The loading of the grain transport did not conclude until the first ten days of the third month.
Shao Shuyi did not return home directly; instead, he turned toward the Zheng clan’s large estate on the west side of the Yantietang to assist in processing timber.
Many shipwrights were also working here. Theoretically, they were affiliated with the Transport Office and specialized in building ships for the Imperial Court. However, just as maritime ship households like Shao Shuyi were dragged in to do odd jobs, the shipwrights were frequently driven by others. Receiving wages was already considered a matter of conscience—at least they weren’t made to work for free.
The place where they worked was effectively the Zheng family’s private shipyard; it was small in scale and not heavily staffed. There were only a few skilled master craftsmen leading dozens of apprentices of varying abilities. As for the general laborers and coolies, who made up the largest number, they were hired temporarily.
Shao Shuyi possessed no shipbuilding skills whatsoever; he did not even understand carpentry. He could only perform basic physical labor, such as salvaging timber from the Yantietang and piling it onto the bank to air-dry.
During breaks in his toil, he often found opportunities to sidle up to the shipwrights and chat with them to broaden his knowledge.
"Little Hu, your luck isn't bad. You weren't drawn to transport grain by sea, but instead came to the Zheng family to work as a hired laborer," sighed the shipwright Li Zhuang as he pared wood with an adze.
[TN: Childhood Nicknames — Parents often give babies an affectionate “milk name” used only within the family. “Hu” (Tiger) is a common one for boys, symbolizing health, strength, and protection, and is usually unrelated to their formal name.]
He was a middle-aged man in his thirties, tall of stature with thick arms and shoulders, his knuckles broad and covered in calluses. Perhaps due to years of bowing over his work, Li Zhuang walked with a slight hunch, but his steps were steady, and he habitually squinted at people as if scrutinizing the curvature of timber.
"My family doesn't even have a boat anymore, so how could we go to sea?" Shao Shuyi said, carefully observing Li Zhuang’s movements.Searching his memories, he recalled that his family had once owned a ship, but it had been in service for many years. The hull planks had been patched layer upon layer until they were finally beyond repair, and the vessel was scrapped. In those days, damaged planks were not replaced; the common practice was simply to keep patching the outside until it could no longer be patched.
In other words, his family now had no ship at all. Moreover, after the original owner’s parents passed away, the funeral expenses had consumed a great deal of money, almost completely wiping out the last of the family’s savings.
Of course, he was not the only maritime ship household without a ship. More than sixty years had passed since Kublai Khan (a grandson of Genghis Khan) promoted sea transport, and these households had grown increasingly destitute. The Imperial Court was aware of this to some extent, so it mandated that for the sea transport of tax grain, five or even ten households contribute one ship. Additionally, they conscripted large numbers of wealthy coastal families as new maritime ship households or directly requisitioned civilian vessels to transport grain. All of this was because the hereditary households were becoming poorer and increasingly incapable of sustaining sea transport.
However, going to sea remained the best way for maritime ship households to earn money; there was no other path.
"It wasn't your family's turn this time, but you won't escape the next one," Li Zhuang said, looking at the youth of only fourteen or fifteen years with a gaze of pity. "The Provincial Secretariat and the Maritime Grain Transport Myriad-Household Commandery exhausted their efforts to get the Court to exempt maritime ship households from miscellaneous corvée labor. But nowadays, with so many troubles, there is no guarantee it won't be reinstated. When that time comes, you’ll have to go to sea and serve corvée duty; who knows how many tragedies of broken families and death will occur."
As they spoke, his seven-year-old son, Li Yu, ran over, clutching half a dried persimmon in his hand.
The child was as lean as a monkey, with a large forehead like an inverted gourd and bright eyes. He liked to tilt his head when looking at people. After circling Shao Shuyi once, he gave a hee-hee grin and scampered off again on his little legs.
After finishing the remaining dried persimmon in two or three bites, he nimbly climbed onto a half-built ship, earning a scolding from Li Zhuang.
"Daddy, there are twenty-four bottom planks here!" Li Yu shouted as he ran back and forth inside the ship’s hold.
The craftsmen working nearby straightened their backs and smiled at the little tyke. Those who were familiar even pinched Li Yu’s small face and teased him with a few words.
Li Yu giggled and dodged away, sometimes grabbing a handful of wood shavings to scatter about, sometimes sniffing the scent of the fir wood, and sometimes squatting down to pick at a piece of fish glue, putting it in his mouth to taste.
Li Zhuang shook his head and continued to squint, scrutinizing the timber.
Shao Shuyi returned to the riverside, moving large logs with the chanting crowd.
The vacant ground by the shore was piled high with giant logs that required several people to encircle. Pile after pile, they extended all the way to the vicinity of the Zheng family estate.
He did not know where the Zheng family bought so much wood, only that these large logs, stripped of branches and bark, were stacked according to the year they were harvested. When a ship needed building, they would retrieve a batch of timber that had air-dried sufficiently and process it into bottom planks, side planks, waist beams, wall pillars, deck beams, longitudinal beams, masts, and so on, to be used on ship after ship.
The shipbuilding industry in Liu Family Port and Taicang was booming. Official and private workshops were countless, and their level of skill was among the best in the realm, unmatched by other places.
Once war came, whoever controlled Liu Family Port controlled a shipbuilding industry of considerable scale, and perhaps foreign trade as well. As to whether one could win a naval battle with high-quality ships, that was another matter; examples of small ships defeating large ones were not nonexistent.
Half the day passed in a flash. Seeing the Golden Crow (sun) sinking in the west, the Zheng family servants delivered dinner right on time.
It was porridge this time, causing complaints to rise from the crowd.
The servants distributed the rice porridge with expressionless faces, turning a deaf ear to the gripes of the craftsmen and hired laborers.
There was no work at night, so having porridge to drink was good enough! Moreover, this porridge was not thin; it was quite thick. After drinking it down with salted vegetables, one’s belly felt warm, perfect for sleeping.
After receiving his porridge, Shao Shuyi sat cross-legged on the grass and finished it in a few gulps.
Li Zhuang sat beside him, sighed lightly, and said, "The harvest years are getting worse; it wasn't like this in the past."
"How was it in the past?" Shao Shuyi placed his bowl and chopsticks on the ground and asked.
"Is this your first time out as a hired hand?" Li Zhuang asked, fingering the prayer beads on his wrist.
"Yes."
"What are the wages?"
Shao Shuyi did not hesitate and answered directly, "Ten strings of banknotes."
"Zhongtong notes or Zhiyuan notes?" Li Zhuang pressed.
"Zhongtong notes."
Li Zhuang gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Few artisan households or maritime ship households own land; many families can only buy rice with banknotes. Nowadays, one shi of rice costs thirty strings of banknotes. You work as a hired hand for a month, and you can only buy three dou of rice. Besides, this isn't good work; one moment of carelessness and injury or illness is common. You'll know when you get older."
Shao Shuyi fell silent.
Although he had not been in this world long, he had already tasted the initial hardships of life.
The full name of the Zhiyuan note was the "Zhiyuan Current Precious Note," issued in the twenty-fourth year of the Zhiyuan era of Emperor Shizu (1287).
The full name of the Zhongtong note was the "Zhongtong Origin Treasure Exchange Note," issued in the first year of the Zhongtong era of Emperor Shizu (1260).
Both notes circulated in parallel in the market; one Zhiyuan note was equal to five Zhongtong notes. Made of mulberry bark paper, they bore both Han script and Phagspa script, with face values ranging from five wen to two strings, divided into eleven grades.
At the beginning of their issuance, silk, silver, and copper coins served as the "note reserve," and it was stipulated that one string of Zhongtong notes could be exchanged for one tael of silver at the treasury of the Superintendency in each route. But as the Court’s finances grew increasingly difficult and currency was issued indiscriminately, they gradually became unexchangeable. By now, even the Precious Note Superintendencies in the various routes had been abolished—where could you go to exchange them?
At the Court level, whether for Zhongtong notes or Zhiyuan notes, the "accounting unit" was the "ingot", where fifty strings of paper notes equaled one ingot. At the start of issuance, printing was relatively restrained, ranging from as little as thirty thousand ingots to as much as one hundred thousand ingots a year, so the currency value remained strong. By now, the annual issuance volume had reached over two million ingots, and it was still increasing year by year.
The worst part was that with the loss of note printing plates, the private printing of counterfeit notes by the populace became increasingly rampant, especially in Jiangxi. Someone once asserted that the majority of paper notes circulating in the market were counterfeit. With things in such a state, it would be strange if there wasn't hyperinflation.
Shao Shuyi sold his hard labor for a month to earn ten strings of Zhongtong notes. Currently, that could buy three dou of rice, but whether it could buy that much next year was uncertain.
[TN: Dou — Equivalent to one-tenth of a shi (approx. 10 liters)]
"If you go to sea, the earnings are a bit more, but today is different from the past," Li Zhuang said, looking at Shao Shuyi after finishing his last mouthful of porridge. "An ocean-going transport ship carries one thousand shi of rough japonica rice. The freight money for every shi is eleven taels, which seems like a lot, but there are many people on the boat, and after dividing it up, there isn't much left. Moreover—"
Speaking to this point, Li Zhuang patted the timber and said, "Before going to sea, the ship must be repaired and caulked, and floating equipment must be added; the cost is not small. The old folks say that when Emperor Shizu first created the method of sea transport, the currency laws were valued, and the prices of all goods were fair. In the land of fish and rice south of the river, a shi of rice cost no more than three taels of Zhongtong notes. Transporting one shi of grain paid eight taels and five mace in freight notes, nearly three times the price of rice. The Court also allocated high-quality notes; when ship households received this, they took the opportunity to buy goods and build sea ships. For example, to build a ship of one thousand liao capacity, the cost of labor and materials was no more than one hundred ingots. Transporting one thousand shi of grain would immediately earn one hundred and seventy ingots in freight money; one trip would earn back the capital. Thus, people competed to build ships and dedicated themselves to grain transport. And now—"
Li Zhuang smiled bitterly. "Goods are heavy, and notes are light. Shipbuilding labor and materials are ten times what they were then. Although we have received an increase in freight money to eleven strings per shi, prices soar even higher; it is already unprofitable, to the point of not covering expenses."
Shao Shuyi calculated quickly in his mind.
From the time of Kublai Khan to the present, the price of shipbuilding had risen more than tenfold, and maintenance costs were likely similar, but freight rates had only increased by less than thirty percent, completely failing to keep up with the speed of inflation.
The total freight for one ocean-going ship was two hundred and twenty ingots, but the ship had a Head of the Bond (also called Gangshou, i.e., Captain), Unit Commanders, Firemasters (also called Zhoushi, i.e., Pilots), Great Workers (Helmsmen), Anchormen, Second Class (responsible for hoisting sails), Sternsmen (ordinary sailors), Warehouse Officer, and General Hands (odd-job personnel). Even at the bare minimum, there would be over a dozen people—if formed into a fleet, there was also a "Thousand Firemaster" responsible for overall coordination.
Repairing ships, hiring sailors, food for the return trip, and short-distance transport costs after arriving at the Zhigu docks added up to no small amount; most likely, one would have to pay out of their own pocket to cover the losses.
Calculating to the end, Shao Shuyi sighed; why was staying alive so difficult? He then thought that perhaps this was still the "good times," and in a few more years, life might become even harder.
Troublesome!
The desire to survive forced him to calm down and think carefully about how to live out the coming days.