Volume 2: Eagle vs. Dragon Chapter 63: Tea Leaves Seized
After Changzi reported the good news to Shenxianzhou, he followed Wu Chengjian back home. He had just rested for a while when he was sent out by Wu Guoying to go to Ye's house with Wu Qi to report the good news. He didn't feel tired at all. In fact, Wu Guoying would specially send him to go, which was a recognition of him.
When Ye Dalin heard the news, he was not happy at all, but became even more annoyed.
In the past few months, everything has been going smoothly in Xiguan Street, and no bad changes have occurred. However, Ye Dalin always feels a heavy weight on his heart.
When Ye Youyu heard the good news of her pregnancy, he subconsciously looked up at the bookshelf - the calligraphy of Heshen was still there, but he never took it out again. The calligraphy has now become a hot potato, and he can't throw it away or not.
After thinking it over, he finally sighed and said to Ye Duofu: "Go, let..." He wanted to ask Ma to prepare something, but thinking that if he told Ma about this at this time, he would just be rebuked, so he changed his words temporarily: "Tell Aunt Xu to prepare a gift to protect the pregnancy."
Ye Duofu agreed to go. At Yingyang Garden, Xu was overjoyed to hear the news. She now had some money on hand and some people to help her, so she asked about the rules for the daughters of wealthy families in Xiguan when they were pregnant. In addition to the money contributed by the Ye family, she also took out half of her own money and prepared a generous gift for her daughter to protect her pregnancy .
Let's not talk about the trivial matters after Wu Chengjian returned home, nor the trivial matters in Ye's house. Instead, after the large ships entered the port one after another, silk, porcelain, and tea gathered from all directions to prepare to go out to sea. Silver also flowed in from the sea like water.
The Guangzhou Port is in full swing, and everything is calm at the Guangdong Customs. It is so peaceful and it seems that nothing unexpected will happen. Autumn is approaching again.
I don't know if last year's accident made Manager Liu extremely alert, but he did everything this year. And it so happened that Mr. Milton did not go back at the end of last year, so many things could be done earlier than in previous years. It's not even autumn yet, but 80% of the tea from foreign companies has been paid. Manager Liu was careful and required payment on delivery for every shipment. Manager Yao Si was skilled in his business, and there was no arrears on the part of the East India Company, so everything went smoothly.
Zhou Yijin asked Ou Jiafu to take 60% of the money he had settled to the new warehouse in Henan, and keep the remaining 40% in the bank's bank for future use. The entire Thirteen Hong Street was busy, and everyone from the clerks to the bosses gradually forgot about other things and focused on the business.
Wu Chengjian and Zhou Yijin occasionally mentioned it and couldn't help saying, "Your master is really patient! It's been so long and he still hasn't taken action. I almost doubt whether we are overthinking it."
Zhou Yijin said coldly: "My master's work will only be late, not absent. It probably has to wait until everyone is slacking off... Let's wait."
Wu Chengjian said: "It's not a good idea to keep waiting like this."
Zhou Yijin said: "That batch of hot goods has not been shipped out of the warehouse yet. Maybe my master is waiting for the day when it will be shipped out of the warehouse."
Wu Chengjian sneered, "If that's the case, I'd be very grateful." Although Hutabu hadn't come since the red goods were sealed, Wu Chengjian was sure that he would not let anyone catch him when the time came to ship the goods out of the warehouse.
However, things did not go as people expected.
Just when some people were focusing their attention on the warehouse of Yihehang, an accident happened in the open sea - on this day, the Benjia tea from Fujian was about to be warehoused, but when it arrived at the dock, Ou Jiafu and Manager Dai San received something empty!
This year, the tea transportation route for Benjia Tea is a new one - from Fujian to Guangdong waters, bypassing Lantau Island in Aberdeen, and directly into the Pearl River Estuary.
Wu Chengjian, who was both a black and white person, had already opened up this route. He was originally worried that Milton would interfere, but unexpectedly, the East India Company did not take action, but an accident occurred in other links. A group of water brothers in Kowloon Bay - actually pirates - led by Tie Jinchi, actually detained the fleet when it passed through Jishuimen and took it to their water fort.
Although Yihehang was financially powerful, it was restricted by the imperial court's policies and did not dare to equip its fleet with heavy weapons. So when faced with the pirates' coercion, Wu Xinqiao, who was escorting the ship, chose to compromise instead of resisting. After the fleet entered the water fort, Tie Jinchi sent people to Baietan to report the news and make demands, which made Liu Da, the shopkeeper, furious because he could not receive the goods.
Tie Jinchi did not ask for too much, but only asked the Wu family to increase the water price by 20% - this amount of money was not much, but Wu Chengjian did not agree immediately. He summoned the six shopkeepers to Shanggong Garden to discuss countermeasures, and asked Wu Qi to personally invite Liu Sanye to come for a while.
After Wu Chengjian, Zhou Yijin and the six shopkeepers arrived, Wu Chengjian said, "Let's discuss what to do about this matter."
Manager Liu said, "This Iron and Gold Tooth doesn't cost much, why don't you just give it to them and don't make things more complicated."
Shopkeeper Yao Si said, "I'm afraid that the rules might be broken."
Shopkeeper Dai San said, "It's better to break the rules than to have the ship scuttled and all the tea in the cabin sink into the sea. If that happens, our Yihe Bank will be seriously damaged."
He and Manager Liu are both veterans of Yihe Bank, and they are still frightened by what happened last year.
Shopkeeper Yao Si said, "Tie Jin Chi's actions are against the rules . If we agree to his request, then the heroes on other waterways will also be able to raise the price in the same way. If the heroes on Jishuimen can do this, the heroes on Lingdingyang can also do this. By next year, the heroes on Daxingao and even Hailufeng will follow suit. Then we should not take this sea route. If we show weakness, there will be endless troubles!"
Shopkeeper Dai San said, "Speaking of which, it's too hasty to ship our tea overseas this year..."
He had only said half of his words when Wu Chengjian interrupted him coldly, "Now let's just talk about how to solve this matter!"
Shopkeeper Dai San didn't dare to say anything - this open sea route was promoted by Wu Chengjian, and it was also Wu Chengjian who decided that the family's tea should be shipped via the open sea route this year. To mention whether this route should be taken at this time would be a slap in Wu Chengjian's face.
Ou Jiafu hurried out to mediate and said, "Manager Dai San is also anxious." Only he could say this.
Manager Liu said, "No matter what, we cannot afford to lose our tea this year! We already had an accident last year. If there is another accident this year, even if we can take the risk to resolve it in the end, it will greatly shake the confidence of all parties in our Yihe Bank."
Shopkeeper Xu Liu said, "How about this? We declare to the public that we will never compromise, but secretly send the money to them..."
Manager Yao Si said, "No! There is no such thing as a wall that is impenetrable, let alone those brothers on the water. They will only be smug after getting the money and will not be able to keep it a secret for us. If the news gets out, our Yihe Line will be looked down upon by those heroes on the water. Besides being embarrassed, it will also be difficult to guarantee our route next year."
Shopkeeper Wu Wu said, "Neither the left nor the right works, what should we do?"
Several shopkeepers came up with seven or eight ideas, but none of them was 100% sure. Dai San and Yao Si each insisted on their own ideas, one wanted to compromise, the other wanted to be tough, and they were arguing with each other. Just then, Wu Qi said from outside, "Mr. Liu San is here."
Wu Chengjian hurried to the door to greet him.
Before Mr. Liu San came in, his voice came over: "Officer Hao, don't worry, I, Liu San, will take care of this for you!"
Wu Chengjian walked to the door and took in Mr. Liu Sanye: "Third brother."
Uncle Liu San hurried over, sweating all the way. After entering the door, he pointed in the direction of the South China Sea and cursed: "Iron and Gold Cogs are falling! How dare you cheat me, Liu San. Don't worry, Hao Guan, I will take care of this matter. You don't have to pay, I will bring back all the tea from your Yihe Bank. You just wait at Baietan to receive the tea."
He was anxious and angry - because Tie Jinchi was originally the one who brought Wu Chengjian together, so he was considered the middleman. Tie Jinchi was also a member of the Hongmen, so he had to call Liu Sanye "Uncle Master" when he saw him. Now something that was almost certain to happen had gone wrong, and if it got out, not only would Liu Sanye be unable to live as a human being, but the entire Hongmen would be embarrassed.
Therefore, Mr. Liu Sanye kept telling Wu Chengjian not to worry about this matter, and he was about to rush to Tie Jinchi's water stronghold to ask him to let him go.
Mr. Liu San came and went like the wind. He didn't even sit down. He just made a promise to Wu Chengjian and was about to go out. Wu Chengjian said, "Why are you so anxious, brother? You don't even want to drink a sip of water. Besides, it's getting late now. Even if you want to go out to sea, you should wait until tomorrow."
Mr. Liu San said angrily, "Tomorrow? We can't wait! If the tea is delayed for one more day to arrive at the port, I, Liu San, will lose face for one more day."
After saying this, he was about to leave angrily. Manager Liu shouted, "Third Master, I don't know much about the affairs of the underworld, but this batch of tea is related to the prosperity and decline of our Yihe Bank. Third Master, please keep this in mind."
Mr. Liu San stopped walking, without even turning his head, and sneered, "Manager Liu, are you afraid that I will act on impulse and ruin the business of your Yihe Bank? I'm going to make this clear - you, Manager Liu, can rest assured! If Yihe Bank's tea is missing even a bag, I, Liu San, will not land!"
After saying this, he left angrily, boarded a speedboat at night, and headed straight for Tiejinchi's water fort.
