"Whose boat is that?" Unnoticed, fine flakes of snow had begun drifting down from the sky, but Wang Huadu was in high spirits. Having looked over his own family's boat, he still had the mood to look at other people's.
The boatyard's master craftsman, Qian Baishi, was directing his hired hands to haul a long, slender canal boat into the dock. Hearing the question, he said, "Zhou She's boat."
Wang Huadu bristled at the name "Zhou She," but he could tell what mattered. Quietly drawing a breath, he asked, "Which Zhou She?"
"Zhou Ziliang — that Zhou She. You don't know him?" Qian Baishi said. "When I was an apprentice at the Zheng family boatyard, he came to buy a boat. His family is loaded; I hear over two hundred fishing households depend on him."
"Never heard of him," Wang Huadu said. "Why's he getting his boat repaired?"
"Hey — careful there!" Qian Baishi had spotted a bit of trouble up ahead and rushed over, bellowing.
Wang Huadu glanced that way, then turned back to look at the other two canal boats.
A moment later, Qian Baishi came back and asked, "What were you saying just now?"
"I said, why is Zhou She getting his boat repaired?" Wang Huadu said.
"To sail it, of course." Qian Baishi was a little puzzled.
"Can a canal boat like this go out to sea?" Wang Huadu asked again.
Qian Baishi hesitated. "Actually, no. But if you count the mouth of the Yangtze as 'the sea,' then it can."
"So this boat can ply the great rivers, and can also sail where the Yangtze meets the sea?"
"The mouth of the Yangtze is Shanghai County. The waves there aren't big, but there are a lot of sandbars under the water, and seagoing ships run aground on them easily. The boat best suited to that water is actually your family's. A canal boat can hug the shore without much trouble, but it can't go out into the deep."
Wang Huadu nodded.
After a moment's silence, he asked, as if in passing, "It looks like Zhou She's headed for Shanghai. Could he be going to haul salt?"
Qian Baishi gave him a surprised look. "You even know there are salt works in Shanghai?"
Wang Huadu gave a wry laugh. If he hadn't met Young Master Shao, he thought to himself, he would have long since gone to Shanghai to join his relatives — of course he knew.
"I do," Wang Huadu said, and nodded. "My uncle lives in Shanghai."
Qian Baishi said "Oh" and asked nothing more.
"Why haven't I seen the owner of this boat?" Wang Huadu pointed at the canal boat again and asked.
"He came yesterday; I haven't seen him today." Speaking of it, Qian Baishi still seemed a little put out.
When that Wang Wu heard that the Fei family boatyard had handed the repair job over to them, he'd made a huge scene, demanding the Fei family refund him a ding of paper money. How could the Fei family indulge him? They simply threw him out.
Shameless as he was, Wang Wu could do nothing about the boatyard belonging to the household of the Deputy Myriad Household Commander, Fei Xiong, so he ran over to the Qian family boatyard and tried to force them to lower their price.
Seven ding of paper money was already a very low price; any lower and there'd be no profit left. Qian Baishi had pushed back firmly, but he was still full of pent-up anger — how could there be people in this world so utterly shameless?
"How many men does it take to sail a boat this size?" Wang Huadu's gaze rested on the canal boat as he asked.
"If it's three hundred liao, eighteen men at most, usually twelve. For a two-hundred-liao canal boat like this, seven or eight is plenty — might not even need that many," Qian Baishi said.
"This long—" Wang Huadu gestured, then said in surprise, "and it only carries seven or eight people?"
"Do you understand anything at all? This isn't for going to war," Qian Baishi said irritably. "When you sail for trade, you want every inch packed with cargo — what would you need so many men for? These three canal boats are big-bellied and long, plainly meant for piling up goods. Pushed to the limit they hold six or seven hundred dan — not even as much as a zheyang seagoing ship. That one can carry over eight hundred dan of grain, and close to a thousand with a little modification."
"So that's how it is." Wang Huadu laughed heartily and asked no more questions.
******
By the time the sky was darkening, Wang Huadu had reached the celadon shop.
Yu Yuan, Liang Tai, and Song You were sitting by the counter chatting, the shop all but deserted. Seeing Wang Huadu come in, Song You rose, took his leave, and went back to his room to rest.
"What're you doing here, dog?" Yu Yuan asked.
"Smack!" Wang Huadu clipped him on the side of the head and said, displeased, "Since when do you get to call me 'dog'?"
Yu Yuan gave an embarrassed laugh, lowered his head, and said nothing.
Wang Huadu stepped back out of the warehouse-inn and looked around outside the main gate. Only then did he walk behind the counter and say in a low voice, "I just went to the Qian family boatyard to take a look..."
After hearing him out, Yu Yuan looked somewhat surprised.
Liang Tai just sat there, his eyes fixed on a corner of the counter, as though there were some extraordinary view there.
"Say something!" Wang Huadu said, displeased. "The way I see it, that fellow Zhou Ziliang is most likely dealing in contraband salt — sneaking off to Shanghai to buy up goods."
"What... what do you want to do?" Yu Yuan asked weakly.
"Heh heh." Wang Huadu smiled. "I've had that Zhou She in my sights for a while now. If I get the chance, I'll take care of him."
"Isn't that... isn't that too dangerous?" Yu Yuan said, somewhat against the idea.
Wang Huadu grew exasperated. He clapped Yu Yuan hard on the shoulder. "That lot under Zhou Ziliang — what's there to fear? Fishing households and servants, that's all. Enough to scare you, maybe, but I'm not afraid."
Yu Yuan said nothing.
"Foya, what's your take?" Wang Huadu shot him a glance and asked.
Liang Tai was silent for a long time, and just when Wang Huadu was growing impatient, he came out with: "Not enough men."
Wang Huadu's anger turned to delight. "Can you shoot a bow? How do you compare with Cheng Ji?"
"I can, but not as well as him," Liang Tai replied.
"Being able to shoot is enough." Wang Huadu was overjoyed. "I've already got it figured out — our boat is tall, the canal boats are low. When the time comes, you'll shoot down from above, and that'll knock them senseless for sure."
"What boats will the other side have?"
Wang Huadu thought for a moment, then gestured. "Ever eaten a hairtail?"
"From the sea?" Liang Tai raised his head. "There are a lot of them over at Ganpu. They say the fish is 'slender as a strip of white silk.'"
"Right, right, that's the fish." Wang Huadu laughed. "The Zhou family's boat is that kind — the hull is a little shorter than a zuanfeng haiqiu, but only half as wide. My guess is it won't sit as steady on the water as ours. Striking from high against low — easy."
"Not enough men." Liang Tai said it again.
Wang Huadu rubbed his hands helplessly. "You mule! In times like these, are men who'll dare to fight and risk their lives really so rare? I could call up a few myself — it's only that I was afraid Young Master Shao wouldn't like it, so I haven't kept up with them for a long while. Baijianu probably knows a few such men too. Between the two of us rallying friends and companions, we'd have more than enough."
"More men, looser tongues," Liang Tai said quietly.
Seeing the two of them actually discussing "murder and robbery" in all seriousness, Yu Yuan's heart went cold, and traces of dread showed on his face.
To be honest, he rather liked his life as it was now. Wouldn't it be good to just go on living quietly like this?
"This won't do, that won't do — what do you want, then?" Nettled by Liang Tai, Wang Huadu said angrily.
"The boat isn't repaired yet." Liang Tai, as if unaware that the other man was already angry, went on.
"Then wait for Young Master Shao to come back," Wang Huadu said irritably.
"Will there be time?"
"Then I'll make a trip to Suzhou and find Young Master Shao at Qiao Sikong Lane?"
"Could work."
"You blockhead!" Wang Huadu was so angry he nearly didn't want to speak.
"I... I..." Yu Yuan, off to the side, wanted to speak but held back.
"If you've got something to say, say it." Wang Huadu sat down, still fuming.
"Elder Brother Shao might not be willing to do such an evil thing," Yu Yuan said. "Besides, we don't even know where they are."
At that, Liang Tai nodded heavily.
Seeing the two of them echoing each other, Wang Huadu was so angry his nose went crooked. He simply sat there saying nothing more, sulking to himself.
The shop gradually fell quiet.
No one knew how much time had passed when a gong sounded outside. A moment later came the tramp of many feet.
Just as Wang, Yu, and Liang were growing alarmed and uncertain, a green-robed official appeared at the main gate, a dozen or so runners gathered around him.
"I am Zhu Jin, judge of the Maritime Trade Supervisorate. Is the shopkeeper in?" the green-robed official shouted.
"I wonder what business brings the judge here?" Yu Yuan stood and bowed in surprise.
Zhu Jin did not answer, only swept his gaze over Wang Huadu and Liang Tai.
Expressionless, the two rose and saluted.
Zhu Jin gave a cold snort. "Someone has accused the shop's accountant, Shao Shuyi, of privately giving contraband to foreigners sailing abroad. I am under orders to take him into custody. Where is he?"
Hearing this, Yu Yuan turned pale with shock. "What contraband?"
Zhu Jin sneered. "Gold and silver — and weapons."
"Surely the judge is mistaken?" Wang Huadu spoke up.
"What do you take yourself for? Are you one of his accomplices?" Zhu Jin shot him a sidelong glance. "Anyone not concerned had better get lost."
Anxious and furious, Wang Huadu nearly burst out cursing, but Liang Tai caught the hem of his clothes.
"Men — search the place!" Zhu Jin flicked his sleeve and gave the order.
The dozen-plus Maritime Trade Supervisorate runners, receiving the order, swarmed in.
Chapter 54