Chapter 61: Sweet Harbor Storm - Escalation

The first heart-stopping day passed. That night, it wasn’t just Wen Tong; all the transmigrators at the South China Sugar Factory were like ants on a hot pan. Everyone realized they were facing a challenge, a crisis. For Wen Tong, there were two countermeasures. The first was to mobilize ready cash from Guangzhou and Lingao. With enough silver, the current crisis could immediately be turned into a good thing. The South China Sugar Firm could purchase sugar at the original price, not only gaining a huge profit but also greatly increasing its reputation in Leizhou. But a quick calculation reminded him that this was impossible. Of the more than two hundred thousand dan of sugar in Leizhou, even if he ended up buying only a third, he would have to pay nearly two hundred thousand taels of silver, an astronomical figure. Not to mention that Lingao definitely couldn’t produce that much, even Guo Yi in Guangzhou would have to bankrupt the Guangzhou station to satisfy the demand.

Xiao Gui said, “Let Lingao allocate a batch of luxury goods, like mirrors, glass, and so on…”

“The cane farmers have no use for these things, Old Xiao!” Chen Tianxiong shook his head repeatedly. “If you were given an Armani suit instead of your salary, would you be willing?”

“That’s true,” Xiao Gui thought. Whether ancient or modern, real gold and silver were always better than goods.

“The second countermeasure,” Wen Tong said, “is to simply lower the purchase price tomorrow. As long as we lower the price, the situation will immediately change, and we can continue to purchase normally. Of course, this means we will lose the possibility of taking down the Haiyitang and dominating Leizhou. This is a safer approach, and probably the only way.”

“If only Old Chang could come back sooner. He would definitely bring back rice. If we paid for the sugar with rice, the cane farmers would surely accept it,” Wen Tong lamented, knowing in his heart that this was impossible.

“It seems that’s the only way,” everyone was speechless. That night, Wen Tong was restless and irritable. He even scolded A’Zhu, who was preparing to offer herself to him, and drove her out.

The next day, just as the sky was getting light, Wen Tong hastily washed up and went to the entrance of the sugar firm with his men. The scene outside almost made his breathing stop. A dense crowd of cane farmers stretched from the entrance to the main road. There must have been several thousand people. It seemed they had come overnight. It was clear that the news of the price drop from the Haiyitang had spread throughout Xuwen. Everyone who still had sugar to sell was flocking to South China, their last hope.

Chen Tianxiong and the others also arrived. Even Xiao Gui came—who had the heart to train apprentices now?

Liao Daxing came over and asked in a low voice, “Master, should we change the price on the shuipai?”

Wen Tong gritted his teeth and nodded. “Change it.”

Liao Daxing was just instructing the assistants to write the new shuipai, preparing to hang it up and open for business, when Liao Dahua came in. Seeing that they were about to change the price, he quickly grabbed his arm. “Don’t hang it up yet!” He turned to Wen Tong and whispered, “Master, we can’t change it!” He then pulled Wen Tong into the inner room of the counting house.

“The escorts we sent out have gathered some information.”

“What information?” Wen Tong became nervous.

“On Haian Street and in Xuwen county town, everyone is saying that the South China Sugar Factory has some kind of sorcery that can create sugar out of thin air. That’s why South China’s sugar is everywhere now, and the price has dropped very low. All the sugar is unsalable…”

“Nonsense!” Wen Tong gritted his teeth in anger. What kind of rumor was this? Despicable! Truly despicable! “The price of sugar in Guangzhou is clearly three taels and eight qian. Where has the price dropped?”

“Well… the cane farmers are ignorant, and Guangzhou is over a thousand li away. No one can verify it.”

Chen Tianxiong said, “It seems someone is taking advantage of the information blockade.”

“Let’s not analyze it anymore. Let’s make a decision!” Wen Tong was getting agitated. “What about the purchase price?! Should we change it or not?”

Before anyone else could speak, Liao Dahua spoke first, “We can’t change it! There are rumors all over the street that the South China Factory caused this. If the South China Factory doesn’t buy at two taels and five qian, they will go to the officials and accuse the South China Factory of practicing sorcery…”

“Bullshit! Can the county officials listen to their nonsense?”

“Master, we are naturally not afraid of them going to the county to complain—it’s all baseless accusations. But the escorts who came back all said that there is something very fishy about this matter. Many ruffians have mixed into the crowd of sugar sellers. Right now, everyone is in a panic. If South China changes the price, these people will immediately cause a commotion and incite the crowd to rush in. This… wouldn’t this be mutual destruction? Once things get out of hand, even if the county officials come, they might not be able to calm things down immediately!”

The image of reports of mass incidents they had seen on the forums in the past flashed through everyone’s minds. In the past, they had felt a certain dark satisfaction when they saw such things, feeling that it was a way for the common people to vent their anger. But now that it was happening to them, with a crowd of common people outside ready to start a mass incident, everyone felt a great deal of pressure.

“And…” Liao Dahua added, “there are also hundreds of sugar masters from all the earthen sugar mills in Leizhou mixed in. Since the South China Factory opened, the business of the earthen sugar mills has plummeted. These craftsmen are either unemployed or have had their wages severely cut. They are all full of resentment. I heard that a few days ago, someone had already submitted a complaint to the yamen, demanding that the government intervene, but it was rejected by the county magistrate. If they take this opportunity to cause trouble, it will be even worse. Some are even prepared to rush in and burn the machines.”

“Damn it, isn’t this turning into a machine-breaking movement? The revolutionary consciousness of the masses is really high!” Mei Lin said.

“What’s the use of saying such nonsense,” Wen Tong waved his hand. “We are all capitalists. Be careful not to be subjected to the dictatorship of the revolutionary masses outside. Everyone, come up with an idea!”

“Let’s just buy at the original price,” Xiao Gui said. “Even if no one wants to attack the sugar factory, the cane farmers are not having it easy. As long as we can make a profit, that’s fine. If a riot really breaks out, the loss of the machines will be huge.”

“Of course, the best strategy is to continue buying. But what about the silver?!” This was what Wen Tong was worried about.

“The silver can still last for a few days,” Chen Tianxiong said. “Even a few days is good. At least it gives us a buffer and time to think of a countermeasure.”

If they lowered the price now, according to the intelligence Liao Dahua had obtained, the bomb someone had prepared for them would immediately blow the South China Factory to smithereens. If they continued to buy at the original price, although it might still explode after a few days of lingering on, at least they would have a buffer. If they could come up with a countermeasure in time, it might even be a great opportunity to unify the Leizhou sugar industry.

“Let’s do it then. Manager Liao, go and inform them to continue buying at two taels and five qian…”

Before he could finish, Wen Xiu came running in, stumbling. “It’s… it’s not good…”

“What is it?” Everyone’s face changed. Had the proletariat masses already started to act?

“The cane farmers outside, I don’t know who they heard it from, are all discussing that South China is going to buy at one tael and five qian today. Someone started a commotion, saying that South China caused all the trouble, and if South China dares to lower the price, they will make South China pay…”

“Bastard!” Seeing the opponent pressing on step by step, Wen Tong knew that there was no time to lose. He quickly instructed Wen Xiu, “Run out and tell Liao Daxing to hang up the shuipai immediately, the price remains unchanged!”

Wen Xiu ran out. The atmosphere in the room became even heavier. If what Liao Dahua had said was just a possibility, the current situation had already confirmed the accuracy of the intelligence. Chen Tianxiong suddenly said, “There’s something fishy here!”

Everyone’s eyes immediately focused on him. “We only decided to change the purchase price this morning. How did the people outside know so quickly?”

“There’s a spy!”

“That’s right,” Chen Tianxiong said. “It seems the root of the problem is with those local assistants. They were all recently hired, and we don’t know anything about them.”

Liao Dahua said, “This is easy. Let’s replace them first and have the escorts take them into custody.”

“But then there will be no local assistants to communicate with the cane farmers. The Leizhou dialect is one of the most difficult to understand in Cantonese.”

“I’ll go to the county town right away and ask the shops and warehouses I’m familiar with to spare one or two each. Plus the local people from the escort agency, that should be enough.”

“Alright, go quickly. It’s almost time to open the doors!”

On one side, they were rearranging the assistants. On the other, they called for Zhou Shizhai and instructed him not only to mobilize the militia but also to organize all the male adults and able-bodied women of the sugar factory. Production was to be suspended. Everyone was given a stick and prepared to protect the factory, the equipment, and the warehouse.

“Tell everyone, if a riot breaks out, just hit them. If anyone is killed, the owner will find someone to take their place! The dead will be compensated with five hundred taels each, and the injured will be taken care of by South China for the rest of their lives! As long as the machines and the warehouse are protected, everyone will be given ten taels of silver!”

“I’ll go and give the order right away!” Zhou Shizhai also knew that the matter was serious and hurried to make arrangements. Xiao Gui also rushed back to the boiler room to raise the steam pressure. If anyone rushed into the sugar factory, they would use the steam engine to drive the water dragon to spray the crowd.

While they were busy making arrangements inside, the crowd outside had already begun to stir. They were already unsettled by the news of the sugar price drop. Now they heard that their only hope, the South China Firm, was also preparing to lower the price, and it was past the opening time, but the doors were still closed. The commotion that was already present in the crowd began to spread. Someone was taking the opportunity to shout:

“South China doesn’t dare to open its doors!”

“They caused this mess, they must clean it up!”

“If they don’t open the doors, we’ll rush in!”

“Burn down this demonic factory of South China!”

“Let’s go, everyone!”

The commotion in the crowd grew larger and was about to get out of control when the main gate of South China opened. Liao Daxing strode out. His lordly demeanor momentarily silenced the already agitated and eager cane farmers.

“What are you shouting about?” Liao Daxing put on a confident and arrogant look, although his back was covered in sweat. “Come on, hang up the shuipai for me.”

The assistants came out and quickly hung up the shuipai.

The eyes of everyone present were fixed on the shuipai. On it was clearly written two taels and five qian.

A sigh of relief swept through the crowd like a gust of wind.

“Fathers and fellow villagers!” Liao Daxing desperately repeated the words Wen Tong had told him in his mind. “Our South China Factory and South China Sugar Firm, although we are new here, we are all respectable businessmen. For the past few months, we have been making sugar for everyone, and you have all seen the quality of the sugar. Now that the price of sugar outside is high, South China was originally worried about not having enough sugar to sell. We are extremely grateful for your patronage,” he said, cupping his hands in a circle. “Our owner has said that anyone who wants to sell sugar, just come and sell. South China has plenty of silver and rice to buy. Let’s open the scales!” After saying that, he bowed again and went inside.

This statement, coupled with the fact that the price had not dropped, temporarily appeased the restless crowd. But this was only a temporary measure. The next step would depend on how the Executive Committee handled it.

The Executive Committee received the urgent report on the same day. The Foreign Affairs Department held an emergency meeting. Because it involved the allocation of funds, the matter became a joint meeting of the finance department and the foreign affairs department.

“The total silver inventory in Lingao is less than forty thousand taels,” Cheng Dong lowered his voice when he mentioned the silver inventory. This was one of the top secrets of the transmigrator group.

Forty thousand taels could only buy sixteen thousand dan of sugar, which was a drop in the bucket for the hundreds of thousands of dan of sugar that were ready to flood the gates of South China.

“No money? We should still have some from what we sold to Macau.”

“Those Indian bills of exchange cannot be cashed in Leizhou. At the very least, they have to be exchanged in Macau. Besides, it’s only twenty thousand pesos.”

“Let the Guangzhou station allocate it.”

“I’ve contacted the Guangzhou station,” Cheng Dong said. “The original plan was for the Guangzhou station to raise one hundred thousand taels of silver to be sent to Leizhou specifically for the purchase of Leizhou sugar. But it’s too difficult to transport the ready cash, and there’s no guarantee of safety. So they adopted the idea of Chang Shide from the Leizhou sugar industry: use a portion of the Leizhou sugar to exchange for Vietnamese rice, and then use the Vietnamese rice to purchase Leizhou sugar. This was a good idea, but at that time, they didn’t expect such a ‘panic selling’ incident. With so much supply coming in at once, the silver was not allocated.”

Wen Desi said, “This is a tricky matter. The risk is great, but let’s still allocate the ready cash to Leizhou. I estimate that the Great Whale won’t be back for a while.”

“There’s no radio on the Great Whale. Otherwise, we could have sent a telegram telling him to buy rice and come back.”

“How about we transport rice to them from Lingao or Guangzhou? Chang Shide said in his report that the price of rice in Leizhou is very high.”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” Yan Ming, the newly appointed head of the “Delong Grain Firm,” spoke up. “We don’t have that much grain in stock.” Since the issuance of the Lingao grain circulation coupons, grain had become a daily concern for this bank. “And the daily consumption of grain is considerable. Transporting away a few thousand dan would endanger the reserves.”

“Transporting grain from Guangzhou is the same as transporting silver,” Wen Desi said. “It’s too slow. A sailboat takes six to seven days for a round trip. By the time it gets to Leizhou, the daylilies will have wilted.”

“I agree with President Wen’s point: we must transport the silver!” Ma Qianzhu frowned. “If we don’t transport the silver, the South China Factory will be squeezed out. The great situation we’ve opened up in Leizhou will be gone.”