Chapter 77: The Sweet Harbor Tempest - The Beginning of the Collapse

“It’s fine. I earn a few coins every day writing letters for people in front of the county yamen. If things get really bad, I have a cousin—” Here his face turned slightly red. “…we’re engaged. My aunt and uncle aren’t snobbish people. They can always spare a few meals.”

Chen Tianxiong smiled to himself, thinking he should give him a small mirror as a thank-you gift later.

Back at the Huanan Sugar Factory, Chen Tianxiong made further arrangements. He specifically sent people to the city to keep an eye on Lin Zhuang, to see if he would become completely reckless. If the man took the silver and continued his life of debauchery in the brothel, the plan would need to be readjusted. Soon, news came back: Lin Zhuang had left the county seat and returned to the Zou Heshang Temple.

“Old Chen, why did you have to persuade Lin Zhuang?” Wen Tong asked.

“He’s the leader of the sugar mill workers and has some prestige,” Chen Tianxiong said. “Our own people lobbying them will have some effect, but his words carry more weight.”

“What if he keeps dragging his feet? What if he refuses to help?”

“That’s not up to him anymore.” Chen Tianxiong was prepared. “He handed over the original roster for us to copy, which is as good as putting his own leash in our hands. With this,” he waved the copied list, “he can’t deny it even if he wants to.”

“You’re really something,” Wen Tong said with sincere admiration. “How did you get him to take the bait?”

“It was the lure of the kickback. Money clouds the eyes,” Chen Tianxiong said. “The moment I tempted him with the settlement pay, he lost his self-control.”

“Even settlement pay has a secret kickback. This world is so damn dark,” Wen Tong lamented. “By the way, Chang Shide is back.”

“Why didn’t I see him?”

“He’s in Lingao, preparing for a mission,” Wen Tong said, explaining the detailed plan between the Executive Committee and Huanan to deal with the pirates. “The Navy’s preference is to gather as much intelligence as possible on this pirate gang and eradicate them completely, to avoid future trouble.”

“I understand.” Chen Tianxiong didn’t have any leads on this matter, but he knew that with effort, anything was possible. Intelligence work required people on the ground. “But for now, we need to plan for the ‘pacification’. What did Wu De say about our request?”

Matters involving the large-scale recruitment of local natives were now under the jurisdiction of the Civil Affairs Committee, which basically meant Wu De had the final say.

“Wu De approved it, but he wants us to submit a report on how we plan to arrange this workforce,” Wen Tong said. “Should they be settled locally, or transferred to Lingao?”

“What’s your opinion?” Chen Tianxiong had his own views on this, but Wen Tong was in charge of the situation in Leizhou and knew better how much labor was needed locally.

“Locally, of course.” Wen Tong’s plans were ambitious. The distillery was about to open and would need workers. The integrated processing of sugar waste would also require a lot of manpower. Absorbing this labor force would not be a problem.

“I think so too. Most of them are locals from Leizhou and Xuwen. If we force them to move to Lingao, I’m afraid they won’t be happy.”

“And how do we settle their families?”

“The factory can’t accommodate so many people at once, but their wages should be enough to support their families,” Wen Tong said. “I plan to pay them in both rice and silver—half and half. The price of rice is high here, so using the Vietnamese rice brought by Chang Shide is more cost-effective. As our operations expand, we can gradually absorb the family members as workers.”

This was a good method. After Chang Shide established the sea route for rice and sugar between Xuwen and Vietnam, the Huanan factory effectively had its own large granary.

Even so, once the “pacification” was complete, Huanan would be responsible for feeding nearly a thousand people. When they were on their own, it was one thing, but once they had an employer, any unexpected problems in their provisions could easily lead to unrest.

“Food is easy to solve. Chang Shide has brought rice; we can have as much as we need,” Chen Tianxiong said. “If a shipment is delayed, we can have the Dachang Rice Shop advance us some.”

“We also need to give them settlement pay,” Wen Tong said. “At least one silver dollar per worker.”

“Of course,” Chen Tianxiong nodded. “It shows our sincerity.”

“But we can’t let Lin Zhuang distribute the money. He’s so greedy, he’d pocket at least half of it. We can’t be the suckers.”

“Naturally, we’ll be the ones to build the goodwill,” Chen Tianxiong scoffed. “I’m more worried he’ll just take the money and run.”

They then calculated the approximate amount of silver and grain needed and made detailed plans for arranging the workers.

“But when will you carry out the ‘pacification’?”

“That depends on Lin Zhuang’s enlightenment. But if he’s not enlightened, we’ll have to force the issue,” Chen Tianxiong said. “From the looks of it, Xiao Zhanfeng was right that the incense-burning won’t lead to an uprising, but we still need to be wary of him.”

After Chen Tianxiong left, Lin Zhuang, now with silver in his pocket, felt his courage return. He had initially planned to linger at Sister-in-law Ai’s for another day, but then he considered the complex situation. Both Huanan and the Haiyi Guild had their eyes on him. While his value had increased and he could play both sides, how could he manage this “two-timing” game? It would be a major headache. If he stayed in the pleasure house any longer, he would lose control of the situation. Though he felt a twinge of regret, he quickly left Sister-in-law Ai’s and headed back.

On the way, he first stopped at a rice shop and used the few loose taels he had to buy old rice, instructing them to deliver it to the Zou Heshang Temple. He was a regular customer there, so the shop naturally complied.

He then went to a money-changer and deposited the whole ingot Chen Tianxiong had given him. He hurried back to the Zou Heshang Temple. He had a room there, arranged for him by Third Master Zhu. He was a broke bachelor who spent any money he got his hands on. He usually just crashed at the sugar mills and had no decent belongings. His room only had a bamboo bed and a few ragged clothes, so he wasn’t worried about thieves. Upon returning to the temple, he didn’t greet anyone, went straight to his room, shut the door, and lay on his bed to scheme.

Playing both sides was nice, but it wasn’t a long-term solution. Sooner or later, he would have to decide: side with the Haiyi Guild, or with Huanan.

On this point, Lin Zhuang had no internal struggle. In his view, Huanan was ultimately an outsider. No matter how capable they were, they couldn’t defeat the deeply rooted Haiyi Guild—at best, they would reach a compromise. Siding with the Haiyi Guild was the safe bet.

However, Huanan was much more generous than Third Master Zhu. This Manager Chen he met today had casually given him fifty taels. Third Master Zhu lacked that kind of style. Lin Zhuang couldn’t help but sigh. If the two could switch places, he would be completely devoted to Manager Chen.

What he coveted most were the five hundred ‘Spanish dollars’. Lin Zhuang had never seen such a large sum of money. He plotted how he could get his hands on it—or at least a part of it.

The incense-burning ceremony could not be delayed. He had already made up his mind about that. Any further delay, and he wouldn’t be able to explain it to Third Master Zhu. Third Master Zhu wanted him to cause trouble. Not causing trouble was already a compromise. If he didn’t even put on a show, there would be nothing to negotiate in the future.

The problem was that once he took the oath, he would be breaking his promise to Huanan. If they became angry and decided to deal with him, it would be effortless. He had to guard against that.

As he was trying to figure out a way to appease both sides, there was a knock on the door. “Brother Lin!”

He recognized the voice as Ma Sanqiang, a leader among the group from Qinzhou. He had a lot of prestige among the unemployed workers from his hometown, so Lin Zhuang had to humor him.

He quickly got up, opened the door, and invited Ma Sanqiang in.

“Brother Lin!” Ma Sanqiang got straight to the point. “Someone delivered rice, and it’s old rice again. How are we supposed to eat this?”

“Can’t you eat old rice?” Lin Zhuang knew he was here to complain about this again and was greatly annoyed. One of the main reasons he hung out at the pleasure house was to avoid these people—down on their luck and living in a temple, yet still so picky.

Ma Sanqiang, seeing his indifferent attitude, trembled with anger. “Can we eat it? You try it!” He opened a cloth bundle. The rice inside was broken into tiny pieces, many discolored black or yellow, mixed with weeds and sand. It could hardly be called rice; it was more like the sweepings from the bottom of a warehouse.

Lin Zhuang felt a little guilty. He had only given a little over three taels for the rice, telling the shop to “buy as much as you can, the more the better.” Naturally, they sold him the cheapest rice available. The final price was three qian per shi, but he hadn’t expected the quality to be this bad! It was probably only fit for pigs.

“It’s still rice,” he said, still trying to be stubborn. “It can fill your stomach. We’re not in a position to be picky.”

“This isn’t about being picky! Eating this is worse than eating bran.” Ma Sanqiang had noticed that Lin Zhuang hadn’t eaten at the temple for over a month. Although he dressed in rags, he hadn’t lost any weight; in fact, he had gotten a bit fatter. He was already resentful.

Lin Zhuang, however, remained calm. He spread his hands. “There’s nothing I can do! This is all the money Third Master Zhu gave. I’m not a rich man who can just pull money out of thin air. There’s good rice, two taels a shi, but how can that feed so many people?”

His words were plausible. Although Ma Sanqiang suspected he was skimming off the top, he had no proof and couldn’t argue.

“I don’t believe Third Master Zhu would only give this little money. Is this how you do a good deed?”

“Third Master Zhu isn’t doing a good deed—” Lin Zhuang said, then realized how bad that would sound if it got back to Third Master Zhu. He quickly corrected himself, “I mean, Third Master Zhu helping everyone is already a great kindness. We have to give something back! I asked you all to go and hit Huanan, but every single one of you refused.” He felt his reasoning was solid, and his voice grew louder. “How am I supposed to explain this to Third Master Zhu?!”

“I won’t do something illegal like that,” Ma Sanqiang’s tone hardened. “I’ll be honest with you. Someone has already asked me to go work at Huanan. I was thinking that we all stuck together to file the complaint, and I couldn’t just abandon everyone for a full meal, so I didn’t agree. Now it seems I was being foolish.” He cupped his fist. “Brother Lin, take care of yourself!” With that, he strode away.

Lin Zhuang felt as if he’d been struck by lightning. ‘Someone asked him to work at Huanan,’ he repeated to himself. That Manager Chen had clearly said he needed his help with the ‘pacification,’ so how had he already extended his reach into the workers’ ranks? He quickly chased after him. In the courtyard, Ma Sanqiang and his fellow townsmen were packing their belongings.

“Sanqiang, we can talk about this!” He grabbed Ma Sanqiang’s hand. “Come back, let’s talk it over. Don’t break up our group!” He then whispered, “If you help me keep things together, I’ll make it worth your while!”

A look of disgust crossed Ma Sanqiang’s face. He shouted, “I don’t want it. Keep the money for yourself! I, Ma Sanqiang, earn my money fair and square through hard work. I won’t touch money from such dubious sources!” With a wave of his hand, he said, “Let’s go!”

More than a dozen workers from Qinzhou followed him out. Lin Zhuang stamped his feet in frustration but knew he couldn’t stop them. He saw the remaining workers and their families whispering amongst themselves, their morale wavering. Lin Zhuang cursed inwardly—Manager Chen, you’re too ruthless! Huanan must have been working on the workers for a while!

“Master Lin,” a sugar boiler quietly approached him. “Recently, a few people who used to work at the sugar mills have been active here. I’m afraid they’re from Huanan…”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“You’re never around. Where was I supposed to find you?” the man replied, clearly dissatisfied. “You don’t seem to care about what happens here at all!”

Lin Zhuang was speechless. He knew Chen Tianxiong had put him in a corner. If he cooperated with the “pacification,” it would be fine. But if he tried any tricks, Chen Tianxiong was already prepared to pull the rug out from under him. This completely shattered his dream of playing both sides.

He gritted his teeth: Manager Chen, you were ruthless, so don’t blame me for being treacherous. He decided to go ahead with the incense-burning ceremony—it was the next day, anyway. That night, he summoned the more influential men among the sugar mill workers for a meeting, but to his surprise, their attitudes had changed drastically.

Among the unemployed sugar mill workers, the sugar masters were the most enthusiastic about causing trouble and smashing up Huanan. However, they were unwilling to do the dirty work themselves. Although they hated Huanan the most, they had earned more in the past and had some savings. Unlike the other destitute workers, they didn’t want to get into trouble.

As for the impoverished laborers, who had previously been a raging mob, their anti-Huanan stance had been firm, and they were ready to fight at any moment. But now, things had changed. The news that Huanan was willing to hire them had spread through the crowd. With a glimmer of hope before them, no one was willing to do something illegal. No matter how much Lin Zhuang tried to incite them, they all said it was against the law and would lead to a bad end. Others lamented that their families were starving, and if they ended up in jail, their families would likely starve to death. Some even suggested they should just go and work for Huanan.