Once the positions were vacated, they began trading them; they sold every kind of experience, administrative post, magistrate position, even daring to sell the positions of the Grand Ambassadors of the Tax Bureau.
These positions were either in charge of the prefecture's documents and finances or in charge of taxation; even without this matter, Zhu Ci would never have kept these people.
Seeing that Zhu Ci had made up his mind, the Bailiff could only leave with a frown.
Just what is the background of this Young Master? Is he truly fearless of everything?
Zhu Ci was certainly not fearless; he simply wanted to cut the Gordian knot.
April had already arrived. If things followed the original story, Dodo would lead the southward advance in May, breaking through the Jiangbei defense line to capture Yangzhou, then.. the Ten Days of Yangzhou..
In fact, the Qing Army was already pressing closer and closer. The forces under Zhu Ci's command were indeed weak, but he would soon recruit soldiers and horses to rush to the aid of Yangzhou.
Before leaving, he must settle the affairs in Suzhou, otherwise he might find himself attacked from both front and rear when the time comes.
Whether these powerful clans will fight to the death or surrender immediately once the Qing Army attacks is something no one can say for certain.
Zhu Ci would not gamble his life and the lives of his subordinates on the conscience of these people.
What if they also thought the water was too cold?
However, what surprised him was that these people were actually quite composed; he had almost finished clearing out the entire Prefectural Office.
Zhu Ci waited and waited, but those people showed no sign of moving, which for a moment felt somewhat strange.
At this moment, Gu Rouqian came to the door and said, "Prefect, the Weng Family has sent an invitation, saying they have arranged a banquet to welcome you."
Zhu Ci took the invitation and glanced at it, seeing the name Weng Muyuan on it.
The Weng Family.. He looked up and thought for a moment. Based on the information he had gathered, the Weng Family should be one of the four great families within the Dongting Merchant Group.
The so-called Dongting Merchant Group is a commercial alliance that developed on the shores of Taihu Lake. Its primary members are the Weng, Xi, Liu, Yan families. These four great families have held power in the region for a long time; if one were to trace their origins, they could be traced back to the Northern Song Dynasty, though the merchant group itself was truly established during the Wanli era.
He looked at Gu Rouqian and asked, "Who is this Weng Muyuan?"
“He is the son of the third branch of the Weng Family, the nephew of the current head of the Weng Family.”
"I'm not going!" Zhu Ci said decisively.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: Reputation? Can reputation be eaten like food? If you're about to lose your life, what use is reputation? An evil kitty holding an arrow and studying it carefully. jpg
Happy Lantern Festival, cuties~ There's a Lantern Festival red envelope in this chapter~ The next update will be at twelve o'clock noon~
Chapter 67
Gu Rouqian was slightly stunned. He had originally wanted to ask a question, but seeing that the Young Prefect had buried his head in his books again, he swallowed his words.
During the time they had been in contact, he had also come to realize that this Young Prefect acted with decisiveness and rarely hesitated; once he made a decision, he would follow through with it, whether it was right or wrong.
Whether it was right or wrong, he accepted it.
Gu Rouqian had no choice but to leave with the invitation in hand.
Zhu Ci watched his departing figure and let out a cold snort. Even if he was an Acting Prefect, he had come here with the Crown Prince's official mandate in hand. If they had even a shred of respect, the head of the Weng Family should have personally extended the invitation; at the very least, they should have sent someone of some standing to pay a visit.
To casually send someone to arrange a banquet just to brush him off—this wasn't a welcome feast; this was an attempt to trample his dignity into the dirt!
Zhu Ci thought for a moment, then pulled a list from the side.
This list contains the names of petty officials and clerks who were brought in through trade; it includes not just their names, but also their family relationships and social networks.
None of the Weng, Xi, Liu, or Yan families appeared on this list, but if one were to actually look through the archives, it would be discovered that the small families behind these people had intricate connections to all four of the Weng, Xi, Liu, Yan families.
It is nearly impossible to uproot these four families. Even if Zhu Ci were to go on a killing spree, Suzhou would go down with them. These families control all the business involving rice, grain, silk, cloth in Suzhou; whether it is land transport, water transport, or even maritime transport, they are involved in all of it.
Therefore, Zhu Ci only wanted to make them behave; he had no intention of actually killing them all. If he truly killed them, it would be no different from a massacre.
Zhu Ci was in no hurry, continuing to leave them hanging.
Instead, he began to "neglect his proper duties."
Mm, those were the words of Gu Rouqian.
Zhu Ci handed a large portion of the mundane official duties of the prefectural office over to him, had found several carpenters who spent all day and night tinkering with something.
It left Gu Rouqian feeling a bit puzzled. Could this person.. actually be fond of being a carpenter?
After all, the Great Ming Dynasty hasn't lacked carpenter emperors over these past few hundred years; if the emperors themselves loved being carpenters, it seemed like there was nothing wrong with officials below them having a passion for carpentry as well.
Unfortunately, he had been asking around for a long time without any results; if nothing else, the mouths of these people under the Young Prefect were truly tight.
Whenever he asked a few more questions, their little faces would tighten, their defensiveness became extremely obvious.
Gu Rouqian knew when to stop asking, but he was truly curious—what exactly was the Young Prefect so busy with?
What else could Zhu Ci be busy with? He was busy working on machines.
At this time, the silk industry in Suzhou was famous throughout the world for its development, but no matter how developed it was, it still had its limitations: the output was insufficient. Although a model had emerged where workshop owners provided the capital and workers provided the labor, the shortage of workers combined with backward production tools meant that they were often unable to meet the supply demands.
Zhu Ci knew very clearly that if he wanted to bring these large merchants onto his side, he had to achieve two things: first, he had to make them believe he could bring them sweet benefits; second, he had to make them realize he had the power to destroy them.
In simple terms, it's either grow big and strong with me, or if I grow big and strong alone, none of you will survive.
Zhu Ci wanted to demonstrate his strength in this regard.
He looked at the loom before him and nodded in satisfaction.
The Spinning Jenny, the starting point of the Industrial Revolution, greatly liberated labor, but it also caused panic among many workers, which is why such massive conflicts arose.
Zhu Ci certainly didn't think those people would remain indifferent to this. One had to realize that the silk processing, transportation, sales markets in Suzhou were almost entirely monopolized by these people; if things went south, no one would have a good time.
It was a pity; Zhu Ci had originally hoped to complete the Ring Spinning Machine in one fell swoop, but upon actual research, he discovered that without electricity, it was nearly impossible to implement the entire process of the loom.
Besides that, making a Ring Spinning Machine was also a bit more difficult.
Because he needed to save time, Zhu Ci did not have the carpenters build a Spinning Jenny from scratch; instead, he had them make certain improvements based on the existing loom.
Simply put, he used all the usable parts, all to save time and finish the thing before he had to deal with those four great families.
Fortunately, those four great families were sufficiently aloof; they didn't seem to care about this Young Prefect, believing he could not turn the world upside down.
Zhu Ci directly had the girls under his command try it out, the girls immediately said in pleasant surprise, "This spinning machine is amazing; one person can do the work of many people."
Zhu Ci naturally knew nothing about this aspect. After asking a few more questions to confirm the success of the Spinning Jenny, he nodded with satisfaction and turned to the craftsmen, saying, "Come, let us continue."
The six carpenters making the Spinning Jenny were immersed in joy; they had been somewhat hesitant when they were first approached.
The conditions were truly quite harsh; once they entered the prefectural office, they had to report if they wanted to leave, they could not go out easily, they could not leak what they were making. If anything were leaked, the whole family would be finished.
If it hadn't been for the Prefect's status and the incredibly high wages, they wouldn't have wanted to come from the very beginning.
Now, they felt that coming to the Prefecture was the best decision they had ever made in their lives.
If they hadn't come to the Prefecture, how could they have ever produced such a loom?
One could imagine how popular those few who were the only ones capable of making such looms would become once these looms were widely promoted.
Before they could enjoy their excitement for long, they heard that Young Prefect telling them to continue.
Continue? How could they continue?
Of course it must continue. A single Spinning Jenny is not enough to make those great families bow to him; if the weight is insufficient, then add an Improved Loom.
First, it was modified to be water-powered.
If textile machinery develops, the yarn shortage can be resolved, but weaving efficiency would still seem very backward; even with plenty of yarn, one would be limited by the efficiency of the weavers, making it no different from before.
Therefore, if you're going to do it, you have to do it as a complete set!
As long as these two things appear, even if these local big merchants refuse to cooperate, he can still seize the business.
If it were during a time of peace, he might have done this himself, but unfortunately, the issue now is not about making money, but about survival.
The Hydraulic Loom is actually still a bit inferior compared to the Spinning Jenny; although this thing has entered the era of mechanization, it has a very significant flaw: it is heavily affected by the flood and dry seasons.
Fortunately, this thing was meant to be a supplement; in addition to hydraulic power, the loom could also be powered by manual labor.
In addition to hydraulic power, Zhu Ci also modified the traditional hand-thrown shuttle into a flying shuttle.
The so-called flying shuttle was like a small "bullet" placed in a guide rail; the weaver only needed to pull a rope, the spring mechanisms at both ends would "shoot" the shuttle through the warp layers.
This modification seemed minor, but it doubled the weaving speed of an individual weaver.
Only when spinning and weaving are improved simultaneously can the production efficiency of cloth be increased.
Just as Zhu Ci finished setting up the loom, Jiang Quan rushed over and said, "Young Master, Liu Liang's family is resisting arrest."
Zhu Ci wiped his hands and asked, "You can't catch them?"
They've hidden themselves in the Liu Family's manor," Jiang Quan said with a frown, "The Liu Family.. they aren't easy to provoke.
Because it wouldn't hold much water for a tax evader to directly clash with the Liu Family, it would also easily trigger a backlash from the other three great clans.
Zhu Ci nodded. "Have you tried asking them for the person?"
Jiang Quan paused, said through gritted teeth, "I tried, but they are incredibly arrogant, they even injured several of our brothers."
Zhu Ci, whose mind had originally been on the loom, immediately darkened in expression. "Are the injuries serious?"
Jiang Quan said, "Two have broken legs, the rest only have minor injuries."
Broken legs.. this is practically a death sentence.
In this day and age, it is not easy to recover from a broken leg; at best, one is left disabled, at worst, one loses their life.
Zhu Ci said, "Find a doctor to give them a proper examination.."
The doctors in the county town refuse to come either.
Jiang Quan didn't say why they refused to come, but at this critical juncture, what other possibility could there be?
Zhu Ci laughed out of sheer rage, "You ungrateful wretch!"
He turned and whispered a few words to Jiang Quan. As he spoke, Jiang Quan's eyes grew brighter and brighter, until he finally nodded repeatedly and said, "Rest assured, Young Master, I will go and arrange it immediately."
Zhu Ci responded, "Go ahead, I'll go check on them."
If the doctor doesn't come, then he will have to step in himself.
In reality, even if a physician came, he would only be able to slightly realign the broken bone, after that, one would have to leave it to fate.
Zhu Ci also knew a few simple methods of treatment. While they would certainly be considered crude by modern standards, they were quite useful in this era, not to mention that Allicin could be taken orally; although it might not be a perfect match for the symptoms, it was at least somewhat effective.