Sipping digestive tea under the pavilion, Ji Taoyu shared amusing anecdotes and local customs from the journey with Huang Manjing and Yuan Huiru.
The moon hung round and bright, time passed quickly.
Seeing no sign of the party winding down, Huang Manjing and Yuan Huiru urged Ji Taoyu to rest if tired, saying they’d clean up later. So he headed inside to wash up.
Normally, it’d be bedtime, but his long nap left him wide awake.
Lighting an extra oil lamp, he opened the account book on the table.
Their round trip took a total of 118 days—almost four months.
Speaking of months, it didn't sound like much, but when converted into days, it was quite staggering.
At 240 copper coins per day, aside from the two of them, there were twelve others in the group.
Calculating just the wages, each worker could earn a total of 28 taels and 320 wen.
Ji Taoyu tapped on the abacus, jotting down the calculated sum first.
Just as he finished recording the numbers, the door to the room opened, and Huo Shu walked in.
"Have you eaten?"
Huo Shu looked at Ji Taoyu, who had already washed up and was wearing a white undergarment, his dark hair loose down to his waist.
Holding a brush under the oil lamp as he tallied the accounts, Ji Taoyu gave a slight nod. "Mm."
"You can do the calculations tomorrow too. No need to stay up late for it."
Huo Shu regretted not handling the accounts himself during the day.
But Ji Taoyu turned back and dipped his brush in ink again. "I napped enough this afternoon. Idling is idling, and the night is quiet, it’s actually clearer for calculations."
"You came just in time. I’ve already calculated the workers' wages. Take a look, how much of the profits from the goods should be distributed?"
Huo Shu sat down beside Ji Taoyu and examined the ledger.
Back in Beiyu Prefecture, they had already tallied the income. After deducting the cost of the fabric, the profit from selling the cloth came to 5,980 taels.
A reward of 10 taels per person was only fair.
As for the horses brought back, he and Uncle Fan’s group could handle selling them, no need to involve the others. Though they weren’t part of the sales, they had still ensured the horses arrived safely, so they deserved some reward too.
"Round it up, 40 taels per worker."
Ji Taoyu sketched it out. "That seems reasonable. I’ll separate the wages and rewards in the records so it’s clearer for everyone."
The total wages weren’t just arbitrarily decided. Listing the breakdown would make it easier for everyone to understand.
"Then there’s Brother Ge’s share. He initially put in 50 taels."
Huo Shu said, "Calculate his cut proportionally. We mentioned before, one-fifteenth."
Though Ge Liang had invested money, his share couldn’t be based solely on his contribution to the total capital.
If calculated against the initial 550 taels for goods, he’d be entitled to one-eleventh. But since Huo Shu and Ji Taoyu had handled most of the procurement, contributing more money and effort, it was only fair.
Ji Taoyu nodded, but then ran into another issue. "In that case, we can only account for the profits from the fabric first. The horses will have to be sold before we can divide that income."
"No need to split the earnings from the horses. He wants to take three horses as his share instead."
Out of the 50 horses, ten had already been sold along the way, earning nearly 2,000 taels, meaning each horse could fetch around 200 taels.
The horses had been expensive to acquire, but unlike the fabric, their resale value wasn’t tenfold. Though valuable, even in the south, they couldn’t command such high prices. Still, since they had traded tea for them, the profit was substantial after conversion.
Ge Liang taking three horses wouldn’t leave him at a loss, it roughly matched his share of the profits.
"Well, that makes the calculations much simpler."
Ji Taoyu continued tallying. Aside from Ge Liang, the wages for the eleven workers totaled 440 taels. Food and lodging on the way there cost 100 taels, and the return trip expenses came to 160 taels.
The return trip had cost 60 taels more than the journey out. Ji Taoyu suddenly remembered why and glanced at Huo Shu. "What about Uncle Fan’s group?"
Huo Shu frowned and sighed. This was indeed tricky.
It wasn’t that it couldn’t be calculated, but it wasn’t something the two of them could decide alone, since there was another investor involved.
The two exchanged a helpless look and let it go.
The next day, the accounts were moved to Ji Yangzong’s study for discussion.
Ge Liang stood with his hands on his hips, scratching his head as he stared at the columns of numbers. Battles were frustrating enough, but these accounts were even more of a headache.
"Uncle Fan’s group put in a lot of work on the return trip. Without them, we might not have gotten the horses back. I agreed to their joining the team from the start."
Ge Liang said, "They were additional hired labor. We have to account for them and can’t let them work for nothing."
Ji Taoyu nodded, waiting for his input. "The return trip took 50 days, so their wages would be 12 taels. But what about the reward?"
Ge Liang said, "I’m taking the horses instead of a cash share. Brother Huo can decide how to handle the rest."
For those present, the calculations were manageable. Huo Shu said, "Then let’s settle the wages first. Leave the rewards aside for now."
So Ji Taoyu recalculated the expenses for the round trip, adding Uncle Fan’s group’s wages—totaling 72 taels.
Combined with the earlier expenses, the entire trip had cost 1,322 taels.
The profit from the fabric was 5,280 taels. After deducting costs, 3,958 taels remained.
Ge Liang’s one-fifteenth share came to about 240 taels.
But this was still a rough estimate—many minor expenses couldn’t be precisely accounted for.
For instance, the travel funds they had brought along, or the medicines Ji Taoyu had packed—those couldn’t be itemized.
In any case, having a reasonably clear ledger was enough for this first trip.
After deducting the principal, Ge Liang still made nearly 200 taels in profit, plus the horses.
This trip had been genuinely profitable.
After this calculation, the three unanimously agreed they needed to hire a proper accountant—otherwise, it was just too much of a headache.
Many rules weren’t clear yet. With this experience, they could draft proper guidelines for future trips, making things much smoother.
At least it wouldn’t be this chaotic again.
With the accounts settled, the three didn’t delay. Ge Liang was sent back to notify their villagers to come collect their shares, while those from their own village could be informed directly.
The sooner the money was distributed, the sooner everyone could hold their silver in hand—some to repay debts, others to handle their own affairs. Peace of mind all around.
Thank you for the update!!
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