Chapter 129: 128, Journey To Western Hunan, County Town Banquet For Airport Construction
Wu Ziyue had a deep understanding of the bandits in Western Hunan.
“That area in Western Hunan has many mountains and little land, with numerous karst caves, and it’s a place where Han and Miao people live together. Since ancient times, it has been outside the law. Bandits have existed there for a long time. Their composition is very complex: there are people from the Daoist sect who gather into bandits under the guise of preaching; there are those resisting donations and taxes; there are local gentry secretly raising bandits; and there are those from various villages and hamlets united by kinship. Many among them are not professional bandits; today they might still be farming in the mountain village, and tomorrow they are pulled up the mountain by relatives and friends to become bandits.”
In Wu Ziyue’s description, bandits were just a social form in response to strong authority, coexisting with other local social groups and convertible at any time.
Of course, not entirely.
The real professional bandits were those bandit leaders and minor leaders.
These people were ruthless in their methods, with notorious reputations far and wide; their subordinates feared them and dared not betray, and the surrounding people feared being exploited by them.
They were the most dangerous among the bandits in Western Hunan.
After hearing Wu Ziyue’s explanation, Fang Wen roughly understood the situation of the bandits in Western Hunan.
Actually, none of them were strong individually; they mainly relied on ruthless methods to maintain their notorious reputation and dominate the countryside.
At least for now, that was the case.
Fang Wen had an idea.
The biggest problem here was poverty; if there was money, who would do these things.
He couldn’t help but think of Fuyang.
Back then, Fuyang was also full of bandits everywhere; even after the bandit suppression campaign, they weren’t completely eliminated.
But after the Shanghai to Fuyang flight path opened, it stimulated local economic development; people had money to earn, the number of people colluding with bandits naturally decreased, and they even actively cooperated in arrests.
This place might be able to copy that method.
The ship sailed on the river channel, occasionally encountering rafts coming down from upstream, as well as ships carrying tung oil and other supplies out of the mountains.
Fang Wen drove while checking the topographic map he had made.
This was a topographic map of Western Hunan he made based on memory, using contour line mapping.
Contour line mapping is a common method for representing terrain elevation and undulation on a map.
It uses line segments of different altitudes to represent complex terrain in the same area, a technique commonly used on military maps.
The contour map Fang Wen made wasn’t very precise; it was produced entirely from some data obtained through mechanical perception from the airplane.
Others would find such a map hard to understand, but he could use it to grasp the terrain of his location.
In this vast mountainous area, finding a flat and open place to build an airport was not easy.
He remembered a place he had seen from high altitude, a plain hidden deep in the mountains.
Where was that place?
The ship went upstream and docked at a dock called Wang Village.
Fang Wen decided not to take the water route anymore.
He asked Wu Ziyue: “If we go ashore from here, is there a county town?”
“Yes, it’s called Yongshun County Town. Are you planning to build the airport here?”
Fang Wen nodded: “I saw a plain from the airplane, right above the county town, with a small river nearby—typical alluvial plain terrain. Though not large, it’s just right.”
“Is there such a place?” Wu Ziyue was uncertain and asked the employee, then said: “It’s real; they call it Wanping Town, and that river is Shanmu River.”
This name was very vivid.
Fang Wen was delighted; he had finally found the place.
Now the question was whether it was safe to leave the small steamship here; after all, it cost 1000 silver dollars.
Wu Ziyue easily handled this; he had business dealings with a tung oil business firm here in Wang Village and arranged for them to look after it, needing only a small payment in silver dollars. The other party was willing to help because they were long-term business partners.
After arranging the small steamship, the group of five went up along the stone steps.
Wang Village Town was a town built against the mountain, with a main road sloping upward; by the time it reached the mountaintop, it was the end of the town.
To go from here to Yongshun County Town, one could only take an ox cart, and there was still a long mountain road.
Seeing it was still early, Fang Wen directly rented two mule carts and set off immediately.
The mule carts moved slowly on the road; along the way, the employee Wu Ziyue brought chatted with the rickshaw puller driving the mules.
Their local dialect wasn’t hard to understand; it was similar to Sichuan dialect, both variants of Southwest Mandarin.
Fang Wen could understand; with nothing to do anyway, he simply listened to their chit-chat.
These people talked about everything: how pretty the girl from that family was, what new things had appeared in the county town, what food was delicious.
Later, Fang Wen simply joined the chat.
“Is Yongshun County big?”
“Big, it has tens of thousands of people.” The rickshaw puller replied.
“Is it far from Yongshun to Wanping?” Fang Wen got to the point.
“Not far; you go from Lingxi to Wanfu then to Xinzhai, but the road is hard to travel.”
“Is there a closer road?”
“No.”
It seemed that plain wasn’t easy to reach.
Fang Wen estimated that to build the airport properly, he would probably need to build roads too.
After 3 hours and over 30 kilometers of mountain roads, they finally arrived at Yongshun County Town.
Wu Ziyue said in a low voice:
“Should we visit the local county government?”
Fang Wen thought about it and shook his head:
“Let’s go to Wanping first; I want to see if it’s suitable there.”
“Is there enough time? I’m afraid we won’t arrive before dark. If it’s dark and we encounter bandits, it’ll be trouble.”
Wu Ziyue considered thoroughly; better not to take the risk. Fang Wen decided to stay in the county town for the night.
Since they decided to stay in the county town, visiting the local county government was necessary.
Fang Wen and Wu Ziyue came to the government in Yongshun County Town.
The place wasn’t big, and there weren’t many people working.
They were mostly older; indeed, those sent to work here were inevitably people with no hope of promotion, just retiring.
Wu Ziyue knew people here and went directly to the county magistrate’s office.
The county magistrate had dealt with him before and knew he was a big tung oil merchant who contributed greatly to the county’s economy, so he immediately stood up with a smiling welcome.
“How does Mr. Wu have time to come to my place?”
“I came with a friend. He wants to inspect building an airport here.” Wu Ziyue replied.
The other was stunned: “Mr. Wu, don’t joke; in this poor and rugged place with hardly any cars, where would airplanes come from?”
“No joke. My friend has the ability to build an airport here. Do you know Taishan Airlines?”
The county magistrate nodded: “Yes, a boss from out of town in our county flew on a Taishan Airlines plane and told me about it several times.”
“Would it be okay for Taishan Airlines to build an airport here?”
“If it’s Taishan Airlines, we’d carry them in on an eight-man sedan chair.”
“That’s right; my friend is from Taishan Airlines, here representing the company to inspect.”
Wu Ziyue still held back a bit and didn’t reveal that Fang Wen was the Taishan Airlines General Manager; after all, there were too many bandits here, and if word leaked, bandits from all around would come.
Since he didn’t say, and Sun Debiao didn’t say, no one here would know who Fang Wen was.
After all, in this era information was blocked; Fang Wen wasn’t a Yuan Datou silver dollar everyone had seen, so there was no need to worry about identity.
The county magistrate was still half-believing.
But Wu Ziyue had a good reputation, so he couldn’t refute.
He could only vaguely respond: “The mister is from Taishan Airlines? May I have your surname?”
Fang Wen smiled and replied: “Wen. Newly arrived in this treasured land, I, Wen, would like to invite the county magistrate and the gentry of the town to a dinner to get acquainted; is that possible?”
Dinner was no problem at all; the county magistrate immediately agreed and was willing to invite the prominent people in the county.
The location was set at the best restaurant in the town.
At 6 p.m., guests streamed into the largest restaurant in the town.
They were all familiar faces: the Bureau Chief, the county magistrate, officials in charge of education and agriculture, local rich gentry, and those with reputation.
All were welcomed without refusal.
This gave the county magistrate a big change of opinion about Mr. Wen.
He stood up and announced publicly.
“Everyone, today is a distinguished guest brought by Boss Wu of Wu’s Tung Oil Shop inviting us all here. His surname is Wen, sent by the renowned Taishan Airlines to inspect building an airport here.”
After this introduction, everyone whispered among themselves.
Someone first thought: “Won’t they impose an airport tax? If they tax this, I’ll never see the airport built in my lifetime.”
His words drew laughter.
Everyone treated building an airport as a joke.
Another spoke up: “Building a road would be more practical than an airport; if they really tax, I won’t pay a penny.”
Their words embarrassed the county magistrate, who looked to Fang Wen.
Fang Wen stood up.
“Not a single penny needs to be paid. If I select this place, Taishan Airlines will build roads and the airport here for free. Do you know Fuyang?”
Most shook their heads.
A plump man nodded in agreement: “I know; Taishan Airlines has a flight path there, and I flew it once to visit family.”
Fang Wen nodded: “Fuyang was once full of bandits county-wide; even leaving the town was risky. But after we Taishan Airlines built the Shanghai-Fuyang flight path, passengers from the Central Plains region land there by plane and go to nearby areas. Fuyang’s economy took off as a result.”
Hearing Fang Wen say this, those present were somewhat moved.
They all asked the plump man if it was really true.
The man replied: “It’s true; I stayed in my hometown for a short time and saw with my own eyes Fuyang go from severed trade routes to booming business. But that’s the Central Plains region, different from here.”
Everyone nodded; yes, the Central Plains had developed transportation and rich resources, unlike this poor rugged place.
But Fang Wen shook his head: “I don’t think so; once an airport is built here, it will be a feng shui treasure. Debiao, bring the map.”
Sun Debiao promptly took out the map and unfolded it.
Fang Wen circled Western Hunan with a wave of his hand.
“Here is our Western Hunan: many mountains, treacherous roads, inconvenient water routes. But its geographic position is at the junction of Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, and Guizhou provinces. If we open up transportation here, it can facilitate travel between the four provinces. Water and land routes are impassable, but air transport can work; if the airport is built, it can connect the four provinces.”
Everything depends on reasoning it out; once clear, everyone would agree.
Just as Fang Wen said, Western Hunan was at the junction of Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, and Guizhou; if planes could take off and land, the poor rugged area could immediately be revitalized.
The county magistrate was the first to understand; if successful, this could be the brightest moment in his political career.
The other government officials had similar thoughts.
For the local gentry, it was equally tempting, like mountains of gold and silver coming their way.
Even Wu Ziyue looked at his brother-in-law with admiration.
This brother-in-law was truly talented; just a few words made everyone excited—not just them, even he himself was moved.
This meal thus became lively.
Those at Fang Wen’s table vied to get close; those at nearby tables regretted their seats and came over to toast.
Facing so many people, Fang Wen said: “Sorry, after the long journey I’m unwell and can’t drink; I need to go back and rest.”
He stood up, and everyone made way.
At this moment, Fang Wen stopped, turned, and said: “Oh, I forgot one thing. When the company sent me, they said Western Hunan is poor; we can’t just think of building an airport but must consider the villagers. The company is prepared to donate 2000 silver dollars to help the poor elderly and children, but there must be a ceremony, and I ask you all to oversee where this charitable fund goes, to be used properly.”
2000 silver dollars!
Everyone was surprised; such a large sum for charity could only be done by the real Taishan Airlines.
Immediately, everyone praised loudly and said they were willing to supervise.
Fang Wen smiled in response, cupped his fists in salute, and left with Wu Ziyue and Sun Debiao.
Back at the inn, Wu Ziyue rushed into Fang Wen’s room, gave a thumbs up: “That combo move of yours was brilliant. I bet they’ll come knocking tomorrow.”
Sun Debiao also came in to report: “General Manager, they’ve added soldiers to guard outside the inn.”
This attitude said it all.
With soldiers guarding, they slept soundly that night.
The next day, the inn staff enthusiastically brought breakfast and inquired after their health.
Then, the county magistrate led a large group over to discuss the 2000 silver dollar donation.
For this, Fang Wen required a public donation and county-wide propaganda in the name of Taishan Airlines.
This was certain; the county magistrate patted his chest in agreement.
Afterward, large banners were hung on the streets, announcing to the whole county that Taishan Airlines would station here and donate 2000 silver dollars for charity.
The county’s people didn’t know Taishan Airlines but knew 2000 silver dollars.
And thus, the whole county learned the name Taishan Airlines.
Then, the public donation ceremony began; Sun Debiao carried a suitcase of silver dollars onstage and solemnly handed it to the county magistrate.
Other gentry also went onstage, stating they were willing to jointly supervise the use of the silver dollars.
This donation thoroughly gained trust; for Fang Wen’s upcoming trip to Wanping, the county, fearing bandits, specially assigned ten police soldiers to accompany.
This wasn’t enough; Fang Wen smiled and discussed with the county magistrate: “Could you lend me that car?”
The car he meant was the county government’s only official vehicle, very precious.
But the county magistrate shook his head: “Can’t ride it; the road is very bumpy, and this car is only for use in town. I’ve arranged another means of transport for you, absolutely more comfortable than a car.”
“What means of transport?” Fang Wen asked, very surprised; he couldn’t think of anything besides submarines or airships.
The county magistrate smiled without speaking.
March 25, 1933.
Fang Wen’s group headed to Wanping escorted by soldiers.
Also going was a gentry whose home was in Wanping, said to have high status locally.
He boarded the special transport arranged by the county magistrate.
Sedan chair.
A seat carried on two thick bamboo poles, cushioned; sitting in it was like being on a shock absorber, bobbing up and down.
This was the most comfortable mountain road transport nowadays.
There were three sedan chairs in total: for Fang Wen, Wu Ziyue, and that gentry; the others protected around them as they hurried toward Wanping Town.
From the county town to Wanping, straight-line distance 24 kilometers, but all mountains with winding roads, possibly twice as long.
Thus, the group walked a whole morning to reach Wanping Town.
