my wonderful zoo

Chapter 11

Returned from Penghu on the fifth day of the first lunar month, sailed southward with favorable wind, and returned to Dongguan on the tenth day of the first lunar month.

After sitting on a sea ship for five consecutive days, Chen Xun's legs were a little weak when he first set foot in Dongguan Port.

Chen Xun originally planned to go directly back to Chenjiazhuang to rest, but when he was resupplying on Lamma Island, he received bad news and had to come to Dongguan to deal with it in person.

"Langjun." Steward Ge Chang was already waiting at the port.

"What a big deal, I ask you to wait here in person." Chen Xun put his arm around Ge Chang's shoulders and greeted him cordially.

Ge Chang was mainly responsible for managing maritime trade in the Chen family. He could be said to be the cash cow of the Chen family. If he hadn't saved his life in Mayi, it would have been impossible to recruit people of this level given the size of the Chen family at the time. Talent.

"It's not serious, it's just a bad omen." Ge Chang looks more like a martial artist in terms of body shape. He is half a hand taller than Chen Xun, who is 1.7 meters tall. He is from Quanzhou and has been doing business for generations. He has followed his family since he was a child. The fleet ran routes to Southeast Asia, reaching as far as Singapore in later generations.

The risk of traveling to sea is very high. In addition to natural disasters, man-made disasters are even more difficult to prevent.

During a normal trade trip south, the fleet was robbed by locals in Mayi, and Ge Chang himself was also detained.

Mayi's pirates sent a letter back to Quanzhou asking for money to redeem him. Ge Chang was the eldest son of the family and was trained as his successor. Naturally, he would not hesitate to use money to redeem him.Unfortunately, the Ge family accidentally missed a letter when raising money. When competitors found out that the Ge family's fleet was trapped in Mayi, they immediately colluded with the eunuchs of the Quanzhou Shipping Department to accuse the Ge family of tax evasion, and the whole family took the blame.

Chen Xun had just gained magnetic field vision and led his family's ship south to open up sea trade routes. He was robbed by the same pirates in Mayi. However, unlike the Ge family, Chen Xun had always been a coward, and it was his first time to explore. The people on the ship were More than goods, it is a standard iron plate.The pirates failed to rob, but instead lost their wife, allowing the Chen family to have their first overseas residence in Mayi.

Ge Chang was also rescued at that time.

The story after that was very bloody. After finally returning home, Ge Chang found that his family was ruined and he had no choice but to come back to find Chen Xun. Because Chen Xun was much more publicized overseas than in the mainland and behaved very restlessly. Ge Chang felt that Chen Xun can help him get revenge.

"Why should I help you? You still owe me a life-saving grace." Chen Xun asked at that time.

"I will exchange it for myself." Chen Xun was moved. Being able to sail on the sea does not mean that he can engage in sea trade. Chen Xun lost money on his first trip south.

Agreeing to Ge Chang's conditions, Chen Xun and his men secretly sneaked to Quanzhou and asked Ge Chang to kill his enemies with his own hands. He also rescued some family members from the teachings and workshops, and later bought some back from the exile.

Chen Xun worked so hard to help, and Ge Chang was naturally heartbroken.

"What's the sign?"

"We may be targeted by the Guangzhou Municipal Shipping Bureau. This time the Dongguan County Shipping Bureau and the Municipal Shipping Bureau's tax inspection should be a first step to test." Ge Chang replied.

"How could we be targeted by the Shipping Department with such a small body?" Chen Xun couldn't believe it.

Don't think that a few hundred thousand yuan is a lot of money. In the coastal areas south of the Yangtze River, there are many families richer than the Chen family.What's more, Chen Xun also hid most of his assets overseas. The family's assets were also nominally dispersed among the Chen family members and subordinates. Chen Xun usually behaved very low-key on the mainland, and even stopped his father from taking concubines. , apparently not a wealthy man, he shouldn’t be targeted by such a large department as the Shipping Department.

You know, the Municipal Shipping Department mainly targets foreign ships, which means taxing foreigners.

Moreover, the Song Dynasty encouraged commerce and attached great importance to overseas trade. Meritorious personnel in the Municipal Shipping Department who could recruit commercial ships were often rewarded, and private fraud was also prohibited with repeated orders.

What happened to the Ge family can only be regarded as an exception, and not the entire Shibo Company is so dark.Chen Xun thought for a moment that Ge Chang was a little sensitive because of the disaster his family had encountered.

"Because there is no one above us." Ge Chang dispelled Chen Xun's suspicion with one sentence.

The common man is innocent of the crime of having a jade in his possession. Now he is like a child holding gold in a busy city with no one to protect him. It looks so delicious.

The two did not continue chatting, and came to the small courtyard purchased by the Chen family in Dongguan in silence, beckoning for the person in charge of Dongguan's spy.

"Lang Jun." The person in charge is a department store owner. He seems to be an honest person. He probably doesn't make much money even if he opens a store.

"Initiate spies from the Guangdong Shipping Department, Dongguan Shipping Affairs, Dongguan Port Market, and Dongguan County Government. I want to know if they have paid special attention to our Chen family recently."

"Yes."

When he was confused and had no information, Chen Xun did not dare to make a decision. The tragic losses caused by recklessness in the past few years made Chen Xun rarely make decisions based on speculation alone.

"Cooperate with them and let them investigate." This is an order to Ge Chang: "Give the benefits that should be given as usual, but don't give more."

"Understood." Ge Chang responded: "Can I ask Butler Liu and the second uncle of the Chen family to cooperate with me?"

"Okay, I will write to them right now and ask them to fully cooperate with you." Chen Xun responded. Most of Chenjiazhuang's properties are managed by Liu Yu, and the second uncle of the Chen family is Chen Yi's second brother, who usually manages the affairs of the Chen family. , Ge Chang needs them to cooperate very reasonably.

After the two of them went out to work, Chen Xun was in the study looking through the recent reports from Dongguan. These were all brought over by the spy. He had been waiting for more than an hour, and it was getting dark before his uncle Chen Fu arrived.

Chen Fu worked as a division chief in Dongguan County, and among the officials of the county government, he was second only to the recorder, equivalent to the level of section chief and deputy section chief in later generations.

However, due to the lack of promotion paths, low regular wages and rural clan autonomy, officials in the Song Dynasty did not have much power. In the final analysis, they were just clerical officials.

"This time, Lord Wu took the lead and Zheng Yasi executed it. The people selected were all people who don't usually deal with our Chen family. I was excluded. I don't know the specific reasons and how to operate."

Hearing Chen Fu's words, he was a little indifferent, which made Chen Xun a little angry.

Considering that Chen Fuli came so late, he was probably afraid of being seen and wanted to get himself out of the Chen family. It seemed that the person who wanted to deal with the Chen family this time had a lot of background.

However, Chen Fu's idea seemed too stupid to Chen Xun.

If it weren't for Chen Xun's support these years, Chen Fu would have starved to death long ago with his meager income and unwillingness to exploit the people.

In the eyes of those who wanted to clean up the Chen family, even if Chen Fu died, he would not be able to get out.

"There are intact eggs under the overturned nest. Tell me everything you know and I won't bother you again." Chen Xun has decided that if Chen Furuo doesn't help in this crisis of the Chen family, he will cut off his support from now on.

(End of this chapter)