Chapter 22: The Three-Shift System
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Everyone was startled when they heard Shen Jifeng’s voice. Qu Yifang kept signaling desperately to Master Zhang. “Explain everything clearly to the commandery princess, or we’ll all be in serious trouble.”
Shen Jifeng lifted the curtain and entered. This was the room she had specially prepared for the craftsmen to hold discussions. Since there were so many of them, it was even larger than her own office.
After much deliberation, Old Zhang finally told her the truth. “Your Highness, circumstances have changed. We can no longer finish the work in time to produce the silver by the ninth day of the eighth month.”
“I just heard what you were saying. You need two months to dig down to the main ore vein, correct?”
“Yes.” Old Zhang no longer dared to boast. “The work also involves drainage and reinforcement. Two months is already the absolute limit.”
“We currently begin work at the fifth watch and stop at the seventh. If we worked without pause, day and night, couldn’t we save an entire month?” Shen Jifeng’s cool voice echoed through the room.
Everyone exchanged glances. Continuous work, day and night—let alone a person, even a donkey could not be driven that hard.
Old Zhang rubbed his rough palms together and hesitated. “Your Highness, the miners are made of flesh and blood. If they dug without rest day and night, I’m afraid they wouldn’t last even a month before collapsing.”
Qu Yifang stepped forward and said in a low voice, “Your Highness, Master Zhang is right. Besides, exhausted miners are far more likely to meet with accidents.”
Shen Jifeng’s gaze swept across them all, and the corners of her lips lifted slightly. “People are not tools. How could they possibly work without rest, day and night?”
The room fell utterly silent. The only sound was the rustling of leaves outside the window. A string of question marks flashed through everyone’s minds. What exactly did the commandery princess mean?
At that moment, Jiang Cheng, who had remained silent until then, suddenly spoke. “Your Highness, do you mean dividing them into shifts?”
Shen Jifeng raised an eyebrow. “Exactly. Since you have already thought of it, explain it in detail.”
Jiang Cheng swallowed and summoned his courage. “Divide the miners into three shifts and keep the work going day and night, with each shift lasting four double-hours. That way, we will not delay the schedule, and everyone will still have time to rest.”
Old Zhang’s eyes lit up. He slapped his thigh. “That’s an excellent idea! Only... I’m afraid we don’t have enough workers.”
Shen Jifeng gave a slight nod. “If we don’t have enough, continue hiring. I will make the arrangements.”
She turned toward the door, then stopped and looked back. “On the ninth day of the eighth month, I want to see the silver. Gentlemen, do not disappoint me.”
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Everyone answered in unison. Only after her figure disappeared did they finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Qu Yifang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and gave a bitter smile. “This commandery princess truly does what no one else could possibly do.”
Old Zhang gazed toward the doorway and murmured, “I only hope everything goes smoothly...”
When Shen Jifeng returned to her office, she worked the beads of the abacus so loudly that the clatter shook the heavens. Wei Xiao, standing outside the door, heard every bit of it.
“To see only a lump of silver as small as a soybean, I’ve already spent two thousand taels. Now I have to hire more miners as well. At this rate, by the ninth day of the eighth month, I’ll have to spend at least another five thousand taels. Golden Hairpin, my heart aches.”
Golden Hairpin had long felt that this was unfair. “When the Ministry of Works opens a mine, they use money from the imperial treasury. Why must Your Highness pay out of pocket to open one? Is His Majesty confused? Instead of helping his own granddaughter, he helps outsiders.”
Shen Jifeng placed the nugget of silver between her palms and rubbed it over and over. “Because all the silver produced by mines opened by the Ministry of Works goes into the national treasury. When I open a mine, the court and I divide the proceeds thirty-seventy. I receive seventy percent, and the court receives thirty.”
“That still isn’t very much. All the hard work and worry are still yours.” Golden Hairpin sounded somewhat disappointed.
“My dear Golden Hairpin, how can you be greedier than I am? Even the poorest silver mine in our Great Ning produces tens of thousands of taels a year. And a single mine can be worked for at least ten years; the richer ones can last for decades, even a century or more. Do you still think that’s too little?”
“Good heavens! If that’s true, Your Highness, you’ll become the richest person in Great Ning—richer even than His Majesty!”
“Hahahaha.” At the thought of endless rivers of shining silver, Shen Jifeng could not help laughing aloud.
“Hahahaha! That’s right—richer even than Imperial Grandfather.”
Outside the door, Wei Xiao could not help thinking that, since she loved money as dearly as her own life, she surely would not be willing to donate it as military provisions. The true benefactor of the Southern Pacification Army ought to be Shen Qiyun.
As he pondered this, Dong Yang, whom he had not seen for three days, appeared before him. “Has anything unusual happened these past few days?”
Wei Xiao gathered his thoughts. “Everything is fine.”
Dong Yang patted him on the shoulder. Ever since Wei Xiao had single-handedly rescued several of them from the bottom of the mine, Dong Yang had begun treating him as one of their own and no longer made him stand guard at the gate.
Just like that, Wei Xiao had been transformed into Shen Jifeng’s personal guard. Whenever Dong Yang was away, he stood watch outside her door and protected her safety.
Dong Yang had gone to Bianjing for two days and returned with two pieces of news.
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One was that the Young Commandery Prince Zhao Pu had sent a letter. His southern inspection tour was nearing its end, and he was expected to return to the capital in about half a month.
The other was that Feng Da’s wife and daughter had been found. Shen Jifeng had already been mentally prepared for Zhao Pu’s return, so it was the second piece of news that interested her more.
Feng Da was a thug who had run rampant throughout the countryside, robbing homes and waylaying travelers, but he had treated his wife and daughter extremely well. He had settled them in an inconspicuous residence in Xijing Prefecture and left them enough money to live on.
More than ten days earlier, a group of people had suddenly stormed into the Feng residence, abducted the mother and daughter, and taken them into custody. During that time, someone had used tokens belonging to the two women to make contact with Feng Da.
Dong Yang paused for a moment before saying, “The people who abducted them were led by Eunuch Bao of Qionghua Palace.”
“What? People from the Imperial Noble Consort’s palace?” This was an answer Shen Jifeng had never expected.
Outside the door, a cold smile touched the corners of Wei Xiao’s lips. This was precisely why he had been reluctant to return to the capital. Whether in the court or the inner palace, open and covert struggles had never ceased. In fact, they were countless times more dangerous than the battlefield.
Inside the room, Shen Jifeng slowly recovered from her shock. “The Imperial Noble Consort is not an ambitious woman. After Imperial Grandmother passed away, the court officials repeatedly urged Imperial Grandfather to establish her as empress. Had it been anyone else, she would have gone along with it. After all, my father had already passed away, and my second uncle was now the most senior among the princes. If she became empress, my second uncle would become the legitimate eldest son in name as well as in fact. Yet the Imperial Noble Consort refused of her own accord, openly admitting that her virtue, words, appearance, and accomplishments were far inferior to those of the late empress, and that she did not dare occupy the position.”
“I was still young at the time, but I remember Imperial Grandfather becoming terribly angry. He held me before Imperial Grandmother’s spirit tablet and complained that she should not have abandoned him to live alone. Those ministers clearly had ulterior motives. He had only ever had one principal wife, yet they insisted on bringing another woman forward.”
“So when His Majesty and the ministers reached an impasse, the Imperial Noble Consort voluntarily gave up the position?” Golden Hairpin was a few years older than Shen Jifeng, but she had been serving in the Prince of Qi’s residence at the time and knew nothing about what had happened in the palace.
“Yes. Grateful that she had helped him out of his predicament, Imperial Grandfather appointed her Imperial Noble Consort. She took charge of the phoenix seal and assisted in managing the six palace divisions. Though she was not empress in name, she was only half a step away from the position.”
“Although Eunuch Bao belongs to Qionghua Palace, Qionghua Palace has more than one mistress.” Shen Jifeng suddenly thought of someone else.
Golden Hairpin understood at once. “Princess Chengping.”
Shen Jifeng nodded. “But my little aunt has always been overbearing. Whenever she wants something, she acts directly and openly. Feng Da’s death does not fit her style.”
“Could it be...” A chill flickered through Shen Jifeng’s eyes. “That the Imperial Noble Consort has been pretending to be harmless while secretly biding her time?”
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