Chapter 168 — River Works
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 1 of 4
Wei Fan came out of Cuizhen Pavilion.
When Wei Wan heard that Song Yan had invited Wei Fan to take part in the dredging of the canal, it was like a pie falling from the sky, and she was overjoyed. "Is this true? How did Song Yan put it to you? What exactly did he say? How much silver does he want? Which section did he allot to you?" She dismissed the maids serving in the room and pulled Wei Fan down onto the large heated kang by the window.
Excitedly, Wei Fan recounted their conversation to Wei Wan, every last detail.
Wei Wan's mind began to race.
With river works of this kind, the price was set by the Ministry of Works, the money came from the Ministry of Revenue, and the labor was drawn from the corvée levies of the various prefectures and counties. All they could do was take on the contracted supply of some stone; and since they were not in the habit of dealing in such stone, they would naturally need to find a merchant of real substance. Four sections of the river—that was a business worth over a million taels. Let those merchants advance part of the funds, and there would surely be men fighting tooth and nail for the chance. If one contented oneself with only the margin in between, the profit would be smaller, but it was safe, and there was no worry...
She seemed to see heaps upon heaps of silver pouring ceaselessly into her own purse, and she grew wildly excited. "Little brother, you must hold on to this. If we can pull off this deal, our family will have capital afterward—whether we open a shop or go into the ten-warehouse trade, we will have silver. And then it will not matter even if you want to keep your distance from Song Yan..."
At the mention of this, it was as if a ladle of ice water had been poured over his head, and the hot blood in Wei Fan's veins cooled a few degrees. "This—this isn't quite right, is it? To burn the bridge after crossing the river—the man meant well, inviting me to take a share..."
"Did you not say that this Song Yan is ruthless and vicious, no good man at all?" Wei Wan's face could not hold up when Wei Fan exposed her inconsistency, and she could not help snapping, "First it is this out of your mouth, then it is that out of your mouth—what is it you actually want?"
"I—I... I did not say anything," Wei Fan murmured, remembering Song Yan's cold, clear eyes. Suddenly a chill rose in his heart. "Or perhaps we should not touch this business at all... I have heard that with river works, one careless move and a case of embezzlement breaks out, and who knows how many great ministers of the court have been stripped of office and beheaded over it... It is truly not a good business! Otherwise, Gu Yu and Song Yan are neither of them men short of silver—why would they think to bring me in..." The more he spoke, the more reasonable he felt, and his tone grew firm. "We had best have less dealings with Song Yan. Mother has said it too: peace and safety are the blessing. What is not ours, we should not force..."
Wei Fan's words cooled Wei Wan as well, and she began to think the matter over in earnest.
Her brother was right. A thing that others could not beg or scheme their way into—how had it suddenly fallen upon her brother's head?
Or perhaps trouble was about to break on that side, and Song Yan wanted her brother to bear the blame?
Otherwise there was no explaining why Song Yan would take the initiative to befriend her brother...
The more she thought, the more fishy the whole affair seemed.
Could it be that Song Yan had fixed on this design from the very start, when he first began to associate with her brother?