CENTIE Chapter 76

“County Magistrate!” A yamen runner rushed in hurriedly. He hadn’t even caught his breath before he anxiously reported to Xiao Jingduo, “Butcher Feng and the others are back!”

At the end of June, after sending off the folding screens, Xiao Jingduo immediately had Chen Ci lead the women from the embroidery workshop to create small embroidered items—folding screens, handkerchiefs, round fans, and the like. Once they were finished, he selected a few trustworthy yamen runners to escort the pieces to the Chengdu Prefecture. Since Jinjiang County was surrounded by mountains on all sides, Xiao Jingduo was worried about something happening on their way back. So, before they set out, he arranged for Butcher Feng to accompany them. If nothing else, Feng’s burly frame and loud voice might help deter any troublemakers along the way.

At the time he made these arrangements, news of the double-sided embroidery hadn’t yet reached Jiannan. Xiao Jingduo made all these decisions based on speculation. He believed in the embroidery girls’ craftsmanship and trusted Rong Ke in Chang’an even more. So he boldly stockpiled embroidered goods and sent them early to Chengdu to wait. If everything went as he expected and the double-sided embroidery became famous in Chang’an, then trade caravans would soon come to Chengdu looking to buy. That would be their chance to earn their first big profit.

It was a risky move. If the pieces sold, all would be well. But if they didn’t, he would have no way to explain himself to the county office or the people. Fortunately, Butcher Feng and the others had finally returned, and judging by the tone of the runner, their trip seemed to have gone very well.

Xiao Jingduo secretly breathed a sigh of relief and immediately stood up, saying, “Where are they? Lead the way.”

Out on the main street outside the county office, Butcher Feng, with his booming voice, was enthusiastically sharing his experiences with the surrounding crowd:

“You all wouldn’t believe it! The Chengdu Prefecture really is grand and bustling. The markets there are at least ten times bigger than ours! After we arrived with the embroidered goods, we were amazed, but also worried. We didn’t know anyone there—how were we going to sell the embroidery? We put our heads together and sent two people out the next day to ask around the market. We had no idea what we were in for—once we started asking, we were shocked! Tons of out-of-town merchant caravans had come, all offering big money for finished double-sided embroidery pieces! At first, we thought it might be a scam, but then more and more people kept asking. We realized that double-sided embroidery is in incredibly high demand right now. Once they heard we had finished products, several caravans came to find us themselves, and each offered a higher price than the last!”

The onlookers let out a collective “Wow!” Some of the more impatient ones couldn’t help but ask, “And then? Did you sell them?”

“Of course we did!” Butcher Feng grinned from ear to ear. “I, Feng Da, have been selling pork since I was five. I know how to do business. I compared offers from several buyers and asked around the market about prices, then sold them in batches to a few trustworthy caravans. It’s a pity we didn’t bring more—could’ve made even more money.”

“How much did you sell them for?”

Now that was the key question. Though Butcher Feng was a straightforward man, he’d been selling pork for years and knew what to say and what not to. He smiled mysteriously and dodged the question. “Anyway, we made way more than we would have just selling raw silk. Hey, the County Magistrate is here—County Magistrate, over here!”

Under the old columns of the Jinjiang County office, the young magistrate in a light green official robe was standing there. Butcher Feng excitedly waved his hand, pushed through the crowd, and jogged over to Xiao Jingduo.

“Magistrate Xiao, I was just about to come find you—why’d you come out?”

“If I hadn’t, you’d have spilled everything we’ve got.”

Butcher Feng scratched his head and laughed sheepishly. “I’ve just never seen so much money before—I got carried away. I’ll stop, I swear!”

Xiao Jingduo gave him an amused glance. Many people at the bottom of the steps were watching them now. This wasn’t the place to talk. Xiao Jingduo said to Butcher Feng, “Come with me.”

Once they arrived at the West Courtyard Flower Hall and there were no unrelated people around, Xiao Jingduo finally let the men who had escorted the embroidery pieces sit down and asked, “Now you can tell me—was this delivery trip smooth?”

“It was fine on the way there, but on the way back, we were followed by a bunch of bloodsucking leeches. Incredibly annoying,” Butcher Feng said through gritted teeth. “Daring to rob goods from me, Feng Da? They must have a death wish.”

The other yamen officers also chimed in, “County Magistrate, Butcher Feng’s right. We were being tailed as soon as we left Chengdu. If it hadn’t been for Butcher Feng’s strength and fierce temper, we might’ve had all our money snatched away.”

This was more or less expected. Xiao Jingduo sighed, “In a few days, once the fields are less busy, let’s gather more people from the county office and clear up the surrounding roads. Double-sided embroidery is going to be a long-term business—if the roads aren’t safe, that won’t do.”

“Exactly! The roads were tough to travel. Fortunately, you, County Magistrate, predicted everything so accurately. We arrived in Chengdu ahead of time—before others had even finished their products—and that’s the only reason we managed to sell them smoothly. If, later on, Chengdu’s double-sided embroidery industry takes off, and we’re struggling with long and difficult deliveries, we might not be able to compete with the local vendors.”

At this, some of the men grew a bit indignant. “County Magistrate, you never should’ve let the Zhou mother and daughter go. If they were still here, then only our Jinjiang County would have double-sided embroidery. How could anyone else steal our business?”

Xiao Jingduo gave a half-smile. “If Granny Zhou was still in the county, do you really think you’d have been able to sell the embroidery so smoothly in Chengdu this time?”

Butcher Feng and the yamen officers fell silent. Once he saw they had understood, Xiao Jingduo continued, “Chang’an is such a massive market, and in the future, we may even expand to other areas. There’s no way we can handle all that by ourselves. If we don’t share some profits, how can we do business on someone else’s turf? In a few days, I’ll write a letter to the Prefect of Chengdu. Let’s simply rent a shop there, assign people to manage it, and have regular shipments sent from our county. Oh, and we can’t leave out Rongzhou either.”

Butcher Feng nodded and said, “County Magistrate, I understand now. We can’t eat alone at the table—better to pull in others and make money together than offend people and gain nothing.”

“Exactly,” Xiao Jingduo affirmed. Then he asked about the pricing: “On this trip, what kind of prices did the double-sided embroidery fetch?”

“County Magistrate, I can answer that,” said a junior clerk, stepping forward. “I grew up near the market and have seen countless haggling sessions between merchants. I know all the tricks. When we got to Chengdu, I didn’t sell anything right away. I first asked around about the pricing from several merchant caravans and checked the prices of Chengdu’s native Shu brocade. I weighed everything carefully before making any sales. A double-sided embroidery piece the size of a palace fan sold for eighty wen. A table screen-sized piece, once framed, went for six hundred wen. A handkerchief was about twenty wen. If the patterns were particularly intricate and complex, the prices went even higher.”

At this time, one dou of rice cost twenty wen, one dou of refined flour thirty-seven wen, and even a whole bolt of raw silk cost only four hundred seventy wen—and a bolt was a full two zhang (about 20 feet) long. Now that it was embroidered with double-sided embroidery, even a hand-sized kerchief could fetch twenty wen. The enormous profit was obvious.

When Xiao Jingduo heard the prices, he was shocked: “That high? If we transport it all the way back to Chang’an and embellish it nicely, who knows what kind of astronomical price it could fetch?”

To the noble ladies of Chang’an, giving someone a bolt of silk on a whim was nothing—they wouldn’t even blink at spending a few dozen wen. These aristocratic households didn’t care about money. A single round fan could cost an ordinary family their entire monthly expenses. But the common folk under Xiao Jingduo’s governance did care.

Butcher Feng and the other constables had caught wind of a profitable shortcut and were enthusiastically discussing the next shipment—how much to deliver and how much copper coin to bring back. Xiao Jingduo listened for a while and couldn’t help pouring cold water on their excitement: “Right now, double-sided embroidery is brand new on the market. The nobles in Chang’an are paying a premium out of novelty. But in a few months, as more embroidery appears on the market, the price will drop. At that point, even if the price holds at half of what it is now, that would already be considered good.”

“Aah?” Butcher Feng and the others panicked. “County Magistrate, what do we do then?”

If that time really came, the only option would be to constantly create new patterns to entice the fashionable noble ladies of the capital to keep buying. But Xiao Jingduo didn’t plan to tell his subordinates that—right now, they were giddy with excitement, and a dose of sobriety might do them good. He said instead, “It’s too early to worry about that. While prices are still high, the right thing to do is sell as much as we can. Go now and gather some manpower. In a few days, follow me out of town to clear and repair the roads.”

“Got it!” Butcher Feng and the others leapt to their feet, suddenly energized. “Our county finally has a chance to make some money—we’ve got to seize it. I’ll go rally the people now!”

After hearing about the demand for double-sided embroidery outside the county, the people of Jinjiang grew highly motivated. One after another, they volunteered at the county office to help repair the roads outside the city. Xiao Jingduo seized the opportunity, leading workers to expand the old paths—widening them by the width of two carts and having the uneven land tamped flat.

Outside the city, the roadwork was in full swing. Within the city, people weren’t idle either. Many women volunteered at the embroidery workshop, helping to craft more handkerchiefs, round fans, and other items.

In no time, a craze for silkworm-raising spread through Jinjiang County. Xiao Jingduo knew the people’s enthusiasm was a good sign, but it also carried risk—passion could easily lead to disorder. So he immediately issued a regulation: anyone who wanted to learn double-sided embroidery at the workshop had to sign an agreement with the government. During the contract period, all embroidery must be submitted to the government, which would supply the cloth and silk threads and handle all future sales. Profits from the embroidery would be split 50-50 between the embroiderers and the government. Without such an agreement, the workshop would not provide free instruction in the embroidery technique, and the county office would not help sell the products.

This regulation immediately sparked heated discussion. Many had planned to learn the skill at the workshop for a few years, then break off and start their own businesses when the time was right. No one expected Xiao Jingduo to make such a move. Only now did people begin to realize, with complicated feelings, that the clever, handsome, hardworking, and benevolent magistrate Xiao Jingduo had this side to him as well.

Some people felt this was practically a tyrannical contract, while others believed there was nothing to criticize in what Xiao Jingduo had done. The government was providing the materials and the sales channels; the embroiderers only needed to focus on their stitching and could receive half the profits. This approach benefited both parties. Moreover, the other half of the money didn’t go into Xiao Jingduo’s private treasury—it was deposited into the county government’s public funds and would be used later for things like road repairs and marketplace expansion, ultimately benefiting the common people. Why not support it?

So, after some arguing, a few people left the embroidery workshop, but even more chose to stay and signed contracts of varying lengths—five years, ten years.

However, this contract did not apply to Chen Ci. Xiao Jingduo was well aware that Chen Ci was the most important person in the embroidery workshop. It just so happened that the imperial and provincial rewards had arrived in the past few days. Xiao Jingduo didn’t keep a single coin, passing all the rewards to Chen Ci. He then took the opportunity to discuss future plans with her.

Fortunately, Chen Ci was grateful to Xiao Jingduo for saving her life, so she readily agreed. Until the other embroiderers in the workshop were properly trained, she would stay and teach them. Naturally, Xiao Jingduo offered Chen Ci excellent compensation. Besides, Xiao Jingduo didn’t use master-servant contracts to bind Qiuju and Xiqi either. Whenever they had free time, he was happy to let them embroider some small items and earn some private savings for themselves.

After securing the embroiderers, Xiao Jingduo turned to organizing the delivery teams. Thanks to his proactive suggestions, both the governor of Rongzhou and the prefect of Chengdu had a very favorable impression of him. As a result, Xiao Jingduo was able to rent shops in both regions with no trouble.

Xiao Jingduo planned to open official shops in both Chengdu Prefecture and Rongzhou, specializing in selling embroidered goods produced in Jinjiang County. Selling directly would not only bring in more profits, but most importantly, it could help revive the county’s nearly cobwebbed public treasury. Even the most capable housewife can’t cook without rice—if the county’s public funds remained half-dead, even if Xiao Jingduo had three heads and six arms, he couldn’t achieve much. As long as double-sided embroidery could boost Jinjiang County’s economy and bring new revenue to the local government, he could then put his plans into action and achieve real accomplishments.

The official shops needed reliable and sharp-minded people to manage them, and deliveries required manpower as well. Just handling these matters kept Xiao Jingduo extremely busy for an entire month as he looked for suitable personnel and finalized agreements.

In the end, the shops in Chengdu Prefecture and Rongzhou were contracted out to two families—one with three generations of business experience, and the other a rapidly expanding newcomer. Xiao Jingduo had no interest in hearing the two families boast about themselves while belittling the other. He simply and clearly explained the terms: their annual compensation would be tied to the store’s profits. A monthly profit of one guan (a string of 1,000 copper coins) would place them in one pay tier, ten guan would place them in a higher one. If they performed poorly this year, they would be replaced next year. Although Jinjiang County was small, there was no shortage of people interested in doing business.

Once the managers were chosen, Xiao Jingduo handed over full operational control, allowing them to choose their own clerks and assistants. However, to prevent collusion and embezzlement, the bookkeepers for both shops would be appointed directly by the government.

Because of this, the county government suddenly found itself short-staffed. But now that the office had a bit of spare money, Xiao Jingduo didn’t hesitate—he immediately hired many general clerks from outside.

Aside from the shopkeepers, organizing the monthly delivery teams was also a major challenge. These days, many eyes were on Jinjiang County, and who knew how many bandits were lurking along the roads. The delivery teams had to be strong and tough in order to deliver the goods safely and bring the money back without incident. For the first time, Xiao Jingduo was thankful for the county’s bold and fierce populace—thanks to the recommendations of the people, he really did manage to find quite a few formidable individuals.

But having just brute force wasn’t enough. The team needed clever people who could navigate routes, those who were persuasive and good at building connections, and even people who could discreetly monitor the shopkeepers in both locations on behalf of the government. It was clearly a long-term operation, and it wouldn’t be easy to select the most suitable candidates quickly. Xiao Jingduo could only let them handle deliveries for the time being while slowly making adjustments.

Butcher Feng, known for his strength and booming voice—and more importantly, as someone Xiao Jingduo trusted—had long since shut down his family’s pork business to run errands for the government. At first, he felt guilty about ending the Feng family’s tradition of pig slaughtering, wondering if it was wrong to stop it with his generation. But Feng Jiao kept encouraging him, and since trading and delivery paid well, Butcher Feng quickly accepted his new role.

As he traveled across regions, Butcher Feng’s eyes grew sharper, and he began to transform rapidly. And he wasn’t the only one—others in Jinjiang County were changing quickly too. Xiao Jingduo’s arrival seemed like a turning point, sparking a remarkable transformation in this county that had once been as still as stagnant water.

“County Magistrate,” the registrar sat kneeling beside Xiao Jingduo, beaming as he presented the latest ledger and pointed to the total income column. “Here’s this month’s account book. The county office has earned another two hundred strings of cash.”

A seventh-rank magistrate earned a yearly salary of twenty-five strings of cash, so to see the county office earning two hundred strings in a single month seemed quite wealthy. But in truth, the county had only one source of income—embroidery—while the expenses were many.

First, the embroidery workshop needed renovation. The number of embroiderers was growing, and the original three-courtyard compound was no longer sufficient—they needed a more spacious location. Second, the county office itself was in a dilapidated state. In the past, they had no funds and had to endure it, but now that income was coming in, it was time to make repairs and expand the staff. Most importantly, road construction had become an urgent priority.

Each of these tasks required large sums of money—roadwork especially was like a bottomless pit. Even though the government shops in both regions brought in a good amount of cash each month, the moment Xiao Jingduo issued his next round of policies, the accounts were drained once again.

Jinjiang County’s road to prosperity… had only just begun.

With a headache, Xiao Jingduo rubbed his brow. The merchant caravans were buying Jinjiang’s embroidery directly from Chengdu Prefecture, which was actually quite disadvantageous. But merchants chased profits—without sufficient margins, they wouldn’t bother going through vast mountain forests and taking all that trouble to reach Jinjiang County. Was there any way to lure the merchant caravans to Jinjiang itself, instead of having them stop only at the higher-level prefectures?

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