Chapter 193: Reviving Industry (I)

Chapter 193: Reviving Industry (I)

That day, Zong Yao rose early, intending to head to the yamen at dawn, but who should arrive but a visitor dressed in fine clothes.

The man claimed to be on close family terms with his former classmate, Zhang Mou.

Zong Yao had long forgotten who Zhang Mou was, but he still courteously accepted the visiting card and invited the man in for a chat.

After some pleasantries, the visitor presented a small piece of satin like it was a treasure: "Assistant Prefect Zong, this is my shop's new 'Furong Xue' (Lotus Snow). What do you think of it?"

Zong Yao had already entertained several rounds of guests by now and was well-versed in such matters.

He smiled and said, "I don't know much about dyeing and weaving, but from what I can see, it does look pretty good."

Hearing his praise, the visitor showed no joy at all; instead, a heavy cloud of worry hung over his face.

He opened the floodgates and poured out all his troubles to Zong Yao: "You're too modest, Assistant Prefect Zong. You see, my shop's been open for over a month now. It was only busy for the first half month, and now even a sparrow won't come around. If only those poor saps had taste as good as yours, I wouldn't be struggling so much..."

With that, the man seemed to realize something and slapped himself on the mouth: "Ah, and during the New Year at that, how could I bother you with such unlucky matters? I deserve a beating, really."

Then he quickly plastered on a bright, ingratiating smile: "Sir, since you like this fabric, I've brought five more bolts as a gift for you. If you find it comfortable to wear, I'd be honored. As the year winds down, I notice many of the yamen clerks' clothes are looking worn..."

The man spoke with great tact, stopping at just the right point.

Zong Yao smiled with elegant composure: "Very well. I'll report this to Prefect Wenren and see what he decides."

The visitor was sent off with a pleasant smile, and Zong Yao heaved a deep sigh. He picked up the silk the man had left and examined it closely.

Zong Yao had heard of the "Furong Xue" brand.

It was a complete knockoff of the patterns of "Tonglu Xue" (Tonglu Snow) created by County Princess Qi, with several extra patterns, and it was five copper coins cheaper per chi than the genuine "Tonglu Xue."

Common folks buying fabric naturally went for the cheaper option.

However, the shopkeeper was dishonest at heart, and the materials he used were shoddy. When people took the fabric home, after just two washes, the colors faded and the fabric shrank.

Besides, it was winter, and the fabric was too thin, letting in drafts from all sides, making it impossible to wear.

The commoners who had bought the fabric could only chalk it up to bad luck and stuff more straw into their padded jackets to keep warm.

Seeing that the fabric wouldn't sell and was about to be left on his hands, the man turned his thoughts to the government, hoping to curry favor and get the authorities to buy up the unsold fabric in bulk at official prices.

Of course, since he intended to bribe, he wouldn't bring the cheap, inferior fabric. He had picked the best material and woven a few bolts specially, even perfuming them with fine warm incense, but even up close, you could still smell the pungent scent of dye.

If the fabric that reached his own hands was this quality, you can imagine what shoddy stuff the common folk were wearing.

Zong Yao held the fine fabric, lost in thought.

Making the common people wear such terrible clothes... stirring up public outrage... ruining His Majesty's grand enterprise...

They truly deserve to die.

As Zong Yao was about to leave, his attendant A Xian came into the hall.

A Xian had been by his side since childhood, having gone through the rise and fall of the Zong family with him, and was therefore exceptionally mature and steady.

He reported quietly: "Sir, under the silk box, there are also three hundred taels in silver notes."

Zong Yao rubbed the bridge of his nose: "Put them in the treasury for now."

He added a complaining remark: "These days, fabric's been coming in like water. Even if I learned from Nezha and grew three heads and six arms, I couldn't wear it all."

A Xian was taken aback, looked up, and quickly glanced at him before looking away.

Zong Yao raised an eyebrow: "What are you looking at?"

A Xian kept his eyes down: "You've become much livelier since coming to this foreign land, and you joke more too."

Zong Yao was stunned for a moment, then lowered his gaze again without responding: "Don't forget to register all of these in the records. Don't use them lightly. At the end of the month, submit the list to the higher-ups."

Seeing that his master wasn't in the mood for banter, A Xian went back to his usual reticence: "Yes."

Zong Yao tidied himself up a bit and stepped out of the house.

As the year drew to a close, the people of Tongzhou were willing to spend some silver on fabric to have a good New Year.

Many gentry rushed to enter the market at this time, both to ride the wave of the commercial tax cut and to get a good start during the festive season.

However, as far as Zong Yao knew, many of these people were skilled at extracting gold from the land and squeezing the lifeblood out of farmers through grain, but they knew nothing about doing business. They blindly followed their old ways, buying up ready-made workshops with looms and machines, starting production right away, hoping to crush competitors through connections and low prices.

After all, their families were rich and could afford the losses.

Suddenly, so many new brands appeared on the market—cheap and flashy—that the common folk were spoiled for choice.

Yet, for ordinary people who could mend and wash their own clothes, fabric was still a luxury, requiring careful comparison of quality and price.

When a pile of dubious new fabrics was laid out side by side, the comparison only made County Princess Qi's fabric look like a heavenly beauty descended to earth.

However, you couldn't entirely blame these gentry for not investing in good materials and skilled labor.

County Princess Qi had been in Tongzhou for years and had long since picked over all the best weavers and looms in the area.

Recently, when she suddenly expanded her business, she snapped up all the slightly more skilled weavers and embroiderers.

She had ten large jacquard looms all to herself.

The workshops she left behind were all small operations she had squeezed dry.

Buying up these subpar workshops and trying to compete with her was always going to fall short.

As Zong Yao walked, he took in both sides of the main street.

Many new shops had sprung up along the street, with banners fluttering in all five colors.

Not just fabric shops—wine, sugar, tea, and sauce shops, large and small, lined the streets in a dazzling array.

The once somewhat desolate main street now boasted a third of the capital's prosperity.

Zong Yao gave a wry smile.

These people rushing to do business wasn't entirely without benefit.

Arriving at the yamen, he was surprised to see Qi Hongzhuang coming out of the government office.

She greeted Zong Yao without being either humble or arrogant, and he returned the courtesy: "Greetings, County Princess Qi."

After the formalities, Zong Yao lowered his gaze and said gently: "You have a connection with the Prefect, and Wenzhi shouldn't presume to speak, but County Princess Qi really doesn't need to visit in broad daylight... It draws too much attention."

Qi Hongzhuang recognized the man before her; she had been lucky enough to be called "Shiniang" (teacher's wife) by him a few times.

But times have changed, and she had no intention of revisiting old matters—she was simply getting to the point: "Assistant Prefect Zong, have you misunderstood something? I came here to conclude two cases. Since they are to be tried in court, it would be improper for me not to make an appearance."

Zong Yao caught her meaning at once.

He was always well-informed and knew everything going on in the prefecture, but since he wasn't publicly responsible for criminal cases, he pretended not to know and asked, "What cases are these?"

"Someone gathered a sack of lice, planning to dump them onto my hundred bolts of grey cloth in the eastern warehouse in the dead of night. Additionally, four or five people intended to set fire to my weaving house during the dry winter season."

Zong Yao looked taken aback: "Good heavens. May I ask, County Princess, did you suffer any losses?"

Qi Hongzhuang stayed unruffled: "Petty tricks, nothing to worry about. If I couldn't handle such lowlife street thug tactics, the Qi family would never have gone into business."

"Have the people behind this been caught?"

"Speaking of which, it's quite amusing. They all sang the same tune, all saying they were just jealous of my booming business, with no one instigating them. The Prefect handled it fairly and has already locked them up with fitting sentences," Qi Hongzhuang said calmly. "I've already got my suspicions."

At this point, Zong Yao didn't press further, offered another bow, and said, "Please take good care of yourself, County Princess."

Business was full of dirty tricks; he didn't need to hear more.

...He only needed to know that the woman before him was no pushover.

After bidding farewell to Qi Hongzhuang, Zong Yao arrived at the study. Before he could get through his backlog of paperwork, he was met with another major task.

"...You want to throw a big Lantern Festival?"

"Yes," Le Wuya said, chewing on some malt candy. "I was going through the prefecture's records and discovered that in the past decade, Tongzhou City used to light lanterns for five days around the Lantern Festival, decorating the thoroughfares with colorful silk and bustling with excitement. Since the Japanese pirates came, there's been a nightly curfew, even on New Year's Day. What a shame to let those traditions go to waste."

Zong Yao furrowed his brows and said seriously, "Sir, I'm concerned that Japanese pirates might infiltrate and cause theft or robbery..."

"That's what the troops are for. On those days, I'll send the garrison out to patrol and round up thieves and bandits. If they come, it's a good thing—saves me the trouble of seeking them out," Le Wuya said carelessly. "Besides, this is a great opportunity for trade and profit. Not only will people from the two prefectures and twelve counties of Tongzhou come, even neighboring prefectures will likely join in the fun. The wealthy merchants of Tongzhou are now eager to make a fortune; what pirate would be dumb enough to mess with the bigwigs' money-making plans?"

Zong Yao blushed deeply when he heard him openly discuss such unsavory matters, and hurriedly covered his mouth: "Sir, lower your voice!"

Le Wuya grinned and handed him a piece of malt candy.

Zong Yao, unable to decline, reluctantly accepted it: "But it's only ten days until New Year's Day. The old lanterns stored in the warehouse, unused for so long, are probably already rotten..."

Le Wuya said cheerfully, "No worries, we don't have lanterns—let each shop provide their own! With so many shops opening in the city now, who wouldn't want to seize this grand spectacle?"

Zong Yao's eyes shifted as he pieced together the full picture.

He was silent for a long while, then slowly said, "...Sir, Tongzhou Prefecture hasn't held such a grand event in a long time. Once the news spreads, won't the people inside and outside Tongzhou be stirred into a frenzy?"

Le Wuya nodded: "Indeed."

"Then there will surely be a flood of customers?"

"Indeed."

"...But even if the merchants get the news and start making lanterns and colored silks from today to promote their shops, in such haste, they can't produce particularly exquisite or beautiful lanterns, can they?"

"Indeed."

Zong Yao took a deep breath: "Then... County Princess Qi knew about this long ago, didn't she?"

Le Wuya's eyes curved into a smile: "Indeed."

Zong Yao: "..."

So that's what they meant by officials and merchants working hand in glove.