“A boat yard?” Qiu Sanniang’s reaction was completely different from Mo Zi’s feelings. She originally held no hope for Hongyu Hollow. After seeing Qiu Dadong, she had thought the ancestral property might refer to something else. Who knew it was just a workshop for building small boats? No wonder the Qiu descendants were all unwilling to inherit it, and her father, who often came to the capital to look at shops, had never once come to this place.
“I heard from my grandfather that back then Hongyu Hollow was so busy, with hammering sounds from dawn to dusk.” Qiu Dadong didn’t notice Qiu Sanniang’s face gradually darkening.
Qiu Sanniang impatiently waved her hand. “Uncle Dong, enough. I don’t understand carpentry work at all, and just hearing hammering sounds gives me a headache.”
Qiu Dadong’s spirits had been high, but they immediately deflated. “Miss, will you reopen the boat yard then?”
“I’m afraid it’s difficult. You don’t know the current situation. The shipbuilding industry is entirely controlled by the court. Control over private civilian boat yards is very strict—it’s difficult to apply for operating permits. Moreover, if you’re not an insider, you can’t make a living in that trade.” Qiu Sanniang really didn’t understand the boat industry. She only knew that almost all major boat yards were uniformly established and managed by the Ministry of Works, and she knew nothing about which people in the civilian sector did it well. “Besides, I see this trade doesn’t have much profit potential.” At most it would be small gains.
“Miss, we have an operating permit!” Qiu Dadong’s one sentence was surprising again.
Mo Zi had secretly built the olive boat, so she had some understanding of the boat industry. What Qiu Sanniang said was absolutely right—the shipbuilding industry had always been monopolized by the court, just like modern state-owned enterprises.
Because water transport was one of the most important foundations of the nation. Particularly since the four kingdoms were divided by rivers, using water as boundaries, once conflict broke out, water battles would be the first engagement. So the strength of shipbuilding technology fundamentally determined a nation’s strength. All countries focused on developing shipbuilding, and Great Zhou was the outstanding leader in this field. The world’s best shipwrights were almost all concentrated under the Ministry of Works. Therefore, the conditions for civilians to obtain operating permits were extremely harsh, with very few able to enter. And even if you could open a boat yard, finding good shipwrights was almost impossible. The excellent ones were all recruited to serve in the Ministry of Works. So civilian shipbuilding techniques were very poor and backward, unable to compare with ships built by official boat yards.
Even though the environment was so harsh, Qiu Sanniang had one thing wrong. The profit from shipbuilding was not at all small. Not only was it not small, it was actually quite large.
First, the demand for boats was great. Although official boat yards had good techniques and capable craftsmen, they mainly built official vessels, and official orders had priority. They accepted civilian boat orders, but with annual quotas. Buyers had to go through connections, and the efficiency of producing boats was truly not commendable. Put it this way—Mo Zi had once thought about taking a shortcut and asking the Luo City boat yard to make the upper and lower covers for the olive boat, and they actually told her it would take three months. Later she found temporary workers to help, and it was done in twenty days. Those who found official boat yards too slow and had no connections would turn to civilian boat yards.
This led to the second potential opportunity—because private boat yards could be counted on one’s fingers.
Speaking of which, all of Luo Zhou only had two. Mo Zi had asked at one and indeed business was very good, but the craftsmanship was really quite ordinary. Yet the price was more expensive than official boat yards—the silver Qiu Sanniang gave her to buy a boat simply wasn’t enough. However, for ordinary buyers, there was no choice—expensive was expensive. This market almost couldn’t bargain—customers had to dryly beg the boat yard owners.
Why?
It was equivalent to an oligopoly market of the government plus a sparse ten or so private enterprises facing huge demand. If buyers wanted to bargain, please go find someone else. But they were also confident buyers couldn’t find anyone else. Transportation wasn’t developed—ride a donkey or horse for half a month to find one place, dislike the price, then spend another ten days to go to another? People who could afford boats didn’t care about travel expenses, but what about the time and effort spent? So silver was a minor matter—they cared more about whether the boat, once built, would sail steadily, travel safely, whether their cargo could reach shore, and what would happen if the boat had an accident.
In summary, Mo Zi believed that the boat yard was a very difficult industry to enter, but once you got in, the profit was considerable. Otherwise, when Mo Zi bargained with the small private boat yard owner, the other party wouldn’t have confidently said orders were already booked until the end of next year and told her to come back in two years. That boat yard’s area was only one-fifth the size of Hongyu Hollow, with ordinary twenty-person pleasure boats being the maximum size.
Qiu Sanniang had absolutely no concept of the boat industry, which was why she so easily said it had no profit potential. Because ordinary merchants wouldn’t understand the boat industry. They just felt the government restricted it severely, and almost no one did this trade, so they assumed it was unprofitable.
“Uncle Dong, do you know that operating permits have time limits? If you pay taxes it’s fine, but if you can’t pay taxes for three years, your operating qualification will be cancelled and you’ll have to reapply.” Currently, the capital requirement to enter the boat industry was thirty thousand taels. When Mo Zi heard people mention this back then, she was shocked and thereafter stayed respectfully far from the boat industry, instead becoming an underground worker who secretly built that one olive boat. “Hongyu Hollow has been abandoned for so many years—it should have long passed the time limit.”
“No, no.” Qiu Dadong anxiously waved his hands. “When Old Master Qiu went south back then, he paid the taxes in full and left silver with my great-grandfather to pay ten years of taxes. Although the boat yard was no longer operating, the dormant period tax was fifty taels per year. Plus this land couldn’t grow crops and collecting from it was useless to the authorities, so it’s been preserved until now. At the beginning of this year they just gave us a new operating book with a leather cover. I always carry it with me, afraid the house might be burgled. Miss, please look.”
Having said this, he reached deep into his bosom and pulled out a brown leather booklet.
Mo Zi took it and passed it to Qiu Sanniang.
After Qiu Sanniang looked at it, she gave it to Mo Zi. “You look too.”
Mo Zi looked and saw it was indeed this year’s date, stamped with the capital’s Ministry of Works official seal, with words specially permitting Hongyu Hollow to operate the boat industry, renewed for a fifty-year term.
“But Uncle Dong, if your great-grandfather was only given ten years of tax silver, how was it paid afterward?” Mo Zi had seen the grandfather and granddaughter’s living conditions—they were just poor people who couldn’t even afford to eat eggs—
Suddenly, Mo Zi understood.
“The old master also gave my great-grandfather settlement silver, about a hundred taels or so. We all grow our own vegetables and rice, raise some chickens, ducks, and pigs. Although the hollow doesn’t have much good land, we can be self-sufficient. We didn’t need to use that silver, so the tax silver could cover two more years. Selling vegetables, eggs, and poultry, we could save ten or so taels a year. During this time, there were quite a few war years and tax-free years. Piecing it together this way, and relying on heaven’s help, we paid everything we needed to pay.” Qiu Dadong’s words confirmed what Mo Zi had been thinking.
“Miss, Uncle Dong himself economized on food and expenses. Everything the family could sell, they sold to exchange for money to pay taxes. Even for Niuniu to eat an egg, he has to pay out of his own pocket.” Mo Zi felt that if she didn’t tell Qiu Sanniang about this matter right now, she would be condemned by heaven.
Qiu Sanniang wasn’t heartless either. With Hongyu Hollow so dilapidated, yet Qiu Dadong could still earn money this way to guard this family property to the death, she was also somewhat moved. “Uncle Dong, all these years have been hard on your family.”
“Miss, this is what this humble one should do. Without the Qiu family people, there wouldn’t be my great-grandfather today, nor me, Dadong, nor Niuniu. Since Miss is now marrying into the capital, please keep this certificate safe. Whether or not Miss wants to reopen the ancestral business, at least it’s back in the master’s hands—my heart is at ease.” Honest-hearted people speak every word from their core.
Qiu Sanniang looked at the brown booklet in Mo Zi’s hand. Though she also knew that it was truly not easy for Qiu Dadong’s generations to preserve this ancestral property—a servant with evil intentions would have taken the silver and run—the Qiu family for three generations had only done silk and grain trading, plus buying fertile land to open estates. For this barren piece of land, she really couldn’t drum up interest.
“Uncle Dong, let me think about this matter more. In two days I’ll be marrying into my husband’s family. After I’m settled, whether to keep it or transfer it, there will definitely be arrangements. However, even if it’s sold, you and Niuniu will still follow me—you don’t need to worry about having nowhere to go.” A servant like Qiu Dadong—whether he could work well aside, just his loyalty alone meant Qiu Sanniang wouldn’t mistreat him.
“Miss, this humble one’s status is lowly, and I’ve never read books, but I know the painstaking care the Qiu family ancestors had back then—they wanted to give their descendants at least a thought, a place where they could start over. If Miss doesn’t urgently need money, or if you feel the annual taxes are too costly, this humble one will find a way. Please don’t sell it. Perhaps in the future Young Master or Young Young Master will be interested and take it over—that would also count as continuing the ancestral business.” Qiu Dadong hadn’t read books, but his speech was clear and organized—he wasn’t a dull person.
Hearing “Young Master” and “Young Young Master,” Mo Zi smiled with bright, sparkling eyes.
Qiu Sanniang glared at Mo Zi but didn’t take Qiu Dadong’s words too seriously, only perfunctorily agreeing. “If we don’t return to the city it will be late. I’ll come again in the future. You take your granddaughter back too.”
“Miss, since we came today, shouldn’t you supplement some silver for Uncle Dong?” Mo Zi had been waiting for Qiu Sanniang to mention it, but she hadn’t. She didn’t know if this person was being stingy or simply hadn’t thought of it.
“Ah, right. But it’s not called supplementing. Since it’s now property under my name, daily expenses should come from me.” However, it was impossible to supplement what her grandfathers owed. Qiu Dadong had just said the silver he could figure out himself. Of course, she wasn’t so excessive. “Uncle Dong, you just keep an account of how much money you spent on what, how many chickens and ducks you sold and how much money you made. Every so often, I’ll have this girl come get the account book and distribute silver.”
“Miss, this humble one can’t read.” Qiu Dadong found this task difficult. At the same time he looked at Mo Zi again, not expecting this young sir was a girl.
Mo Zi really had to hand it to Qiu Sanniang—her dowry was already tens of thousands of taels, yet she was still haggling over chicken and duck egg money.
“Uncle Dong, then just get a small box, put the money Miss gives you inside, take from it when you use it. When you sell things, put the money earned inside. Each time I come, you tell me what you bought and what you sold and that’s fine. I’ll teach you the specifics later.” Mo Zi was happy to help vulnerable groups.
“That works. I usually save money that way too.” Qiu Dadong smiled honestly.
“Miss, how much silver should I give Uncle Dong?” Mo Zi waited for instructions.
“Twenty taels then. Fifteen taels for emergencies, with five taels as personal silver for Uncle Dong and his granddaughter. From now on it will be given monthly, two taels per month. When Niuniu gets a bit older it will increase by one tael. Uncle Dong, from now on the vegetable garden doesn’t count as the master family’s, and as for the poultry, separate half as what you raise yourselves.” Was Qiu Sanniang having a rare moment of great benevolence?
Mo Zi took out a few small silver ingots, about twenty taels, and stuffed them into Qiu Dadong’s hands.
Qiu Dadong nearly had old tears streaming down again, saying thank you master. Seeing Niuniu happily eating flatbread as she came over, he quickly pulled her to kowtow again. Moreover, no matter how they tried to help him up he refused to rise, not until the carriage carrying his new master turned around the bend.
Today’s second update, of which two thousand characters are bonus for reaching 210 pink tickets.
Brilliant Family Legacy accidentally became quite lengthy in my writing, but there really are too many relationships to explain. I believe you all understand very well that this ancestral property is very important.