Even though Bailie had been beaten black and blue by the Ya Kingdom, Lu Qinglin was still fighting for the Mou Kingdom rather than Bailie.
How could Sixth Lu accept that?
"Right. We need to stay in closer contact with Sixth Lu."
Ding Zuodong cleared his throat softly. "I thought you would focus your efforts on Lu Zhensheng's eldest son, Lu Qing'an."
He Lingchuan smiled. "Did you think Lu Zhensheng pouring all his resources into his second son would make Lu Qing'an resentful, giving us a chance to drive a wedge between father and son?"
That was indeed what Ding Zuodong had thought.
"You're half right. Lu Qing'an certainly resents his father's favoritism. But as for driving a wedge between them—" He Lingchuan shook his head. "Old Ding, you've never served in a clan's main branch, have you?"
"No." Ding Zuodong had previously served as a steward in Dunyu, but that had been for Third Master Shu's household.
Eldest Master Shu was the head of the main branch.
"If Lu Qinglin were a good-for-nothing, your idea would be completely right. But his meteoric rise is right around the corner, which means there is no actual competition between the two brothers. Lu Qing'an is responsible for guarding the home front in Bailie, while Lu Qinglin makes a name for himself in the Mou Kingdom. Theirs is a partnership. Lu Qinglin has been rising steadily through the ranks in the Mou Kingdom; why would he care about the petty family estate back home? Likewise, Lu Qing'an knows full well that Lu Qinglin can't be bothered to vie with him for it."
"It's human nature for brothers to compare themselves to each other." Just as He Yue surely made quiet comparisons with his elder brother. "Yet that doesn't affect the Lu family's bigger picture."
Therefore, the slight unpleasantness between the brothers was not a fundamental contradiction.
"Lu Zhensheng throwing his full support behind his second son looks like blatant favoritism on the surface, and the clansmen whisper and point fingers, but in truth, he put a great deal of thought into it," He Lingchuan continued. "Only by leaving Bailie and carving out achievements in the wider world of the Mou Kingdom could Lu Qinglin step outside the line of competition with his elder brother. That way, the two brothers won't fight over the inheritance in the future and can instead support each other. Better yet, the standing of the Lu clan and Bailie will rise along with Lu Qinglin.
"This sort of thing is all too common in the Beijia Kingdom and the Yuan Kingdom. Within a single family, the eldest son of the primary wife guards the ancestral estate, while the sons of concubines venture out to fight for a future. Once one of them achieves something great, the entire household finds a way up, all while avoiding brotherly strife." Lu Zhensheng's approach was merely a bit more extreme, funneling resources to his second son rather than the eldest.
"Lu Zhensheng may be narrow-minded, but in this matter, he made the right call. If Lu Qinglin truly climbs to high office in the Mou Kingdom, Bailie's revival will be just around the corner, and Lu Zhensheng won't have let down his ancestors. He is using his own method to carry on the Lu bloodline."
The mirror inside his robe grunted. "His own method? Who says it's his? Maybe the Lu ancestors used it before!"
After all, a child of fortune appeared in the Lu clan once every few generations. If they bet correctly, the family would rise again.
He Lingchuan patted the mirror lightly and continued smoothly, "Still, treating himself as the absolute master and sucking dry the resources of the entire clan—this strategy of fattening the trunk while starving the branches—is bound to breed resentment among the clansmen."
That was why he needed to make contact with other members of the Lu clan to find more opportunities.
When all was said and done, the Lu clan was his original self's family, and blood was thicker than water. He couldn't resort to brutal methods right out of the gate as if dealing with mortal enemies.
Estranged kinship was always the trickiest to navigate.
Ding Zuodong considered this and nodded. "You truly see through everything, Master."
He Lingchuan rubbed his temples. "Now tell me about the ships."
Such was life as a territory's lord. In the early stages of building a foundation, before business was on the right track and while undermanned, he had to oversee every single detail, large or small.
Managing this modest domain of his was no easier than serving as Grand Commander in Yuheng City.
The surge in ship charter rates was due to autumn being the peak freight season for Blade Harbor. At this ice-free port, orders were taken in spring and summer, and goods were shipped in autumn and winter. The shipping lanes were at their busiest, leaving very few spare vessels available for charter.
Want to charter a ship? You had to pay extra—a great deal extra.
As for lumber, Ding Zuodong had recently purchased large quantities of timber, intending to let the shipwrights of Centipede Island display their craft.
Although the Yangshan Archipelago had trees everywhere, including plenty of thick, straight firs, timber meant for shipbuilding had to be air-dried in the shade for two to three years. Only then would the finished ships resist warping and leaking. Some wood even had to be smoked beforehand to prevent pest damage down the road.
Freshly felled timber from the island was completely unfit for constructing cargo vessels.
"The Qing Kingdom doesn't produce much timber, so we must rely on Bailie. However, a mountain fire burned for three months in Bailie three years ago, cutting the yield of their fir plantations in half." The production back then directly affected today's prices. "Moreover, several timber merchants in Bailie have ties to the Lu family. As soon as they hike their prices, other merchants follow suit, driving the rates up to more than double the norm! Calculating it this way, the cost of building a single medium-sized cargo ship reaches sixteen or seventeen hundred taels—it's absurd!"
The Yangshan Archipelago had only several dozen cargo-carrying vessels, which was far from enough. They had to charter, and they had to build; neither expense could be spared. Furthermore, suitable shipbuilding timber was limited in supply. If they didn't buy now, prices wouldn't come down within the year.
There were dozens of similar itemized accounts. Each individual overage seemed modest, but added together, the total was staggering.
Not to mention grain prices had skyrocketed so horribly that they were spending an extra seventeen or eighteen hundred taels every month. How much money did He Lingchuan have on hand to endure such reckless burning through funds?
By the time Ding Zuodong finished his report, sweat was beading on his forehead.
Everything they bought was expensive.
He Lingchuan saw it with total clarity. "Isn't it obvious the Lu family is pulling the strings? They want to drive up my costs."
Aside from the Qing Kingdom, the only local force capable of pulling such maneuvers was the Lu family of Bailie. Yet in the eyes of the Qing Kingdom, He Lingchuan was a mere nobody; why would they bother targeting him?
Only the Lu father and son harbored such deep malice toward him, wishing for his swift bankruptcy and ruin.
It seemed they had come to their senses, realizing they had sold the islands far too cheaply, and were now seething with regret.
Ding Zuodong cursed under his breath. The Yangshan Archipelago was like a massive machine: once set in motion, it began devouring money, with costs vastly exceeding their projections.
The enemy's strategy was an open scheme. Even if He Lingchuan slipped into Bailie and chopped the father and son to pieces, it wouldn't solve anything.
This kind of economic assault was not a trouble that individual martial might could resolve.
He Lingchuan remained open-minded about it. "Nothing we can do. We'll just have to hold our noses and swallow this loss."
Who told him to be the newcomer? Who told him to be unfamiliar with the territory?
Who told him to look like a fool with more money than sense?
Not a single loss he was meant to take could be avoided.
Not a single drop of blood he had to shed could be spared.
"The difficulty is only temporary. Once we weather this, we'll be fine." He Lingchuan actually chuckled and comforted Ding Zuodong instead. "The Lu family won't be able to bleed us dry, and once we pull through, it will be their turn to suffer."
As long as he remained composed, his subordinates would stay composed.
The battle between He Lingchuan and the Lu father and son had already quietly commenced.
Right now was merely the first stage:
The Lu father and son were on the attack, while he held the defense.
The opposition was attempting to wear him down through economic means.
Commerce had always been a battlefield where people were killed without a drop of spilled blood. He Lingchuan could only rely on his thick reserves of capital to grit his teeth and endure.
Once the Lu father and son realized underhanded tricks couldn't harm him, they would have to lay their cards on the table.
Only then would the real game truly begin.
Furthermore, ever since learning that Zhu Erniang was being watched by the Beijia Kingdom, He Lingchuan had to keep some of his attention reserved to guard against a sudden move from Beijia.
Lingguang chimed in from the side, "By the way, the batch of medicinal herbs you ordered has arrived. I've already drafted the pill formulas and assigned them to the people of Mount Rong to refine. Each person must produce at least two hundred Mind-Clearing Pills. Time is short. Shouldn't you and Dong Rui also..."
He Lingchuan rolled his eyes. "You cover my share. As for Dong Rui, he can't skip a single pill."
"...Oh."
Ding Zuodong spoke up again. "By the way, a fixer in Blade Harbor tipped me off: the Yashan Merchant Guild to the west went bankrupt and is liquidating twenty-seven cargo ships in its possession, ranging from eight to fifteen years old. The three largest are each ten zhang in length with a capacity of four hundred thousand jin (two hundred tons). I had Old Zheng, the head shipwright on Centipede Island, inspect them on-site. He said the ships are quite good, built from pine or fir, with solid craftsmanship and materials, and well maintained. Only a few have leaks, but nothing serious—all easily repairable."
He Lingchuan frowned. "Liquidating during this season can't come cheap, can it?"
It was the peak season for shipping. The guild claimed it was a 'liquidation sale,' but they had clearly chosen the perfect moment to sell.
"The three largest are each priced at one thousand two hundred taels, and the smaller ones decrease in price accordingly. I have the price list here. If we buy the entire lot as a bundle, the price can be negotiated down further."
He Lingchuan found that curious. "Twelve hundred taels? That cheap?"
Shipbuilding timber prices had soared so high that building a ship themselves would cost sixteen to seventeen hundred taels, not even factoring in the shipwrights' labor costs. By comparison, twelve hundred taels was temptingly cheap.
"For a ship of that capacity, the normal market price is fourteen to fifteen hundred taels. During the autumn-winter shipping season, high demand drives it up to seventeen or eighteen hundred taels. I heard someone sold one for two thousand last year," Ding Zuodong explained. "The Yashan Merchant Guild mismanaged its business and lost a fortune, so they urgently need to plug the hole.
"Blade Harbor is packed with merchant guilds, and this news has already spread. The fixer said several merchant firms are interested; they've sent people to inspect the ships and are currently negotiating with the Yashan Merchant Guild. Those ships will definitely sell."
The Yangshan Archipelago was desperately short of ships right now, and chartering was proving difficult. If they could bolster their fleet with these twenty-odd cargo vessels, their transport capacity would increase tremendously.
"Offering a pillow just as someone feels drowsy?" Faced with such a stroke of good fortune, He Lingchuan hesitated instead. "Are the ships truly fine? And what about the Yashan Merchant Guild?"
Ding Zuodong offered a conservative reply. "Nothing amiss has been uncovered yet. However, among the stewards currently under evaluation, one surnamed Guan believes that when something looks too cheap, there is bound to be a catch, and the matter warrants closer scrutiny."
"That's a fair point. Our intelligence sources are too weak right now, and the last thing we need is to be penny-wise and pound-foolish." He Lingchuan made the call. "Let the insiders take advantage of that bargain."
Buying up all twenty-odd ships in a bundle would cost at least twenty thousand taels of silver. His available funds couldn't withstand reckless spending right now, so it was better to proceed with caution.
"Understood."
He Lingchuan was the master; whatever he said, Ding Zuodong carried out.
"How much have we exceeded our budget by so far?"
"We originally estimated we would spend thirty-five thousand taels in a month." Ding Zuodong gave a wry smile. "But we've already spent sixty-four thousand taels."
The month wasn't even over yet, and he felt as though he were an utter spendthrift, having blown through nearly half the master's principal!
If the money spent to purchase the islands was included, He Lingchuan had already spent a staggering one hundred and forty-four thousand taels in just over a month.
Chapter 939