Chapter 364 - The Foshan Journey (Part 17)

"Business—we actually have more than we can handle. It's merely a matter of choosing to pursue it or not." With the acquisition settled, Liu San was in excellent spirits. "Never mind anything else—just the industries under our Executive Committee alone, how much medicine would they require?" Without waiting for a reply, he continued: "Right now the Security Brigade alone has over a thousand men, plus many long-term laborers. All told, we're looking at over ten thousand people. Don't these people need medical treatment and medicine?"

"That all depends on Brother's guidance."

"I'm a half-owner now—how could I not give my utmost?" Liu San smiled. "Rest assured—anything involving the Australians, I shall arrange it."

"The second avenue," Liu San continued, "depends on your cousin. Do you know what Qiongzhou produces abundantly in terms of medicinal materials?"

"Naturally areca nut and alpinia." Yang Shixiang was quite familiar with local medicinal products.

"Exactly. These two products—we'll leave areca nut aside for now. Major buyers in Qiongzhou specialize in purchasing it; we needn't compete with them and sour relations. But alpinia is currently overlooked. Wild plants grow in Lingao and Danzhou. We can also cultivate some ourselves. After our own processing, we can sell through your cousin's distribution—there's another revenue stream."

"And then there are tonics," Liu San said. "I noticed Yangrunkai Hall's prepared medicines seem to specialize in tonics?"

"Speaking of that, our ancestors built the family fortune on various tonics," Yang Shixiang said. "Pity that by my father's generation, there was no room to develop in Lingao. All that knowledge fell into disuse."

"Since the formulas still exist, restoration should be straightforward. Lingao may lack tonic buyers, but Guangdong has plenty."

"Then we cannot let Yangrunkai Hall distribute—there'd be direct conflict. Those formulas exist in both our hands."

"No need for their distribution. We'll find other agents in Guangzhou. Or we simply open our own branch there—but that's for later."

Yang Shixiang hesitated. "Brother! There's something I don't know if I should say."

"What is it?"

"Brother, don't you feel these past few years the Great Ming has shown signs of chaos..." His voice dropped nearly to a mosquito's buzz. "Tonics are for peaceful, prosperous times..."

Liu San already knew: starting this very year, the Ming court would be caught in an alternating cycle of peasant rebellions and Later Jin invasions, with national affairs deteriorating daily—embarking on the road to collapse. But Yang Shixiang wasn't a transmigrator. From his small corner of Lingao, he couldn't possibly grasp the whole picture.

"What makes you say that?"

Yang Shixiang sighed: "These past days visiting relatives, colleagues, and my father's old friends, everyone shakes their heads when discussing conditions elsewhere. Constant floods and droughts. I hear Shaanxi suffered severe famine this spring—people are eating each other! The starving are rioting everywhere, besieging prefectures and attacking counties. The government troops suffered a great defeat; a general surnamed Gao perished. Someone has even proclaimed himself a false king..."

"Shaanxi is far from here—"

"That may be, but other places aren't peaceful either." Yang Shixiang said. "I also hear troops mutinied in the capital over back pay, actually building stockades at the capital gates demanding full wages—is that any way to behave? We've been in Lingao, somewhat oblivious. But traveling here, though Guangdong still appears peaceful, there are more vagrants everywhere than I've ever seen..."

Liu San smiled inwardly. Yang Shixiang wasn't wrong. But upon reflection—this group of "cropped-hairs" from across the sea had brazenly built forts in Lingao, levying grain and conscripting labor, with local officials helpless to stop them. Wasn't that also a major "sign of chaos"? Yet Yang Shixiang, being in the thick of it and even sensing some peaceful prosperity in Lingao, simply hadn't recognized it. Clearly the transmigrator group's rule in Lingao had gained initial acceptance.

"Don't worry," Liu San consoled. "At least Guangdong's situation appears far from deteriorating. Besides, even in chaotic times, there's chaotic-times business to be done."

"How would that work?" Yang Shixiang asked.

Liu San said: "Don't worry about business. Local disturbances, so long as the government survives, will stabilize. Once stable, there's aftermath to handle. As they say, 'after military chaos, great plague follows.' Refugees, hungry early, cold late, unfamiliar with local conditions—when they fall ill, they must buy medicine. If things truly become unmanageable, we retreat to Lingao."

"Yes, yes. Lingao can always maintain local peace." Yang Shixiang seemed to have accepted transmigrator-ruled Lingao as a land of safety.

Their plans settled, Yang Shixiang went to visit his cousin to discuss specific consignment arrangements. After Lin Ming's banquet, Yang Shiyi's attitude had completely transformed. Seeing his cousin arrive, he showered him with warm greetings. Consignment details were quickly finalized: wholesale and retail prices set by Runshitang; Yangrunkai Hall handled distribution with a "one price, no negotiation" policy—no bargaining, no discounts, no markups. Yangrunkai Hall took a fixed commission per unit as a "handling fee." Runshitang would separately pay sales bonuses to the sales clerks to encourage volume. Sales revenue would be settled at the three major festivals, with no delayed payments permitted. Runshitang would establish a Foshan representative office with a dedicated agent handling sales, delivery, and purchasing matters. Expenses would be borne by Runshitang. The parties also agreed on three prohibitions: no private meetings between their personnel, no mutual hospitality, no borrowing between staffs. Traditional commercial enterprises maintained extreme vigilance against employee corruption.

Thanks to Lin Ming's face, Yang Shiyi's commission demands were quite reasonable—not the lion's-den demands Yang Shixiang had anticipated. Though Yang Shiyi felt somewhat aggrieved, seeing his cousin place a large cash order for medicines provided some compensation. The two parted on excellent terms. Even the future Runshitang consignment of alpinia seeds was discussed and agreed upon. Yang Shiyi privately marveled—who would have thought his seemingly useless cousin had become so capable! Clearly this Lingao physician "Liu San" was no ordinary man.

Liu San, meanwhile, wandered around Foshan pharmacies window-shopping. Wherever prepared medicines were sold—familiar or unknown—he purchased several doses of each for human trials back home. He also used the excuse of expanding production to recruit several unemployed pharmacy clerks through Yang Shiyi's introductions, purchasing various traditional medicine processing equipment: slicing knives, processing pots, and vessels.

Huang Tianyu's worker recruitment also progressed well. He took Gao Di and Chen Tong to several tea houses where kiln workers gathered seeking employment, recruiting several men. Through these contacts, they located more unemployed kiln workers. Many being currently without work, recruitment proceeded smoothly. Soon they had fifty or sixty kiln workers of various trades willing to relocate to Lingao. Huang Tianyu accepted all comers, including older workers that kilns rejected. These possessed valuable experience; they were only around fifty. Nutritional supplements after reaching Lingao would transform them into excellent technical workers.

Foundry workers proved more difficult to recruit. Currently, work was plentiful; skilled workers weren't eager to venture to unfamiliar Lingao. Despite Huang Andé's efforts, he mostly found basic laborers. Even these proved reluctant. After several days of effort, they recruited only about ten men. Huang Tianyu was disappointed. On a rainy day, he simply sat in a tea house drinking tea while Huang Andé braved the downpour to continue searching.

This tea house was extremely humble—really just a small room with a large bamboo shed extension and a dirt floor. They sold only coarse tea and even lower-grade stalks and leaf dust. But prices were rock-bottom—even day laborers could afford to linger over tea there for half a day. Cheap tea and good information made it a gathering spot for unemployed workers seeking jobs.

Huang Tianyu drank his tea absently, following others' example by purchasing a packet of areca nut. Little leaf-wrapped bundles with dark contents inside. He chewed one—immediately a rush hit his brain, head spinning with an almost-drunk sensation. He needed a while to steady himself.

"What's good about this stuff?" Huang Tianyu muttered.

"It aids digestion and dispels dampness," Gao Di said beside him, red-mouthed from enthusiastically chewing areca.

Huang Tianyu was about to comment when Huang Andé walked in. Removing his dripping rain cape: "Master—" He bowed respectfully.

"Speak freely at the table."

"Yes." Huang Andé propped his umbrella by the table and sat down. "I just visited a tea house. Didn't find suitable foundry masters, but made another discovery. I don't know if Master might need it?"

"What kind of craftsman?"

"A wheelwright..."

"What?!" Huang Tianyu couldn't help shouting, drawing looks from those nearby. He quickly lowered his voice: "A wheelwright?"

"Yes." Huang Andé didn't understand his excitement. "That's right."

Huang Tianyu was naturally excited. The wheel problem had been a constant headache for the Industry Committee. Aside from rail cars, ordinary handcarts and horse carts faced ongoing wheel manufacturing issues. Wheel-making required specialized skills. The Industry Committee had capable people who had managed to produce wheels, but at very low efficiency and consuming technical personnel. So they relied heavily on rubber wheels brought from the future.

With spare wheels dwindling and cart demand ever-growing—rubber production being decades away—finding wheelwrights capable of producing qualified wooden wheels had become urgent.

Unfortunately, the south relied mainly on boats and carrying poles, with little cart usage. Wheelwrights were virtually nonexistent here.

(End of Chapter)