Chapter 359: To Zhoushan

Zuo Baoliu walked slowly into the courtyard of the Rent Depot, his heart heavy with gloom.

The courtyard, which had in practice become the Village Committee, was bustling with people coming and going; the farmers' rough, loud voices could be heard from far away.

On this point, Zuo Baoliu had not the slightest complaint about his new master — being able to speak in a full, powerful voice was a sign of good nutrition.

After Zuo Family Village was reorganized, nearly one-third of the garrison farmers had their status changed and began living as wage-earning workers.

The new master was generous; every male laborer received a monthly wage of one tael and five mace, and women could also get one tael of silver. According to the accountant, the salary was actually set at one tael and eight mace, and the three mace deducted went toward repaying old debts from before.

No more worrying about droughts or floods, no more worrying about bailiffs pressing for tax grain — the moment the villagers got their hands on the gleaming silver, this new life completely outshone the old days.

Later, considering the rising price of grain and noticing that the villagers only saved money and never spent it, leaving some still malnourished, the master brought in coarse rice from outside, set up a Mess Hall, and converted one part of the wages into meals.

In this way, it was essentially a mandatory increase in nutrition. The results appeared quickly: the abundant meals gave the villagers rosy complexions, strong bodies, and voices full of vigor.

Zuo Baoliu was also a beneficiary. He, his wife, and their three brats no longer cooked at home now; every day they went to the "Public Kitchen" to eat their fill, and they still received wages. So purely in terms of living standards and his evaluation of the new employer, Zuo Baoliu could not say a single bad word.

The reason he was so utterly dejected was still because of the loss of the Sangyuan.

Walking into the room, Zuo Baoliu waited for the person ahead of him to leave, then silently stepped forward, lowered his head, and just stood there without a word.

The Village Accountant, with a graying beard and wearing a pair of tortoiseshell-rimmed reading glasses, was a local from nearby, though he had spent many years earning a living under the Hangzhou Station. Hearing recently that development was underway here, he had applied for a transfer back, which could be considered returning to his roots.

After burying his head in the account book to make a few entries, the old accountant looked up, saw it was Zuo Baoliu, and asked him kindly, "All the mulberry trees cleared out?"

Zuo Baoliu nodded.

"Mm, then here's the thing: the Construction Site by the river is short on hands right now. Baoliu, if you want to go, sign up for work tomorrow. The monthly pay at the river is high, two taels of silver a month, and meals are provided."

The old accountant paused for a moment, then continued, "If you want to stay in the village and farm, that works too. As it happens, Zuo Dou got his leg broken by a bull the day before yesterday, so you can take over his work."

... After hearing these two arrangements, Zuo Baoliu still stood there silently for a long while.

The old accountant smiled; he had seen too many of these dull, inarticulate farmers. Sensing Zuo Baoliu's dissatisfaction, the old accountant cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Baoliu, have you heard of that Zhoushan Island?"

Of course Zuo Baoliu knew of Zhoushan Island. Although he had never been out to sea, the villagers were well aware that Zhoushan lay just outside the Qiantang River, because people often went fishing in that area.

Seeing Zuo Baoliu nod, the old accountant continued, "Baoliu, I won't hide it from you. All those mulberry trees from the Sangyuan were shipped off by the master to Zhoushan Island. That island now has a thousand-mu mulberry garden and a Silkworm Room. If you still want to work your old trade, you might as well just go live on the island."

Zuo Baoliu's head jerked up. He had never imagined this; those trees had all been taken to Zhoushan?

Seeing Zuo Baoliu's reaction, the old accountant, as if knowing exactly what he was thinking, added considerately, "The monthly pay over there is even higher, and they provide housing and a Public Kitchen. With your skills, you could at least be a Foreman once you're there. Take your family and go; you know what kind of man the master is, he certainly won't mistreat you."

After Zuo Baoliu returned in a daze, he thought it over for just one day before making his decision: the whole family would go to Zhoushan.

Yes, why not go? By going, he could work in a mulberry garden, collect silver every month, and have good meals. Besides, Zhoushan wasn't far from Zuo Family Village; if it really didn't work out, turning back home wouldn't be too late.

Once his mind was made up, Zuo Baoliu immediately went to the Village Committee and signed a rental agreement with the old accountant: Zuo Baoliu rented his family's Courtyard to the Village Committee on a long-term lease.

After signing the agreement, he packed up the household belongings, waited patiently for the notice, then took his wife and three brats, carrying two bundles, and went to Zhang Sutan Wharf — the accountant told him he didn't need to bring anything, the master was generous and everything would be provided at the destination; the family of five just needed to go to the wharf and wait for the ship.

May 15, 1628, a day of great commemorative significance: Zhang Sutan Wharf welcomed its first group of visitors from the open sea. Three somewhat oddly-styled large Chinese junks docked near the newly built Jetty and were taking turns unloading cargo.

These ships were the finalized 500-ton Type 28 New Lock Ships. Shallow-draft, dual-use for passengers and cargo, standard new vessels with sail and coal-gas auxiliary power, they were gradually replacing the other original transport ship models.

The newly developed Shanghai Port had greatly improved the cargo transport environment on the Ming side and rescued the precarious Hangzhou Tangzhuang Wharf.

If the Qiantang River's turbulent tides, shallow water, and heavy silt could still be tolerated before, then with the steadily increasing trade volume between Hangzhou, Taiwan, and Fujian, the cramped Tangzhuang Dock had long since become overwhelmed.

Now it was fine; with the port opening here in Shanghai, the pressure on Hangzhou was immediately greatly reduced. In fact, the fleet heading north this time had a total of four cargo ships; three New Lock Ships carrying Construction Materials all came to Shanghai, and only one shallow-draft general cargo ship turned into the Qiantang Jiang Kou.

Because the Yangtze River Estuary had ample water volume and sufficient depth, the fleet easily anchored off Zhang Sutan without needing to consider tidal conditions.

The Zhang Sutan Wharf, built at the cost of over a thousand workers and nearly two months of labor, was Put to Use the First Moment it was completed. This broad, high-pile wooden wharf extended a full 60 Meters into the water, enough to moor more than three cargo ships simultaneously.

Today, however, was a bit special. This was the port area's First Time operating officially, so only one ship was temporarily moored to break in the port team.

The break-in results were quite good. The whistle-blowing commander Constantly waved the Red Flag in his hand, and the team pushing carts split into left and right lanes on the Jetty, ascending and descending in orderly fashion without interfering with each other.

Even without powered machinery, the loading and unloading speed on the wharf far surpassed that of the Natives. The combined use of chain hoists and small hand-cranked cranes allowed the cargo to be quickly moved out of the ship.

There was no need here for the sack-carrying laborers common in ancient times. Large barrels of Cement, once hoisted out of the hold, were lowered directly onto the carts waiting below the ship. The workers pushed the carts and very easily stored the goods in the wharf's newly built Warehouse.

When Zuo Baoliu's family arrived at the wharf, they were already unloading the second ship. Zuo Baoliu, holding his "Letter of Introduction," was quickly settled into a Temporary work shed set up at the wharf. Over the next few days, ships from Hangzhou continued to bring over many immigrants with shaved heads.

Once enough people had gathered, nearly 900 individuals waiting for ships, along with some Iron, Nitre, Raw Silk, and other miscellaneous goods, were all loaded into the holds. Zuo Baoliu's family was No Exception; because they had three children, they were allowed to stay together as a family and were assigned a separate cabin.

"Bear with it and we'll be there soon, Zhoushan isn't far," Zuo Baoliu said comfortingly to the children after settling into the dark, cramped cabin, feeding them some pastries.

In the end, this "bearing with it" lasted a full ten days.

In fact, by the third day, Zuo Baoliu, vomiting Constantly in the swaying cabin, knew he had been deceived.

Although he had never been out to sea, he did have experience rowing a boat to the Su Hang area in previous years to Sell Raw Silk. So when the ship had traveled for three days, Zuo Baoliu was absolutely certain: the ship had long since passed Zhoushan... What Zuo Baoliu didn't know was that the Big Island he saw Passing By the ship's side two days ago, when it was his turn on deck to get some air and fetch water, was actually Zhoushan Island itself.

Knowing he'd been deceived didn't help; once on someone's pirate ship, it was no longer up to him — although the ship provided food and water on time and the sick could even see a doctor, the fierce Stewards and Crewmen were not to be trifled with. Anyone who didn't sit quietly on the ship was tied to the mast to "whiten their skin."

So even with a belly full of questions, Zuo Baoliu only dared to hide in the cabin and silently pray for the Buddha's Blessing.

Fortunately, the prayers still worked. After swaying dizzily on the ship for over ten days, the fleet finally returned to Dayuan Port one afternoon under a blazing sun. It was only then that Zuo Baoliu's family learned they had been hauled a thousand miles away to some damn place called Taiwan Island.

And after arriving at the bizarre and dazzling stronghold of the shaven-headed rebels, the Zuo family had even less time to consider whether they'd been deceived — the bustling, noisy Taijiang; the beautiful and strange buildings; the odd machines; the red-haired, blue-eyed barbarians; all of it was a dizzying spectacle they couldn't take in fast enough.

Before they could even finish watching the Western Scene, the Zuo family was dragged off in terror for the one-stop package of Bathing, haircutting, chrysanthemum inspection, and physical examination.

When it was all over, the bald-headed Zuo Baoliu sat woodenly on the edge of the bed in the Quarantine Camp, watching his three bald-headed brats playing foolishly in front of the door, and his thoughts drifted to a very strange place: he now finally understood why all those foremen at Zhang Sutan were bald.

The Instructor at the Quarantine Camp was very enthusiastic, so after the Zuo family spent their time "learning the rules" there, Zuo Baoliu finally figured everything out.

Next came job Assignment and housing allocation. Zuo Baoliu and his wife — one skilled at planting trees, the other at raising silkworms — were both the kind of technical workers the Agriculture Department rather liked, so the couple was directly Assigned to the Sangyuan and the adjacent Silkworm Room.

Standing in the boundless Sangyuan, Zuo Baoliu was filled with joy. On his first day at work, after touching here and looking there for a while, he quickly found, among the newly planted mulberry trees, the very batch of saplings he had grown himself — he recognized every scar, every Knot on those trees.

Zuo Baoliu put his hands on his hips and burst into hearty laughter.