Chapter 575: Snowflakes Fluttering
Meanwhile, in Jishan County, where the chemical factory was bustling with cheerful progress.
Over in Xi'an Prefecture.
Trouble was brewing at the government-operated Celestial Fertilizer store.
During their last visit to Chengcheng County, Wu Shen and Shi Kefa had discussed the Celestial Fertilizer trade with Liang Shixian. Afterward, Gao Family Village's first middle school graduates had meticulously calculated the costs, arriving at a highly reasonable price.
Shi Kefa subsequently procured a substantial quantity of Celestial Fertilizer from Chengcheng County and transported it to Xi'an, where it was put up for sale in the official government store.
The previous year, Chengcheng County had provided free Celestial Fertilizer to Xi'an for trial use by farmers, and its effects had been nothing short of miraculous. Consequently, when the fertilizer store opened its doors this year, it instantly captured widespread attention. Many common folk living near the Wei River, whose farmlands had escaped the drought, flocked to purchase the precious commodity.
However, trouble, as it often does, arrived right on cue.
Landowners weren't confined to the common people; the gentry and high officials possessed vast estates. And in Xi'an Prefecture, there was one particularly formidable and influential figure, a true imperial noble: the Prince of Qin.
At this time, Prince Su of Qin, Zhu Yihuan, was deceased, and a new Prince of Qin had not yet been formally enfeoffed (as previously mentioned, the court was embroiled in a dispute between the emperor and civil officials over the appointment, leaving the position in limbo). Zhu Cunji, as the Prince of Qin's heir, was the de facto head of the Prince of Qin's mansion.
Naturally, the Prince of Qin's household coveted the Celestial Fertilizer as well. More than that, they desired a prodigious amount.
And not merely a prodigious amount, but exclusive access!
Just then, a minor steward from the Prince of Qin's estate, leading a large contingent of household retainers, was causing a ruckus in the Celestial Fertilizer store. The retainers, armed with clubs, had already smashed the store's tables and chairs to smithereens and were now bundling up and making off with all the Celestial Fertilizer displayed for sale.
The store manager had been beaten, his head bleeding freely.
The minor steward, still gripping his club, jabbed it at the manager's bloodied face. "We offered you a chance to be sensible and sell to the estate at a discount, but no, you had to play the stubborn fool and refuse! Wasn't that just asking for this? Now, I won't give you a single copper coin. We're taking it all. What are you going to do?"
The manager clutched the wound on his scalp, blood gushing forth, staining half his face. "Don't be reckless!" he gasped. "This shipment was personally overseen by Lord Wu Shen and Lord Shi Kefa! The selling price is fixed by strict decree and cannot be altered..."
Thwack!
The steward struck the manager again with his club. "Who the hell is Wu Shen? And Shi Kefa? Do you even know who I am, you damn fool?"
The manager fell silent.
"Stop this instant!" A furious roar echoed from the entrance of the Celestial Fertilizer store. Shi Kefa strode swiftly inside, snatched the club from the minor steward's grasp, and thundered, "Have you lost your minds?! Is there no imperial law left? This is a government establishment, and you dare assault people here? Is there no justice? No legal recourse whatsoever?"
The minor steward scoffed. "Well, well, if it isn't Lord Shi. Tsk, tsk, tsk. I'd advise Lord Shi not to meddle in matters that don't concern him."
"Matters that don't concern me?" Shi Kefa trembled with indignation. "I am the Judicial Commissioner of Xi'an, charged with administering criminal justice and upholding legal codes! Your heinous acts here fall precisely within my purview!"
The minor steward sneered. "Do you truly believe your authority extends to the Prince of Qin's estate?"
Shi Kefa retorted, "What *about* the Prince of Qin's estate? Even they must abide by reason!"
The minor steward's voice rose. "Today, I choose to be unreasonable! Guards, start moving it!"
The Prince of Qin's retainers immediately began to carry out the Celestial Fertilizer.
Shi Kefa was incandescent with rage. "Stop, all of you! Who *dares* to lay a hand on it?"
The retainers' movements momentarily froze.
But the minor steward bellowed, "Move it! Get everything moved! I'd like to see what Lord Shi can possibly do to stop us!"
Shi Kefa, fuming, yelled, "Guards! Seize every one of these ruffians!"
At his command, the constables and yamen runners who had accompanied him should have stepped forward to make arrests. Yet, after Shi Kefa's furious cry, he discovered not a single one had moved to his aid. Instead, they were in full retreat, melting into the throng of onlookers and vanishing without a trace.
Unlike imperial officials, constables and yamen runners weren't rotated every three years; they were all local men. And being local meant no one dared to openly defy the formidable Prince of Qin's estate.
Shi Kefa was speechless.
The minor steward burst into triumphant laughter. "Move it!"
The retainers joined in the mockery, resuming their work. In short order, the entire store was emptied of Celestial Fertilizer, all of it plundered by the Prince of Qin's household.
Shi Kefa, a civilian official armed with nothing but his indignation, was utterly helpless against the thuggish retainers. He could only watch, his eyes burning, as they swaggered away with their ill-gotten gains.
"I will memorialize against the Prince of Qin's estate!" Shi Kefa declared, his voice raw. "I will definitely impeach the Prince of Qin's mansion! Just you wait!"
The minor steward merely laughed, "Go on, then. See what good it does you!"
Silence descended upon the street, broken only by the pained groans of the injured Celestial Fertilizer store manager and his young assistant, sprawled on the ground. The crowd of onlookers, seething with unspoken fury, dared not utter a single word, not one person stepping forward to intervene.
The farmers who had been patiently queuing outside for the Celestial Fertilizer scattered like startled birds, their hopes dashed.
Tears streamed freely from Shi Kefa's eyes. "How could this happen? How could this *possibly* happen?"
The Celestial Fertilizer, procured with funds from the imperial treasury, had been brazenly stolen. Given Shi Kefa's intimate understanding of officialdom, he knew with absolute certainty that it would never be recovered.
The nation's coffers had been plundered, with no hope of restitution!
Even if the Emperor were to learn of this incident, he would likely do nothing to the Prince of Qin. The Emperor perpetually felt he owed the Prince, wishing he could lavish even more gifts upon him. To trouble the Prince over a mere batch of Celestial Fertilizer was utterly unthinkable.
The Celestial Fertilizer, meant for the common people, had been diverted entirely to the Prince of Qin's estate. Come next year's harvest, the peasants' fields, lacking the divine supplement, would yield their usual meager returns, barely enough to pay taxes. Meanwhile, the Prince of Qin's land, enriched by the stolen fertilizer, would see its yield double—yet contribute not a single copper coin in imperial revenue.
The imperial coffers faced expenditures with no corresponding income.
A virtuous cycle could have been established: purchase Celestial Fertilizer cheaply, sell it at a slight markup, use the profits to buy even more fertilizer, distribute it to more farmers, thereby boosting crop yields, increasing tax revenue, and funding further fertilizer purchases. This entire beneficial loop, however, had been brutally severed by the Prince of Qin's brazen act.
Shi Kefa wept openly. "Why? Why must it be like this? No!"
Suddenly, snowflakes began to drift down from the heavens. It was the heart of winter, and Xi'an's relentless rain had finally given way to snow.
Snowflakes swirled on the desolate north wind, blanketing the world in a vast, mournful expanse of white...
Shi Kefa suddenly recalled the words spoken by the Saintess, Gao Yiye, during his visit to Gao Family Village: "Advanced productivity must be accompanied by an equally advanced political system. If the political structure has grown old and corrupt, it will inevitably drag down progress."
Why did that particular pronouncement echo in his mind at this moment?
This was not a truth he was meant to question!
He was a loyal subject of the Great Ming! Surely, he could find an argument to defend the imperial court!
Yet, try as he might to rationalize, the words simply wouldn't come.
He sank to the ground with a thud.
He didn't know how long he remained there, motionless, as the falling snow gradually transformed him into a silent, slumped snowman. Then, Wu Shen approached from the distance, extending a hand to pull him to his feet, dusting the white powder from his robes. "Come now," Wu Shen sighed, "let us swallow our pride and make another journey to Chengcheng County."
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