Chapter Seven: Jade and Yu Ru Cheng

  The next morning, everyone set up a simple wooden hut in the valley and, under Li Chengzong's guidance, tried to cut down a camphor tree. The tree was over 20 meters tall and had a diameter of nearly 1 meter. Li Mu said that this tree was worth at least 20 taels of silver, and everyone couldn't help but want to start immediately. But no one had any experience, so they followed Li Chengzong's instructions.

  "Little Dai Zi, you're light, climb up the tree and tie two ropes!" Li Chengzong ordered.

  Xiao Dai Zi didn't say a word, tied a rope around his waist and climbed up with a whoosh.

  "Hey, stinky kid, slow down! Why are you climbing so fast? Be careful not to fall off!" Lin Chunhong shouted. Little Dai turned his head and smiled downwards before continuing to climb. When he reached two-thirds of the way up the tree, Li Chengzong yelled "That's enough!", whereupon Little Dai tied the rope around the trunk, grabbed hold of it, and jumped down to the ground with a few quick movements.

  "What's this rope for?" Lin Dehai couldn't help but ask.

  "You'll understand later!" Li Mujiang replied without turning his head.

  "Now each rope is pulled by three people towards the small stream, then four people pull the saw!" Li Mujiang ordered.

  "Hai Shu, Tian Cheng, Tie Tou and I will pull the saw, Li Shu and Zhou Shu will keep watch on the side, and the rest of you go pull the rope." Lin Chunhong arranged.

  Everyone immediately dispersed according to the arrangement, and Li Mujiang shouted again: "What are you two ropes gathering in a heap for? Spread out! A bit further apart... still a bit further apart...... Alright, just use some strength to pull it, don't use too much force."

  Lin Chunhong and the other three brought over a large saw and were about to start. Li Mujiang shouted again, "Don't be in a hurry, first use an axe to chop out a gap."

  Zhou Wang took the axe and chopped down at the spot specified by Li Mujiang, with a loud "thud" sound, wood chips flying everywhere.

  Li Mujiang didn't give Zhou Wang any face at all, and scolded with his mouth open: "You have so much strength that you can't use it up? Just be gentle."

  Zhou Wang didn't mind Li Mujiang's foul mouth and chuckled. After so many days of getting along, everyone knew Li Mujiang's temperament.

  Four sawyers started at the same time, Lin Chunhong and Lin Deshao (Tie Tou) on one side, Tian Cheng and De Hai on the other, the four of them began to work back and forth. The huge nanmu wood emitted a "ka-chi ka-chi" sound under the movement of the big saw, this sound was especially pleasant to everyone's ears, surpassing the sound of silk and bamboo instruments.

  "The saw must be held level, otherwise it's laborious. When pulling, the speed must be fast, otherwise it's even more laborious..." Li Mujiang muttered beside him.

  "Dehai, Tiānchéng, you guys haven't eaten breakfast yet? Use some strength!" Lin Deshao complained.

  "We're pulling our own, and you two don't need to push, what's it to you?" Tian Cheng retorted.

  "You're pulling too slowly, and the saw has gotten stuck several times already!" Lin Deshao said.

  "Alright, alright, you four go pull the rope, and then another four people come over, pulling saws is very tiring, we have to take turns!" Li Mujiang directed.

  In this way, the four of them took turns for four rounds before Li Mujiang finally called a halt. The nanmu wood was still intact, barely holding up without falling over.

  "Now everyone is pulling the rope, and we can knock down the tree! Zhou Wang, put the saw and axe further away, if you get crushed by the tree, you'll have to pay for it!"

  Under Li Mujiang's shouting, one, two, three, everyone used their strength together. The camphor wood slowly tilted and fell to the ground with a loud creaking sound. The crowd involuntarily burst into cheers.

  Li Mujiang's tense face also cracked a smile.

  "Do you know why we need to use ropes? With the rope pulling, the gap opened by the saw will be bigger and it's more labor-saving." Everyone thought so, but only Lin Dehai asked: "One rope is enough, why do we need two?"

  Lin Chunhong said: "It should be that the tree falls in the middle of two ropes. One rope is not good for grasping direction."

  "Chun Hong is right, it's just that principle," said Li Mujiang. "Have you done this kind of work before?"

  Lin Chunhong smiled and shook his head, but didn't say a word. It was impossible for Lin Chunhong to be unaware of this simple mechanics problem.

  The crowd was busy cutting off the branches of the tree, and then splitting the nanmu wood in two. Two good trunks lay horizontally before them, waiting to be transported down the mountain to be sold. Everyone was proud of themselves, and they busied themselves with felling another tree.

  This time, Lin Chunhong arranged for eight people to cut wood, and ordered Zhou Wang and Xiao Dazi to clear the stream's waterway, trying to make the waterway smoother, so that it would be easier to push the giant logs into the deep water. Li Mujiang took the initiative to bring his apprentice Zhang Xiaocheng to cut branches, Lin Chunhong also followed him, no master dislikes their own workers being diligent.

  Everyone felled more than ten giant trees in one day, although they were exhausted like dogs, but all were exhilarated. Only Lin Chunhong knew that even harder things were still ahead, and it was unknown whether these trees could be transported down the mountain smoothly.

  Just as Lin Chunhong had worried, after four days of felling the tree, when everyone was preparing to transport the timber to the creek, they encountered a problem. No matter how hard they pulled with ropes or pried with poles, the giant log either moved very slowly or didn't budge at all. Everyone was greatly discouraged for a while, and some even said: "The giant log is useless, we should have cut down smaller trees."

  Li Mujiang was the only one who remained unaffected, scolding: "Ten small trees are not as valuable as a single large tree, do you people understand this? In the past, I followed my master..." Just as Li Mujiang was about to reminisce about his glorious past, he was immediately interrupted by Lin Chunhong. Lin Chunhong knew that if he let Li Mujiang continue, he would go on for three days and three nights without stopping.

  Lin Chunhong asked: "Uncle Li, is there any good way?"

  "What good method can I have? If there was a way, wouldn't it have been brought out already?" Li Mujiang replied irritably.

  Lin Chunhong stroked the burst blisters on his hands while thinking of a solution.

  At this time, Little Dai said: "If you put wheels on the wood, it will run down the mountain by itself."

  "This still needs to be said, everyone knows! Only you would think of a way!" Li Mujiang scolded whoever was in front of him.

  Lin Chunhong suddenly had an epiphany and said, "Right, let's put wheels on the tree! Uncle Li, you and Zhang Xiaocheng make seven or eight thick wooden rods. We'll place the tree on the rods and push it, isn't that equivalent to putting wheels on it?"

  Everyone was delighted when they heard this, and thought the method was good. Li Mugong and Zhang Xiao immediately got to work, making seven or eight rough wooden rods, about half a foot in diameter and four or five feet long, which they smoothed out. The group lifted one end of the giant log, placed the rods underneath, then lifted the other end and placed more rods underneath. Before long, they had laid down five of them.

  Seven people pulled with ropes in front, and four people pried with poles behind. The giant tree slowly moved forward. Li Mujiang directed from the side, and when the wooden bars rolled out from behind, they were taken to the very front for padding. This increased efficiency a lot, but it was too tiring. After moving 4 or 5 meters, they had to rest for a moment. Everyone was a bit overwhelmed, but they all gritted their teeth and persevered.

  Then from the mountain came the sound of Hanzi's roar: "One two three, pull with force! Hey, pry with force!"

  After a day's work, the group only managed to move two giant logs to the edge of the stream, and everyone was exhausted. Lin Chunhong saw the situation and arranged for the group to rest for a day tomorrow. Everyone didn't care about being happy or sad, they were all numb from excessive physical exhaustion. After hastily eating dinner, everyone fell asleep with a loud snore, except for Zhou Wang and Lin Chunhong who couldn't sleep and continued chatting there.

  "Now I know why timber prices are high but nobody comes to fell trees. It's too bloody exhausting, not a job for humans!"

  "Uncle Zhou, this won't do. If we keep exhausting ourselves like this, we'll all collapse sooner or later. This time when we get back, let's buy a few cows to pull the load."

  "This is a way out, but how can the cow walk on such rugged mountain roads? Besides, one head of cattle costs at least 20 taels of silver, where are we going to get that much money?"

  "This time, by transporting back wood, we'll have money. Besides, I've also thought of some methods that don't require oxen." Lin Chunhong was very confident about the prospects.

  "What's the solution?"

  "It's hard to say now, you'll know when you see it later. Don't know if it will work out, have to try first."

  "You're hiding something from me too, aren't you?"

  "It's not that I'm hiding or dodging, it's just that I haven't figured it out yet. The top priority now is how to quickly get a batch of wood back. Otherwise, I'll be finished, and there won't be many cents left in my pocket."

  "This is indeed the case. If we continue to do so, it will take forty days to transport the wood that was cut in four days to the creek, and then push it into the river from the creek water, which will take two or three months?"

  Lin Chunhong's eyebrows also furrowed, and he asked: "It's possible that we'll spend the New Year in the mountains this year too. Uncle Zhou, when you were transporting grain in the army before, how did you get past high mountains?"

  "What's the point of making things complicated? Is there a better way?"

  "Wood can't be made into nothing, otherwise it would be worthless."

  The two of them also couldn't come up with a good solution, so they both lay down and fell asleep.

  On the second day of rest, everyone unanimously asked Li Mujiang to cook, and the reason was simple: Li Mujiang's cooking skills were passable, while others were unbearable. Li Mujiang saw that someone appreciated his craftsmanship and was also very happy, ordering Lin Chunhong and Zhou Wang to go hunting for game, and then ordering Xiao Dazi and Zhang Xiaocheng to fetch water. Everyone saw Li Mujiang holding a chicken feather as a command arrow and didn't mind.

  Xiao Dai and Zhang Xiao Cheng went for half a day, and Fang finally fetched a bucket of water from the stream, carrying it back with trembling hands, spilling water all along the way. Li Mu Jiang couldn't help but scold: "Two fools, taking so long to fetch some water, I used to be able to fill up a vat in no time when I was at the well."

  "You're an old man, you use a pulley, if you directly lift water from the well, I estimate you can't even lift one bucket of water, and you'll be pulled into the well by the bucket." Little Dai replied.

  "Come on, you old fellow, don't you think it saves a lot of effort?" Zhang Xiaocheng also said.

  "Winch saves labor, winch saves labor..." Li Mujiang muttered to himself, suddenly shouting loudly: "Right! The pulley!"

  Everyone stared at Li Mujiang in surprise, only Lin Chunhong shouted: "Use a pulley! How did I not think of that!"

  Another person who surprised everyone was Lin Chunhong and Li Mugong smiled at each other. Li Mugong explained: "The handle of the pulley turns a larger circle than the wooden wheel, so it saves labor. We can also save labor by using a winch to pull wood."

  Everyone finally understood and didn't care who cooked anymore. They all helped Li Mujiang and Zhang Xiaocheng make dumplings.

  Before long, two sets of pulleys were ready. After a quick lunch, everyone went back to work on the mountain. Li Mujiang set up the pulley on the tree trunk, tied the four large wooden beams with ropes, and tied the long rope to a felled tree trunk. He couldn't wait to use the tree trunk as a fulcrum to turn the big wood. The big wood creaked and groaned, slowly turning, and the wood followed, moving forward. Everyone was delighted, turning the big wood faster and faster. Li Mujiang heard the creaking sound and felt his heart racing with fear, afraid that the rope would break, shouting repeatedly: "Slow down, slow down, the rope will break!"

  When the giant tree was pulled near the gallows, the rope was untied and the giant tree was rolled to one side, then went to pull another giant tree.

  Everyone didn't even use the wooden bars as wheels, they directly used the pulley to pull them over. In one morning, more than 20 giant logs were moved 20-30 meters. Everyone's enthusiasm was getting higher and higher, working with great enthusiasm. When turning the pulley, a few people even had time to chat and have fun, completely unlike yesterday when all that could be heard was heavy breathing except for slogans.

  After more than sixty giant trees were transported to the creek, it was already two days later. The group used the same method to transport the wood along the stream to a place where the giant trees could float, and then tied three logs together into a raft. They transported it to the Qingjiang River. When they arrived at the Qingjiang River, they formed another raft with twenty pieces of wood, waiting for the current to carry them downstream to sell. After finishing all this, it was already half a month later. The group looked at the three tied rafts and felt confident about their future lives, thinking that the two months of hard work had not been in vain. According to the price agreed upon by Lin Chunhong and his men, regardless of whether they were assigned tasks for the month, each person would receive five taels of silver as wages per month. Calculating from September to the end of the year, there would be approximately fifteen taels of wages. One tael of silver could buy about one dan (a unit of measurement) of grain, and fifteen dan of grain was enough for a family of five to eat for a year! Just thinking about this made everyone smile uncontrollably.

  Li Mujiang's wages were ten taels of silver per month, and everyone else was convinced that if he hadn't been able to choose the right trees, they wouldn't have known which ones to cut down. Li Mujiang had also proven his worth with his skills and brains. Moreover, according to Li Mujiang's estimate, these sixty-odd logs were worth at least five hundred taels of silver. It wasn't that no one had thought of Lin Chunhong making a fortune, and some people even wanted to save up enough money and leave to start their own business. But Lin Chunhong wasn't worried about them leaving to start their own businesses - the timber market was far from saturated, and besides, there were laborers everywhere, so he wasn't afraid of not being able to hire anyone. Besides, he also had some plans in mind, and he wouldn't mistreat these laborers either.

  The gang tied two small boats and three wooden rafts together, forming a small fleet, drifting downstream. Along the way, the gang's task was also very simple, just changing the direction of the boat's advance.

  Lin Chun-hong and Zheng Tian-cheng arrived in Jingzhou ahead of time to contact buyers, but several lumber yards did not believe they had more than 60 high-quality logs and were hesitant to make a purchase decision. When Zhou Wang led the three rafts to arrive at the dock in Jingzhou, all the buyers regretted not making an early purchase. Relying on his exceptional eloquence and the unique advantage of the goods, Zheng Tian-cheng sold more than 60 logs for 720 taels of silver. After deducting over 300 taels of silver for greasing palms and taxes, they got nearly 400 taels in hand. Lin Chun-hong paid three months' wages to everyone in advance, arranged for them to return home to rest, and gather again at Qingjiangkou in ten days. Since they had enough money on hand, Lin Chun-hong decided not to transport logs to the market this winter, but instead focus on logging, and wait until next summer to transport them again.