Han Qian rushed back to Furong Garden before nightfall. In the courtyard sat two elderly men dressed in hemp cloth, their faces wrinkled like dried tree bark, waiting with Ji Fu for their return.
“These are two master craftsmen from the prefecture. Master Fan said the young master had tasks to assign them, so he told me to bring them here to wait,” Ji Fu said with a slight bow.
Ji Fu was actually quite clever. After arriving in Xu Prefecture, he had been staying close to Fan Xicheng, probably hoping to secure a position through Fan’s connections. He seemed to think his son’s attempt to attach himself to the young master Han Qian was nothing but wishful thinking.
Even though Ji Fu had once been a master craftsman at the government-run shipyard in Chao Prefecture, he was still registered under a separate household designation—a craftsman household whose descendants were forbidden from generation to generation from entering official service.
“Fan Xicheng said I had tasks to assign to you?” Han Qian asked, puzzled.
Ji Fu and the two elderly men stood there stunned.
Fan Xicheng had instructed them that the young master needed them, and they hadn’t dared ask more questions. Now they discovered the young master had no recollection of any such matter.
“What can you make?” Han Qian asked the two hemp-clothed elders.
The two men were tongue-tied for quite some time, unable to produce a smooth response. Ji Fu answered on their behalf: “These two are craftsmen from the prefecture’s Bureau of Works who specialize in forging copper and iron implements. Perhaps Master Fan made a mistake. I’ll escort them out now.”
“Oh, I do indeed need them. Have them stay for dinner, and we’ll discuss the work after we eat,” Han Qian said, finally realizing his father was keeping tabs on him in Xu Prefecture to ensure he actually constructed the angle-measuring instrument first.
On stable ground rather than on a constantly rocking ship, a land-based angle-measuring instrument was quite simple. The most challenging aspect was marking the graduations, which required using the arc-division calculation methods from the *Zhoubi Suanjing*. Otherwise, there would be no way to ensure the graduations were sufficiently precise.
When estimating a mountain peak’s height, an error of ten or even several dozen meters wasn’t really a problem. However, if his father intended to use this method to calculate the relative elevations of the surrounding terrain in order to dig irrigation channels through Xu Prefecture’s hilly areas, even a slightly larger error would render the channels completely useless—water simply wouldn’t flow through them.
Additionally, Han Qian had noticed that during the journey to Xu Prefecture, his father had been reviewing materials on terrace field construction. He would most likely want to promote terrace farming in Xu Prefecture as well.
Traditional terraced fields were mostly dry land. To create rice paddies, one had to build ponds on the mountainsides to collect rainwater, while also ensuring that terraces on the same level maintained an extremely minimal elevation difference. Otherwise, the terraces couldn’t retain water.
Xu Prefecture had abundant rainfall, and rice paddies yielded far more than dry fields. However, relying purely on visual estimation and repeated trial and error to cultivate a stretch of terraced fields that was level would waste enormous amounts of manpower and resources.
If one could truly use an angle-measuring instrument to determine points of equal elevation encircling a hillside, then construct terraces along those contour lines, it would save countless efforts.
This seemingly simple device would prove extremely useful in Xu Prefecture’s complex terrain. No wonder his father was so eager and insistent on getting this done—afraid Han Qian might forget about it.
Of course, what seemed extremely simple to Han Qian wasn’t actually easy when he sat down to think through the implementation.
For instance, the base of the angle-measuring instrument had to allow for precise and fine adjustments in the field to ensure the base surface remained perfectly level. And if the leveling verification still relied on the crude method of engraved cross-channels filled with water, it would be far too imprecise.
Han Qian thought of how air bubbles naturally floated to the highest point of any liquid surface. He figured that using transparent glass or crystal to seal a small air bubble within a cross-channel—using the bubble’s position to verify levelness—would be much more accurate.
Furthermore, the base surface of this angle-measuring instrument itself had to be made sufficiently flat. Traditional casting methods would certainly not work; experienced craftsmen would still need to grind and polish it afterward.
After all this was completed, the trigonometric function values for corresponding angles would need to be calculated and compiled into tables for practical users to easily look up values when calculating elevation differences.
Han Qian naturally wouldn’t hold the prefecture’s craftsmen by the hand and teach them step-by-step how to make the angle-measuring instrument. For now, he simply explained his concept to the two elderly craftsmen in detail, then drew a relatively simple diagram for them to follow as they attempted their first prototype.
Han Qian figured that once they produced an actual sample, he could make adjustments bit by bit. This approach might prove more practical than directly designing precise blueprints accurate to the millimeter for them to build from.
……
……
After nightfall, seeing his father return from the front office and invite Xue Ruogu, Li Tang, and Qin Wen to Furong Garden for drinks, Han Qian went over to join them.
In front of Xue Ruogu, Li Tang, and Qin Wen, Han Qian made no attempt to conceal that he would use various means to encourage the populace from Xiangtan in Jing-Hu to flood into Xu Prefecture. When the time came, he would need the three of them to provide their assistance.
All three were shocked, but thinking this might be the Third Prince’s method of managing Xu Prefecture as his own territory, they fell silent without objection.
Although during the prison riot that night, Xue Ruogu and the other two had stood rather firmly on their side, Han Qian still suspected one of them maintained close ties with Tan Prefecture.
If any of the three were close to Tan Prefecture, their inability to respond adequately to the dangerous situation during the prison riot that night would have made standing together with his father and him the most natural choice under those circumstances—it would also lower their guard.
However, throughout the drinking session, Han Qian detected nothing unusual about the three men.
Watching Xue Ruogu and the others depart, Han Daoxun sipped the fragrant tea Qing Yun had brewed and said to Han Qian, “Not everyone is as untrustworthy as you imagine.”
“If Father didn’t suspect those three might be problematic, or hadn’t already observed them, how would you know what I’m suspecting?” Han Qian accepted a teacup from Qing Yun’s hand and asked with a smile.
Han Daoxun gave a bitter smile and asked, “You’re being so calculating—won’t you even try to hide it a little?”
“Of course I’ll hide it. Minister Xue and the others couldn’t possibly run to the Four Surnames to spread rumors,” Han Qian said with a laugh. “My current headache is figuring out how to get this news into Tan Prefecture’s ears as quickly as possible!”
“Oh?” Han Daoxun looked over with puzzlement.
“When I mentioned at noon that I wanted to lure refugees to gather in Xu Prefecture, Father didn’t try to dissuade me much. You must have seen there’s one difficult problem I cannot solve, correct?” Han Qian asked with a smile.
“What problem?” Han Daoxun didn’t answer directly but continued questioning.
“Father must be wondering how I’ll remove the roadblock that is Tan Prefecture, right?” Han Qian said directly. “I was quite troubled before, but now I’ve suddenly understood how to solve this problem. Father, you must have also thought I’m suggesting we invite the wolf into the house, haven’t you?”
Fan Xicheng, who had been sitting nearby drinking tea, was also startled to hear the young master Han Qian mention the phrase “inviting the wolf into the house.”
Zhao Kuo was currently at the prefecture prison reorganizing the guards. Han Laoshan had limited insight and mainly managed Furong Garden’s internal affairs. Apart from Han Qian, Fan Xicheng was actually Han Daoxun’s primary assistant in Xu Prefecture, and was always kept at his side for everything.
These past days, Fan Xicheng had come to deeply understand how complex Xu Prefecture’s situation was, but he had never imagined the young master would suggest inviting the wolf into the house. He looked toward Han Daoxun in confusion, not knowing how the family head would decide.
Han Daoxun gave Han Qian a bitter smile: “Sigh, you suspect one of those three—Xue Ruogu and the others—might be problematic, yet you openly discuss your plan to lure refugees into Chen Prefecture, Xu Prefecture, and other areas. Your only aim is to ensure that when Tan Prefecture learns of this, they’ll view it as an excellent opportunity to massively infiltrate the southern Hunan prefectures. What’s so hard to guess about that?”
“Haha! They say no one knows a son better than his father—the moment I stick my rear end out, you know exactly what I’m going to drop!” Han Qian laughed.
“What kind of vulgar analogy is that?” Han Daoxun said with a helpless bitter smile.
“Even if Tan Prefecture wants to infiltrate the southern Hunan prefectures, whether through bribery or winning people over, nothing would be as effective as directly dispatching tens of thousands of people close to Tan Prefecture—or directly controlled by Tan Prefecture—to take root in Chen, Xu, Shao, and Heng prefectures,” Han Qian said. His mood was exceptionally cheerful now that he had thought through all the connections.
“In recent years, the situation around Xiangtan has been relatively stable. Without special circumstances, migrant populations who had moved south from Xiangtan have even begun flowing back toward the Dongting Lake shores, let alone any large-scale southern migration of Xiangtan people. If we transmit news of luring refugees to Xu Prefecture into Tan Prefecture’s ears at the first opportunity, wouldn’t this be an excellent chance for them to secretly expand massively into Chen, Xu, Shao, and Heng prefectures? However, there’s one prerequisite—Father, you must first allow refugees in Xu Prefecture to independently organize the reclamation of wasteland and fertile fields. That way, Tan Prefecture will see that the people they send can directly establish themselves through reclamation efforts and continue gathering together to form forces under their direct covert control. And the reclamation work that Father has been so determined to accomplish can actually be completed by Tan Prefecture on your behalf!”
“Sigh,” Han Daoxun said, “you know yourself this is ‘inviting the wolf into the house.’ It will only make Xu Prefecture’s situation increasingly intricate and complex.”
“Tan Prefecture is the wolf, the Four Surnames are the local snakes. Only by making wolves and snakes bite each other in Xu Prefecture—though the situation may seem complex—can the pressure on Father’s shoulders truly be reduced,” Han Qian said.
“This afternoon I went outside the city and traveled upstream to Zi River. I saw quite a bit of shallowly silted land along both banks of the Yuan River suitable for reclamation. I suspect Minister Wang Yu probably intended to carry out large-scale reclamation of these shallow silt areas, which made the Four Surnames or Tan Prefecture wary, leading to his poisoning, right? I’ve been thinking—Father, if you truly organize the populace to reclaim the shallow silt areas along the Yuan River banks in the prefecture’s name, the Four Surnames will oppose you, and Tan Prefecture absolutely won’t sit by and watch you use this to form your own power base in Xu Prefecture. You may have no such intention, Father, but you cannot deny that water conservancy projects and large-scale reclamation would extend your influence deep among common merchants and laborers. Furthermore, reclaimed fields by law should all be classified as official fields. As prefectural governor, if during your tenure you dedicate yourself to increasing the official and service fields under the prefecture’s jurisdiction by tens or even hundreds of thousands of acres, no matter how much you protest having no ulterior motives, Tan Prefecture won’t believe you. Father, if you let Tan Prefecture’s people in, when rumors fly everywhere, the Four Surnames will only believe these rumors luring refugees were secretly spread by Tan Prefecture and have absolutely nothing to do with us father and son.”
“Tan Prefecture will definitely fall for your scheme?” Han Daoxun asked.
“Tan Prefecture won’t view forces like the Four Surnames as particularly formidable opponents, so from their perspective, there’s no question of falling for a scheme. And if they truly believe we father and son could pose any real threat to Tan Prefecture, all the more reason they should seize this opportunity to massively infiltrate,” Han Qian said with a smile. “If no one around Father transmits this news to Tan Prefecture, when I return to Jinling, I’ll make a detour through Tan Prefecture and personally sell this plan to the Ma family.”
Han Daoxun felt a dull ache at the back of his head. Although he would seemingly be safer in Xu Prefecture from now on, with Han Qian stirring up such complexity and chaos, he had absolutely no confidence at this moment that he could maintain control over Xu Prefecture’s situation and prevent it from spiraling out of control.