Chapter 152.2
The Wen family was good at shipbuilding but that was all. They weren’t the most sea merchants, the most powerful sea merchant at present was Cheng Yongzhen.
Cheng Yongzhen gathered a group of fellow villagers from Pingzhou Province to do sea trade. Over the past 20 years, he has become the largest sea merchant, being able to do this was not only related to his ability but also to the local officials that supported him.
“Cheng Yongzhen is very capable and wants to be an official. For this reason many officials in Minnan Province and Pingzhou Province are his good friends and give him support. That why he was able to gather people and deal with pirates who killed and plundered, so that there is no longer pirates along the coast. It just that in recent years he and the officials of the Pingzhou Province become hostile and they began to take their men to islands. Just a few month ago he became the king of islands and started to call himself King Ping.” Wen Ming said.
After Jiang Zhen began to work as sea merchants he naturally started to pay attention to other sea merchants, including Cheng Yongzhen.
According to his understanding of Cheng Yongzhen.. Cheng Yongzhen and the people under him were somewhat similar to the Liang Shan outlaws of the Marsh. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Margin)
The court has a sea ban and they were doing illegal business, but they were still bent on getting the recognition of the imperial court, hoping that the imperial court enlist them . . . Of course, this was also the idea that people of this era would inevitably have.
At this time people always felt that being an official was the best way to live.
“He actually did this?” Jiang Zhen was a little surprised.
“Yes.” Wen Ming said: “He started to act like this so the court started paying attention to him, I just don’t know if the court agree to recognize him like he wanted.”
“It’s hard.” Jiang Zhen said: “In the future, we should also be more careful.”
Jiang Zhen did not just make money as a sea merchant, in fact… he also wanted to find a way back for himself overseas.
He has now Jinzhen Escort Agency and sea ships so if he find a place to settle down overseas, he will be able to run away with his family if there was a war in Daqi in the future.
Because of this, when he first heard Wen Ming talk about what Cheng Yongzhen did, he thought that Cheng Yongzhen might want to do the same thing as him. But soon realized that this was not the case.
“We won’t sail for the time being, so it doesn’t matter if we only do business with east ocean side.” Wen Ming said.
Jiang Zhen nodded, thinking that he had better find more men and train them.
Under Cheng Yongzhen hands there was said to be more than 100,000 people, compared to him he was still a small player.
Cheng Yongzhen’s affairs did not affect the business of Jiang Zhen and Wen Ming. When all the merchants who were supposed to come arrived, they sold all the goods in their hands and made a lot of money.
When all the goods were sold, Jiang Zhen and Wen Ming packed their things and took their families back to Wexing Province.
In modern times If you didn’t go home for a few months and finally went back you might find a new building, but it’s different at this time.
Wexing Province was still the same, there were just more “Jinzhen“flags than before on the docks.
Jiang Zhen got off the ship with his two children and several carriages immediately came.
“In the past, when I went out to visit my relatives, I had to endure a trip, but now everything has really changed.” Zhao Liu accompanied Zhao Jinge and his children in their stay by the sea. But now that it was time come to return to Fucheng together, she couldn’t help but sigh for a moment.
In the past, it was so painful to travel far away! But now, everything has changed. Travel by ship and carriage was very comfortable.
Jiang Zhen smiled and helped Zhao Liu to the carriage, but he himself got on a horse next to it.
He prefers riding a horse than to ride in a horse-drawn carriage.
When he rode the horse he was also carrying Zhao Mingzhu with him. Zhao Mingzhu was taken by him these days to climb high and low places as well as wander around so she was not even a little afraid of riding a horse.
The people on the dock saw this scene and someone couldn’t hep asking: “Who are these people?”
“You don’t even know them? Did you see the one on the horse? That’s the head of the Jinzhen Escort Agency!”
“The head of Jinzhen Escort Agency!? So young?”
“Yes, that’s how young he is! Moreover, apart from the Jinzhen Escort Agency he is also sea merchant. I heard that he made a lot of money.”
“How impressive.”
…
People around were talking, while in the crowd a young man in his thirties, dressed in an old robe of scholar looked in docks direction in trance.
That person was Liao Qinghe.
What Liao Qinghe was watching was not Jiang Zhen but Wen family that come back with Jiang Zhen.
Wen Ying Niang was pregnant again.
After learning that Wen Ying Niang was pregnant he once suspected that it was fake and felt that it was impossible that she could give birth. For this reason, he deliberately accepted two maids as his concubines.
However, even after three years those two maids have not been pregnant. But Wen Ying Niang who obviously did not spend a lot of time with her husband was pregnant again.
Looking at the pregnant Wen Ying Niang from a distance, Liao Qinghe heart was incomparably bitter.
Sometimes, when you have something you could only see its shortcomings, but when you lose it you couldn’t help but miss its good sides. Even memories that was replayed again and again become more beautiful.
Liao Qinghe used to be very unhappy with Wen Ying Niang and felt that she had humiliated him, but now that he remembers . . .
When they were newly married, Wen Ying Niang was very gently with him.
Later, although the two of them often quarreled when he went home drunk, Wen Ying Niang always prepared tea for him.
For so many years, Wen Ying Niang had been his closest person, but now, he had lost her.
Liao Qing stumbled toward his house, as soon as he entered the door he heard the sound of a quarrel at home.
“Scold me more! If you have the ability to continue to curse! If you curse me again, I will go out and yell that my child is not from your family!” Lu Luan’s voice was the loudest.
Mother Liao muttered something but in the end didn’t dare to continue scolding.
Even though they had lost their faces long ago, they still couldn’t tear off the last fig leaf from their faces, so they keep Lu Luan in their house together with her child.
“You’d better be nice to my daughter in the future, she’s the only blood in your family!” Lu Luan didn’t stop there, and continued.
Mother Liao’s expression froze.
When Liao Qinghe saw Lu Luan smug look, he wanted to go up and slap her. However, thinking of her threats, he didn’t dare to move.
He doesn’t want anyone to know that he couldn’t have a baby.
For this reason, he even made a show of being infatuated with Wen Ying Niang, swearing that he would never take a wife again.
Mother Liao couldn’t make Lu Luan to do anything so in the end she had no choice but to let Liao Qinghe and two other concubines go to work.
These two were once the maids of Wen Ying Niang who always liked Liao Qinghe. When Lu Luan appeared they protected here so Wen Ying Niang did not take them away with her.
Later, they got into Liao Qinghe’s bed as they wished, but the life they led was not even comparable to that of Wen Ying Niang maid.
The Liao family was now so poor that they drove all their servants away, so they not only had to do the rough work like pouring night incense but also spinning and weaving to support the Liao family, making them quickly grow old.
If they knew it, would they did it in the first place?
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