Chapter Twenty-One: A Single Bird Feather

Pang Ruichen was about to kowtow again, but Xiao Zhi waved his hand impatiently.

"You are to put up four million taels to build salt-boiling workshops in every province. I will provide you with the formula for producing fine salt later. This matter concerns the very foundation of the state; can you handle it?"

Pang Ruichen’s eyes lit up, and he readily agreed.

"These workshops must be constructed within three months, and salt production must begin immediately. The formula must be kept as secret as possible. By the end of the year, I want you to flood the market with this salt, priced at ten wen. Salt merchants are not to sell it for more than fifteen wen. Can you do that?"

Pang Ruichen blinked, looking incredulous. "My lord, the current price for coarse salt is forty wen. We are to sell fine salt for only ten? That leaves the salt merchants with a profit of only five wen?"

Of the forty wen charged for coarse salt, half went to salt taxes, and a small portion went to the merchants. What Xiao Zhi intended was to strip the excess profit from this lucrative business; the Great Chu imperial court needed money, and it could be obtained through commercial means.

Xiao Zhi understood what Pang Ruichen was implying: if the profits were too low, the merchants would refuse.

Addressing Pang Ruichen’s hesitation, Xiao Zhi said with dissatisfaction, "If the old salt merchants look down upon these meager profits, then we shall cultivate new ones. There is no salt tax on fine salt; anyone can sell it. Do you understand?"

Xiao Zhi did not need someone to point out problems; he needed someone to solve them.

The cost of coarse salt was negligible; a liter of fine salt cost less than three copper coins to produce. Selling an item that cost two or three wen for ten was already an exorbitant profit. Once the operation reached scale, he could regulate the tax rate through price fluctuations. That was the healthy way forward.

"This subordinate understands and will certainly carry out this task."

"I will give you the specific regulations later; just follow them. If there are any loopholes in the regulations, use your own discretion."

"As long as you work hard, I will ensure you make back the four million taels you put up today, and it will be clean money."

Having been fed Xiao Zhi’s "big pie," Pang Ruichen was overjoyed, and his anxious heart finally settled.

Once the discussion ended, Xiao Zhi gave instructions on several other details and precautions. Finally, he added, "Your family is in the capital, right?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Do not drag them around with you in the future. You have rendered great service; let them stay in the capital and enjoy themselves."

This was using Pang Ruichen’s family as leverage.

Pang Ruichen feigned being flattered. "Thank you for your consideration, my lord. I shall obey."

He naturally understood what Xiao Zhi meant, and he dared not harbor even a shred of defiance in his heart. Even if Xiao Zhi had been joking, he would not have dared to treat it as a joke.

The young man speaking to him so amiably was the same ruthless man who had stabbed Huai Zhong to death in the imperial court and raided houses on his very first day at the Imperial City Guard. Just moments ago, heads were still rolling outside.

In other words, this man was currently in the Emperor's favor; following him might even lead to a meteoric rise in his own career.

Walking out of the Imperial City Guard, Pang Ruichen looked at the bloodstains on the open ground outside the gate and felt a momentary daze; it was difficult to reconcile Xiao Zhi’s appearance with the things he had done.

He looked so young. Were those hair-raising deeds truly his doing?

Yet, the pools of blood before him were still fresh; if one were to touch them, they might still be warm. Everything told him that the ordinary-looking, mild-mannered young man was the madman the other officials spoke of—a ruthless monster who would devour a person without even spitting out the bones.

"Why haven't you left yet?"

Xiao Zhi’s voice came from behind.

Pang Ruichen turned back with a sycophantic smile. "I am leaving now, my lord."

Xiao Zhi rode off with two thousand-man commanders. He had circled the capital just to see how many displaced refugees there were.

As night fell, Xiao Zhi gnawed on the end of his brush for a long time. He had originally intended to write a memorial concerning the breach of the Yellow River. After much thought, he gave it up. Given Xiao Zhi’s temperament, any official who dared to cover up a Yellow River breach deserved to die; he would kill them all the way along the river and raid their homes, and then the disaster relief funds would be found.

However, politics was not just about slaughter. In this capital, in this court, there could be room for someone like Xiao Zhi—decisive and ruthless, keeping corrupt officials on edge. But if the style of "killing to solve everything" were applied whenever a problem arose, the world would fall into chaos.

Jiang Zhu waited obediently at the side, waiting for Xiao Zhi to finish his thoughts so she could write for him. Xiao Zhi’s handwriting was truly beyond words; even a five-year-old child could do better. It was hard to imagine that Xiao Zhi had once been the Emperor’s childhood companion.

Regarding his calligraphy, Xiao Zhi felt wronged in his heart: he had already told them he was a traveler from another world and had never practiced brush calligraphy; his penmanship with a modern ballpoint pen was actually quite good.

In the end, Xiao Zhi tossed the high-quality wolf-hair brush aside and stopped writing.

Jiang Zhu immediately ordered hot water to be prepared for Xiao Zhi to wash his face and soak his feet. That day, the sisters had bought over a dozen servants. They were all decent in appearance, followed the rules, and seemed clever. Xiao Zhi’s five-courtyard mansion finally had some life in it. Having added a fair amount of furniture, Xiao Zhi had almost hesitated to walk inside when he first returned, wondering if he had entered the wrong house.

Xiao Zhi rose before dawn, as it was the day of the Grand Court Assembly. He dressed neatly and ate a warm, palatable meal. However, the taste of the food was truly hard to describe; Xiao Zhi thought more than once about opening his own restaurant when he had the time.

"Where are you from? What is your name?" Xiao Zhi asked the servant attending to him.

"I’m from Shandong, my name is Guazi (Melon Seed)," the boy replied. He was thin and looked about fifteen or sixteen.

In Xiao Zhi’s perception, this was still a minor. But in this era, once the faint fuzz of a beard appeared, one was of marriageable age, and they were far more mature than the rebellious teenagers of later generations.

"Guazi?" Xiao Zhi gestured toward his own clothes.

The child lowered his head and gave a soft affirmative.

Xiao Zhi wanted to laugh, but he didn't. Ignorant people would deliberately give their children cheap, lowly names so they would be easier to raise.

"What is your surname?"

"Wu."

"From now on, you shall be called Wu Di (Wu the Conqueror). How about that?" Although he was now Xiao Zhi’s servant and changing his surname would have been fine, Xiao Zhi chose to respect his wishes.

"Wu Di thanks the master for the name."

Guazi—now Wu Di—knelt down.

After stuffing a little food into his mouth, Xiao Zhi set off for court. Just as he walked out of the gate to the third courtyard, he paused and crouched to pick up a feather.

"What kind of feather is this?"

Jiang Yun, who was seeing him off, held his hand affectionately and brought the feather closer. "Perhaps a swallow or a sparrow. These past few days, swallows have been flying back and forth; they probably think our house is prosperous and want to find a place to nest."

The two sisters, Jiang Zhu and Jiang Yun, were becoming increasingly intimate with Xiao Zhi; holding hands was common, and they would intentionally or unintentionally brush against him.

Xiao Zhi smiled and continued walking out.

Once they passed the gate to the second courtyard, Xiao Zhi said to Jiang Yun, "Go back. I don’t have such strict rules; there is no need to see me off in the future."

The first courtyard, the one just inside the main gate, was where the servants lived. The "second gate" was the gate between the first and second courtyards. The traditional idiom about "not stepping out of the second gate" referred to this; ladies of the house would avoid wandering into the courtyards where the servants lived, and servants residing in the first courtyard were forbidden from entering the inner courtyards without permission.