“Though I, Jin Feng, have no great abilities, I keep my word.”
Jin Feng signalled Tang Xiaobei to fetch paper and brush. He wrote a note, then stamped it with his seal.
Handing the note to Hong Taoping, he pointed at the guide. “Tomorrow, follow him back to the naval camp. Find a man named Han Feng. He will arrange everything. For money needed to build the shipyard, ask him too.”
“Thank you, Mr Jin!”
Hong Taoping took the note with both hands, his lips trembling with excitement.
Beside him, Old Chen Wu wept tears of joy.
The Hong family finally had hope of rising again!
“Sir, I, Hong Taoping, am poor with words. I know not how to express my gratitude!”
Hong Taoping placed the note on the table and bowed deeply to Jin Feng. “Sir, please accept my obeisance!”
“If you are grateful, Young Master, then build me several fine ships!”
Jin Feng smiled and supported Hong Taoping. “Have you chosen, Young Master? Five years or ten ships?”
“Neither!” Hong Taoping shook his head.
“Neither?” Jin Feng frowned slightly.
“Sir’s willingness to lend me money fills me with endless gratitude. But over ten thousand taels is too much. Let alone five years, even building ships for a lifetime would not repay it!”
Hong Taoping said earnestly, “Thus, I cannot choose either.”
The Hong family had built ships for generations. Hong Taoping knew his own worth clearly.
If working at another shipyard, he could at most be a master craftsman.
At best, tens of taels yearly wages.
And that would require sharing the Hong family’s secret techniques.
By this reckoning, Jin Feng’s loan of over ten thousand taels truly could not be repaid in a lifetime.
Jin Feng looked at Hong Taoping appreciatively and asked, “Then what does Young Master intend?”
Though prepared to spend over ten thousand taels to hire him, hearing this still pleased Jin Feng.
It showed Hong Taoping was neither arrogant with talent nor lacking measure.
“Honoured by your regard, I wish to become your house servant to repay this great kindness.” Hong Taoping said seriously.
With that, he drew his identity token from his bosom and placed it on the table.
Before Jin Feng could speak, Old Chen Wu beside him grew anxious.
Once sold into servitude, Hong Taoping’s life was ruined.
The Hong family would have no chance of revival.
Old Chen Wu instinctively reached for the token, but Hong Taoping firmly held him back.
“Young Master speaks too gravely,” Jin Feng said without glancing at the token, smiling. “I never take house servants. My household has not a single slave.”
“No house servants?” Both Hong Taoping and Old Chen Wu were stunned.
Though this was his first meeting with Jin Feng, he had long heard the name Jinchuan Chamber of Commerce repeatedly.
Many salt merchants envied it, saying the chamber’s strength was formidable.
As the hidden boss of Jinchuan Chamber of Commerce, Jin Feng had no house servants?
“Young Master truly overthinks.”
Tang Xiaobei smiled. “My husband buys large batches of house servants from the prefectural city’s brokers every month. The first thing upon arrival is to go to the authorities and free them from servitude.”
“Why is that?” Hong Taoping grew even more puzzled.
“Because my husband is kind-hearted,” Tang Xiaobei laughed.
“Sir’s noble righteousness!” Hong Taoping, hearing this, bowed respectfully to Jin Feng.
Jin Feng waved dismissively.
In truth, he did this not for fame or to buy hearts.
Merely for peace of mind.
He lacked no money. No need to exploit the already pitiful to the bone.
“Young Master Hong, I am willing to lend you money because I admire your talent and even more your character in selling ancestral home and fields rather than defaulting.”
Jin Feng smiled. “Think no more of it. Do not feel inferior for my loan. We are partners. The shipyard will rely on you to manage.”
Jin Feng tested Hong Taoping. Hong Taoping tested Jin Feng too.
Offering servitude was Hong Taoping’s probe.
Had Jin Feng agreed, Hong Taoping would have been disappointed.
Fortunately, Jin Feng’s reply satisfied him greatly.
Not only refusing servitude but calling them partners.
This moved Hong Taoping deeply.
“Sir, rest assured. I will exert all effort to build the shipyard swiftly!”
Hong Taoping thumped his chest. “The shipyard’s core is the dry docks. Though our family’s shipyard burned, the docks and gates remain intact. Clear the top, rebuild the sheds, and it can be used again.”
A shipyard is a dock structure for building and repairing ships.
Simply put, a U-shaped pit with a large canopy.
Building occurs in the pit. Upon completion, during high tide, open the gate to flood the pit, and the ship can sail out.
The Hong shipyard had four docks, but the canopies were burned by pirates, along with ships under construction in the pits.
Rebuilding alone, let alone clearing burned debris, required considerable silver.
Without money, Hong Taoping had abandoned it.
Jin Feng sought Hong Taoping not only for his shipbuilding skill but also for the Hong shipyard.
Building a new one would take much time.
Tidying the Hong one for reuse would save great effort.
But since rebuilding, Jin Feng naturally needed improvements.
Drawing a paper from his bosom, he said, “This is my new shipyard design. Young Master Hong, please check for flaws.”
This was not a test. Jin Feng truly had uncertainties.
In his previous life, he studied hull structures and visited shipyards, but those were highly mechanised and automated, impossible in Dakang.
Thus, he was unsure if his drawn shipyard suited Dakang.
With the prior ship drawing as foundation, Hong Taoping dared not underestimate Jin Feng. He took the paper and examined carefully.
At one glance, his brows furrowed.
Pointing at a frame on the drawing, he asked, “Sir, what is this?”
“This is called a gantry crane, a lifting device. The base mounts on rails for forward-backward movement. The trolley above moves left-right.”
Jin Feng said, “With this, a few men coordinating can easily lift tens of thousands of jin.”
“A few men lifting tens of thousands of jin? How is that possible?”
Hong Taoping looked at Jin Feng as if mad.
“How impossible? Our chamber loads ships with small cranes. Saves immense effort. I can lift thousands of jin one-handed.”
Da Liu, displeased with Hong Taoping’s expression, could not resist retorting.
Seeing Hong Taoping still doubtful, Jin Feng smiled. “I recall we brought pulley blocks. Fetch one for Young Master Hong to see.”
The “gourd” Jin Feng meant was not the edible kind but a chain hoist, also called fairy gourd, a simplest lifting device.
Though slow, it was compact and highly portable.
Escorts on long journeys usually carried one. If rocks blocked mountain paths, the hoist could lift them.
Earlier, upon seeing the model, Jin Feng had guessed Hong Taoping must have seen a galleon.
Now Hong Taoping’s answer confirmed his guess.
Discovering the model was assembled, he asked, “May I disassemble it to look inside?”
“I’ll do it.”
Hong Taoping feared Jin Feng might damage it and reached to take the model back.
“Ahem!”
Old Chen Wu worried Hong Taoping’s action might offend Jin Feng and coughed to remind him.
But Hong Taoping seemed not to hear, continuing to reach.
“Sir, do not take offence. This little ship took our young master over two months to complete…”
Old Chen Wu explained awkwardly for Hong Taoping.
“It’s fine. I truly do not know how to disassemble it.”
Jin Feng smiled and waved his hand.
As fellow technical types, he understood Hong Taoping’s concern.
In his previous life, one summer vacation, he took a part-time job making a villa model.
After labouring over half a month, nearly finished, his cousin’s brat visited and thought he was assembling a toy, insisting on joining.
Jin Feng naturally refused. Over this, he fell out badly with his uncle’s family. Even his parents thought he made a mountain of a molehill.
Jin Feng was deeply frustrated yet could not explain.
Hong Taoping carefully disassembled the model while explaining, “Here is the passenger cabin. This is the cargo hold. Here is…”
“Wait. If we add stairs here, would it not be far more convenient for moving up and down, and also provide stability?”
Jin Feng interrupted Hong Taoping’s explanation, pointing inside the model.
“Add stairs…”
Hong Taoping looked where Jin Feng pointed, pondering carefully.
Moments later, he nodded. “That makes sense… Sir, you understand shipbuilding too?”
“My family has been blacksmiths for generations. I know a little of crafting principles.” Jin Feng said with a smile.
“Sir is too modest,” the guide interjected with a laugh. “Young Master Hong, you do not know. Mr Jin is a master of mechanisms. The heavy crossbows and catapults he made routed the Dangxiang and Tubo cavalry in the northwest frontier and Xichuan City.
Without him, our Dakang would have no peace this year!”
“Oh?”
Hong Taoping looked at Jin Feng in surprise.
This was the second time he heard the guide mention war.
In his view, Jin Feng was refined and scholarly, completely like a literatus. He could not associate him with battlefields or mechanisms.
Jin Feng knew that with a technical type like Hong Taoping, the best way was to gain his recognition through knowledge.
Thinking this, he drew several sheets of paper from his sleeve and handed them to Hong Taoping. “These are drawings I made in idle time. Please advise, Young Master Hong.”
Though Zheng Chiyuan strongly recommended, Jin Feng could not trust blindly.
This was his prepared test for Hong Taoping.
Hong Taoping took the papers, initially dismissive, but gradually his expression grew serious.
Jin Feng’s drawings followed Dakang conventions as much as possible. Hong Taoping, following his father in shipbuilding from youth, easily understood.
The papers showed a ship, precisely a galleon cross-section.
Though only one sheet, Hong Taoping clearly saw Jin Feng’s layout was far more rational than his own.
“Sir, you know shipbuilding too?” Hong Taoping set down the papers, asking excitedly.
Jin Feng’s drawings gave him the feeling of meeting a kindred spirit.
“A little.” Jin Feng shook his head slightly.
“Sir is truly too modest. If this is just a little, then I know nothing.” Hong Taoping said.
“What does Young Master Hong think of this drawing?” Jin Feng asked.
“Overall, far better than mine. But here there might be an issue.”
Hong Taoping pointed at a beam on the drawing. “A single beam here is not sturdy enough and prone to deformation. Best to add a diagonal one. Then it would be perfect.”
“I am enlightened!” Jin Feng feigned sudden realisation.
In fact, this flaw was deliberate, subtle yet affecting the ship’s stability.
Hong Taoping spotted it at once, proving real skill.
“Sir can draw this. You surely understand shipbuilding. Why seek me?” Hong Taoping asked.
“I have many affairs and cannot stay at the shipyard constantly.”
Jin Feng said, “Moreover, I am only armchair theorising. Drawing from imagination is fine, but actually leading men to build ships, I truly feel like grasping a hedgehog bare-handed, no place to start. So I seek someone to manage the shipyard for me.”
This was not false modesty but specialisation. He truly did not know shipbuilding steps in detail.
With enough time, he could manage, but time was what he lacked most now.
Hong Taoping was clearly tempted, but thinking of his family’s mess, his eyes dimmed.
Preparing to refuse, he heard Jin Feng ask, “May I ask how much silver Young Master Hong still owes others?”
“Adding several houses, thirteen thousand taels…” Hong Taoping answered bitterly.
“If you repay this, those merchants would cease troubling you?” Jin Feng asked.
“Naturally.” At this, Hong Taoping reacted. “What does sir mean?”
“If I lend you money to settle debts, would you build ships for me?” Jin Feng asked.
Through the model and drawing, Hong Taoping had passed Jin Feng’s test.
His character suited Jin Feng perfectly.
Such talent, let alone thirteen thousand taels, even double, Jin Feng would pay.
“Naturally I would,” Hong Taoping, hearing Jin Feng willing to lend, flushed with excitement.
Feudal era people, though sometimes pedantic, valued reputation highly.
Even after pirate plunder, Hong Taoping never considered defaulting.
But with the shipyard burned, besides selling land and ancestral home, he had no repayment means.
Former close families now avoided him.
Let alone lending for repayment, they barred their doors.
Jin Feng was the first willing to lend.
And at once over ten thousand taels, clearing all debts.
How could Hong Taoping not be thrilled?
But suddenly recalling something, he lowered his head. “So much money… I fear it would take long to repay sir, perhaps a lifetime…”
Old Chen Wu, hearing this, wished to cover his mouth.
Finally meeting a fool willing to lend and clear Hong debts, why say this?
Who knew Jin Feng would smile.
“Young Master Hong is truly upright and righteous. For these words alone, this friend I claim!”
Jin Feng laughed. “I invite you to build ships, naturally paying wages. Thus, I offer two choices.
First, work for me five years. This debt is cancelled, as your wages.
Second, build ten qualified large ships per my drawings. The debt is cancelled.
What say you, Young Master?”
“Sir speaks truly?” Hong Taoping leaped up.
