Chapter 183: Reputation

After night fell, the surroundings grew quiet. In the side room of Zhou Hongmo's outer courtyard, Chen Xin and Liu Minyou sat studying their respective plans.

That evening Zhou Hongmo was hosting the customs office's chief clerk, but Chen Xin had gone out without permission and it was inconvenient to let outsiders know, so he did not go to meet that customs clerk. Song Wenxian accompanied Zhou Laifu instead. Although Zhou Laifu was competent at getting things done, in matters of public relations like this he was far inferior to Song Wenxian.

Liu Minyou wrote as he spoke: "We've asked about the prices of cloth, paper, and tobacco — they're about the same as in Tianjin. Buying from Linqing and transporting overland to Wendeng is impossible; the cost would be too high. In the end it has to go by sea from Tianjin to Wendeng, so the goods we purchase still have to be bought in Tianjin. Yangzhou has the most copper stock, so that item must be settled in Yangzhou. If the naval camp is established, silk, spices, and tea can be bought directly from Xu Xinsu's Jiangnan shops and shipped by sea to Wendeng, saving a great deal of Grand Canal fees along the way."

Chen Xin said, "Xu Xinsu promised to find me three Fujian junks and some shipwrights. I heard from Zuo Changhao that the large Guangdong black ships are very good — though they're of Cantonese design, they're very sturdy. Li Kuiqi uses this type of vessel, and they'd be excellent as armed merchant ships for transporting those valuable spices, tea, and silk. So I've also asked Zuo Changhao to see if he can buy some. As for the grain and cotton cloth, we'll buy them as contraband cargo on the sea-transport tribute barges."

Liu Minyou stopped his brush and asked, "Are you really going to train that special forces unit of yours? If you kill Zheng Zhilong, won't you lose your value to Xu Xinsu and Li Guozhu?"

Chen Xin gave Liu Minyou a thumbs-up. "Brother Liu understands everything. But I don't dare take the risk. Zheng Zhilong and Xu Xinsu are locked in a fight to the death — what if Zheng Zhilong kills Xu Xinsu? Then we'd have nothing. Even if we took out Zheng Zhilong, there would still be other sea bandits; someone would always rise to the top. Xu Xinsu having me as a strong ally gives him no reason to ignore me entirely. Besides, I trust him. You've managed the clothing shop for so long — how are those merchants who come and go?"

"The ones we've grown familiar with are trustworthy enough. Even without contracts, most of them keep their word absolutely, even better than if there were a contract. In this respect, it's far better than in our own time."

"For the great merchants of this era, credibility is extremely important. A spoken word is a contract. Xu Xinsu has reached his current level, so he should have no problem in this regard."

Chen Xin stretched and continued, "What I'm more concerned about is whether Zhou Laifu has too much authority under this arrangement. These several accountants were basically all trained in the clothing shop and are used to listening to Zhou Laifu..."

Liu Minyou shot him an annoyed glance. "Aren't all their families in your hands? And you're still not at ease? Besides, I have no other solution. We also need to run a general store internally, and there are too few people who understand accounting."

"Give Lao Cai to you. Have him set up an accounting class at the school."

Liu Minyou laughed. "Aren't you afraid he'll teach all the students to be greedy for petty gains?"

"Water too clear holds no fish. You know Lao Cai — he knows his limits on important matters. You've run the clothing shop for so long and you still haven't fired him."

Liu Minyou shook his head. "He can't do it alone. Training accountants is slow. We've studied mathematics since childhood, but for ordinary farming households, learning accounting is a real headache. We'll have to first select from the literacy class, pick out the slightly better ones for the accounting class. Also, the wounded soldiers from the military engineering unit aren't bad — quite a few can do simple calculations. I'll go teach some classes too when the time comes."

Chen Xin rubbed his chin and said quietly, "Relying on accountants to divide authority isn't enough, especially for those posted to other regions. Over time they'll all blend together."

"Just rotate them every two or three years. Later, when we have enough people, set up an accounting audit, and it should be fine."

"How can it be fine? Auditing is basically impossible. The shops stationed outside all trade externally, and there are no receipts. The prices of raw materials and goods aren't fixed — who would know if they wrote a bit extra when keeping the books? We need to set up a secret organization."...

"Set up whatever you want, just don't spy on me." Liu Minyou turned to look outside and asked, "It's dark — are they coming back or not? The curfew is already on..."

"My dear Sir Liu, do you still think it's like before? Zhou Hongmo is an official — he can go anywhere at night. I reckon they won't be back tonight either. By custom, they should be entertaining that chief clerk at a brothel for the night. Song Wenxian and the others have no reason to come back on their own."

Just then the main gate outside creaked, and the sound of hurried footsteps approached. Liu Minyou listened for a moment and said, "And here you were saying — Zhou Laifu is back. That's exactly how he walks in the clothing shop."

Chen Xin pulled the door open, and sure enough Zhou Laifu appeared at the doorway. Chen Xin asked, puzzled, "Back so soon? Where is Mr. Song?"

After Zhou Laifu came in, he said to Chen Xin, "At the banquet just now, that chief clerk said that half a month ago a eunuch from the Directorate of Palace Attendants passed through Linqing, accompanied by several Eastern Depot agents. I heard he was sent to Dengzhou as an army supervisor. That chief clerk also attended the welcoming banquet at the time and heard the eunuch say that as soon as he arrived he would inspect all the Dengzhou camps, with Wendeng Camp being the first stop. Mr. Song said this is a major matter, he couldn't get away, and told me to come back first and inform you, my lord."

Liu Minyou's eyes went wide. "A eunuch? Not a regular official?"

"A eunuch. The agents are from the Eastern Depot."

"He's going to Dengzhou — how did he end up passing through Linqing? What route did he take?"

Chen Xin burst out laughing. "If he took the sea route, how would he collect any silver? I reckon he went via Eastern Depot and will also make the rounds of various places in Jinan. Looks like we need to hurry back and prepare. If he's going to Wendeng, Sun Yuanhua, Yu Keda, and the others will probably have to go too. What's this eunuch's name?"

"He's called Lu Zhi. According to that chief clerk, after the capital was under martial law last year, this Lu Zhi served as the commandant of the Nine Gates and the Imperial City."

Chen Xin nodded. He had some impression of this Lu Zhi. Wendeng Camp had once been stationed at Deshengmen, which was one of the nine gates of the inner city. This Eunuch Lu seemed to have come on an inspection once. He had been very cautious in front of Cao Huachun, so Chen Xin's impression of him was not deep, nor had he given him any bribes. Fortunately, he had not offended him either.

After Wei Zhongxian was executed, the Chongzhen Emperor recalled all the army supervisors from the various garrisons. But this was not an abolition of the supervisor system — he merely wanted to purge Wei Zhongxian's claws and fangs. In the second year of Chongzhen, the situation was still relatively stable, and the Emperor was in no hurry to send out new supervisors. Historically, this Lu Zhi was only sent to Dengzhou in the fourth year of Chongzhen. Now, because of Wendeng Camp's outstanding performance, it had happened a full year earlier.

Chen Xin and Liu Minyou of course had no way of knowing this. Liu Minyou asked Chen Xin in a low voice, "His first stop is Wendeng Camp — is that good or bad?"

"Unclear. Zhang Dahui should have sent word back to Weihai. Hard to say if it's good or bad. Last year Dengzhou didn't seem to have an army supervisor. I reckon it's mainly because of Yuan Chonghuan killing Mao Wenlong, plus several mutinies. The Emperor no longer trusts either civil or military officials. Eunuch army supervisors were bound to happen sooner or later. Whatever the purpose of sending him, we must do our utmost to turn it into a good thing."

Liu Minyou asked, "When you were in the capital, did you have any dealings with these eunuchs? Did you give him any silver?"

"I only know Cao Huachun. I gave him two or three thousand taels of silver. Now that Lu Zhi is here, this amount won't be any less."

Liu Minyou's face was full of reluctance. "That's two or three hundred thousand catties of grain. How many people could that support?"

"Enough. If we don't give it, we'll lose even more. We give away plenty of silver every year — this one share won't be missed."

Chen Xin turned to Zhou Laifu. "Laifu, any other news?"

"Yuan Chonghuan is dead. He was executed by lingchi in the capital in the eighth month. During the execution, many commoners bought his flesh to eat. When the Jianzhou bandits invaded last year, most of the capital's commoners had relatives who died outside the city, so they all hated him deeply."

Chen Xin and Liu Minyou had long known this outcome, but they had not known it was so gruesome. Hearing it still made them sigh. Just last year at this time, he had been the all-powerful Grand Coordinator, and countless people acted according to his whims. Now not even his bones remained. Mao Wenlong, whom he had killed, had long since been buried by West Lake....

Liu Minyou sighed. "Had he known it would come to this, he should have resigned as Liaodong Governor back then and gone home to live a peaceful life. Why go back to be Grand Coordinator, harming others and himself?"

The next day the two of them hurriedly took their leave of Zhou Hongmo. Zhou Hongmo also knew about the army supervisor matter and did not press them to stay. He gave each of their party a horse. Before leaving, Chen Xin gave Zhou Laifu some instructions, telling him to establish the canal network as quickly as possible, and left two personal guards to help temporarily.

Outside the city at the horse market they bought a few more horses. Not daring to delay, they reached Gaotang Department that very day. The dumb monk was too heavy — the horses couldn't bear him — so Liu Minyou had to let him find his own way and catch up from behind.

Along the way, what they saw within Eastern Depot Prefecture was indeed fields full of cotton. Wheat and millet had instead become the minority. Carts and oxcarts transporting cotton were endless on the roads. The commoners' complexions and clothing all looked decent, far better than those around Dengzhou.

After leaving Eastern Depot Prefecture, they entered the jurisdiction of Jinan Prefecture. The farther from the Grand Canal, the more barren fields gradually increased, and the harvest in the fields did not look good either. This year the north suffered another great drought. Shandong was slightly better off than Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi, but a grain shortfall was certain. The commoners they saw slowly took on that familiar look of farming households they knew. Refugees on the roads also grew more numerous. After Jinan came Qingzhou and Laizhou — this was already the Jiaodong Peninsula. The commoners grew poorer and more destitute. Along the way, countless beggars and refugees, dragging their children, were moving toward various towns and cities.

Liu Minyou had never ridden a horse for so long. The insides of his thighs were already chafed and swollen. Song Wenxian also cried out that he couldn't take it. After reaching Qingzhou Prefecture, they could only switch to riding in horse-drawn carts. Although they kept changing carts along the way, the speed still could not match riding horses.

After passing Pingdu Department, they were about to enter Dengzhou's territory. The beggars and refugees on the road grew more and more numerous, nearly clogging the official highway. But those dragging children were relatively fewer, while able-bodied men and women increased.

Chen Xin rode his horse slowly through the flow of people, listening to the refugees around him speak. Many seemed to have Liaodong accents, and their destination was all Wendeng.

Curious, he dismounted and asked a few refugee men nearby, "Brothers, where are you all heading?"

Those several refugees, though thin and weak, wore smiles on their faces. "We're going to Wendeng."

"Oh, why go so far to Wendeng Camp? Jinan Prefecture and Eastern Depot Prefecture are more prosperous."

"We're all Liaodong people. We're going to join Wendeng Camp. That General Chen can fight the Tatars. We want to follow him and fight our way back to Liaodong."

Chen Xin smiled. "Who told you that?"

"Everyone knows this. That General Chen is the second coming of Qi Shaobao, personally appointed by the Emperor. He killed over a thousand Tatars — we believe in him. We were originally selling our labor in Guangrao. A few days ago, people from Wendeng Camp came to various places recruiting, saying there's food and maybe even land to be divided. Then we had to go even more."

Those several Liaodong folk loudly sang a Liaodong tune and continued on their way, elated. Chen Xin stopped where he was, smiled, and shook his head. Song Wenxian and Liu Minyou came up from behind. Liu Minyou said, "I told Xu Yuanhua to have him recruit people from various places. I just didn't expect so many. Too many is also hard to handle. I don't know if there's enough barren land to settle them."

Chen Xin waved his hand. "What's so hard about it? People are the most precious resource. As long as it's within our capacity, we must keep them. Having no people — that's what's truly hard. Minyou, you've done well."

Song Wenxian laughed heartily. "Wendeng Camp is famed throughout the realm. Heroes from all over will naturally come to join."

Chen Xin took a breath. "This is the benefit of reputation." (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welcome to come to (.) and cast recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)