Chapter 48 My Territory, My Rules: Shen Wanqing rarely spoke out because of this matter, which she considered the most justifiable, legitimate, and permissible thing...
Shen Wanqing was unusually shy about this matter, which she considered to be the most justifiable, legitimate, and impossible thing. The next day, when she went out, she pushed Yulang and insisted that he walk in front of her.
Perhaps stimulated by the scene of Shen Wanqing leading Yulang out of the mountain gate with just one finger, the other three ladies also showed some weariness on their faces early in the morning.
The maple leaves are right here. It doesn't make much difference whether you see them this time, next time, or next year. Without any discussion, the families tacitly gave up the idea of climbing the mountain to admire the maple leaves again. They just wandered around the small hills around the village. At noon, they found a flat place with a wide view, spread out cushions, and sat down for a picnic.
Apart from Baoshan, the men were all men who had followed the army to fight against Galdan last year. As Manchus who were still skilled in riding and archery, they would often go out of the city to hunt when they had free time. Eating over a fire in the wild was a very common thing for them.
What's unusual is Shen Wanqing's arrangement: thick silk cloth laid on the grass, pieces of fruit arranged in a box, separate boxes for sweet and savory snacks, sliced braised beef and braised duck. Going out for barbecue is turned into something like children playing house by her.
Especially the whole box of spicy braised duck tongues that was laid out made Shen Wanqing happy. Duck tongues used to be too expensive, so she could only afford a little bit each time. Now, putting aside all the other benefits, her taste buds were thoroughly satisfied, which was something to be happy about.
However, these were all snacks, meant to spice up the women's conversation as they sat together. The real main event at noon was half a sheep, a rack of pork ribs, and two large, fat chickens, all bought from the estate where they had stayed the previous night.
As a cavalry officer, Akdun usually spent most of his time in the training grounds. He also had many opportunities to go hunting and training with his men. For him, starting a fire and roasting meat was as commonplace as a cook cooking around a stove.
Shen Wanqing, who had only ever eaten sliced meat served on the table and often had someone help her grill it, was a complete novice in this regard. She had no intention of interfering whatsoever. Don't use your so-called limited knowledge to challenge other people's life instincts, or you'll really make a fool of yourself.
Sure enough, whether it was because the meat was fresh enough or because Akdun and Eshan were skilled cooks, the roasted meat was incredibly tender and juicy. Yulang, who was less experienced than the two of them, didn't dare to interfere with the lamb and ribs and instead focused on roasting the chicken.
The dipping sauce for the roast chicken was sponsored by Shen Wanqing. It was made with linden honey sent from Liaodong by Uncle Shen. The honey was amber in color, thick and translucent in texture, and turned as white as snow after solidification. It had a smooth, sweet taste that was not cloying. Every year, the Imperial Household Department and the Ula Hunting Office would send the best linden honey to the palace.
Mix honey, minced garlic, light soy sauce, chopped onions, ground black pepper, and oil until it reaches a thick consistency that doesn't drip when brushed onto the roasted chicken. This method produces a savory, slightly sweet chicken; the sweetness of the honey effectively balances the richness of the fatty meat, while also making the chicken meat more tender.
"This tastes great! Grandma, how did you think of using honey to roast chicken? It's so sweet and delicious. Next time, I'm sure it will taste good with roasted ribs too. I'm afraid it won't work with lamb. Lamb is best when it's in its natural flavor; it won't taste good if you mix it with anything."
Dai Jiashi had a sweet tooth, and Yu Lang's roast chicken was exactly what she wanted. She ate almost half of the chicken by herself.
"We received a lot of honey from our hometown. We got tired of just using it to make water and drinking it, so we started thinking of these fancy tricks." Shen Wanqing smiled as she ate a chicken wing and left a chicken leg for Yu Lang. Otherwise, it would be too unreasonable for Lord Yu to have gone to so much trouble and not get anything in return.
"The road from Liaodong to the capital is not easy to travel. My great-grandmother's uncle is a very thoughtful person."
“His family partnered with someone to run a caravan, specializing in business between the capital and Liaodong. My eldest uncle was involved with all of us married women, and every time the caravan came to the capital, they would bring us a lot of things. When I first got married, all these things were brought from my parents’ home.”
By listening carefully to what she was saying, Wanyan Shi had already guessed some of Shen Wanqing's plans. From Shen Wanqing's repeated questions about Shengjing yesterday, specifically mentioning that the eldest branch of the Shen family and her maternal sister were both in Shengjing, and today's conversation about honey and horse caravans, Wanyan Shi had already guessed some of Shen Wanqing's plans.
“Now that you have such a good way, Grandma, you must not waste it. My family has a shop that gets its goods from other people’s caravans. It’s good, but there’s still a layer between us. Sometimes the goods are not good or they are late, and there are always times when neither side is satisfied.”
“You’ve hit the nail on the head. I’m a materialistic person and I value gold and silver a lot. My husband, Lord Yu, is also very generous. Back in my maternal home, my parents took care of everything for me, so I didn’t have to worry about anything. Now that I’m in charge, how can I keep seeing money going out without ever seeing it coming in?”
“Madam, do whatever you want. Don’t drag me into this again. I only have two taels of silver in my purse. Do you want it or not? If you do, you can have it all.”
Yu Lang was caught off guard when his wife suddenly started acting out a skit. He didn't expect her to do anything, so he picked up on her words and got up to sit down next to Akdun. He even nudged Akdun with his elbow, acting like "all men are like this," which made people inexplicably angry.
"Commander, please don't blame me for speaking rudely today since we're out having fun. You men have no idea how hard it is to manage a household. If you need money and are in a good mood, just tell your family. If you're not in a good mood, just go to the accounting office and take the money. Once you've taken it, you leave. You don't care where we'll have to scrape together the money to cover the losses later."
The speaker was Dai Jiashi. Yu Lang's love for knives was a hobby that Akdun had instilled in him. Over the years, Akdun had collected more swords and knives than Yu Lang, and the family had spent a fortune on them.
Because of this, Daijia and Akdun had argued countless times, and sometimes the arguments even escalated to physical fights. Akdun was naturally stronger than Daijia, but he couldn't withstand her skill with the long stick. No matter how high one's skill level was, a master of the long stick was always at a disadvantage, and Akdun had never gotten the better end of the deal with Daijia over the years. Fortunately, neither of them held grudges, and after their arguments and fights, they would always be family again.
"What I just said was just a prelude, to see if my two older sisters and Wanyan sister are short of money on a daily basis."
If I weren't short of money, this money-grubber wouldn't bother you. But if you're like me, a little strapped for cash and always thinking about how to earn some extra pocket money, I'll shamelessly ask if you'd be interested in partnering up to charter a small caravan of horses to transport our goods.
Caravans could range from a large caravan with thousands of mules and horses to a small one with dozens or even hundreds. Each caravan was naturally divided into different teams, traveling from Liaodong to all parts of the country.
These families all own shops, and their suppliers are either horse caravans or boat caravans. If they could work together to secure a reliable horse caravan as their supplier, it would be much better than constantly dealing with different caravans.
Having laid the groundwork, Shen Wanqing stopped beating around the bush and instead revealed her previously convoluted thoughts, causing Zhao Jia to chuckle softly. This Shen woman appeared shrewd yet possessed a touch of naive sincerity, making one irresistibly drawn to her.
“Grandma can free up a few shops now. I have two shops that source their goods from Liaodong. One is managed by my own manager, and the other is just a share investment. If Grandma’s caravan is reliable, I will take both shops. At that time, I’m afraid one caravan will not be enough.”
"This matter is not urgent. In a few days, I will take advantage of the weather before it gets cold to inspect the fields and shops. My husband is someone who doesn't concern himself with worldly affairs. The accounts that the shops have handed over in over the past few years have given me a headache. Only after the accounts are sorted out will we know how many shops we can recover."
The family's shops were all in disarray under Shumulu's management. Once the rent was collected each year, she would leave the shopkeepers to their own devices. She knew that besides the money handed over to her, these shopkeepers must have kept a separate account with Shumulu in private, but since she couldn't get her hands on it, she could only pretend it never existed.
Five years is neither a long nor a short time. It's hard to say whether these shopkeepers can stay, but Shen Wanqing is determined to take back the shop.
After taking it back, Shen Wanqing didn't plan to do anything new. She would rely on the Shen family's caravan and boat guild to first set up a shop specializing in products from Liaodong and Fujian. Once she had established a foothold in the caravan and boat guild through the shop, she would think about the future.
Nowadays, people excel at whatever they do, making it incredibly difficult for outsiders to get involved. Sometimes, even family members shouldn't interfere or ask questions about things they shouldn't meddle in.
The eldest branch of the Shen family partnered with others to run a caravan, while Xu's maternal family had been running a boat guild and seagoing vessels for generations. The second branch of the Shen family had always been able to do business with the caravan and boat guild under the guise of kinship, and Xu could also take a share on the seagoing vessels. However, when it came to the operation of the caravan and boat guild, the second branch of the Shen family had always kept quiet and never interfered.
In those days, it was no exaggeration to say that traveling as a merchant was a life-or-death struggle. The journey was long and arduous, and official roads weren't always available. When it came to crossing mountains and rivers, one had to know which places were passable and which were impassable, which checkpoints were manned, and which mountain passes required payment for passage.
The further east you go, the colder the weather gets and the stronger the wind and snow. Knowing when to set off and when not to go, which areas of the sea have reefs, and what the weather looks like to indicate big waves—these are all experiences passed down from generation to generation.
These skills were passed down orally from generation to generation by the master craftsmen employed by the caravan and boat guilds, and then from generation to generation. It's virtually impossible for outsiders to know. As for poaching people from them, that's even more of a pipe dream. If that were to happen, it would either be because relatives had fallen out of favor and were about to become enemies, or because that family had completely fallen on hard times and had been divided up by others.
Neither situation was something Shen Wanqing wanted to encounter. Why should she have to give up everything just because she wanted something when other people were living perfectly well?
It's best to be down-to-earth and first set up shops selling local specialties from both places. Once you're familiar with both sides as a retailer and have some profit to make, then you might be able to sit at the same table with them.
As for getting Zhao Jia and the others involved now, it's indeed to cultivate relationships with several families and also to get the horse caravan and boat caravan to allocate a horse team and a boat to them. They need a fixed route to get to know people; otherwise, it's just about saving face when they come and go, which won't do.
"The caravans come in all sizes. We'll discuss it with the manager when people from Shengjing arrive at the end of the year. The seas are rough this year, so the supplies from Southeast Asia and Fuzhou shouldn't arrive until the end of the year. If you're interested, come and take a look. Feel free to take anything you like back to play with."
With both caravans and boatmen involved, Zhao Jia thought Shen Wanqing was trying to drum up business for her family. However, in the past, goods from the south and the sea were always snapped up by a few established shops as soon as they arrived in the capital. She had considered doing business with southern goods, but she just couldn't compete with those people.
Having Shen Wanqing as a connection is actually a good thing. If the goods at sea can be sold well, she is willing to convert one of her shops into a shop selling southern goods, so that the two shops don't have to sell the same things and compete with each other for business.
“I’m not very good with money, and my mother manages all the important things at home. But I do have a shop that I brought with me as part of my dowry. If you agree on this, I’ll take a share and pick out some good stuff to take back with me.”
Dai Jia, being a kind-hearted woman, listened to Shen Wanqing and Zhao Jia's conversation without interrupting. She waited until they had finished talking before expressing her opinion, glancing at Shen Wanqing repeatedly as she spoke.
Yulang spends half the month in the palace, and Akdun has to take on most of the affairs within the Zuoling (military command). Daijia, the wife of the Xiaojixiao (a military officer), naturally has to help handle many matters among the female relatives.
She didn't mean she couldn't manage the money, but rather that she didn't have the time to manage it. Shen Wanqing reached out and took Dai Jia's hand, "Don't worry, sister. In a couple of days, I'll have to shamelessly drag you along on the patrol of the banner area. You won't be able to avoid it even if you want to."
Upon hearing this, Lady Daijia felt much relieved. Lady Shen was the wife of the Zuo Ling (military commander), and it was much more legitimate for her to handle many matters within the Zuo Ling than for herself.
When she first heard that she was going to inspect the fields, her heart jumped, worried that she might be the kind of person who only cared about her own family and not about the affairs of the banner. But now that she heard that she was also going to inspect the banner lands, her heart was at ease.
As always, Lady Wanyan listened to Shen Wanqing and the others talking while leisurely arranging the food boxes. She had the maids take away the boxes that were almost empty and rearranged the remaining boxes for everyone to take.
She didn't need to worry about that. Her family had been making money for generations, and they probably owned more shops than any other family. They already had a regular caravan that delivered goods. If Madam Shen really set things up, she could just have Baoshan choose one or two shops to distribute, thus fulfilling her wish.
Many things are best left unsaid; this matter was settled after today. Shen Wanqing didn't mention it again, focusing instead on eating and drinking. By the time she prepared to return to the city in the afternoon, she was quite tipsy.
"Both the caravan and the boat guild are from your maternal family. Won't that make things difficult for you?"
"What's so difficult about it? In-law relationships are meant to be used. I use them now, they'll use us later. Do I really need to explain to you, sir, that we shouldn't wait until it's too late?"
It would be a waste not to use the connections that are right here. Back when we were working, Shen Wanqing could still pull in connections even when she didn't have any. Now that the connections are obviously there, it's ridiculous not to use them.
The carriage was filled with a faint aroma of wine and the smell of smoke. Shen Wanqing leaned lazily against the pillow and pinched Yu Lang's earlobe: "Master is in charge of external affairs, and I'll take care of internal affairs. You're not allowed to interfere in this matter, do you hear me?"
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