“I understand what you mean. You want to take advantage of the current drop in land prices to acquire more land and average down our overall land costs. However, there are two problems with this,” Han Yigui said.
“What are these two problems, Uncle? Please tell me,” Zhen Niang asked.
“First, even though land prices have dropped, it still costs ten taels per mu. Your two thousand taels would only buy two hundred mu of land, which wouldn’t make much of a difference. Second, we are merchants after all. If we control too much land, we’ll inevitably draw suspicion from the imperial court. When that happens, it would be too easy for them to take action against a merchant,” Han Yigui explained, drawing from his extensive experience.
“If we’re short on money, we can take out loans. I can mortgage the ink workshop’s assets to the money house. When I came here, Seventh Madam gave me all the land and property deeds, so I have full authority to handle them,” Zhen Niang said, then continued after a brief pause: “As for holding too much land, our purpose is only to recover losses, not to permanently occupy the farmland. Once Master Hai leaves, everyone will naturally understand what’s happening. At that time, those official ladies who had previous arrangements with Elder Aunt would surely want to take back their land from her. We can distribute the land back to them then, so we won’t need to keep holding it. This way, there won’t be any concern about drawing suspicion from the officials.”
Of course, those ladies would have to invest some capital at that time.
Zhen Niang understood clearly that her Elder Aunt had originally been helping several officials’ wives acquire land. However, when news of Hai Rui’s impending arrival spread, these official families protected their interests and abandoned Elder Aunt.
But once word spread that Hai Rui wouldn’t be coming to Nanjing, those same officials’ wives who had been afraid to accept the land would surely seek out Elder Aunt again.
Although Elder Aunt had fallen into this land predicament because these official families had dragged her in, as merchants, they couldn’t afford to antagonize official families. That being the case, it would be better to be generous and distribute the land to the official families according to the original agreement. This way, they could at least maintain some goodwill, which would greatly benefit Uncle’s raw silk business.
This was the reality of the situation – sometimes taking a step back opened up new possibilities.
Moreover, as people often say, revenge would come in due time. When Longqing ascended to the throne, Hai Rui would indeed come to Nanjing to investigate land consolidation. By then, the land in these officials’ hands would become too hot to handle.
And by that time, it would no longer be Elder Aunt’s concern.
Those who deserved misfortune wouldn’t escape it.
Having navigated Nanjing’s business world for several years, Han Yigui knew clearly what to endure and what to let go. What Zhen Niang suggested was indeed the best solution, but there was one thing she didn’t fully understand: “Everything else is manageable, but getting a loan with collateral might be difficult.”
“How so? We have collateral, and with Master Zonglin’s pawnshop and money house, surely we can gather enough silver?” Zhen Niang asked curiously.
“This time, even Master Zonglin is struggling to protect himself. Recently, many people borrowed money to buy land. They’ve already lent out all available funds, and unlike Wang Sifang, the owner of the Fourth House money house, they can’t bring themselves to seize properties. As a result, many of their loans have become static accounts. They’re still trying to gather silver to keep operating, and what little money they have must be kept in the shop for depositors to withdraw. If depositors can’t withdraw their money and a bank run occurs, both the money house and pawnshop would collapse,” Han Yigui explained with a bitter smile.
Zhen Niang furrowed her brow. She hadn’t realized the situation was so serious. Thinking of the restaurant owner who had jumped to his death, she silently gritted her teeth at how ruthless the people behind these events were.
However, considering the Great Ming Dynasty television series, those characters were equally ruthless, willing to breach dikes and flood fields for land.
Though their methods differed – one indirect and one direct – the underlying principle was the same.
“Is there not a single money house in all of Nanjing that can provide loans?” Zhen Niang grew anxious – even the cleverest housewife couldn’t cook without rice. Without silver, nothing could be done.
“There is one – the newly opened Yihou Money House. The owner is called Luo Jiu, everyone calls him Master Luo Nine. I hear he has gold mine backing, so their funds are quite substantial,” Han Yigui said.
“Then let’s seek a loan from Yihou Money House,” Zhen Niang said matter-of-factly.
“Ah, but that would be like lifting a stone to drop on our own feet. When Luo Jiu first arrived wanting to open a money house, he faced opposition partly because of his youth, and partly because he seemed to have connections with Shanxi merchants. You know how heavily Shanxi merchants have been suppressing Hui merchants lately. Therefore, the Hui merchants gave him a hard time and weren’t very welcoming. If we go to him now, wouldn’t we just be giving him something to laugh about?” Han Yigui explained, adding: “Besides, several Shanxi merchant money houses have also suffered heavy losses, they might need to borrow from him too, so he might not be able to lend much anyway.”
“Uncle, business is business. We have collateral, and borrowing money while paying interest is a legitimate transaction. Who would hold past grievances against profit? Never mind the rest, let’s approach him directly and borrow whatever we can. If that’s not enough, we can make trips to Wuxi and Suzhou. We’ll gather the money somehow,” Zhen Niang said determinedly.
Looking at Zhen Niang’s determination, Han Yigui suddenly recalled his younger days. The longer one spent in business, the more cautious one became. To think that he, Han Yigui, who had spent half his life in business, was now being outmatched in courage by a young girl.
“Haha, alright, we’ll do as you say. Let’s first visit Yihou Money House, and if we can’t get a loan there, we’ll go to Wuxi and Suzhou. We’ll find the silver somewhere!” Han Yigui laughed heartily.
Zhen Niang’s words had rekindled Han Yigui’s entrepreneurial spirit, and so the matter was decided.
When they came out, Madam Han Li saw that Han Yigui seemed to be in good spirits and quickly asked if they had found a solution.
“Don’t worry about it. Stay home these days, I’ll handle everything from now on. Who knows, the Lu family might just turn things around this time,” Han Yigui reassured Madam Han Li.
Zhen Niang stood aside, giggling. She then bid farewell and returned home, as there were many preparations to make.
That evening, Zhen Niang discussed the matters with Second Aunt.
“Zhen Niang, isn’t this too risky?” Madam Huang asked worriedly. After all, it hadn’t been easy to protect these Nanjing assets. Zhen Niang and the others predicted that Hai Rui wouldn’t come, but what if he did?
If Elder Aunt’s situation worsened, the Seventh Branch’s Nanjing assets would be dragged down with her.
“Yes, there are risks. But fortune favors the bold, and great achievements require great courage,” Zhen Niang replied. When she came to Nanjing, Seventh Grandmother had chatted with her, and from her tone, Zhen Niang knew that her greatest wish before passing was to see Li Mo return to glory and regain control of the tribute ink rights.
Even her grandfather felt deep remorse about how her father had caused Li Mo to lose the tribute ink rights.
One could say that these tribute ink rights were the Li family’s deepest pain.
To obtain the tribute ink rights, skill alone wasn’t enough. When the Tian family got the tribute ink rights, it was partly because they inherited the Luo family’s ink workshop, which was an advantage, combined with their various preparations. In the end, they still had to bribe Daoist Yunlong to secure their rights.
The various expenses involved were not insignificant. The Tian family had invested all their savings in the timber business, though the returns were certainly substantial.
During her time in Nanjing, while two thousand taels seemed like a lot, it didn’t go far in practice. Just maintaining various relationships, not to mention the necessary expenses in tax matters, required significant outlays. Add to that the visits to maintain past relationships, which also required spending, plus reopening the ink shop with its various costs – two thousand taels would be depleted quickly.
Therefore, Zhen Niang wanted to take this opportunity to secure some capital and strengthen the foundation of the Li Ink Shop, which would accelerate future development. Moreover, the Tian family was still waging a price war, and having capital would allow them to stay in the game.
Thus, this risk was necessary to take, though Zhen Niang, with her knowledge of the future, was quite confident.
“Alright, when you came this time, your Seventh Grandmother said you had full authority over the ink shop’s affairs. Just make sure you’ve thought it through,” Madam Huang said. She wasn’t very familiar with these matters.
“Yes,” Zhen Niang nodded in acknowledgment.
Early the next morning, before Nanjing’s thin mist had cleared, Zhen Niang carried the property deeds and silver notes, and called for Zheng Fuli and Ergou, along with Little Ya – all three heading straight to Uncle’s house.
Zheng Fuli would be the ink shop’s manager, and since he also helped manage accounts for the main family line, he couldn’t be kept in the dark about such matters.
“Miss Zhen, I must express my reservations about this venture,” Zheng Fuli finally said. In his opinion, just as the main family line was beginning to recover, taking such a huge gamble was unwise.
“I understand, and I will personally explain this to Seventh Grandmother,” Zhen Niang nodded solemnly, clearly taking full responsibility for the consequences of this venture.
“Miss Zhen, you jest. Although I have reservations, I am present and involved, so I won’t shirk the responsibilities that fall to me,” Zheng Fuli said, glancing at her.
Zhen Niang looked at him sideways, then smiled and said, “Thank you, Brother Zheng.” She then added, pressing her lips together, “Brother Zheng, if you have some spare money, you might consider joining in – you could make a small fortune.”
Hearing Zhen Niang’s words, Zheng Fuli shook his head: “Miss Zhen, you certainly are confident.”
As they talked, they arrived at the Han residence.
Unexpectedly, there was a commotion at the Han residence. It turned out that Wang Sifang from the Fourth Direction Money House had come to seize the house.
“Vice Chairman Wang, our contract hasn’t expired yet. Isn’t it unreasonable for you to come seize the house so early?” Han Yigui said coldly.
“Desperate times call for desperate measures. Given your family’s situation, if we wait until the house contract expires, it’ll be too late. We’re not seizing it, just freezing the property as a precaution,” Wang Sifang said, squinting his eyes above his large belly.
“Chairman Wang, we’re all from Huizhou. Surely you don’t need to be so harsh?” Madam Han Li said angrily from the side. When she wanted to borrow money before, this same Wang Sifang had eagerly sought her out, but now he was completely turning his back on them.
“There’s nothing to be done. I must think of Fourth Direction Money House’s development. Please understand, Madam Han,” Wang Sifang said with a troubled expression, though his words were quite cutting.
Wang Sifang didn’t need to rush to seize the house; he was doing this for show, to impress those in the merchant association who sided with Hu Zonglin.
“We from the Li family will guarantee for them,” Zhen Niang stepped forward and said.
Chairman Wang glanced at Zhen Niang sideways: “If the old madam said this, it would certainly be acceptable, but not from a mere girl like you.”
“I will guarantee for Brother Han,” Hu Zonglin stepped forward at this moment.
Wang Sifang stared at Hu Zonglin: “Once your word is given…”
“My word is my bond!” Hu Zonglin said firmly.
“Very well, I’ll give Face to Chairman Hu today.” With that, Wang Sifang led his people away. Thus, he now had Hu Zonglin in his grasp – once the Han family’s loan term was up, Hu Zonglin would inevitably be held responsible. When that time came, how could he hold onto his position as chairman?