Chapter 299: Gold Mine

"This is the first merchant from Shanxi. In Tianjin, he asked the shopkeeper for fifty thousand taels of silver worth of goods — tobacco, spices, and tea — and demanded we give him a twenty-five percent discount. The shopkeeper couldn't make that call and didn't have that much stock on hand, so he sent him straight to Wendeng to negotiate the price."

In Liu Minyou's official business room, Wang Erya was reporting to him. This woman, just past twenty, had still not married — by this era's standards, she was an old maid through and through. After arriving in Wendeng, she first worked at the general store, then rose step by step to supervisor, then transferred to become head of the cigarette factory, and now she was the deputy head of the Four Seas Trading Company. It looked like a demotion, but in truth, the Four Seas Trading Company now had a total investment of one million taels, and all of Wendeng's external commerce passed through this trading company — her authority had actually grown enormously.

Wang Erya had been in business since childhood. After coming to Wendeng, she learned some management concepts from Liu Minyou and Chen Xin. After two years of tempering, her whole person exuded a shrewd competence. She handed a report to Liu Minyou. "My lord, you only gave me authority for a twenty percent discount, and the same goes for Zhou Laifu. This one needs you to decide. After discussing it with Head Manager Zhou, I believe we can accept it."

Liu Minyou looked at the brief application in his hand. "This price is a bit low. Where would delivery take place?"

"He can arrange his own ships to transport it away."

"If he transports it himself, that's acceptable. But there are three conditions. First, have him help us buy horses from Mongolia — warhorses are best — delivered in Tianjin, and the price can be a bit higher. Second, have him help recruit some frontier army night scouts. If he asks, just say it's for opening an armed escort service. Third, for shipping the goods, he must hire our trading company's ships. If he agrees to these terms, give him that price."

"In that case, we can't agree right away." Wang Erya stood up and gathered her documents. "We'll have to stall him for a few days, slowly wear him down. Hiring our merchant ships is no big deal, but my lord, your first two conditions are both for the combat troops — they're poaching from the frontier garrisons, which is trouble in the end. He may not agree so readily."

Liu Minyou smiled. "You understand this business better than I do — handle it as you see fit. These are all things General Chen specifically requested. In the past, we had to go through other canal trading firms as middlemen. Now that someone from the frontier garrisons has come directly to purchase goods, this is exactly the time to raise these demands."

"Understood." Wang Erya made a wanfu bow and withdrew. Liu Minyou's newly arrived secretary immediately scurried in. He glanced around in every direction, then lowered his voice to Liu Minyou and said, "Mo Huaiwen has hurried over from Pingdu Prefecture. He says he has urgent business to see you, sir."

"Wu Youdao, when reporting matters in the future, be forthright — don't act like a thief. This is an official business room, not the Intelligence Bureau." Liu Minyou was irritated by the man's furtive, rat-like manner. This Wu Youdao was from the third cohort of the literacy class. He had trained for a long time at the garrison farm, and his clerical, arithmetic, and management skills were all decent — especially his ability to summarize. His only flaw was that he always put on a mysterious air. Liu Minyou couldn't stand this affectation of his and had demanded he correct it before, but Wu Youdao claimed he had difficulty with that, because he had originally been an itinerant fortune-telling charlatan, and that manner was soaked into his very bones.

Wu Youdao put on a pained expression. Liu Minyou continued lecturing him: "Mo Huaiwen is the Deputy Head of Civil Affairs. Even though his formal appointment hasn't come through yet, you still must not address him by his bare name. He has always been steady and reliable in his work — you should learn from him. Since Huaiwen has rushed here from Pingdu, it must be something important. Show him in." After Liu Minyou finished his instructions, Wu Youdao nodded and bowed his way out. A moment later, he ushered in Mo Huaiwen.

Mo Huaiwen's face was covered with the dust of travel and tinged with urgency. Mo Huaiwen had followed Liu Minyou for a long time. Although his final performance had somewhat surprised Liu Minyou, Liu still held him in high regard. He stood up and smiled. "Anything that makes Huaiwen rush here in such haste must be a matter of great importance."

Mo Huaiwen saluted hurriedly, then spoke: "Mr. Liu, the gentry and powerful families of Laizhou are staking claims and opening mines at Jinhua Mountain in Zhaoyuan. If we don't seize those gold mines, they will take them all."

As soon as Liu Minyou heard the word gold, a surge of excitement rose in his heart, but he paused and asked, "But before General Chen left, he instructed us to keep things stable for now, so as not to affect his audience at the capital."

Mo Huaiwen said anxiously, "Your subordinate had also forgotten this matter at the time. While surveying land in Pingdu, I discovered that many prominent households had family members returning from Zhaoyuan, which led to renewed land disputes. Tracing it back, I found that they are all digging for gold in Zhaoyuan. Many of the prominent Pingdu households wiped out by the mutinous troops also had mines in Zhaoyuan. Add to that the many gentry and local strongmen of Dengzhou, and Zhaoyuan has actually had many gold tunnels vacated, which are now being carved up by the various powerful families of Laizhou."

Liu Minyou hesitated. "Exactly how much gold can that place produce in a year? Why doesn't the government go mine it?"

"The richest gold deposits are around Jinhua Mountain in Zhaoyuan, and in the surrounding areas there are also Linglong, Wang'er Mountain, Canzhuang, Huangbuling, Ling Mountain, Hedong, Qian Sunjia, and other gold mines. Every mountain has hundreds or thousands of pits and tunnels. Since the start of spring, several thousand laborers have been panning for gold along the Gold-Washing River, most of them hired by the Laizhou strongmen. Annual gold production exceeds twenty thousand taels, plus several thousand taels of silver, most of it divided privately among the gentry and officials. The Dengzhou gentry were swept away by the mutiny — now the Laizhou gentry and strongmen are swarming in, on the verge of carving it all up. Yet this territory falls under Dengzhou's jurisdiction." (Note 1) Liu Minyou murmured, "With the new prefect not yet arrived, aren't they afraid of Wang Tingshi..."

Mo Huaiwen said urgently, "That day when Lord Chen passed through Pingdu, he mentioned that the Laizhou gentry had brawled with the military officers in Yexian. Your subordinate found it very strange at the time. Those gentry and licentiates are no fools — everyone knows they can't beat military officers in a fight. Why would they still provoke them? The truth is, they knew full well that Lord Chen was heading to the capital for an imperial audience, and they deliberately gave him a show of force. For a while, we all guessed it was over land disputes, and none of us perceived their true intent. Only now do I understand — they were warning Lord Chen not to contest those gold mines. If my speculation is correct, that very night Wang Tingshi had already accepted his share."

"Those dogs." Liu Minyou cursed under his breath. Back when Kong Youde took Huangxian, he had seized a large amount of gold, and the haul from Pingdu alone had exceeded fifty thousand taels. After the war, there were a thousand loose ends to tie up, and it was still winter — no one was working the mines. For a moment, they hadn't thought to seize a few of the major gold mines, and the local snakes of Laizhou had beaten them to it.

The moment Liu Minyou thought of twenty thousand taels of gold, he swallowed hard. That was one hundred fifty to one hundred sixty thousand taels of silver. The local deposits were gold-silver paragenetic ores, yielding several thousand taels of silver as well. And this was long-term work that could provide labor for several thousand refugees.

Liu Minyou raised his eyes to Mo Huaiwen. "What do you think?"

"Send some garrison farmers there to open mines. Let there be a fight or two, then request that Supervisor Lü, in the name of quelling unrest, dispatch combat troops to garrison the area."

Liu Minyou hesitated. That method essentially used the lives of the garrison farmers as a pretext. He shook his head slightly. "If this blows up, and people from Laizhou go to the capital to get a censor to impeach us, what then?"

"Mr. Liu, you hold Lord Chen's commission — you can mobilize the Intelligence Bureau to intercept and kill their messengers. Or, more simply, use some bandits to sack Jinhua Mountain, and then we, in the name of suppressing bandits, send troops to garrison Jinhua Mountain and the other areas, thereby taking possession of the gold mines."

"This..." Liu Minyou started to speak, then stopped. Mo Huaiwen stared at him, full of expectation. Although Chen Xin had given him authority to mobilize the garrison protection teams, those garrison farmers clearly lacked the capability to launch a raid on Zhaoyuan. Even bandits would be a stretch. In his heart, what he really wanted was to ask Liu Minyou to directly deploy Geng Zhongming's troops — kill a few hundred people, and no one would dare come anymore. Unfortunately, Geng Zhongming wasn't here either.

"Could this affect Lord Chen's imperial audience in the capital?"

Mo Huaiwen urged, "This matter must be done precisely now. Wang Tingshi has accepted gift money from the Laizhou crowd, and the sum is certainly not small. Once he returns, this will actually be harder to handle. Right now, Lü Zhi is in charge here and can keep Zhu Wannian in check. Seize the gold mines first, and when Wang Tingshi comes back, just give him his share as usual."

Liu Minyou silently calculated in his mind. Mo Huaiwen continued, "My lord, if we add the gold mines in Penglai, Yexian, and Huangxian, and take them all, that's at least thirty thousand taels of gold per year — equivalent to over two hundred thousand taels of silver. Even if we hire two or three thousand laborers, the annual cost at most is thirty thousand taels of silver. After deducting the shares distributed to officials and clerks at every level, there will certainly be over a hundred thousand taels a year."

Liu Minyou muttered to himself. Mo Huaiwen knew him very well and recognized that his old leader's hesitation sickness was acting up again. In Mo Huaiwen's view, Mr. Liu always had a tendency to show kindness at the wrong times. Just as he was about to press harder, Liu Minyou looked up and said to Mo Huaiwen, "Where are those captured mutineers from Dengzhou right now?"

Mo Huaiwen was taken aback. Quite a few had been captured before and after the Battle of Dengzhou. Those who had started looting back at Wuqiao had all been executed. The remaining two thousand-odd were mutineers and rioters from inside Dengzhou city, currently organized into road repair crews everywhere — what Lord Chen called labor reform. He immediately answered, "They're repairing roads in Ninghai Prefecture... What does Mr. Liu have in mind?"

"Transfer them to mine the gold. Equip them with some blades and spears. I'll also dispatch a unit of combat troops to guard them. Tell those prisoners that once they've seized the mines, those who perform well can be converted to miners, with monthly pay, and later they can receive land just like the garrison farmers."

Mo Huaiwen said with delighted surprise, "Lord Liu always comes up with the best solutions. These prisoners work eight two-hour shifts every day, worked until they're crying to heaven and earth. Now that they have this hope, they'll fight to the death for sure. Your subordinate is now at ease. Once we've taken the gold mines, there are still the iron mines in Rushan and other places — we'll seize them the same way."

Liu Minyou sighed. "This matter is decided. But as for when to begin, I still need to ask General Chen. Going to the capital means being on someone else's turf — it's always better to be prudent. Fortunately, relay horses can make the round trip in three or four days. Let those Laizhou strongmen dig a few more days. I see it clearly now — these parasites respond to neither soft nor hard tactics. They're the type who won't shed a tear until they see the coffin. Reasoning with them is a waste of breath."...

"Wendeng Cigarettes! Sir, are you here to buy rolled cigarettes? Come take a look at our shop — the only authentic Wendeng Cigarettes in Tianjin, right here." On the docks of Tianjin's South Canal, Deng Keshan, dressed in brocade robes and a jade belt, led five or six idlers, hawking all along the riverside street.

Last time, after Liu Minyou returned from the Four Cities battle, he had come up with the idea to free Li Ranzhu, and at the time Liu Minyou had agreed to let him be the agent for southern goods in Hejian Prefecture. Deng Keshan had a nimble mind. As a local boss of Tianjin, he knew very well that spices, tea, and sugar had no trouble selling. The year before last, he had obtained his broker's license. Not only did he trade goods along the canal, he also opened a southern goods store in Hejian Prefecture, sourcing exclusively from the Four Seas Trading Company in Tianjin. After rolled cigarettes hit the market last year, he keenly spotted the business opportunity and opened two cigarette shops in one go, one in Tianjin and one in Hejian Prefecture, becoming a man of modest wealth. Now he was practically tied to the Four Seas Trading Company, more zealous than the company's own clerks.

A merchant who had just disembarked from a ferry came over and asked in a Liaodong accent, "Real Wendeng or fake Wendeng? If it's fake, I'm not buying."

Deng Keshan hurriedly said, "Of course it's real. Those others are shoddy goods. Try the flavor — brother, let me tell you how to recognize genuine Wendeng Cigarettes. Take out the tobacco leaf and chew it raw — it has a mellow, wine-like taste. And when you smoke it, it's especially invigorating. Brother, try one."

Deng Keshan handed one to the merchant. The merchant looked at it, puzzled. "Why does this cigarette have a cotton butt? You're short a whole section of tobacco leaf for no reason."

Deng Keshan's face was all smiles. "That's not a cotton butt — that's the filter tip. This thing is only available from Dengzhou. It's soaked in over a dozen herbal medicines, all precious tonics. Dengzhou produces that, what's it called, sea dog whip — back in the day, Senior Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng used the stuff. Brother..." Deng Keshan said mysteriously, "With this sea dog whip, ten women in one night is nothing. But there's not much in each cigarette. When you buy the goods, you've got to tell everyone to smoke a few extra every day."

The merchant burst out laughing. "You're an amusing fellow, brother. I'll give it a try."

Deng Keshan eagerly lit it for him. The merchant took a drag. It was a mild, slightly mellow tobacco flavor, lacking the harsh, acrid sensation, but that faint numbing feeling on the mouth was still there. He immediately said, "You win. It's real Wendeng. Take me to your shop."

"Wang Er, quickly take this elder brother to the shop. Tell the shopkeeper — this elder brother is clearly a dragon among men, a phoenix among people. The price must be the very best." Deng Keshan shouted this out, and one of his idler underlings nodded and bowed as he led the customer to the Four Seas Trading Company next door.

Deng Keshan smugly hummed a tune from The Peony Pavilion under his breath. This was his fourth deal of the day. Since the start of the year, rolled cigarettes had been in short supply, and Deng Keshan's commissions had climbed steadily. Now that this filter-tip cigarette was out, Deng Keshan believed business would only get better and better.

He walked south along the riverbank. This area had many merchants from southern Beizhili and Shanxi. After crossing by ferry, they would disembark at one of several docks. The ferry boatmen had their own connections — when they overheard merchants talking on the boat about certain goods, they would steer toward the docks near shops they were familiar with. The brokers waiting on the docks could then get the first bite of the cherry.

Deng Keshan was thoroughly familiar with these tricks. At every dock, he had stationed two or three men to act as brokers, never letting a single potential client slip through. By now, he was a minor wealthy merchant himself, with twenty or thirty underlings under him, and he was well-connected among the locals. Moreover, Wendeng Cigarettes were sold exclusively by the Four Seas Trading Company, so both the underworld and the legitimate circles around the docks still gave him face and tried their best to send business his way.

Walking briskly like this, he reached the last ferry crossing. One of his underlings came running over, face bruised and swollen. Deng Keshan's expression darkened, and he bellowed, "Was it those bastards from Linqing again?"

The underling said tearfully, "It was them. They bribed the boatmen to steer customers to their cigarette shop. They know their cigarettes can't compare to Wendeng Cigarettes. When they saw customers about to arrive, they started beating us two, forcing us to leave the dock. Dumbass was knocked unconscious and is still lying there..."

The idlers behind Deng Keshan all started cursing in unison. Deng Keshan waved his hand. "Brothers, all of you, go call in the troops — street fighters, hired toughs, hangers-on — anyone you can round up, get them here. Today we're smashing his motherfucking Linqing cigarette shop."