Chapter 539: The Cart Guilds

Over the years, Qingjiangpu had long since established its rules. All cart and horse work was assigned by seven brokerages. The brokerages themselves owned no carts or drivers; carters working the Qingjiangpu area would register their names at a brokerage, which then assigned the work. The porterage fees were split proportionally among everyone.

The brokerages were reasonably fair about it — otherwise the work would be snatched away by a competitor. Still, there was a rough division of territory, assigning regions and destinations. The two largest firms were Tongbei, which ran in the same direction as the grain tribute route, heading to Shandong and Northern Zhili, and Zhongyuan, which went to Henan. Another was Xu Fengxiang, which covered the Xuzhou-Fengyang circuit. Those were the overland routes. The remaining brokerages either handled specialized business — for instance, several major Jiangnan silk and cotton merchants used one particular firm exclusively — or covered the other prefectures and counties of Southern Zhili north of the Yangzi. Some also took on odd jobs, catering specifically to travelers.

It went without saying that those who could land work with Tongbei and Zhongyuan earned the most. A single trip lasted several months; a few runs a year and you were set. Xu Fengxiang's advantage was that it was easy — you could make more trips. As for the other outfits, working was better than not working. At least there was a livelihood to feed yourself and your horse.

Nearly ten thousand carts, nearly ten thousand carters. Even after subtracting those directly employed by the big merchant houses and various other concerns, several thousand remained. With so many carts, who wouldn't want the well-paying, easy jobs?

At Tongbei and Zhongyuan, each convoy dispatched at least a dozen carts. Martial escorts guarded the road, and the checkpoints at every prefecture along the way were all properly squared away. Before departure, thirty percent of the porterage was advanced. Once the goods were delivered, they'd even arrange a return job for you, and the porterage was settled promptly. Work like that was naturally good. After a few years, you could buy a brand-new cart. As for Xu Fengxiang, the route was short and easy. Finish one run and you could come back for more jobs. If you were lucky enough to go to Xuzhou and could bring back a few jars of the famous Han Well wine, that trip alone would earn you a tidy profit.

As for the other destinations, if you were lucky, you got business from the big merchant houses. If not, you were stuck with odd jobs, hauling goods across prefectures and counties. The roads were bad, and there were always rivers and streams blocking the way — plenty of trouble. There was no such thing as having checkpoints squared away. If you ran into bandits or mounted raiders, you could only curse your luck. Sometimes you'd even get shaken down by the locals along the road. Worse still, the brokerages themselves would cheat and extort you. One moment of carelessness, and your livestock and cart were no longer yours.

Hauling goods, with all that wealth right before your eyes — of course you couldn't just let it pass. A grain hauler would always skim a few dozen or even a hundred jin on a single run. Other goods inevitably got fleeced too. But once or twice was one thing; do it too often, and the shipper and receiver would notice and go straight to the brokerage. The brokerages had connections both official and in the underworld. After a few harsh examples were made, everyone reined it in considerably. But that also meant no more supplementing their income that way. They were honest men, but life became hard.

Everyone wanted the good jobs. No one wanted the bad ones. Naturally, there was competition. At first, it was simply the strongest who got first pick. Later, several large guilds formed along regional lines — these were the so-called "Cart Guilds." After bloody clashes and victories, they monopolized the right to register with the Tongbei, Zhongyuan, and Xu Fengxiang brokerages.

At first, these carters' associations merely sought fair priority. But once hundreds or even a thousand men banded together, they were naturally no longer content with mere priority and fairness. The brokerages couldn't pull any tricks either. Four of the smaller brokerages couldn't survive; all the business flowed to Tongbei, Zhongyuan, and Xu Fengxiang. The now-bloated brokerages and the carters' guilds that had coalesced around each formed a new equilibrium.

After fighting and absorbing one another, two Cart Guilds remained: the Shandong Guild and the Henan Guild. The Shandong side was mainly men from Qingzhou; the Henan side was men from Runing and Guide. These two guilds handled all transport for the three brokerages and other merchants. Carters who weren't in either guild found life very hard.

The brokerages taking their cut was only right and proper. But if you weren't a member of the Shandong or Henan guilds, you also had to pay a share of your porterage to those two guilds. After all that, even if you landed a good job with Tongbei or Zhongyuan, you could barely scrape by. Sometimes the porterage was even withheld entirely, and you were driven to work for free. Of course, the rank-and-file members of the Shandong and Henan guilds weren't much better off — the only difference was they got their porterage in full and on time.

It was just that where once individual carters had sticky fingers, now the Cart Guilds had sticky fingers. Sometimes, a small shipper's goods would simply vanish mid-journey. But small shippers usually traveled with the cart, so more often than not, they'd lose both their goods and their lives…

The Shandong and Henan guilds each had several thousand members. Anyone with several thousand men at his back grew powerful and arrogant, and wouldn't settle for just taking work from the brokerages. Some of the inns, gambling dens, and brothels on Qingjiangpu's outskirts all had to pay protection money to the two guilds. Otherwise, they couldn't stay in business.

The upper echelons of the two guilds had become prominent figures in Qingjiangpu's underworld and market circles. The mid-level bosses and foremen also lived fat and prosperous lives, with plenty of prestige and swagger. The rank-and-file members could just barely fill their bellies and avoid being bullied outside the guild. Inside the guild, though, bullying was just something you had to endure.

As for the carters and porters outside the guilds, their lives were bitter indeed. Harassed and bullied all day long, they earned next to nothing. One slip, and their cart and livestock would be seized. Ruined and destitute, they'd end up on the streets or take their own lives.

With the big guilds around, the scattered, oppressed carters also had to band together. But with the Henan and Shandong guilds dominating, only those who came from those two provinces to seek refuge were accepted. Outsiders from other provinces had gradually vanished. Only men from Southern Zhili, relying on their local roots, still came to work. Much of Southern Zhili north of the Yangzi was crisscrossed by waterways, making cart travel difficult, so the local carters who came to Qingjiangpu were from only three areas: northern Fengyang Prefecture, northwestern Huai'an Prefecture, and Xuzhou. In plain terms, it was Xuzhou plus the neighboring prefectures.

They were locals, familiar with the territory, and charged low rates. Several brokerages, especially Xu Fengxiang, liked using these carters.

But this encroached on the interests of the two big guilds, Henan and Shandong. They put the word out directly: whoever dared give these men hauling work would never leave Qingjiangpu.

Once that word was out, the big brokerages immediately cut off business for these freelancers. A few who didn't know, or who went for the cheap rates, gave their goods to these freelance carters. As soon as the cart left Qingjiangpu, it was surrounded on the road. The cart was overturned, the goods scattered across the ground, and the carter beaten.

Life was hard, but to feed their families, they had to work. Some took jobs on the sly. But the two big guilds had eyes and ears everywhere, and only a few roads led out of Qingjiangpu — easy enough to block. After a few times, someone's cart was pushed to the roadside and set ablaze. The livestock was slaughtered on the spot…

This was cutting off a man's livelihood entirely. The freelance carters, who had been swallowing their anger all along, could endure no more. They were ready to stake everything and fight. They first went to the authorities, but Shanyang County couldn't be bothered with matters outside the city. The Revenue Ministry branch office didn't handle local law and order. As for the merchant guilds and trade associations, they were already in cahoots with the two big Cart Guilds — far from intervening, they were busy shielding them.

In winter, the waterborne trade in Qingjiangpu ceased. But the goods gathered here still needed to be sent by cart to every province and region — partly New Year's goods, partly stockpiling for the coming year. During the first month, Qingjiangpu would also be idle for the holiday.

Yet at this very time, the cart-burning, horse-killing, and beatings intensified. The freelance carters couldn't earn a single copper, and the very tools they used to feed their families were being completely destroyed. Some took their own lives. More, disheartened, returned to their villages. But there were also those who couldn't swallow this insult. They banded together for self-preservation, ready to fight it out with the Shandong and Henan Cart Guilds.

Back in the day, those two big Cart Guilds had risen by battling rivals. Only by winning fight after fight did they get where they were today. After banding together, the freelance carters also issued a challenge to fight. They'd settle it in one big brawl, winner take all, and set the rules for the future.

West of Qingjiangpu was Sun Gold Field. In a place like Qingjiangpu, where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold, such an open space was rare — a hundred mu of empty, barren ground.

But it was only empty at this time of year. Once the canal opened, it would be piled high with bulk goods from everywhere, with carts and horses streaming in an endless flow.

On the western side of the empty field, over a hundred men had gathered. They clutched shoulder-high staves, wore tattered cotton coats and hide robes, and stared nervously into the distance.

At the head of this group stood a man in his thirties. His face was sallow, his beard sparse, and several scars marked his features, giving him a look of firm resolve. The sheepskin coat he wore was balding in many spots, a rope tied around his waist, and a felt cap with ear flaps was pulled over his head. Anyone who'd spent time in Qingjiangpu could tell at a glance: this was a carter's getup.

The man was of medium build, the sort who wouldn't stand out in a crowd. Yet he clearly had the bearing of a leader. Among these hundred-odd men, he alone seemed steady. The rest looked flustered, constantly glancing eastward.

"Dagang, the Henan and Shandong guilds together number over ten thousand. We've only got this many men. We can't win!" Behind the man, a gaunt middle-aged fellow in his early forties spoke, his voice tight with anxiety.

The man forced a stiff smile and said in a low, gruff voice, "The two guilds combined don't even have five thousand, and plenty of those are honest workers. If each side can field five hundred, that'd be a lot. And those five hundred still have to guard their turf and watch each other's backs. Two or three hundred coming for us would be the limit. Besides, those two or three hundred have been living soft for too long — they've got no stomach for a real fight. How can they compare to our hundred-plus men, all of one heart!"

The gaunt middle-aged man muttered under his breath, "Those two together still have to have six or seven hundred…"

"Old Wang's right. That bunch are all cowards who bully the weak and fear the strong. This time, we're going to beat them into submission. This Southern Zhili territory should be run by us Southern Zhili men!" a burly young man standing to Wang Dagang's right said gruffly.