Chapter 177: The Workshop

"Young Master Huang, are you satisfied with the current situation?" Cheng Lin asked with a beaming smile.

Cheng Lin, who was past forty, was the manager of the Four Seas Trading Company's Hangzhou branch. After receiving instructions from the head office in the capital a month ago, he had traveled around and arrived at Chang'an Town, which had numerous weaving households, to seek suitable partners. After several days of inquiries, he found Huang Bin.

Cheng Lin had originally been the chief manager of several shops that Fan Yongdou had set up in Taiyuan City, shrewd in handling affairs and smooth in his methods. When the Four Seas Trading Company took over all the Shanxi merchants' assets, they retained all the original personnel, and their positions were barely moved, allowing Cheng Lin to continue managing the Four Seas Trading Company's business in Taiyuan.

Later, because the trading company wanted to expand its operations in the Jiangnan region, Cheng Lin was transferred to Hangzhou Prefecture, where he acquired a poorly managed silk and satin shop in the city as a foothold, then sought opportunities to engage in other businesses.

Having been in Hangzhou for over two months, Cheng Lin spent his days wandering around to gain a general understanding of his surroundings.

Last month he received instructions to find a suitable location to establish an unprecedented large-scale silk workshop, aiming to make a resounding debut in the Hangzhou area and, as much as possible, secure pricing power over silk.

Many principles of doing business are interconnected. Although he still had only a superficial understanding of silk workshops, that did not prevent Cheng Lin, with his years of business experience, from quickly grasping the key point—establishing such a workshop required being in a place with a large number of weaving households.

After making some inquiries, Cheng Lin appeared in Chang'an Town.

In the guest hall of the Huang family's main house, Huang Bin and Cheng Lin sat facing each other. The two had already been conversing for a while, the topic being Huang Bin's family and the silk weaving matters of Chang'an Town.

Huang Bin spoke up: "To be honest with you, Master Cheng, although my family's household is currently quite well-off, I feel that if I had more silver on hand, it would be even better to expand my own workshop a bit more."

Cheng Lin nodded with satisfaction and smiled: "Young Master Huang, this old man wants to discuss a serious matter with you. After you hear it, would you give me your answer?"

Huang Bin nodded and said: "Master Cheng, please speak freely. I'm all ears!"

Cheng Lin put away his smile, stared into Huang Bin's eyes, and said seriously: "If someone were to provide the capital to build a large workshop accommodating several hundred people, devoted exclusively to silk weaving; hire you as the workshop manager with a monthly salary of five taels of silver, and give you a ten percent dry share, how would you answer?"

Huang Bin was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, his mind racing, and instantly arrived at an answer: if such a good thing truly existed, he would certainly agree!

He clasped his fists in salute to Cheng Lin and said: "Master Cheng, what you just said—surely you're not fooling me? If such a grand workshop could be built, the silver earned in a year would be tremendous! May I ask, sir, who is willing to invest in such a great undertaking?"

Having been engaged in weaving for nearly ten years, he naturally understood how thick the profits from silk weaving were. His own household had only five looms, and after deducting workers' wages, meals, and other miscellaneous expenses, he could net over forty taels of pure profit a year—that sum was already considered a fairly high income at the time.

But that silver was earned with great hardship; there was not a single idle day throughout the year. If he became a workshop manager, not only would his annual salary be slightly higher than his current earnings, he would also have a ten percent dry share. If the workshop had a hundred looms, the annual profit would approach a thousand taels, and his ten percent share would be nearly a hundred taels. Added together, his annual income would be around a hundred and fifty taels—far better than working on his own.

Cheng Lin smiled: "So it seems Young Master Huang is inclined to accept?"

Huang Bin nodded repeatedly and said: "If this is truly the case, I would be very willing to do it! My parents at home would not stop me either!"

Cheng Lin smiled: "Since Young Master Huang has agreed to this matter, then let this old man tell you—the Four Seas Trading Company in the capital is going to build a large workshop in Chang'an Town capable of housing two hundred looms. This old man is the manager of the company's Hangzhou branch, so this matter is entirely under my charge! As long as Young Master Huang is willing to serve as workshop manager, all related matters will be handled by our Four Seas Trading Company!"

The Four Seas Trading Company? Having only ever been to Haining County town since childhood and rarely dealing with others, Huang Bin had never heard this name before.

Seeing his bewildered expression, Cheng Lin smiled and said: "It's only natural for Young Master Huang to have doubts. Once the workshop begins construction, you'll be at ease! The reason this old man took a liking to you is that I made inquiries among many townsfolk; many people praised you for being quick-witted, supremely skilled, and moreover honest and kind-hearted. After your family had surplus wealth, you often helped your neighbors, which is why I sought you out!"

Huang Bin waved both hands in refusal and said modestly: "I don't deserve the townsfolk's praise! Everything I've done is merely within my means. As for my family's circumstances, we have food and clothing without worry, and life is passable. Having some surplus strength to help others is only my duty!"

Cheng Lin nodded with satisfaction and said: "Young Master Huang is generous in helping those in need—worthy of praise! Now, regarding the workshop matter, this old man still has some things he doesn't understand and must ask clearly!"

Huang Bin clasped his fists and said: "Sir, please speak frankly. I will tell everything I know!"

Cheng Lin picked up his tea and took a sip, then set down the coarse porcelain cup and said: "Then this old man will get straight to the point! I think building the workshop is not difficult, and the looms are even less of a concern. What I want to know is—are hired workers easy to find? How much is the daily wage? How many workers in total would be needed?"

Huang Bin answered without a moment's thought: "Sir, let me describe my own situation and you'll understand: my household has five looms and twelve hired workers, each paid thirty-five wen per day, with two meals provided, working from the hour of Chen to the hour of You. The various households in town are roughly the same, with little difference. As for the two hundred looms you mentioned, sir, that would require hiring over four hundred people. As long as wages are paid daily without arrears, workers are easy to find—there are over two thousand weaving households in town, and counting the old, young, women, and children weavers, there must be five to six thousand people!"

Cheng Lin clicked his tongue in amazement: "The town has a total population of over ten thousand—are you saying most of them can weave silk?"

Huang Bin smiled proudly: "I can't say most can weave silk, but at least half or more can! As long as the workshop is built and wages are reasonable, workers won't be hard to find!"

After pondering for a moment, Cheng Lin spoke: "The workers hired by the workshop will receive forty wen per day, with two meals provided. Those who weave silk especially well will have their wages increased further!"

The various account books of the Four Seas Trading Company, along with the documents from shops in various regions, were placed upon the imperial desk in the Qianqing Palace. Looking at the thick stack of materials, Zhu Youjian couldn't help but feel his head ache.

As a liberal arts student, he had never been sensitive to numbers and was quite averse to them. Moreover, he couldn't quite understand the ancients' bookkeeping methods. Besides, these account books had already been audited by dedicated personnel before being sent to him, so there was no need for him to examine each one.

Picking up a few volumes of documents from the newly established prefecture and county branches of the trading company, Zhu Youjian was fairly satisfied with the efficiency of the Four Seas Trading Company.

Following Zhu Youjian's instructions, the trading company had established a large workshop in Hangzhou Prefecture with two hundred looms and over four hundred hired workers; in Yanshen Town of Qingzhou Prefecture, Shandong, and in Jingde Town of Raozhou Prefecture, Jiangxi, they had respectively acquired or newly built three civilian kilns, hiring several hundred technicians and kiln workers. At present, these workshops and kilns had all begun normal operations.

The profits generated by these workshops and kilns themselves were of little consequence—what mattered most was that the silk and porcelain they produced would be distributed across the land by the Four Seas Trading Company at several times the profit margin, while also driving the development of local industries. That was the most important thing.

Scaling up was imperative; small handcraft workshops would gradually be phased out.

Wouldn't this harm the practitioners? On the contrary, they would benefit even more.

Because the Four Seas Trading Company had set the bar high from the very beginning.

The wages paid by the workshops were higher than others, which would benefit the vast majority of people. Although a small number of small workshop operators would face impact, this old man believed they would find suitable roles for themselves in the process and would certainly not lose their sources of income because of it.

The trading company had also purchased a five-hundred-liao merchant vessel in Quanzhou, Fujian, and hired experienced captains and sailors who regularly plied the seas at great expense, preparing to attempt the route to Luzon. After accumulating experience, they would purchase larger and more merchant ships.

The measures to propel the Great Ming forward had already begun full implementation. Though not yet comprehensive, at least they had been put into action. Now all that was needed was patient waiting, with adjustments made along the way as circumstances required.

Nothing could be accomplished overnight, especially such a monumental undertaking equivalent to changing heaven and altering fate. It required a very long process, and the road was quite tortuous and difficult to traverse.

The current course of history had already changed; he could no longer judge and plan based on historical records.

It was now the twelfth month of the ninth year of Chongzhen. In just over twenty days, the court and various local governments would enter their year-end holiday. Many matters would have to wait until the tenth year of Chongzhen.

Two months ago, members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard who had entered Liaodong under various identities had been sending back all kinds of intelligence from time to time, including content about the military clans of Liaodong secretly communicating with the Jianzhou barbarians—though the specific goods being traded between the two sides and the quantities remained unknown.

This piece of intelligence confirmed Zhu Youjian's suspicion that the Liaodong military clans were indeed nurturing bandits to enhance their own importance.

Zhu Youjian had originally thought that he would be extremely furious once his suspicions were confirmed, but unexpectedly, after reading it, he felt no great turmoil in his heart.

In truth, he had long known that his judgment was correct. The reason he had dispatched the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate in secret was merely that he had hoped he was wrong.

This problem had absolutely not arisen only now, nor was it a one-time occurrence. The Jianzhou barbarians had gradually grown strong precisely because the Liaodong military clans had contributed no small measure to it.

From their own perspective, there was nothing wrong with what they did. As long as the Jianzhou barbarians existed, the Liaodong military clans could maintain their special status within the Great Ming and preserve their current glory and wealth.

But the Zu Dashous of the world had misjudged the ambitions of the Jianzhou barbarians. Their actions were undoubtedly akin to raising a tiger that would bring disaster upon themselves.

What measures should be taken to prohibit such behavior entirely?

Although the country had largely settled down for now, the troops Zhu Youjian could control were not yet strong enough to completely replace the Liaodong warlords.

Sun Chuanting's Qin army was far away in the northwest, and Cao Wenzhao and his nephew were even further west. Moreover, according to Zhu Youjian's decree, Sun Chuanting and Cao Wenzhao were each to form large-scale cavalry forces, which would take one to two years to become battle-ready.

Lu Xiangsheng and Huang Degong were still engaged in suppressing Zhang Xianzhong and the Five Camps of Ge and Zuo in the Huguang region. Even if the roving bandits were quickly wiped out, the soldiers under their command deserved ample rest.

Especially Lu Xiangsheng's Tianxiong Army—since its formation in the second year of Chongzhen, it had been fighting ceaselessly in various places, and the soldiers were already exhausted beyond measure. Were it not for Lu Xiangsheng's personal charisma, war-weariness would have erupted long ago.

Hong Chengchou's forces faced the same problem.

No matter how later generations might denigrate Zuo Liangyu, He Renlong, Zuo Guangxian, Ai Wannian, and others, these men had so far committed no excessive acts and had instead been quite brave and tenacious in battle against the bandits.

As for the various disgraceful behaviors they displayed in later history—abandoning their commanding generals and fleeing for their lives, arbitrarily killing innocent people to claim merit, being arrogant and disobeying court orders—these were more the actions of men who, having despaired of the Great Ming psychologically, had given up all hope and let themselves go.

These generals and the soldiers under them had likewise been fighting for many years. The psychological distortion and suppression caused by war-weariness had reached a critical point. If they were not given timely rest and rewards, and were instead transferred to dangerous regions, uncontrollable behavior might well occur.