CH 123

Chapter 123 – Information

Yu Yuan’s silver was not spent in vain. When the teahouse owner came over with the requested song sheet, he was much more welcoming towards them, saying “I have made the arrangements. After this song is over, the next will be yours.” After speaking, he brought in a plate of fresh fruit and said, “This is a little something I prepared as a token of appreciation. Please enjoy your meal, I will be standing just outside the room. If there is anything you require, please give me a call.”

I suppose this teahouse owner was given a commission of some sort.

Yu Tang speculated, and become a little more confident of carrying out what she was about to do.

She picked the biggest pear and had Shuang Tao give it to the teahouse owner, saying with a smile, “Please wait. I would like to inquire about something.”

Immediately, he came over and stopped seven or eight paces away from her in a very formal manner, bowing his head and saying deferentially, “What would you like to inquire of? As long as it’s something I know, I would answer any question you have. And if I do not, I’ll go and ask for you.” He was very sharp and tactful.

That was perhaps the reason why this teahouse was one of the largest in the city.

Yu Tang pondered for a while and asked with a smile, “After arriving, I saw many large boats on the Suzhou River, and heard people say that they came from Ningbo and were loaded with all kinds of imported goods, do you know where they sell them?”

The teahouse owner listened and eagerly replied, “Miss, by asking me, you have asked the right person. There is no store in Suzhou that I do not know. When you arrived here, you saw the street in front of our teahouse, right? It is called Su River Street, and most of the teahouses, restaurants and eateries are all located on this street. If you turn left from our teahouse, there is an alleyway which sells all kinds of snacks and fruits. If you keep walking down the alley, there is another street, and on that street, they sold all kinds of imported goods ……”

He spoke with confidence, and it was clear that he was indeed familiar with Suzhou City.

Yu Tang continued her questions and soon learned where those in the maritime trade often stayed and how the news about the ships about to sail out was disseminated.

As Lady Xiang listened, she couldn’t help but subtly nod her head.

Previously, when Yu Yuan said Yu Tang was smart and capable, she didn’t think too much of it. After all, given her experience, she had seen many capable women, such as Mrs. Wei, her stepmother, and her stepmother’s maternal family madams, but it was extremely rare to find someone as intelligent and capable as Yu Tang.

Yu Tang was now more than just managing the countryside fields and handling the accounts. Rather, she was like a man, knowing how to interact and negotiate with people outside the family and how to obtain the things she wanted without saying a word.

Even Xia Pinggui and Xia Lian were surprised, let alone Lady Xiang.

Xia Pinggui mused, “No wonder the second old master wanted to recruit a son-in-law for her. She is the kind of person who can manage the family business successfully. As for Xia Lian, she was glad that Lady Xiang had such a little sister-in-law, who will not be a hindrance, but would also help Lady Xiang in times of trouble.

The two of them treated Yu Tang with greater respect after that, but of course, that was something that came much later.

After Yu Tang had obtained the information she needed, she rewarded him with a handful of copper coins and waited until he had left before saying to Yu Yuan with a bitter smile, “It seems that we have come to the wrong place.”

From what he said, those who did business at sea or sailed to Ningbo transporting goods, all liked to spend their time at another teahouse on the pier called Ping’an, and usually exchanged information there.

Yu Yuan didn’t think too much of it, saying with a grin “If we didn’t come to this teahouse, we wouldn’t know about this either. Besides, that Ping An Tavern sounds like a place where those blue-collar workers drink, so I can’t possibly take you two ladies to have a meal in a tavern, can I?”

Women who went to such places were mostly part of the Jiang Hu or from those brothels and were not treated with the usual proper respect and care accorded to women of the inner courtyards.

Lady Xiang nodded in agreement and smiled, “Your brother is right. Although we visited the wrong teahouse, we did learn something valuable. Once we return, you should tell your mother and aunt about it, and if there’s a chance, they should come here for a visit too.”

Yu Tang felt that their stay was far too short and was concerned that they wouldn’t be able to find an opportunity to speak with Jiang Ling.

However, there was nothing they could do by staying anxious, everything had to be dealt with one step at a time. As they had come to listen to the songs, they should relax and enjoy it.

Yu Tang, Lady Xiang and Yu Yuan spent the morning at the teahouse and found out a little more about the Song family from the teahouse owner.

It turns out that when the Song family returned to SuZhou, they begun building several boats at Taihu Lake and they had sold both their mulberry groves in Huzhou for this very purpose.

During the early days, the Song family started off with the silk trade business. Currently, this was the perfect time to plant mulberry plants and raise silkworms. Therefore, with their actions, the Song family could be said to have damaged their foundations and made a painful sacrifice.

Yu Yuan froze and asked the teahouse owner, “Did their family’s elders approve of this?”

The teahouse owner sighed as he replied, “Even if they disagreed, what else could they do? I see that you all aren’t locals so I’ll say this. The current Song family is no longer the same as before. Last year, they almost lost the bid to be the imperial family’s white silk supplier. They barely managed to secure the supplier role through a relative of theirs. Perhaps, you do not understand, but it’s not easy to be a supplier of the royal family, as there will be a selection and review process once every three years. Although they managed to keep their position now, but what about the next selection? Will their relatives still be willing to help them out? Or will the person who helped them this time still be in a position to help them in the future? It’s hard to say!”

A relative’s help?

Could it be the Pei family?

As Yu Tang contemplated, she heard the teahouse owner continue, “Instead of finding the cause for their own failure in the silk business, they claimed that it was someone else who was making things difficult for them. They were intent on leaving the silk trade business after these three years were completed and enter the maritime trade. In my opinion, if the Song family continues on like this, they wouldn’t last much longer!”

Unexpectedly this teahouse owner had such keen insight!

Yu Tang was impressed.

It seemed that this was how the Song family declined.

Yu Yuan, however, was unaware of this and thought that this teahouse owner was being a pessimist and said in response, “Why would you say that?”

The teahouse owner frowned as he replied, “In Suzhou, there’s plenty of businesses supplying for the imperial palace, but which ones are generating profits? Not only do they have to pay a fee to the palace eunuchs of the 24 inner courtyards, but they also have a litany of other departments, divisions and magistracies to pay tribute to. However, being an imperial merchant brings with it fame and prestige. Everyone knows that you have access to people from the palace and thus regular folks would accord you a measure of respect – is this something that money can buy? Furthermore, if your goods were used by the imperial family, it would certain only be the best of the best, thus, people would definitely patronise your stores and purchase something. With the loss of imperial favor, wouldn’t it be telling everyone that your family is incompetent, and there is no one at the imperial palace supporting your family, and your family has become insignificant?

This would only create a domino effect, and it would be a miracle if their family business didn’t collapse!”

Even a teahouse owner knows how to reason like this, so there is no way that the Song family wouldn’t know. For the Song family to make such a choice, was there a hidden agenda?

Could it be related to the Pei family’s changing circumstances?

However, even before the Pei family’s brothers became officials, the Song family was already a supplier to the imperial palace, so they should have developed their own methods, right?

Yu Tang couldn’t figure it out, so she stopped thinking about it and asked him, “I heard that there is a family surnamed Jiang in Suzhou City who wants to start a maritime business, and they are getting people to join in. Are they reliable? “

The teahouse owner twisted his lips and said derisively, “So you know about it as well? Their family used to operate ships, that is, delivering goods from Ningbo to Suzhou. In recent years, they may have earned some income, and now they have become unrealistically ambitious, wanting to do something big. We Suzhou locals are all waiting to watch them make a fool of themselves!”

Yu Tang was at a loss.

In her previous life, she heard Madam Lin say that whenever the Jiang family wanted to embark on a new voyage, everyone would desperately find a way to have a share.

This was yet another thing that had been greatly exaggerated after its success and popularity.

Then it would be pretty easy for them to join in at this time, wouldn’t it?

Yu Tang perked up.

She asked, “Do you know where the Jiang family lives?”

He gave Yu Tang a quick glance, but addressed Yu Yuan instead, “Their family lives in Dongjiang Lane, which is not far from here, but this man is very unreliable, crass, stingy and narrow-minded. Some people who have dealt with him say he is an ‘iron rooster’, so if you really want to do business with their family, you really have to keep your eyes open and be careful of being cheated by him.”

Although Yu Yuan didn’t know how Yu Tang learned about the Jiang family, but at this time, he had to speak up for Yu Tang no matter what. He smiled and backed up Yu Tang, saying, “We just heard about it on the road and were somewhat curious, that’s why we asked.”

He breathed a sigh of relief and said, “This Jiang family really doesn’t have a good reputation, so it’s better for you all to be careful.”

Yu Yuan thanked him, but it so happened that the song they requested was over, and the teahouse owner was about to bring the singer up to claim his reward, so this topic was dropped.

After leaving the teahouse, Yu Yuan found another popular restaurant for lunch, and Yu Tang decided to visit the Jiang family.

She told Yu Yuan, “I heard about this from one of the attendants in the inn yesterday. Anyway, what you hearing may be false, but what you see and experience with your eyes is more trustworthy. Since we’re here to inquire about these things, no matter what people say, we’ll just go there first and take a look, since we can’t settle everything with just one visit either.”

Yu Yuan and Lady Xiang both agreed, with Yu Yuan adding, “It’s also your good fortune, we too stayed here, but nobody pay attention to this yesterday.”

Yu Tang sweated and sheepishly pulled Yu Yuan away and switched the topic. “Should we inquire more carefully about the Jiang family’s fund-raising plan? How much is considered a share? Is it just silver or can we invest in the goods as well? When is their family planning to sail? Who did they hire for the ship?”

“Yes, of course!” Yu Yuan exclaimed.

Lady Xiang covered her mouth and laughed, saying, “Sister, you truly are a woman with the inner strength and intellect of a young nobleman. Both of you were looking at the same thing, but your brother doesn’t know anything, yet you managed to inquired about it clearly. When I came here, I thought that since you were interested in this, I would just come along with you to see the world, but now it seems that you might really be able to achieve something. If you don’t view me as an outsider, you can count me in.”

If Lady Xiang could say she would have a share, it was probably her own personal funds!

Yu Tang was very surprised and grateful for Lady Xiang’s trust in her, but she was also worried that the Jiang family may fail to succeed in this life and she would drag Lady Xiang along with her.

After all, the information she had heard in her previous life did not seem to be so accurate now.