My eunuch godfather

Chapter 8 Between Rivers and Seas

The following day, the fleet departed from Hexiwu and arrived at Yangcun Water Station in Wuqing County at noon.

Yangcun was far inferior to Zhangjiawan and Hexiwu, and even to Lujiawu. It was also home to many disaster victims, and there were shacks everywhere.

"You son of a bitch, you've got some nerve, daring to ask the river works camp for grain?!"

Chen Jizong pointed at the gatekeeper's nose and cursed loudly:

"I don't even have to pay the customs at Hexiwu, who do you think you are?!"

"Sir, I truly have no other choice!"

The gatekeeper knelt on the ground and pleaded with Chen Jizong, weeping:

"There are so many disaster victims gathered here, and I only have a little over a hundred people guarding the gate. I can't possibly control them!"

If they cause trouble and damage the locks, it will delay your return from the south!

"Are you trying to coerce me?! I..."

Zhang Kun patted Chen Jizong on the shoulder, then took over the conversation and discussed it with the gatekeeper:

"We came from Zhangjiawan without bringing much grain, and the price of grain here is also high."

Once we return from buying grain in Linqing, we will give you some more to tide you over.

Of course, this grain cannot be given away for free. You should select some hardworking and reliable men from among the disaster victims and help us recruit workers.

"By spreading the word, you give the disaster victims some hope and a sense of security."

"Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"

Upon hearing this, the gatekeeper was overjoyed and kowtowed twice to Zhang Kun, saying, "Please rest assured, sir, I will do my utmost!"

"Brother, don't believe his nonsense."

Back on the boat, Chen Jizong pointed to the shacks not far away and advised Zhang Kun:

"Look at these peasants, they might gather together and make a fuss, but they wouldn't dare to kill officials or rebel!"

These gatekeepers and gatekeepers are all locals; this is just a show for you!

"Brother Chen is right."

Zhang Kun nodded to Chen Jizong and said with a smile:

"But if he does his job well, we won't lose anything. If he doesn't, we still haven't delivered the grain to him."

In the evening, the fleet arrived at Yangqingshui Post Station in Tianjin, where there were many ships and foreign goods from the south.

Maritime transport existed throughout the Ming Dynasty:

Before the Grand Canal was completed in the thirteenth year of the Yongle reign, much of the grain transported was by sea.

Liang Menglong in the fifth year of the Longqing reign and Wang Zongmu in the first year of the Wanli reign also experimented with sea transport of grain.

In addition, grain was often transported to Liaodong from Dengzhou and Laizhou in Shandong, taking the Dengzhou-Liaodong sea route to Lushunkou in Liaodong.

In the 20th year of the Wanli reign, the Imjin War broke out, and Japan invaded Korea. The Ming Dynasty sent troops to support Korea.

With Korea having lost most of its territory and unable to supply grain, the Ming Dynasty transported grain directly from Lushun Port through Shicheng Island to Uiju and even Pyongyang in Korea.

When Dengzhou and Laizhou ran out of grain reserves, supplies were transported from Tianjin to supplement their grain reserves.

Water transport, even when going against the current, can achieve a daily journey of 40 li (approximately 20 kilometers) as long as there is not too much headwind, which is faster than the daily journey of 30 li (approximately 15 kilometers) on land.

If it is by sea, it can travel 150 li a day, and if it follows ocean currents, it can even travel more than 300 li a day!

Why wasn't grain transported by sea?

The prefectures and counties along the Grand Canal refused to agree, as did the hundreds of thousands of transport troops and canal workers.

Moreover, not only grain from the Grand Canal, but also grain from Shandong, Henan, and southern Hebei could be transported north via the Grand Canal.

The problem is that the Ming Dynasty is finding it increasingly difficult to bear the operating costs of the Grand Canal.

Still browsing the market, I came across a shop selling imported goods. "Sir, have you ever seen anything like this before?"

Zhang Kun recognized it at a glance: "The self-propelled clock of the Frankish people?"

"You're discerning. This machine came directly from Xiangshan'ao, not a secondhand item from somewhere else."

The shop assistant gave Zhang Kun a thumbs-up and promoted the product:

"Look at this superb craftsmanship! Inlaid with silver and gold, it must be a masterpiece by a master craftsman from the Frankish era!"

Zhang Kun picked up the self-propelled clock, weighed it a few times, and said, "This weight is wrong. Did you add iron blocks inside?"

"Oh my, sir, you're truly an expert!"

The waiter smiled wryly at Zhang Kun and said, "There's nothing we can do. Many customers think that the heavier the weight, the more valuable it is."

"This price is too expensive, I can't afford it."

The price tag is a thousand taels; even if you sold Zhang Kun to a brothel, he couldn't afford it. "Are there any imitations from the south?"

When the Zizouzhong (a type of ancient Chinese clock) was first introduced to the Ming Dynasty, it was even more expensive, selling for several thousand or even tens of thousands of taels of silver.

My eunuch godfather once told me a story about how the missionary Matteo Ricci presented two self-propelled clocks to the Wanli Emperor.

When Empress Dowager Li learned of this, she asked her eldest son to bring her one to take a look.

The greedy Wanli Emperor, fearing he might never return, deliberately didn't wind up the device. Empress Dowager Li, seeing it wouldn't leave, had a eunuch escort it back.

Nowadays, Nanjing, Guangzhou and other places can already imitate them, but they are far less compact than the imported ones.

"The counterfeit units are all sold out; this is the only one left."

The waiter turned around and exchanged a glance with the shopkeeper not far away, then lowered the price for Zhang Kun:

"How about this, I'll sell it to you for eight hundred taels, and we can become friends?"

"No, no, I'm not buying."

Zhang Kun waved to his waiter and looked around, asking, "Do you have any Japanese arquebuses?"

"Sir, this...this musket is illegal."

The waiter smiled at Zhang Kunqian, his eyes darting around.

"Ha, selling imported goods isn't illegal for you? Did you pay taxes in Hexiwu or Linqing?"

Zhang Kun sneered and pulled out his Imperial Guard badge. "Hurry up and give it to me!"

The Northwest Pacific is the ocean area with the most and strongest storms in the world, bar none, making maritime trade extremely risky.

Tianjin was located between the two major customs posts of Hexiwu and Linqing, so many seagoing ships were willing to take the risk of coming over.

The waiter, upon seeing the Embroidered Uniform Guard's waist badge, froze in shock. The shopkeeper, who was nearby, quickly came over to greet him.

"Sir, please wait a moment, I'll bring the goods right away!"

After several selections, Zhang Kun bought two long tubes and one short tube made by Guo You for only 5 taels and 4 mace of silver.

The shopkeeper also gave me a black lacquered and painted Mino-style katana as a bonus, which cost at least three or four taels.

"That's quite sensible."

Zhang Kun was very satisfied with the shopkeeper's attitude. "Who is your supplier? Perhaps we can cooperate in the future."

......

After passing through the locks at Tianjin Wei, the fleet entered the Wei Canal section from the North Canal section of the Grand Canal and began its upstream journey.

The further south you go, the more abandoned farmland there is, and the more makeshift shelters for disaster victims gather around the docks.

The Bohai coast east of the Grand Canal had no prefectures or counties; it was all under the jurisdiction of the Hejian Salt Transport Office, where there were many bandits and smugglers of salt.

The current situation is like lighting a fire next to a barrel of gunpowder; it could explode at any moment.

Chen Jizong and the garrison commander ordered their soldiers to be divided into two groups, taking turns wearing armor, just in case.

After a day's journey, we arrived at Fengxin Water Station in Jinghai County.

Zhang Kun was to separate from the fleet here and lead his men to recruit workers in Hejian.

"Master Kun, are you sure you want to go to Hejian?"

Zhang Kun's skilled servant, Wei Sengteng, whom he had hired before his departure, had a very strange name. Wei Sengteng advised Zhang Kun:

"From the west, Deshengdian, Wuguandian, and Baiyangdian were all notorious dens of thieves."

"Didn't the dentist tell you?"

Hearing Wei Sengteng's advice, Zhang Kun frowned and said:

"Both I and Zhang Gong, who I follow, are from Hejian. Zhang Gong instructed me to recruit more workers in Hejian."

What, do you think I didn't give you enough money?

"The broker told me that you need to travel by canal to Linqing and back."

Wei Sengteng, with a beaming smile, asked Zhang Kun for a price:

"The ten taels we agreed on before are not enough; we need to add five taels."

"add!"

Zhang Kun took out a two-tael ingot from his satchel, slapped it into Wei Sengteng's hand, and said:

"I still have use for the cash. I'll repay you along with the money when I get back to the capital, how about that?"

"Yes, yes, that's fine."

Wei Sengteng nodded repeatedly, put away the silver, and patted his chest to assure Zhang Kun:

"Don't worry, as long as I live, no one can hurt you!"

In fact, Zhang Kun could recruit workers in Linqing first, and then recruit workers in Hejian on his way back.

However, this would mean that people who joined the river engineering camp in Linqing would occupy many positions.

Geniuses are extremely rare, while ordinary people are the vast majority. Therefore, most organizations appoint personnel based on seniority.

Zhang Kun first recruited workers in Hejian, which at least ensured that the positions for this group of people would be occupied by fellow villagers from Hejian.

Moreover, Zhang Kun and Chen Jizong had secretly discussed that the fleet should travel as slowly as possible southward from Jinghai.

If he's lucky, Zhang Kun might even arrive in Texas before the fleet.