Gao Yiye understood almost immediately. His gaze followed the departing merchant, already calculating the invisible lines of profit stretching toward the horizon.
"That man will definitely find a way to secure more of these shrimp," he said thoughtfully. "If he cannot get them directly from our ships, he will source them from coastal cities. Either way, a new trade route is about to open."
Bai Yuan smiled, clearly pleased by the direction of events. "And once that route forms, porters will have work, fishermen will have steady buyers, and the coastal towns will come alive. Commerce feeds more than just merchants."
Li Daoxuan gave a soft chuckle and gestured toward the neatly arranged slices of tuna laid over crushed ice. The flesh was a deep red, glistening faintly under the afternoon light.
"Enough theorizing. Try this. Raw fish slices. Incredibly good."
"Raw?" Gao Yiye hesitated, brows knitting together. "That sounds a little…"
Bai Yuan, far less burdened by culinary caution, had already picked up a slice with his chopsticks. He dipped it lightly into the seafood soy sauce, examined it for a brief second, and then placed it into his mouth.
His expression shifted.
One eyebrow lifted.
"Oh?" he murmured. "This is unexpectedly excellent."
Only after seeing Bai Yuan remain upright and breathing did Gao Yiye gather the courage to try a piece himself. The thick-cut tuna had a texture both tender and resilient, rich without being greasy, and when paired with the savory depth of the soy sauce, it carried a clean sweetness that lingered.
He blinked in surprise. "I never imagined raw fish could taste like this."
Li Daoxuan smiled with obvious satisfaction and waved over another merchant who had been hovering nearby, torn between curiosity and restraint.
"You there. Come taste this."
The merchant hurried over, bowed quickly, and accepted a slice. The moment it touched his tongue, his eyes widened as though someone had just whispered a secret about silver hidden beneath his own floorboards.
Li Daoxuan laughed at the transformation. "I will sell you several large fish like this at a low price. I will also provide a large block of ice and a box of seafood soy sauce. The rest is up to you. Figure out how to sell them."
The merchant nearly trembled with excitement. "Thank you, Dao Xuan Tianzun."
At those words, the surrounding merchants finally understood what was happening. This was not mere indulgence. This was distribution of opportunity. Dao Xuan Tianzun was assigning tasks in the most delicious way imaginable. Order replaced the earlier chaos as everyone lined up properly, waiting their turn to receive their share.
Before long, one merchant departed with two tubs of massive lobsters.
Another left with two tubs filled with large abalones.
Yet another staggered away under the weight of a basket packed with enormous crabs.
One by one, the seafood from the Zheng family's five great ships was distributed, each transaction planting the seed of a new livelihood somewhere along the coast.
That very evening, the dining hall of the Prince of Fu's manor displayed a spectacle worthy of a painting. The long table groaned under the weight of lobster, abalone, crab, and thick slices of tuna served over carefully preserved ice.
The Prince of Fu, Zhu Changxun, whose generous figure tipped the scales at three hundred catties, sat proudly at the head of the table. He wore his "Warm and Sleepy" branded wool sweater, the napkin tucked securely into his collar to shield all two hundred and fifty taels' worth of fine wool from stray drips.
He looked at his concubines with deep satisfaction. "This table of delicacies did not come cheap. This prince spent over five thousand three hundred taels of silver on this feast."
The concubines exchanged subtle glances. Over five thousand taels for a single meal sounded suspiciously like being thoroughly fleeced, but none dared voice such heresy. They simply smiled and admired the spread as instructed.
Zhu Changxun grabbed a large blue lobster with both hands and twisted. The shell cracked sharply, and he pulled out a thick, pristine piece of white meat with obvious delight.
"Look at the size of this," he declared. "I only ever ate shrimp this large in the imperial palace before I was enfeoffed. Since coming to Henan, I have not enjoyed such a delicacy."
There was genuine nostalgia in his voice, the kind reserved for lost privileges and former glory.
He dipped the meat generously into soy sauce before placing it into his mouth, chewing slowly as his eyes half-closed in bliss.
"This miraculous soy sauce," he said after swallowing, "even in the imperial palace, I never tasted anything like it."
The Princess Consort quickly seized the moment. "Then we should purchase more for the manor in the future."
"Of course we shall," Zhu Changxun declared grandly.
And so the silver from the Prince of Fu's manor began flowing outward in steady streams, nourishing fishermen, dockworkers, ice handlers, and soy sauce bottlers in the days that followed. Wealth, once locked in a treasury, had found its way into circulation through appetite.
While Li Daoxuan was busy turning seafood into industry at Xiaolangdi Pier, a train whistled as it rolled into Xiaolangdi Station, trailing steam behind it like a dragon reluctant to rest.
An old man in his fifties stepped down from one of the carriages.
It was Lian Guoshi.
Or rather, the former Governor of Shaanxi, Lian Guoshi.
By the time he reached the pier, he found Dao Xuan Tianzun, Gao Yiye, and Bai Yuan seated by the water, enjoying what remained of the seafood feast.
Li Daoxuan spotted him first and waved. "Governor Lian, come join us. How did you end up in Henan?"
Lian Guoshi approached swiftly, bowed respectfully, and took a seat beside Bai Yuan. "Reporting to Dao Xuan Tianzun, this subordinate has served as Governor of Shaanxi for six years. Tax revenue has been meager, and it seems His Majesty is dissatisfied. I have been reassigned to Nanjing as Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, a comparatively quiet post."
Bai Yuan tilted his head slightly. "So you came to Xiaolangdi to take a boat to Nanjing?"
"Precisely," Lian Guoshi replied with an easy smile.
Bai Yuan studied him with faint admiration. "To move from a powerful provincial office to a sidelined post in Nanjing and remain so cheerful is no small feat."
Lian Guoshi laughed heartily, and there was no bitterness in it. "In the past, I would have felt frustration. This time, I feel none. During my years in Shaanxi, had it not been for Dao Xuan Tianzun's assistance, I would never have managed the chaos of rebellion. A peaceful reassignment is already a blessing. I could have ended like Yang He, imprisoned, exiled, or dead in some distant land. That I sit here speaking freely is fortune enough. I was unworthy of the post to begin with."
He turned toward Li Daoxuan and cupped his hands. "After I arrive in Nanjing, I wish to continue serving Dao Xuan Tianzun. If there is any task I can undertake, I will devote myself fully."
Nanjing.
Li Daoxuan found the idea intriguing. A capable man stationed in the south, quietly building strength, might prove invaluable when the winds shifted.
Gao Yiye asked with curiosity, "Minister Lian, what does a Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue oversee?"
Lian Guoshi explained with patient clarity. "The Ministry of Revenue handles land taxes, customs duties, likin, public bonds, currency, immigration, land reclamation, refugee resettlement, prevention of land seizures by powerful gentry, commodity weights and measures, price assessments, and more. It touches nearly every artery of the empire's economy."
Gao Yiye nodded slowly. "Then many of Gao Family Village's factories would fall under that jurisdiction."
"Indeed," Lian Guoshi replied. "As soon as I received the reassignment, I began planning. Once in Nanjing, I intend to replicate the factories and industries we established in Xi'an and develop them thoroughly in the Jiangnan region. It will greatly benefit the people there."
Li Daoxuan smiled approvingly. "Very good. Take up your post first. Yiye, arrange for a group of our people, along with technical knowledge and supplies, to assist Minister Lian once he is settled."
Gao Yiye inclined his head gracefully. "As Dao Xuan Tianzun commands."
With that, Gao Family Village's influence prepared to extend once more, this time toward Nanjing.
Bai Yuan suddenly remembered something. "After you leave, who will become Governor of Shaanxi? If it is someone troublesome, we may need to prepare."
A curious smile tugged at Lian Guoshi's lips. "There is no need to prepare against him. He is one of us."
Bai Yuan stared. "Who?"
"His Majesty has appointed Sun Chuanting as Governor of Shaanxi."
Bai Yuan inhaled sharply.
Gao Yiye's composure wavered just slightly. "Principal Sun of the Yellow Pole Military Academy?"
"The very same," Lian Guoshi confirmed. "At this very moment, he is probably not in high spirits."
Far away, atop the teaching building of the Yellow Pole Military Academy, Sun Chuanting stood facing the wind, staring down at the institution he had personally nurtured into existence. His fingers tightened in his hair as frustration overcame him.
"This is troublesome," he muttered to the empty air. "I cannot be in two places at once."
And for a man who believed both places desperately needed him, that was no small dilemma.