Volume 1 Chapter 113: Brilliant Ancestral Heritage (5)

  Chapter 113: Brilliant Ancestral Heritage (5)

  "What's a boatyard?" The reaction of Qiu San Niang was completely different from Mo Zi's mood. She had never been optimistic about Hong Yu Valley, and after seeing Qiu Da Dong, she thought that the ancestral business might be something else. Who knew it was just a small boat factory? No wonder none of the Qiu family descendants were willing to take over, her old father often went to Shangdu to look at shops, but had never been to this place before.

  "I heard my grandfather say that at that time, Hong Yu Valley was busy from dawn till dusk with the sound of hammering." Jiu Dae-dong did not notice Jiu San-niang's face gradually turning black.

  Qiu San Niang couldn't bear it and waved her hand, "Dong Bo, let's go. I don't understand anything about carpentry, and the sound of hammers makes my head ache."

  Qiu Da Dong was originally in high spirits, but suddenly became listless. "Miss, will you rebuild the shipyard?"

  "It's probably difficult. You don't know the current situation. The shipbuilding industry is entirely controlled by the imperial court, and private shipyards are strictly regulated, making it hard to obtain permits. Moreover, if you're not an insider, you can't make a living in this line of work." Qiu San Niang didn't really understand the shipping industry, only knowing that almost all large shipyards were established and managed by the Ministry of Works, but she had no idea which private individuals were doing well in the field. "Besides, I think this line of work doesn't have much profit to offer." At most, it's just a small gain.

  "Miss, we have a permit for this business." Jiao Da Dong's words surprised people again.

  Mozi secretly built an olive boat, so he still knows a bit about the shipping industry. Qiu Sanniang said that one thing is not wrong, the shipbuilding industry has always been controlled by the imperial court, just like modern state-owned enterprises.

  Because water transportation is one of the most important national foundations, especially since the four countries are divided by rivers and use them as borders, once a rift occurs, a naval battle will be the first fight. Therefore, the strength or weakness of shipbuilding techniques fundamentally determines the strength or weakness of a country. All countries focus on developing their shipbuilding industries, and Great Zhou is far ahead in this field, with almost all the best shipbuilders gathered under the Ministry of Works. As a result, the conditions for civilians to obtain business licenses are extremely strict, and very few can enter the industry. Even if they can open a shipyard, it's almost impossible to find good shipbuilders. The excellent ones have all been recruited by the Ministry of Works. Therefore, the civilian shipbuilding craftsmanship is very poor and backward, and cannot be compared with the ships produced by official shipyards.

  Even in such a harsh environment, Qiu Sanniang made one mistake. The profit of shipbuilding is not small at all. On the contrary, it's very large.

  Firstly, the demand for ships is huge. Although the official shipyard has good craftsmanship, they mainly build official ships and prioritize government orders. They do accept orders from ordinary people, but there are limited quotas each year, and buyers have to go through the back door. Moreover, the efficiency of delivering ships is really not commendable. To put it this way, Mozi once thought of taking a shortcut and asked Luocheng Shipyard to build two covers for the olive ship, but they told her it would take three months. Later, she found some freelance workers to help her, and it was done in 20 days. Those who are dissatisfied with the slow speed of official shipyards and have no connections can only turn to private shipyards.

  This leads to a second potential opportunity because private shipyards can be counted on one's fingers.

  It's said that there are only two shipyards in the entire Luozhou. Mozi asked one of them and indeed, their business is very good, but their craftsmanship is really average, and the price is even higher than the official shipyard. The silver for buying a boat given by Qiu San Niang is not enough at all. However, for ordinary buyers, there's no choice, they can only accept the high price. In this market, it's almost impossible to haggle over prices, and customers have to beg the shipyard owners.

  Why?

  It's the government, plus a handful of private households in an oligopolistic market, facing huge demand. If buyers want to haggle over prices, they can go elsewhere. But they are also certain that buyers won't find anyone else. Transportation is not developed, and it takes half a month to ride a donkey or horse to find another household, only to find the price isn't good, and then spend another ten days going to another one? Those who can afford to buy ships aren't concerned about the cost of transportation, but what they care more about is whether the ship is stable, safe, and reliable, whether the cargo can be loaded and unloaded safely, and what happens if an accident occurs.

  In conclusion, Mozi thinks that the shipyard is a difficult industry to enter, but once you're in, the profits are considerable. Otherwise, when she negotiated with the private small shipyard owner, the other party wouldn't have said confidently that the order had been received until the end of next year, and told her to come back in two years. The area of that shipyard is only one-fifth the size of Hongyuan Bay, and it's already full with ordinary 20-person pleasure boats.

  Qiu San Niang had no concept of the shipping industry at all, so she easily said that there was no profit to be made. Because ordinary merchants would not understand the shipping industry, they only thought that the government restrictions were strict and almost no one did this business, so they simply thought it was unprofitable.

  "Dong Bo, do you know that the business license has a time limit? If taxes are paid, it's fine. If not, after three years, the qualification will be cancelled and re-application is required." Currently, the initial capital requirement for entering the shipping industry is 30,000 taels. Mozi was shocked when he heard this and from then on kept his distance from the shipping industry, turning to become an underground worker, secretly building a small olive boat. "Hong Yu Valley has been abandoned for so many years, it should have exceeded the time limit."

  "No, no." Qiu Da Dong hastily waved his hand. "When Old Master Qiu went south, he paid the tax and left silver for my ancestor to pay the tax for ten years. Although the shipyard is no longer in operation, the annual tax during the period of suspension is 50 taels. Plus, this land cannot be cultivated, so it's useless for the government to collect taxes, so it has been kept until now. At the beginning of this year, a new business license was just issued to us, and there is still a leather cover on it. I always carry it with me, fearing that our home might be stolen. Miss, please take a look."

  Having said that, he took out a brown leather notebook from his bosom.

  Mozhu handed it over and passed it to Qiu Sanniang.

  Qiu San Niang finished reading and handed it over to Mo Zi, "You take a look too."

  Mozhī took a look and indeed it was this year's date, with the Ministry of Works' official seal on top, written with the words "Special permit for Hongyue Bay to operate shipping industry" and extended for another 50 years.

  "But, Dong Bo, if you only gave your ancestor ten years' worth of tax silver, how did he pay afterwards?" Mo Zi looked at the living conditions of the grandfather and grandson, they were a poor pair who couldn't even afford eggs.

  Suddenly, Mozi understood.

  "Old Master also gave me my grandfather's relocation fee, almost over a hundred taels. We all grew our own vegetables and rice, raised some chickens, ducks and pigs. Although the valley didn't have much good land, we were basically self-sufficient. We didn't need to use that silver, so we could pay more taxes for two years. Selling vegetables, eggs and poultry, we also saved over ten taels a year. During this time, there were many years of war and tax exemptions. So, piecing things together, with the help of heaven, we paid all the taxes we owed."

  "Miss, Dong Bo himself is frugal and has sold everything in the house that can be sold to pay taxes. Even when Niu Niu eats an egg, he pays for it out of his own pocket." Mo Zi felt that if she didn't tell Qiu San Niang about this matter now, she would be punished by heaven.

  Qiu San Niang wasn't heartless either, seeing the dilapidated Hong Yu Gou, Qiu Da Dong could still make a living and stubbornly cling to this family business, she was also moved, "Dong Bo, your whole family has been working hard for so many years."

  "Miss, this is what should be done. Without the Qiu family, there would not have been my great-grandfather, nor my great-uncle, and even less so Yinyin. Now that you are married into the capital, please take good care of this deed. Whether or not you want to revive the ancestral business, it has finally returned to its rightful owner, and I can rest assured." The words of a sincere person come from the heart.

  Qiu San Niang looked at the brown book in Mo Zi's hand, although she also knew that it was not easy for Qiu Da Dong to keep this ancestral business going for several generations. If they had a servant with ulterior motives, they would have run away with the silver long ago. But the three generations of the Qiu family only did business in silk, rice and grain, and also engaged in buying fat land and opening farms. They really couldn't muster up any interest in this barren land.

  "Dong Bo, let me think about this again. In two days, I'll be married into the husband's family, everything will be settled after that, whether it's kept or sold, there will be arrangements made. However, even if it's sold, you and Niu Niu can still follow me, don't worry about having nowhere to go." A servant like Dong Bo may not be capable of doing other things, but he is loyal, so Qiu San Niang won't treat him unfairly.

  "Miss, my status is humble and I haven't read any books, but I know that the ancestors of the Qiu family had good intentions, hoping to give future generations a starting point. If you don't need the money urgently, or if you think paying taxes every year is too expensive, I'll find a way to handle it, please don't sell it. Maybe in the future, young master or little young master will be interested and take over, which would also be a continuation of our ancestral business." Qiu Da Dong hadn't read any books, but his words were logical and clear, he wasn't a foolish person.

  Mozi heard the words "Little Young Master" and "Young Young Master", and laughed with sparkling eyes.

  Qiu San Niang gave Mo Zi a stern look, but didn't take Qiu Da Dong's words to heart. She just perfunctorily replied, "If we don't head back to the city soon, it'll be late. I'll come again in the future, you should also bring your granddaughter back."

  "Miss, since you've come today, why don't you give Dong Bo some more silver?" Mo Zi had been waiting for Qiu San Niang to mention it, but she didn't. It's unclear whether this person was being stingy or simply hadn't thought of it.

  "Ah, right, it's not called compensation either. Since this is now my property, the daily expenses will be taken from me." However, it's impossible to compensate for what those grandfathers of hers owe. Qiu Da Dong just said that he can think of a way to deal with the silver himself. Of course, she won't go that far. "Da Dong, you usually keep track of accounts, record how much money was spent on what, and how much money was made from selling chickens and ducks. Every now and then, I'll have this girl come over to take the account book and pay out silver."

  "Miss, I'm illiterate." Qiu Da Dong found this task difficult. At the same time, he took a glance at Mo Zi, unexpectedly finding out that this young man was a eunuch.

  Mozi really admires Qiu Sanniang, with a dowry of tens of thousands of taels, but she is still so stingy about the money from selling eggs.

  "Dong Bo, then you take a small box, put the money the girl gave you in it, and use it when needed. When selling things, put the earned money back in. Every time I come, you tell me what you bought and sold, that's all. The specifics, I'll teach you later."

  "This is right, I usually save money like this too." Qiu Da Dong smiled foolishly.

  "Miss, how much silver will you give to Dong Bo?" Mozi and others asked.

  "Twenty taels, then. Fifteen taels to be set aside for emergencies, of which five taels are private silver for the two young masters. From now on, I'll give you two taels every month. When Niu Niu grows up a bit, I'll add another tael. Dong Bo, from now on, don't count the vegetable garden as part of the main household's anymore, and also divide the domestic fowl in half to raise as your own." Is this Qiu San Niang showing great kindness for once?

  Mozi took out a few small silver ingots, about twenty taels, and stuffed them into Qiu Daeast's hand.

  Qiu Da Dong almost burst into tears again, saying thank you to his master. Seeing Niu Niu happily eating a pancake and walking over, he quickly pulled her down to kowtow as well. Moreover, no matter how hard they tried to pull him up, he refused to get up until the car carrying his new master turned around the corner and left.

  Today's second update, with 2,000 words being an extra update for fan 210.

  The brilliant family business was written by me with a bit of carelessness, but there are really too many things to explain. I believe everyone understands that this family business is very important.

  There is also a third watch, around 9 o'clock.

  Chapter 113: Brilliant Ancestral Heritage (5)

  Chapter 113 Brilliant Ancestral Business (5)