Chapter 88

When the visitor entered the room, Li Dayong stood up first and said respectfully, "Dayong greets Mr. Kong."

Han Tong’s face also showed a hint of apprehension as he stood up and clasped his hands.

The visitor was Kong Minxing, the advisor to the governor of Datong, Wen Qiu.

Lingqiu and five other counties, along with Shuozhou, Yingzhou, and three other prefectures, and the Datong prefecture, as well as the border forts and horse markets, were all under the jurisdiction of the governor of Datong. In terms of administration, Lingqiu and other areas were managed by the Shanxi Board of Civil Affairs, and above that, they were under the jurisdiction of the governor of Datong. This special arrangement was made to strengthen the power and territory of the Datong garrison and its governor. Han Tong’s superior was the left censor, the highest administrative official in Shanxi, but now Kong Minxing, representing the governor of Datong, had entered. In the political landscape of the Ming Dynasty, the governor was the local lord with the power of life and death, while the Board of Civil Affairs and the Board of Censors, along with the military commissioner, had become subordinates of the governor.

Zhu Qingyu could ignore the Shanxi general and the Datong general, but he did not have the courage to ignore the governor of Datong. The status difference between the two was like the difference between heaven and earth. In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the governor was only a temporary position to unify local authority and prevent the three boards from shirking responsibility. This was a necessary move to strengthen central authority and weaken local centrifugal forces. Later scholars, such as Meng Sen, discussed the central and local power dynamics in China, and the establishment of governors and inspectors in the Ming Dynasty was a helpless move in the central-local power struggle.

Since the mid-Ming Dynasty, the power of the governors had grown, and Zhu Qingyu did not dare to be disrespectful to a governor’s advisor like Kong Minxing.

"Please sit down, everyone." Kong Minxing, with the demeanor of a refined gentleman, invited everyone to sit down. After they were seated, he looked at Zhang Han and smiled, "This must be Young Master Zhang. On the way here, I heard Brother Zunlu praise you highly. I didn’t expect that even after meeting you, I still feel that Brother Zunlu was too modest. Your demeanor and presence are truly remarkable, far surpassing any other merchant."

Zhang Han stood up and smiled, "Brother Zhi, you flatter me."

Zhang Han and Li Shenming were sworn brothers, and Li Shenming and Kong Minxing were close friends. Zhang Han did not want to appear aloof and distant from Kong Minxing. After calling him "Brother Zhi," everyone in the room could sense the underlying meaning.

"Additionally, I heard that there was some misunderstanding between Young Master Zhang and Mr. Han here, so I rushed over." Kong Minxing looked at Zhu Qingyu and said, "Is the matter resolved?"

Zhu Qingyu looked somewhat embarrassed and glanced at Han Tong.

Han Tong, with a narrow mind, was still unwilling to let go. He clasped his hands and said, "Mr. Kong, you may not know, but the situation is quite intense. I fear I cannot control it..."

"What do you mean?" Kong Minxing was taken aback. "Don’t you have soldiers?"

He turned to Zhu Qingyu and said, "I’ll write a note to the garrison commander, asking him to send two hundred soldiers. If that’s not enough, we can ask the eastern route commander, Lai Tongxin, for a few hundred more cavalry. I’ll report this to the military commissioner. Brother Ke, this is official business, and I don’t want to delay it."

Kong Minxing then sat down and asked for paper and ink. This made Zhu Qingyu very awkward, and his gaze toward Han Tong was quite unfriendly.

Han Tong was extremely angry and thought about telling his cousin, the Shanxi censor in Taiyuan, about this. However, he could only coldly say, "There’s no need to send soldiers or scare people. I will control the situation when I return. This time, if Mr. Zhang can provide a thousand taels for medicine, it will be enough."

Zhang Han looked at Han Tong and knew he was a stubborn and unreasonable person, completely unaware of what was right. No wonder the Han family was hated in Lingqiu. With Han Tong in charge and their background and power, they must have been extremely arrogant and tyrannical, offending many people.

"A thousand taels?" Kong Minxing frowned, thinking it was an exorbitant demand.

Zhang Han, however, smiled and said, "A thousand taels it is. My furnace can double production daily, so a few taels of silver are not a concern."

Li Dayong and others were surprised, and Han Tong was also taken aback. Typically, iron production was limited to a certain amount: two thousand taels for a small furnace and four thousand for a large one, with a maximum of two hundred days of operation per year. Doubling production would mean doubling profits.

For Li Dayong’s furnace, this would mean annual profits of ten thousand taels, though some would be distributed, the net gain would still be significant.

Of course, no one would ask how Zhang Han achieved this, as the technical details were a trade secret.

Sun Anle, however, recalled Zhang Han’s permission for Sun Jington to go to the mountains and felt a surge of excitement.

"Let’s leave it at that. I’ll take my leave."

Han Tong was uncertain and worried. If Zhang Han’s furnace really had such high production, it would be a severe blow to the Han family. At the very least, Zhang Han could use low prices to capture the Han family’s market share. No matter how powerful the Han family was, they couldn’t force people to buy only their iron.

After Han Tong left, Zhang Han, Li Shenming, and Kong Minxing also took their leave. Zhu Qingyu wanted to keep Kong Minxing, the governor’s favorite, but seeing that Zhang Han and the others clearly wanted to gather privately, he regretted not showing kindness to Zhang Han earlier. Now, even if he tried to make amends, it would be too late.

On the way, Li Shenming and Zhang Han chatted and introduced Kong Minxing’s background. Zhang Han was already a well-known merchant in Datong, and Kong Minxing had heard of him. During the transfer of Zhang Quanchang to the Shanxi garrison, the governor of Datong, Wen Qiu, had helped, and Zhang Han had given the governor two hundred taels of silver. They had some prior contact, but this was their first real meeting.

Entering Zhang Han’s residence in Lingqiu, they walked through the corridor when a light rain started. Kong Minxing, with a hint of distress in his voice, said, "It’s time to plant wheat, but the rain keeps falling. In spring, when we need rain, it doesn’t come at all... This damned weather!"

Kong Minxing, a scholar with a reputation in his hometown of Qingzhou, had published several poetry collections and was a minor celebrity. But at that moment, stomping his feet and cursing the sky, he seemed quite hearty.

Li Shenming laughed, "Let’s sit down and make tea. Cursing won’t help."

Zhang Han also smiled. The weather was unfavorable, but no one blamed it on Emperor Wanli’s moral failings. Emperor Wanli stayed in the palace, didn’t select beauties, sent fewer tax collectors, and didn’t travel to the south or build lavish palaces. Scholars were privately dissatisfied with Wanli but didn’t attribute the weather to his actions. It was only during the reign of Emperor Tianqi, when Wei Zhongxian was heavily favored, that scholars blamed the weather on the emperor’s use of eunuchs and corrupt officials. After Wei Zhongxian’s fall, the weather remained poor, and the scholars were silent.

Zhang Han didn’t want to get involved in these matters and didn’t say much. He just had a set of tea utensils brought over, boiled water on a small stove, added tea leaves, and listened to the bubbling sound. He then cleaned the tea utensils with boiling water and served the fragrant tea to Kong Minxing and Li Shenming.

Zhang Xuezeng, who was still upset, had gone to rest and did not join them.

"Good tea, so fragrant."

Kong Minxing nodded and sipped the tea, savoring it until the aroma filled his nostrils. He then opened his eyes and looked at Zhang Han, "Where did you get this tea?"

"It’s just ordinary Jixian white tea," Zhang Han smiled. "Perhaps Brother Zhi was thirsty."

Li Shenming said, "It’s just that Wenlan’s tea-making skills are excellent, that’s all."

Zhang Han smiled, "I have no other hobbies and don’t read much, so I might have a bit of a coppery smell. I can only drink more tea. Tea is also a gentleman’s drink."

The three laughed. After chatting for a while, Kong Minxing was truly impressed by Zhang Han’s demeanor and broad knowledge. Many things were unknown to those who hadn’t traveled widely, let alone read extensively. Although Zhang Han’s education in the modern era only went up to junior high school, the information explosion and his later self-study gave him a breadth of knowledge that even a top scholar or a Hanlin academician might not match.

"Wenlan, I can’t help but ask," Kong Minxing smiled. "The increase in iron production you mentioned, there must be some secret behind it, right?"

"Of course, there are some arrangements," Zhang Han smiled. "But the increase in production and energy savings are real."

"Unfortunately, I have other matters to attend to," Kong Minxing regretfully said. "Otherwise, I would have stayed to see it for myself."

"It’s just a minor technique, not worth much."

Zhang Han planned to use the method described in Song Yingxing’s "Tiangong Kaiwu" from thirty years later. It was simple and effective. Zhang Han had read many miscellaneous works from the Ming and Qing dynasties, including various notes and specialized books. At the time, he found them interesting and read them casually, but now he realized that his reading had not been in vain, and he had gained many useful insights.

"Even minor techniques have their uses," Kong Minxing smiled. "People say miscellaneous studies are useless, but I strongly disagree."

Li Shenming then introduced, "Brother Zhi is from Tianjin. His examiner for the provincial exam was Xuanhu Gong."

Zhang Han respectfully said, "Is that Xu Shaozhan, the Grand Secretary?"

"Yes, my teacher."

Kong Minxing’s face was full of pride, and he seemed very pleased with Zhang Han’s attitude.

Li Shenming smiled, took a sip of tea, and continued, "Xuanhu Gong was an expert in hydraulics, astronomy, astrology, agriculture, geometry, and even foreign languages. He was a genius in every field. Some criticized him for indulging in miscellaneous studies, but I say, let those who criticize him reach half his level in Confucian studies before they speak."

"Spoken well," Kong Minxing took a sip of tea, his face showing a hint of indignation, but it quickly subsided.