Chapter 22: Hired Hands

Chen Fan sat in the Kaixing Tavern, engrossed in the laws of the Great Zhou. He had initially wondered how extensive or sophisticated ancient laws could truly be, yet he never expected them to span fifteen volumes. The legal code itself contained over 500,000 characters, consisting of a single volume of statutes accompanied by fourteen volumes of commentaries. These commentaries provided detailed explanations for the rationale behind each law.

These were not the simplified versions sold in bookstores for the general public; these were copies from the county archives. When Qu Yuan, the Left Minister and high official responsible for drafting the legal reforms, established these laws, he compiled his legal philosophy into these fourteen volumes and distributed them to every county government to ensure that officials fully understood the intent behind the statutes. Each volume contained hundreds of thousands of characters, covering not only the historical reasons for the laws but also humanistic anecdotes, local customs, and court etiquette.

Chen Fan had not intended to read them all, but the writing was so compelling and engaging that it never felt tedious. He realized that by finishing these books, he could gain a profound understanding of the Great Zhou. His admiration for Qu Yuan, a man he had long heard of, only deepened. He had been so captivated by the books that he had been reading them for days, having already revisited several of them twice.

Suddenly, Yu Qi hurried into the tavern, heading straight toward him.

"Master Yu, what brings you here in such a rush?" Yue'e, seeing his haste, asked with concern.

"Where is your husband? The County Magistrate has an urgent matter for him!"

Yue'e did not hesitate and called upstairs, "Master! The County Magistrate needs you urgently!"

The patrons were momentarily startled by the sudden shout, but they soon returned to their meals. Chen Fan, hearing the call, set down his book and hurried downstairs. Yu Qi grabbed him without a word and pulled him toward the yamen.

"Brother Yu, what has made you so anxious this time?"

"Brother Chen, you may not know this, but while the Magistrate has been gently reforming the administration over the past year, he has secretly sent me and the secretaries to focus entirely on reviving agriculture. He spent almost all the funds allocated by the imperial court. The farmland in Zeng County was barren and uncultivated, so to ensure a food supply, he secretly hired women to work the fields. While there is nothing inherently wrong with women farming, the imperial court, seeking to curb this practice, has explicitly forbidden government involvement in such arrangements. He could be attacked by his political rivals for this. As far as I know, people in the commandery are already impeaching him."

"And what of it? The Magistrate acted for the sake of the 60,000 people in this county! What crime is there in that? Once the autumn harvest is over, Zeng County will be self-sufficient and able to pay its full taxes. Which other magistrate in the entire Chu Commandery can boast such achievements in less than a year?"

"But an accident has occurred! The county's farmland is located in nearby villages where young women were doing the tilling, but now those young women have disappeared without a trace! Only the elderly, weak, and sick remain, leaving us severely short-handed. If we fail to bring in this autumn harvest, the Magistrate will have no funds left to maintain peace and order in the county."

Chen Fan realized the gravity of the situation. He remained silent, brow furrowed, as he followed Yu Qi to the yamen.

"Your subordinate pays his respects to the Magistrate!"

"No need for formalities. Do you know why I summoned you?"

"Reporting to the Magistrate, Yu Qi has already informed me of the situation on the way. I have indeed thought of some remedial measures, but I need to ask you a few things to see if they are feasible."

"Go ahead, ask whatever you wish."

"Does the Magistrate lack the funds to hire workers from the town to help with the harvest in the countryside?"

"The remaining funds are only enough to pay the salaries of the public officials. I cannot leave these diligent officers to work on empty stomachs."

"Are there enough men in the countryside to harvest the crops?"

"The countryside is different from the town. Farming is arduous, and often men and women work together. While the men handle the heavy lifting, the women perform all manner of tasks. Now, with more men than women and a low population to begin with, the disappearance of the young, strong women means that even if the men work day and night, they can only harvest one-third of the crops!"

"What if we mobilize people from the town? How many would be needed?"

"At least a thousand!"

"But where would the funds for wages come from? And how would we feed these thousand people? If we use the grain from the granaries to feed them, the reserves will only last another half-month! The year-end temple fair would then have to be canceled!"

"Magistrate, worry no more. I have a plan. Please allow me to present it for your decision."

"First, we can have the current villagers harvest the first batch of grain, which will then serve as rations for the hired workers. By the time the main harvest is completed, we will have secured the grain we need for turnover."

"But it will be difficult to hire that many people to go to the villages. The cost of labor in town is very high, and most women follow the instructions of the men in their families; it is hard to get them to work in the villages."

"Magistrate, do not worry! We have opened five new taverns in the last few days and are preparing to launch some promotions to attract business!"

Before Chen Fan could finish, Magistrate Cao slammed his teacup onto the desk. He lowered his head, refusing to look at Chen Fan. Secretary Du, having worked with the Magistrate for years, knew he was angry and quickly signaled for Chen Fan to stop.

"Chen Fan, we know your business acumen; we saw it in your policy papers. The Magistrate trusts you to manage the taverns, but we are here to solve the problem of the autumn harvest. Why bring this up?"

"Magistrate, you may not realize it, but the solution to this crisis lies within the taverns themselves!"

The Magistrate loosened his grip on the teacup and looked at Chen Fan. "How can that solve our predicament? If you have a method, explain it in detail."

"Magistrate, the taverns have many customers, but far fewer than we expected. Although we keep prices as fair as possible, most of our ingredients are meat, which cannot be cheap. However, the deliciousness of our tavern's food is known to all. According to our research, the people of the county consider dining at our tavern a personal goal. We can launch a promotion, using tavern discounts to attract workers!"

Magistrate Cao looked puzzled, his brow still furrowed. "Can you be more specific about how this will attract workers?"

"We can offer the workers who participate in the autumn harvest several days of free meals as a reward, or issue them discount vouchers to lower the cost of future meals!"

Magistrate Cao pondered for a moment, and his brow finally smoothed. "This is an excellent idea! I believe it is a viable strategy. I leave it to you to execute! Secretary Du, take Chen Fan and make the arrangements. I need to rest for a while."

Secretary Du, knowing the Magistrate was exhausted from the stress of the past few days, led Chen Fan out to begin the preparations, leaving the Magistrate to rest.