"You're a perceptive man, more perceptive than many others," Fang Yun said with a smile.
"Ah, what do I know? I only heard it from some scholars. I heard they nearly came to blows over the Paper-making Workshop."
"Oh? Some scholars actually support building the Paper-making Workshop?"
"Yes. Some say this Paper-making Workshop belongs to the Zhao Clan Trading Company, which is different from that shameless Qing River Trading Company. After all, the Zhao Clan Trading Company belongs to the imperial family. The Paper-making Workshop they're building has an attached treatment workshop specifically to reduce wastewater. It will discharge only twenty or thirty percent as much wastewater as an ordinary Paper-making Workshop. Even if that wastewater goes into the river, it won't be much of a problem."
"But the others disagree. They insist on stopping the Paper-making Workshop no matter what. Then those supporting its construction say Xiang Prefecture has suffered at the Qing Kingdom's hands for years and can't withstand any more upheaval. Xiang Prefecture used to be prosperous, but now Jiangzhou has left it behind. Even the income of Ning'an County alone rivals that of more than half of Xiang Prefecture. To restore Xiang Prefecture's prosperity, some sacrifices have to be made. The two sides kept arguing. I was afraid something would happen, so I stayed well away."
Fang Yun nodded lightly without saying anything.
The middle-aged driver said, "Actually, people in other parts of Baling City don't care much. It's mainly people in the northern part of the city and the counties, towns, and villages farther north who oppose it. Those northern villages and towns are downstream. Nobody who depends on the Yangtze River for their livelihood wants a Paper-making Workshop upstream. Ah..."
As he drove, the driver kept talking about the Paper-making Workshop, his voice full