Fierce “Husband”

Near the pier, several ships were docked, ready to set sail. There were passenger ships, cargo ships, and small boats that only went to the other side of the river. A group of yamen officials led the way, while three prisoner wagons pulled up, carrying seven or eight prisoners with their heads covered. 

The yamen officials dragged the prisoners out and one man who had been kept alone in a wagon was completely limp. The officials had to carry him all the way to the large ship docked at the pier. Looking up at the position of the sun, Dai Jiang ordered his men, “The boat will leave at noon sharp.”

“Yes.” Dai Jiang stood at the bow of the ship. When the time came, he walked into the cabin and a trusted subordinate approached and whispered, “Deputy Commander, how are we going to explain that man’s condition to the Emperor when we return to the capital?”

Dai Jiang sneered and said, “It’s not our responsibility to explain. Don’t worry. That guy may not even survive for long after he returns to the capital.” The subordinate asked, “He is the son of Marquis Hengyuan. Even if he just kidnapped a commoner, the Emperor wouldn’t kill the Marquis’ son for the sake of a commoner with some abilities. I’m afraid Marquis Hengyuan will cause trouble for you, Deputy Commander, when we return to the capital. Why did you agree with Wang Shijing to do it?”

Dai Jiang replied knowingly, “You don’t see far enough. That couple may be commoners for now, but if anyone treats them as such, they won’t get away with it. Don’t ask too much. In any case, it won’t be us who angers the Emperor when we return to the capital. Keep an eye on him and don’t let him die.”

Since the boss had spoken, the subordinate could only follow orders. Although he was puzzled and didn’t understand the deeper meaning, he went to the room where the prisoners were being held. As soon as he opened the door and entered, he covered his nose. The person on the ground was groaning in pain, his wrists twisted and broken.

“Someone!”

“Here!”

“Bind his broken bones and give him some food and water. Don’t let him die.”

“Yes!”

In the county yamen office, Wang Shijing and his elder brother, Jiang Kangning, were sitting in the backyard. Jiang Kangning was taking a break from his busy schedule. Now, not only was Yongxiu County involved in tea picking, tea collection, and tea processing, but all the tea leaves that could be obtained within the entire Chennan Prefecture were continuously sent to Yongxiu County’s tea factory. 

Jiang Kangning didn’t have a particularly intuitive feeling about Shao Yunan’s idea of ‘to get rich, first build roads’ before, but now he did. The freshly picked tea leaves had to be quickly delivered to the tea factory; otherwise, if left for too long, they would ferment, resulting in the worst quality tea or even going to waste. 

It was also relatively easy to deliver the tea leaves within Yongxiu County in a day, but there were twelve counties in Chennan Prefecture, some of which were extremely remote from Yongxiu County and had inconvenient transportation. Tea leaves simply couldn’t be transported from there. Besides, there was also the issue of secrecy regarding the production method, so he couldn’t send people to those places to process the tea. This led to many good tea leaves going to waste.

“I have already reported to the Emperor. After this year’s tea harvest is profitable, a portion of the silver will be allocated to road construction.” Jiang Kangning said with a tinge of sadness. “If all the tea leaves from the prefecture can be processed into new tea, we will earn a lot more money, but for now, we will suffer some losses.”

“It’s unavoidable.” Wang Shijing sighed. “Without good roads and fast vehicles, even the best goods will go to waste. It’s not just the tea leaves… if we want to sell good things, we need good roads and fast vehicles.” Jiang Kangning immediately focused on Wang Shijing and asked, “But what can Yunan do?”

Wang Shijing shook his head and replied, “What can he do? Road repairs require money and manpower. To have fast vehicles, someone needs to design better and faster carriages. For now, we can only make use of the available manpower and transportation methods… land and river transport.” Wang Shijing looked up at the sky, realizing that he would never see airplanes in the Great State of Yan in his lifetime.

“Shijing?” Jiang Kangning noticed Wang Shijing’s expression and clearly didn’t believe him. “Is Yunan’s method so astounding that you don’t dare to speak of it?” Wang Shijing fell silent. His wife was not a miracle worker who could solve everything. He sighed, “He did mention that if there was something like a flying device to transport the tea leaves, it would be the fastest way. But can we really achieve that?” Jiang Kangning remained silent.

Wang Shijing continued, “The best solution for now is to dry the tea leaves first after picking them and then transport them. We should try to avoid the tea leaves fermenting due to excessive moisture after picking them. Alternatively, we can train more skilled tea-makers and send them to various places during the tea picking season to process the tea on-site. These are the only options we can think of for now. Whether it’s road repairs, faster carriages, or training manpower, we have to wait until this year’s tea production is complete.”

Jiang Kangning nodded helplessly. “It seems we have no other choice.” Then he changed the subject. “Since you beat Wei Hongzheng like that, Marquis Hengyuan probably won’t let it go easily.” He said these words, but didn’t show much concern on his face. Wang Shijing didn’t give Jiang Kangning any face and replied, “If Brother didn’t let him go, I wouldn’t have been able to beat him.” Jiang Kangning got angry. “I asked you to vent your anger, not to break his hands and legs!”

“He slapped my wife and kicked him in the stomach. If the Deputy Commander wasn’t present, I would have killed him right there!” Wang Shijing said. Jiang Kangning’s face immediately turned dark. “He kicked Yunan’s stomach too?” Wang Shijing replied, “Yunan’s stomach is all bruised and he even threatened to let his subordinates abuse him if Yunan didn’t write down the production method. How could I bear such a thing?”