Starting from 1618 of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 18, First Unit

At 9:00 AM the following day, at Luokou Wharf in Jinan, the turbid canal water lapped against the muddy banks in the chilly spring wind. The air was thick with the smells of moldy grain, the stench of mules and horses, and the anxious sweat of thousands of stranded merchants.

This is a blocked blood vessel.

The Ministry of War's flat-bottomed sand barge, carrying 300 shi of military rations, had been moored at the shore for two days. The captain was so anxious that blisters appeared on his lips, and Wang Gui, the Grand Canal Commissioner in charge of the transport, was like an ant on a hot pan. The Dezhou section of the river ahead was silted up, making it impossible for large ships to pass. If the rations were to be unloaded and transported by land, the lazy porters at the docks would demand three days' journey and an additional 50% commission.

"Three days? The daylilies will be too cold in three days! People in Liaodong are waiting for rice to be cooked. If they are even a day late, they will lose their heads!" Wang Gui slammed the teacup in his hand to the ground, shards flying everywhere.

Just when all hope seemed lost, a young scholar named Lu Yan appeared with his strange entourage called "Lu's Carriage and Horse Shop".

"Lord Wang, please take a good look."

Lu Yan stood on a high earthen slope, his blue cloth robe fluttering in the wind, his eyes indifferent as he turned the hourglass beside him upside down.

With a sharp whistle, the 180 men, dressed in uniform gray short jackets with red ribbons tied around their arms, did not rush onto the boat like ordinary laborers.

They were like a precision machine wound up, instantly disintegrating into three tightly meshed gears.

"Team A1, board the ship! Sorting and packing!"

Twenty agile men rushed up the gangplank onto the ship's deck. They weren't responsible for carrying anything; their job was to gather the loose grain sacks in groups of four and secure them with specially made coarse hemp rope nets.

"Team A2, hoist it!"

On the shore, two simple wooden derricks (the prototype of cranes) erected overnight emitted a teeth-grinding creak. These were hastily made by Zhao Tie and several old craftsmen from Liaodong using the pulley principle. As the winch turned, the heavy grain net drew a beautiful arc in the air, crossed the muddy shallows, and landed steadily on the wooden plank platform laid on the shore.

The brokers, merchants, and idlers who had gathered around to watch the spectacle all gaped open, as if they were witnessing a peculiar illusion.

At the docks of the Ming Dynasty, unloading cargo was always done by human labor. A strong laborer, carrying a 200-pound sack, would wobble along a shaky gangplank. Not only was it inefficient, but a slip could result in the loss of both manpower and supplies.

But what they saw before them completely overturned their understanding.

The grain sacks don't need to be carried at all. They fly through the air!

"Team A3, load the trucks! Let's go!"

The platform on the shore directly connected to the waiting unicycle team.

This was no ordinary wheelbarrow. Lu Yan had the carpenter increase the wheel diameter, wrap it with several layers of oil-soaked linen for shock absorption, and widen the frame to lower the center of gravity. One wheelbarrow could steadily carry four bags of grain (400 jin).

The man pushing the cart pressed down on the handlebars, using the lever principle to lift it up, while another person in front pulled on a rope for assistance. The two of them, working together, pushed 400 jin (200 kg) of grain, moving swiftly along the pre-laid, level wooden plank road.

"One, two! Let's go!"

There was no noisy cursing, no whips from the overseers, only the uniform chants of the workers.

One wheelbarrow after another, lined up end to end, like tireless worker ants, gathered into a gray river, and quickly disappeared on the official road leading downstream from Shilipu.

Wang Gui was still clutching the shard of the teacup in his hand, oblivious to the cut on his fingertip. He stared blankly at the rapidly emptying cabin, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty.

"This...this is already half done?" He turned to look at Lu Yan beside him, his voice trembling. "Only half an hour has passed!"

"To be precise, it's four-quarters of an hour." Lu Yan glanced at the hourglass that had been prepared in advance, his tone calm. "My lord, at this rate, your ship will be empty in another three-quarters of an hour. By then, the downstream docking ships should have already loaded their first batch of cargo."

"Incredible skill...incredible skill!" Wang Gui exclaimed, his face flushed with excitement. He grabbed Lu Yan's sleeve. "Lu Xiaolian! No, Mr. Lu! You've saved my life! I'll open the customs pass for you right now! Not just this one shipment, but all military rations passing through Luokou Wharf from now on, as long as I can approve them, are yours!"

Lu Yan smiled slightly, subtly withdrew his hand, took the official document bearing the bright red seal, and handed it to Hu Jingshui behind him.

"Old Hu, keep this safe. This is our livelihood."

Hu Jingshui held the thin piece of paper, his hands trembling. He had worked as an accountant his whole life, and he had seen people make money through smuggling and monopolies, but he had never seen anyone make money so ruthlessly by "fast" methods.

This isn't delivering goods; this is outright robbery!

As the sun set that day, the campfire at Lu Ji Carriage and Horse Shop's camp was brightly lit.

Unlike the usual gloomy atmosphere, tonight the air was filled with a scent called "hope." It was the aroma of pork and cabbage stewing in a large pot—to celebrate the first victory, Lu Yan had specially approved the slaughter of two pigs.

Inside the central command tent, however, the atmosphere was somewhat heavy.

Hu Jingshui sat at the long table, the abacus beads clicking away, her forehead covered in sweat.

"Master, the accounts are in." Old Hu's voice was hoarse, but he couldn't hide his excitement. "Today, besides Lord Wang's three hundred shi of official grain, we also took on jobs from five private merchants who were stuck at the docks, transporting raw silk, porcelain, and medicinal herbs, totaling one thousand five hundred shi!"

"At a price of twenty cash per shi, the revenue comes in at thirty-six taels of silver!"

"After deducting labor costs (plus meat and vegetables for each person), tool wear and tear, and the 20% kickback given to Lord Wang... the net profit is twenty-four taels!"

"Twenty-four taels!" Fan Fu gasped in shock. When he was the steward of the Fan family, his monthly salary was only two taels. "He earned in one day what we used to earn in a whole year?"

"This is just the beginning." Lu Yan sat in the main seat, the firelight reflecting off his face, revealing neither joy nor anger. "The longer the canal remains blocked, the more valuable we become."

"But, boss..." Hu Jingshui put down the abacus, the excitement on her face gradually fading, replaced by a worried expression, "This money is too hot to handle."

"How so?"

"The waters at Luokou Wharf are deep," Hu Jingshui said in a low voice. "I surveyed the area at the wharf today and found out. This area is ostensibly under government control, but it's secretly the domain of the 'Weishui Gang.' The leader is called Master Ma, and he employs over three hundred thugs who extort 'protection fees' and 'loading and unloading fees' from passing merchants. They charge fifty coins for unloading a stone of goods, and they drag it out for three to five days, using that as an excuse to extort money."

"Our move today has driven the price down to twenty coins, and we're still ten times faster than them. It's like we've taken all the meat from their pot, leaving them with nothing but broth."

Hu Jingshui sighed, "Cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents. On my way back just now, I saw several suspicious men loitering outside our camp. Boss, I'm afraid the Weishui Gang won't let this go so easily."

Silence fell inside the tent. Zhao Changying gripped his staff tightly, while Zhao Tie silently sharpened a butcher's knife.

Lu Yan's gaze sharpened, a cold glint flashing in it.

"Old Hu, you're only considering the economic aspects, not the political ones."

He stood up, walked to the simple map hanging on the tent wall, and pointed heavily at the two characters "Luokou".

"The 'Wei Shui Gang,' a malignant tumor, maintains its high prices through monopoly and violence. Their very existence is an obstacle to efficiency. In peacetime, the government might turn a blind eye. But what time is it now?"

Lu Yan's voice suddenly rose: "The defeat at Sarhu has just occurred! The war in Liaodong is raging! The imperial court urgently needs this canal to flow smoothly! At this critical juncture, whoever can get supplies moving will be a hero of the imperial court. Anyone who dares to obstruct it is going against the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, and all the governors-general and governors of the country!"

He turned around, his gaze sweeping over the crowd like a blade:

"If the Wei Shui Gang doesn't come, they're lucky. If they dare to come..."

Lu Yan sneered, "Then let's use them as a sacrifice. Let the people of Jinan Prefecture see what new rules are all about."