Shen Jingdan spent a lot of money to land from Shanghai this time, spending a full two thousand taels of silver.
Originally, the departure and gathering place for Qing Dynasty merchants going to Japan for sea trade were supposed to be Zhapu in Jiaxing. Entering Shanghai was already illegal. And that’s not the most troublesome thing.
The terrible thing is that these two boats have no boat photos at all! When customs and floodgate officials board a ship for inspection, in addition to the ship's photo, they also need to check whether the ship's name, ship number, and sail colors are consistent with those on the ship's file.
The second is the two Senseki Benzai ships. The ship tax you have to pay when entering customs is 1,500 taels per ship. Then there is the cargo tax. In addition to some seafood, most of the goods on the two ships are animal skins. and cigarettes. The sudden appearance of so many animal skins from the North will cause great trouble to the customs.
(Customs tariffs in the Qing Dynasty were divided into two types, namely ship tax and cargo tax. Ship tax refers to the customs tax that is directly levied according to the size of the ship. The ships are divided into categories one to four according to tonnage, and the tax ranges from one thousand four hundred taels to one thousand taels. There are four levels: one hundred taels, six hundred taels and four hundred taels. As the name suggests, the goods tax is levied according to the fine and rough quantity of the goods, and is finally underwritten and paid by the merchants. In addition to the statutory tax rate, there are also additional taxes, such as cabin meals. expenses, groceries, etc.)
So during the two days when Shen Jingdan went to Chongming in advance, in addition to hiring sailors, he also spent money to establish relationships.
First, they spent three days going to a private port on a small island on the southeast side of Chongming Island. Here, all the cargo on the two Benzai ships was switched to the rented Dasha ship, and then the Benzai ships were sold to the shipowner here.
Then, the two took a big sand boat and took advantage of the darkness to enter Zhangjiabang from the Sichuan Shajie on the south side of Wusongkou; then followed the Wild Cat Pond into the Yantie Pond, took the Nanhui Jie and entered the Huangpu River, and then from there Heading north, directly to Shanghai County.
All the patrol and water camps along this route have been paid off by Shen Jingdan, and an additional five hundred taels of silver were spent for this purpose. This is just a friendly price, because he used to visit various places in the water camp twice a year, so he was very familiar with it.
Late at night five days later, the sand boat docked at a small pier outside Laobaidu Straight Street. Several carriages carrying goods that Shen Jingdan had arranged in advance were waiting here, and a few bribed navy patrol soldiers helped unload the goods and drive away the occasional pedestrians passing by.
After a lot of work, all the goods had been transported into Shen Jingdan's warehouse on Nanhuiguan Hengjie before early morning.
After a busy night, Lao Huang yawned a few times, chirped a few times, and said to Shen Jingdan: "Everything went well. It seems that next time they come, they can leave like this."
"They" naturally refers to Zhao Xin and those people. Shen Jingdan nodded. He walked straight to the soldiers in the patrol camp and handed a cotton bag containing fifty taels of silver to those people.
Several soldiers had been busy all night and were sleepy and tired. But after taking the bag, weighing the weight, he suddenly beamed.
"Mr. Shen, if you need help next time, just come to me and don't be polite."
"Thanks a lot."
Shen Jingdan handed over his hand, turned around and got into a carriage with Lao Huang, heading straight to Dadongmen Street.
Lao Huang's shop is on Ruyi Street. After arriving at the place, the two agreed to meet and talk the day after. Shen Jingdan continued to ride the carriage westward along Dadongmen Street and entered Xiangua Street. Turning right at the second intersection, he arrived at his foothold here.
This is Taiping Street. Shen Jingdan tapped on the door of a small courtyard with the lantern on the carriage. The door opened quickly, and a middle-aged servant holding a lantern saw it was Shen Jingdan and quickly let him in.
"Finally back!" After the middle-aged servant fastened the door bolt, Shen Jingdan let out a sigh of relief. He was really worried these days and couldn't sleep at night.
"Master, the tea is ready. Would you like some?" the middle-aged servant asked in a low voice.
"Let's leave it for now." Shen Jingdan shook his head and asked: "Ah Si, is there nothing going on at Yangzhou House these days?"
"Master, you are finally back! Madam is so anxious."
"I didn't expect to be gone for so long. In the afternoon, ask your nephew to send a letter to your home in Yangzhou so that my wife can feel at ease."
Ah Si said: "Remember. Master, since you don't need to eat late at night, you'd better go to bed early."
"Okay, go to bed."
Shen Jingdan entered the main room and took two sips of tea. I was thinking that I would have to send someone to my home in Yangzhou to report that I was safe after dawn, but I was also afraid that I would sleep until the afternoon as soon as I fell asleep. So I suppressed my sleepiness, sat down at my desk and started writing a letter to my wife.
We can't leave Shanghai yet. Once the goods are in the warehouse, we need to find someone to take over. Once you go back to Yangzhou, you can't stay for a few days and you have to come back immediately, so why bother.
As I wrote this, I thought about Lu Yun and Shen Xuan who were far away in Beihai, and whether the fetus in Lu Yun's belly was safe. It would be great if it was a boy...
Just thinking about it like this, Shen Jingdan had just finished writing half of the letter when he fell asleep on the table.
On the third day after returning to Shanghai, after Shen Jingdan had breakfast, he hired a carriage and went to the Shachuan Guild Hall as agreed with Lao Huang.
This Shachuan Guild Hall in Majiachang faces the Huangpu River from the west to the east. It was built in the 54th year of Kangxi's reign. It was built with donations from the sand ship merchants at that time. In the 29th year of Qianlong's reign, the main hall and stage in the guild hall were rebuilt, and the south and north halls were added.
When we arrived outside the clubhouse, Lao Huang had already arrived. As soon as Shen Jingdan got off the carriage, he heard someone calling him from the side. When he turned around, he saw that it was Zhu Chaoxiang, the proprietor of "Zhu Hesheng".
This Prime Minister Zhu is fifty years old this year and is the second generation proprietor of "Zhu Hesheng". The Zhu family has been engaged in sand ship trading since the late Kangxi period. Over the past few decades, it has become the largest sand ship trading house in Shanghai. In later generations, the three founders of the Shanghai Shachuan Family, namely Wang, Shen and Yu, together with the Zhu family, were still children.
"Rong Zhaigong, it's been a long time." Shen Jingdan and Lao Huang quickly clasped their fists and bowed in salute.
"It's Brother Zhengtong! We haven't seen each other for a while. Did you two just come back from Japan?"
"Zhengtong" was Shen Jingdan's nickname. No one called her for a long time, and he felt a little strange.
"It's been a while since we've been back. The two of us just came back from Zhapu a few days ago. We wanted to pay homage to the Queen first and chat with our friends at the guild hall."
"I'm interested. Then go and do your work first. We'll talk later." After saying that, he handed over his hands and entered the clubhouse and went straight to the backyard.
Shen and Huang first went to the main hall of the guild hall to burn incense and worship the Queen of Heaven. Then they went to the north and south halls outside the main hall, where the "Chengshan Hussars General Teng Dashen" and "Fu Shan" were enshrined respectively. Taiwei Chu Dashen". These two gods are the protective gods in charge of river and sea shipping, and are said to be very efficacious.
Chu Dashen in the South Hall was a native of the Yuan Dynasty during his lifetime. In the 16th year of Zhizheng in the Yuan Dynasty, Chu Bange and his father Chu Buhua died in a bloody battle with the Red Scarf Army Liu Futong's tribe in Huai'an. It is said that after death, ghosts often appear at the seaside, so the villagers began to worship this brother Chu Ban. In the seventeenth year of Zhengzheng year, the Yuan Dynasty posthumously awarded him the title of Taiwei.
The Great God Teng in the North Hall was granted the title during the Kangxi period. In the fifty-first year of Kangxi's reign, Teng Guoxiang, a guerrilla from the Dengzhou Navy's front camp, led a team to pursue pirates and unfortunately died in battle. So the emperor issued an order to commend Teng Guoxiang and posthumously made Teng Guoxiang a hussar general. The local people built a temple for him at Chengshantou. When merchant ships passed through Chengshan, they often paid homage and prayed for blessings. "Teng Dashen" has become the patron saint believed by local people in Chengshan and maritime business travelers.
Shen Jingdan and Lao Huang are both businessmen who make a living by sea trade, so they naturally have to worship these two great gods respectfully. Chinese people have always been like this. As long as a certain deity can stick to their lives, no matter whether it is a new deity or an old deity, they will always pay homage to it.
After the two of them finished doing this, they went to the backyard to look at the flower hall downstairs, looking for someone to discuss business. Unexpectedly, as soon as I walked outside the flower hall, I heard a group of people inside talking: "Have you heard about it? There is news from the capital that Marshal Fu has been defeated in the north!"
"I also heard something yesterday, and it seems that a soldier died?"
"I heard it's called Haishacha?"
"Hai Lancha. He is not a military sect. He is a first-class super brave prince, a minister of the bodyguard with the yellow flag and the golden feathers in his eyes!"
"His! Who is so powerful that he even killed a marquis in battle?"
"I heard they are foreigners from the north. Hey, Lao Wang, you often go to Niuzhuang, do you know?"
"North? Is there no one else in the north except North Korea?"
"Thank you, Old Wang, for traveling all over the country and not even knowing this. The Oros people live in the far north! The Holy Ancestor fought many battles at that time."
"I'm just a boatman, so I can't care about so much. If you ask me, these are things that the adults of the imperial court should be concerned about."
When Shen Jingdan and Lao Huang heard this, they looked at each other in surprise. The two only knew that Zhao Xin's group defeated Fukangan, but they did not expect that they actually killed a court official. How come Mr. Zhao never mentioned this?
The two of them were stunned for a while, then walked into the flower hall. A group of businessmen in the room saw it was Shen Jingdan and quickly stood up to say hello with a smile.
"Brother Zhengtong, long time no see! Where did you go to make a fortune?"
"Brother Shen, have you just come back from Japan? Good guy, it's been more than half a year since you've been there, right?"
"Boss Huang, long time no see."
"Boss Huang, do you want soybeans? They just arrived yesterday. Will you go to my shop later to check out the goods?"
Shen Jingdan and Lao Huang smiled and greeted these people one by one. After the servants served tea, they each took out a wooden box from their arms and placed it on the coffee table. Under the curious eyes of everyone, he slowly opened the box.
"Hey~ what is this?" a shipowner surnamed Li asked curiously.
"The name of this thing is 'cigarette', which is produced in Xiantai of the Japanese state. Rong Zhaigong, you often smoke hookah, would you like one?" Shen Jingdan said, holding the wooden box with one hand and handed it to Zhu Chaoxiang. before.
Zhu Chaoxiang curiously took a cigarette from the box, looked back and forth a few times and asked, "How to smoke this?"
Lao Huang said with a smile: "Rong Zhaigong, just put the red part in your mouth. But to use this thing, you need an open flame." After saying that, he took the burning hand from the shipowner named Li next to him. He blew the paper matchstick with his mouth twice to reveal the flame, then he picked up a cigarette, held it in his mouth, and lit it with the paper matchmaker. After a few puffs of smoke, a scent of tobacco mixed with a faint aroma of wine and a hint of sweetness floated into the flower hall.
"Hmm~ There is actually a smell of wine in this tobacco leaf? It's interesting!"
A group of businessmen stood up one after another, took out a cigarette from the cigarette case in Shen Jingdan's hand, and lit it up like Lao Huang. After a while, the flower hall became filled with smoke, which made the non-smoking businessmen cough.
During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, due to the development of the commodity economy, tobacco had spread to every corner of society. For example, eight high-end tobacco shops have been opened in Suzhou, three of which specialize in tobacco produced in northern Fujian. There are also several shops in Shanghai County that specialize in northern Fujian tobacco; and some people have brought back tobacco brought by the Dutch from Japan, which is very expensive; not to mention Guangzhou, where you can buy snuff from Brazil and Chesapeake. .
The trend of smoking tobacco is so prosperous. First of all, the ancients believed that tobacco has medicinal value. Shen Lilong, a famous doctor of this era, said in his book "Food and Materia Medica Compilation" that smoke can "treat wind-cold dampness, stagnation of Qi and stop diseases, benefit the head and head, and remove all kinds of diseases. It can relieve the miasma of mountains and miasma in the outside world, and eat This is the best."
In addition, people also used tobacco as gifts and hospitality items at this time, and it was as popular as tea and wine. Cigarettes were also known as "tobacco wine" and "dry wine". Because literati focused on exaggerating the fun of smoking, smoking was also quite common among women in the Qing Dynasty.
The most popular types of cigarettes during this period were dry tobacco, tide tobacco, hookah and snuff.
The core of dry tobacco is "high energy". Especially people who do physical work often use tobacco to refresh themselves. Many northerners like to smoke dry tobacco.
As for tide tobacco, you need to cut the tobacco into fine pieces and moisten it with a little water before use. In Beijing during the Qing Dynasty, "wet" was called "tide". This kind of tidal cigarette was less powerful and was not smoked by those who liked dry cigarettes. It was mainly smoked by women and some noble men. In addition, there is also a kind of trendy cigarette with spices called "orchid cigarette", which old ladies like to smoke most.
Not to mention hookah. The hookah used is commonly known as "crane leg", and when smoking, a servant must kneel down low to light the cigarette. Generally, high-ranking officials and nobles like to smoke hookah.
The last one is snuff. Generally, good tobacco is dried and then ground to make a "tobacco blank", and then some specific Chinese medicinal materials, flower petals, and flower dew are added for aging. Because it does not require an open flame, it is also extremely popular in official circles. In "A Dream of Red Mansions", Qingwen had a headache, and Baoyu asked Sheyue to "get some snuff, give her some sniffs, and sneeze a few times, and the orifices will be cleared."
Since the modern cigarette papers Zhao Xin bought had combustion accelerants added to them, a group of businessmen were left with only a yellow cigarette butt after taking about ten puffs.
"What is this?" The shipowner surnamed Li curiously tore open the paper wrapping the cigarette butt and rubbed the yellowed filter tip with his fingers. His fingers were soon stained black and yellow with tar.
"This is a unique tree collected by the Japanese people. After extracting it using a secret method, it is then soaked in various tonics. It can not only block smoke oil, but the medicine attached to it can also nourish the body."
"Boss Shen, how much is this thing worth?"
"There are twenty cigarettes in this box. The tobacco used is made of fine liquor, honey and more than ten kinds of spices. The local price in Japan is not low. Generally, only local wealthy businessmen can smoke it. Each box costs one Hundreds of articles.”
(End of chapter)
