Chapter 157: Taking Action
Linhai Town, the wharf.
The sun had begun to set in the west. Ten or so large ships were docked side-by-side in a corner of the wharf, and teams of porters were carrying bundles of silk from the ships.
Two boatmen lifted a bundle of silk and placed it on a porter’s shoulder. The porter stumbled, his legs buckled, and he fell to his knees.
“Are you not eating or what!” the steward sitting nearby grumbled, slapping the armrest of his chair.
“The weight of this bundle is wrong,” the porter said, standing up, wiping sweat from his brow, and pointing at the bundle of silk.
“Nonsense! What do you mean the weight is wrong? A bundle is a bundle, it’s not for you to question!” the steward became even more annoyed.
“The weight is wrong, damn it, I’m not carrying it anymore!” The porter yanked off his shoulder pad, swung it with a whoosh, and turned to leave.
The dust-covered shoulder pad cloth flew out a cloud of fluff, landing all over the steward’s face, making him cough, “Cough, cough, cough! Damn it! Where’s their boss! Call their boss over! Do you still want to work! Damn it!”
The porter strode down the gangplank, and several porters greeted him, “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“The weight of this cargo is wrong, didn’t you notice? Damn it! Two trips counted as one isn’t enough, and now they want to add weight! I’m not doing it anymore, what’s the point of this work? Damn it! I’m not doing it anymore!” The porter shouted so angrily that the veins on his neck bulged.
“I also think the weight is wrong, it’s much heavier.” A porter next to him agreed.
“I noticed it too!”
“Right, right, right, I didn’t dare to say anything, thinking maybe it was because I hadn’t eaten enough. Damn it, we can’t even eat enough, but look at them, they earn two or three days’ worth of our wages in a single day! I’m not doing it anymore either!”
“There’s just one extra bolt, I felt it and counted.”
“They’re too damn ruthless, I’m not doing it anymore either!”
“Not doing it anymore!”
“Let’s go!”
……
In a few words, the porters gathered in a group, cursing. One by one, they took off their shoulder pads. The porters working on the ships also dropped their cargo and, running, got off the ships, squeezing into the angry and noisy crowd of porters, cursing and shouting along, rushing out.
“I’m going to the guild!” The general manager of this fleet of ten or so ships, both angry and anxious, got off the gangplank and hurried to the Jiangnan Silk General Store.
Their shipment had docked at the wharf, and today was the sixth day. In the past, even during the busiest times at the wharf, they would only wait for a little over two days, never more than three.
Finally, they started unloading, but these porters were dragging their feet, listless. What should have been unloaded in half a day, they had started unloading yesterday afternoon, and now, more than a day later, less than half had been unloaded. And now, these poor porters had actually gone on strike!
………………………………
Foreman Zou, the boss of the wharf porters’ Cheng Zi Gang, entered the Jiangnan Silk General Store, followed by several burly men swaggering.
President Zhu, with a dejected face and prominent dark circles under his eyes, looked with disgust at Foreman Zou, who was sitting casually in a chair.
“You know about the incident at the wharf just now?” President Zhu asked directly.
“I just heard. They said one bundle had an extra bolt of silk.” Foreman Zou took the tea handed to him by his attendant.
“Each bundle of silk is short eight bolts, or has ten extra. It’s always been like this. This shipment from Ming Guang Hang has nine bolts per bundle, so there’s no excess,” Steward Han, sitting opposite Foreman Zou, said with a slight frown.
“Did you use the silver you received from the guild to subsidize them?” President Zhu asked with a cold face.
“Firstly, whether we subsidize or not is our gang’s business. President Zhu is highly respected and should know not to interfere in our gang’s internal affairs; secondly, if President Zhu ordered this silver to be subsidized, then what about our gang’s elderly, weak, sick, and disabled, and these people who have families? What will they eat?” Foreman Zou leaned back against the chair back and asked proudly.
“The silver the guild gives your gang is to subsidize the porters’ wages. There are rules for this,” Steward Han said with a frown.
“Where are these rules? Is there anything in writing? Since my master’s master’s time, this silver has been used this way. It didn’t start with me.
“President Zhu, I’ve told our Steward Han everything. It’s not me who wants to change the wharf rules now, it’s that Young Lord. Either you ask the Young Lord for a subsidy, or you provide a subsidy. Regarding changing the rules, do you expect us poor porters to just accept it? I can only honestly say, we poor people, a poor gang, cannot accept it!”
Foreman Zou crossed his legs.
President Zhu’s eyelids twitched a few times. He pursed his lips tightly, and after a moment, said coldly, “You can go back first. This is a major matter, and I need to discuss it with several Senior Guild Members.”
“Alright, then I will go back and await your good news!”
Foreman Zou stood up and swaggered out of the Jiangnan Silk General Store.
“President.” Steward Han called out to President Zhu. Seeing President Zhu’s cold and stern face, he didn’t dare to say the rest.
“You go and attend to your business,” President Zhu said coldly.
After Steward Han left the room, President Zhu beckoned to the servant standing in the corner and ordered, “Call Old Wan over.”
Not long after, a thin, short, but strong middle-aged man entered with the servant.
President Zhu waved the servant out of the room and motioned for Old Wan to come closer. He whispered, “Find an opportunity to send Zou Wanqing of the Cheng Zi Gang on his way.”
He paused, then added, “Since he likes women, let him die on a woman’s belly, a sudden death from lust.”
“Yes, when?” Old Wan’s expression remained unchanged.
“As soon as possible.”
“Yes, President, rest assured.”
President Zhu waved his hand. Old Wan stood up, cupped his hands, and took his leave.
………………………………
Li Xiaonan’s business of buying looms on credit and purchasing cloth was disrupted by Yu Family Old Brand. Except for the ambush in Hejia Village, Da Lang Yu successfully seized almost all the looms. In other villages, Sister-in-law Lu had already visited them one by one. When Da Lang Yu went again, those who were shrewd and had many ideas demanded higher prices and better terms, making it difficult. The looms Da Lang Yu could seize were at most half.
Besides Yu Family Old Brand, Jinxiu Cloth Shop also joined in.
Jinxiu Cloth Shop was methodical, setting up looms in the villages and towns near the major weaving workshops.
Li Xiaonan and Wang Yuting secretly visited twice. According to Wang Yuting, Jinxiu Cloth Shop likely had ill intentions.
With Sister-in-law Lu secretly fanning the flames, the families approached by Da Lang Yu demanded increasingly higher prices. Da Lang Yu soon turned to look for new families.
Before long, the three parties began to make their own arrangements and were temporarily at peace. Li Xiaonan then went to the library in the Prince’s Estate to look at the archives.
After not visiting for a few days, the archives on the long desk had increased from three stacks to seven stacks!
After a quiet day of reading, as the sun began to set, Li Xiaonan closed the archives and stretched with a yawn.
Wan Jing ran in from outside, beaming, and stuffed a large bag of pastries into Li Xiaonan’s hands. “Freshly baked fresh meat mooncakes, with crab roe in the filling, incredibly delicious. I’ve already had them prepare the carriage, let’s go! Hurry on the road, they’ll still be warm when we get home.”
“Then let’s hurry!” Li Xiaonan, holding the warm bundle, ran out with Wan Jing.
The two of them ran out, dashed through the moon gate, and stared, dumbfounded, at the crowded people and horses inside the second gate.
Gu Yan had taken two steps towards the moon gate when he saw the two of them burst out. His gaze fell on the large bundle Li Xiaonan was holding.
The bundle was too big to hide in time.
Li Xiaonan held the bundle and, following Gu Yan’s steps, slowly turned sideways.
Gu Yan walked up to Li Xiaonan, bent down to sniff, and then suddenly reached out and took the bag of fresh meat mooncakes from Li Xiaonan’s arms.
