Chapter 16: Zheng Fengchi

Chapter 16: Zheng Fengchi

Li Tai left the imperial palace and immediately went to find Ma Zhou, who looked disheveled and bleary-eyed.

“I say, what happened to you?” Li Tai asked, staring at him in astonishment.

“Ahh...” Ma Zhou let out a tremendous yawn before answering slowly. “Do you think arranging for all these refugees to build houses and reclaim farmland is easy? I haven’t slept for three full hours at a time in days.”

“You’ve really been pushing yourself...” A trace of awkwardness crossed Li Tai’s face as he changed the subject. “But why didn’t you delegate the work to your subordinates? Handling everything yourself is bound to be exhausting. Don’t end up like Zhuge Liang, working yourself to death.”

“Stop, stop, stop!” Ma Zhou glanced at him. “I understand what you mean, and I’m touched by your concern.

“But turning this academy into something resembling a city is no easy task. In the end, it isn’t a city but an academy.

“That means we can’t recruit scholars the way the imperial court does and have them help with administration. There aren’t any scholars among the refugees!”

“Why do you need scholars?” Li Tai asked, somewhat puzzled. “Just appoint people from among them—those who have reclaimed the most land, built the best houses, or otherwise performed exceptionally well. Let them handle the administration.”

“Can they really manage it?” Ma Zhou asked doubtfully. “Some of them can’t even read!”

“Most of them began as refugees,” Li Tai replied. “All they need are food, clothing, shelter, and transport. Once those four necessities are taken care of, even if trouble arises, it shouldn’t amount to anything serious.

“So recruit the outstanding ones as minor clerks, then give them a set of rules to follow. Next year, conduct a thorough investigation. Anyone who abuses his position can be sent straight to the Court of Judicial Review.”

“That really is a crude and straightforward solution!”

The corner of Ma Zhou’s mouth twitched, but he had to admit that Li Tai’s proposal was sound.

It would be unrealistic to expect such a method to produce a perfectly detailed plan. But if problems emerged, they could simply wait for the refugees to report them and revise the system accordingly.

As Li Tai had said, in this world, once people had enough to eat, clothes to wear, a place to live, and a way to get around, the vast majority would be perfectly willing to be governed.

“How long will it take to put this into practice?” Li Tai asked.

“About five days. Selecting the minor clerks and implementing the system will both take time,” Ma Zhou replied.

“That’s too long. Three days.” Li Tai shook his head. “You must have records of those who performed well. Put them in charge directly.

“As for the regulations, spend one night drafting a few basic rules. Add to them gradually when problems arise.

“Let them begin first, then conduct spot checks whenever you have time each month. I doubt anything serious will happen in the short term.”

“What happened? Why are you in such a hurry?” Hearing this, Ma Zhou could not help taking out some strong wine and drinking a mouthful to calm himself.

Li Tai noticed the habit but did not take offense. He was hardly a stickler for etiquette himself.

“I asked Father for a task,” Li Tai said. “I’m to find a way to help the people of Chang’an survive the winter safely.”

“Pfft! Cough, cough!”

Ma Zhou nearly choked on his wine. Fortunately, he spat it onto the ground instead of Li Tai’s face. Then he looked up at him.

“Your Highness, do you know what you’re saying?”

“I know.” Li Tai drew a deep breath and nodded solemnly.

“You really do?” Ma Zhou was unconvinced, but eventually sighed. “What do you intend to do?”

“Have them mine coal,” Li Tai replied. “The small mines under our control need to be put into operation.

“Father has already agreed to use those thousand acres of bestowed land as collateral and give priority to supplying me with grain.”

“In the middle of winter, you want to send them mining?” There was unmistakable reluctance in Ma Zhou’s expression.

“We can’t simply support them for nothing. We must give them something to do.”

Li Tai continued, “If they are willing to mine coal, at least they’ll have a chance to eat their fill. Every so often, they might even get duck eggs or duck soup.”

“Among the remaining refugees, there are hardly any able-bodied men left. Sending them into the mines would be sending them to their deaths!”

Ma Zhou shook his head. “They might survive the winter on thin gruel. But they won’t survive if they go mining!”

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“Then there is one more option: boiling water.”

Li Tai fell silent for a moment before speaking.

“Boiling water?” Ma Zhou looked blankly at him, as though he had not understood.

“Yes.” Li Tai nodded. “The greatest problem with boiling water is coal. We currently have two small coal mines. We can recruit the refugees who are still capable of working to mine and process the coal, then transport it into Chang’an as fuel for boiling water.

“Since we’ll be using large cauldrons, we can make the iron pots bigger and boil a sufficient amount in a single batch.

“Then we can sell the boiled water to the surrounding residents, or build bathhouses and use them to recoup our investment.

“I believe even ordinary refugees should be capable of boiling water.”

Although the Tang dynasty enforced a curfew, it merely prohibited people from moving about freely between wards.

Within each ward, however, the streets were still brightly lit and bustling with commerce. The authorities generally turned a blind eye.

In other words, there was little interaction between the wards, but each ward possessed its own internal economic system. It was one of the distinctive features of the age.

“Constructing foundations and rebuilding houses in every ward will cost no small sum,” Ma Zhou said seriously, looking at Li Tai. “Strictly speaking, we have no income at present. Even the grain in our hands is owed to the imperial court.”

“Then we’ll have to sell the down coats first!”

Li Tai rubbed his temples.

“What wealthy merchants are there in the city? Have them prepare their silver and go to the hotel in Kangle Ward tomorrow. I’m going to sell the exclusive rights to distribute these winter down coats!”

Ma Zhou did not doubt that the merchants would accept an invitation from Li Tai, but he still said, “Your Highness, if you become directly involved in commerce, the imperial censors may hear of it and submit another memorial to His Majesty. It would be better to have the duck farm’s people appear on our behalf.”

“Very well.”

After hearing Ma Zhou’s advice, Li Tai considered it and realized that he truly should not appear in person. He had only just completed the campaign against the locusts, and the censors were probably watching him closely, waiting for him to make a mistake.

Li Tai nodded. “Then sell the one-year distribution rights for the down coats through a secret auction.

“If the attendees are all wealthy merchants, they should be able to recognize the value of these garments in winter. Silk and fine-cloth shops, especially, will surely pay attention whenever a new type of fabric enters the market.

“This sum should be enough to complete our plans.”

To be honest, if Li Tai arranged matters properly, the profits from the down coats could have been far greater. He practically monopolized their raw materials.

After all, this was Chang’an. There was no shortage of foolishly wealthy people—or of those willing to curry favor with the Prince of Yue.

But Li Tai understood that, for him, the amount of money he earned was of little significance. His true goal was to fulfill every task he had promised Li Shimin.

He had not been born with as favorable a position as Li Chengqian. If he wanted to compete for the throne, then aside from avoiding mistakes, he also had to accumulate as much merit as possible.

Li Chengqian, by contrast, only needed to avoid making mistakes.

Once their discussion was concluded, Ma Zhou promptly promoted several minor clerks to begin managing the affairs of the academy.

After everything had been settled, Zheng Fengchi, the richest merchant in Chang’an, acquired the distribution rights for the down coats at the price of five thousand gold pieces.

Each coat was sold to him at the fixed wholesale price of one string of cash. How he chose to resell them was none of Li Tai’s concern.

The money soon entered Li Tai’s accounts, making the purchase of land in Chang’an considerably easier.

In truth, buying and selling land under the name of the Prince of Yue was not difficult. But no matter what, private transactions had to be conducted at market value.

Otherwise, the censors, who had nothing better to do than watch him, would seize upon any act that provoked public outrage and flood the court with impeachment memorials.

There was, however, a minor incident during the land purchases.

Ma Zhou came to Li Tai with a wry smile. “The plot we had our eye on in Pingkang Ward has already been bought by someone else. But the buyer not only refuses payment—he wants to give it to us.”

“Zheng Fengchi?” Li Tai immediately understood.

Ma Zhou nodded.

To be honest, Ma Zhou had barely enough spare money to buy a few jars of fine wine, yet he still looked down on a man like Zheng Fengchi, the richest merchant in Chang’an.

To any official, merchants were nothing more than pigs waiting to be slaughtered.

“Find another place,” Li Tai said. “If he has the ability, let him buy every vacant plot in Pingkang Ward.”

“That may not be appropriate. After all, the five thousand gold pieces in our hands were given to us by someone else,” Ma Zhou said hesitantly.

To be honest, Ma Zhou did not believe Li Tai’s down coats were worth very much.

He had merely used them as an excuse to take a cut from Chang’an’s wealthy families and make them bleed a little.

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In a sense, Zheng Fengchi’s five thousand gold pieces were a transaction exchanging money for influence.

Ma Zhou knew that the funds would be used to relieve the refugees outside the city and ease Chang’an’s bitter winter cold, so he spent them with a clear conscience. Even so, he could not deny that the deal amounted to money being exchanged for power.

Zheng Fengchi wanted to become the Prince of Yue’s intermediary, which was why he had produced such an enormous sum without hesitation.

Now that Li Tai refused even to meet him, he was violating certain unspoken rules.

“Zheng Fengchi deals in silk and fine cloth. His commercial network reaches throughout Chang’an. With the one-year distribution rights for the down coats in his hands, he’ll monopolize the entire Chang’an market. It’s practically a treasure vault.

“He could earn ten thousand gold pieces this winter, and even that might be an underestimate. What exists between him and me is purely an economic transaction. Don’t make it more complicated than it is.”

Li Tai genuinely felt that, if he had not urgently needed the money, he might not have cashed out the down coats so quickly.

Ma Zhou was ultimately nowhere near as capable as Li Tai when it came to making money, and he remained skeptical that the garments could really be so profitable.

But since Li Tai had said so, Ma Zhou understood that he did not wish to meet Zheng Fengchi. Upon returning, he told the merchant:

“His Highness says that the one-year distribution rights for these down coats will earn you more than ten thousand gold pieces. Don’t become insatiable.”

Zheng Fengchi was a white-haired man approaching fifty. After bowing respectfully to Ma Zhou, he withdrew.

At the entrance, his son, Zheng Mingshang, hurried over. Seeing the grim expression on his father’s face, he could not help asking, “Father, we’ve already paid five thousand gold pieces. Is the Prince of Yue still unwilling to meet us even once?”

“Go home,” Zheng Fengchi said. “Put the down coats in every shop at a price of five strings each.”

“We’ve always sold bolts of cloth directly. Since when have we sold finished garments?” Zheng Mingshang protested.

Zheng Fengchi nodded at this, but still said, “Since he believes these down coats can earn ten thousand gold pieces, I’ll see whether they truly can.”

“If they can’t be sold, we’ll see whether the Prince of Yue can continue pretending to be above worldly concerns. Father is wise indeed!” Zheng Mingshang said approvingly.

“Yes. The only thing I fear is that these down coats really will let me sell them for ten thousand gold pieces.”

Zheng Fengchi could not help smiling bitterly.

As the richest man in Chang’an, he had actually reached the point of fearing that something might be too profitable.

He shook his head. Impossible. Absolutely impossible. He had heard that Li Tai was only eight years old. How could a child be so skilled in commerce?

In fact, as late autumn arrived, each autumn rain brought colder weather. Once the temperature fell below ten degrees, these ready-made down coats became impossible to obtain. Forget five strings—even twenty strings would not be enough to buy one.

As for making them himself, Zheng Fengchi soon discovered that imitation was impossible.

The outer fabric could be made from silk or fine cloth, but he could not produce the down that filled the individual compartments.

Zheng Fengchi could guess that duck down was used. But even knowing that, could he obtain enough of it?

Li Tai’s free slaughterhouses had been purchasing feathers and entrails without limit. In all of Chang’an, there were only two places capable of raising more than ten thousand ducks: the imperial Directorate of Livestock and the Prince of Yue’s estate.

Bribing the Directorate of Livestock to buy some ducks would not be difficult. But even the Directorate would not dare compete with Li Tai for the market.

And even if Zheng Fengchi somehow obtained ducks and began raising them, he would still need time to discover how to remove the grease from the feathers and eliminate their odor.

By then, Li Tai would have already devoured the entire Chang’an market.

Recalling what Li Tai had said at the time, Zheng Fengchi suddenly realized that this might not have been a transaction exchanging money for influence at all. He might simply have stumbled upon an extraordinary bargain.

But he did not need to make money!

He was already the richest man in Chang’an. Earning even more money was meaningless.

All he wanted now was to ensure that the Zheng family could be passed down safely and securely. If he continued making money at this rate, he feared the imperial court might decide he had grown fat enough to be butchered.

“In this age, is it really so difficult to give money away and find a reliable patron?”

Zheng Fengchi did not understand.

But after this incident, he realized that the Prince of Yue truly was a powerful patron. He would have to find a way to hold on to that connection.

The End.