Strengthening the Organization

The first person to enter Lu Zeming's office was the explosives expert Nakanuma Takuma had mentioned.

Iwakura Shinsuke was in his early fifties, with a one-inch scar above his left eyebrow and two fingers missing from his right hand.

The moment he saw Lu Zeming, he asked,

"Does this little kid of a village chief keep his word?"

Well, he was blunt. Lu Zeming liked blunt people.

"You don't have to take my word for it. Just watch what I do!"

"Fine. I'll trust you for now. But let's get one thing straight: I've blasted through three mountains and two tunnels, and blown off two of my own fingers. If you don't want a cripple, I'll leave right now."

Lu Zeming glanced at his calloused hands, then at the heavy box of explosives behind him, and smiled.

"Mr. Iwakura, the experience those two fingers bought is worth more than ten intact fingers. Starting today, you're the blasting expert for the Flower Village First Construction Group. You'll receive the pay of a grade-three skilled worker: twenty Work Points a day, food and lodging, and an extra allowance when you're working away from the village."

Iwakura Shinsuke froze for a full five seconds. Then he dropped to his knees with a thud and knocked his forehead against the brick floor.

"Village chief, my life is yours from now on!"

The second person Lu Zeming met came from the papermaking family Tsukizaki Yuki had recommended.

The head of the Fujino Family was Fujino Masao, a man in his sixties with white hair and a white beard, but a back as straight as ever.

He had brought three sons, two sons-in-law, and five apprentices, along with three ox carts packed with papermaking tools.

When he met Lu Zeming, Fujino Masao bowed deeply, then said something that silenced everyone present.

"Village chief, the Fujino family has made paper for generations. I'm the seventeenth generation. But with the Land of Grass torn by civil strife, no one buys paper anymore. Common people can't afford it. My family is close to starving."

He raised his head, tears shining in his clouded eyes.

"I heard Flower Village needs paper—as much as we can make—and provides food and lodging, too. I brought my whole family here. We haven't come to beg for shelter. We've come to repay your kindness."

Lu Zeming stood and returned the bow solemnly.

"Mr. Fujino, Flower Village needs your paper. Schools need it. Books, packaging, and printing need it. Every sheet you make from now on will have a purpose."

Fujino Masao trembled from head to toe. His lips quivered, but he could not speak.

Over the next few days, skilled people poured in like a tide.

Tsukikawa Sosei, the man the villagers called "Second Uncle," was only in his forties despite the nickname. His family had worked iron for three generations, and he could tell the carbon content of a piece of metal from a single hammer strike.

He arrived at the village entrance travel-worn, with two apprentices and a furnace of iron that had not yet cooled. The moment he set down his load, he asked,

"Where's the workshop? I can fire up the furnace right now."

Akita Yoshiko, a weaver, had spent ten years at the largest weaving workshop in the Land of Grass. She had extensive experience and could handle simple repairs to spinning wheels.

She had been forced to leave because she could no longer endure the workshop owner's harassment, and life had been hard ever since.

When a relative told her someone here was hiring, she came to give it a try.

In truth, she had braced herself for a scam. If she had not been desperate, she would never have come.

But once she arrived, she found the rumors were true. They really did provide housing and meals, and they even signed contracts.

On the day she signed hers, she held her quilt and cried for a long time.

"No. I have to write to the other women with nowhere else to turn. They need to come here, too!"

Matsumoto Seizo, seventy, had once been an official at the Land of Grass Agricultural Office. He had been dismissed for urging the Daimyo to take farming and sericulture seriously.

Convinced his country was falling apart, he had lost all hope and was preparing to die for it. Then he heard someone was offering a great deal of money to find an agricultural expert.

Curiosity stirred in him. Who still cared so much about agriculture at a time like this?

So he came with his walking stick and a box of agricultural notes—and what he found astonished him.

This place was hope. It was the hope of the Land of Grass's rise, a place where its people might find new lives.

When he met Lu Zeming, the old man pulled a yellowed handbook from inside his coat with trembling hands.

"Village chief, these are the Land of Grass Soil and Crop Compatibility Records I've compiled over forty years. Would you see if they're of any use?"

Lu Zeming opened to the first page. It was packed with notes on the acidity and alkalinity of every soil type, suitable crops, crop-rotation cycles, and fertilization plans.

He closed the handbook and held it out to Matsumoto Seizo with both hands.

"Mr. Matsumoto, this handbook is more precious than any treasure. Put to good use, it could save thousands upon thousands of lives."

The old man was silent for a long while. Then he smiled through his tears.

Skilled people were arriving so quickly, and in such numbers, that Lu Zeming realized it was time to strengthen Flower Village's organizational structure.

That night, he spread a large sheet of paper across his office desk and began drawing an organizational chart.

"Tsukizaki Yuki, come here."

Tsukizaki Yuki hurried over. He frowned slightly at the unfamiliar terms beneath Lu Zeming's pen.

"Village chief, what are these?"

"Departments."

Tsukizaki Yuki began reading carefully.

"Department of Agriculture, headed by Matsumoto Seizo. It will handle land planning, crop rotation, irrigation scheduling, and grain reserves for the whole village. What we plant, how we plant it, and when we harvest will all be up to him."

"Department of Mining, headed by Tsukikawa Sosei. It will survey mineral veins, mine ore, and smelt metal. Iwakura Shinsuke's blasting team will operate under its direction."

"Livestock Farm, temporarily overseen by Matsumoto Seizo, with the herder Hamagai Kota handling day-to-day affairs. It will manage breeding, disease prevention, and feed mixtures."

"Machinery Factory, jointly managed by Nakanuma Takuma with assistance from Tsukikawa Sosei. It will design and manufacture tools, farm implements, and construction machinery."

"Department of Textiles and Light Industry, headed by Fujino Masao with Akita Yoshiko assisting. It will handle weaving, dyeing, papermaking, food processing, tanning, and related work."

The more Tsukizaki Yuki read, the more stunned he became.

These were not merely five departments. This was an entire industrial system!

"Village chief, how will Work Points be calculated? And how will the departments coordinate?"

"The existing Work Points system stays. We'll add technical Work Points. Ordinary villagers get five Work Points for a day's work. Skilled workers are paid by grade: ten for grade one, fifteen for grade two, and so on. Listening Yulong will coordinate between departments."

Listening Yulong froze. Thrilled, he hurried forward and saluted.

"Listening Yulong accepts the assignment!"

But just as preparations for the departments got into full swing, an unexpected problem emerged.

They were running out of food.

Refugees had been arriving throughout this period, seeking shelter.

Flower Village's population had surged from just over a hundred to thirteen hundred, and now to twenty-five hundred.

And that was not all. Among the newly arrived skilled workers were craftsmen and apprentices, along with many relatives who had accompanied them. The elderly, children, and pregnant women could not work for the time being, but they still needed to eat.

At the old rate of consumption, the grain stores would have lasted until next summer's harvest. Now they would last forty days at most.

In forty days, it would be deep winter. Things would only get worse.

Lu Zeming stood at the granary entrance, frowning at the stacks of grain dwindling so quickly.

"How much of the grain Ikeda Masato bought from the Land of Fire is left?"

Listening Yulong checked the ledger. "He bought five hundred thousand kilograms. People have already redeemed fifteen hundred thousand? No—one hundred and fifty thousand jin with Work Points. With the canteen's consumption and the new arrivals, less than half remains in the granary."

"How long will it last?"

"At our current daily consumption, fifty days at most."

Fifty days. The situation was even worse than he had thought!

They had to buy another shipment of grain before winter. They could not stop accelerating the crops' growth, either.

They had found a way to increase supply. Now they had to cut consumption.

Early the next morning, a notice went out across the village.

By order of the village chief: starting today, each person's daily grain ration will be reduced by twenty percent. The canteen will no longer serve a staple food at dinner, only vegetable soup. The grain saved will go first to skilled workers and children. Please help one another through this hardship.

The village remained quiet for a long time.

Then the first person stepped out of his home and headed for a construction site.

A second followed, then a third, then a tenth...

Within an hour, workers filled every construction site in Flower Village.

No one complained. No one caused trouble.

Because everyone knew their seven-year-old village chief had not slept all night. Even now, he stood at the granary entrance, personally overseeing the distribution of food.

Like everyone else, he was going hungry.