The kid from the Wang family said that I was responsible for the spices last year, and I will definitely be able to do it this year. He actually asked the Holy Spirit to issue a decree asking me to donate 150,000 kilograms of spices this year. I, I, I, I'll go there to find it! "

"Why don't you talk to shopkeeper Ding and ask him to take out all the spices in the shop?" Yang stopped her fan. This is a big deal, and it might be a crime of confiscating the house.

"As I said, the Ling family's shop here only has two thousand kilograms left, and the shopkeeper has handed over all of them." Fan Ye sighed deeply. Although the Ling family kept some spices privately, how much could they have? It’s been almost a year, and it would be nice to weigh two thousand pounds.

"Then the Ling family's merchant ship has been gone for ten months, right?" Yang said, "Maybe it will be back soon?"

"It's hard to say. It stands to reason that the catastrophe has passed for so long, and navigation should be restored. But none of the fleets that went out came back, and I don't know what happened in the extra story." Fan Ye just felt that he was getting older. , If I had known this, I would not have turned in all the spices last year, and I would have just received a commendation, without receiving any formal benefits.

"Master, Master, Master Zhou is here."

Hearing the shouts of the servants outside, Fan Ye climbed out of bed and hurriedly called the girl to get dressed and put on shoes.

"Why don't you let him wait? Master, why are you in such a hurry?" Yang pushed the maid aside and helped him dress himself.

"What do you know? This Zhou Hanming is the emperor's new favorite. He has just arrived as the commander of Fujian Road." Fan Ye glared at her and hurried to the front yard.

Zhou Hanming was standing in front of the hall, looking at the calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall, and nodded in his heart. He was worthy of being a member of the Fan family, and indeed he had some character.

"Master Zhou, please forgive me." Fan Ye said to Zhou Hanming with a smile on his face.

"Haha, did I come suddenly and disturb Brother Fan from his rest?" Zhou Hanming turned around and sat back in his chair, picked up the teacup and said, "Brother Fan, I came here this time on important matters."

Fan Ye was shocked, thinking that the expiration date for the spices was still some time away, so he couldn't get it today, right?

"Haha, Brother Fan, it's not about spices," Zhou Hanming smiled, and then said with a serious face: "Do you remember General Yang Zhaoyang?"

"Of course I remember, not by..." Fan Ye made a beheading gesture.

"No, General Yang was sentenced to exile at that time, and the place of exile was Quanzhou." Seeing Fan Ye's surprised look, Zhou Hanming said: "It's no wonder Brother Fan didn't know, you hadn't taken office in Quanzhou at that time. Now the war in the north is going on again. The party members in the northwest are also ready to take action."

Fan Ye secretly cursed that he was just ready to make a move because he was beating the Zhao family so hard that they couldn't fight back. But his face was very surprised: "How could it be? Isn't Marshal Zhao personally in charge?"

Zhou Hanming glanced at him and saw that his expression did not change. He thought to himself, old fox, do you still want to distance yourself from the Fan family? Said: "Brother Fan, let's not talk about that. Now the emperor wants to recruit Yang Zhao and the generals of Heishui Pass who were exiled together. I checked and found that they were sold to a shipping company by the then magistrate the year before last. This The owner of the boat shop is named Ling, I wonder if Brother Fan has any memory."

This is so impressive! Fan Ye said: "I know this. Their ship came back last year and solved the spice siege of Bianjing. But General Yang was on their ship. I really didn't know. When their ship came back last year, it was said that many sailors died. I have also been on that ship, and I have never seen anyone similar to General Yang."

Zhou Hanming's face was stunned and he said: "Dead?"

Fan Ye shook his head and said: "I don't know the details, but their ship has not returned since it went to sea last year. To be honest with Mr. Zhou, I am also waiting for their ship to come back to save lives."

Zhou Hanming's face turned a little dark. He originally thought he had found a clue, but he had just been happy for a while when a basin of cold water poured down on him, cooling his heart to the core. If he had known that this was the case, he would not have given Mr. Dong a guarantee.

"Hey, if Mr. Fan has any news about General Yang, please inform me as soon as possible. Your Majesty is now heading to Bianliang from the Hangzhou Palace. I will leave tomorrow and say goodbye first." Zhou Hanming said with cupped hands.

After sending Zhou Hanming away, Fan Ye sighed unconsciously. The war in the north was not going well. Last year's severe drought had not recovered yet. This year, he was afraid that the two lakes would be flooded again. At this moment, the emperor only knew how to enjoy himself. If it weren't for the repeated urging of the courtiers, he would have been afraid. Still reluctant to leave the Hangzhou Palace.

"My lord, my lord."

Fan Ye said angrily: "Master, I'm not dead, what is your name?"

"Well, news came from the dock, saying that a ship seems to have returned." The servant took a step back and lowered his head.

Fan Ye was overjoyed when the ship came back, and said hurriedly: "Hurry up and prepare your horse for me, master, and hurry up to the dock."

Ling Qingyu didn't expect to be greeted so warmly by Fan Ye when he came back this time. Fan Ye's boat had already approached before the boat stopped.

"Oh, oh, oh! I knew it was you, Master Ling!" Fan Ye's face turned into a smile, but it was a pity that men and women were on guard, otherwise he would have been willing to hug her.

"Huh?" Ling Qingyu took a step back. The transformation of the gentle and elegant Master Fan into a wretched uncle was really unbearable.

"Come on, let's go see how many spices the master has brought back this time." Fan Ye led the way to the captain's cabin.

Isn't it because I can't pay the emperor's commission again?

Ling Qingyu followed to the captain's cabin and sat in the lower seat to accompany him. Fortunately, the gold and everything else were put in the secret cabin. The profit plus the robbery and the raw gold refining totaled 900,000 taels of gold. She didn't want to Being smoked and sold. As for the jewelry, she stuffed the big ones under the bed, half of the small ones in the secret cabin, and the most valuable spices. Even so, the goods in the cargo hold were worth millions of taels of silver.

"How many spices did the master bring back this time?" Fan Ye asked impatiently as soon as he sat down.

Okay, it’s spice again. Ling Qingyu smiled and said: "The goods this time are a bit mixed. If Mr. Fan only refers to the spices such as agarwood and incense, it must be more than 300,000 kilograms."

Seeing Fan Ye immediately burst into laughter, Ling Qingyu hurriedly said: "Sir, the spices purchased this time are very expensive. Can you not buy so much this time?"

Fan Ye was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile: "Of course I won't let Mr. Ling suffer a loss. This time I only need to buy 150,000 kilograms of spices, and the others are only taxed 10%, so I bought them incomprehensibly. "

"Thank you so much, sir!" Ling Qingyu hurriedly stood up and saluted.

"Hey, you're welcome, you're welcome." Fan Ye said with a smile.

"Sir," the little official who followed Fan Ye had a look of surprise on his face. He ran into the room and whispered in Fan Ye's ear: "Sir, this is incredible, the ship is full of spices and treasures!"

A full boat? Fan Ye shuddered. The Fengshen could not carry more than tens of thousands of stones. What was the concept of a ship full of treasures of spices?

"Well, if Mr. Ling doesn't mind, can you take me to see it together?" After gathering his mood, Fan Ye smiled at Ling Qingyu.

"Of course, Sir Fan, please." Ling Qingyu bowed his hands and gave way to the door.

The cargo hold below has three floors, with a floor height of about four to five meters. Each floor is divided into ten independent cabins, and different types of cargo are placed in categories and neatly coded.

"Three hundred pieces of ivory, two hundred pieces of rhinoceros horn, eight hundred pieces of coral, eight hundred pieces of colored glaze, a thousand pieces of gold silk cotton, a thousand pieces of gold-woven soft brocade, and five hundred pieces of fine polished colored glaze..." the clerk reported each time. If something happens, Fan Ye's heart will beat a little. How much will these taxes cost?

"Pepper, 200,000 jins." The clerk who reported the numbers took a long breath. Okay, he is a loser. Now the price of pepper on the market is three taels of silver per jin. Two hundred thousand jins! Six hundred thousand taels of silver!

After reporting in the numbers, Fan Ye was already numb. Before taking office, he had conducted a detailed investigation of the Guangzhou Shipping Department and had also made plans for Quanzhou. There are tens of thousands of people engaged in shipping in Guangzhou, and there are also 20,000 to 30,000 people engaged in off-site transactions in Quanzhou. This is because there is no municipal shipping department in Quanzhou and cannot issue licenses, so the ships have gone to Guangzhou to go to sea. There are hundreds of shipping companies in Guangzhou, and the largest one is naturally the Xie family. A ship with a weight of five thousand stones can get up to 400,000 taels of goods back and forth, just because those spices such as frankincense, agarwood, and sandalwood are indeed valuable. But they all rely on people to collect them in the mountains. There can be such a large amount for your family. Spread it out among hundreds of ships. It’s a lot for your family to get tens of thousands of kilograms of spices, not to mention that most of the supply has been taken away. Take control of the Xie family. When the Fengshen came back last year, it brought back so much spice. It can be said that it was due to the fact that there were no other ships after the catastrophe, but why did it come back with such a larger amount this time?

"By the way, I have something to report to you," Ling Qingyu said after looking at Fan Ye's expression: "When we were returning, we encountered Srivijaya killing pirates. I heard that the pirates were entrenched in the strait over there. For several months, all the ships going back and forth have been poisoned. Fortunately, we got there early, otherwise we might have been poisoned too." Then he pointed to Ram who was standing at the door of the cargo hold and said: "And this guy. , it’s Mr. Ram from Chola, half of the goods on the ship this time belong to him, Ram is a big businessman from Chola, his ship broke down in Daguang, so he came on my ship.”

Hearing what she said, Ram rolled his eyes inwardly, but he gave a very polite salute and said, "I have met Mr. Fan."

It’s no wonder. I asked her, how could she, a little girl who just started shipping, have such a big capital? However, the court has discounts for foreign merchants, but they can’t buy according to the Ling family’s price. This is How good?

Seeing that he was dozing off, Ling Qingyu immediately handed over the pillow and said, "Don't worry, sir. This person is coming to our Dazhou for the first time and he doesn't understand the situation. I just told him that everything should be calculated according to mine. It's just that you are explaining." On the bill, I can only write my name.”

"Haha, this is easy to talk about. This cargo belongs to you, Master Ling." Fan Ye smiled, and he had a good impression of Ling Qingyu in his heart. As for whether Ling Qingyu would be greedy for other people's money by doing this, look at that foreign story. No one said anything, what should I worry about.

After looking at the cargo hold, Fan Ye sighed and walked onto the deck. It was really irritating that there were so many people. Even if most of the place belonged to that person, after buying it, the entire cargo would be worth several million dollars. If it was sold well, , it is possible to have tens of millions of silver. Even if we exclude the money from those people, the Ling family themselves would have to have three million taels. Hey, it would have been great to have listened to the madam and invested in her shipping company.