As dawn broke, Jin Feng, accompanied by Guan Xiaorou, Tang Dongdong, and others, saw Tang Xiaobei off at the village entrance.
“Alan, Xiaobei is in your hands. Nothing must happen to her!”
Jin Feng pulled a female soldier aside and gave her firm instructions.
A-Mei had followed Qing Muluan to Xichuan, but Alan, A-Zhu, and the rest had stayed behind.
To protect Tang Xiaobei, Jin Feng specially assigned Alan to the escort.
He also sent three full squads of female soldiers and two squads of male soldiers.
They carried the very best weapons.
“Don’t worry, sir. If anything happens to Madam Xiaobei, you can have my head!”
Alan thumped her chest in promise.
“Xiaobei, be careful out there. If things become impossible, do not force it. Your safety comes first,” Jin Feng told Tang Xiaobei again.
“Relax. I’ve only just found my sister and such a wonderful husband. I’m in no hurry to die.” Tang Xiaobei smiled.
“Talking nonsense first thing in the morning! Quick, touch wood and say pooh-pooh-pooh!” Tang Dongdong said with red eyes.
“Pooh-pooh-pooh!”
Tang Xiaobei laughed, tapped the carriage window, then leapt inside and told the driver to move off.
Jin Feng and the others did not return to the village. They stood watching until Tang Xiaobei’s convoy disappeared into the morning mist.
At the foot of the mountain, Tang Xiaobei lifted the carriage curtain and looked back at the fog-shrouded village.
When Jin Feng had first redeemed her, she had often stayed in the county town. Now she realised it had been a very long time since she last went there.
Unknowingly, this little mountain village had become home to far too many of her ties. The thought of travelling thousands of li to Jiangnan actually made her reluctant to leave.
After rounding the hillside, she saw a huge crowd approaching from the opposite direction. Most were women, many in tattered clothes, carrying iron pots on their backs and leading children by the hand.
Some even carried tables, chairs, and benches. Clearly they had brought every possession they owned.
When they saw the carriages, the people hurriedly moved to the side of the road in nervous deference.
Tang Xiaobei sighed. She knew these people were coming to Xihe Bay looking for work.
Continued heavy rain had brought severe flooding to the people of Jinchuan.
Yesterday Xiao Yu had sent men to every village announcing that Xihe Bay needed workers. The response had been overwhelming.
Afraid of arriving too late and missing the jobs, many families had set off during the night, travelling through the darkness with children and belongings.
The carriage travelled more than a li, yet the column of people still stretched beyond sight.
Back at the village entrance, just as Jin Feng and the others were about to head back, they too spotted this refugee-like procession.
The patrolling veterans stopped the crowd and directed them to wait at the threshing ground.
Soon the threshing ground was packed full, and still more kept arriving.
The same scene unfolded at Tieguan Mountain, Double Camel Peak, Hutou Mountain, everywhere escorts were stationed.
“Now we certainly have enough workers, right?”
Jin Feng turned to the two village heads and Zhao Laoshan.
The three of them oversaw all village construction sites.
“We have plenty of hands now, but looking at this, it seems half the county wants work from you, Feng my boy. That’s going to cost a fortune in wages,” the old village head said, worried on Jin Feng’s behalf.
According to official records, Jinchuan County had about forty thousand souls.
In reality there were many more.
Countless people, unable to pay taxes, had fled into the mountains to become bandits or vagrants.
Life as a vagrant was harsh. The places they hid had little decent farmland. Most survived by hunting.
Selling game to registered hunters meant being brutally underpaid.
Trying to sell at market themselves risked immediate arrest by yamen runners checking identity tallies.
Staying hidden in the mountains was no solution either. They needed salt, cloth, and daily necessities.
Besides evading the authorities, they had to contend with wolves, tigers, snakes, and insects.
Children especially had little chance of survival. Out of ten vagrant children, only two or three might live to adulthood.
Ever since Jin Feng began building industry in Jinchuan and hiring widely, more and more vagrants had emerged from the deep forests to work for him.
Now, between all the factories in Xihe Bay, the chamber of commerce, the escort bureau, and the various mountain strongholds, over ten thousand people earned their livelihood under Jin Feng.
That many mouths meant wages alone were a huge daily expense.
Add the free food and clothing he provided, plus raw materials for building factories, and daily costs ran to several hundred taels of silver.
This new recruitment drive would add at least several thousand more workers.
The burden would grow heavier still.
Even the village head could not imagine where Jin Feng would find so much money.
“Village head, don’t worry about money. I’ll handle that,” Jin Feng said. “Just make sure everyone is properly settled. Winter is coming. We cannot have anyone freezing to death in our village.”
Putting aside Black Blade, the textile mill, and the glass beads that would soon hit the market, the soap business alone earned enough each day to cover all current expenses.
If he were not stockpiling grain on such a massive scale, Jin Feng would have no money worries at all.
“Rest assured, sir. Many of the new dormitories outside the village are already usable, and the rest will be finished soon. If we squeeze a bit, another two thousand can be housed,” Zhao Laoshan said quickly replied.
“Good.” Jin Feng nodded, then added a reminder. “One more thing: check everyone’s background as thoroughly as possible. Anyone completely unknown to the others should be housed separately and carefully observed.”
In these times people rarely travelled far. Neighbours within ten li all knew one another. Even vagrants usually had someone who could vouch for them. A total stranger would never escape scrutiny.
“Understood. I’ll question every single person,” Zhao Laoshan promised, then pulled in the Xihe Bay village head. “Old Liu, you help me with this.”
Old Liu did not refuse. “All right.”
For the next few days the weather finally cooperated and the rain stopped.
New construction sites sprang up around Xihe Bay, Tieguan Mountain, Double Camel Peak, and beyond.
Almost half the population of Jinchuan County converged on these sites.
At the same time, glass beads were rushed by fast horse to the capital.
“Luo Lan, here is the inventory list for this shipment. Please check it.”
Tang Fei pulled an envelope from his breast and handed it to Luo Lan.
“Brother Tang, you’ve had a hard journey. Go rest first.”
Luo Lan accepted the envelope with a smile.
After her time tempering herself in the capital, Luo Lan had grown far more mature and steady. Her bearing was now even more refined than many young ladies from great houses.
“No rush. Please inspect the goods first, Miss Luo Lan.”
Tang Fei waved the offer away.
By rule, escorts were not allowed to break the seal on the inventory envelopes en route. If the contents did not match upon arrival, the escort bore responsibility.
“Very well.”
Seeing Tang Fei insist, Luo Lan checked the wax seal on the envelope, opened it, took out the list, and handed it to her assistant to verify against the cargo.
While the assistant worked, Tang Fei quietly drew Luo Lan aside. “Miss Luo Lan, the master also sent a personal letter for you.”
He produced another envelope from his breast and passed it to her.
“A letter from the master?”
Luo Lan was surprised.
Usually it was Tang Xiaobei who wrote to her. This was the first time she had ever received a letter from Jin Feng himself.
