Chapter 117: A Promising Prospect

When Xu Wenshan explained his intentions to the head of the Yao family, the man’s first reaction was, "No, that’s impossible."

Today was the first day of Xu Wenshan’s preparations for the irrigation canal, and he had gone straight to the Yao family, who were potters, to solve the most difficult problem: bricks. Although pottery and brick-making are not the same, they are closely related, and Old Man Yao was the best candidate he could think of.

But after Xu Wenshan spoke to him, the old man shook his head vigorously. "No, it’s impossible."

The last time Xu Wenshan came to see him, he had given the old man 20 strings of cash to build a kiln for making pottery jars. To this day, that money remained untouched, hidden under the old man’s bed. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to spend it; he simply couldn’t. He had intended to buy a plot of land, but all the available land had been bought up by the Xu family before he could make a move. Xu Changshui held onto the land so tightly that there was none left for him to acquire.

What was even more frustrating was that, at the young master’s request, he had built a massive kiln that had never been used once. It pained him to see such a large kiln sit idle, but using it would only be a waste. He felt like he had been tricked by the young master of the Xu family.

Xu Wenshan tried to persuade him: "Old Man Yao, think about it. Our village has so little arable land precisely because of the lack of water. If I build this irrigation canal, wouldn’t it be a great blessing for the entire village? If not for my sake, you should at least consider all these fellow villagers..."

Old Man Yao rolled his eyes. "Building an irrigation canal is a good thing, but asking me to build a brick kiln capable of producing ten thousand bricks at a time, and then turning out 1.2 million bricks within five months—that’s not a good thing. That’s demanding the impossible."

Xu Wenshan folded his arms. "Old Man Yao, don't sell yourself short. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!"

"This isn't a matter of will! Since the day I was born, I’ve never heard of anyone firing that many bricks at once!" the old man insisted stubbornly.

"One wen for ten bricks," Xu Wenshan said, holding up a finger. "If you can finish within five months, I’ll pay you one wen for every ten bricks."

Old Man Yao replied disdainfully, "I am not the kind of person who..."

"You really ought to do the math. One wen for ten bricks—1.2 million bricks would be 120,000 wen, which is 120 strings of cash."

Old Man Yao flopped straight onto the ground.

"Do you really have that much money?" he asked in shock.

Xu Wenshan replied, "What do you think?"

After pondering for a while, the old man whispered, "But even if I get these 120 strings of cash, I have nowhere to spend them..." He lowered his voice, fearing that others might overhear.

Xu Wenshan also lowered his voice: "Have you forgotten? You still owe me 50 strings of cash!"

"When did I ever owe you 50 strings of cash?!" The old man nearly jumped up.

"I’m providing the technology and the capital to build the kiln, and I’m providing the labor to fire the bricks. Once it’s done, the kiln belongs to you. Do you think I’m a fool? You’re definitely going to have to pay up," Xu Wenshan said.

Old Man Yao smiled bitterly. "But you’re the one who needs the bricks..."

"One thing at a time. Once it’s finished, you’ll still walk away with 70 strings of cash profit. Are you in or not?"

Old Man Yao nodded immediately: "I’m in!"

Xu Wenshan clapped his hands. "Good! Since you’re in, I’ll bring people over tomorrow to build the kiln."

Watching Xu Wenshan’s receding figure, Old Man Yao scratched his head and suddenly thought, *Even with this 70 strings of cash, I still have nowhere to spend it!*

...

The most basic problem with brick-making was not the kiln, but the fuel. 1.2 million bricks would require several times that amount in fuel, which was an immense burden.

There were no open-pit coal mines near Deer Crane Gully, so they had to use other fuel. Ordinary firewood didn't reach high enough temperatures, so the bricks would certainly be substandard. Therefore, they had no choice but to use charcoal. This meant they needed a logging site and a charcoal-burning site.

Zhang Asan was just an ordinary woodcutter. He had never imagined he would have any connection with the young master of the Xu family. Those were important people; at most, he would deal with their servants when selling a few bundles of firewood. But today was an extraordinary day—the young master of the Xu family had come to find him personally.

He had come to find him in person, holding... two pieces of firewood.

Xu Wenshan held one piece of wood out to him and asked, "What is this?"

"This is... firewood," Zhang Asan said, unsure if his answer was satisfactory.

"And this one?"

"That is also firewood."

"If you wanted to make charcoal, which one would you choose?"

"This one."

Xu Wenshan nodded. "Very good."

Zhang Asan was confused, not knowing what was so good about it. He had only answered a question that any six-year-old in the village would know.

"I have a job," Xu Wenshan said. "I need charcoal—a massive amount of charcoal. I need you to lead a group of people to burn charcoal. We need to produce a lot every single day. Are you willing to take on this job?"

Zhang Asan chuckled. "Is that all? Why wouldn't I be willing? I can help anytime." He assumed Xu Wenshan just wanted to play around with charcoal, and since he could just go and provide some guidance, why would he refuse?

Xu Wenshan said, "Good. Tomorrow I will send people over. You lead them in building a charcoal kiln—make it big, the kind that can produce 100 catties at a time."

With that, Xu Wenshan left, leaving Zhang Asan standing there in a daze: *100 catties at a time—how big would that kiln have to be?*

Li Dazhuang had been waiting outside. Seeing Xu Wenshan emerge, he quickly followed. Xu Wenshan remarked to Li Dazhuang, "That young man is good. He agreed immediately, though I’m not sure how skilled he is."

Li Dazhuang was a simple man and said honestly, "I only burned charcoal with him when we were kids. I don't really know how good his skills are."

Xu Wenshan said, "He'll learn as he goes."

They had walked quite a distance when Xu Wenshan suddenly slapped his forehead. "Oh no! I forgot to discuss his wages!"

The next day, Zhang Asan was stunned to find more than fifty people crowded in front of his dilapidated hut, waiting for his instructions. Only then did he realize that the young master of the Xu family might have had some misunderstandings about him.

...

A-Fa had been very busy lately.

A few days ago, at the Liaozhai Representative Meeting (the full name was the Liaozhai Representative Conference—A-Fa didn't know why it had such a strange name), Xu Wenshan had officially given A-Fa a position: Minister of Propaganda.

A-Fa didn't quite understand what "propaganda" meant, but Xu Wenshan told him: "It means whatever I want everyone to know, you must convey it exactly as it is to as many people as possible."

A-Fa suddenly understood. He said he was very good at this; in the past, whenever there was interesting gossip among the Xu family servants, he could spread it throughout the whole village in half a day.

Xu Wenshan looked at him with a headache. "The point isn't just to let the whole village know; you have to make sure the whole village understands the correct meaning exactly, without any misunderstandings."

That put A-Fa in a difficult position. In his dozen years in the business, he had never once relayed a message without adding his own flair.

These past few days, Xu Wenshan had him running around everywhere to find and recruit people. He felt like his legs were about to break. He often stole a moment to slip into the tea shed at the edge of the village to chat with people, saying, "Working for Young Master Xu, you don't rely on your mouth to spread news—you rely on your legs."

Once, while he was bragging away in the tea shed, he suddenly felt a chill behind him. He turned around and saw Xu Wenshan standing right there.

A-Fa stood up, trembling. "Young Master..."

But Xu Wenshan seemed lost in thought, muttering, "Would opening a tavern be a good idea?"

"Huh?"

"I think it’s a great idea!" Xu Wenshan suddenly declared.

The people around him were once again left completely baffled.