Lu Bolin

Mr. Ye Hai was very pleased with the way his eldest apprentice had handled things.

After returning from a long trip, he had first shown filial respect to his master. It was an excellent habit.

Once the story was over, it was time to discuss business.

"The goods have all been sold."

Lu Bolin's voice was softer now, but still clear:

"People from our Great Yan Dynasty are hardworking and willing to endure hardship. Wherever they go, employers are eager to hire them!"

Mr. Ye Hai nodded slightly:

"It isn't easy for our fellow countrymen to go abroad to work. Have their living arrangements all been taken care of?"

Lu Bolin replied:

"They've all been taken care of. Most of them have found jobs in the Griffin Family's factories, earning a full 16 Eagle Dollars a month—

a full 160 silver dollars!"

Even skilled workers at the local factories in Puxi City could earn only 40 silver dollars a month at most, even if they worked overtime every day—and that was only for technical positions.

Mr. Ye Hai said:

"They really are earning quite a lot.

But with that much money, can they keep hold of it? The English are thick-skinned and black-hearted. Would they let a group of honest people like our countrymen live peacefully there?

I previously asked you to help them safeguard their money. What did you decide?"

Lu Bolin's voice was steady:

"Our fellow countrymen are in a foreign land, struggling to make a living. They don't speak the language and can't even leave the factory grounds.

Even if they were given 160 silver dollars a month, they couldn't save or spend it. They don't speak English.

So, to help them manage their affairs, I'm temporarily holding on to their money for them.

It's not easy for us to make a voyage, either. I plan to settle accounts with them all at once when their work is done, after deducting their living expenses, management fees, dormitory fees, fares, money spent on entertainment, fines the factory charged them for fighting... and other expenses."

Mr. Ye Hai nodded in satisfaction:

"Good!"

"How many years did they sign their contracts with the Griffin Family's factories for?"

Lu Bolin replied:

"Fifty years to start with, and they'll renew them when they expire."

Mr. Ye Hai was even more pleased:

"They're earning so much money. They should be very happy.

They'd never make that much in their entire lives in Puxi City!"

"Tell the brothers keeping watch at the factories to buy more meat so our countrymen can eat their fill."

Lu Bolin said:

"Yes, Master!"

Mr. Ye Hai added:

"If any of our countrymen turns bad and puts everyone's earnings at risk, don't go easy on him."

Lu Bolin cupped his fists:

"Yes, Master!"

Mr. Ye Hai was very pleased with his eldest apprentice. The more he looked at him, the more he liked him.

"What did you find out about the opium?"

At that, Lu Bolin's expression grew serious:

"The manager of the Griffin Firm whom you introduced me to took me to the East India Company. I spent some money to become a nominal employee there."

He took a map from his pocket and spread it out flat:

"I was away from the factory for several months this time, and made a special trip to the Ganges River Basin Plains.

I focused on Patna in Bihar State, as well as Benares."

With a red-ink fountain pen, he marked the two places on the map.

"I didn't visit the Malwa region you mentioned, Master, because it isn't controlled by the East India Company. It's run mainly by local princes and merchants. I heard it's very chaotic there, with people dying all day long."

"In Patna and Benares, the East India Company has set up an organization that directly controls the local farmers' cultivation. The crops are then handed over to local monopoly warehouses at the price of raw materials.

"After that, local factories process them into opium balls, which are sold to private traders at auction.

"These private traders use Clipper Ships, setting out from a port called Calcutta. They sail through the Bay of Bengal, the Andaman Sea, and the Strait of Malacca... then head east, eventually entering the South Sea of our Great Yan Dynasty.

"Clipper Ships are incredibly fast, seeming to slice through the waves as they race along. They're built for speed!

"There are also ships that travel between Sumatra and Java... Not many ships take that route because the voyage is longer, and the distribution of reefs and shoals is complicated, making it easy to run aground."

"Whichever route they take, they eventually stop in the South Sea or at the mouth of the Pearl River.

"Near the coast, they unload their cargo onto barges—floating warehouses—and then use Swift Crab Ships to pick it up."

A Swift Crab Ship was a very fast armed sailing vessel propelled by oars. It had a long, narrow hull with a streamlined design, which greatly reduced wind resistance.

A look of realization flashed through Mr. Ye Hai's eyes:

"So that's where all those Swift Crab Ships at the private docks along the Green Shore River came from!"

The Green Shore River ran through all of Puxi City, from the inland region to the sea. Private docks lined its banks, and the local government had yet to find the time to regulate them. As a result, the docks were in disarray, giving the gangs plenty of room to survive.

Lu Bolin nodded:

"In the end, these Swift Crab Ships unload their cargo along the Green Shore River in Puxi.

"Or they land farther south, at Yang City."

Mr. Ye Hai stroked his beard:

"Every few days, a fleet of Swift Crab Ships arrives at the Griffin Firm's warehouse dock in the middle of the night.

"I could never figure it out. The warehouse was so large, but Swift Crab Ships had such a small capacity. What could they possibly be carrying?

"Later, I sent people to investigate. I never imagined that following the trail would lead out to sea, where it disappeared without a trace.

"I suspected it was opium, but I never had any evidence.

"That suspicion was why I sent you to investigate."

Lu Bolin's gaze darkened slightly:

"I've also uncovered the details of the profits."

As he spoke, he took a stack of papers from his briefcase, probably thirty to fifty pages. Every page was covered in densely packed foreign writing and bore the East India Company's seal.

The seal was black and white. He had clearly found some unknown connection to secretly make copies of the original documents.

A small portion also bore the Griffin Firm's seal.

"Take a look, Master."

Lu Bolin pointed to the foreign writing and numbers on the pages as he explained them to Mr. Ye Hai. At the same time, he took a fountain pen from his suit pocket and did some calculations on the paper.

After working it all out, he had calculated a profit nearly 180 times greater than the purchase price—

After deducting the costs of transportation, distribution, and other labor expenses for shipping opium from its source in the Ganges River Basin to Puxi City, the Griffin Firm still made 180 times what it had paid to buy it!

Mr. Ye Hai held the tea Lu Bolin had respectfully served him beneath his nose. He didn't drink it, only inhaled its fragrance as his eyes narrowed slightly:

"A business this profitable, and only the Griffin Firm is allowed to do it. We can't even get so much as a taste..."

He quickly realized he'd misspoken and corrected himself:

"What am I saying? A taste of the soup...

"We don't even get the water left over from rinsing the pot!"

He looked at Lu Bolin:

"Bolin, what do you think?"

Lu Bolin realized this was his master testing him, so he immediately sat up straight.

Nearly three years of experience had finally brought him to the moment of truth. Lu Bolin focused all his attention:

"In my opinion, we can't settle for a taste of the soup. We have to find a way to get some of the meat in the pot!

"There are three strategies for this: the upper, middle, and lower plans."