The western regions were gripped by a devastating drought. Crops had failed across a thousand li. Famine spread without mercy. People had turned to eating one another.
Sixteen terse characters in the memorial, yet they painted the horrors of natural disaster with unbearable vividness.
Lin Xuejin set down the court gazette and closed his eyes in anguish. His clenched fists trembled.
He had lived there once, in that very place.
Three years serving as a local official, and still the people could not sustain themselves.
He had failed them.
"Mr. Lin, Mr. Lin, the eldest sister is calling us in for a meeting."
"All right, I'm coming." Lin Xuejin drew a deep breath, pressed his emotions down, and made his way to the meeting room.
"Everyone's here, then let's begin."
"Let's go around and report on recent work. If there are problems, we'll talk them through. Jinxiu, start with you."
Jinxiu nodded and opened her notebook. "The wholesale price of Immortal's Reverie has reached one tael of silver per jin. It's unlikely to go higher in the short term."
"Daily revenue stands at ten thousand yuan, and it remains the cornerstone of the village's finances."
"The commercial street shops are almost all occupied by tenants. Average daily rent is around two hundred yuan, though with more and more people coming in, rents should be going up soon."
"Everything to do with residential properties has already been handed over to Deputy Village Head Lin and Deputy Village Head Jinyuan. They'll report on the rental figures in a moment."
"The garment factory…"
"The pig farm…"
…
When Jinxiu finished, everyone weighed in briefly.
Jinwen spoke next. "The construction crew I oversee currently has around three hundred workers. We're preparing to build two new main streets, one to the east and one to the west. According to the master's overall plan, the valley can accommodate exactly these three streets in total. Preparations are proceeding smoothly on all fronts."
…
Then Lin Xuejin spoke. "Registered residents with formal household status have now exceeded five thousand. Those in the probationary or transient category number around one thousand, which means the village population has passed six thousand."
"Qingniu Town has two thousand households, putting its population at roughly ten thousand."
"However, a portion of those residents have already begun moving over to our side."
"By the end of next year, our village's population should be comparable to Qingniu Town's."
"But the energy and vitality of our village is something Qingniu Town simply cannot match."
"Many people have already been drawn by the prosperity and dynamism here and chosen to relocate from Qingniu Town. Arrivals from other towns are still relatively few."
"As for the school: the third cohort of graduates has graduated. This time it was three classes, one hundred and fifty students in total."
"Nearly all of them had secured employment before they even graduated."
"School graduates are widely regarded as capable workers. Setting aside those who entered our own enterprises, even those who went to work for private employers have received praise across the board."
"Demand for them consistently outstrips supply."
Jinyuan continued. "Public order has been well maintained. No serious incidents have occurred."
"At present, the security station has three squads totaling around fifty officers. They are responsible for residential security as well as protecting key institutions such as the village committee, the bank, and the school. The workload is beginning to stretch us thin."
"I recommend expanding to ten squads, one hundred officers in all, with each squad leader commanding roughly ten people. That should allow us to operate comfortably without any slip-ups."
"Let's open it up for discussion."
…
"Since we've reached a consensus, everyone may proceed with implementation."
"There is one final matter. The master has given us an assignment."
At the mention of the master, everyone in the room sat up a little straighter.
"The master has located two mineral deposits and needs people organized to begin extraction."
"Jinwen, your construction crew has lighter demands at the moment, so this will fall to you. Hand your construction responsibilities over to Wang Changjiang and check in on him from time to time."
"The two sites are not far apart — one is an iron deposit, the other coal. We expect to first recruit two to three hundred workers at the sites to begin operations."
"Mining is dangerous work. Safety comes first."
"Since it's hard labor, I think a performance-based wage of around one yuan is fair, with meals provided."
"If workers are willing to take up household registration in Taoyuan Village, they will receive Grade 3 wages."
Taoyuan Village's current pay scale: Grade 1 at one yuan, Grade 2 at 1.2 yuan, Grade 3 at 1.5 yuan.
"Additionally, the master has provided a steelmaking method. We will build blast furnaces on-site to smelt steel."
"Eldest sister, leave it to me."
"Good. I'll send Mingcheng over to assist with management."
Lin Xuejin listened in silence, his brow furrowing.
Salt and iron monopolies had always been the exclusive domain of the imperial court. Would it be dangerous for Taoyuan Village to reach into this territory?
If it remained small-scale, perhaps not. But if things grew too large — privately extracting iron ore and coal, and now smelting steel — that would be more than enough to set off every alarm the court possessed.
After all, in recent years disasters both natural and man-made had come without pause, and rebellions had broken out in many places.
Take the western catastrophe now unfolding. After nature strikes, human calamity always follows. The court had no funds to spare for relief. He had seen clearly enough what the officials and wealthy households were made of. Expecting them to organize relief on their own initiative was pure fantasy. So what would those people do, those who had nothing left to live for?
He didn't dare follow the thought to its conclusion.
And now Taoyuan Village was pressing into territory this sensitive. Iron and coal together meant weapons and armor were within reach.
If the court caught wind of this, they would almost certainly read it as the opening moves of a rebellion.
Good God. Iron, coal, weapons, armor — what exactly was Taoyuan Village planning? Surely they weren't actually going to rebel?
No, no. People who can't get enough to eat or enough to wear — as long as they can still survive, they won't rebel. Life here in Taoyuan Village was good. Why would anyone want to revolt? He must have been thinking about it all wrong. All wrong.
"Deputy Village Head Lin? Deputy Village Head Lin, what are you thinking about? There's one more thing I need to ask of you."
"Oh — forgive me, I lost my train of thought for a moment. Please go ahead, Village Head."
"Both mineral deposits lie within the boundaries of our Jiade County. I'll need you to go and negotiate with the county magistrate to purchase the surrounding hills. Tell him that the master wishes to build a manor there and open up the land for cultivation."
"Deputy Village Head Lin, what do you think? If it's too much trouble, we can drop it — I can send someone else to handle the negotiations."
"No need to trouble anyone else. It will be easier coming from me."
"Then I'll impose on you, Deputy Village Head. Take Jinxiu along. Whatever it costs, as long as it isn't excessive, we can accept it."
"Village Head, may I ask — and forgive me for prying — what do we intend to do with the iron ore and coal?" Lin Xuejin hesitated for a long moment before carefully giving voice to what was weighing on him.
"Ah. Our village requires large quantities of iron, and the court's allocations are far too meager. We have no choice but to provide for ourselves."
"Besides, as you're well aware, the realm is unsettled these days. Who knows when roving rebel forces might push their way into our area? We have to be prepared."
"The wealth of Taoyuan Village looks like a fat prize to many people out there."
"If something truly does happen, do you honestly believe the court's troops would be of any use, sir?"
"Understood. I'll go to the county seat tomorrow."
Lin Xuejin found Jinyi's reasoning entirely sound. The court was not to be relied upon. They would have to rely on themselves.
He was a man of letters, after all.
As long as they weren't actually rebelling, he could afford to lower his bottom line a little.
…
The following day, a small convoy of carriages departed Taoyuan Village for Jiade County, some tens of li away.
Lin Xuejin personally composed an invitation and arranged a banquet for the county magistrate at the finest restaurant in town.
The magistrate arrived as expected, and the two men got along famously from the start.
Although Lin Xuejin held no current office, he had formerly served at the fifth rank and had resigned of his own accord rather than being dismissed.
Combined with the connections he still maintained in the capital, a return to official life would not be difficult if he wished it.
The county magistrate of Jiade, on the other hand, had spent his years in this small backwater post. At his age, with no powerful patrons behind him, his prospects were self-evident.
Naturally, he had every reason to cultivate a man of standing.
Over the banquet, the two drank and laughed like old friends who had found each other too late. Lin Xuejin slipped in the matter of purchasing a few small hillsides on behalf of a friend from the capital, and it barely registered as a request at all.
The magistrate, acting within his authority, sold them at the lowest permissible price without a second thought.
Jinxiu counted out two thousand taels of silver on the spot. Then, stepping outside, she found the magistrate's personal attendant and pressed another thousand taels into his hands.
Three thousand taels in all, filling two cartloads.
Lin Xuejin had made the trip, concluded the business, and returned home within two days.
Then Jinyi, preparations complete, set out at the head of a wagon train of several dozen vehicles.
Their destination: a cluster of small hills twenty li beyond Mitang Town, roughly eighty li from Taoyuan Village.