Chapter 137: Hired Hands

137. Chapter 137: Hired Hands

At this, Prefect Tong suddenly recalled — Zhao Jin's bloody battle south of the city had been deemed a righteous act. Since it was never a criminal case, it naturally hadn't left a deep impression. Prefect Tong patted the tea table and said, "Could it be that Zhao Jin who killed the kidnappers and saved the people?"

"Your Honor is astute — it is indeed that youth. It's truly astonishing. In less than half a month, and at such a young age, he's already taken nearly thirty lives. Unthinkable!" Adviser Wang said with a smile.

Hearing "nearly thirty lives," Prefect Tong's heart gave a sudden jolt. The authorities certainly wield power, but they must also back down when faced with someone too formidable. The moment he heard Zhao Jin was this fierce, his inclination to defend scholarly dignity and face immediately diminished by a few degrees.

Prefect Tong pondered for a moment, lifted his teacup, and said, "That Yang Zhongping has always been of loose conduct. A lesson won't do him any harm. Adviser Wang, no need to go — stay and have some tea."

While these conversations were taking place in the prefectural offices, Zhao Jin was also receiving a visitor in that private courtyard.

Chen Sheng was outside leading the men in training. Just as Zhao Jin had initially judged, although his companions had been introduced to the drills at the same time as the household guards, the speed and depth of their mastery far outstripped the others. After a dozen or so days, the companions were already nearly qualified instructors. Among them, Chen Sheng and Dong Bingfeng were especially outstanding — on reflection, perhaps it had something to do with their families' military backgrounds.

These days, Wang Zhaojing spent every day reading in the courtyard. When he tired of reading, he would practice martial arts on his own. Whenever Zhao Jin received guests and discussed matters, if his presence was not required to be avoided, he would sit quietly to one side and listen.

Zhao Jin sat ramrod straight in his chair. He deliberately maintained this meticulous posture. Zhao Jin understood the significance of leading by example — if he was going to strictly train his subordinates, then he himself had to serve as a proper model.

This bearing of his exerted immense pressure on the people facing him. To say nothing of anything else, the name Zhao Jin alone was enough to make the prefect's heart pound, let alone ordinary commoners. The two men standing before Zhao Jin were on the verge of dropping to their knees.

"You say that Xuzhou is currently unsuitable for brewing liquor?" Zhao Jin asked in a deep voice.

If Sun Dalei hadn't introduced them — saying the older one was forty-three and the younger one thirty-eight — Zhao Jin would have thought both men before him were in their fifties or sixties.

The man in his forties was named Lu Xiangjiu. His family's ancestral distillery had shut down ten years ago. Now he owned a little over a hundred mu of land outside the city, which his whole family toiled over, barely qualifying as a small landlord. The man in his thirties was surnamed Su, had no given name, and went by his birth order — Su Da. He had originally worked at a distillery, starting as an apprentice at eleven and working his way up to become a master craftsman handling the firing and mashing. After the distillery closed, he had been scraping by as a laborer along the Yellow River outside the city.

These two men were unaware of Zhao Jin's fearsome reputation, but looking at those household guards training outside, and then at the exceptionally graceful Wang Zhaojing nearby, they had already concluded in their hearts that Zhao Jin was a truly formidable figure, a noble young master. Though they were puzzled as to why this young lord would want to question them so meticulously about the liquor-brewing process — and was clearly enjoying the conversation — they were already trembling with fear.

Hearing Zhao Jin's counter-question, Lu Xiangjiu shuddered and hurriedly answered, "Replying to the young master, it truly won't work."

"It could be done in previous years. Why won't it work now?" Zhao Jin asked gently.

At the side, Wang Zhaojing's attention had already drifted from his book. He was watching the room with curiosity, listening intently to every word.

"Replying to the young master, in previous years the Grand Canal passed right by our Xuzhou's doorstep, and there was a Ministry of Revenue granary inside the city. Grain prices were very cheap, so the distilleries could turn a profit. Now the grain no longer travels our way, and grain prices have risen along with that. There's simply no money to be made in brewing liquor..."

Lu Xiangjiu had run a distillery after all, and was thoroughly familiar with the entire process. In the past, when vast quantities of grain passed through Xuzhou, the cost of brewing was low. Now grain prices had risen considerably, and brewing was unprofitable.

At the words "unprofitable" and "grain prices have risen," Zhao Jin's brow arched slightly. He mused, then asked, "There's quite a lot of sorghum grown outside the city. The price should be cheap, shouldn't it?"

As the conversation progressed, Lu Xiangjiu and Su Da's nervousness had greatly subsided. They hadn't dealt with liquor for many years, and now that the topic had come up, it stirred many old memories.

"Sorghum?" Su Da asked in astonishment, then gave a bitter smile and said, "Young master, sorghum is indeed not expensive. That stuff guarantees a harvest whether it's drought or flood. Last year it was two hundred wen per dan, and the year before just over two hundred. But using sorghum as the base to brew liquor — the liquor is simply undrinkable."

Lu Xiangjiu at the side chimed in as well: "Su Da is right. Liquor made from sorghum tastes terrible and is far too harsh. Drinking it is like having an axe cleave right into your forehead. Even if you made it, it couldn't fetch a good price. Only the poorest wretches would be willing to buy it. I've heard they sell it to the northern barbarians — that could fetch a high price, but you can't count on that. To truly make good liquor, you can only use rice or wheat. But doing that now, there's simply no money to be made."

At the analogy of "an axe cleaving the forehead," both Zhao Jin and Wang Zhaojing burst out laughing, and the atmosphere in the room relaxed considerably.

If that were the case, brewing liquor couldn't possibly turn a profit. Wang Zhaojing turned his head to look at Zhao Jin. To his surprise, there was no trace of disappointment on Zhao Jin's face — he seemed even more animated. Zhao Jin smiled and continued asking, "With so many people making liquor in the past, was it all bought and drunk by locals? Now that so many distilleries have closed, has everyone around here lost their taste for it?"

The remark was amusing, and everyone laughed. Lu Xiangjiu bowed and said, "Young master, before the Jia River was opened, Xuzhou's markets were prosperous. There were many wealthy people and many drinkers. But half the volume was sold out on the river."

On the river? Zhao Jin wasn't sure whether the man meant the Grand Canal or the Yellow River. Su Da picked up the thread: "The canal laborers spend months on end sailing, only a few months ashore all year. They all love to drink to pass the time. And when the grain barges passed through Weishan Lake, you could sell the liquor there too. The traveling merchants would also want a few drinks. Not to mention, the boatmen on the Yellow River were much the same as the canal laborers."

So they were talking about the Grand Canal. So that was where the market had been. Wang Zhaojing closed his book. Although he knew nothing about business or brewing, he could draw a conclusion from what he'd just heard: making liquor in Xuzhou didn't pay.

The raw material could only be rice or wheat, yet Xuzhou didn't even produce enough of either for its own needs and had to import them from outside — at no low price. Using them for brewing made the cost far too high. Sorghum was cheap and abundant, but the liquor it produced was harsh and vile in taste, and couldn't fetch any decent price. Not to mention Xuzhou was in decline — the local market couldn't absorb the liquor, and with the Grand Canal rerouted to the Jia River, Xuzhou could no longer sell to the canal traffic. High costs, no market — the whole endeavor was utterly pointless.

Yet Wang Zhaojing couldn't shake the feeling that there was something he was missing, because he felt that whatever he could think of, Zhao Jin would certainly have thought of too.

"Ah, Shandong is suffering from disaster again. I've heard there are people trading children to eat. I'm afraid even the price of sorghum is going to rise," Lu Xiangjiu remarked with a sigh.

Trading children to eat — what a horrific human tragedy. Wang Zhaojing felt a shudder in his heart at the words. But from the perspective of the matter at hand, a famine in Shandong would inevitably require grain to be requisitioned from all around, and the common people would be buying it up themselves. In Xuzhou, adjacent to Shandong, grain prices would surely rise as well — making brewing even more unprofitable.

Wang Zhaojing kept his thoughts to himself, his expression remaining impassive. Inside, he was brimming with curiosity, eager to see what Zhao Jin would do next.

"Are there any distilleries inside the city?"

"A few, all in the south of the city. At present, only one should still be operating."

"If the equipment is all there, can you start brewing liquor as soon as work begins?"

Lu Xiangjiu and Su Da exchanged a glance. Both were somewhat baffled. They had just said so much and made it perfectly clear — brewing liquor in Xuzhou simply couldn't make money. Yet this young master before them still wanted to brew. Could it be that some rich young lord wanted to do it for amusement? But although Zhao Jin was young, his bearing was exceedingly steady — he didn't seem the type to act recklessly.

"Though we haven't touched any mash these past years, as long as we have the equipment and the grain, we can certainly produce liquor," Lu Xiangjiu said with great confidence. Su Da at his side nodded in agreement.

Zhao Jin nodded and said, "Three taels of silver per person per month in wages, with room and board provided, and one year paid in advance. Are you willing to work for me?"

The moment that price was spoken, the room fell utterly silent. Lu Xiangjiu and Su Da forgot all about deference. They looked at each other, then raised their heads and asked blankly, "Young master, you mean each person gets three taels a month, with one year's pay given... given in advance, and room and board on top of that?"

Su Da could barely get the words out as he asked, his voice trembling. Lu Xiangjiu was staring fixedly at Zhao Jin as well. Even Wang Zhaojing at the side turned his face to look at Zhao Jin. The companions were only getting two taels of silver a month right now, yet he was offering this much money to these two utterly unremarkable brewers.

Though he had little experience with practical livelihood matters, Wang Zhaojing still had a rough grasp of the going rates. For an ordinary shop hand, during the three years of apprenticeship, having enough to eat was considered good — wages were not something one could hope to receive. Even if wages were paid, three taels a year was considered exceptionally generous. Yet Zhao Jin was offering three taels a month with room and board — it was far too unreasonable.

Wang Zhaojing was about to speak up and advise against it, but Zhao Jin glanced at him with a smile. He hesitated, then abandoned the thought. The wages were unreasonable, but they weren't unaffordable. And everything Zhao Jin did had its reasons — Wang Zhaojing decided to let it go.

Zhao Jin nodded with a smile and then said, "The silver can be produced upfront. As long as you sign the contract, the silver is yours."

An expression of excitement appeared on Su Da's face. Lu Xiangjiu, however, had a family and a livelihood, and was far more cautious. He asked carefully, "Young master, may we humble folk ask someone from the yamen to come and witness it?"

"You may. Once the contract is drawn up, you can find someone you know to look it over first. If you find it unsatisfactory or don't feel at ease, simply don't sign," Zhao Jin said with a smile.

Hearing this explanation, Lu Xiangjiu and Su Da grew even more agitated. At this, Zhao Jin's smile faded and he said, "I am a man of rules. As long as you put your heart into following the rules, you needn't worry about wages or anything else. But if you break the rules, I am not one to show any leniency. You live outside the city and may not have heard of me. When you leave, go and ask around about me. Once that contract is signed, there will be no room for regret."