Chapter 121 Chapter 121 Ata returned to Shen dejectedly...
Ata returned to Shen Xuan and Xue Fenglin dejectedly, and kept apologizing helplessly, hoping that they would not be angry because of Zhong Ge'er's nonsense just now.
"He is not like this on weekdays. He works very hard. In addition to doing housework, he also grows vegetables in the fields and sells them."
Seeing Ata so embarrassed, Shen Xuan couldn't help but sigh and said, "It's okay, we won't get angry because of this little thing. Thank you for your hard work, accompanying us to translate all the way, and helping a lot. We can't thank you enough."
At this point, Shen Xuan took out a silver ingot from his sleeve pocket, handed it to Ata and said, "This is the reward for your translation for us. Take it quickly."
"This, this, this! No, no..." Ata's face turned red and he quickly refused in shame.
The silver ingot in Shen Xuan's hand was not small, and it looked like it weighed several taels. He had been kind enough to translate for them for free, and then something like this happened. How could he accept their money?
Seeing this, Shen Xuan smiled, put the silver ingot on the table and said, "If you don't want it, Zhong Ge'er will definitely be even angrier when he finds out. This is what you deserve. If we hire someone else to translate, we will also have to give this much."
After saying this, Shen Xuan asked Xue Fenglin to pay for the meal, and then took his hand and left the restaurant.
I left Ata standing there alone, staring at the silver ingot on the table, feeling mixed emotions.
After saying goodbye to Ata, the two went back to the inn to rest.
Thinking of his encounter with Brother Zhong just now, Shen Xuan said to Xue Fenglin with some emotion: "Sometimes I really don't understand what Brother Zhong is thinking?"
"Although Ata's family is not wealthy, she looks very honest. Since he is willing to marry Ata, he should just live a good life with him. Judging from Ata's attitude towards him, it is much better than when he was married to a widower in Yunshui Village. Why is he still not satisfied?"
Xue Fenglin had never told Shen Xuan what Zhong Ge'er had done when he came to his house in Yunshui Village.
Hearing Shen Xuan's question, he just said sarcastically: "This Zhong brother is not a down-to-earth person. Now he married that Ata because he was alone and had no other choice. I think he looks down on Ata in his heart and dislikes Ata for making too little. With such a personality, it will be difficult for him to live a good life in the future."
"Ata's ability is limited, he can make money on his own." Shen Xuan said puzzledly: "After Zhong Xiaomei went to Lezhou, she also learned embroidery diligently. Before I left Lezhou, I heard that her embroidery work was already quite good."
"As long as you are willing to settle down and learn a skill, even if you can't become rich, you can still have enough food and clothing in the future."
"Brother Zhong is not a lazy person, but he is not as thoughtful as Sister Zhong. He places his hopes on others, so naturally he cannot satisfy them."
“Do you think everyone has your courage?” After listening to Shen Xuan’s words, Xue Fenglin shook his head and smiled.
Brother Zhong was selfish by nature and had no brains, but he shamelessly compared himself to Shen Xuan, and of course he lost miserably.
Shen Xuan is a very independent person, he is good at making money, if he hadn't been concerned about his relationship with her, he would have gone away by himself a long time ago.
"Ata is indeed a good man." Xue Fenglin praised someone for once, "It's a pity that he married a man like Zhong Ge'er. It's also his fate."
In fact, Xue Fenglin had previously thought about promoting a popular route between Sarawak and the west coast of Southeast Asia. A contact person needs to be arranged in Nanyang.
Ata is enthusiastic and reliable. Although he is not a smart person, he is considered because of his honest character and proficiency in two languages.
However, this idea was immediately thrown out of his mind after what happened to Zhong Ge'er. With such a husband, Xue Fenglin dared not hand over the important affairs in Nanyang to Ata.
Ata and Zhong Ge'er didn't know that they had just missed their only chance to get rich...
Having said that, the two of them avoided the topic of Zhong Ge'er and started talking about business opportunities in Nanyang.
Looking at the level of development of the West Coast and Elephant City, if we could establish a commercial line from Sarawak to here, we could probably make a lot of money.
This development is beneficial to the people of Dajin and Nanyang, and I believe the Nanyang government will not object to it.
The two of them then asked a waiter from the inn to act as an interpreter and played in Nanyang for a few days. On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Xuan felt that he was a little sick of eating Nanyang food, so he returned to Sarawak with Xue Fenglin.
After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Sarawak port finally resumed work.
Shen Xuan rebuilt a larger new pier near the old pier. Beautiful houses were built on both sides of the river after the new pier came in. The house specifically uses the Nanyang style to create a touch of exotic charm.
The construction of the wharf took a full six months and required a huge investment, amounting to tens of thousands of taels of silver.
Fortunately, Xuanji Cloud Candy sold really well, and Shen Xuan opened new stores in prosperous places such as Lezhou. Every shop can make a lot of money, and the sugar factory is also thriving!
Shen Xuan used the profits from the sugar factory and sugar shop to offset most of the expenses at the dock. In addition, he used his eloquence to persuade Madam Li and some Sarawak families to invest.
After the wharf was built, it started to make profits immediately. Merchants from all over Dajin also smelled the business opportunity and came here one after another.
Shen Xuan directly made a rule that all shops on the Sarawak Wharf were to be rented and not sold. Those who participated in the investment in the early stage, if they no longer want to hold the shop, should give priority to selling the shop to Chen Xuan for recycling, and cannot sell it to others at will.
As the Sarawak Wharf was finally built, the things that Shen Xuan and Madam Li had discussed before were finally put on the agenda.
With the help of Mrs. Li, Jianzhou also opened a coconut oil and coconut soap factory. On Shen Xuan’s side, he built a factory for producing skin care products at the border between Sarawak and Jianzhou.
The establishment of these two factories connected the economies of Chittagong and Sarawak.
In addition, Jianzhou is much closer to Sarawak Pier than to Flower City. Soon, there was an endless stream of merchants coming to Sarawak Pier to buy coconut oil, coconut soap and skin care products in bulk, as well as Jianzhou seafood.
Even merchants from Southeast Asia would transport Southeast Asian specialties to Sarawak for resale, while also coming to Sarawak to purchase Dajin specialties to bring back to Southeast Asia.
For example, Chen Xuan’s cloud sugar and skin care and soap products made from coconut oil are not available in Nanyang.
The aristocracy in Nanyang is not short of money, and most of the things here in Shen Xuan are exquisite and sophisticated. He made a fortune by selling it in Southeast Asia.
Coupled with the merchants coming from all over Dajin, Shazhou Wharf suddenly became the busiest place on the southeast coast of Dajin, taking away more than half of the original passenger flow from Pengzhou, so that there was no longer a situation at Pengzhou Wharf where passengers had to wait for two hours to go out to sea.
The Sarawak wharf is thriving, and the people living nearby have naturally benefited a lot from it.
Needless to say, those who contracted land for farming and those who had surplus labor at home also found ways to get jobs in nearby factories.
If you really can't get in, you can sell some fish, shrimp and seafood at the dock, or make some tea and snacks for the common people, which can also supplement the family income.
As long as people are not too lazy, almost every family can eat meat and wear new clothes.
Life in Sarawak has become better after the establishment of the state, but Lord Tang is not so comfortable.
He had flatly refused the idea of building an economic belt with Xue Fenglin at the beginning. Now, seeing Xue Fenglin making money and the economies of Sarawak and Jianzhou doing well, Pengzhou has been diverted and seems much more desolate.
"This Xue Fenglin is so hateful!" Lord Tang was having dinner at home. He couldn't help cursing while eating and angrily threw the chopsticks in his hand to the ground.
"Father, what's wrong with you?" Mrs. Tang winked, and the eldest son of the Tang family quickly asked.
Mrs. Tang asked her personal maid to help Lord Tang collect the dirty chopsticks and replace them with a new pair.
"Our Pengzhou Wharf used to be the busiest place on the southeast coast." Lord Tang enumerated Xue Fenglin's "crimes" to Young Master Tang.
"After the construction of his Sarawak wharf, many merchants have been attracted there. He also reduced taxes for those merchants. The tax for trading in Sarawak is 20% lower than that in Pengzhou."
"Which of those merchants is not profit-driven? In order to save the 20% tax, they all rushed to Sarawak to open shops."
"The Sarawak wharf is now well-established and close to Southeast Asia. Many of the merchants and fleets that used to go through Pengzhou have gone there. This year, our tax revenue is also one-third less than in previous years. With such a huge gap, if the accounts are sent to Your Majesty, won't it be my fault?"
"He has made great contributions this year, but I, a prefect, am about to be killed by him!"
When the eldest young master of the Tang family heard this, he felt a little annoyed. After all, the rise and fall of the Tang family depended on Master Tang. Mr. Tang was a mediocre official, but as the prefect of Pengzhou, he naturally enjoyed the geographical benefits and lived a good life over the years.
If Xue Fenglin gets into trouble this time, the Tang family will probably be in trouble too.
When Mrs. Tang heard this, she looked at Miss Tang San and said nothing, but she had another idea in her mind.
After Lord Tang finished his dinner, he went to Fourth Aunt's room.
The eldest son of the Tang family was also about to leave, but was stopped by Mrs. Tang.
After keeping him, Madam Tang dismissed the servants in the room, leaving only Miss Tang San and a mother who served her personally. Then she said, "Your father was here just now, so it was difficult to discuss this with you. Now that there are no outsiders in the room, I can talk to you about this."
"To be honest, the Xue family husband invited us to invest in the Sarawak Pier. I thought that guy was good at making money and the cloud candy was selling well, so I bought a share without telling your father."
"Ah?" Young Master Tang was surprised when he heard this, but when he looked at his sister, she looked calm. It was obvious that she had known about it for a long time and even wore the same pants as Mrs. Tang.
"Are you serious, mother?" Young Master Tang paused and then asked thoughtfully.
"Of course I am serious. I have invested half of my dowry." Mrs. Tang then spoke up and said, "You also know that your father has more than one son. Not to mention your half-brothers, there are so many concubines and brothers and sisters in the family."
"As the eldest son, you will inherit the family business, which is easy to say. Although your sister is a legitimate daughter, she is a girl after all. When she gets married in the future, she can't rely on the government's support, so she can only rely on your mother's dowry!"
"I only have so much property. Even if I give it all to your sister, it won't be much. Besides, I have to leave some for you." Madam Tang continued, "Mr. Xue must have known what I was thinking. He told me about this privately at the last banquet and asked me to take part in it."
"Have you made money now?" Young Master Tang asked quickly.
"Of course I have made a lot." Mrs. Tang couldn't help laughing when she said this. She glanced at the third girl next to her and said, "It's only been half a year, but I have made back all my capital. Now I get a dividend of 100 taels of silver a month."
"Your sister is also smart. Seeing that the dock was making money, she asked Mr. Xue to rent a shop and sell rouge and powder. Now her business is booming. When she gets married in the future, this business will be a generous dowry, so she won't have to count on the government to pay for it!"
Young Master Tang never expected that his mother and sister would do such a big thing without telling their family, and the rewards were quite generous.
He was not a fool and knew that even if he was the eldest son, it would be impossible for him to inherit all the family business. When his younger brothers and sisters-in-law separated from the family and each took away some of the property, he would naturally have less in his hands.
Mrs. Tang will definitely give some of her earnings to her sister, but in the end the bulk of it will still be his, which is good for him.
Moreover, the Tang family's public account only earns about a thousand taels a year, and Mrs. Tang can receive a hundred taels of dividends a month, and the annual income is almost the same as the entire Tang family.
With this calculation, the construction of the wharf in Sarawak was a great advantage for him!
The resentment that Young Master Tang had in his heart had long since disappeared, and was replaced by joy.
Madam Tang watched his expression change, and then she said to him, "Master Xue's family is a marquis, and he has made great achievements in Sarawak this time. He will definitely be promoted and returned to the capital in the future! He may be a close minister to His Majesty!"
"Your father is a stubborn person. If he had cooperated with him back then, he would have gained benefits. This achievement would have been directly attributed to your father. How could this happen?"
"Instead of losing your temper here, you might as well take this opportunity to quickly bow to Xue Fenglin and cooperate with him again. When he returns to the capital, he can also say a few good words for your father in front of His Majesty!"
"That's true." After hearing this, Young Master Tang nodded in agreement.
"I will go and persuade father about this matter. Mother, you and sister can continue to associate with Mr. Xue. He can also mention you more in front of Mr. Xue and build some friendship with the Xue family."
After a few days, no one knew what Young Master Tang and Lord Tang said.
Lord Tang suddenly held a grand family dinner at home and specially invited Xue Fenglin and his wife to attend.
This time, when Shen Xuan and Xue Fenglin just arrived at the gate of the Tang family, they saw Mr. Tang, Mrs. Tang, the eldest young master of the Tang family and others, who were already greeting them at the gate with smiles on their faces, and their attitudes were as warm as spring breeze.
Except for the third daughter of the Tang family, the eldest aunt, the second aunt and the brothers and sisters who were there in the past are nowhere to be seen.
Lord Tang politely invited Xue Fenglin to a banquet, and during the banquet he even said that he had already submitted a report to the court in advance, requesting credit for Xue Fenglin's achievements in Sarawak.
This incident happened suddenly, even Xue Fenglin was surprised. He didn't expect that Lord Tang, who was always petty, would take the initiative to ask for credit for himself!
However, since Lord Tang was so polite, he couldn't help but give him face. Afterwards, Lord Tang discussed with him the cooperation between Sarawak and Pengzhou, and Xue Fenglin also put forward his own ideas that he had already thought of.
He encouraged Mr. Tang to build more schools in Pengzhou, invite famous teachers, and cultivate a cultural atmosphere. Let Pengzhou become a cultural place on the southeast coast and attract people who are eager to learn.
Most of those students came from wealthy families, so studying in Pengzhou naturally involved spending money.
Cooperating in this way would help revive Pengzhou's economy, and the lost tax revenue from the port and commerce would be offset.
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