Chapter 298 The sudden decision
After finishing the medicine at home, Sui Yu left her two tails behind and rode a camel into the city alone. After taking the pulse and getting medicine, she left the clinic and went to the Song family in Dinghu Lane.
"You left the horse to me, and you're so relieved that you didn't even go over to check it out." Sui Yu walked in and jokingly said, "Aren't you afraid that I'll sell your horse?"
"Sell it! It'll save me some trouble." Song Xian said with a smile. She explained, "I slept for two days after I got home, and then I was busy dealing with my cousins, so I had no time to go back. Huh? Are you drinking the bitter soup too?"
Sui Yu put down the medicine bag and said, "The old doctor said that I am weak and need to take some medicine to replenish my body. Where is Lu Yaer? How is she?"
"She is a little weak, but it's not a big problem. She is young and she will make up for it naturally by eating more and sleeping more. I plan not to take her with me to Chang'an this time and let her stay at home to rest." Song Xian said.
"What about you? Don't you want to take a rest?" Sui Yu asked.
"There's nothing serious wrong with me. It's just that I'm lacking in energy and blood, and my menstruation is irregular. But I'm not having children, so this won't affect me much." Song Xian didn't hide anything. She also brought back a few packets of herbal medicine from the clinic. The doctor told her to think less and worry less, which was almost impossible. She planned to just take a few doses of medicine as a token of her appreciation.
"When do the caravans from the Xu and Li families plan to leave?" she asked again.
"Three days later." Sui Yu came over to tell him the news. "The horses of our four families are all in the north of the city. They've attracted a lot of people to come and see the mess. They're also upset. They said they'll leave in three days. I guess they'll prepare all the food and fodder and set off."
Song Xian sat up straight and said, "Then I'll start preparing too."
"Do you want me to lend you a few people? To be honest, I'm a little worried that your servants will have bad intentions. If I lend you a few people to accompany you, even if they don't do anything, they can make others feel afraid." Sui Yu said.
Song Xian was touched and said, "Sister Yu, thank you. However, I am going through the customs this time and am bound by laws. These servants at home cannot leave me. Unless they hide in the deep mountains and forests and never come out, life in the mountains is not as good as living with me. They know what is more important and will not harm me. Also, the servants I brought with me this time all have elderly mothers and children. After Song Jiu's example last year, no one dared to follow suit."
"It's okay if you think about it. I'm just worried that someone would risk their life to make things worse for us," said Sui Yu.
Song Xian laughed and said, "I'm taking them on a business trip, not to their deaths. They can earn three hundred coins for each trip with me. This is a good deal. Even a fool would know to save my life."
There were threats and inducements, and they were traveling inside the pass. Sui Yu thought about it and felt it was safe, so he stopped talking.
"By the way, has the inn been busy lately? Are there any caravans coming from the east?" Song Xian asked. "I'd like to ask a passing caravan to find Song Jiu, Da Gen, and Er Zhu for me. They won't care if they bring back the men or their heads, and I'll give them a camel, or rent five camels for free."
With this measure as a backup, Song Xian could ensure that she would not be betrayed when she took the slaves out of the pass. Song Jiu and others defected outside the pass because they thought they would be free outside the pass, but she did not want to do what they wanted. She would even pay money to put a bounty on their lives, and at least let them live in fear if they didn't die.
Sui Yu poked her forehead. She was silent for a moment and said, "I'll write a reward notice for you and hang it on the door of the kitchen. Tell me, what are the obvious characteristics of these three people?"
…
Elsewhere, Zhao Xiping sent Captain Qu away. He called Zhang Shun over and asked, "Who does your master value most?"
Zhang Shun didn't know what expression to make for a moment. He thought for a moment and said, "I think I am the most favored by the master."
"And then?"
"Xiao Chunhong, the two Gan and Da Gan brothers, Liu Yaer, Qingshan, Li Wu... Sir, what are you trying to say?" Zhang Shun was puzzled. "The master trusts us very much, and we are all loyal to her. Last year, when we encountered the will-o'-the-wisp fire outside the Gobi Desert, none of us were cowards. We risked our lives to run out and protect the master and the goods."
Zhao Xiping said indifferently, "Oh," and said, "This is what you should do. Is it worth boasting about?"
"No." Zhang Shun lowered his head and said, "I just want to say that we won't have any more bad intentions, and what happened to Erhei won't happen again."
"Can you guarantee it?" Zhao Xiping sneered.
Zhang Shun nodded without hesitation. With such a host, what else could they be picky about?
"Why don't we give it a try? Let's put your conscience on the line."
"How do we try?" Zhang Shun agreed readily. He was thinking about what method it would be when he heard the master tell him to lead the team to take the Dayuan horses to Chang'an to sell them. He was so shocked that he couldn't recover.
"What's wrong? Is there any problem?" Zhao Xiping asked.
"...Sir, do you know how much these forty-seven horses, thirty boxes of saddles and thirty boxes of silverware will be sold for? At least three hundred thousand coins. Do you dare to hand it over to me? This is not the way to gamble! Does my master know?" Zhang Shun was so shocked that he forgot about the hierarchy and spoke a series of words like a question.
Zhao Xiping smiled, crossed his arms, and asked, "Don't you have any ulterior motives?"
"The burden is too heavy, I don't dare to take it on." Zhang Shun said frankly, "I don't even have 500 coins in my hand. You want me to do a business worth 300,000 or 400,000 coins. I... you think too highly of me."
"Since you don't dare to take over, I will ask Li Wu and Xiao Chunhong to come and ask them." Zhao Xiping said decisively.
Zhang Shun was silent. Would he say no more? Should he at least give him some time to think about it? Seeing that Zhao Xiping was really about to leave, he hurriedly spoke to stop him: "Sir, please let me think about it."
Zhao Xiping saw Sui Yu coming back. He left the distracted man behind and said, "I'll only give you half a day. Come to me after you've thought it over. If you miss this day, I won't give you a chance to regret it, even if you tell the world you're wrong."
Sui Yu went to see Sui Liang and Xiaozai changing the mulberry leaves for the silkworms. She looked inside and found white silk on the edge of the box, which was a sign of spinning and making cocoons.
"The cocoons have been made so soon? Aren't you planning to go to the military settlement to sell the silkworms? Won't you be unable to sell them after the cocoons are made?" she asked.
"I'll go sell them in the next two days. It's the best time to sell them. The silkworms will not eat mulberry leaves when they are spinning silk, which saves trouble for people who buy them." Sui Liang said.
"If you sell the cocoons, won't you be able to sell silkworms next year? By then, everyone will have baby silkworms, and your silkworms won't be valuable anymore." Sui Yu was puzzled as to why this stingy person only sold silkworms for one year. She quickly realized, "Oh, you're planning to start selling mulberry leaves?"
"Smart." Sui Liang praised, "In the whole city of Dunhuang, we are the only ones who have mulberry leaves. If everyone has a box of silkworms, won't our business be booming?"
It’s really great, Sui Yu admires it.
"Mom, please talk to Uncle Xu and Uncle Li and ask them to bring us twenty mulberry seedlings when they come next year." The kid hugged Sui Yu's legs and acted coquettishly.
"You don't need an outsider to take care of it. Let Zhang Shun bring you a mulberry tree next year." Zhao Xiping came over to speak. He did not hide it from the two children. In front of them, he told Sui Yu what he had been thinking about these days.
"Making money is important, but you're most important to our family. I can't let you go out and about without a word, knowing you're risking your life." Zhao Xiping said, "As you get older, traveling will become more and more demanding, and your health will deteriorate, which will seriously affect your lifespan. I know you're reluctant to give up the caravan business, and I wouldn't want to lose this income if it were to cease. So, for the sake of the future, I think we should try to let go and let Zhang Shun and the others run your business. The worst that can happen is that they'll embezzle more money, and we'll earn less."
"Sister, you stay at home and I will follow the caravan for you." Sui Liang interrupted.
Sui Yu looked at him without saying anything.
"When you recover, and you want to go out and see the world, I won't stop you from going out with the caravan every one or two years," Zhao Xiping continued.
Sui Yu was conflicted. This model was equivalent to her being the boss and letting purchasing and sales go out. The only difference was that the money and goods followed purchasing and sales. Whether buying or selling, it was completely out of her hands. The risk was too great.
"Sister, I will follow the caravan and keep the money and goods for you." Sui Liang said again.
"I don't need you. I have your sister Song to look after it for me." Sui Yu refused. She said to Zhao Xiping, "Okay, let's give it a try. Let's wait for a few years. When our cotton is grown, I will be a big merchant selling quilts, cotton clothes and cotton cloth. Then I can support a caravan. If the caravan is disobedient, I can also do business with the passing caravans."
Sui Yu suddenly realized that in ancient times, many big businessmen had their own caravans. The difference was that their caravans must have their own clansmen, while her caravan was managed by slaves, but there were interests involved, and she felt that she could tie people down.
She had made up her mind, and Zhang Shun had also made up his mind. He hurried over and said, "Master, if you are willing to trust me, I will never let you down."
"Get ready. In a couple of days, we will follow the Song family's caravan out of the city. You will go with the Xu and Li families' caravans." Sui Yu said.
Zhang Shun went downstairs, and Sui Yu went into the house and took out the wooden board used for practicing calligraphy. She washed the words on it, dried it, and wrote on it again. While the merchants were eating, she nailed the board to the door with an iron bar.
"Shopkeeper Yu, what are you smashing?" asked an escort.
"A reward has been posted. The Song family wants to capture three runaway slaves from her household. Dead or alive, if you bring them back, or their heads, you'll receive a camel. If you rent camels, you can waive the rent on five camels," Sui Yu said. "It all depends on which caravan has the opportunity."
"It doesn't have to be a caravan. There are knights who specialize in this business. You just hang on. Before the beginning of next spring, someone will be assigned to take over this business." said the escort.
Sui Yu felt much more at ease. If she encountered a servant who betrayed his master in the future, she would also put up a bounty.
The next day, Sui Yu found Sui Liang, and she first explained clearly the many locks she had put on the caravan: the servants knew the way and knew her business channels; the servants at home had been tested and there was no big problem with their loyalty; there were laws to constrain them, so even if there were escaped slaves, she could report them to the authorities; and Song Xian would help keep an eye on it, so there would be no major problems with the business.
"Do you still want to leave Dunhuang with the caravan?" Sui Yu asked, holding Sui Liang's hand. "Let's not consider keeping an eye on the caravan for me. Just ask yourself, do you want to stay home or go out with the caravan?"
Sui Liang withdrew his hand and asked, "Will you lead a caravan to do business in the future?"
"Yes." Sui Yu gave an affirmative answer. In fact, the most important point for her to let the slaves lead the caravan to do business was that she was worried about growing cotton. She was not at ease leaving home for most of the next year, so she could only adopt this idea.
Hearing this, Sui Liang said a little embarrassedly: "Then I will go with you then."
He still wanted to stay with his sister's family.
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