Chapter 12: Undercurrents

"My surname is Li... the Li of 'eighteen and a child'... just call me Li You."

"How can that be? You are a scholar with an official degree!"

Li You was truly unaccustomed to titles like "Xianggong" or "Master Xiucai." At this moment, he sat on a broken bench nearby, having just washed with water, finally rid of bloodstains and sour stench, feeling very cool all over.

Wa Qingyun had made up the bed; seeing Li You in a set of clean white undergarments, he stroked his forehead, seriously pondering something.

This scene made him feel inferior for a moment; Li You's every move and word were out of place in this Shanzhai, even different from all the scholars he had ever seen.

Ethereal, gentle, quiet, steady, kind...

Simply sitting there quietly, like a person in a painting, as if not of this world... in short, the feeling was strange, but it was precisely this indescribable temperament of Li You's that made him unable to stop wanting to draw near.

"Thank you truly."

Li You sincerely thanked Wa Qingyun, who had been bustling about; this was the side room of Cao Er's courtyard. There were naturally no single rooms, so they had to squeeze onto the large communal bed with Wa Qingyun and others, and he had even insisted on bringing Wu Dading along.

The eye-stinging foot odor at night left him no time to think; coupled with days of travel, he was indeed extremely exhausted. Seeing Wu Dading no longer had a fever, he lay down and his consciousness immediately blurred.

But in the main room on the other side, Cao Er sat comfortably by the earthen kang. A little girl of about eight or nine, named Song Man, was squatting and scrubbing his feet; the soles of his feet were already scrubbed red, yet they still itched unbearably.

Sitting opposite him were his two confidants, Shi Jiu'en and Xu Lifang.

"Why has a Xiucai suddenly arrived?" Shi Jiu'en spoke up.

"Heh, whether he is a Xiucai is not yet certain..."

Cao Er puffed on a dry pipe, using a bamboo tube fitted with a bowl and mouthpiece, filled with some waxy yellow tobacco dust.

Smoking in Great Ming had become the norm; according to Zhang Jiebin's "Complete Book of Jingyue," tobacco was first introduced from overseas during the Wanli reign, concentrating in the southeast coastal regions, later brought into border armies by the Qi family army. During the Tianqi and Chongzhen reigns, even Huang Taiji had a huge addiction, using tobacco as a precious item to reward the lords of the Manchu and Mongol banners.

As for how tobacco from those bitter cold lands was obtained, only heaven knows.

"Could he be a fake?" Xu Lifang suddenly became alert.

"Not necessarily, but his student license has some problems. I have heard of his academic teacher Li Qian, but never heard of any tutor named Song Xiance. Secondly, the name is wrong; the gap in the missing character... no matter how you look at it, it should be a double name, not a single name 'You'!"

Shi Jiu'en couldn't even read large characters, so naturally he didn't understand these things. He asked with concern: "Did the Big Master send him? What for? To act as the accountant?"

His eyes were somewhat wary; the salt wells and iron mines in Nanshan were a delicacy. Originally, these salt well mines belonged to the public during the Wanli reign, but were bought by the An family during the Tianqi reign.

At this time, the mining process was much the same as in later generations; whether it was a merchant's tax license or the government inviting merchants to supervise, one must first confirm the qualifications of the Furnace Chief and Head Jia, then establish a Small Jia for every ten people, fill in personal information, and after audit approval, finally issue the license, only then could they operate legally.

Furthermore, there were quotas for mining wells and smelting furnaces, limiting the scale; increases were not permitted. If caught by the Patrol Commissioner, the Furnace Chief and Head Jia would be punished.

At the same time, licenses restricted mining time; upon expiration, operations must cease.

Of course, all these were the words of the "Great Ming Code"; in actual operation, there were huge differences. By the mid-Ming, basically no one followed them; otherwise, where would thousands, or even tens of thousands, of miners come from?

In the Chongzhen era, the world was in great disorder; mainly because the mining industry was terrible, mines gathered many brave and aggressive men, including some bandits and local rebels, who often led miners to "incite rebellion." Local governments and wealthy families were all afraid.

So the An family distributed most of the salt and iron business profits to the gentry of Mianxian, with the Cao family gaining the most.

The Cao family also felt the world was too chaotic; normal production was definitely impossible. So they had Cao Er step forward, selecting Wu Zhuge who was then entrenched at Shidingyuan, and Zhang Zhuanggen who was entrenched at Nulang Mountain, to act in collusion, seize the mountain and establish a Shanzhai, forming the current situation of official bandits.

At that time, based on their respective strengths, the seating order was set. Cao Er brought some Retainers, then gathered a group of hooligans and ruffians from all walks of life in the city, becoming the Second Master of Longmen Bandits, in charge of salt well refining, as well as iron mining and smelting.

Once the salt and iron were smelted, they were all transported to Mianxian or merchant groups in Hanzhong Fucheng.

In feudal chaotic times, salt and iron were undoubtedly military hardware businesses. When salt prices were lowest, naturally during the reign of the foolish emperor Wanli, the market price of salt was only three li of silver per jin in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and four li of silver per jin in Guangdong and Guangxi.

Refined salt in Fujian and other places was the cheapest; one dou of salt was sixteen jin, highest at four li of silver, cheapest at two li.

As for now, salt prices have long soared to two fen and three li of silver, and it is very likely coarse rock salt or salt residue bricks. The profit margin at this price is at least thirty to fifty times, a huge profit.

And steel prices were also outrageous; around the eleventh year of Chongzhen, one jin of Suzhou steel in Southern Zhili cost about five taels and three qian. Currently, it is estimated to start at least six taels. One tael of silver, converted to grain, equals 700 RMB in later generations, so one jin of Suzhou steel is about 4200 yuan. Does this count as being completely off the charts? Of course, such conversion ignores social productivity and is not accurate enough.

But think about it; one jin of iron cannot even make a knife. For poor people, even wanting to say "Do we not have a surname?" might be impossible, because they have no iron tools.

Cao Er was thinking that the demand for iron materials was extremely high recently, estimating it could fetch a good price. Hearing Shi Jiu'en's question, he roughly recounted Li You's performance today.

"Hmm? Is this person a fortune-telling charlatan?"

Shi Jiu'en frowned and said: "What if Wu Datou really believes this fellow's slander? Later, will we really attack... the county town and rebel?"

Shi Jiu'en originally wanted to say "attack Great Ming," but held his tongue. He was originally a Yamen Runner in the fast class of Mianxian; after committing a major murder, he followed Cao Er up the mountain. Deep down, he did not wish for Great Ming to fall.

"Nonsense! Rebel against what?"

Cao Er's face immediately turned cold. What a joke; he did not wish for Great Ming to fall.

The Cao family had received imperial grace for generations. Though there were no high officials, there were still Jiansheng, Post Station Masters, and Jail Wardens. He himself, this illegitimate son, though not following the Cao surname, was only one stroke away, after all, still a person of the Cao family.

"Then keeping this Xiucai is a disaster! I fear he is a spy sent by the Big Master to our Nanzhai!"

Xu Lifang was full of murderous intent, startling the little girl beside him who was washing Cao Er's feet, making her shiver.

Cao Er shook his head and said: "At noon, a letter suddenly came from Guanzi Mountain, saying they wanted to form a joint venture to steal Pingli and Xing'an. This is a deal that earns nothing whether won or lost.

Our mighty Big Master was afraid that if Zhang Sihu succeeded in stealing the pass, the rebels would retaliate later, so he immediately chickened out. Moreover, Gu Laosan and the fourth were somewhat inclined, leaving me alone with a single tree unable to support the sky; so I deliberately gave this Xiucai a chance to speak..."

Speaking here, Cao Er couldn't help but get angry: "This fellow started off speaking well, but who knew he was so ghostly and chatty with all sorts of nonsense about heavenly timing and earthly advantages, turning Wu Datou into a chosen one of heaven, and even portraying him as a capable assistant, making Wu Datou stand there dumbfounded...

Looking at Wu Datou's expression, he probably really thought he had become a king-like figure, even showing some intent to contend for the world. He immediately made a decision, making him some kind of dog-head military advisor. It was truly a ridiculous absurdity!"

Shi Jiu'en urged: "Wu Datou, Zhang Zhuanggen, and this group are indispensable allies for us. Among our men, only Mu Qianjun, Chen Shu, Qi Jingkun, and Zhang Zhengxiong have seen blood; the rest are far from good at fighting and killing.

Moreover, capturing young men to serve as miners is impossible without them. If they leave to form a joint venture, those people in the north will eat this piece of fat meat!"

Cao Er naturally knew that the group in the north Shi Jiu'en mentioned was Pig Boss from Qigang Mountain, originally named Chu Xinxia, a salt smuggler by trade, claiming his ancestors followed Chen Youliang.

He originally surnamed Zhu; later, when the Zhu family gained the world, he changed his surname to Chu to avoid taboo. His real name was forgotten by everyone. He was called Pig Boss. His subordinates were mostly soldiers and bandits and salt smugglers, all desperate men, cruel and fond of killing.

In the eleventh year, he once attacked Mianxian, Chenggu, and other county towns with Li Chuan, slaughtering many surrounding villages.

Mianxian Magistrate Zhao Yiru organized two militia campaigns to suppress them, but both ended without result.

"Do not start unless you finish; kill him! This kind of person is just like the evil monk Yao Guangxiao. Even if Wu Datou was not bewitched by him today to raise a banner, sooner or later it will happen! At that time, we will not only lose the iron mines, but we will have a hard time explaining to the Cao family, An family, and other wealthy families!"

Xu Lifang was a thorough conservative, very satisfied with the current iron mine business; he did not want anyone to disrupt it.

"I fear offending Wu Datou!"

"Sigh, what kind of person is Wu Datou? Does he really have that bloodthirstiness? Bulllying commoners is like wolves and tigers, but fighting hard battles? If he really had that ability, he would have dealt with Pig Boss right under his nose long ago."

Xu Lifang spat and continued: "Hmph, at the very least, he could have wiped out the water bandits at Mao'er Ba, right? But he fears wolves in front and tigers behind, hesitating and fumbling. What great thing can such a person achieve! So, I guess tomorrow he will go back and have a good time with Dayun'er, forgetting all about the ambition to contend for the world completely."

Cao Er looked up at Xu Lifang for a long while, saying nothing for a moment. Xu Lifang's words were contradictory, but these were not the point. The point was they really did not want any variables to appear, disrupting the stable business here, and currently, this Li You absolutely could not be taken lightly.

After a moment, he nodded and said, "I saw that scholar was very concerned about the man with the sprained ankle. Whether that person is his servant boy or not, start with him!"

"Understood." Shi Jiu'en clasped his hands in salute, then prepared to withdraw with Xu Lifang to arrange this matter.

Just as they reached the threshold, Cao Er added, "Leave some room for retreat; try not to use our own people... Tian Si was in a bad mood today after being thwarted..."

Tian Si was a burly, broad-shouldered man from Long'an Prefecture. Born to a butcher, he loved brawling and was addicted to gambling. For this, he sold his wife and daughter. With no other options, he began smuggling salt, which led to two more deaths. Finally, he simply went up the mountain and raised a banner, later joining Zhang Zhuanggen's ranks to become a capable lieutenant.

Xu Lifang understood first and flattered, "Second Master is indeed Second Master. With words like that, even if Wu Datou gets angry, it won't be our problem..."

When Li You woke up, the sun was already shining on the threshold, and not a single shadow was visible in the side room.

"Wu Dading?"

Li You hurriedly jumped off the bed. Before he even left the courtyard, he collided full-force with a little maid. It was Song Man, who served Cao Er. Song Man was only nine years old; how could she withstand his impact? She tumbled onto the eaves gutter and began to wail.

"Ah... sorry, sorry, sorry... are you okay?"

Li You quickly picked Song Man up. Song Man blinked her eyes, looked around, then leaned her small mouth close to Li You's ear...