Chapter 35

Zhu Qing said worriedly, "Xiao Lang, perhaps we should let Yuan Heizi take on more apprentices and expand production."

"That’s not a good idea. This is a luxury item, and rarity makes it valuable. If we continue like this, we can forge over two hundred swords a year. If we produce more, the price will drop. If it doesn’t drop, the profit will make all the neighboring villages envious, and even the people on the other side of the mountain will be unhappy. If that happens, even if the village is prepared, it will still be very dangerous in the end."

"Continuing like this isn’t good... I’m not afraid of disagreements, but I’m afraid that the people in the village won’t be united, which will lead to bad consequences."

"What can we do then?"

"We can produce other tools instead of Xia Guo swords," Zhu Jun suggested from the side.

"Er Lang, that’s not bad, but it’s still not a good idea. Other tools have low profit margins, and Yan Zhou doesn’t produce iron ore, which has to be transported from far away. With low profits, we might not even cover the transportation costs," Zhu Qing was even more worried.

Wang Ju said, "No problem. Throughout history, there are two situations that make people angry: being able to share prosperity but not adversity. As the saying goes, 'husbands and wives are birds of the same fate, but when disaster strikes, they fly apart.'"

"This is truly hateful. In the Eastern Han, Grand Secretary Song Hong said, 'I have heard that one should not forget the poor and humble friends, and the wife who shared the hard times should not be cast aside.' But how many can truly do this? Once they become wealthy, even if they don’t divorce their wives, they still seek pleasure elsewhere and keep concubines, which is truly hateful."

"Li Da Lang, do you have any concubines?"

"I only have one wife, no concubines. I have maids, but I never touch them."

Wang Ju couldn’t help but show respect. In this era, for a wealthy family’s son, it was really not easy.

But he found it amusing, "I have nothing to do with your sister, so don’t talk to me about it."

Moreover, what he referred to was not the sorrow of women but the sorrow of men, though it was rare in the Song Dynasty. Although the social customs were open, they were not as conservative as most people imagined, but overall, the era still favored men over women.

"There is another situation: being able to share adversity but not prosperity. Once they become successful, they forget their roots, like Chen Sheng and Wu Guang. However, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang was an exception."

They all laughed together.

He was truly a precious emperor. After being exiled to Fangzhou by Wu Zetian, he was always afraid that his mother would kill him. His wife, Wei Shi, comforted him, and they made a vow that if he became emperor, he would listen to her desires. Later, he really did listen to her every wish, even allowing her to publicly put green hats on him.

Wang Ju said, "Zhu Guan, don’t worry. This is the price of growth. Let’s go back."

"The price of growth?"

"Let them argue. Only by arguing together can they discover problems. That’s the price of growth!"

"No wonder Xiao Lang said they can share adversity but not prosperity."

"It’s not that simple. If handled well, it’s not a problem; if not, it’s a big problem. The village was very poor before, but now it’s suddenly rich. For the villagers, this sudden wealth will inevitably lead to various conflicts." Wang Ju looked into the distance. It was the end of the first month, and the ground was beginning to turn green with grass.

"The main issue is that I’m too young. Otherwise, if I guided everything and put it under my name as private property, there wouldn’t be these stories."

"Initially, the Master intended for you to place the workshop in the city."

In the city? Wouldn’t that be like relying on your Zhu family? But Wang Ju couldn’t say that: "There’s no big problem. Let them argue. Once the problems are discovered, I can point out the potential disputes, and everyone can reflect."

Li Zhen thought it made sense, but only Zhu Qing noticed the difference between a chess player and a chess piece.

But since Wang Ju had control, Zhu Qing no longer paid attention to the matter and said, "I still need to thank you."

"Thank me for what?"

"The Master deliberately invited the high monk from Daci’en Temple to Yan Zhou for a grand ceremony on the Lantern Festival. The audience was like a mountain. To thank the Zhu family for their hospitality, the monk also divined for Zhu Er Lang and Zhao Si Niang. It was a good omen, and the rumors in the city naturally subsided."

What gratitude for the Zhu family’s hospitality? It must have cost a lot of money.

But this move was very effective. It was like Wang Ju writing an article, and the professor of Yan Zhou’s state school saying it was bad, so all the scholars in Yan Zhou would think it was bad. But if suddenly Ouyang Xiu said it was a masterpiece, would the scholars in Yan Zhou still dare to say it was bad?

Not to mention a high monk, even an ordinary monk from Daci’en Temple in Chang’an had more authority than Bai Yun.

He was truly a master.

If the true master said it was a good omen, why did the second-rate master Bai Yun say it was a bad omen?

Each divination has its own method, but over the centuries, countless divination books have been written, and it is a field of study with some margin of error, but not that much.

What was the problem?

If they could invite a high monk from Chang’an to divine, why would they want to kill Bai Yun?

Just one move cleared all the suspicions and dispelled the clouds over the two families’ marriage alliance.

"There’s another piece of news... A great scholar has come to Fu Zhou, and he is serving as the magistrate of Yunyan County."

"Who?"

"Zhang Zai, also known as Zhang Zihou."

Zhang Zai’s Guanxue was not yet fully formed, but when he passed the imperial examination and was waiting for an official post in the capital, Wen Yanbo deliberately set up a tiger-skin chair in the State Temple and invited him to lecture the scholars of the capital on the I Ching, thus making him famous throughout the land.

"Zhang Zai..." Wang Ju’s eyes lit up.

Although his knowledge was from a different system than what he was learning now, he had dabbled in ancient texts and was a top student. Therefore, he looked down on Yan Zhou’s state school. But Zhang Zai was different.

It’s like a famous Peking Opera actor wanting to learn pop music. They wouldn’t apprentice to a third-rate singer, at most they would exchange ideas. But if it were a top singer, they would have to humble themselves.

"Little brother, why don’t you become his disciple?" Li Zhen joked.

He was joking, but he didn’t know that Wang Ju was really tempted.

Li Zhen wanted to probe Wang Ju’s thoughts but didn’t have the heart to ask. So he and Zhu Qing returned to Yan Zhou city, but the disagreements in the village grew larger.

Yuan Heizi had a point. In winter, everyone was resting, but Yuan Heizi and his apprentices were always working by the furnace. This wasn’t the main issue. What to do next?

Spring was coming, and every household was preparing for farming, which was very busy. If they had to divide their attention to work on iron, it would certainly affect their farming. So Wang Quan discussed with everyone for a long time and went to see Yuan Heizi, offering each person one guan as a subsidy.

This small amount of money seemed like a tip, and he was amused. He decided to be blunt and asked, "What right do you have to divide this money?"

The profit from a product mainly comes from technology, cost, production, transportation, sales, and interpersonal relationships, as well as management.

The technology mainly came from Wang Ju.

Without Wang Ju’s carbon steel and peculiar quenching technique, it would be hard to replicate the Xia Guo sword!

Moreover, was the hundred-fold forging technique of the Tang Dynasty really as simple as forging a hundred times? If so, the cost of a single mao dao might approach several hundred guan, and the Tang Dynasty’s meager finances couldn’t afford to equip a mao dao regiment with such expensive weapons. Even if it were possible, the effect might not be that good.

So there are two theories in later generations: one is a special alloy technique, and the other is a composite blade. Wang Ju suspected that the Xia Guo sword was actually a special alloy technique, or else the Song Dynasty would have replicated it long ago.

As for the cost, the initial cost was the entire village’s. Although Wang Ju used a strategy to defeat the Black Bee Bandits, the salt profits were always nearly evenly distributed among the villagers. Without the swords from that victory, there wouldn’t have been good steel, at least good iron, to forge the carbonized iron. Otherwise, transporting iron ore to the village for smelting would require the technology and cost.

But the profits from that victory were shared. The iron ore and other materials that came later were initially paid for by the Zhu family, and the costs were deducted during the final profit-sharing. The village was poor, and the money they received was quickly spent.

So the costs for the second and third batches had nothing to do with the village.

The producers were Yuan Heizi and his apprentices.

Transportation and sales were handled by the Zhu family.

Interpersonal relationships were also managed by the Zhu family.

Management, including accounting and planning, was handled by the Zhu family on one side and Wang Ju on the other.

If the profit-sharing followed the usual pattern, the Zhu family would take the largest share, followed by Wang Ju, and then Yuan Heizi and his apprentices.

This is why Wang Ju was unwilling to move the workshop to Yan Zhou city. The Zhu family was large and had many people, and with many people, there are many ideas. If not handled well, he might not become a benefactor but an enemy.

As for the villagers, they either helped move the finished iron when it arrived.

What kind of contribution is that?

A few tips would be nice, but why should they get a share of the profits?

PS: Guanxue vs. Luoxue, the Fangshuo Party, the New Party, the Shu Party, and the Luo Party are already chaotic enough. Adding a Guan Party shouldn’t be a problem.