Chapter 62: Xu Dafu

This middle-aged servant is named "Xu Dafu"; his parents gave him this name in the hope that when he grew up, he would be able to make a great fortune and become a rich man.

Unfortunately, fate is cruel; his parents starved to death, and he has spent half his life in poverty. Even now, he is just a collector of excrement, looked down upon by others. He is busy from morning till night, yet can barely manage to half-fill his stomach. Having reached middle age, he is still an old bachelor who doesn't even know what a woman tastes like; his life is a total failure.

But today, Xu Dafu met Meng Yifan, and he felt that his tragic fate had reached a turning point; he was going to get rich.

"Young master, just you wait and see, I'll go collect that White Powder for you right now." After saying this with some excitement, Xu Dafu felt a burning sensation in his heart. He ran quickly all the way to greet the group of fellow excrement collectors in the city, asking them to help him gather the White Powder.

Meng Yifan, meanwhile, returned home and hid in his room to refine Saltpeter, then prepared the new-style Black Powder; this was technical work that no one else could do.

One hour later, Xu Fugui pushed a wheelbarrow to the Meng household. When Meng Yifan came out, Xu Fugui said excitedly, "Young master, here is one hundred catties of White Powder; please inspect the goods."

"One hundred catties?" Meng Yifan was stunned. This guy had collected one hundred catties of Earth Saltpeter in just one hour; he wouldn't be trying to fool me by stuffing it with some white ash, would he?

Meng Yifan opened the bags on the wheelbarrow and checked them carefully, only to discover that they were indeed all Earth Saltpeter, which gave him a pleasant surprise.

One hundred catties of Earth Saltpeter can refine into about ten catties of Saltpeter, which can produce thirteen catties of Black Powder; this is enough for the Elm Cannon to fire thirteen shots.

Meng Yifan looked at Xu Fugui with some surprise. If he had relied on himself alone, going from house to house to scrape the Earth Saltpeter off the walls bit by bit, he certainly would not have been able to collect one hundred catties of Earth Saltpeter in an hour.

"He must have found fellow excrement collectors to help him gather the Earth Saltpeter, and he likely pocketed a fair bit of the price difference," Meng Yifan thought for a moment and understood the secret behind it.

"This is a talent." Being able to think of subcontracting and finding partners to work together instead of just working hard with his head down—someone who knows how to use their brain like this can be considered to have a real talent for business.

Meng Yifan did not care how much money Xu Dafu had earned; he only cared that Xu Dafu had been able to collect one hundred catties of Earth Saltpeter for him in one hour.

Being able to achieve this, in Meng Yifan's view, made this servant who collected excrement a rare talent. If used well, perhaps he could continuously purchase Earth Saltpeter from him.

Seeing Meng Yifan remain silent after inspecting the White Powder, Xu Dafu couldn't help but feel a bit panicked. Could there be a problem with this White Powder?

He had invested all one hundred and ten wen of cash that Meng Yifan had given him, plus two hundred wen he had saved up himself through half a year of frugality. If Meng Yifan said he wasn't buying it now, he would be ruined.

"Young master, this White Powder was all collected from the low walls outside the latrines according to your requirements; there shouldn't be any problems, right?" Xu Dafu asked, trembling with fear.

Meng Yifan smiled, took a piece of broken silver from his bosom, handed it to Xu Dafu, and said, "Take it, we are all settled now."

"You already paid a deposit of one hundred wen; you only need to pay me nine hundred wen in copper coins." Xu Dafu did not reach for the silver, because the copper coins he had on him had already been paid to his peers, and he had no money to give Meng Yifan change.

Meng Yifan waved his hand casually and said, "Don't worry about that one hundred wen; I want to talk to you about our method of cooperation going forward."

"Young master, what do you mean?" Xu Dafu felt uneasy; he guessed that Meng Yifan probably wanted to lower the price. As long as it wasn't pressed too hard, he could accept it.

In any case, collecting the White Powder was just something done on the side, so earning what he could was fine. But if the purchase price Meng Yifan offered was too low, Xu Dafu wouldn't be able to earn the price difference, and there would be no need to involve his peers; he could just collect it slowly by himself.

"I haven't asked what this elder brother is called?" Meng Yifan asked. It was worth getting to know such a talent; perhaps he could be of use in the future.

"My name is Xu Dafu," Xu Dafu said, feeling a bit awkward and uneasy.

The name his parents gave him, combined with the profession he currently practiced, was always full of irony.

He also had a nickname, Ergou. Usually, in front of acquaintances, he was unwilling to mention his formal name; his acquaintances all called him Xu Ergou.

"Brother Xu, I am currently in urgent need of a large amount of this White Powder. I need you to supply it as quickly as possible; I will buy as much as you can get."

"Furthermore, there are three hours left until dark. If you can provide me with another five hundred catties of White Powder within three hours, I will give you ten taels of silver," Meng Yifan said.

"Ten taels of silver." Xu Dafu was incredibly excited. Calculating at ten wen per catty, five hundred catties should be five thousand wen in copper coins, which is five taels of silver. Meng Yifan had directly doubled the purchase price. If he could complete this task, the money Xu Dafu would earn would be more than he had earned collecting excrement for two years.

"Young master, I'll go collect the White Powder right now. I will definitely have it delivered to you before dark." Xu Dafu pushed his wheelbarrow and ran off in a hurry, his heart filled with a craving for wealth. He prepared to mobilize all the excrement collectors in Luolong County to help him gather the White Powder.

Watching Xu Dafu's retreating figure, Meng Yifan smiled. If he could really purchase five hundred catties of Earth Saltpeter for ten taels of silver, Meng Yifan would be able to refine fifty catties of Saltpeter. With this Saltpeter, mixed with Charcoal and Sulfur, he could prepare about sixty-five catties of Black Powder. Although it was still not quite enough, it would ease his urgent needs.

Meng Yifan continued to return to his room to refine Saltpeter, Liu Zhongyong was preparing poison, Meng Dayong was leading men in manufacturing the Elm Cannon, and Meng Yitong and the other young men were practicing their skills; everyone was busy.

Near dark, Xu Dafu pulled a flatbed cart and hurried to Meng Yifan's house, having someone notify Meng Yifan to come and receive the goods.

Meng Yifan came out of his room and saw that Xu Dafu's face was covered in sweat and his clothes were soaked through; it seemed he had truly been exhausted all afternoon.

"Young master, there are five hundred and thirteen catties of White Powder in total; please inspect the goods," Xu Dafu said, panting for breath.

On the flatbed cart were five sacks. Meng Yifan checked every single bag one by one, and finally confirmed there were no problems. He was very happy and took out a ten-tael silver ingot, then took out another piece of one-tael broken silver, and handed them both to Xu Dafu.

"Take it, the extra money is a reward for you," Meng Yifan laughed.

Xu Dafu excitedly took the silver ingot and the broken silver. This was the most money he had ever received in his life. He was rich; he was truly rich.