Fight the Giants

  Chapter 276 Quietly touching

  Boats of all sizes are parked in the waters near Songjiang Port.

  Passenger ships, cruise ships, fishing boats, cargo ships, merchant ships, building ships...there are a lot of them.

  The Huo family's fishing boat shuttled among them, like water droplets entering the sea, unnoticed at all. Huo Xi also asked Bao Xia to spread the fishing nets to dry on the bow of the boat, and the dried fish was still drying on the roof of the cabin, and no one took a second look as they rowed along.

   Originally, Huo Xi was afraid that others would stare at him, but he didn't expect his family's boat to arrive at Songjiang Port, where it was drowned in a crowd of big boats, and it was inconspicuous at all.

   Whenever you go out to sea, the boat that cuts through the waves must not be small. The ship needs to be fully loaded with cargo, tens of hundreds or even more people, and food items and various materials used along the way. Such a ship must have at least two thousand materials.

   Smaller boats can barely park at the pier, and larger ones can only be parked in nearby sea areas. We can only hang down the boat and take the boat to the pier.

  White sugar first came out, Huo Xi didn't want to trade it at the pier, but just wanted to row the boat to the nearby waters to find the ocean and sell it quietly.

   It was the first time to do such a thing, and everyone had no idea, and was afraid of meeting the ship of the shipping company.

  If people from the Shipbuilding Department board the ship to inspect the goods, the tax payment is trivial, and the sugar on the ship may be confiscated as a tribute. At that time, if you have a mouth to say, you will be guilty. This prescription has to be handed over to the imperial court.

   A few people were worried, pretending to be fishermen, and throwing a few nets into the water from time to time along the way, while Huo Xi stood at the bow of the boat to observe.

  I found that many large ships were parked in the waters not far from the pier, and many small boats shuttled back and forth. Looking closely, I also found that the foreign boats and the local boats were docked together, and it could be seen that they were trading secretly.

  It seems that there are smuggled goods in every year. One is that they want to make more money, and the other is that if Shibo does not exploit too much, everyone will do business honestly, so there is no need to worry about it.

  If it is ordinary goods, Huo Xi will definitely follow the regulations, pay the taxes that should be paid, and follow the procedures that should be followed obediently. She is a good citizen from a society ruled by law. It's just that this white sugar is not good for the world now.

  Huo Xi and Yang Fu stood at the bow of the ship to observe, circling around several large ships.

  Seeing that there are many boats approaching, he is not in a hurry to lean over.

  Seeing that the sun was rising at noon, Huo Xi made lunch at the bow of the boat, while Bao Xia and Huo Erhuai were still casting nets nearby, and Yang Fu and the other three were removing the fish, scraping the scales and drying the fish.

   During the period, several ships of the dynasty also approached them to look at them, and it seemed that there was also a patrol ship of the Shi Ship Department.

  Yang Fu is also a chicken thief. He raised his voice and asked from a distance: "Do you want to buy fish? Do you want to eat? There are noodles and rice, chicken and duck meat, fish and shrimp, and it only costs fifty yuan a piece."

   It turned out to be a food seller. Several boats looked them over, turned around and left. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

  The sun was high at noon, and there were fewer and fewer boats in the nearby waters. After Huo Xi and the others had a full meal, they spotted a big boat and rowed over there.

   Before they got close, when there was still a distance, someone on the big boat grabbed the side of the boat and told them to stop in broken Wei Dynasty dialect.

   No matter how big the boat is, it is still afraid of water thieves. The person shouting on the boat told Huo Xi and the others to stop when they were two to three feet away.

  Huo Xi saw that they did not look like those from Ryukyu Wa country, but looked like they were from Manga and Java, so he cupped his hands to his lips and shouted at each other in a few words, asking if they wanted to see the goods.

  The person holding the side of the boat was stunned, it was the first time he heard the other party speak so fluently. He turned his head and waved his hand, and immediately two more people came on the deck and asked her what she was.

  Huo Xi then said sugar as white as snow.

  The man shouted loudly and asked her to wait.

  Huo Xi and the others saw a small boat being hoisted down on the side of the big ship, and three people jumped onto it. Soon the boat was rowing towards them.

  Bao Xia was dumbfounded when he heard Huo Xi talk about business with someone for the first time.

  Seeing the other party’s small boat approaching, the masters all put on a serious look, hurriedly collected their minds, and looked at the boat with all their hearts and minds.

   Soon the small boat approached the Huo family's boat. Huo Xi looked at the big boat over there again, and saw a row of people with bows and arrows appear on the deck, aiming at them.

  Uh... so well prepared? Afraid they will kill?

   Signal to Yang Fu and others not to stare at them. Anyway, they are not water thieves, just doing business normally.

  As soon as the boat approached, the two fans climbed onto the Huo family's boat, first looked at Huo Xi and the others on the deck, saw that Bao Xia had only one eye, and stared at him for a long time.

  Maybe seeing that there are only four of them, including two and a half older children, they are a little wary.

  Seeing that there are still fishing nets hanging on the bow and stern of the boat, the fishing box at the stern is still open, and there are fish and shrimp splashing in the water, with an inexplicable expression on his face. Is this fishing or selling?

  Seeing the other party sizing up, Huo Xi smiled and let them scrutinize her.

   Thinking that the other party came all the way, and the visitor was a guest, he first greeted the other party with words.

  The eyes of the two were surprised. Being able to communicate with words, isn't it better than speaking with a duck, or gesticulating? The two fans became a little wary again. Chatted with Huo Xi.

   Within a short while, Huo Xi knew where they came from. The other party was from Malawi, and had already received the survey and cooperation from the Shipbuilding Department, and less than half of the goods on board had been sold.

  Huo Xi nodded, motioning for Yang Fu to go in and get things.

  Bao Xia has been staring at the other party curiously since he came up. Seeing that Yang Fu gave him a wink, he hurriedly lowered his eyes and entered the cabin to help get things.

  The two quickly moved out a few clay pots and a few packs of sugar bricks wrapped in hemp paper.

   Several people sat down on the deck, and Huo Xi showed them the white sugar and sugar bricks in the clay pot.

  The two foreigners imitated Huo Xi's example, each took some and put it into their mouths. When I tasted it, my eyes widened. He was no longer polite, and nodded immediately, indicating that they wanted all of them, and asked how much they had.

  Huo Xi compared eight and told them that there were eighty stones.

  The two foreigners nodded. It was only 80 shi, and their boat could hold a lot. How could they not be able to eat it? Such a good thing, never seen.

  White sugar has never been sold by merchants in the Wei Dynasty these days.

   Next, Huo Xi negotiated the price with them.

  When Huo Xi and Yang Fu discussed the price of white sugar when they came here, the price of sucrose this year is thirty-five cents a catty, and a stone of sucrose is four or two renminbi.

  They practiced sugar, lost two or three stones, and prepared iron pots and other things, which also increased the cost a lot. This is an exclusive business for them and cannot be sold cheaply.

  Huo Xi made a gesture and asked for forty taels a stone.

  The two listened, buried their heads in calculations, and shook their heads and waved their hands at her, disagreeing.

  Complained to her, saying that they had traveled thousands of miles all the way and spent a lot of money, and the wind and waves were rough, and they had to pay several times the price to sell it back to their home country to make a profit.

   And he was close to death, and I don't know if he can go back alive. If it was forty taels a shi, they bought it and shipped it back, and they would have to sell it at several times the price, and no one would eat two taels a catty of sugar.

  Huo Xi told the other party that this is a single-family business, and they won't suffer a loss if they buy it back. Bargain with each other.

  In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, when white sugar was first refined, it was sold to foreigners in the Ming Dynasty, and it was sold for one or two taels a catty. It is the price of white sugar and cabbage in the later period, and the people of this dynasty cost fifty or sixty yuan a catty to buy and eat.

  The price she asked for was not expensive at all. I miss their hard work, and they are not profiteers at all.

  The two persisted for several rounds, but the other party still disagreed and only accepted thirty taels and one stone.

  Thirty taels and one stone met Huo Xi's expectations. But she didn't want to just agree, it would appear that her things were cheap.

  (end of this chapter)