"Hall Master! Hall Master! Help!"
When Pang Yu rushed into the Water Course Hall, he almost kicked the threshold flying.
He was fat and ran in a hurry, so his belly crashed through the door first, while his two feet were still kicking wildly outside. After coming in, he leaned against a pillar and panted for a long time before shouting at the top of his voice.
"Old Man Qian is about to compensate his daughter to the boat boss!"
In the room, Xu Wuyou was sitting behind the long table eating a baked wheat cake.
The baked wheat cake was fresh out of the oven, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, stuffed with half a spoonful of scallion oil, and crumbs fell off when bitten.
Spread out beside his hand was a booklet of dock gossip sent over last night, which recorded all the arguments among boat households, gang members collecting money, queuing at the lock gates, whose boat leaked at the bottom, and which shopkeeper secretly changed the name of the goods.
Hearing Pang Yu's shout, Xu Wuyou didn't stop biting the baked wheat cake, but only turned a page of the booklet.
"Compensating his daughter?"
He spoke vaguely: "Did his daughter agree?"
Pang Yu was stuck for a moment and was almost confused by this question.
"Hall Master, are you still asking if she agrees at this time? That girl is crying so hard she can't even stand steadily. Old Man Qian is kneeling in the mud, and the people from the trading company are holding a contract and forcing him to press his fingerprint!"
Xu Wuyou swallowed the baked wheat cake and picked up the teacup to take a gulp.
"Which trading company?"
"Guangyi Trading Company, the one making tea bricks at the South Dock. The shopkeeper's surname is Lu. He usually looks down his nose at people, refuses to queue when passing the lock, and always delays paying the river protection fee."
Xu Wuyou's hand turning the booklet stopped.
Guangyi Trading Company.
He had seen this name three times in the past few days.
The first time was grabbing the shipping schedule, the second time was falsely reporting the weight of the goods, and the third time was borrowing the water tablet of the Tongji Water Transport Association to travel on a branch river.
Xu Qinghuan had written in her letter that in a place like the Water Transport Gang, don't just swing a knife right away. First see who depends on which waterway for a living, then see what whose goods are afraid of, and finally press down on the lock gate.
The Water Course Hall was not a government office, but its sentence "The water is not smooth tonight" could trap people until the goods rotted in the cabin.
Xu Wuyou wrapped the baked wheat cake back in the oiled paper and stood up.
"Let's go and have a look."
Pang Yu was overjoyed and turned to call for people.
Xu Wuyou raised his hand to stop him.
"Don't call too many people. Bring one accountant, two Old Oarsmans who estimate goods, and call four fast-legged ones to follow. We are going to reason, not to grab the dock."
Pang Yu grinned: "Hall Master, when you reason, do you bring a knife in your hand?"
Xu Wuyou hung the short knife by the table on his waist and lifted his foot to walk out.
"Reasoning also requires making people listen."
The South Dock was not far from the Water Course Hall, and the noise by the river could be heard after passing two narrow alleys.
At this time, the river water had risen by half a foot, the wooden stakes on the bank were wet, and the straw sandals of the trackers stepped into the mud and made a smacking sound when pulled out.
Many people were gathered on the dock. Boat households, porters, and peddlers carrying loads all squeezed in the outer circle, and no one dared to walk inside.
Old Man Qian knelt in the river mud, his hair a mess, half of his clothes soaked, and a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl stood beside him, her face full of tear stains, clutching half a torn handkerchief in her hand.
In front of him lay a contract.
Shopkeeper Lu wore a fine cloth gown, his cuffs rolled up high, and more than a dozen guys behind him blocked the boat plank, while two other strong men pressed Old Man Qian's shoulders.
"Press!"
Shopkeeper Lu held an abacus, and the abacus beads clicked loudly.
"You smashed the cargo boxes of my Guangyi Trading Company. The cargo damage is five hundred taels. Your boat is worthless, and your house is worthless. What else does your old Qian family have? Your daughter goes to work on my boat for ten years, and I will wipe out this account for you."
Old Man Qian's voice was hoarse.
"Shopkeeper Lu, my boat was squeezed onto the bank stakes by your big boat. We are a small boat, and you came over sideways. We couldn't dodge!"
"Not being able to dodge means your skills are poor."
Shopkeeper Lu pushed the contract forward.
"Making a living on the water, you pay if you hit the goods. Do I still need to teach you this rule?"
The boatmen around moved, and someone wanted to speak, but a guy next to him poked a stick on the ground, and that person stepped back again.
Xu Wuyou walked into the crowd, with Pang Yu clearing the way in front.
"Make way, the Water Course Hall is here."
As these words fell, the dock quieted down by half.
Shopkeeper Lu turned his head and saw that it was Xu Wuyou. He squeezed out a little politeness on his face, but his waist didn't bend.
"Hall Master Xu, today's matter is a private account between my Guangyi Trading Company and Old Man Qian. According to the rules of water transport, one pays for cargo damage oneself. The Water Course Hall manages shipping schedules and waterways, but it doesn't manage people's household affairs, right?"
Xu Wuyou didn't rush to answer, but first looked at Old Man Qian and then at the girl.
"Has the contract been pressed?"
The girl shook her head, tears falling.
Old Man Qian raised his hand tremblingly.
"No, no pressing. Hall Master, I really can't afford to pay."
"Please judge for us. I've pulled boats for the dock all my life and never reneged on a debt. But five hundred taels, I couldn't scrape it together even if I sold my bones."
Xu Wuyou squatted down, picked up the contract, scanned two lines, and stretched out his hand again.
"Cargo damage list."
Shopkeeper Lu handed over the list, his tone hardening a bit.
"Hall Master Xu, the list is here. It's written clearly on the box. Northern medicinal materials, damaged by water. Five hundred taels is only less, not more."
Xu Wuyou flipped through it and suddenly laughed and cursed.
"The boxes of yours are filled with tea bricks, but it says medicinal materials. Paying you five hundred taels, is it enough to buy another ancestor?"
Someone in the crowd couldn't hold back and puffed out a laugh.
The politeness on Shopkeeper Lu's face disappeared.
"Hall Master Xu, speak cautiously. The Guangyi Trading Company does legitimate business."
"Legitimate?"
Xu Wuyou held up the cargo list and pointed at the words on it.
"Tea bricks go to the South Dock, pay taxes according to tea goods, and have to report the weight separately when passing the lock. Medicinal materials go through the urgent cargo channel, checkpoints are loose, and the river protection fee is also 30% less."
"You wrote tea bricks as medicinal materials, pasted an urgent cargo label on the outside of the box, ranked the shipping schedule in front, and paid less money on the way. Now that the box is hit, you ask a poor boat household for five hundred taels at the price of medicinal materials."
He slapped the cargo list on Shopkeeper Lu's chest.
"Shopkeeper Lu, your abacus is really loud. It can be heard across two rivers."
The guys behind Shopkeeper Lu became restless, and the two strong men pressed forward half a step.
Pang Yu jumped out on the spot.
"What are you doing? Want to touch the Hall Master? Is your Guangyi Trading Company going to rebel today?"
Xu Wuyou raised his hand, and Pang Yu shut his mouth.
He turned his head to look at the Old Oarsman he brought.
"Inspect the goods."
The Old Oarsman was old and had a bit of a hunched back, but once on the boat, his hands and feet were nimble.
He took two old hands who estimated goods, opened the broken boxes, moved out the wet tea bricks one by one, pinched the edges, looked at the water line, weighed them, and scraped the mud from the bottom of the boxes to smell it.
The accountant sat on a wooden block next to him, and the abacus beads were pushed over row by row.
No one on the dock spoke.
There was only the river water slapping the bottom of the boat and the wooden boards creaking when stepped on.
After half an incense stick of time, the Old Oarsman got off the boat, still holding half a tea brick in his hand.
"Hall Master, three boxes are broken, and two layers of tea bricks are wet. They can be dried and won't be damaged too much. Converted according to today's market price, eighteen taels and two mace. Wipe out the fraction, eighteen taels."
The accountant followed and reported.
"The boat channels collided. The big boat of Guangyi cut across the berth, grabbing the channel first. Old Man Qian's small boat couldn't avoid it in time. According to the old rules of water transport, Old Man Qian bears 30%, and Guangyi bears 70%."
"If calculated separately according to the mismatch of cargo names that the Hall Master just found out, the Guangyi Trading Company still has to make up the river protection fee."
Shopkeeper Lu couldn't help it.
"Xu Wuyou, how many days have you been at the Water Course Hall? Is it your turn to change the old rules on this dock?"
Xu Wuyou walked up to him, raised his hand to take that half of a tea brick, and handed it under Shopkeeper Lu's nose.
"I didn't change the rules. I handle things according to the rules."
Shopkeeper Lu gritted his teeth.
"If you protect Old Man Qian today, who will ever own up to their debts before the Waterway Hall in the future? When merchant firms suffer cargo damage, the boatmen will just blame it on the big ships fighting for the right of way. Can you bear that responsibility?"
Xu Wuyou turned to face the docks. His voice was not loud, but every word fell clearly upon the crowd.
"Making a living on the water means if you damage cargo, you pay for it. No one can shirk that. But using tea bricks to pass off as medicinal herbs, using eighteen taels of cargo damage to extort five hundred taels, and then forcing a man to sell his daughter—do you call that business?"
Someone in the crowd chimed in.
"That is called eating people alive!"
As soon as those words were spoken, the boatmen were all riled up.
"Right, eating people!"
"Old Man Qian's boat might be battered, but he has hauled cargo for the docks for twenty years and never once owed river protection fees!"
"Guangyi Merchant Firm stole my berth last time, too!"
Shopkeeper Lu turned around and cursed at them.
"Shut up! Whoever spouts nonsense again will never move Guangyi's cargo again!"
Those words only poked the hornet's nest.
The porters also surged forward.
Pang Yu stood with his hands on his hips, grinning so widely his teeth showed.
"Shopkeeper Lu, you sure are throwing your weight around. On the Waterway Hall's turf, you are using their livelihoods to threaten the boatmen and porters. Do you want to just go ahead and buy the river while you are at it?"
Xu Wuyou did not smile. He looked at Shopkeeper Lu.
"Today, I rule that Old Man Qian will pay eighteen taels of silver in compensation, to be cleared within three days. The Waterway Hall will stand as his guarantor. No one is allowed to force anyone into signing a slavery contract."
Old Man Qian lay prone in the mud, banging his head against the ground in kowtow.
"Hall Master, I will pay. I will smash my pots and sell the iron if I have to, but I will pay."
Xu Wuyou looked back at Shopkeeper Lu.
"Guangyi Merchant Firm secretly swapped cargo names to evade river protection fees. According to the rules of the Waterway Hall, you will pay three times the amount as a penalty. Accountant, pull up the shipping schedules for Guangyi passing through the South Dock over the past three months. Audit them item by item. Make them pay up every single missing copper."
The accountant immediately picked up his brush to record the order.
Shopkeeper Lu's face turned completely black.
"I refuse to accept this."
Xu Wuyou nodded.
"Fine."
He turned and instructed Pang Yu.
"Pass down the water tally. Guangyi Merchant Firm's shipping schedule is delayed by half a month. They will not be scheduled on the main river, they will not be granted pilotage on the tributaries, and no lanterns will be hung for them on the night channels. Whichever dock dares to privately receive Guangyi's cargo, the Waterway Hall will push their berthing schedule back by seven days."
Pang Yu responded loudly.
"You got it!"
Shopkeeper Lu panicked.
"Xu Wuyou! You dare halt my shipping schedule? My Guangyi Merchant Firm has backing!"
The moment these words came out, the Old Oarsmen all fell quiet.
This man had been rooted in the capital's waterways for years. His water tally allowed him access to thirty-six docks, and he had the backing of people in the Water Transport Office.
Guangyi Merchant Firm dared to be so arrogant precisely because of this backing.
Xu Wuyou merely patted the mud off the hem of his robes.
"The government controls whether you are permitted to pass, but the Waterway Hall controls whether you can actually make it through."
"You try to pressure me with the people behind you, so let the people behind you come talk to me themselves."
He paused, then added another blow.
"I will make a copy of your fake medicinal herb cargo manifests from the last three months and send it to the tax office. If you think the Waterway Hall's judgment is too light, we can take this to the authorities."
Shopkeeper Lu's throat bobbed, but no words came out for a long time.
The docks were quiet at first, and then someone slapped the deck of a boat.
"Good!"
"The Hall Master is reasonable!"
"Hall Master Xu has a backbone!"
Old Man Qian's daughter cried as she went to help her father up. Old Man Qian's legs were weak, and he could not rise. Pang Yu went over to lend a hand, and while he was at it, he tore the contract paper on the ground in half.
"This paper is written with such bad luck, it would even be too stiff to use as toilet paper in the outhouse."
The crowd burst into laughter.
Xu Wuyou did not linger. He had the accountant write the judgment on a slip, stamped it with the Waterway Hall's mark, and told an Old Oarsman to keep an eye on Old Man Qian to ensure he repaid the silver within three days.
On the way back to the Waterway Hall, Pang Yu was still excited.
"Hall Master, you were so satisfying to watch just now! Shopkeeper Lu's face was so black you could use it to scrub a pot."
Xu Wuyou did not respond to that.
The words 'people behind you' were still turning over in his mind.
Guangyi Merchant Firm secretly swapping cargo names, using the Tongji water tally to take the express cargo lanes... they were not just evading a few taels of silver. There had to be a whole string of people behind them.
The Waterway Hall controlled the waterways, but the waterways were tied to shipping schedules, shipping schedules were tied to cargo, cargo was tied to silver, and whose hands that silver ultimately flowed into—that was the fatal part.
By the time they returned to the Waterway Hall, the sky was completely dark.
A lamp was lit in the room, and half a cold sesame flatbread still sat on the table.
Xu Wuyou sat down. Without eating, he first dug out an old letter from a drawer.
It was a letter Xu Qinghuan had written to him before leaving the capital. The corners of the paper were frayed from how often he had turned them.
There were only a few lines written on it.
Brother, do not fight your way into the Water Transport Gang. You must consume it from within.
A knife can cut people, but it cannot cut a waterway. You must sit in the position of dispatcher, making them scramble to beg you.
You must be able to help the Xu family, and you can help the Xu family.
The Water Transport Gang is like a network of rivers. If you wish to control its flow, you must first control the floodgates. Empty titles are useless; true power is paramount.
Xu Wuyou stared at it for a long time, his finger pressing down on the word 'dispatcher'.
He used to find these matters too convoluted. Fighting was so much more straightforward; whoever refused to submit, he would just beat them.
But it was not until he stood on the docks that he truly tasted the weight of the Waterway Hall.
Shopkeeper Lu was not afraid of knives; he was afraid of his ships being halted. Merchant firms were not afraid of curses; they were afraid of their cargo rotting.
The merchant guilds were not afraid of a single Xu Wuyou; they were afraid of someone choking off the waterways.
This sort of thing was more insidious than a knife, and far more effective.
The Silver Accounting Room controlled the silver and ledgers, untouchable by outsiders. The Official Liaison Room connected with government officials and the gentry, and was certainly not a place someone who started out wielding a knife could easily sit in.
The Main Floodgate Room seemingly controlled the gates, but in reality, it was constrained at every turn by government documents. The Huoping Dock was highly lucrative, but ultimately, it was just a fat post at a single dock.
The truly crucial place was the Waterway Hall.
The Waterway Hall controlled the master shipping schedules, determined the routes, verified the water tallies, and dispatched the fleets. It judged whose cargo went first and whose ships were delayed; which open rivers were navigable and which old channels should be sealed; which floodgates required waiting and which hidden shoals could be crossed at night.
It did not stamp government documents, yet it could leave a ship with an official pass stranded at the dock, or allow a ship full of illicit cargo to drift silently thousands of miles away.
Only by sitting in the position of the Waterway Hall Master could one truly reach their hand into the very bones of the Water Transport Gang.
Xu Wuyou folded the narrow strip of paper and tucked it into his sleeve.
Qinghuan was risking her life in the Northern Borders, and the Xu family was walking a tightrope in the capital. As her older brother, he could not just know how to wield a knife and chop people down.
Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed outside again.
Pang Yu's voice crashed in all the way from the courtyard.
"Report! Hall Master, something terrible has happened!"
Xu Wuyou looked up.
Pang Yu rushed through the door, the excitement gone from his face, his forehead covered in sweat.
"A merchant ship carrying hidden gunpowder has entered the capital waterways, and the flag flying at its bow looks like... our main family's banner?!"
