Chapter 33: Chapter 33 Turning Point of Fate_i
Translator: 549690339 I
Wang Shouzhe broke out in a cold sweat as he thought about the hungry civilians. In a situation where they couldn’t buy grain even with Qian Gold, what would they do to survive? Sell their children? Sell their homes and properties?
“This means that the more grain a prominent family has in its possession this time, the more they can control the situation. Through other means, they can make up for the losses and make the family even stronger.” Qian Xuean, an excellent businessman, succinctly described the follow-up to this calamity.
“The Daqian Officials and the Purple Abode Academic Palace will transport grain from other states and counties, right?” Wang Shouzhe, who had traveled to this world from Earth, could not bear to see civilians suffering.
“They will. But the process of collecting, transporting and selling grain at a fair price in different counties will take time,” Qian Xuean said seriously. “Actually, the Academic Palace and the Government Office have started relief since today, but it is almost impossible to aid the entire Longzuo County in a short time. Especially our Changning, located in a remote area…”
Seeing Wang Shouzhe frown, he said: “Younger brother, I know you have a kind heart. I also can’t bear to see this scene. But we are not strong enough to help. At this critical moment, it is good enough for us to take care of ourselves.”
“Brother Qian is right; I was being too sentimental.” Wang Shouzhe knew this principle. He sighed and said, “So you mean that I should ask the merchant to repay me at triple the contract price?”
“Younger brother, you have to understand. Even if they compensate three times, it is a breach of contract by the Qian Merchant Company. If it is not necessary, the company absolutely does not want to damage its reputation by breaching the contract,” Qian Xuean winked. “I offer you a number: hold out for ten thousand Qian Gold and food worth three thousand Qian Gold to cancel the contract.”
“What?”
Wang Shouzhe’s eyelid twitched; Qian Xuean was even more ruthless than him. In his initial estimation, if the other party could buy back the contract at double the price, he would be satisfied.
The price was already more than triple the compensation, and food worth three thousand Qian Gold was even more valuable.
“Anyway, you have already offended the current shopkeeper of the Qian Merchant Company. Why don’t you offend him even more?” Qian Xuean chuckled, “Moreover, even at this price, the Qian Merchant Company won’t suffer losses and will still make a profit.”
Everything Qian Xuean said sounded reasonable, but was it really good to trap his own family to death like this?
As if he had seen through Wang Shouzhe’s thoughts, Qian Xuean explained seriously, “Firstly, the Qian family is so big that a compensation of ten or twenty thousand Qian Gold is trivial. Secondly, I am just a common child. If you hadn’t helped me, I would have had a hard time achieving anything in my life. This is a way to repay your kindness. Thirdly, I really hope you can become stronger. It is more beneficial for our alliance if you are stronger.”
“Alright, let’s do this.” Such a huge benefit made it impossible for Wang Shouzhe to refuse. The Wang family was poor right now. If such a large amount of money could be pumped in, it would be a chance for the family to rise.
“In that case, let me handle this on your behalf,” Qian Xuean seemed to have made up his mind. “When I report to the shopkeeper, I’ll push for a 30% increase, then haggle a little to give him some consolation. Besides, you need to swear not to publicize this. The Qian Merchant Company can’t afford to lose face.”
Of course, he wasn’t going to publicize it. Keeping it quiet while making a fortune was the best option.
Wang Shouzhe rose to his feet and bowed, “In that case, thank you, brother. One more condition needs to be added. The Insecticide Powder can’t be sold to the two prominent families in Ping’an, the Zhao Clan and the Liu Clan.” For Wang Shouzhe, strengthening himself was a good thing, but weakening his enemies was even better.
“I would have taken this condition into account even if you hadn’t mentioned it,” Qian Xuean replied with a smile. “Besides, there will likely be an imbalance and shortage of Insecticide Powder due to this disaster. The Zhao Clan and the Liu Clan are just small families in Ping’an; they already find it extremely difficult to secure a share of the Insecticide Powder. Congratulations, younger brother!”
From the perspective of the Wang family in Ping’an, the Liu Clan and the Zhao Clan were both troublesome and strong, but in the eyes of Qian Merchant Company, they were just two ordinary small families.
“Congratulations to both of us!”
The two of them broke into laughter, their negotiations concluded.
Without delay, Qian Xuean smashed his cup on the ground and stormed off, shouting, “Wang Shouzhe, you’ve gone too far! Do you think our Qian Merchant Company is easy to take advantage of? Just you wait…!”
Then he strode out, flanked by two silent guards at the door.
Wang Shouzhe was quite pleased with Qian Xuean’s reactions and tactics; it seemed he had chosen the right ally.
Just then, his second brother, Wang Shouyi, walked in anxiously, “Shouzhe, that Principal Qian has come to see you several times in the past few days. Is there a problem?”
The Wang family couldn’t take any more hits right now.
“Don’t worry, second brother, it’s good news for our family.” Wang Shouzhe replied with a smile, then changed the subject, “By the way, how is the research going on the live fish equipment?”
Upon hearing this question, Wang Shouyi immediately perked up, “In all honesty, Shouzhe, your ideas are truly unique and ingenious. The mere implementation of showering and rotating water in barrels to introduce air could be enough to revolutionize the fish storage and transportation industry. The preliminary results have been quite promising, so the next step is to modify the buckets of water on the horse carts and the ponds in the shop.”
“You must accelerate this process, Brother, and build more farming ponds in this backyard,” Wang Shouzhe laughed. “Otherwise, our sixth uncle will certainly come to beat you.”
“Indeed, these past few days, the number of live fish from our sixth uncle’s supply has been rising…” Wang Shouyi clasped his hands, “Excuse me, Fourth Brother, I must get going.” With that, Wang Shouyi hurried away.
Hehe, Wang Shouyi’s initiative was becoming stronger by the day, which was an encouraging sign. It made sense, given the improving fortunes of our family that inevitably boosted everyone’s morale.
Wang Shouzhe attached great importance to the fishery and fish stall, the two main family assets. Previously, the combined annual net profits from these two operations were just around four to five hundred Qian Gold. However, after implementing his recommendations and adjustments, it was a piece of cake for the profits to exceed a thousand.
He was even confident that by next year, the profits from the fisheries and fish stalls would surpass the combined earnings of the three major farms.
Making a good profit by seizing the opportunity to promote the insecticide powder was certainly a cause for delight. However, the development of the family business was the true foundation for a family’s strength.
Besides, the three thousand Qian Gold worth of grain mentioned by Qian Xuean also brought a slight headache to Wang Shouzhe. Controlling food during a famine equaled seizing opportunity, there was indeed no doubt about that..
But what did three thousand Qian Gold worth of grain look like? Estimating based on current grain prices, it was about fifty to sixty thousand dan of grain, which would be enough to feed twenty thousand people for a year!
It should be noted that the total population of Ping’an Town was less than thirty thousand.
The transportation and storage of such a massive amount of grain was a major challenge. The Ping’an Wang family’s major farms naturally had their own granaries. However, these granaries were already rather full with old grain from the previous year and with the expected output of the current year, they might be able to cram in an additional ten thousand dan at most.
But there’s always a solution to a problem.
When Zhou Xuan, the founder of the main residence, was designing it, he considered the future development of the family. There were fifty houses solely for important family members and hundreds of other rooms.
Most of these houses and rooms were vacant, so stacking tens of thousands dan of grain was a piece of cake. In times of disaster, the safest place was the main residence of a prominent family.
Each prominent family’s main residence was strategically located where it was easy to defend and hard to attack, and was the most fortified, making people feel safe to store food there.
In addition, it had been mentioned before that the Wang’s main residence was built against a mountain and near water.
The mountain was Liuping Mountain and the water source was a small lake named Zhuwei Lake. The lake was named by Zhou Xuan after his favorite legitimate daughter, Wang Zhuwei.
Zhuwei lake was not very big, it occupied about ten thousand acres of water, but it was a natural barrier and backyard for the Wang’s main residence.
The most crucial factor was, it had a naturally-formed yet artificially-adjusted river channel. After going a few miles up the river, there was a bifurcation that led to two major farms, excluding Silkworm Manor.
The main river channel of Fenggu Farm was sinuously connected to Zhuwei Lake, with a total distance of around twenty miles.
On the upper stretch of the Fenggu Farm channel, was a sluice constructed by Zhou Xuan called Fenggu Sluice. This sluice was built to regulate the waterlevel in the river, but because it used a single-gate winch pattern, it was impassable for ships.
However, this wasn’t a big issue, as regular maintenance was required to keep the Fenggu Sluice clear, ensuring the water level remained deep…
Wang Shouzhe quickly sorted out his thoughts and immediately wrote two letters, summoning Wang Zhong and Wang Yong.
“Family head.” Both retainers seemed upbeat, clearly optimistic about the future development of the clan.
Wang Shouzhe handed over the letters to the two household head staff, Wang Zhong and Wang Yong, instructing, “After you deliver the letters, you don’t need to return immediately. Stay there and lend a hand.”
After the retainers took their leave to carry out their tasks, Wang Shouzhe sat alone, slowly sipping his tea. His eyes flickered, revealing his internal anxiety. If everything went smoothly, this insect plague could actually become the turning point in the declining fate of the Wang family.