"Let it be," He Lingchuan said, unconcerned. When the time came, the worst that could happen was paying higher rates to hire other ships. "Looking at both of you covered in mud, what's got you in such a frantic hurry that you had to come all the way to the island to find me?"
Ding Zuodong opened his mouth to speak, but He Lingchuan, spotting some seats in a clearing among the bamboo grove, said, "The sky isn't falling. Come over and take a rest first."
Where there were people, there was a market.
This was a massive workshop with over three hundred people living nearby. Tired of the communal canteen meals, everyone began craving something different. Consequently, some took up their skills to set up tea stalls and whip up snacks, providing laborers with a place to rest after work while earning some extra cash on the side.
In this clearing sat a small market offering everything under the sun, from fish and wild herbs to woven rattan and bamboo furniture, to noodle soup, tea, and bamboo-tube rice.
A burly man was squatting on the ground, weaving a grasshopper from grass and handing it to a child nearby.
A glance at the man's profile told He Lingchuan he looked familiar—wasn't that Qiu Hu?
He called out, and Qiu Hu scratched his head and came over.
"What are you doing here?" He had clearly dispatched Qiu Hu to Xiaoxu Island; how had this fellow suddenly popped up here?
"The task you assigned has already been taken care of, went very smoothly," Qiu Hu said sheepishly. "I just came by to take a look."
*Take a look? At what?*
He Lingchuan glanced back at Lei Ni; her gaze was drifting evasively.
*Ah, I see.*
He didn't call them out on it and simply waved all four of them over to sit down at the tea stall. The vendor's smile bloomed wider than a flower, his towel furiously wiping down the bamboo stools. "Island Master He, please, have a seat! Please sit!"
He Lingchuan pressed several copper coins into his hand, then familiarly went and carried over piping-hot kuding tea himself. Qiu Hu hurried to lend a hand.
They brought over five bamboo tubes of tea in total.
Indeed, the tea ware here was also made of bamboo, sourced locally for convenience and speed.
It was just that the kuding tea was served in moso bamboo tubes, roughly the thickness of a brush pot—nowhere near as outrageous as the giant dragon bamboo cylinders.
Workers drank tea to quench their thirst, so tea here was sold by the "tube."
As soon as they sat down, the commoners nearby saw they were gearing up to discuss official business and quickly cleared out.
Within twenty feet of the table, not a single outsider remained.
The local folk feared officials like tigers.
He Lingchuan had no choice but to compensate the stallkeeper with a little extra tea money.
Then he walked over to the neighboring barbecue stall and ordered a hundred skewers.
Centipede Island was originally the stronghold of the Third Channel pirates and had remained untouched by yin fiend energy. Consequently, the island had no shortage of snakes, bugs, rats, or ants, but lacked live pigs and cattle; the few that existed were brought over by commoners.
Eating red meat was far too luxurious, and the barbecue stall had no advance warning of Island Master He's arrival. Thus, the items sizzling over the grill were whatever ingredients could be easily procured on the island:
wild hare, bamboo rat, quail; sea hare, oyster, conch; yellow mushrooms gathered from the woods, and post-autumn grasshoppers that could barely hop—all skewered and roasting over the fire.
Since the island master had ordered, the skewers were brought to the table batch after batch.
The grasshopper legs were charred black, making Ding Zuodong frown inwardly. But the moment He Lingchuan said, "Eat up, don't be shy," Guan Ke immediately followed his lord's lead, took a skewer, and began chewing with a beaming smile, repeatedly praising how fragrant it tasted.
He Lingchuan casually set up a sound-dampening barrier before asking Ding Zuodong, "You started to say earlier—what happened?"
"My Lord, over the past few days I've been contacting foreign merchants to sell our goods. Seven or eight merchant houses showed strong interest after testing samples of our oil and were keen to cooperate. Two of them operate fleets that primarily handle maritime transport to the Mou and Ya Kingdoms, and their order volumes are huge."
Needless to say, the go-between who set this up had to be Guan Ke, though Ding Zuodong did not mention it.
Guan Ke was a local know-it-all with accurate intelligence on arriving and departing cargo, which was precisely how he managed to secure a generous salary under He Lingchuan.
"Isn't that good news? Where is the problem?" He Lingchuan picked up a skewer of roasted quail.
"The problem is that we submitted our oil and medicinal herbs to the Maritime Trade Office for inspection three times, and every single time they rejected them, claiming they failed inspection." Ding Zuodong twirled a skewer of yellow mushrooms in his fingers, in no mood to eat. "In Blade Harbor, without an inspection permit issued by the Maritime Trade Office, you cannot open a shop, nor can you openly sell goods, transship, or load and unload cargo."
The Maritime Trade Office was the official organ overseeing the port, primarily responsible for inspecting arriving and departing ships, foreign goods, tax collection, monopoly controls, and trade affairs. In Blade Harbor, it also performed all functions of the local government, wielding tremendous authority.
Ding Zuodong continued, "Among the spoils you seized from the Third Channel pirates are several storefronts in Blade Harbor in prime locations. We intended to use them to open our shops, but now that will likely have to be delayed."
He Lingchuan immediately grasped where the trouble lay.
As long as the Maritime Trade Office refused to issue a permit, the freshly produced palm oil, medicinal herbs, timber, fish, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots from the Yangshan Archipelago—not to mention the fluorescent spores, spider silk, and other specialties slated for future production—could not be openly sold in Blade Harbor!
"Can't we set the trading location on our islands?"
"Foreign merchants won't accept that," Guan Ke chimed in. "For years, merchants have taken it for granted that bulk commodities are traded in Blade Harbor. Moreover, such goods must possess a permit from the Maritime Trade Office to certify acceptable quality before anyone will buy them."
In other words, endorsement from the Blade Harbor Maritime Trade Office was critical. Without that sheet of paper, He Lingchuan would have trouble selling his goods even on his own turf—unless he chose not to do business with outsiders.
Guan Ke said solemnly, "Furthermore, opening shops in Blade Harbor is vital. It not only showcases our products to all visiting merchants and commoners, but also provides a convenient place for clients to negotiate. If we can't open these storefronts, doing business will be very difficult."
"There's no way our products have quality issues." He Lingchuan asked the two, "Is the Maritime Trade Office known for giving people a hard time?"
"Normally, if there are no major defects in quality, offering a small gift and hosting a meal or two is enough to pass," Guan Ke answered. "If there are bigger discrepancies, you just grease their palms a bit more."
In short, within the bounds of regular practice, getting the certificate wasn't difficult.
"We submitted samples three times, presented gifts three times, and hosted them three times. Assistant Commissioner Zhao, who oversaw the sampling inspection, stuffed his face until grease dripped from his lips, yet every single time he handed down a failing mark," Ding Zuodong said, his expression darkening. "We went to Superintendent Wu, the head of the Maritime Trade Office, but he said official business must be handled by the book and that everything was subject to Assistant Commissioner Zhao's findings."
When Ding Zuodong went to see Superintendent Wu, he naturally hadn't gone empty-handed.
Even under those circumstances, Superintendent Wu had given him a flat rebuff.
He Lingchuan stroked his chin. "Have we offended anyone at the Maritime Trade Office?"
"Never."
How long had it been since He Lingchuan and his people arrived in Blade Harbor? They had spent all their time buried in their own enterprise, and their recent dealings with the Maritime Trade Office were strictly commercial formalities.
What old grudge could there possibly be?
Guan Ke, however, asked, "My Lord, what is your relationship with Bailie?"
He Lingchuan's mind sharpened. "What do you mean?"
"This Superintendent Wu hails from Qucheng in Bailie, and his family is related to the Lu family by marriage. I've heard that for him to secure the post of Maritime Trade Office superintendent, the Lu family pulled many strings behind the scenes." Blade Harbor had been leased from Bailie and was now governed by the Qing Kingdom; the relationships, factions, and tangled webs within were a colossal mess that only a local know-it-all like Guan Ke could unravel. "Of course, for Superintendent Wu to rise to that position, he was also recommended by the Qing Kingdom's imperial uncle, Ning Guangrong."
"You bought the Yangshan Archipelago from Bailie, and I heard the price was very... favorable." Cheap—practically dirt-cheap. "Now that the Yangshan Archipelago is thriving, could someone be harboring sour grapes?"
After purchasing the Yangshan Archipelago, He Lingchuan had turned around and slapped the sucker's cap right back onto the Lu family's head. How could Bailie possibly be happy about that?
They had wanted to watch him make a fool of himself, only to become the biggest laughingstock themselves. Putting himself in their shoes, Guan Ke thought that if he were the head of the Lu family, he would be frustrated to the point of internal bleeding.
They couldn't take the Yangshan Archipelago back, but couldn't they throw a few obstacles in He Lingchuan's way?
How many people were generous enough to watch someone reap immense benefits at their expense without turning green with envy, smile and offer congratulations, and genuinely wish to collaborate?
Most would wish nothing more than to see you fall flat on your face, then stomp on you viciously just to vent their spite.
He Lingchuan nodded slightly. So that was it.
Bailie was pulling strings behind the scenes once again. This time it was even more insidious—using official channels to suppress him.
The Maritime Trade Office was the local tyrant and official authority in Blade Harbor. While He Lingchuan was a lord on the Yangshan Archipelago, once he entered Blade Harbor, he was just a commoner without official rank.
Since time immemorial, commoners did not fight officials; if He Lingchuan went head-to-head with the Maritime Trade Office, he would reap no good fruit.
When the authorities wanted to break you, they could turn regulations into a whip and beat you until your teeth scattered on the ground.
The Lu father and son had struck with precision, temporarily seizing the Yangshan Archipelago by the throat.
In the first round, driving up prices, they had tasted sweet success; this was the second round, and they wanted to win again, pressing their advantage to crush He Lingchuan completely.
"My Lord?" Guan Ke called out when he noticed He Lingchuan's distraction.
"Hmm." He Lingchuan snapped out of his thoughts. "Go on."
"Furthermore, Superintendent Wu himself owns a hundred mu of mountain woodlands, all planted with cash crops, including substantial amounts of oil palms, medicinal herbs, and fruit trees. His steward approached me in the past, asking me to help find buyers." Guan Ke paused, then added, "What gets planted in the Qing Kingdom's woodlands and paddy fields isn't up to commoners. The Wu family has made quite a fortune relying on this trade."
It wasn't just the Qing Kingdom. Whether in the Yuan Kingdom, or former Xiji and Panlong City, fields were required to produce rice, wheat, and cotton, while mountain woodlands were required to yield sweet potatoes, buckwheat, and sorghum. Official restrictions dictated all of it; you couldn't just plant whatever you pleased.
Who didn't know that diversification was far more profitable? Wouldn't it be better to grow medicinal herbs, tea, tobacco, and fruit trees in hillside fields instead of grain?
It was forbidden. If grain was insufficient, the state would become unstable.
Yet Superintendent Wu's family was no ordinary household; they could reap this fortune without hindrance.
Therefore, the Yangshan Archipelago's future economic output could threaten his family's livelihood. As long as Superintendent Wu felt displeased, he could create a billion petty headaches for He Lingchuan.
He Lingchuan had poured the majority of his net worth into developing the Yangshan Archipelago. Renting ships cost money, purchasing materials cost money, socializing and networking cost a fortune, but the most expensive of all was labor. Across the fourteen islands, nearly nine thousand people were currently working for him. Even though most were temporary hands hired for the palm harvest season, the money being paid out was cold, hard cash.
Every morning when he opened his eyes, before he had done a single thing, he had to pay out over two thousand taels of silver—that was two million copper coins.
A spending rate like this was something he never would have dreamed of back when he was merely the Eldest Young Master!
Chapter 943