Industrial Power

Industrial Power

The Fuzhou Tax Office stood east of the Fuzhou prefectural yamen, its gray walls and tiles bearing mottled scars of wind and rain beneath the eaves, traces of the passing years laid bare. It was a foundational link in the empire's structure of power, ceaselessly drawing the sweat and blood of its common people to sustain the normal operation of Great Xia's regime.

Lin Yongqian entered the Tax Office and, after announcing himself, was led to the office of the Salt Tax Commissioner. Commissioner Yan smiled when he saw him. Though Lin Yongqian was not particularly old, he already handled matters with considerable smoothness and experience, and the proper benefits had never once been lacking.

"Brother Lin, you've come several months early this year! What is it? Got some other business to do, and decided to drop by your brother's place while you were at it? Don't leave tonight. I'll treat you at Yuelai Tower, and we'll have a proper gathering. Ah, Dayuan lies alone beyond the sea. Since you've made it all the way to Fuzhou Prefecture, you ought to have yourself a good time." As he finished, a lewd smile that all men understood spread across his face.

"How can I have a good time? Commissioner Yan, we're rotating north this year to guard the frontier. We'll be going to war with the orcs, and we're desperately short of weapons and horses. The family is pushing me so hard I'm about ready to tear the roof tiles off the house. How could I have the mood for Yuelai Tower?" Lin Yongqian traded courtesies with practiced ease, clearly on familiar terms with Commissioner Yan.

"I came this time to pay the salt tax, and we'll follow the rules as usual. But it has to be fast. Once the tax is paid, I still need to visit Hangzhou Prefecture and trade salt for refined iron and weapons. As for warhorses, I don't even know where to find them yet!"

"Hiss! It's only March, and you've already gathered this year's salt tax? That's ten thousand dan!" Commissioner Yan was inwardly startled. In past years, Dayuan had not finished paying its salt tax until June. Yet from Lin Yongqian's words, not only had the ten thousand dan of salt tax been gathered, there was even surplus salt to trade for refined iron and horses. How could he not be astonished?

"Ah, Brother Yan, you don't understand. Those above have ordered us to gather ten thousand men to fight in the north. But Dayuan doesn't even have enough weapons for three thousand men. Now young and old alike have all joined the effort to boil salt—we've even put clay pots to use!" Lin Yongqian began pouring out his grievances. Boiling salt in clay pots was simply a waste of firewood; one batch would not yield more than a few jin of salt.

Commissioner Yan rose and went outside to take a look. Then he shut the door and sat back down. "Brother Lin, how much salt do you have? Your brother here has a few connections. I dare not say I can exchange it for refined iron, but it would all be cash transactions. What do you think?"

Lin Yongqian cursed Commissioner Yan's greed inwardly. He knew the man must be in league with other salt merchants—if an official in charge of salt taxes had no connections, that would be stranger than seeing a ghost. But if he traded with salt merchants through him, the price of salt certainly would not be high. Official salt was not expensive, merely deliberately held back from sale. There were only a few shops in the city that sold official salt, and a jin cost only fifty coins, but whether one could buy any at all was another matter.

"Then I'll trouble Commissioner Yan. But it must be quick. Our Heir Apparent has ordered me to sell twenty thousand dan of sea salt within a month. Otherwise, Brother Yan won't be seeing this little brother again—I'll be sent straight off to tend the fires and boil salt!" Lin Yongqian cursed even as he praised inwardly. The Heir Apparent truly guessed right. Dayuan paid its taxes unusually early this time; without giving them some benefit, even the salt tax would not have gone through smoothly.

"What are you saying, Brother Lin? It is merely my duty. Come, I'll first go inspect the sea salt with you and issue the tax receipt." Commissioner Yan was overjoyed when Lin Yongqian agreed, and immediately went with him to complete the tax procedures.

It was not until dinnertime that Lin Yongqian emerged from the Tax Office. He declined Commissioner Yan's enthusiastic hospitality and returned to the inn where he was staying. At once, he summoned a trusted subordinate.

"Take the tax receipt and set out for Dayuan immediately. They're waiting for it at home so they can go to Hangzhou Prefecture! Be careful on the road. There must be no delay." With a tax receipt, Great Xia's major salt merchants would dare to do business with you; otherwise, it would be a transaction in illicit salt. Dayuan's sea salt output was no small amount now, so they could only deal with major salt merchants. If they went through illicit salt peddlers, who knew whether it would take until the Year of the Monkey to sell it all.

In Dayuan, the bay Li Zimo had chosen had been given a resounding name by Lin Bo and the others—Silver Bay. In their words, the piled-up sea salt shone like silver and was just as intoxicating.

The entire bay was now filled with busy crowds. Lin Bo had chosen reliable people to build the salt fields with all their strength. By his reckoning, if they did not build several hundred salt fields, it would be an affront to Qin Mo. Qin Mo had brought out his own inheritance to seek benefits for everyone!

"Xier, have you seen the young master these past few days? He used to come by often to take a look, but he hasn't come lately, and I can't rest easy. He needs to come keep watch. What if there's some tiny flaw in the construction and the salt yield drops?"

"Father, these past few days, the young master has either been fighting Allen or staying with Ximan. I don't know what he's doing." The speaker was a girl of fourteen or fifteen in a long dress. She looked slender and frail, with a baby face and jade-like skin, like fine porcelain glowing with a soft radiance from within.

She was Lin Huaiyuan's daughter, Lin Ruoxi, born only after they arrived in Dayuan. Since childhood, she had grown into a beauty unlike any other. It was said that her grandmother—Lin Huaiyuan's wife's mother by marriage—was a half-elf. Back then, Lin Huaiyuan had abandoned wealth and honor to follow Qin Lan to Dayuan, supposedly under the influence of his beautiful wife as well.

"All right, Xier. Go have your mother make something to eat and bring it to the young master. That Ximan is a fool. Aside from craftsmanship, how would he know how to care for anyone? The two of them are probably still going hungry!" Elves did not like getting too close to humans, but Xier had some elven blood and got along with them fairly well.

Qin Mo and Ximan indeed had not eaten. The two were hard at work over a machine. Ximan and Xirui were cousins, both Green Elves skilled in support skills and magic. Xirui cultivated healing arts, while Ximan cultivated alchemy.

When Qin Mo had first asked Ximan to take the lead in building a water-powered forging hammer, Ximan had flown into a rage at the blueprints. He believed that asking him to build such a crude, utterly unaesthetic machine was an insult to his identity as an elven alchemist. Even the iron shovels elves used for digging pits came with openwork patterns.

"There are many kinds of beauty. Intricate, elegant patterns are one kind of beauty; natural and unrestrained forms are another. Then can't rugged wildness be beautiful too? As a future master-level alchemist, Ximan, you must make every kind of attempt. Only after walking every road under heaven can you find the one road that belongs to you alone..." Qin Mo gave Ximan a lesson in mental expansion and development, leaving him utterly convinced and obediently building the forging hammer for him.

After making one final inspection of the transmission and friction components, Qin Mo gave the blacksmith an approving look. The blacksmith opened the sluice gate. Rushing river water poured into the narrow channel, and the once-gentle current turned violent, like a wild beast thrusting against the power wheel connected to the forging hammer.

The heavy forging hammer began to move slowly, rising and falling as it gradually accelerated. At last, it gave off a thunderous, soul-shaking roar. The hammerhead, weighing several hundred jin, moved rapidly up and down. As the blacksmith placed a piece of refined iron on the anvil, the old blacksmith began controlling the forging hammer to pound the metal again and again. The dull thud, thud carried far into the distance, as though striking the hearts of the onlookers.

Watching the iron rapidly change shape, the crowd's mouths once more became O-shaped, unable to close for a long while.

Qin Mo sighed inwardly. This... was the power of industry.