Because the Huo family came to the city, Huo Xi and Yang Fu took Huo Nian to live in a house in the inner city.
Huo Nian has been studying for two years now and understands a lot.
He felt that he had An An now, and he felt that he was the eldest son of his parents. When he saw his uncles and brothers coming over, he pretended to be a young adult and had dinner with him, and wanted to stay to entertain him, so he was taken to the house in the inner city by Huo Xi and Yang Fu.
Huo Nian looked nothing like Huo Erhuai or Yang. Huo Xi didn't want others to look at Huo Nian too much and say mean things in front of him.
Yang Fu simply didn't like that family.
When Yang Fu was a child, he followed his elder sister and her husband to the Huo family. The family always treated him as a slut, and they didn't even let him have a full meal during the Chinese New Year. He didn't bother to offend them, and he didn't bother to entertain them.
The two of them coaxed Huo Nian to sleep and then talked about the sea.
"The Longxing and others all said that if they want to avoid the typhoon period in July and August, they have to leave in early May at the latest. Now they plan to leave at the end of April, so that they can come back to celebrate the New Year."
Huo Xi rubbed her chin and thought. She wanted to leave at the end of April, but she was in a hurry.
It's easy to prepare our own goods, only the white sugar and rock sugar account for most of the weight. The rest of the silk and raw silk are still in the warehouse that we collected last year.
Everything made in the workshop is kept for use at sea, and not much is sold out.
Our own goods are prepared quickly, so it’s no problem to go to Dongyang. “Have the goods from other stores been prepared?”
Last year's sailors and boatmen were all ready, so it shouldn't be a big problem if I wanted to go to Japan before the beginning of May.
Yang Fu nodded: "They are bigger than ours, so they only need to transfer goods to their own shops. It's just another ship, so I'm afraid it won't be that fast."
That's for sure. Now the ship has been ordered, but it hasn't been delivered yet.
Moreover, it is not necessarily easy to find sailors and boatmen if you want to go to the South and West. This is because you will not be able to come back for at least a year. If it does not go well, you may not be able to come back for two or more years.
The long journey means all kinds of dangers. The enlisted sailors and boatmen did not have as smooth a journey as the Toyo Line.
"Xi'er, I heard the discussion from those families. They don't plan to dock at Hirado this time. They want to set off from Taicang Port to Busan Port in North Korea. They also said that when they come back, they want to dock at Tamna Island and exchange some horses.
return."
Going back to North Korea this time?
It is also possible to go to North Korea. The relationship with the Wei Dynasty there is good, and the merchants are more friendly when dealing with merchants. It is more reassuring than going to Japan.
Tamna, Huo Xi also knew, was called Jeju Island in later generations and was a famous tourist destination, but now it is still a place where North Korean prisoners are exiled and horses are raised.
"Have you heard anyone say that they want to go to Tamna Island to exchange horses? It's true that Tamna Island is a famous horse breeding place, but the trade of horses from my dynasty has always been a tribute, official transaction, and private merchants want to exchange horses. I'm afraid it's very difficult.
It’s difficult. Even if you can exchange for horses and transport them back, can the Shipping Department still let us keep them?”
Aren't they all confiscated?
Last year, the imperial court exchanged 30,000 pieces of silk and 20,000 pieces of cotton for 10,000 variegated horses from Korea. The combined price of each horse was three pieces of silk and two pieces of cotton, and the combined price of the horses was almost twenty taels of silver.
Even if it is shipped back and the shipping department does not confiscate it, a horse pulled to the cattle and horse market can probably be sold for dozens of hundred taels. If you want to earn back the cost of this voyage, how many horses must be pulled?
Moreover, since horses are transported, which accounts for the weight, how can each household carry other goods?
A bit uneconomical.
"Everyone doesn't want to do horse trading, they just think the horses there are cheap and want to buy a few for their own use," Yang Fu said.
Keep it for your own use?
There is a huge shortage of military horses now. The other side of the grassland is secretly preparing for war. Without mutual trade, horses cannot be bought. Even the richest families may not have one or two horses at home. It is either that they have no money or they cannot buy them.
.
If you see a wealthy family traveling in an ox cart, don't make fun of them, they really don't have money.
Therefore, it is completely normal for a wealthy family to want to secretly smuggle some horses back.
Horses are hard to find at the cattle and horse market, but mules and horses can still be bought. Sometimes old horses retired from the army can also be lucky enough to come across.
Huo Xi thought for a while: "Our family doesn't need horses to pull the cart now. However, if other families are buying them, we don't want to be too different. Just buy a few horses. If there are too many, it will be easy to spot.
We have no power or influence if we are targeted. If the court wants to seize it, we can't stop it. The gain outweighs the loss."
Yang Fu nodded: "Okay. Then I will make plans based on the situation. I think the red ginseng I brought back last year is very easy to sell and the price is high. If I go to Busan this year, I will buy more."
Huo Xi agreed and checked with Yang Fu about the goods he wanted to bring and the goods he wanted to buy.
After waiting for the east-yang line, Yang Fu asked her: "Xi'er, who will be sent to the west-line? How about I go to the west and let Ting Lei Muyu and two people carry the goods to the east? The two of them followed last year.
I have already made a trip, and I have experience. If Xiyang doesn’t have a reliable person to press the goods, I won’t worry. Shopkeeper Shen said that if he can’t find the right person, he will make a trip.”
Huo Xi shook her head: "Shopkeeper Shen can't leave. Everything in the shop depends on him. Mom won't agree if you go to the West. You'd better go to the East honestly. If you come back this year, you can do it next year.
I'm engaged to Sister Qin."
Yang Fu blushed when he heard about his marriage.
He also wanted to come back in peace so he could marry his sweetheart.
Next, the two of them were busy with the matter of going to sea. The matter in the East was decided, but the matter in the West was not yet clear.
The five families get together almost every day to discuss this matter.
Another ship, Wanjia is looking for connections to buy a big ship with a cost of 3,000 yuan. The ship has been ordered. But experienced sailors are hard to find. A lot of boatmen are easy to find, and Guangfeng Water Utilization has long-term friendship with fishermen.
It's easy to find a boatman to go back and forth.
Among the five families, only Guangfengshui and Wanjia were slightly weaker. Wanjia was looking for boats, and Guangfengshui was looking for boatmen. The other three families used various connections to find sailors and boat bosses.
Ma Xiang is engaged, but he is not idle either. This year he still wants to follow Yang Fu to the East and drag Yang Fu to find boatmen and sailors who are willing to go to the West.
The fishermen have no land on the shore, so they all live in poverty and have to make a living on the water. They cannot save two or three taels of silver a year.
Nowadays, I heard that if you take a trip to the Toyo Line, you can get at least one hundred taels of silver. If the owner's sales go well, you will get a bonus when you come back. If you die unfortunately, you can get another sum of silver. If you have a lot of people in your family, you will get a bonus.
I am willing to apply for the job and want to have a try.
These fishermen have very good water skills, and they have been living on the water for many years. They can also cope with various situations on the water, and they are more or less capable depending on the weather.
In this way, Guangfeng Shui quickly found boatmen to go to the West.
Each company has also prepared Dongyang's goods and sent people to escort the goods to Taicang Port in advance to prepare for shipment.
Before Yang Fu left, he finally got permission from Qin Changzhi that if he came back safely from this trip, he would be allowed to come to propose marriage. Yang Fu was very happy.
Huo Xi was not optimistic about this pair.
I feel that Qin Changzhi, an upright old man, would not agree to his uncle marrying his precious granddaughter.
It is not that Qin Changzhi has no chance to revive. As long as there is an opportunity and an amnesty occurs, Qin Huaimin of his family will be able to take the imperial examination and become an official.
It's very different from a mud-legged guy like my own.
My uncle should have no shortage of money to spend in his life, but he has been an ordinary merchant all his life. What did Qin Huaiyu see in him?