Taiheiki

Chapter 198 Contractors

"Why do you say that?"

"Jiaozhou is the southernmost prefecture of our Great Han Dynasty, a place both officials and commoners fear. Those sent here often offer sacrifices to their ancestors before departure as a farewell. Jiaozhou stretches from north to south, more than two thousand li from Panyu to Rinan, almost as far as from Panyu to Luoyang. In other words, exiling someone from Luoyang to Panyu is about the same distance as exiling someone from Panyu to Rinan, and from here to Rinan, it's several hundred li further. The journey is so long, and for more than half the year it's the rainy season, making the roads muddy. Who would want to come to such a place? And even if they did, why would they want to settle here?"

"Brother Wei is absolutely right!" Yuan Shao sighed. "I'm afraid we can only send some exiled criminals here first!"

“Benchu, you’re wrong!” Wei Cong shook his head. “You’ve been in Jiaozhou for so long, you should have seen it all. Even in Panyu, just a few dozen miles outside the city, you can see vast stretches of wasteland. These are all fertile lands with easy irrigation, but no one is cultivating them. If Panyu is like this, other places are even worse. Prefectures like Rinan and Jiuzhen have a combined population that isn’t even as large as a single county in the interior. So what Jiaozhou lacks most is people. Even if it’s exiling criminals, I’d rather send them to salt production or mining, or to Jiaozhi or Panyu for land reclamation, than send them here. If they’re sent here, they’ll probably disappear in the blink of an eye!”

"Hahaha! That's true. I think these local barbarians are living quite well! So what are your plans?" Yuan Shao couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. Just as Wei Cong said, the Mekong Delta has too many resources and a warm climate. The local chieftains have weak control over their subordinates. Those Han Chinese exiles who have advanced technology will probably run away soon and blend into the local villages. Who would want to be a miserable soldier and perform hard labor?

"So only one type of person is willing to come here! Those are desperate people who want to make a fortune!"

"A desperate man looking to make a fortune?" Yuan Shao was taken aback. "You mean with these coconuts? I doubt it."

"No?" Wei Cong laughed. "Do you know how many people live in Panyu right now?"

"I remember it was around 15,000, right?" Yuan Shao replied uncertainly, not knowing why Wei Cong would ask this question.

"When we left Panyu, there were about 17,000 people. According to the news that Shiwu just brought, the population of Panyu City has exceeded 22,000!"

"A significant increase? Could there be a famine in Nanhai County? Are starving people coming to the city to beg?"

“This autumn, Nanhai County has had an exceptionally good harvest, the likes of which haven’t been seen in many years!” Wei Cong rolled his eyes. “The reason for the increase in the city’s population is simple: wages are high in the city. A novice carpenter in the city can earn fifty coins a day, which is equivalent to seven or eight days’ work in the village!”

"Fifty coins? That's much higher than in Luoyang!" Yuan Shao exclaimed in surprise. "How could it be so high?"

"There's no other way; there are just too many places that need manpower, so wages have to be raised!" Wei Cong smiled. "Therefore, the population growth rate of Panyu City will be very fast in the future!"

"Then what does this have to do with what you've been saying?" Yuan Shao asked.

"Of course they're related! City dwellers are different from farmers. Farmers are self-sufficient, while city dwellers have to pay for everything – food, clothing, housing, and transportation. So, they'll only stay if they can earn money in the city; otherwise, they'll leave. Panyu is different from Luoyang. In Luoyang, the people are either high-ranking officials or those who serve them. Their food and clothing come from taxes and land rents collected by the counties and kingdoms across the country. Panyu is different. Although there are government officials here, they make up a very small percentage of the population, and even among the remaining people, those who serve the government officials are few. How do you think they make a living?"

“This—” Yuan Shao was stumped. Since arriving in Jiaozhou, he had focused his attention on Wei Cong and only occasionally paid attention to the affairs of the common people. How could he know so much?

"Commerce or handicrafts!" Wei Cong gave the answer: "Panyu is unlike Luoyang. In Luoyang, the emperor can order whatever he wants with just an imperial edict, and all the counties in the country will send it. Panyu can't do that. So, whatever he wants, he can only buy with money or exchange with goods. Therefore, Panyu must build ships, dredge waterways, bring in products from all directions, attract craftsmen and merchants, manufacture exquisite goods, and resell them to all corners of the country to make a profit in order to survive. So, for Panyu, raw materials like coconut palms and oil are plentiful. As long as these can be transported back to Panyu, he can make a fortune!"

"So, you're not planning to send garrison soldiers to guard the area?"

“You’ve seen the size of this city; its circumference is only 70 paces (about 100 meters). How many garrison soldiers does such a large city need?” Wei Cong smiled and said, “Just pay them double wages, and rotate them every year!”

"You're still so generous!" Yuan Shao laughed.

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Panyu, a construction site
"Like this, understand?" Qin Ke carefully pushed the wheelbarrow, and quicklime powder was sprinkled from the funnel on the wheelbarrow onto the ground, leaving a white straight line: "The first step in building a house is to draw the marks first, and then the workers can dig trenches according to the marks. The trenches must be dug until the soil below turns a different color. Then, the stones and mortar are poured in, covered with straw, and after it hardens, you can start building the walls and the house! It must be completely hardened before you can start building, otherwise the house will be unstable. Hey, did you understand?" He turned around and found that his second brother was obviously not paying attention, so he asked impatiently.

"Understood, understood!" the second brother hurriedly replied. Qin Ke snorted coldly, "Then do as I say first!"

"Yes!" the younger brother responded, quickly taking the handcart and doing as Qin Ke had instructed. Then he began to repeat Qin Ke's words, though somewhat incoherently, he managed to finish. Qin Ke frowned and scolded him with some dissatisfaction, "Second brother! You can't do this. You've seen what's going on at home. I'm so busy taking on business every day that I don't even have time to breathe, and I also have to deal with Old Master Wang's errands. Third brother eats and sleeps at the construction site all day long, only coming home once every two weeks. His wife is complaining. You need to be more mindful and quickly share some of the burden with third brother!"

"I know!" the second brother replied, a little impatiently. "Brother, but I remember when we built houses in the countryside, it wasn't this troublesome, was it? We dug ditches until the soil changed color, then poured in gravel and mortar, and waited a few days until it was completely hard. It wasn't nearly as complicated as this!"

"This is Panyu, how can it be the same as the countryside of Guangxin?" Qin Ke asked irritably. "Many of the people who hire us to build houses here are important figures and wealthy merchants. The houses they build are two or three stories high, with tiled roofs, meant to be passed down through generations. How can that compare to the thatched huts in the countryside? They pay with the finest copper coins and cloth. If you dare to be careless and ruin your reputation, your whole family will starve!"

"I know, brother! You nag me seven or eight times a day, my ears are getting calluses!" Seeing his younger brother's lazy attitude, Qin Ke had no choice but to comply. More than four months had passed since he moved his elderly mother and siblings from Guangxin to Panyu. This move had brought about a dramatic change in their lives. From a poor, self-sufficient farmer in Guangxin, they had become one of the leading construction companies in Panyu City—he now employed over two hundred craftsmen and laborers, and was simultaneously undertaking three or four projects. In addition, the Qin family owned six or seven inns, taverns, shops, and warehouses, earning seventy to eighty thousand coins a month just from rent. Sometimes, lying in bed at night, Qin Ke would recall the days more than a year ago when he was captured and forced to break stones, and it all felt like a distant memory.

Of course, not all members of the Qin family were like Qin Ke. Some adapted to this happy change with remarkable ease, such as his second brother, Qin He. A little over a month after arriving in Panyu, he transformed from a peasant farmer into a wealthy and leisurely urban dweller. He began donning silk robes and frequenting taverns, brothels, cockfighting arenas, and other entertainment venues, happily enjoying the prosperity of this emerging commercial city. Qin Ke, busy as he was, only learned of all this when he heard his third brother's new wife complaining. He had to make a special trip to drag Qin He back from the brothel, bring him to the construction site, and personally supervise him as he began working.

"Second brother, don't be fooled by our current good fortune. You have no idea of ​​the difficulties we've faced behind the scenes. The key to our rapid rise to wealth is that we secured government jobs. Once others saw our success, they started asking us to work for them. But government jobs aren't available to just our family. Right now, there are quite a few people in Panyu City vying for them. I know of at least three or four families. If you're not careful, and something goes wrong with your job, the government will turn against you, and you'll regret it!"

"Brother, you're trying to scare me with lies again!" Qin He laughed nonchalantly. "Who doesn't know that you're one of Old Master Wang's men? And Old Master Wang was one of the earliest followers of Governor Wei. Governor Wei is very sentimental; how could he possibly take your job and give it to someone else?"

Qin Ke was so angry at his brother's words that he couldn't speak for a moment. He was about to scold him when his attendant came over and whispered, "Master, Master! Old Master Wang has sent someone here. He says he has something to tell you!"

"Tell the messenger to wait a moment, I'll be right there!" Qin Ke dismissed his attendant and said to Qin He, "I don't care about anything else, but you're not allowed to go to places like taverns, brothels, or cockfighting rings. You'd better stay here and keep a close eye on the workers, don't be careless. Otherwise, I'll send you back to Guangxin to farm!" With that, he turned and left without waiting for Qin He's reply.

"Hmph! Go back to that godforsaken place like Guangxin to farm? How dare you even say that!" Looking at her brother's retreating figure, Qin He snorted coldly: "If you can't go to taverns, brothels, or cockfighting arenas, what's the point of living? You're giving up a good life to stay in this godforsaken place. Do you think I'm a fool like Lao San?"

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Qin Ke replied to Wang Shou's messenger, hurried home to change his clothes, prepared four gifts, and headed towards Wang Shou's residence. Half a street from the gate, he saw a long queue waiting to be received. However, an old man like him naturally didn't need to queue; he went straight to the gate and requested an audience. The gatekeeper's steward smiled and said, "Isn't this Young Master Qin? You look even more radiant these past few days. You must have made a fortune again!"

"It's not a lot of money, it's all thanks to the prince's good fortune!" Qin Ke said with a smile. He lowered his voice and said, "Yesterday, the family received several bolts of brocade, all of the best quality from Shu. I've already sent them to your wife. Please accept them!"

The steward was overjoyed upon hearing this. After the moth bandits caused chaos, the trade routes between the north and south were cut off, and the prices of goods from the north had skyrocketed. In many cases, even with money, they were impossible to buy. Qin Ke's gift was quite substantial, and he quickly said with a smile, "I'm so sorry to trouble you again, young master. I will definitely express my gratitude another day. The prince is waiting in the back hall, please go in!"

"Thank you!" Qin Ke cupped his hands in thanks, hurriedly entered the gate, passed through two courtyards, and arrived at the back hall. The person below the hall said in a deep voice, "Qin Ke greets Your Highness!"

"Are you here? Come up and speak!" Wang Shou's voice came from the hall. It sounded a little distorted. Qin Ke came up to the hall and saw Wang Shou sitting behind a table with a cloth wrapped around his head, holding a charcoal stove, and his face was pale.

"Your Highness, what is this—?"

"I caught a cold a couple of days ago! I called a doctor and got some medicine, but I still haven't gotten better. Achoo!" Wang Shou sneezed and said with a wry smile, "I'm getting old, and my body isn't as strong as it used to be. If it were a few years ago in Xinye, a bowl of ginger soup would have made me almost better the next day! Unlike now!"

"Your Highness bears a heavy responsibility, please rest assured and recuperate! You will surely recover in a few days!" Qin Ke hurriedly said.

"Forget it, forget it!" Wang Shou waved his hand. "Let's not talk about this old man anymore. Do you know why I called you here today?"

"I don't know!" Qin Ke shook his head.

"Hehe!" Wang Shou laughed, "Looks like you've been very busy these days!"

Qin Ke didn't know why Wang Shou suddenly changed the subject to whether he was busy or not, so he could only honestly answer, "What you say is right, Your Excellency. I have several projects on my hands right now, and I'm always running around, so I'm really not free!"

"Being busy is good, being busy is good!" Wang Shou smiled. "When you came here today, did you notice the long queue at the door?"

"Indeed! What happened?" Qin Ke finally realized that after Wei Cong left, Wang Shou held great power, and many people came to visit him on weekdays, but this was the first time there had been so many.

"After defeating the Lin-yi Kingdom, Duke Wei convened a meeting of the various barbarian tribes at Linze, built a city there, and has already returned with his troops!"

Qin Ke was momentarily taken aback by Wang Shou's flowery language, and after a long pause, he replied, "Is Governor Wei returning?"

"Excellent!" Wang Shou nodded. "It's not just that he's returned, but that he's returned after achieving great feats. He not only destroyed the Lin-yi Kingdom, but also subdued the barbarians thousands of miles south of Lin-yi, formed an alliance with them, and built a city. This is an achievement rarely seen in history!"

(End of this chapter)