When Old Madam Wu got home, she felt a pang of regret—if only she hadn't said those things. Now she'd cost her two sons their jobs. This factory was going to be huge—after all these days of work, they had only just finished digging the foundation. There would probably be plenty more work ahead for a good long while, and the pay was nine copper coins per day!
Just thinking about it made Old Madam Wu's heart ache. She'd barely sat down and warmed her stool when her two sons came storming back in.
"Mother."
"Did you go to the worksite and badmouth Lord Fang's fulang?"
"I—I—"
"How could you do that? Isn't it enough that you offend people in the village every day? You had to go over there too. Lord Fang's fulang—who do you think he is? How dare you speak of him like that? Are you tired of living? Now look—you've cost me and Second Brother our jobs. Are you happy now?"
At first, Old Madam Wu had felt guilty about getting her two sons in trouble over a moment of loose talk. But now that her usually obedient sons were scolding her, She started to feel a bit annoyed.
"So what if I said a few words? Was I wrong? So what if he's the prefect's fulang? Just because I say a few things, is he going to have me beheaded?"
Anping County and Anhe County were close by. Fang Zicheng had blasted through mountains and diverted water in Anhe, ending a hundred years of suffering there, and word had spread—that the prefect and his fulang were good people, approachable and completely without airs.
After Zhao Ger arrived, the county yamen runners had made arrangements, but the county magistrate had provided lodgings. Pingxiang Village was far from the county town, so for convenience, Zhao Ger had the village head find him a house and moved in with the imperial guards and Uncle Tang and the others.
Old Madam Wu had seen him several times chatting amiably with some of the village fulangs, smiling and laughing, and she'd figured there was nothing to fear from him—that he didn't seem any different from ordinary folks.
Good officials didn't go around bullying common people.
If it were that previous prefect, she wouldn't have dared say a thing.
"If he doesn't want you, so be it. I think that work is hard anyway—it would've been gone after a month or two. Is that worth getting angry at your mother over?"
"Mother, you don't understand. I heard Lord Fang's fulang talking with the young man he brought along—they're building a paper mill here. Once it's finished, they're going to hire more people from the village."
"What did you say?" Old Madam Wu was shaken. No matter how she thought about it, it seemed impossible. Why would a paper mill be built that big?
She was just a village woman, but she knew a thing or two. Take their village, for instance—Pingxiang was the biggest village under Anping County, but there wasn't a single scholar in the whole place. None of the surrounding villages had anyone studying either. Every family was poor, barely able to fill their bellies, let alone having money to spend on other things.
If there were no scholars, what was the paper for?
And who would they sell it to?
Even Magistrate Zhang Jiayao of Anping County had thought the same when Zhao Ger first told him about building a paper mill, and he'd tried to talk him out of it.
Don't build it. If you build it, the paper you make won't sell.
The entire county had only nine scholars. And since Anping didn't even have a single papermaking factory, the villagers surely wouldn't know the trade either. Once it was built, who would work there?
The prefect himself?
And as for what paper was made from—he knew a bit: wood pulp. But the mountains of Anping didn't have many trees—they were mostly covered in bamboo.
But then again, take the water diversion project in Anhe. At first, everyone had thought he was just stirring up trouble—too young and "ignorant"—and that the water would never be diverted. And what happened in the end?
The bandits in Shunan had been terrorizing the area for nearly twenty years—arrogant and untouchable. But the prefect had only been there a few days, and he'd already sent them fleeing in panic, wiping them out to the last man without a single survivor.
Zhang Jiayao had just tried to say a few words of persuasion when these things suddenly came to mind, and he immediately shut his mouth.
No matter what this factory was for, when Old Madam Wu heard that they'd be hiring in the village later on, she was overcome with regret.
"Then I'll go beg the prefect's fulang?"
"Mother, there are plenty of people in the village. If there aren't enough villagers, they can still recruit from Pingtai Village. the prefect's fulang doesn't lack workers. You've offended him—why would he ever take us back? You really were foolish."
"How was I supposed to know! I'd seen him in the village a few times, and he chatted amiably with Old Madam Li, so I just assumed, assumed…"
"Assumed he was easy to bully? He's friendly enough, sure, but that doesn't mean he has no temper. Do you even know who he is? How could you talk to him like that!"
The 'kill the chicken to warn the monkey' tactic had worked. The men below were all working much more diligently now.
The prefect's fulang was indeed an easygoing person, but absolutely must not be offended—otherwise, one would be kicked out and lose job. And right now, it was the slack farming season, so finding work elsewhere would be very difficult.
The village head of Pingxiang Village was surnamed Fang. When he heard that Zhao Ger was coming to stay in the village, he specially arranged a large courtyard for him. The family consisted of just two elderly people. They'd had a daughter who had married into another village. The old couple had built their house with many rooms so that during the holidays, their daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren could come stay and have proper places to sleep—so that they would have a comfortable place to stay and wouldn't feel the need to rush off.
Now that the rooms were sitting empty, Zhao Ger moved in with Xiao Feng and the others.
At first, there was no reply from Fang Zichen. But the very next day, a soldier arrived carrying a letter.
The letter explained that Fang Zichen had gone to Luoshan County and wouldn't be back for a few days.
After reading the letter, Zhao Ger felt a little down.
Fang Zichen had been gone to Shunan for quite a few days now. Without him and Guaizai bustling around, following him everywhere, Zhao Ger felt the place had become much quieter.
Xiao Feng looked at him and said, "Uncle Zhao, do you miss Uncle Fang?"
"Mm."
Xiao Feng missed him too. "Where did Uncle Fang and Guaizai go?"
"Luoshan County."
Earlier, when Fang Zichen had read the reports, they mentioned that there were many mountains in Luoshan County, and the stones on those mountains were strange—when chiseled open, they were white inside, but if left out for a while, they would slowly turn black.
These stones changed color over time, which frightened the locals at first, so they reported the matter to the authorities.
Fang Zichen sent Li Yisheng to investigate, bringing along some hydrochloric acid he had made himself. When Li Yisheng reached Luoshan County, he went into the villages, located the mountains in question, and had the locals dig out two chunks of the strange stone. He chiseled them open, dripped the acid onto the fresh surface, and the stone immediately fizzed and bubbled—confirming it was limestone.
He immediately sent a reply back to Fang Zichen.
Since they'd found limestone, it was time to build the factory.
If you want to get rich, build roads first.
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