Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 142 Smuggling and cigarettes

In order to land from Shanghai this time, Shen Jingdan spent a lot of money and spent a full 2000 taels of silver.

Originally, the departure and gathering place of sea trade merchants going to Japan in the Qing Dynasty should be in Zhapu, Jiaxing, and it was already illegal to enter Shanghai.And the most troublesome thing is not this.

The terrible thing is that these two boats have no boat photos at all!When customs and Xunkou officials board the ship for inspection, in addition to the ship's photo, they also need to check whether the ship's name, ship number and sail color are consistent with those in the file.

The second is the two Qianshi Biancai ships. The ship tax to be paid when entering the customs is 500 taels per ship; and then the goods tax. Except for some seafood, the bulk of the two ships are animal skins and cigarette.With so many animal skins from the North suddenly appearing, it will be very troublesome for the customs.

(Customs duties in the Qing Dynasty were divided into two types, namely, ship bills and goods taxes. Ship bills were collected directly by the customs according to the size of the ships. Ships were divided into one to four categories according to tonnage, and the taxes and fees ranged from 400 taels to 100 600. Two, four levels from 400 to [-]. As the name suggests, the goods tax is calculated and levied according to the fine and rough quantity of the goods, and finally the merchants underwrite the payment. Wait.)
So during the two days when Shen Jingdan went to Chongming in advance, besides hiring sailors, he spent money to open up relationships.

First of all, it took them three days to go to a private port on a small island on the southeast side of Chongming Island.Here, all the goods on the two Biancai ships are transferred to the rented large sand ships, and then the Biancai ships are sold to the shipowners here.

Then, the two took a large sand boat and entered Zhangjiabang from Chuanshajie on the south side of Wusongkou when it was dark; To the north, it reaches Shanghai County.

Shen Jingdan has paid off all the water patrol camps along the way, and spent an extra 500 taels of silver for this.This is still a friendly price, because he used to manage the water camp every two festivals every year, so he is very familiar with it.

Five days later, in the middle of the night, the sandboat docked at a small pier outside Laobaiduzhi Street.A few carriages that Shen Jingdan had arranged in advance were already waiting here, and a few navy patrol soldiers who had been bribed helped to take care of the unloading and drive away the occasional passers-by.

After a lot of work, all the goods had been transported into Shen Jingdan's warehouse on Hengjie, South Guild Hall before midnight.

Lao Huang, who had been busy all night, yawned sleepily and smacked his lips a few times, and said to Shen Jingdan: "Everything is going well. It seems that next time they come, they can also go this way."

"They" naturally refers to those people like Zhao Xin.Shen Jingdan nodded, and he went straight to the soldiers of the patrol battalion, and handed them a cotton bag containing 50 taels of silver.

Several soldiers were busy all night, sleepy and tired.But after taking the bag, he weighed it and immediately smiled.

"Master Shen, next time you need help with something, just come to me, don't be polite."

"Thank you very much."

Shen Jingdan cupped his hands, turned around, got into a carriage with Lao Huang, and went straight to Dadongmen Street.

Lao Huang's shop is on Ruyi Street, and when they arrived there, the two agreed to meet and talk the next day.Shen Jingdan continued to take the carriage along Dadongmen Street westward into Xiangua Street, turned right at the second intersection, and arrived at his foothold here.

This is Taiping Street, Shen Jingdan tapped a few times on the door of a small courtyard with the help of the lantern on the carriage.The door opened quickly, and a middle-aged servant held a lantern and saw that it was Shen Jingdan, and quickly let him in.

"Finally back!" After the middle-aged servant inserted the latch, 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. Do you want some?" The middle-aged servant asked in a low voice.

"Leave it for now." Shen Jingdan shook his head, and asked again: "Ah Si, is there nothing going on in the Yangzhou house these days?"

"Master, you are back! Madam is dying of anxiety."

"I didn't expect to be away for so long. In the afternoon, you ask your nephew to deliver a letter to Yangzhou's family, so that Madam can feel at ease."

Ah Si said: "Remember. Master, since you don't need supper, you should go to bed early."

"Okay, you go to sleep."

Shen Jingdan entered the main room and took two sips of tea.Thinking about sending someone to Yangzhou to report the safety of his home after dawn, but also afraid that he would sleep until the afternoon when he fell asleep; so he suppressed the sleepiness and started writing letters to his wife at his desk.

Shanghai is not allowed to leave for the time being. After the goods are in the warehouse, we must prepare to find someone to take over.Once I return to Yangzhou, I will come back immediately after staying for a few days, so why bother.

As I was writing, I thought of Luyun and Shen Xuan who were far away in Beihai, and wondered whether the fetus in Luyun's womb was safe. It would be great if it was a boy...

Just thinking wildly like this, Shen Jingdan fell asleep lying on the table just after writing half of the letter.

On the third day back in Shanghai, after breakfast, Shen Jingdan hired a carriage and went to the Shachuan Clubhouse as agreed with Lao Huang.

Located in Majiachang, this sand boat clubhouse sits west to east and faces the Huangpu River. It was built in the 54th year of Kangxi.It was built with joint donations from sand ship merchants at that time.In the 29th year of Qianlong, the main hall and stage in the guild hall were rebuilt, and the south and north halls were added.

When he came outside the hall, Lao Huang had already arrived.As soon as Shen Jingdan got off the carriage, he heard someone calling him.Turning around and looking, it turned out to be Zhu Chaoxiang, the proprietor of "Zhu Hesheng".

The 50-year-old Zhu Chaoxiang is the second-generation proprietor of "Zhu Hesheng".The Zhu family started trading sand boats in the last years of Kangxi. Over the past few decades, it has become the largest sand boat merchant in Shanghai.The founders of Wang, Shen, and Yu, who are called the Four Great Masters of Shanghai Shachuan together with the Zhu family in later generations, are still children at the moment.

"Mr. Rong Zhai, it's been a long time." Shen Jingdan and Lao Huang quickly clasped their fists and bowed to salute.

"It's Brother Zhengtong! It's been a while since I saw you. You two just came back from Wa Kingdom?"

"Zhengtong" is Shen Jingdan's word, no one called it for a long time, he felt a little strange.

"It's been a while since I've been back. The two of us just came back from Zhapu a few days ago, and we thought we'd come to pay homage to the queen first, and chat with friends in the guild hall by the way."

"I'm interested. Then go get busy first, let's talk later." After finishing speaking, he entered the guild hall and went straight to the backyard.

Shen and Huang first went to the main hall in the guild hall, offered incense and worshiped the Queen of Heaven, and then went to the north and south halls outside the main hall, where "Chengshan Hussar General Teng Dashen" and "Fushan Mountain God" were enshrined respectively. Taiwei Chu Great God".These two gods belong to the guardian gods in charge of river and sea shipping, and they are said to be very effective.

Chu Dashen in the South Hall was from the Yuan Dynasty before his death.In the 16th year from Yuan to Zhengzheng, Brother Chu Ban and his father Chu Buhua died in a bloody battle with Liu Futong of the Red Turban Army in Huai'an.It is said that spirits often appeared at the seaside after death, so the villagers began to worship this brother Chuban; in the 17th year of Zhengzheng, the Yuan court posthumously awarded him the title of Taiwei.

Teng Dashen in the North Hall was consecrated during the Kangxi period.In the 51st year of Kangxi, Teng Guoxiang, a guerrilla from the former battalion of the Dengzhou Navy, led a team to hunt down pirates, but unfortunately died in battle.So the emperor issued an order to commend Teng Guoxiang as a general of hussars.The local people built a shrine for him at the top of Chengshan, and when merchant ships passed through Chengshan, they often worshiped and begged for blessings. "God Teng" has become the patron saint of Chengshan local people and maritime business travelers.

Both Shen Jingdan and Lao Huang are merchants who make a living by sea trade, so naturally they have to worship these two great gods respectfully.The Chinese have always been like this, as long as a certain god can stick to their lives, no matter the new god or the old god, they will always worship.

After finishing their work, the two turned to the backyard to look at the flower hall downstairs to find someone to negotiate business with.Unexpectedly, as soon as I walked outside the gate of the flower hall, I heard a group of people discussing: "Have you heard about it? The news from the capital, Commander Fu defeated in the north!"

"I also listened to it yesterday. It seems that a soldier died?"

"I heard it's called Haichacha?"

"Hailancha. He is not a military sect, but a first-class super-valiant marquis, who is bestowed with double-eyed feathers and is a minister of the guards under the leadership of the Yellow Banner!"

"Hiss! Who is so powerful that even the Marquis died in battle?"

"I heard it's Yangyi in the north. Hey, Lao Wang, you often go to Niuzhuang, do you know that?"

"North? Is there anyone else in the north except North Korea?"

"It's a pity that you, the old king, traveled all over the world and didn't even know this. The extreme north is the Oros people! The holy grandfather fought several battles at that time."

"I'm a boat runner, so I can't control so much. If you want me to say, this is something that the court adults should care about."

When Shen Jingdan and Lao Huang heard this, they looked at each other in surprise.The two only knew that Zhao Xin's gang had defeated Fukang'an, but they didn't expect that they would also kill a court official.Why did Master Zhao never mention this matter?
The two froze for a while, then lifted their feet into the flower hall.A group of businessmen in the house saw that it was Shen Jingdan, and quickly got up and greeted with a smile.

"Brother Zhengtong, long time no see! Where did you get rich?"

"Brother Shen, you just came back from Wa Kingdom? Good guy, you've been here for more than half a year, right?"

"Boss Huang, long time no see."

"Boss Huang, do you want soybeans? I just arrived yesterday. Come to my shop later to see the goods?"

Shen Jingdan and Lao Huang greeted these people one by one with a smile, and after the servant served tea, they each took out a wooden box from their arms and put it on the coffee table.Under everyone's curious eyes, the box was slowly opened.

"Hey, what is this?" A shipowner surnamed Li asked curiously.

"The name of this thing is 'cigarette', and it is produced in Sendai, Japan. Mr. Rongzhai, you often smoke waterpipes. Would you like one?" Shen Jingdan said, holding the wooden box with one hand and handing it to Zhu Chaoxiang.

Zhu Chaoxiang took a cigarette out of the box curiously, looked back and forth a few times and asked, "How to smoke this thing?"

Lao Huang said with a smile: "Mr. Rong Zhai, you can just put the red part in your mouth. But you need to have an open flame to use this thing." After finishing speaking, he asked the shipowner surnamed Li next to him to burn it. I blew hard twice with my mouth to expose the fire, then I picked up a cigarette, put it in my mouth, and lit it with the paper medium.After a few mouthfuls of puffing, a scent of tobacco mixed with a faint aroma of wine and a hint of sweetness wafted in the flower hall.

"Hmm~ There's a wine aroma in this tobacco leaf? It's interesting!"

A group of businessmen got up one after another, took out a cigarette from the cigarette case in Shen Jingdan's hand, and lit it like Lao Huang.After a while, the flower hall became filled with smoke, and the non-smoking businessmen coughed.

During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, due to the developed commodity economy, tobacco had spread to every corner of society.For example, Suzhou has opened eight high-end tobacco shops, three of which specialize in tobacco produced in northern Fujian.In Shanghai County, there are also several companies that specialize in northern Fujian tobacco; and some people bring back tobacco brought by the Dutch from Japan, which is very expensive; let alone Guangzhou, snuff from Brazil and Chesapeake can be bought .

Tobacco smoking is so popular, first of all, the ancients believed that tobacco has medicinal value.Shen Lilong, a well-known doctor of this era, said in his book "Food Materia Medica Compilation" that smoke can "cure wind-cold-damp arthralgia, stagnate qi and stop diseases, benefit the leader, and eliminate all diseases. It can relieve miasma in mountains and haze, and it is the best place to eat. should."

In addition, people also regard tobacco as a gift and hospitality at this time, which is as popular as tea and wine.Tobacco used to have the aliases of "tobacco and wine" and "dry wine".Because the literati focused on exaggerating the taste of smoking, smoking was also quite common among women in the Qing Dynasty.

The four most popular types of tobacco during this period were dry tobacco, tidal tobacco, hookah, and snuff.

The core of dry tobacco is "vigorous", especially those who do physical work, often use tobacco to refresh themselves.Many northerners like to smoke dry tobacco.

As for damp smoke, shredded tobacco should be shredded and moistened with a little water before use.In the Qing Dynasty, Beijing referred to "wet" as "tide". This kind of tide smoke is less powerful, and people who like dry tobacco disdain to smoke it. It is mainly used by women and some noble men.In addition, there is also a spiced trendy smoke called "Orchid Smoke", which is the favorite of old ladies.

Needless to say hookah.The hookah used is commonly known as "crane legs". When smoking, a servant must kneel down to light the cigarette.Generally, officials and nobles with status like to smoke hookah.

The last one is snuff.Generally, high-quality tobacco is dried and then ground to make "tobacco billets", and then some specific Chinese medicinal materials, petals, and flower dew are added for aging.Because no open fire is used, it is also very popular in officialdom. In "Dream of Red Mansions", Qingwen has a headache, and Baoyu asks Sheyue to "take snuff and give her some snuff, and sneezes a few times, and then the key is cleared."

Because the modern cigarette paper Zhao Xin bought contains combustion accelerants, a group of businessmen smoked a dozen or so puffs, leaving only one yellow butt.

"What is this?" The shipowner surnamed Li curiously tore open the paper wrapped in the cigarette butt, and rubbed the yellowed filter tip with his fingers.The fingers were soon black and yellow with tar.

"This is a kind of unique tree collected by Japanese people. It is extracted and made by secret method, and then soaked in various tonics. It can not only block the smoke oil, but also nourish the body with the medicine attached."

"Boss Shen, how much is this thing worth?"

"There are twenty cigarettes in this box, and the tobacco used is made of high-quality white wine, honey, and more than a dozen kinds of spices. The local asking price in the Japanese country is not low, and it is usually only smoked by local wealthy businessmen. The asking price for each box is one Baiwen."

(End of this chapter)