Chapter 543: The River Surface Ablaze

Beyond the guards were a dozen or so servants of the Yu household. Their faces showed anger, or sorrow, or cold stares fixed on the boatmen, and not one of them made a sound.

A trace of a smile suddenly surfaced on Yu Zhiyuan's face, but this smile brought no ease to anyone's expression; instead, it made every onlooker's heart tremble. They saw this Second Young Master Yu raise a hand, point at the river, and say, "Burning so fast — must have used quite a lot of oil. Why go to such trouble? Pile on a few bundles of dry straw, and in this season, what wouldn't catch fire? Such a waste!"

As they watched him speak, one boatman kneeling near the front knocked his head heavily against the ground and said, his voice thick with tears, "Second Master, we have let you down!"

At his words, the boatmen behind him all kowtowed in unison. Some wept openly. Yu Zhiyuan turned his head with a smile, sweeping his gaze over the kneeling men, and the smile on his face actually deepened a little.

But before Yu Zhiyuan could speak, a middle-aged man in his forties, dressed like a steward, roared with a face full of fury: "You wretches! How did my young master treat you? Where on these rivers and seas can you find an employer like him? Have you no conscience at all, to just stand by and watch the ship burn? You—"

"Uncle Hua, you can't blame them for this. When the bold heroes from Lake Tai come calling, even the officials have to bow their heads. Everyone's just earning a wage — how could they resist?" Yu Zhiyuan cut off the steward's tirade.

Yu Zhiyuan turned his head to look at the river, its glow already much dimmer, and waved his hand with utter indifference. With an air of detachment, he said, "Burning it is fine too. At least now I know this venture can't be done. The New Year is almost here — draw your wages for the twelfth month, go home and have a good New Year. There will be times next year when I'll need you again."

These words about drawing the twelfth month's wages quickly spread from front to back. The boatmen's faces grew even heavier with shame and guilt. The man at the very front said in a hoarse voice, "Second Master, we have no face left! We should have sunk with this ship!"

The Yu family's personal attendants and servants all wore expressions of anger and bewilderment, but they were long accustomed to obeying whatever the Second Young Master said and did. Those who had tried to pull rank and question him had all met with bad ends.

"Don't speak of that. You all have families to support. If you died, your families would have no one to rely on. Disperse now, go on. Come back here tomorrow to clear the things from the water so they don't obstruct others." Yu Zhiyuan's manner at this moment was truly as light as clouds and wind, showing no sign that it was his own great ship that had been burned.

With the matter put in such terms, the boatmen expressed their profound gratitude, wailed in shame for a while, then each rose and dispersed. Some who had been kneeling in the back rows even came forward specially to kowtow once more before leaving with heads bowed.

"Second Young Master, the city gates are already closed for the night. The estate outside the city has been tidied and swept. Shall we stay there tonight?" the steward asked dutifully.

Yu Zhiyuan pulled his sable coat tighter and nodded. The steward waved his hand, and someone in the distance drove a carriage forward. Yu Zhiyuan stepped out and said, "A short walk would do me good."

The guards clustered around Yu Zhiyuan, and several trusted servants followed alongside. Just like that, they walked in silence toward the estate.

Flames still flickered on the river, though much dimmer now, and the sky had darkened. The Yu household servants lit lanterns. They had already left the dock area behind, and only this Yu family procession traveled the road. Yu Zhiyuan suddenly spoke: "Tomorrow morning, send word through the brokers: from now on, our family's ships will only deal in cotton cloth. We will accept no rice or wheat, not a single load. For those we had agreements with, those we had invited, double their travel stipends and gifts. Tell them we appreciate their trouble this time. Then, use our family's connections — if we can reach the Lake Tai pirates, send them a sum of silver as well. Thank them for not taking lives. Perhaps there will be dealings in the future; let's not damage the goodwill."

The steward acknowledged each instruction, his face showing an expression of relief. The old master's attempt to shift grain transport to the sea had been obstructed at every turn, and the Second Young Master, clever as he was, had stubbornly devoted himself to the same cause.

"Uncle Hua, I won't pursue this thankless task any longer. This time they hired the Lake Tai pirates, who only burned the ships and killed no one. If I remain obstinate, next time they might seek out sea lords or Japanese pirates, and then they might wipe out our entire family. I won't do it anymore!" Yu Zhiyuan said with a smile.

Steward Uncle Hua nodded repeatedly, wiping the corners of his eyes with his hand; the rims had already reddened. He just kept saying, "This is good, this is good. A wealthy and noble family like ours, why go offending so many people? Second Young Master, you are so brilliant — you should be like the old master, go to the capital, pass the examinations, and become a high official."

At these words, Yu Zhiyuan fell silent again. He walked on for a stretch, then climbed into the carriage on his own, and just like that, they arrived at his family's estate outside the city.

A Jiangnan magnate's country retreat, and in a prime location like Shanghai County in Songjiang Prefecture at that — its scale and design were more magnificent than the main residences of many great households in the north. Over twenty servants maintained the place, so when the master arrived, settling in was effortless.

He had seemed indifferent at the dock and on the journey back, but when he stepped down from the carriage, a trace of weariness showed on his face. Yu Zhiyuan did not hurry to rest. He sat down in a grand armchair in the main hall, tilted his head back, and stared blankly at the ceiling. Several guards sat or stood around him.

Not long after, the steward returned after arranging matters. He had just approached Yu Zhiyuan, before he could even report, when he heard Yu Zhiyuan say, "People work for wages to make a living. There's no need to risk your life for a job like this. Work is so easy to find in Songjiang Prefecture anyway — no need to tie yourself to one tree until you hang, right?"

A moment's thought made it clear: the Second Young Master was lamenting that when someone came to set the ships on fire, those boatmen and sailors had meekly complied without the slightest resistance. Yet the principle he stated was not wrong. The steward was just about to agree when Yu Zhiyuan spoke again: "But among them were over twenty men I took in when they were in dire straits. Without me, they would have long since died in the water, food for the fish. With such a life-saving debt of gratitude, why wouldn't they risk their lives for us?"

The steward was at a loss for how to answer for a moment. Just as he was about to offer a word of comfort, Yu Zhiyuan continued murmuring, it was unclear whether to the steward or to himself: "If this shift of grain transport to the sea had succeeded, how much less grain would every person in Songjiang Prefecture have to pay? How much easier would their lives be? How much less would the whole of Jiangnan have to pay? Such a good cause — why did no one help us, and instead they all just stood by and watched us become a laughingstock?"

Yu Zhiyuan's voice grew softer and softer, but his eyes grew brighter and brighter: "For the Lake Tai bandits to come here, what a huge detour they had to make. To approach on the river, how many hours did they have to travel? How many people saw them on that journey, how many knew? Why did not a single person come to give us a word of warning?"

The steward was about to speak, but Yu Zhiyuan raised his voice slightly and said, "I know many people profit from the current system. I know shifting grain transport to the sea will harm the interests of many. But if this were accomplished, even more people would benefit. The countless common folk of Jiangnan would all reap the rewards. Why is no one willing to do such a great good deed? This benefits the nation and the people!"

Silence fell over the room for a moment. The steward merely sighed and said slowly, "This old servant served at the old master's side, and then followed the Second Young Master for so long — I can be said to have served two generations. I presume to speak out of turn: the old master and the Second Young Master are a hundred times wiser than others, yet you are men of stubborn idealism!"

At that, the steward said no more. Yu Zhiyuan was stunned for a moment, then gave a rueful, self-mocking smile and said, "Not quite idealism. Our family doesn't have much land; we can only put our efforts into cotton spinning and trade. If I could have used the greater good as a pretext to accomplish the shift of grain transport to the sea, with our ships and our cloth, we would have become fabulously wealthy overnight. Becoming the foremost family in Jiangnan wouldn't have been a wild dream... I truly did want to make money, but I also did it for the greater good, to spare the common people the bitter surcharges on the grain tax. So why has it come to this!"

His voice suddenly rose, his tone turning vehement, as if a breath had caught in his throat. He coughed violently several times. Yu Zhiyuan pulled out a handkerchief, covered his mouth, and wiped. The smile on his face grew wider and wider. Seeing him like this, the steward grew even more frightened and said urgently, "Second Young Master, what's past is past. Wealth gone, but people safe and sound — you mustn't let this matter harm your health!"

"They invited lake pirates to burn my ships. If I hadn't complied, our entire family would likely have been slaughtered. I wisely retreated, and still I must submit petitions of gratitude. Is there any justice in this world? Reason is on my side, the greater good is on my side, even the hearts of the people are on my side. Where is the justice in this world..." Yu Zhiyuan's voice trailed off lower and lower.

Before the steward could reply, Yu Zhiyuan rose from the grand armchair on his own, yawned, and said, "I'm tired. I'll go rest now. Uncle Hua, don't forget to arrange those matters."

The steward hastily agreed. Yu Zhiyuan walked alone toward the bedroom, where the lamps had already been lit. Entering the room, he unfolded the handkerchief that had covered his mouth and held it to the light. On it was a stain of blood-red. "So extreme fury and rage truly does make one spit blood," Yu Zhiyuan muttered. He crumpled the handkerchief into a ball and tossed it into the wastebasket.

In the twelfth month, the Zhao Character Camp had several fixed tasks to perform. The first was sending a New Year's gift to Wang Youshan in the capital. This was prepared in the eleventh month and had to be dispatched at the start of the twelfth, escorted by several dozen men each from the Inner Guard and the Personal Guard, and guided by merchants who specialized in the route between the capital and Xuzhou. This New Year's gift included an assortment of local specialties from South Zhili, along with a full eight thousand taels of ready silver.

After Wang Youshan returned to the capital, though he had become a rising figure in official circles, the prospects for an upright remonstrance official were limitless in prestige, but limited in actual power and tangible benefits. The social intercourse and networking with colleagues and superiors all required large sums of silver to be spent. Back when he was in Xuzhou, he had received a large fixed annual stipend, but now that he had been reinstated, that stipend had naturally been canceled.

To support Wang Youshan in maintaining his standing and allow him to network widely, Zhao Jin provided a large sum of money each year. These eight thousand taels of silver were merely the base amount; if there was a need, support would be provided at any time.

What pleased Zhao Jin was that the Wang family, father and son, showed no hesitation or reluctance whatsoever in this matter, agreeing to it crisply and decisively.

This was inherently a matter of mutual benefit. The Zhao Character Camp, lacking any foundation in official circles, needed Wang Youshan's patronage, while Wang Youshan also needed the Zhao Character Camp's support. They were one body, complementing and reinforcing each other.

Thank you, everyone.