Chapter 528: Shopkeeper Wu

Click—a traditional Ming-style folding wooden chair, coated in aged lacquer and crafted from southern elm, was set down steadily on the stone surface.

After the first chair was opened, the clicking continued, and soon a circle of chairs and a square stool serving as a tabletop were all in place.

Once the broad-waisted, round-bellied servants had set out the chairs, it was time for the pretty-faced, slender-waisted servant boys to take the stage.

A kerosene stove from Taiwan was set up, blue flames rose, and inside a gleaming, crystal-clear glass teapot, verdant bud tea leaves bobbed up and down in spring water. Soon the emerald tea was roiling, then poured into square, solid-color pressed-glass tumblers and brought before the honored guest.

This desolate, bleak stretch of rocky ground the locals called Rocky Desert Qi Tan was rarely so crowded. Inside a natural windbreak formed by several large boulders, four or five gentry masters sat keeping Lei Jian company, sipping tea and eating pastries, while outside their circle, though quiet and orderly, a combined retinue of over a hundred guards and servants from each household stood ready to attend the masters at any moment.

"Radar God, you've toiled hard surveying the mountains today—please, do try this Northern Mountain Stir-fried Green. Though our county's local product lacks renown, its fragrance and color are both superb; it has a flavor all its own."

The first to offer tea to the guest was none other than Zengcheng County's distinguished community leader, Bai Shenming, Scholar Bai.

Leveraging his prior status as a "friendly merchant" and his subordinate Shopkeeper Wu's connection as a "united front comrade," Scholar Bai had managed to secure a seat at the honored guest's right hand on this important occasion.

Taking the cup, blowing away the floating foam, and sipping lightly, Lei Jian, dressed in a denim jacket, nodded and said, "Mm, this tea is quite good. Many thanks, Master Bai."

Although the tea preparation methods later generations are accustomed to were only perfected and matured in the Qing Dynasty, by this point in the Late Ming, the folk tea industry in Fujian and Guangdong had already updated its production techniques; the tea-cake method handed down from the Song Dynasty was in decline, and stir-fried loose-leaf tea was now gaining popularity—so what Lei Jian drank from his glass cup today was precisely the kind of tea leaves and brew he had known before crossing over.

Lei Jian, a formally trained geology professional, had previously been Vice Captain of the Exploration Team. Now, with the Transmigrators' enterprise expanding and their territory growing, the old Exploration Team had long since been disbanded; Lei Jian's unit now operated as an independent branch, busily prospecting across the new territories, so much so that he'd passed his own door three times without entering.

Lei Jian's task today was simple: to pinpoint the exact location of the limestone quarry for the Zengcheng Cement Plant.

The limestone in the Zengcheng area was of very high quality; in certain quarries, the rock's calcium carbonate content exceeded 55%, making it an excellent raw material for cement production.

Before this, Lei Jian had actually already roughly marked out the quarry zone on a map—after all, the quarry and mine locations of later generations were right there and wouldn't change. Then, once the bandit gang had been wiped out and the working environment improved, as soon as the new year turned, he hurried over to finalize the site—the cement plant was a priority project, and Ding Liqiu over at the Special District Government had been pressing to get it off the ground.

This time, Lei Jian had in fact arrived in Zengcheng three days ago with his own men. After surveying several later-generation mine and quarry sites, today he had come to the location closest to the county seat: Rocky Desert Qi Tan, and the extra companions in attendance were precisely several masters from the county.

Rocky Desert Qi Tan lay due north of the county seat, a stretch of rocky shoals along the river. Following this spot further north was a hill covered in dense vegetation—without a doubt, these hills were all limestone formations.

After making a circuit around Rocky Desert Qi Tan and surveying the mine resources with his companions and a few apprentices, everyone simply held an impromptu tea gathering right there on the rocky shoals.

"Mr. Lei, won't you try this horseshoe pastry as well... Master Pan's household pastries are famed far and wide; ordinary folk rarely get a taste."

The one addressing Lei Jian with a touch of reserve as "Mr." and recommending the pastry was a middle-aged gentry scholar wearing a cloud-patterned headscarf, a narrow-sleeved cotton cloth robe easy to move in, and a pair of fashionable rough-out buffalo-hide hiking boots—Zengcheng County Main Hall, Gu Tai.

After the series of events that had come before, Gu Tai, this county magistrate who had originally been muddling through his days in Zengcheng, seemed to have found a new direction in life. Now effectively bound to the Cao Clan's political power base, Gu Tai had taken a keen interest in various new industries he'd never heard of before, showing not only intense curiosity but also personal commitment—and so today, Master Gu had personally taken the field, accompanying Lei Jian to Rocky Desert Qi Tan on this inspection.

Hearing County Magistrate Gu recommend the pastry, Lei Jian smiled, set down his teacup, reached for a snow-white horseshoe pastry, and popped it into his mouth: "Mm, delicately sweet and refreshing, fragrant without being greasy—Master Pan, what a blessing to have such a palate!"

As Lei Jian voiced his praise, he gave a thumbs-up to a plump, fair-skinned old man seated across from him.

Master Pan beamed broadly, his face full of delight: "Should Radar God find it convenient, at any time, you are welcome to visit this student's home. To be frank with you, my lord, this student's cook does have a few dishes worthy of the table, and we could just happen to share wine and pleasant talk then."

"That would be wonderful—I'll be sure to impose, be sure to impose!"

Lei Jian, his face likewise wreathed in smiles, nodded eagerly in agreement.

The Transmigrators' power base had developed to the point where, both externally and internally, earth-shaking changes had occurred; some problems that had arisen early on had long since vanished, or even reversed themselves.

At the very beginning, with many people but few official hats to go around, the newly arrived transmigrator nobodies had even squabbled quite a bit over who got to be an official first.

Yet now, with the expansion of territory, plus areas like Fujian and Guangdong where the Transmigrators needed to actually exercise some administrative functions, the nobodies suddenly discovered there were too many official posts and not enough fools to fill them...

One must realize that even a single county seat in later generations required at least several dozen to over a hundred management positions at the Division-level and above—and that's not even counting the numerous corporate management posts. Yet what these two-hundred-odd Transmigrators had built was the framework of a nation, plus power-base outposts spread across southern China, so everyone soon found that every person needed to hold multiple posts simultaneously just to keep things barely running.

This forced everyone to start practicing how to deal with Ming People; even those in highly specialized posts—like a geology expert such as Lei Jian—now had no choice but to put on a smiling face, clink glasses and build ties with these local "friendly personages," playing the role of goodwill ambassador and policy evangelist.

This was necessary: those willing to come out to this desolate shoal today and brave the wind with Lei Jian were, without a doubt, the few among Zengcheng's many great households willing to publicly declare their allegiance to the Cao Clan.

Whether for silver or for benefits of other kinds, these men before him had all, in effect, placed their bets, shouldered the risk, and borne the pressure—so after a round of social pleasantries, Lei Jian sensed the moment was right, reached over to take a rolled-up map from an attendant, and spread it open on the square stool before them: "Gentlemen, I've settled on the locations for the cement plant and the quarry. Now, let me explain the future industrial planning for Zengcheng. There are many projects here; you masters may consider investing as you see fit."

It was time to give the followers some benefits—in this regard, the Transmigrators had always been generous.