diymy Chapter 14 Blood-Red Dividend
Chapter 14 Blood-Red Dividend
March 20th, 47th year of Wanli.
spring equinox.
According to the imperial calendar, today is auspicious for sacrifices, groundbreaking ceremonies, and travel. But in Jinan Prefecture, the almanac for this day seemed to be soaked in ink, exuding a suffocating ominous aura.
The sky was a sickly leaden gray, with the clouds hanging extremely low, as if even the heavens were mourning the tens of thousands of Ming Dynasty souls who died on the snowy plains of Liaodong, two thousand miles away.
West of the city, Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall.
The two heavy, bronze-clad, vermilion-lacquered doors were creaking under their own weight. This wasn't the wind making the noise; it was the sound of over a thousand people squeezing through the doors.
"Open the door! Wang Dengku! I know you're in there!"
"I'll pay double! Give me 100 catties of ginseng! Cash!"
"Scholar Lu! Master Lu! Please have mercy! Our family is waiting for the white cloths to be laid to rest!"
The stone steps were crowded with wealthy merchants and pharmacy owners who were usually impeccably dressed, and even a few low-ranking officials in plain clothes with panicked expressions. At this moment, they had no regard for appearances, waving silver notes and gold bars in their hands like a group of drowning people scrambling for the last piece of driftwood.
Panic is a poison that spreads faster than a plague.
Meanwhile, in the warm pavilion on the second floor of the clubhouse, Lu Yan sat by the window, holding a cup of tea that had long since gone cold, coldly looking down at the various people below.
His eyes remained completely still, just like an engineer monitoring the readings of a high-pressure boiler in a control room.
He was waiting for the pressure to peak.
"Master, is it almost done cooking?"
Fan Fu stood behind Lu Yan, listening to the heart-wrenching screams from downstairs, his hands sweating profusely.
"What's the current market price?" Lu Yan gently blew on the tea foam without turning around.
"Reporting to the master," Fan Fu glanced quickly at the densely filled notebook in his hand, "white cloth, which usually costs two and a half qian a bolt, has risen to one liang and two qian, and there's no market for it. Liaodong ginseng is being sold for eighty liang a jin on the black market. As for wound medicine… that's a life-saving item, nobody's willing to sell it."
"A fourfold premium. That's about right."
Lu Yan put down his teacup and tapped his fingers lightly on the surface of the rosewood table.
"If prices rise any further, it will incite popular uprisings, and the government will intervene. We need to release the pressure before the riots reach that point."
He turned his head and looked at Wang Dengku, who was sitting opposite him and could no longer contain his excitement.
"Manager Wang, open the floodgates. Follow the rules we agreed on last night—diversion, limited quantity, and bidding."
"Dele!"
Wang Dengku suddenly stood up and shouted at the waiter outside the door, "Open the middle door! Welcome the guests!"
……
With a creaking sound that made your teeth ache, the door, which had been tightly closed for three days, suddenly swung open.
The crowd surged in like a flood bursting its banks.
But they failed to break into the inner hall. A formidable "iron wall" of twenty strong men was already waiting in ambush in front of the screen wall at the second gate.
The leader was Zhao Changying.
He did not draw his sword, but instead leaned on a heavy iron-clad staff with both hands, standing like an iron tower in the wind.
"All of you, stand in line!"
Zhao Changying roared, channeling his power from his dantian, his voice booming like a bell. He slammed his cudgel heavily on the ground, making the blue brick floor vibrate.
"Master Lu has given the order: Those who wish to buy goods, follow the rules! The left side is 'Wealthy Shop,' those buying ginseng and fur should go there! The right side is 'Saving the World Shop,' those buying medicinal herbs and white cloth should line up there! Anyone who dares to cut in line, cause a disturbance, or trample on others, no matter who you are, will be punished with a stick!"
Faced with absolute violence and monopoly of resources, chaos quickly transformed into a distorted form of order.
……
The side hall on the left was a den of iniquity prepared specifically for the powerful and wealthy.
"Manager Wang, I need to take these twenty catties of ginseng to the capital to make some connections. Please give me a fair price."
A plump man in a scarlet official robe slammed a thick stack of silver notes onto the table, his forehead dripping with sweat. He was a councilor of the Shandong Provincial Administration Commission.
"Lord Liu, we've known each other for a long time," Wang Dengku said, fiddling with his abacus, a professional, fake smile plastered on his face. "Normally, I could give you this ginseng as a gift. But right now... you know, the roads outside the Great Wall are blocked, this is a rare find. Eight hundred taels, no bargaining."
"You..." Councilor Liu gritted his teeth, his heart bleeding, but thinking of the impending chaos and his connections in the capital, he nodded firmly, "Deal!"
But in the courtyard on the right, a completely different scene unfolds.
"Scholar Lu is truly benevolent!"
An elderly woman with a full head of white hair was carrying two bolts of white cloth, which she had prepared for her son who had died in battle in Liaodong. She tremblingly took out a cloth bag from her bosom, inside which were a few loose silver coins.
"All the fabric shops outside are closed, only this place is still selling, and the prices haven't gone up too much... This is a lifesaver!"
Lu Yan stood on the second-floor corridor, watching Fan Fu direct the workers to distribute bolts of white cloth.
"Master."
Fan Fu appeared behind him without him noticing, holding an account book in his hand.
"We bought this white cloth for 1.5 qian, and now we're selling it for 8 qian. The profit... it's blood-stained."
"You think this is cruel?"
Lu Yan turned around, his gaze as sharp as a knife.
"If we don't sell them for eight qian, but at the original price, do you believe that these bolts of cloth will be instantly bought up by unscrupulous merchants and their employees in the city, then hoarded and speculated, eventually selling for two liang?"
"We set this high price to screen out those who are truly waiting for help, and to prevent resellers. Efficiency and the delivery rate of supplies—that's the greatest compassion."
Fan Fu opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he lowered his head.
……
Night falls, at midnight.
Inside the Jubao Pavilion of the Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall, the lights were on, but it was so quiet that only the sound of abacus beads clinking could be heard.
On the table, stacks of silver ingots, gold bars, and large denomination bank drafts from the Huitong Draft Bank were neatly arranged. In the candlelight, the metals gleamed with a captivating yet cold luster.
"Smack."
Fan Fu moved the last bead on his abacus, his voice hoarse: "Net profit, eight hundred and twenty-three taels of silver."
A brief silence fell over the room.
Zhao Changying stood in the corner, her eyelids twitching suddenly. Over eight hundred taels! That's enough to buy a large mansion in Jinan Prefecture, enough for an ordinary family to live comfortably for a lifetime!
Wang Dengku took a deep breath, counted out a thick stack of silver notes from the pile, and pushed it in front of Lu Yan. His eyes showed not only greed but also a sense of awe.
"Brother Lu... no, Mr. Lu. This money is burning your hands, but I, Wang, accept it. This isn't business; it's like carving a piece of meat from the chessboard of this chaotic world."
Lu Yan reached out and pressed his hand on the stack of silver notes.
"Manager Wang, I'll only take a portion of this money with me."
He pulled out a few silver notes and put them in his pocket.
"With the remaining thousand taels, plus my previous savings, I'd like to discuss a new business deal with you."
"A new business?" Wang Dengku was taken aback.
Lu Yan stood up, walked to the Shandong map hanging on the wall, and pointed to a blank area five miles south of the city—Luanshigang.
"This time, I'm not buying goods. I'm buying land. And I'm buying people."
"Buy land? Buy people?" Wang Dengku frowned. "Brother, things are chaotic right now. That rocky hill is saline-alkali land; you can't grow crops there!"
"It's cheap precisely because it's saline-alkali land."
Lu Yan turned around, his back to the candlelight.
"Manager Wang, you've traveled all over the country. In your opinion, in this chaotic world, besides money and goods, what's the most deadly thing for us merchants?"
Wang Dengku tentatively asked, "Will the journey be safe?"
"Indeed." Lu Yan nodded. "The world is in chaos now, official roads are in disrepair, and bandits roam freely. Your caravan must lose no less than a thousand taels of silver each year in losses on the road and the tolls stolen."
The light in Lu Yan's eyes was cold and rational:
"I want to build a 'Jinan South City Refugee Resettlement Center' on that rocky hill. Nominally, it will be a charitable institution providing 'work relief,' but in reality, I want to build a large 'carriage and horse stable' and 'repair workshop.'"
"I want to use this money to select blacksmiths, carpenters, bricklayers, and those who have seen bloodshed among the refugees. I'll support them under the guise of 'disaster relief,' giving them food—the cost will be extremely low."
"The blacksmiths and carpenters are specifically responsible for repairing and building your caravan's vehicles, forging sturdy and durable new cars; those defeated soldiers, ostensibly guards, are actually trained by Zhao Changying to escort your goods and defend against bandits."
Lu Yan stared into Wang Dengku's eyes:
"This land is saline-alkali, so it's cheap. These people are refugees; they'll risk their lives for a meal. Besides, we're helping the government by taking in refugees; not only are we not breaking any taboos, but the prefect of Jinan will even award us a 'Family of Good Deeds' plaque."
"They gained fame, acquired inexpensive craftsmen, and also commanded a formidable and effective guard."
Wang Dengku was stunned.
This is hardly a charity; it's clearly using the guise of "good deeds" to plant a thorn in the side of the city!
"If the authorities investigate..."
"Just say it's a 'supporting business' of our company, and we'll take care of it ourselves to prevent refugees from causing trouble," Lu Yan said calmly.
"Done!"
Wang Dengku slapped his thigh suddenly, his eyes flashing with a fierce light. "As long as you can get this business up and running, I'll take care of the paperwork! We'll buy this land!"
……
When I left the Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall, it was already past midnight.
Lu Yan tightened his cloak and looked up at the pale, cold star in the night sky.
"Master, where are we going?" Zhao Changying asked.
"Go back and rest," Lu Yan said. "Starting tomorrow, go to the dilapidated temples and mortuaries outside the city and inquire about the situation of the refugees."
He paused, then added:
"Especially those defeated veterans from Liaodong. Even if they're crippled, it doesn't matter. As long as they know gunpowder, blacksmithing, and military formations, I'll take them. Also, keep an eye out for those with skills—accountants, doctors, craftsmen—these people are treasures in chaotic times."
Zhao Changying nodded without asking any further questions.
Lu Yan glanced back at the brightly lit Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall, his voice soft:
"I know that first pot of gold was stained with blood. But since it's blood-stained, we have to make that bloodshed worthwhile."
He turned around and strode forward.
"We will use this money to build an impregnable fortress—the Iron Dock Fortress—on this crumbling Ming Dynasty."
The night wind howled, making his robes flutter loudly.
In the darkness, Lu Yan's figure appeared exceptionally lonely, yet exceptionally resolute.