Chapter 47: If You Can Do It, You Do It
Normally, when porters at the wharf got into a brawl, even if someone died, the bosses of each group would handle it through negotiation, and it would never reach the Pingjiang Prefectural Yamen.
This time, the fight wasn’t even considered medium-scale, and no one died, yet the entire Pingjiang Prefectural Yamen was in an uproar.
Investigator Wang rushed over in extreme urgency, and Prefect Liu wanted to go too, but it was really inappropriate for him to go, so he had to stay at the yamen, craning his neck and waiting anxiously for news.
This fight had alerted that Young Lord, which meant this was a big deal!
Investigator Wang rushed to the wharf in a panic. The injured from both sides had just been moved and separated.
Gu Yan’s servant had invited all the doctors he could find. Seven or eight doctors were examining the injuries of the people in turn.
“To actually alert the Young Lord…”
Investigator Wang headed straight for Gu Yan. Before he was seven or eight steps away, he began to cup his hands in apology.
“I was just passing by, so I didn’t alert anyone. You just proceed with your investigation and don’t mind me; just pretend I’m not here,” Gu Yan said, stepping aside.
“Yes, yes, yes!” Investigator Wang agreed repeatedly, then with a wide sweep of his arms, he bowed twice, turned sharply, and looked at the injured who had already been divided into two groups.
“What happened! Who started it?” Investigator Wang raised both arms, pointing to both sides.
“I am Zhao Xing.” The middle-aged man who had been standing on the strong man’s shoulders directing the crowd stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, “Their leader is this A Wu. Not only did they break the rules, but they also attacked first!”
“You are called A Wu, what is your surname? Where are you from? What happened?” Investigator Wang followed Zhao Xing’s finger and looked at A Wu.
A Wu’s face was smeared with blood, but he was still standing, leaning on a stick.
“My surname is Yao, Yao Wu. I consider the world my home. They were bullying us too much,” A Wu said hoarsely.
Investigator Wang frowned and looked from A Wu’s side to Zhao Xing’s side.
On A Wu’s side, there were a total of twelve or thirteen people. Apart from A Wu, who could still stand, everyone else was lying on the ground, appearing to be seriously injured.
On Zhao Xing’s side, there were many more injured, but they were clearly minor injuries. Each injured person had someone looking after them, and there were twenty to thirty people standing around with their arms crossed, providing support.
This wasn’t a fight; this was Zhao Xing’s side beating people, and Yao Wu’s side being beaten. The fact that Yao Wu could still stand showed he was fierce!
Did the Young Lord take a liking to this A Wu? Such ferocity would be invaluable in battle…
“How were they bullying you? Explain it carefully,” Investigator Wang asked, weighing his words.
“They wouldn’t assign us work, nor would they let us take jobs ourselves,” A Wu seemed not very eloquent.
“Reporting to Investigator Wang, there are rules on the wharf, and I have always assigned work fairly, never making things difficult for anyone. Those who make a living on this wharf, hundreds or even thousands of people, when there is plenty of work, everyone has work; when there is little work, everyone has to earn a little less.”
“This A Wu, whenever there was work, he would snatch it, and he always took the easy jobs. He had long incurred the wrath of the masses. Look, all the brothers on the wharf are here, and not a single one sides with them!”
Zhao Xing was much more articulate.
“There’s clearly more work than we can do, yet you only assign us one boat’s worth of work a day, and we have to pay you ten large coins each day! We can’t even eat enough!” A Wu’s voice was filled with anger.
“Please, Investigator Wang, investigate this fairly,” Zhao Xing said calmly, bowing deeply to Investigator Wang.
Investigator Wang frowned and subconsciously glanced at Gu Yan.
Gu Yan was fanning himself with his folding fan, looking like he was watching a show from the sidelines.
“Go to that ship over there and call a few ship captains,” Investigator Wang instructed the yamen runners who had followed him.
Two or three yamen runners rushed over and called about ten ship captains.
“Are you here to transport goods, or are you an empty ship waiting to load cargo? Hmm, then tell me, when did you dock at the wharf, and when did you finish unloading?” Investigator Wang asked, pointing to the ship captain standing at the front.
“Reporting to the official sir, I arrived on the night of the third day. I waited for a day and a half before it was my turn to unload. Now I’m waiting in line to load, and they say it’s too busy and I have to wait another day,” the ship captain replied cautiously.
“Hmm, and you?” Investigator Wang continued to ask the second ship captain.
After asking about ten ship captains in a row, the fastest ship to unload had waited for half a day, and the slowest ship had waited for three days.
Investigator Wang turned to Zhao Xing and said with a cold face, “This is what you call no work?”
“Reporting to Investigator sir,” Zhao Xing said unhurriedly, “Unloading requires not only manpower but also space. Look at our wharf; there are many small boats. When these boats need to unload, they are queuing for space, not manpower.”
“You’re spouting nonsense!” A Wu shouted angrily.
“Please, Investigator sir, investigate fairly, or ask these gentlemen if this is the case,” Zhao Xing ignored A Wu and bowed to Investigator Wang.
Investigator Wang looked at the ship captains, who all quickly bowed and nodded, “It is indeed so. There are too many boats, and they cannot dock.”
Zhao Xing smiled and glanced sideways at A Wu.
Investigator Wang’s brow furrowed tightly, and he subconsciously looked at Gu Yan.
The affairs of these wharf gangs were always more complicated and difficult to understand than household matters. If he continued to investigate, it would lead to how to arrange ships and how to dispatch unloading, and then he, the investigator, would become the gang leader of the wharf gang?
Besides, he really didn’t understand the matter of dispatching and unloading!
Gu Yan met Investigator Wang’s gaze, snapped his folding fan shut with a *hua*, stepped forward a few paces, stood beside Investigator Wang, and pointed his fan at A Wu. “A Wu, I ask you, if I were to hand this wharf over to you, could you ensure that these ships could unload their cargo on the same day they arrive?”
“I only have these ten or so brothers, and they are all seriously injured. I don’t have enough manpower,” A Wu said, looking at Gu Yan and shaking his head.
“All that manpower will be yours,” Gu Yan said, pointing his fan at the group of people behind Zhao Xing.
“I can’t command them,” A Wu shook his head.
“You just handle the dispatch and arrangement, and I’ll have someone command them for you,” Gu Yan said with a smile.
“If they all listen to me, do as they are told, and don’t dawdle or delay work, then those arriving in the morning can be unloaded the same day. For those arriving in the afternoon, it depends on when they arrive in the afternoon, the size of the ship, and what kind of cargo it is. Those arriving in the afternoon may not be able to finish unloading the same day,” A Wu replied cautiously and meticulously.
“Then it’s settled. Those arriving in the morning will be unloaded the same day, and those arriving in the afternoon will be unloaded before noon the next day. I’ll give you ten days,” Gu Yan said, looking A Wu up and down. “Will you start tomorrow, or will you rest for a few days first?”
“Starting tomorrow!” A Wu’s eyes shone brightly.
“Good!” Gu Yan clapped his folding fan against his palm. “Then starting tomorrow! Wang Gui!”
“I am here!” Wang Gui stepped forward quickly.
“First, you will register all the porters working on this wharf. By tomorrow morning, anyone who has not registered will be forbidden from working on this wharf from now on,” Gu Yan announced loudly.
“Yes!”
“Second, during these ten days, you will watch over this A Wu. Anyone who disobeys orders, dawdles, or delays work will be whipped ten times and sent to the north to transport military grain for a year,” Gu Yan continued.
“Yes!”
Zhao Xing listened, dumbfounded, his mouth agape. A Wu’s eyes widened, he could hardly believe his ears.
Investigator Wang’s face was tense, his hands trembled, and his heart trembled even more violently. Was he also at fault? Was the fault big or small? What should he do?
“You are very good. Go to the Cao Division Prefecture for me and tell them that my words are that they should retrieve the cargo throughput of this Beixing Wharf for the same month over the past five years. Then have them select someone to come to this Beixing Wharf and record the cargo volume for these ten days, compare it with previous years to see if the volume is more or less, and ten days later, send a copy of these ten days’ cargo volume to the villa.”
Gu Yan patted Investigator Wang’s shoulder with his folding fan, first praising him, then giving instructions.
Investigator Wang’s shock dissipated, and joy surged. He repeatedly agreed.
