Protect Our Chief - Chapter 34

Chapter 34 A Slight Change Would Affect the Entire Situation

Two days passed in peace.

Wang Shouzhe spent the past two days cultivating his body and mind in the Changning courtyard. He drank spirit tea and cultivated. His days were quite leisurely, a rare occasion.

However, in the outside world, the situation had changed drastically over the past two days. As the speed at which the wheat was filled became more intense, the first wave of pest disaster spread throughout the entire Changning Wei region at lightning speed. The various noble clans were in a panic.

Due to the inevitable reduction of production, except for the staple grain strictly controlled by the Da Qian government, the prices of other agricultural byproducts began to soar. Even the sales of the salted fish and smoked fish of the Wang Clan of Ping’an’s fish stall suddenly improved, and the price also increased substantially. In the absence of staple food, salted fish and smoked fish that could be preserved for a long period of time could also sustain life.

The various trading companies and grain stores had already stopped selling food to the outside world. Meanwhile, the Da Qian government grain stores began to conduct limited sales. Long queues formed before the official grain stores, and the city guards had already stepped in to maintain order.

Wang Shouzhe sipped his tea and listened to the news from various sources. His lamented inwardly. If not for the fact that the clan had a treasure like Wang Luojing, he would probably be already overwhelmed by anxiety.

He wouldn’t possibly be able to watch the situation unfold in such a carefree manner like now.

“Fourth Brother, the Qian’s Trading Company sent someone to deliver a letter.” Wang Shouyi personally came to the backyard to deliver the letter. At the same time, his brows were tightly furrowed. “In addition, half of the salted fish and smoked fish stocks that Sixth Uncle sent over have already been sold in the past two days. I see that the other clans’ fish stalls have already begun to restrict acquisitions or increase prices substantially. Should our fish stall also increase prices?”

Acquisitions had to be restricted for even salted fish?

Wang Shouzhe took the letter and frowned. It seemed that the news of a large reduction in food production had already caused panic. He was no stranger to this scene. On Earth, he had seen too many instances of ordinary people panic buying collectively when faced with disasters or rumors.

Moreover, weren’t the sales of the smoked fish and salted fish a little too fast? There must be about 800 to 900 quintals of salted fish in stock that had been transported over for the past few times. Before the price had increased, depending on the quality of the fish, the price of the smoked fish and salted fish varied from 20 to 30 dimes per catty, and the price for one quintal was usually between 20 and 30 large coppers.

Now, the price had already risen to 30 to 40 large coppers per catty, and it was actually selling even faster.

“What about the live fish and fresh fish?” Wang Shouzhe asked.

“The live fish did not increase in price, but the fresh fish generally increased by 20%,” Wang Shouyi reported. “Many people bought fresh fish back to marinate or smoke them themselves, or to reduce the consumption of staple food and eat more fish. Thus, the prices of salt and firewood also increased.”

Indeed, a slight change would affect the entire situation.

The eruption of the drug-resistant aphids instantly affected all aspects. Once the prices of basic supplies such as salt, firewood, and coal increased, the price of everything would increase as well.

“Second Brother, you can just increase the price according to the market,” Wang Shouzhe said. “As for limited acquisition, we’ll announce the sales of 20 quintals of salted and smoked fish a day to the public. In reality, we’ll sell 50 quintals per day internally.”

“Fifty quintals? That’s a total of five thousand catties…” Wang Shouyi said in surprise,” Can Sixth Uncle keep up? Even if Sixth Uncle can, the Dingpu warehouse won’t have enough time to smoke and marinate them.”

It was the fishing season. If Wang Dinghai’s fishing fleet operated the way they did in the past years, ten boats could guarantee catching up to a few thousand catties of fish if they worked a bit harder. On average, a fishing boat would get a few hundred catties of ordinary catch.

Most of them would be pickled or smoked at Dingpu warehouse. Under normal circumstances, the limit of the workshops for sunning fish and smoking fish was only 800 quintals a month.

However, Wang Dinghai had already fully replicated and the stationary lift nets. Even ordinary people could operate those. The production would increase continuously every day. During this fishing season, it would not be unusual for the entire fishing fleet to obtain up to tens of thousands of catties.

“Increase the manpower and venue for processing the catch. You can use the empty spaces and empty houses in Bountiful Farm and Prosperous Farm. Also, all the servants and idle clansmen in the clan are to participate. Make sure that the production of smoked fish and salted fish exceeds 2,000 quintals this month,” Wang Shouzhe instructed. “Second Brother, you will be fully in charge of overseeing this operation.”

“As long as Sixth Uncle can keep up, I’m not afraid.” In an instant, Wang Shouyi’s fighting spirit was ignited. Two thousand quintals of smoked and salted fish per month could only be processed from at least three to four thousand quintals of fresh fish. After slaughtering, smoking and sunning the fish, the weight would be greatly reduced.

If Sixth Uncle could really supply the production, this would be a great opportunity to earn money. How could he, Wang Shouyi, be a burden?

In the previous years, the catch during the fishing season was the cheapest. Hence, a large amount of ordinary catch would be made into smoked and salted fish, which would be retained for sale slowly. In the past years, the total production and sales of smoked and salted fish for the entire year only added up to about two thousand and several hundred quintals, whereas the total sales of fresh and live fish was only about 2,000 quintals a year.

It was very difficult to obtain more than 1,000 gold for the overall turnover, and about half of it had to be divided into the accounts of the fishing fleet.

But it was different now. If they could really produce more than 2,000 quintals and sell 1,500 quintals of smoked and cured fish this month, according to the price of 40 large coppers per quintal after the price increase, the overall turnover would reach 600 gold.

And this did not include the sales of fresh fish and live fish… It was very likely that the turnover from this month alone would reach the usual annual turnover.

That was why Wang Shouyi felt so impassioned! There was no better time to fight.

“All right, then I’ll have to trouble Second Brother with everything.” Wang Shouzhe wrote down a Patriarch’s order, signed it, stamped the Patriarch’s seal, and handed it to him. “With this, you can mobilize the clan guards and servants to withdraw the gold from the clan accounts.”

“There’s no need for gold for the time being.” Wang Shouyi took the order letter and said excitedly, “The stock of salted fish sold too quickly this time. I still have about 200 gold on my account. It’s enough for the operation.”

“Second Brother, you may be busy, but don’t make any omissions on the accounts in your haste,” Wang Shouzhe warned casually.

Wang Shouyi’s body shook, and his gaze turned solemn. He hurriedly said, “Fourth Brother, don’t worry. As a member of the clan, I absolutely won’t violate the clan rules. Every month, I’ll hand over the accounts to the accounting office under Fifth Sister-in-law’s charge. I won’t dare to make any omissions.”

“Second Brother, thank you for your hard work.” Wang Shouzhe bowed to him solemnly. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity Whether our Wang Clan can escape the fate of decline depends on the entire clan doing our best.”

He was quite satisfied with Wang Shouzhe. Although his second brother’s cultivation talent was mediocre, he put in a lot of effort for the clan business. Compared to the simple-minded Sixth Uncle, Wang Dinghai, he was much more meticulous and reliable.

“Fourth Brother, there is no need for it. These are all my duties.” Wang Shouyi hurriedly cupped his hands in return and said, “In that case, I’ll take my leave first and deal with various matters.”

After he left, Wang Shouzhe composed himself and opened Qian Xue’an’s letter. It invited him to meet at the “Fortune Gathering Villa” outside Changning Wei City. The secret mark left on the letter indicated that Qian Xuelan had fulfilled the agreement.

However, although he trusted Qian Xue’an, he did not dare to take risks this time. He would play everything safe. Without delay, he dressed up slightly and left the city directly. He did not go to the Fortune Gathering Villa first, but rode his black horse towards Shanyang. After a short while, he saw Wang Zhong outside a small manor a few miles outside the city.

“Wang Zhong, how’s it going?” Wang Shouzhe asked.

“Reporting to Patriarch, I’ve had the honor of the fulfilling the order. The patriarch’s heir apparent of the Gongsun Clan has come as promised and is waiting in the manor,” Wang Zhong said excitedly. He had already waited outside the manor for 14 to 16 hours.

The Wang Clan’s influence was mostly on the south bank of An River. If he wanted to find more transport carriages on the north bank, he could only rely on the Gongsun Clan of Shanyang. Currently, his relationship with the Gongsun Clan was in the honeymoon period. A minor request like this from him would not be rejected without regard for his dignity. After entering the Gongsun Clan of Shanyang’s small recreational manor outside Changning City, he met with Gongsun Qiang. He cupped his hands and said, “Shouzhe greets Eldest Uncle. Sorry to keep you waiting.” “We didn’t have to wait long. It’s just that you mysteriously asked to deploy 20 carriages this time, and heavy-duty carriages for transporting ores at that. What are they for?” Gongsun Qiang had low emotional intelligence and little patience. He expressed extreme curiosity as soon as they met.

“Nothing special,” Wang Shouzhe said calmly. “They’re just for transporting some 50,000 to 60,000 quintals of aged grain.” Since Gongsun Qiang was allowed to participate, the quantity naturally could not be concealed from him.

III

At this moment, Gongsun Qiang’s eyes almost popped out. ‘Convenient nephew, don’t you know how hard it is to obtain grain nowadays? You’re transporting 50,000 to 60,000 quintals at once…’

“Just?’

He had the urge to curse. Compared to his convenient nephew who was a patriarch, he felt that as a 38-year-old “patriarch’s heir apparent”, he had lived all his years in vain.