Chapter 188: Obstacles

Liu Minyou walked among crowds of laboring commoners. A factory complex was under construction, and beside it lay an even larger residential area. This was a private port at Jinghai Guard in Wendeng County. The location he had planned in Chapter 187 was several days closer to Japan. Chen Xin had designated Weihai for commercial freight bound for Tianjin, where goods were mainly sold to Linqing and Jingshi. Jinghai was positioned as the commercial goods base for Jiangnan and Japan, so the factory buildings also had to be built near the private port to save overland transport costs. Jinghai Guard had ceded six thousand mu of land. Wendeng Battalion had established a fortified settlement and a farming militia company here, and also garrisoned a platoon of combat troops.

The factory zone here was planned for tobacco and luggage. Because luggage had no technical threshold, Liu Minyou was not optimistic; perhaps it would be quickly copied, just like the dresses before. When Liu Minyou was in Linqing and Jiangnan, he had investigated the local prices of textiles like cotton and hemp. The costs he calculated were lower than shipping from Wendeng, and he had misgivings about the competitiveness of the luggage. So they planned to supply large quantities from the start, achieve a certain sales volume early on, and then use advertising to seize market advantage. Liu Minyou hoped to lower costs through assembly lines and cheap labor to offset transport expenses. If small workshops along the Grand Canal produced them without assembly-line division of labor, the manpower they could access would be relatively expensive.

Liu Minyou stood on a hillock. Everywhere were heads of people carrying loads as they worked. Xu Yuanhua and several civil affairs assistants followed behind him, holding some planning maps. Finally, behind them was his bodyguard, the dumb monk.

"My lord Liu, these factory buildings, warehouses, and simple housing can be finished in just over a month. When winter comes, these people won't be able to do much work."

Liu Minyou frowned as he looked at the crowd. The nearly two thousand people here were all able-bodied men, organized into groups of fifty as one jia. Once construction was finished and production started, a large portion of the luggage workers would need to be female workers. The men would mainly be needed for physical labor like transport. They truly could not all be assigned.

Feeding so many people indeed gave Liu Minyou a headache. This year their population had reached over forty thousand, mostly able-bodied men and women, forty percent of whom were Liaodong refugees from various places. The workshops and fortified settlements could only absorb less than ten thousand. The two new factories were still hard to predict. Wendeng did not produce much tobacco leaf; they had already begun purchasing in the Jiaodong Peninsula and Linqing. Zuo Changhao in Jiangnan had promised to supply two shiploads first, but they had not yet arrived, leaving Liu Minyou worried every day about how to support these people.

"When the time comes, have them build roads, from this port to Wendeng Battalion."

Xu Yuanhua said, "I fear the ground will be frozen hard in winter, and we'll get half the results for twice the effort."

Liu Minyou shook his head and said, "That's still better than feeding them for nothing. We have a lot to do this year. General Chen will not let them eat for free. If it gets too cold, just provide them rations and have them do some training."

Xu Yuanhua agreed, "Your subordinate will remember this matter. When the time comes, I'll coordinate with the training unit and ask them to send people over."

Liu Minyou continued, "How is the grain situation?"

"The grain here is currently shipped over from Weihai. Those naval forces conduct training along the way. The grain price in Dengzhou has reached one tael six qian per shi, and one shi is calculated at one hundred jin. With over two thousand people here, they consume over thirty shi a day. That's over a thousand taels of silver a month. This month two sea-transport grain barges came by. The contraband grain they sell is only one tael three qian, and one shi is one hundred twenty jin, though it's mostly rice."

Liu Minyou narrowed his eyes and calculated, then said to Xu Yuanhua, "Who cares about rice or wheat, as long as it's edible. Two ships are too few. I'll discuss this with Lord Chen. Quickly have the navy station some ships here, intercept those sea-transport grain barges, and buy their grain."

Liu Minyou was forced to this by circumstance. After thinking it over, using the military was the most trouble-free approach.

Xu Yuanhua hesitated for a moment and said, "My lord, the contraband grain at Jinghai was originally purchased by a local gentry named Huang. He runs two grain shops in the guard town. This man's cousin is an official in the Shandong Provincial Administration Commission. I fear..."

Liu Minyou recalled Chen Xin saying not to provoke the gentry for now, but now that concrete interests were involved, who cared about all that? Somewhat impatiently, he said, "Ignore him. Those grain barges aren't his family's. Can he control who others sell to?"

After saying this, Liu Minyou dismissed the others, keeping only Xu Yuanhua. He then said to him, "The matter of the old camp shops must not happen again. Next month I will select inspectors from this term's literacy class. Every month they will visit the various fortified settlements and workshops to inquire into the people's conditions. If your relatives want to do business, they cannot occupy official shops. From now on, every fortified settlement will have private shops. You can put up money to help them rent, but you cannot engage in those crooked practices."

Xu Yuanhua said with some shame, "Your subordinate will remember. It will not happen again."

"Also, regarding the distribution of fields to settlement households, I have already heard people saying your allocations are unfair. There are people from Yanggu who only joined the settlement three months ago and were already given mature fields first."

"This... yes, your subordinate will go back and investigate. Several of my subordinates are also from Yanggu. This humble person will certainly conduct a thorough investigation."

Liu Minyou sighed. His civil affairs system needed restructuring as well. Part of the field distribution had been carried out while he was in Jiangnan. After returning, he only heard about the problems from Shen Lishi. Xu Yuanhua was his earliest civil affairs deputy. Currently, workshop functions had already been divided by factory, but the settlement civil affairs system had not yet been subdivided. Xu Yuanhua had essentially become the second-in-command. He now had three concubines. Chen Xin had also heard some rumors and had made indirect remarks last time, but Liu Minyou knew Xu Yuanhua had always been fairly diligent in his work and could endure hardship, so he had not punished him severely, only giving a warning. Now that operations were expanding, reforming the civil affairs system seemed all the more urgent.

He also said to Xu Yuanhua, "You need not feel troubled. I have seen all the work you have consistently done. Just continue to do your work well from now on."

Xu Yuanhua agreed repeatedly, knowing the shop matter was considered settled. Liu Minyou led him onward. The group continued forward to the warehouse construction site. Warehouses required moisture-proofing, rodent-proofing, theft-proofing, and so on, with higher standards than the factory buildings. As soon as they reached the site, they saw that no one there was working. Instead, they were gathered around one spot, from which came the sounds of brawling.

The dumb monk strode forward, shouting, and parted the outer crowd in a few moves, allowing Liu Minyou and the others to reach the center. Liu Minyou hurried in and saw a person lying on the ground. A middle-aged man in luxurious clothing stood before that person, accompanied by several men who looked like household servants, beating the person on the ground. The person on the ground had been beaten into a curled-up ball, shielding his face and abdomen. The surrounding refugees, cowed by their ferocity, watched them commit violence in fear.

Liu Minyou was different now from before. His courage had grown considerably. He stepped forward and shoved away one of the servants doing the beating. The servant was pushed staggering. Turning back, he saw a relatively tall man and reckoned he was no match, but his heart was still furious. He grabbed a carrying pole from the ground and swung it over.

With a swish, the servant's vision blurred. The carrying pole was left with only half its length. He turned his head dumbly and saw a burly, barrel-chested man holding a gleaming waist knife, staring blankly at him.

"Mother! Murder!" The servant shouted and hid behind the other men.

The luxuriously dressed man bellowed furiously, "What are you doing? Do you military households dare to kill people or what?"

The dumb monk looked at Liu Minyou and asked, "My lord, kill or not?"

Liu Minyou waved his hand at him and said, "Kill what?" As he spoke, he helped the farmer up from the ground. The farmer's mouth and nose were bleeding, and he looked at those men in terror.

Xu Yuanhua said in Liu Minyou's ear, "This man is that gentry surnamed Huang who buys contraband grain. His name is Huang Gongcheng. He's a Licentiate. His home is right in Jinghai Guard town. I've seen him once."

Liu Minyou had met some officials by now and did not take this so-called gentry too seriously. He cupped his hands toward the gentry and asked, "This Brother Huang, I am Liu Minyou, Assistant Guard Commander of Weihai Guard. May I ask how this brother offended Brother Huang to warrant such heavy hands from your esteemed subordinates?"

Huang Gongcheng did not return the salute. He sneered coldly and said, "Brother Huang is not for you to call me. You need not try to get familiar with me. This man is a household slave of my family. He signed a deed of sale. I never expected you people to abduct him here. I want an explanation today."

"Household slave?" Liu Minyou had encountered someone coming to demand a household slave for the first time. He turned to look at Xu Yuanhua. Xu Yuanhua leaned in and said quietly, "My lord, a household slave is someone sold to another family. Even their children belong to the master's family. We have relatively few here in Shandong. This humble person has heard from those grain barge people that in Jiangnan, some gentry and official households have as many as over a thousand."

Liu Minyou then recalled this matter. Because the north generally used more hired labor, household slaves were not numerous. Jiangnan and other places were more inclined to keep slaves. He heard about it infrequently, so he had not reacted immediately. It was said that household slaves were even recognized by the Great Ming Code, and their punishments were heavier than those for free citizens. They were a kind of complete second-class citizen.

The surrounding people, upon hearing it was a household slave, also began buzzing with discussion. Liu Minyou quickly called over the jia head of this jia. The jia head was a man from Qingzhou. Somewhat timidly, he said, "My lord, they already seized one and took him away. This one ran fast. They chased him for a while before catching him."

Liu Minyou glared at this jia head with some anger. His subordinate had been seized, and all he knew was to stand to the side and watch the excitement. But at this moment he had no time to deal with this jia head. Liu Minyou turned to look at that household slave. The man was also looking at him, his face full of pleading.

Liu Minyou patted the man on the shoulder, turned to Huang Gongcheng, and said, "You say he is your household slave. What proof do you have?"

Huang Gongcheng was taken aback. Today his steward had spotted this man here and ran to notify him to seize him. He had left in a hurry and forgotten to bring the deed of sale. He coughed and said, "A deed of sale cannot be carried on one's person, but this is the truth. Today I will certainly take him away."

Liu Minyou shook his head and said, "Without proof or evidence, I cannot let you take him away."

Huang Gongcheng sneered, "Don't think that just because your Wendeng Battalion killed a few Tatars, you can run rampant in the countryside. This household slave voluntarily threw himself upon my mercy back then, with a Company Commander as witness. I have supported him all these years. How can I let him leave just because he says so?"

The beaten household slave, seeing Liu Minyou standing up for him, also found his courage. He cursed angrily, "You supported me all these years? We worked endlessly every day and never had enough to eat. My wife was also forcibly taken by your household. My daughter was also sold by you. What more do you want?"

The surrounding people, hearing this, buzzed even louder. Most of them were people forced to leave their homes, and they shared a common understanding of suffering. People began to speak out and reproach that gentry. Gradually it turned into shouts of abuse. The crowd's emotions surged.

Huang Gongcheng glared fiercely around, still cursing loudly, "A bunch of mud-legged peasants, do you want to rebel? I have the deed of sale in hand. Wherever I go, I am in the right. If you do not hand him over today, I will certainly go to Wendeng County to file a complaint. Even if Wendeng County fears your Wendeng Battalion, above there is still Ninghai Department, still the Deng-Lai Circuit, still the Shandong Provincial Surveillance Commission. In broad daylight, how can you martial ruffians be allowed to run wild?"

This string of government office names he recited did somewhat intimidate the refugees. These people had long been obedient to the authorities. The lords sat high above; that sense of authority, after all, still existed.

Liu Minyou, who had been beset by a heap of vexing matters lately, said without any courtesy, "Setting aside that you have no deed of sale, even if you had one, I could not let you take him away. To think you are someone who has read the books of sages and worthies, yet you seize men's wives and sell their children. You have read your books into a dog's belly."

Huang Gongcheng was so furious that smoke seemed to rise from his seven orifices. He pointed at Liu Minyou, took a few steps forward, and was about to start a fight. Before he could get close, the dumb monk blocked his way. Huang Gongcheng rapidly calculated the force disparity, stopped, and said, panting, "You just wait."

With that, he turned and left. The surrounding refugees let out a burst of jeering. Someone loudly shouted, "Get lost."

Liu Minyou watched them leave, turned to Xu Yuanhua, and said, "No need to fear him. This man's purpose is probably related to the contraband grain. Transfer this household slave back to Wendeng Battalion. Also, dismiss that jia head. From now on, all jia heads must be chosen for their courage."