Taiheiki

Chapter 231 Dock 2
“Working in a shipyard is very hard. Workers sweat a lot, so they must replenish water and salt to have enough energy to work. Drinking raw water directly can easily lead to the spread of diseases, so the shipyard must provide enough lightly salted boiled water.” At this point, Wei Cong paused slightly and turned his gaze to the two supervisors: “You two immediately prepare the stoves for boiling water. Give me a figure for the cost of fuel and salt, and I will have someone allocate it to you!”

Although the two managers didn't understand why these "cattle and horses" couldn't drink raw water, they knew how to allocate funds. They were secretly pleased and quickly said, "We will prepare it as soon as possible!"

“Hmm!” Wei Cong nodded, turning his gaze to the craftsmen: “The third is bathing. People must keep their bodies clean, otherwise they will get sick. You work in the shipyard, and you will definitely be covered in sweat and dirt every day after work. If you don’t clean yourselves, you will definitely get sick over time. This is not only bad for you, but also for the shipyard and the government. So from now on, you must clean yourselves thoroughly after work before going home. The shipyard can set up a special clean water pool by the river for the workers to use for washing!”

Standing on the boat, Wei Cong rattled off more than a dozen questions about food, bathing, rest, working hours, and tool maintenance, offering solutions for each and outlining who would pay for the expenses. The craftsmen below initially displayed the apathy typical of ancient laborers, but as time went on, they gradually revealed a growing skepticism, eventually whispering amongst themselves and erupting in cheers and applause.

Ultimately, even if Wei Cong was lying to them, it was the first time for them to do so. After all, it was unprecedented for a big shot like Wei Cong to spend half a day coming to the shipyard just to lie to them.

"That's all!" After saying so much, Wei Cong felt his mouth was dry. He licked his lips and said to everyone, "Gentlemen, you are the most valuable asset of this shipyard. With the ships you build, the flag of the Great Han can fly over every inch of land where the sun shines. So, please work hard, and you will receive the wages, food, clothing, and treatment you deserve! Finally, as a gift for today, each of you will receive one hundred coins, three dou of rice, and a bolt of cloth!"

Wei Cong's final speech was drowned out by the cheers of the craftsmen. In fact, apart from a few people around him, most of them didn't hear what he said at all; they just instinctively waved their arms and shouted. Wei Cong also waved his arm to the craftsmen in response, which further fueled their enthusiasm. So much so that the person who had just delivered the rice balls thought something had happened inside and was so frightened that he dropped the rice bucket and ran away.

"Water, bring me some water!" Wei Cong, who had just stepped off the boat, stretched out his hand to Lu Ping and complained, "I'm so thirsty, my throat is parched!"

"Who told you to talk so much just now, and raise your voice so loudly!" Lu Ping said reproachfully as she handed over the water bottle. "This isn't good for your throat. I reckon it won't recover for at least four or five days!"

"There's no other way, with so many people around!" Wei Cong laughed as he drank some water. "If you don't speak loudly, they simply can't hear you!"

“I know you value the shipyard, but is it really necessary to go to such lengths?” Lu Ping asked. “Just send a capable subordinate, and at most give them some money and silk!”

“You don’t understand!” Wei Cong handed the empty water bottle back to Lu Ping. “Shipbuilding is a technology-intensive industry, oh, you don’t understand. Let me put it this way: to build the good ships I want, the craftsmen must genuinely love their work and want to do it well. People like this, barely clothed and starving, can’t possibly genuinely love their work. Only when they live a little better than those around them will they be proud of their work and truly put their heart into it, instead of working under the threat of whips and hunger. That way, they can’t build the ships I want!”

"Oh!" Lu Ping nodded, half understanding. "But that would cost quite a bit, wouldn't it?"

"You can rest assured about that!" Wei Cong laughed. "In a place like Jiangling with its convenient waterways, if I couldn't even provide these thousand-odd people with two more liters of rice and a handful of salt every day, and half a bolt of cloth every year, I might as well just find a block of tofu and smash my head against it. As long as there are more boats and the boats are faster, how many merchants will be traveling between Sichuan and Chongqing upstream, Yuzhang and Wuyue downstream, and Changsha, Wuling, Lingling, and Wuzhou to the southwest? With these merchants traveling, we can just set up a couple of tax checkpoints and collect five percent every hundred miles. Wouldn't that be enough to feed and clothe these thousand-odd people?"

"What you say makes sense, but we're still at war!"

"So what if there's war? Does war stop business?" Wei Cong laughed. "Didn't the Warring States period also involve war, yet it still produced great merchants like Lü Buwei and Widow Qing? The mountains produce giant trees, bamboo, gold, silver, and furs, but lack salt, fish, and cloth; the seashore has fish, salt, and shells, but lacks timber, copper, iron, and gems for shipbuilding. By exchanging surplus for shortage, both sides can profit. How can commerce stop? In my opinion, now is the perfect time to do business! The court should fight the bandits for another three years. By then, Jiangling will definitely be a completely different place!"

Wei Cong was speaking with great enthusiasm when Kuai An arrived with the two shipyard managers. Without saying a word, the two men knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly and begging for their lives.

"Get up, both of you!" Wei Cong looked at the two of them and asked, "How much are your salaries now?"

The two men exchanged a glance, and the older one cautiously replied, "Reporting to Lord Wei, I have two hundred shi of grain, and he has one hundred and fifty shi!"

"Managing such a large shipyard and only getting this much?" Wei Cong frowned. "Isn't this a joke? How about this, from now on, your salary will be increased to four hundred shi, and his to two hundred shi!"

The two foremen, who had initially thought their lives were in danger, were unexpectedly given a raise. Instinctively, their knees buckled, and they were about to kneel in gratitude. Wei Cong gestured for his attendants to pull them up: "Don't thank me yet. I'm not raising your salaries as a reward, but because I feel the positions of shipyard foremen are extremely important and the work is very complex. Such low salaries are unfair. Of course, with every salary comes a responsibility. If you don't deserve these four hundred or two hundred shi of grain, don't blame me for replacing you!"

"Thank you so much, Lord Wei!" The senior steward kowtowed repeatedly, "I will do my utmost to manage the shipyard affairs well!"

"Do exactly as I've said today!" Wei Cong said. "Treat the craftsmen well in their daily lives, and be strict with them in shipbuilding. I've brought several shipbuilding masters with me this time, all from Panyu. They have some Lingnan ship designs and styles. Take a look at them, and from now on, build according to these requirements!"

"Here!"

Seeing the two stewards leave, Lu Ping said, "At first I thought you were going to use these two guys' heads to establish your authority! I didn't expect that not only did you not kill them, you even increased their salaries!"

"What authority do I, a dignified Marquis of Wei, need to establish when managing a shipyard? Do I need to kill them myself? I just dumped them on those craftsmen; over a thousand men, they could have drowned with a single spit from each of them!" Wei Cong shook his head. "Besides, none of my men know how to manage a shipyard. If I kill them, who will do the work for me? Shipbuilding is a professional matter, and professional matters should be handled by professionals! What I need are ships, not a complete upheaval. What's the point of turning the world upside down and leaving a clean, white expanse?"

"Really?" Lu Ping's eyes darted around. "But do you know that someone is plotting against you behind your back? Shouldn't you kill someone to establish your authority?"

"Someone is secretly opposing me?" Wei Cong stopped in his tracks. "Huang Wan?"

"You already know?" "I guessed!" Wei Cong snorted coldly. "It's nothing. It would be strange if he didn't object. He's just an old fool. He's disliked me ever since I was a thief clerk under Han Chun!"

"Then why didn't you kill him?" Lu Ping asked in surprise.

"Why?" Wei Cong asked, "Is he always nagging me about my refusal to march north to attack the Moth Rebels, saying I have ulterior motives? Don't worry, no one will listen to his nonsense. The gentry of Nanjun are most afraid that their estates and businesses will be ruined after the Moth Rebels attack. Now that the Moth Rebels are advancing along the Han River towards Nanyang, the disaster is being diverted eastward, and they are overjoyed! The more he nags, the more annoying he will become, which will only benefit me, not harm me!"

"It seems that's really the case!" Lu Ping thought for a moment and then replied, "He has indeed run into a lot of trouble these days. He comes home every day looking gloomy and even picked a fight and beat two of his servants to death!"

"How do you know all this?" Wei Cong asked curiously. "Did you plant a spy in his house?"

"What do you mean by 'planting spies'? That's such a nasty way of putting it!" Lu Ping laughed. "Don't you know? Women are most likely to believe in the Celestial Masters sect. These days, I've gathered all the Celestial Masters sect altars in Nanjun under my control. It's easy for you to find out!"

"I see!" Wei Cong laughed. "Very good. Then you should first find out the identities of the two servants Huang Wan killed, where their bodies were, and who the witnesses were!"

"You want to deal with him?"

“That’s right, but we need a legitimate reason. It’s not appropriate for me to take action!” Wei Cong smiled slightly. “Let’s go by the law. As far as I know, according to the laws of the Han Dynasty, even if a master beats and kills a servant, he will be sentenced to death!”

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Huang Mansion.

"Master!" The servant lowered his head, avoiding Huang Wan's gaze, "The Pang family said that the master is not at home!"

"Not home?" Huang Wan frowned slightly. "Where did you go?"

"They said they went to gather herbs in the mountains outside the city!"

"Gathering herbs?" Huang Wan was taken aback. The Pang family was a prominent clan in Jingzhou. Although the current patriarch, Pang An, had not achieved much success in his official career, he still wielded considerable power in Nanjun through marriage alliances, exchanges, and his clan's retainers. He did indeed enjoy a secluded life in the mountains and forests, reveling in the pleasures of nature, but times had changed. This was no longer a peaceful period!

"Did they say when they'd be back?"

"No, the steward said that the master goes out on a whim, and no one knows how long he will be gone or when he will return!" the servant replied, then hesitated for a moment: "The steward also said that the master once left a message saying that he is a man who is content with whatever comes his way, and that worldly affairs should not be involved with him!"

“That scoundrel Pang An—” Huang Wan immediately understood. Pang An hadn’t actually gone out to gather herbs; he simply didn’t want to see her and had made up an excuse. By having the steward and his men say those words, he was clearly telling her not to come back.

"I understand, you may leave!" Huang Wan suppressed his anger and dismissed the servant. Only when he was alone in the room did his anger erupt.

"Sneaking away in times of trouble! Selfish and greedy!" Huang Wan suddenly drew his sword and used it to smash the utensils and bamboo slips on the table. After venting his anger for the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, he sheathed his sword and said in a deep voice, "Someone, come in and clean this place up!"

As a renowned scholar of the late Han Dynasty, Huang Wan understood perfectly why his former comrades had been so assertive when facing the eunuchs, yet now appeared so cowardly. The reason was simple: the eunuchs were far away in Luoyang, hundreds of miles away, and might not be able to do much against these powerful families who had long been entrenched in Jingzhou. Wei Cong, on the other hand, was different; his ten thousand soldiers were right there in Jiangling! More importantly, Wei Cong didn't even need to lift a finger; he could simply lead his troops away and let Jiangling deal with the hundreds of thousands of bandits on its own.

What it feels like to be swept away by bandits? Just ask the people of Lujiang who fled here. In terms of family background, land ownership, and retainers, the Zhou family of Lujiang was once no weaker than the Zhou family of Jingzhou. But now the Zhou family of Lujiang is just a historical term. Perhaps the few nephews and sons of the late Duke Zhou Jing who stayed in the capital are still safe, but the foundation of the family no longer exists. Without clan, without retainers, without land ownership, what difference is there between these few nephews and sons and ordinary poor people?
In a sense, Wei Cong's current strategy of protecting the borders and ensuring the people's safety is the one that will gain the most support from the local gentry of Jingzhou. Yes, under the army of the Moth Rebels, Nanyang is in imminent danger, and the capital is terrified. But what does this have to do with the gentry of Jingzhou? The safety of the court is certainly important, but can't we say that everyone's fields, houses, and ancestral tombs are unimportant? Huang Wan, who saw through everyone's thinking, felt increasingly powerless. He couldn't even focus his hatred on Wei Cong, because he knew very well that this was everyone's thought, even his own family. Only he was the exception.

"Master!" came the servant's voice from outside.

"What is it?" Huang Wan asked in a deep voice.

"Master Kuai requests an audience!"

"Master Kuai?" Huang Wan frowned. He knew, of course, that the Master Kuai the servant referred to was Kuai An, not Kuai Sheng. The true head of the Kuai family of Jingzhou had been away from Jiangling for several months. However, the brothers had a close relationship with Wei Cong, and Kuai An followed Wei Cong around like a lackey. What was he doing here to see him at this time?
(End of this chapter)