“When we return to Xuzhou, the first thing we’ll do is meet the old master. The old master estimates that Xuzhou’s newly added transient residents now number close to twenty thousand…”
Yang Qin introduced the current latest situation in Xuzhou.
From spreading rumors of gold discoveries in Xuzhou last July and August, opening land restrictions to attract transient residents, plus the Boat Association’s deliberate guidance in various places, in nearly a year’s time, the newly arrived transient population flowing into Xuzhou approached twenty thousand—almost reaching the total number of transient residents who had fled to Xuzhou over the past forty to fifty years due to warfare and natural disasters.
Of course, this included a batch of people Tanzhou had intentionally arranged to enter.
With such a major commotion, Han Qian didn’t hope to hide it from anyone, especially the matter of him instigating his father to open land restrictions. This might even become ammunition for the Four Surnames major clans to lodge complaints with the court. But Han Qian also wasn’t worried about anything.
At present, Xuzhou still didn’t carry much weight on Great Chu’s map, let alone being isolated beyond Tanzhou.
Even adding this batch of newly surging population, Xuzhou’s total population had just barely exceeded one hundred thousand—possibly not even matching a superior county of Runzhou or Yangzhou.
Moreover, the internal contradictions between native and transient residents in Xuzhou were severe. The new population Han Qian introduced meant transient residents still numbered slightly less than native residents.
Even if Emperor Tianyou didn’t want father and son to grasp power, he also wouldn’t be unable to tolerate a little bit of their ambition.
Just like with the current situation—Han Qian couldn’t show too deep resentment, but having no resentment at all would probably seem abnormal in Emperor Tianyou’s eyes, right?
Thinking of this, Han Qian sighed bitterly in his heart. Being human was difficult; being a subject was even harder. The common saying “serving the ruler is like serving a tiger” truly wasn’t half false.
At this moment, Han Qian wasn’t thinking much about weighing Jinling’s reaction to this matter. He was thinking more about how Xuzhou attracting so many people at once through rumors would cause various contradictions to quickly intensify one after another.
Without large-scale mining and handicraft workshops, to settle twenty thousand new residents would require at least over a hundred thousand mu of farmland.
From Qianyang City northward along the Yuan River’s banks, they could even reclaim several times that amount of new fields. But the problem was, if the new residents spontaneously did these things themselves, it might take quite a long process. Then in the short term, the intensification of contradictions between people and land would be unavoidable.
“The embankment that Yang Tan River Fort built north of Wufeng Mountain was also sealed before the river waters rose. It’s just that the newly enclosed silted beach land is thin and soupy like watery rice porridge, not conducive to planting. They still need to further excavate canals, build polder dikes, and raise the polder fields’ elevation…” Yang Qin then introduced the situation of Yang Tan River Fort directly handling new field reclamation in Xuzhou over the past half year.
The silted beach lands on both banks of the Yuan River had lower elevation compared to the Yuan River. Even using embankments to block river water outside, internal waterlogging easily occurred, making it unsuitable for planting. The traditional method was to create polder fields, which still required a continuous improvement process afterward before finally becoming good farmland.
Yang Qin continued: “Inside the new embankment, about twenty-some thousand mu of polder fields can be enclosed. But the old master’s intention is that since Xuzhou doesn’t have much official land to reward military merit, the prefecture office will mark off ten thousand mu of new fields for official use…”
Han Qian nodded. He had long guessed his father would make such arrangements. He said: “These are all no problem. I’ll write a letter to my father about this matter, but will try as much as possible to concentrate the military merit reward fields that Xi clan members and Yang Tan River Fort should receive together. These new fields—I don’t plan to distribute them to individual households, but will directly incorporate them into unified plantation management, or you could call it manor farms if that’s more familiar. On one hand, if family members have surplus capacity, they can work in the plantation for wages. Boat Association guards also won’t need to worry about not being able to look after their fields while away from home. Each family’s military merit reward fields will simply receive a portion of dividends according to proportion at year’s end…”
Although the vast majority of slave soldiers and Boat Association guards could obtain over a hundred mu of polder fields, if the fields were directly distributed down, without sufficient oxen, scattered farming households also wouldn’t have the capacity to further improve the polder fields’ soil quality or build water conservancy supporting facilities directly connected to the Yuan River. At that time, even if entire families threw all their energy into it, in the end they might not even manage basic subsistence.
More critically, the vast majority of Xi clan slave soldiers and Boat Association guards would be bound by the land. Realistic difficulties would no longer allow them to break free and continue following the Boat Association to travel the rivers and lakes.
Han Qian used military merit rewards to disintegrate the Four Surnames major clans internally, but didn’t want the Boat Association armed guards he had painstakingly assembled to be satisfied with current military merit rewards and disband to return home as self-cultivating farmers.
Han Qian considered establishing plantations in Xuzhou, concentrating all the fields under the plantation’s name. This way they could hire personnel from Xuzhou’s newly added transient population to conduct more refined cultivation of the new fields, simultaneously alleviating contradictions on multiple fronts.
Besides military garrison farming, only plantations possessed the capacity for large-scale new field reclamation.
More importantly, only this way could Han Qian prevent the Boat Association armed guard force he had painstakingly assembled from dispersing. And appearing in the plantation’s name to redeem Xi clan members was more proper and justified, and more convenient.
Sitting at the bow discussing matters, the fleet quickly bypassed Pool Prefecture City. They didn’t drop anchor in mid-river overnight but continued sailing under full sails. By dusk the next day, they could see a corner of Jinling City’s imposing walls through the telescope.
Han Qian hadn’t told anyone about his return journey to Jinling, so naturally no one came out of the city to meet him.
When the fleet reached the North City water gate, the sky had already darkened. Han Qian simply spent the night on the boat. The next morning he followed the boats into the city and went directly back to the Han family’s great residence on Orchid Pavilion Lane.
……
……
In mid-June, Jinling was already quite hot. Getting up in the early morning, Zhao Ting’er wore a short-sleeved jacket and skirt, exposing snow-white lotus root-like arms, ordering several servant women in the courtyard to bustle about.
The Longque Army had achieved brilliant military merits and the Third Prince was enfeoffed as Prince of Linjiang Commandery, but Han Qian twice failed to receive an audience. This caused Han Qian and the Left Bureau’s status within the new commandery prince’s mansion to become ambiguous, with all sorts of gossip and rumors naturally increasing.
With the new establishment of the commandery prince’s mansion, the Guard Battalion, Longque Army, and five major garrison military posts all had to be incorporated under the jurisdiction of the Left and Right Guard Command Offices, Bureau of Personal Attendants, and Bureau of Inner Guards systems. Everyone needed to exchange for new seals and ribbons.
Zheng Hui and the military officers and clerks selected from Huangzhou and Junzhou mountain strongholds who followed him, bringing their families to take up posts in Jinling and settle down there, were also in a flurry of busyness.
Even though Third Prince Yang Yuanpu had returned to Jinling nearly a month early, before Han Qian returned, he temporarily had no energy to attend to the Left Bureau’s side.
Various rumors and gossip—though after Shen He came forward to interfere, previous depositors didn’t have the guts to run on the money shop again, temporarily no new depositors dared invest money either.
However, over the past half year, Linjiang Money Shop had actually taken in the thirty million coins in loans that Han Qian had originally agreed with the Third Prince, even slightly exceeding it. Before Han Qian returned, it was time to temporarily halt accepting new deposits.
Currently, Linjiang Money Shop and warehouse mainly used coal briquettes, lime, refined rice, tea, preserved duck, and sorghum liquor to maintain interest payments to original depositors.
Moreover, the commodities put out monthly had to offset one million two to three hundred thousand coins in interest—the pressure was extremely great.
Over thirty million coins in loans had either been diverted by Han Qian to advance military provisions, or used by Han Qian to redeem Xi clan members, or to maintain the Left Bureau’s increasingly huge expenditures. They couldn’t be used to expand workshop production.
Even the profits generated from several shipping trade ventures were swallowed by this huge bottomless pit.
However, fortunately coal briquettes, lime, and even the sorghum liquor produced by the workshops sold at high prices with huge profit margins. At present they could at least barely maintain the money shop’s interest payments, preventing complete reputational bankruptcy.
Especially coal briquettes—each cart of coal briquettes sold for four hundred coins, but actually the Qiuhu Mountain coal yard’s cost for producing and transporting one cart of coal briquettes into the city didn’t require two hundred coins. And in later periods, mainly paying interest with coal briquettes actually reduced the high interest rates promised initially to half the previous level.
However, even so, using coal briquettes to boil water and cook was still much cheaper and more convenient than firewood and charcoal. Depositors not only accepted taking coal briquettes as calculated interest, but would additionally purchase a portion from the warehouse to supplement insufficient firewood. This also provided an additional portion of profit for the workshops.
These matters were handled by the craftsmen and managers below. No matter how ambiguous Han Qian and the Left Bureau’s status was, the craftsmen and managers, as military household members under strict military post management, currently all worked conscientiously without worry of any leaks occurring.
At this time, Zhao Ting’er only needed to verify and check accounts. She didn’t need to watch over the money shop and warehouse all day, so appeared idle.
Following by Han Qian’s side, Zhao Ting’er had long grown accustomed to a busy rhythm. Once idle, she felt restless. She also wouldn’t use embroidery and women’s work to fill her time. Instead she had servant women move and transplant flowers, grass, bamboo and trees, arranging the courtyard with extreme refinement and elegance.
These days, Zhao Ting’er had been thinking about a type of horn lantern Han Qian had roughly mentioned, but after trying many methods, she had no way to successfully soften goat horn.
However, thinking of the semi-transparent jade-white thin glass-like horn lampshade Han Qian described, Zhao Ting’er thought how beautiful it would be if the courtyard hung several such lanterns.
Thinking of this, Zhao Ting’er again followed a newly conceived recipe, having her subordinate servant women prepare vinegar and pickled radish water. Today she planned to try using these two things to boil goat horn to see if there was any possibility of melting the horn open.
“You, a young girl, don’t learn embroidery and women’s work but specifically fiddle with all these odds and ends. The whole courtyard reeks of sour smells. Who knows how much money and material you’ve wasted. When the young master returns, how will you account for it?” Although Han Qian had clearly put Zhao Ting’er in charge of the inner residence as well as the money shop and warehouse affairs, and Gao Shao and others followed Zhao Ting’er’s assignments when they returned, Old Zhao couldn’t help muttering and nagging. He always felt Zhao Ting’er’s chaotic messing about would cause trouble, and it wasn’t like a proper young lady.
“How about when the young master returns, Father, you run over and say you’ll manage the inner residence affairs?” Zhao Ting’er retorted at her father irritably.
“You girl, when your father says something to you, it’s for your own good. Looking like this, will the young master like it when he sees?” Old Zhao’s beard trembled with anger. “You seem quite smart, so how are you confused this time? You didn’t stay by the young master’s side but stayed in Jinling to manage affairs—in the end, is this something you can manage? Did your mother have a good talk with you the other day? In a few more days, the young master should return to Jinling. You need to put more thought into the young master.”
“Father, what are you saying?”
Zhao Ting’er said with dissatisfied reproach. Just as she was about to chase her father out of the courtyard, she heard a voice behind her that she had longed for and that stirred her emotions:
“I think what your father said is quite right…”