Wife, you didn't really drug me, did you?

Chapter 537 The Vinceco Family and the Port Closure

The ship started moving, and Chen Jie and the others were invited into the cabin. At this moment, Zhao Facai looked at Du Xiong and said, "Brother Du, I have prepared crabs and wine for you and Brother Chen. You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

Upon hearing this, Du Xiong smiled and said, "Ah Cai, you're very thoughtful."

As he said this, Du Xiong looked at Chen Jie and said, "My lord, how about we eat something?"

Hearing this, Chen Jie looked at Du Xiong and then smiled, "No rush to eat. By the way, how are the preparations I asked you to make going?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Fachai immediately replied, "Brother Chen gave the instructions, and we have certainly made all the arrangements. Look, we have prepared a ship full of goods, all of which are cloth and grain that Siam urgently needs right now."

Zhao Fachai led Chen Jie into the warehouse, where they found a considerable amount of grain and cloth. Cloth was a commodity that Siam had always been in short supply. As for grain, Siam had never lacked it before, but since the old king died and the new king ascended the throne, the entire country of Siam had been preparing for war, putting the whole nation in a state of armed conflict.

Running an army naturally requires food, so the whole country began to requisition grain, which turned Siam, which was not short of food before, into a country that is now short of food.

Therefore, after inquiring with Hei Li Gu, a guard under Zhao Fachai, it was confirmed that these two items were the most needed goods in Siam at present.

Having received news from Hei Ligu, Chen Jie nodded slightly, then looked at Zhao Fa and asked, "Are the clothes ready?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Fachai immediately shouted, "Gematai!"

"Your Highness."

At this moment, a man walked in from outside. It was Gematai, one of Chao Fachai's two henchmen. Behind Gematai were several sailors, each carrying a tray filled with traditional Siamese clothing.

The textile industry in Siam was not well-developed, so a major characteristic of Siamese clothing is that cotton and silk are rare, and most of it is made of linen.

Moreover, Siam is very close to the equator, and the whole country is very hot. Therefore, their clothes are very light and not as complicated as those in Han China. There are not many styles. Only the royal family and nobles can wear the brocade and silk imported from Han China, and they are all of ordinary quality. Even their Siamese king cannot wear the luxurious clothes of the royal family and nobles in Han China.

There was no other way; the basic infrastructure was too poor. The country couldn't produce it because Siam didn't even have a silkworm farmer. Where were they supposed to get silk from?

Therefore, clothing in Siam is mainly made of hemp. However, hemp has its advantages, namely its excellent breathability. In a hot and humid country like Siam, which is close to the equator, this kind of clothing is still very comfortable to wear.

However, it also has its drawbacks. It's not as soft as a cotton-padded coat, and it has a rough, rubbing feel. Also, linen doesn't have the same elasticity as cotton-padded coats, so it tends to deform easily and look tattered.

This time, Zhao Fachai prepared linen clothes for them, which were commonly worn by merchant caravans traveling to and from Siam.

However, the clothes given to Chen Jie were clearly different. They were very well made and exquisite in other aspects, and the fabric was not as rough as regular linen.

“Brother Chen, this cotton and linen garment that you wear is something only wealthy merchants in our Siam can wear. It is made by combining cotton and linen, so it has the softness of cotton and the breathability of linen, making it very comfortable.”

Chen Jie looked at the cotton and linen clothes, touched them, and said, "Hmm, it is indeed very comfortable."

At this moment, Zhao Fa guessed, "Brother Chen, let me tell you, you are no longer yourself, but the captain of the Moke family's merchant fleet, the young patriarch of the Moke family who travels between Southeast Asia and Han Chinese ports."

"Vince Moko!"

Chen Jie frowned slightly upon hearing this, and looked at Zhao Fa, guessing, "Is this person's identity reliable?"

"Rest assured, there is no more reliable identity than this, because this ship was given to us by Vince Moko himself."

"Ok?"

Chen Jie was slightly taken aback upon hearing this and asked, "This Vince Moko, is he related to you?"

Then the big, dark-skinned man said, "Vinsmoker is my wife's cousin. My wife is from the Vinsmoker family."

"Oh!"

Chen understood, and Zhao Facai continued, "A few days ago we met Vinsmoker at sea. He said that although we escaped, the Vinsmoker family was not purged because my uncle had shares in the Vinsmoker family caravan."

"Your uncle, isn't that the current King of Siam?"

Zhaofa guessed, "That's right. My uncle is greedy and lustful. My father tolerated him while he was alive, but he never expected that he would become even more outrageous and eventually join forces with Basong to seize my father's throne."

"The Vinsmoker family remembers the kindness my father showed them in the past, so they took the initiative to come to our side and lent us their merchant ships. So Brother Chen, you can use this identity with peace of mind, there will be no problem."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie glanced at Zhao Facai, a slight smile playing on his lips, and said, "Alright."

But in his heart he was thinking, "The Vinsmokers are really smart. They understand the survival strategies of large Chinese families. They don't put all their eggs in one basket. It has to be said that the Vinsmokers are indeed worthy of being a family that frequently trades with China."

Isn't this a classic case of betting on both sides?
Chen Jie estimated that the Vinsmoker family must have read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms in the Central Plains. Back then, didn't the Zhuge family and the Sima family both bet on both sides?
No, it should be a three-way bet: the eldest brother, Zhuge Jin, joined the Eastern Wu and became a strategist for Eastern Wu; the second brother, Zhuge Liang, joined the Shu Kingdom and became the chief strategist for Shu; and the third brother, Zhuge Dan, joined the Wei Kingdom and became an official for Wei.

The three brothers served in the three kingdoms of Wu, Shu, and Wei respectively, forming a "dragon, tiger, and dog" pattern, which directly achieved risk hedging for the family!

The Vinsmok family of Siam was the same. First of all, during the old king's era, they colluded with the prince to do business, becoming the prince's front man and binding themselves to the prince's line.

He then married his daughter to the former king's most trusted guard, forming a political marriage that brought him into close ties with the former king's faction.

In this way, no matter who eventually becomes the king of Siam, the Vinsmok family will have no problems. They will remain prominent merchants in Siam. Impressive, truly impressive!

Chen Jie had to admit that the Vinsmokers were quite intelligent.

Thinking about it, Chen Jie picked up the cotton and linen clothes that were considered to be worn by the nobility in Siam. To be honest, although they weren't as good as the clothes that Su Yunjin and the others specially made for him, they were still quite nice. Moreover, the way the cotton and linen were woven together caught Chen Jie's eye. He thought that when he got back, he could talk to Su Yunjin and the others about it and maybe launch a mid-to-high-end cotton and linen series.

However, these kinds of things were just things that Chen Jie did casually. He would make some reforms when he thought of them, and when he didn't think of them, they were insignificant and would not affect Chen Jie's great cause.

And so, Chen Jie put on his cotton and linen clothes, and then Du Xiong and the others also changed their clothes. Fang Susu gave him a nice plain dress, while Zhang Cuishan and Du Xiong wore the same pure linen clothes as Hei Ligu.

Du Xiong and Zhang Cuishan didn't care much about their clothes. One was a rough and carefree person, while the other was a refined Taoist priest who naturally didn't care much about his clothes either.

After changing their clothes and assigning identities, Chen Jie became the owner of the ship, the young master of the Vinsmoker family, Vinsmoker Qingyu.

Fang Susu was Vinsmoker Qingyu's maid, while Zhang Cuishan was quiet and gentle, looking like a scholar, so he was Vinsmoker's accountant.

As for Zhao Facai, he is considered the nephew of Vinsmoker Qingyu and is part of the ship's crew. As for Du Xiong, Hei Ligu, and Gematai, these three are assigned the role of bodyguards for the Vinsmoker family's caravan.

And so the group found and prepared their respective identities. Then Zhao Fachai taught Chen Jie and the others a few phrases of common Siamese.
First, hello: women say "Sawadika" and men say "Sawadikap".

Thank you: Female: Kuokunka, Male: Kuokunkapu

Goodbye: La Palace~
And so, Zhao Fachai gave Chen Jie and the others a surprise lesson in Siamese on the bed. No matter what, they wanted to understand the language system because, apart from some merchants and government officials, ordinary people in Siam did not speak Chinese.

Therefore, after arriving on the island, Chen Jie had to try to understand their language or find someone who could speak Chinese to communicate.

Chen Jie understood. Only powerful, wealthy families would learn Chinese, and such families were mostly merchants, sailors, and officials of their countries who went to sea. Ordinary people were not qualified to learn Chinese.

After all, what would a group of farmers need to learn Chinese for?
They may never leave their homes in their entire lives. They'll just stay in their own little world, and as long as their own family can understand, that's enough. Anyway, it's a cannibalistic society, and they're just the leeks to be eaten. What's the point of struggling?
After meeting up, Chen Jie and his group headed directly to Siam, and they did so very quickly. In order to save time, they even chose a shortcut to Siam.

After seven days of sailing, they finally arrived at the port of Feman in Siam.

“Brother Chen, this is the largest port in Siam, Feyman Port. Hundreds of merchant ships come and go every day. However, the recent South China Sea conflict has probably affected maritime trade.”

Sure enough, when the cargo ship approached Feynman Harbor, they saw only about twenty ships in the harbor. As the ship drew closer, they could even see the bows of other ships and hear their conversations.

However, after listening to their conversation, Zhao Facai's expression turned strange. Seeing this, Chen Jie asked, "What are they saying?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Fachai paused for a moment before speaking, "They're swearing."

"Swearing? Who are you swearing at?"

Zhao Facai said with a wry smile, "They called the port officials vampires, demons, and despicable bastards."

Upon hearing Zhao Facai's words, Chen Jie asked, "Why would you say such a thing?"

Zhao Fa guessed, "It seems so. The officials here are collecting taxes too heavily."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie immediately understood. He didn't even need to look to know that the officials here must have been overcharging. Or, if a hundred ships entered the port every day and each ship was charged a hundred silver coins, they could collect ten thousand silver coins a day.

However, only twenty ships can enter a day now. With the total income remaining at 10,000 silver coins, each ship must be charged 500 silver coins. This is why the captains and sailors are cursing the tax collector.

Chen Jie naturally understood the situation, and then smiled and said, "If we were businessmen, this would definitely not be a good thing for us, but if we are not businessmen, this is the best thing for us."

Chen Jie wasn't afraid of corrupt officials, since they weren't officials from his Huangzhou Prefecture, but from Siam. The fact that Siamese officials were greedy meant that the country wasn't a monolithic entity, and since it wasn't a monolithic entity, things would be easier to handle.

"Docked!"

Chen Jie gave the order to dock, and today he beckoned Gematai.

This is another guard of Zhao Fachai. He is not as strong as Hei Ligu, but he is relatively smarter than Hei Ligu.

At this moment, Chen Jie whispered something to him, and Gematai immediately nodded to indicate that he understood.

Immediately following was the arrival of the ships. At this moment, in a shed in Feynman Harbour, a dark-skinned and fat man was sitting in the center, drinking coconut water from a large bowl, his face covered in sweat, with seven or eight henchmen standing beside him.

This is the tax collector of Feynman Harbor, formerly a guard under the new king.

When the new king ascended the throne, in order to consolidate his power, he sent out all his trusted subordinates to replace the officials of the former king.

Feyman Port, formerly the largest port in Siam, saw ships coming and going every day, offering plenty of opportunities for profit. So this man seized the position, arrested the old tax official, and planned to enjoy the profits himself.

However, he had only been in this tax official position for a few days when the Kingdom of Siam began to wage war abroad, and then came the war with the Southeast Asian countries, which brought all trade in Southeast Asia to a standstill, leaving him with no money to be made in his current position.

Moreover, because he was so eager to make a quick buck lately, his behavior was a little unseemly, which led to a barrage of criticism. So he felt very wronged. In the past, the old tax official was known for his integrity and honesty, and he could earn thousands of silver coins a day.

But he ended up being called greedy and a bloodsucker. He was busy all day, handing over all the taxes he collected, and still had to endure a scolding from his superiors.

The silver coins that actually ended up in his pocket were less than a hundred a day. He was doing an honest and upright job, yet he was being scolded by corrupt officials. How could such a damned thing exist in this world!

The tax official was so angry that he could only sulk under the scorching sun, drinking coconut juice in frustration.

"How many ships entered the port today, and how much tax was collected?"

The tax collector took a sip of coconut juice and then asked his eight underlings beside him. These were the eight managers under his command. When the port was thriving, each of these eight underlings also supported twenty men to manage.

The bustling port doesn't need that many people at all; the tax officials have all been given leave.

After hearing the tax official's words, the eight henchmen reported in turn: "From berth number one to number fifteen, there is only one ship, the tax is five hundred..."

The young man paused for a moment, and the tax officer glanced at him and asked, "Did you get scolded?"

The younger brother said, "If we don't get it then, it'll be frustrating..."

The tax officer ignored him and moved on to the next one. Soon the statistics came in: a total of twenty-five ships entered Feynman Harbour today, but only ten docked. The other fifteen ships had just entered the port when they heard about our high taxes, and they all ran away.

Those ten ships couldn't stop because they were running out of freshwater fish food.

"Boss, isn't charging 500 silver coins per ship too high? If this continues, Feynman Port will be ruined!"

Ok?
Upon hearing his younger brother's words, the tax official suddenly turned around and looked at him, saying, "Do you think that not collecting such high taxes will prevent the system from becoming obsolete?"

"Siam was at war with the Southeast Asian countries, and the entire Southeast Asian shipping route was cut off. There was no one left to sail. These guys were only able to come out to transport goods at the risk of losing their heads."

“If the fighting continues, our Feynman Harbor will really become a useless decoration, and it will be impossible to regain our former glory. I might as well go back to farming instead of being a tax collector.”

After hearing the tax official's words, one of the underlings said, "Boss, I think there are still people who come here to trade by sea, but aren't we collecting too much tax? The profit of a ship is only one to two thousand silver coins, but we're collecting five hundred silver coins at once. That's too high."

"Do you think it's a little less? If it's a little less, they'll definitely still be willing to dock at our Feynman port."

Hearing the smug look on his face, he said, "Heh, you think you're so smart? You think you know how to collect less tax? The higher-ups require a minimum tax of five thousand silver coins per day. Where are you going to get that money? You're going to make up the difference."

"If taxes are cut, the money collected won't be enough. I think you should all come back home and farm with me."

The tax official said, "Goodness, you guys are so smart. I didn't know about tax cuts, but I had to dare to do it. What am I, a nobody? If I cut taxes, what will those big fish above feed?"

These days, those guys up there are already very dissatisfied with me. If I weren't considered a veteran minister of the new king, they probably would have dealt with me long ago.

Now, the tax official's only dream is to embezzle more money so that he can find someone to pull strings and get him transferred out of here. As for other things, you can go find whoever you want; it's none of my business.

It's a pity that I haven't had a suitable opportunity for myself.

The tax official was anxious. He desperately wanted to be a corrupt official, a bad official, and let the bad atmosphere blow towards him. But strangely enough, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't embezzle a single penny. He had secretly hidden two hundred silver coins yesterday.

But to my surprise, when I arrived at the higher-level unit, I was intimidated by that old fox, and I obediently handed over the silver coins. Now, thinking about it, I'm so angry, but there's nothing I can do.

Just thinking about the tax collector makes me angry. How could I be so useless? If God could give me a chance to embezzle a huge sum of money, I would never let that old bastard of a boss squeeze the last drop of silver from my pocket!

But God, please give me a chance!

"Hey boss, a ship's here! It's a huge cargo ship, that must be a big fish!"

The younger brother was very excited when he saw a cargo ship coming. Such a big ship usually runs long-distance trade, going between China and Siam. Only ships like this are profitable.

At this moment, the new ship management leader, who had been transferred along with the tax official, shouted excitedly.

However, the old ship manager glanced at it and said, "You dare to charge money for this ship?"

The younger brother frowned slightly and said, "It's just a merchant ship. What's there to be afraid of accepting?"

Upon hearing this, the veteran immediately said, "Look at the merchant flag they're flying. That's the flag of the Vinsmoker family. Do you know the Vinsmoker family? They're the number one caravan in Siam."

"Vince Moco?"

Upon hearing this, the tax official muttered to himself. He did have some influence over this family because he had seen them when he was a guard for the new king. At that time, they knelt behind a group of high-ranking officials and nobles to present gifts to the new king, so they had some connection.

but!

The tax collector suddenly stood up and said, "I'm starving! I don't care if you're from the Vince Moko family or not, I'll skim some profit off you first."

The tax official shouted, "He's been assaulted!"

At his command, his men charged forward, numbering over a thousand. The other senior managers exchanged glances, each a beat slower than the last. They weren't about to risk their lives and offend anyone.

At this moment, the ship docked, and the tax collector's henchman came aboard and shouted, "Royal Administration of Feynman Harbour Tax Collection, Captain, come out here!"

Upon hearing this, the cabin door opened, and Blackie walked out with a dark face, saying, "Who is so bold as to collect taxes from our Vinsmoker family?"

"We're collecting taxes on behalf of the royal family. Do you dare not pay?"

Hei Ligu said, "We're buying this for the royal family, why should we pay?"

"you……"

The tax officials' expressions changed, and at that moment, Hei Ligu said, "Alright, enough nonsense. You're not qualified to send your tax officials here in person."

Hearing what Hei Ligu said, the younger brother was about to say something when the tax collector, swaying his fat body, came up and chuckled, "Oh my, isn't this the Vinsmoker Caravan? Haha, you know your old chairman, who's in charge of this ship?"

Upon hearing this, Hei Ligu looked around and said, "It is our young master."

"Then please grant me an audience, young master."

Hei Ligu said, "Our young master rarely sees outsiders."

“I’m not an outsider; I used to be the king’s guard…”

"oh oh……"

Hei Ligu Feng Fu realized the identity of the person in front of him and immediately went back to the cabin to report. At this time, Chen Jie came out and greeted the tax collector with a smile. Then the tax collector said, "Vinsmoker, this tax is paid to the higher-ups, you see."

Chen Jie immediately smiled and said, "We can't make things difficult for the guard. Someone, come here."

Soon after, Gematai came over and handed the tax collector a bag of silver coins, exactly five hundred of them.

"Can you count them?"

"No need, no need. The Vinceco family wouldn't risk their reputation over such a small amount of money."

Chen Jie smiled slightly, then took out a small bag from his pocket and handed it to the tax official, saying, "This is a gift for the guard, a small token of my appreciation. I hope you will take good care of me in the future."

Upon hearing this, the tax official opened the bag and was immediately greeted by a dazzling display of gold.

gold!

The tax official gasped; Vince Moco was indeed very generous.

At this moment, Chen Jie said, "Sir, I have other matters to attend to, and this ship's cargo is also urgent. Why don't you check it quickly, and then we can enter the port?"

Upon hearing this, the tax official said, "Hey, what's there to inspect? Can't we trust Vince Moco? Let them through, let them through..."

At his command, Chen Jie's ship sped into the harbor, without even a search, and wasted no time.

Half an hour after Chen Jie left, the Siamese National Preceptor, Basong, entered the port and, in order to prevent spies from the Southeast Asian Allied Forces from entering Siam, directly sealed off all Siamese ports.

(End of this chapter)