Joy of Life

Chapter 508: Tea, Liquor, Paper, Big Picture

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

There were three convenient ways to get from Jiangnan Road to Jiangbei Road. No matter the path, one always had to cross the wide river. In this world, there were no concrete bridges with which Fan Xian was familiar. There were only the endless little boats on the two sides to support the busy crossing.

The three workshops of the palace treasury were in North Min. The transport company yamen was in Suzhou. Sir Fan junior was in Hangzhou. It appeared that the control of the palace treasury was in a relaxed state. After the Overwatch Council and palace treasury yamen joined hands, only a portion of the officials and merchants knew how strict the control was over the specialized roads for the goods spread out over Jiangnan.

In particular, the road heading North purposely made a detour to the West. Crossing the river in Shazhou and heading North, meant going around the wild mountains in Jiangbei Road and meadows in Cangzhou Road before delivering endless goods into Northern Qi territory. Then, it brought back abundant amounts of silver into Qing Kingdom and other necessary purchases on the side.

The goods heading North were mostly under Xia Mingji’s control. With Fan Xian’s help, Xia Qifei won a few large bids and secretly formed a small business and faction in the Jiangnan area. He had already gradually grown in power.

The reason he chose to cross the river in Shazhou, in the eyes of the officials, was because the Jiangnan Navy was stationed in Shazhou. Only Fan Xian and he knew that the reason he chose Shazhou was because the Jiangnan water bandit’s power was at their peak here. The palace treasury goods could be escorted by court-appointed officials. But, they did not want the court to see everything they had stashed between.

Xia Qifei sat at a tea stall outside the Shazhou city gates. As he drank tea, he watched, with his eyes slightly narrowed, the boats coming and going on the calm river. The second young master in the North had suddenly increased his appetite for goods. But, it was to a level that he couldn’t fulfill. After all, the doors of the palace treasury were completely open for people like him, Fan Xian’s trusted aides. However, to be able to deliver all the goods to that side in such a short time while ensuring the court didn’t become suspicious needed detailed planning.

Fortunately, according to the court rules, supervision of the transport of the palace treasury was solely managed by the Overwatch Council. At this time, the worries the officials in court had in the past had finally become reality. Fan Xian was supervising himself. How could there not be problems?

Xia Qifei put down his teacup and slowly savored the bitter taste in his mouth. There was not a trace of bitterness in his heart. Thinking over this year and a half, he sometimes felt that he was dreaming. Ever since he jumped onto the imperial envoy’s coattails, the thought of revenge that had clamped its jaws around his heart for over a decade like a venomous snake had finally been resolved. The Ming family had returned to his hands. His identity had changed from a shameful head boss of the Jiangnan water bandits to being a member of the Overwatch Council, whose name shook the wealthy merchants in Jiangnan.

The things in this world were indeed very strange.

He knew that the present-day Ming family was not the same as the one in the past. Although the court had not directly stretched their hands in, if Sir Fan junior truly spoke out, he would have to follow the instructions exactly.

Thinking of this, he retracted his satisfied gaze from the chests of goods on the boat in the river and furrowed his brows slightly. There were some things he didn’t understand, such as the goods being smuggled to Northern Qi and Dongyi. Without question, they were the most profitable business. Given Sir Fan junior’s status, what need did he have to be so greedy? Previously, Sir Fan junior had explained the reason that the Eldest Princess was greedy for silver was because she needed to buy power in court. She needed to lay the foundations for the princes and buy support in the military.