Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 378 East Factory Station in Tianjin
"Has the letter been sent?" Lu Wenzhao stood at the bow, watching Shen Zhengping's back gradually disappearing into the distance.

"It's been sent," Lu Jianxing replied. "Shortly after you left, we sent the people from the water station north on a small boat."

Lu Wenzhao asked those who stayed behind to send a letter, firstly to inform his superiors that he was about to go to Beijing to report, and secondly to ask them to send a car to pick him up.

This time, they had captured more than just two key criminals, Shen Caiyu and Shen Bo. After following the address given by their superiors to locate Shen Caiyu's hideout, the Imperial Guards, without any further investigation, immediately rounded up every man, woman, and child in the mansion. Over twenty people in total, all were confined to the East Office Prison, awaiting their fate.

"Then let's sail," Lu Wenzhao said. "Try to reach Hexi Water Station before dark. Stay there tonight and head to Beijing tomorrow morning."

Hexi Water Station was the gateway to the Grand Canal, part of the Northern Grand Canal, and the only gateway between Tianjin and Tongzhou. If a ship departed from Tianjin and couldn't reach Tongzhou that same day, it would stop at Hexi Water Station until daybreak.

"Yes." Lu Jianxing walked into the cabin and found the captain. "Set sail! We must reach Hexi Water Station before dark."

"This," the captain, speaking with a southern accent, looked timid. "Master Lu, I'm not going to contradict you. But judging by the weather, it's probably almost 3 p.m. No matter how fast we try, we won't be able to reach Hexi Water Station before dark." The captain, though a southerner, made his living there and knew the canal better than the Beijing Jinyiwei, who had barely ridden a canal boat in their lifetime.

"Just drive the boat. Rest wherever it gets dark." Lu Jianxing rolled his eyes at him and then walked out of the cabin.

Lu Jianxing returned to Lu Wenzhao's side and found that Lu Wenzhao was still looking around, so he asked, "Sir, is there anything wrong?"

"I always feel like someone is watching us." Lu Wenzhao frowned.

"Who dares to follow the Jinyiwei?" Lu Jianxing looked around, but only saw a constant stream of cargo workers and boat passengers and merchants.

"I don't know, maybe I'm overthinking it." Lu Wenzhao retracted his gaze and saw the captain directing the boatman to get off the boat and loosen the rope.

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It was time to close the sluice gates. The "Ligong Canal" that had been flowing up and down the Tianjin docks gradually came to a halt.

The long-term workers, who had relatively stable employment relationships and were paid monthly, would leave after completing their work, while the short-term workers, who were paid daily, would gather in groups before their respective employers, waiting for their wages to be paid.

Behind a simple long table, a master dressed in silk sat on a bamboo chair, his hands folded as he looked impatiently at the sweaty laborers before him. Beside him stood two menacing servants.

The two attendants weren't tall or strong, and compared to the many laborers waiting to receive their wages, they were practically frail. However, they were full of energy and spoke in a very aggressive tone: "Come one by one! Don't push around! Are you in a hurry to get paid or to be reborn?"

After the attendant yelled a few times, order gradually settled down. When the crowd in front of him stopped making noise, the employer finally spoke. He shouted, "When the money is distributed later, whoever's called, come over. Anyone who dares to push their way in, get out of here. If anyone wants to take advantage of the chaos to cause trouble, I advise you to give up the idea as soon as possible." As he spoke, he pointed to the guards patrolling the shore. "The officers and soldiers are patrolling over there. Do you hear me?"

No one responded to him, but no one spoke any more.

"Very good." The employer took out a key and opened the box on the table. He then flipped through the list of names next to it. "Fuck! What unlucky names!" the employer cursed before calling out the first person: "Wu Lanyaner!"

"Hey! I'm here." Wu Lanyan, who was the first to be called, was far away. Upon hearing the call, he hurriedly raised his hand to answer, then pushed through the crowd in front of him and squeezed to the long table.

Wu Lanyan had originally been frowning because of the coworker who was blocking his way, but when he came before his employer, he immediately put on a fawning smile. "I am Wu Lanyan."

The employer ignored him and took out a small bunch of copper coins strung together with a rope from the cash box.

"Thank you, sir." Wu Lanyan spread his hands out as soon as he saw the wages. He hunched his back and shrank his body, looking more like he was begging for alms than waiting for the wages he deserved.

But even though Wu Lanyan was so humble, the employer did not give him the money immediately. Instead, he called out again, "Wu Lanyan!" The employer was making sure that the person in front of him was not a false claimant. If someone took the wages without knowing what was going on, the employer would be the one who suffered the loss in the end.

After a while, after making sure no other "Wu Lanyan" had popped up, the employer threw the hanging money on the table. "Forty cents."

Wu Lanyan happily took the money and asked while counting it, "Master, do you have any work tomorrow?" The salary of daily workers is generally higher than that of long-term workers, but there is not work to do every day.

"You'll find out tomorrow. Take the money and leave. Don't block other people." The employer didn't even look at him. He used a pen to write down Wu Lanyan's name and then called the next person: "Hou Shiyi!"

Hou Shiyi was close and came over in two or three steps.

"Forty cents." Just like before, the employer made sure there was no other "Hou Eleven" before throwing the money to him.

It was sent to several people in a row, and soon it hit Zhang Zhuer's head.

"Master! The last one was forty cents, why do I only get thirty-five cents?" Zhang Zhuer protested loudly.

"Is this your first day working at the dock?" the employer said, a little annoyed. He pointed at the timeline marked on the booklet and cursed, "They came early in the morning and worked all day, and you just showed up at the morrow to work. Why do you think you're getting the same pay as them? Get out!"

"Hey!" Zhang Zhuer was a little annoyed. "Can't you just talk nicely if you have something to say?"

"Fuck you!" The employer said without further ado, his next words hitting Zhang Zhuer's vital point. "If you don't get out of here, I'll make sure you're out of work at the docks!"

"You!" Zhang Zhuer left angrily, but the employer continued to pay him.

"You don't know the rules." The employer was just saying that. He could indeed make Zhang Zhuer unemployed, but the cost of the favor he would pay for this would probably be more expensive than directly asking someone in the underworld to buy Zhang Zhuer's life. It was not worth it.

"Chen Erdanzi!" the employer continued to shout. Chen Erdanzi also took 35 wen, but because of Zhang Zhuer's previous experience, he did not protest.

Chen Erdanzi stuffed the copper coins into his pocket and was about to leave when he heard someone calling him by his nickname. "Chen Erdanzi!" A middle-aged man, covered in sweat and odor, came up behind Chen Erdanzi and patted him on the shoulder.

"I was wondering who it was," Chen Erdanzi frowned, but when he turned around, his frown relaxed. "It's Brother Li. What do you want from me?"

Brother Li's real name is Li Youyu, and his nickname is Li Goudan. Because he is the twelfth among his peers in the same clan and generation, he is also called Li Goudan.

"Want to go for a drink?" Li Youyu said with a grin, "Afterwards, we'll find a whore to relieve our urges. I just heard there are a few new whores in Xiaobei Hutong, Nanhe Alley. Two of them just turned 10. They're not only pretty, but also have soft boobs and tender vaginas."

"Come on." Chen Erdanzi shrugged and laughed, "You think we're going to get a bite of that juicy peach? You think I've never been to a brothel? Those soft things on the bottom and the top are all in brothels. Do you know how to write poetry or do you have money in your pocket?"

"Don't spoil the fun." Li Youyu still held Chen Erdanzi's arm. "Go and have a look anyway."

"How can I spend every day drinking and visiting brothels?" Chen Erdanzi shook his head. "I only earn thirty-five copper coins a day. After deducting food, if I let them smoke, my whole day's work will be for nothing. I still want to save some money to find a decent wife."

"Let's go. Saving money won't hurt in a few days." Li Youyu insisted on dragging Chen Erdanzi along because he was easily persuaded and willing to lend money or buy drinks at a mere whisper. He'd only been there a few days, but he'd already won the unanimous approval of his small group of drinking buddies.

"Oh, maybe another time." Chen Erdanzi not only refused firmly, but even rudely shook off Chen Erdanzi's hand. "I still want to find a long-term job in the pawnshop."

"Hey! What are you trying so hard for?" Li Youyu rolled his eyes and left angrily. "It's a bummer!"

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After leaving the dock, Chen Erdanzi went straight along the Haihe River to a small farmyard located southeast of the Acropolis.

"Chen Weiye?" As soon as Chen Erdanzi entered the house, he was stopped by a strong man who was wielding a hoe to cultivate the land in the yard. "Why are you back so early?"

"I have some news." The distance wasn't short, and Chen Weiye walked quickly. By the time he got there, he was already panting. Chen Weiye reached the wellhead and quickly lifted up half a bucket of cold water. After drinking it, he continued, "Today, a Jinyiwei official ship passed through. It stayed at the port for quite a while. It left around 3 p.m."

"Oh." The sturdy man's reaction seemed very calm.

"Why," Chen Weiye raised his eyebrows and asked, "You already know?"

"Not only do I know the Jinyiwei's official ship has passed through, I also know that all the officials in Tianjin, big and small, have been brought to Jinmen Tower by Sun Zhongcheng to welcome the Jinyiwei on board." The sturdy man put down his hoe and came to Chen Weiye's side. "Give me a couple of drinks too."

Chen Weiye handed the bucket to the strong man and asked, "Do you know who they are?"

The burly man took the bucket and drank from it while saying, "I don't know. We didn't send anyone into the Jinmen Tower. Lü Youzhang only took a few glances from a distance and then came back to tell me. But I guess it was Deputy Captain Lu from the East Office. Unless a new Jinyiwei left the capital after we left."

"Did Lu Youzhang go south to Beitang to report?" Chen Weiye looked around but could not find Lu Youzhang.

"No. He went back to the Acropolis to continue setting up his stall." The burly man put down the bucket and continued, "There's really nothing to report about this. We're not here to investigate the Imperial Guard. Just make a note of it and let the higher-ups know about it when we report it as usual. Could it be that the factory supervisor wants to impeach Sun Zhongcheng over this meal?"

"True," Chen Weiye said, feeling somewhat deflated. He sat down beside the well and sighed, "After all, there's really nothing much to investigate in Tianjin City. I wonder what Chief Justice Cui wants us to investigate here."

"That's not the way to say it." The burly man didn't sit down with Chen Weiye, but went to get his hoe and continued tilling the ground. "Since the higher-ups have arranged it this way, then they must have had their own plans."

"What else could they be planning? The Imperial Guards have already arrested all the officers in charge of the grain transport. Even if they were connected to the Beitang case, we can't find out." Chen Weiye looked at the burly man's back and couldn't help but feel a little angry. "Fan Wanfu! Do you really think you're a farmer?"

Fan Wanfu, Chen Weiye, Lü Youzhang, and Li Aihong were all assigned by Cui Yuan to serve as secret sentries stationed at Tianjin's Weicheng. Fan Wanfu remained at the station as a farmer, Chen Weiye worked as a laborer at the canal docks, Lü Youzhang set up a stall on the busiest street in the heart of the Weicheng, and Li Aihong enlisted in Sun Chengzong's standard-bearing battalion. To make Fan Wanfu look like a genuine farmer, Cui Yuan even provided him with three mu of thin land to cultivate.

But anyone with a discerning eye could tell something was amiss. An ordinary farmer was raising two fat, robust horses. Unlike donkeys and mules, these animals were completely unprofitable as draft animals.

"I was born a tenant farmer, and the fields I used to farm were not far from here. If I were to live here permanently, I would like to buy a cow." Fan Wanfu not only wanted to buy a cow, but also wanted to buy a few more acres of land.

"What's wrong with being a farmer?" Fan Wanfu said, brandishing his hoe. "Stay in Tianjin, you don't have to train, you can enjoy a leisurely life, and you don't have to face any danger. If you work in Beitang, you might be assigned to a ship. If there's a storm and you and your grain are blown away, who will you turn to for justice?"

Chen Weiye jumped up from the ground. "There's no need to take risks in Tianjin. But when the case is closed, and they look through the regular reports, they'll find we only reported some trivial matters. How can we claim credit for it?"

In a blink of an eye, Fan Wanfu dug another hole in the yard, where he planned to plant some seasonal vegetables. "If you can't report it, then don't report it. This trip not only provides food, but also travel rations. You work at the port, and you can put the money you earn into your own pocket. One person gets three salaries, what's there to complain about?"

The guards of the Eastern Depot were also considered soldiers, and thus inherited some of the terms used in the military camp. The so-called rations were the basic military pay, and the travel rations were the allowance for being deployed abroad.

"Well, go plow your fields." Chen Weiye sighed and walked towards the door. "I really can't talk to you anymore."

"Are you going out?" Fan Wanfu asked. "The meal is ready, let's eat together."

"No need to eat. I'm going to the dock to drink with those good brothers." Chen Weiye still wanted to gain merit and get an official position by relying on this mission.

(End of this chapter)