Chapter 41: Recommending the Worthy Without Regard for Relatives

  Songjiang Wharf, a foreign cargo ship was unloading, stacks of machinery pouring onto the wharf, the entire unloading process took 5 days. For 5 days, Deng Zixuan accompanied Sheng Huai Xuan to inspect and verify the machinery equipment, and then registered them in the ledger. The Qing government's officials and people were not playing around for the first time handling a machine factory of this scale, so Sheng Huai Xuan had to take personal charge.

  Sheng Huai Xuan pretended to be clueless, and all matters naturally fell on Deng Zi Xuan's shoulders. After the inspection was completed, Deng Zi Xuan planned to return to the official residence in the city to rest properly. Moreover, these past few days, Wan Er had been guarding an empty house alone, making him uneasy. Although Sheng Huai Xuan's two wives were accompanying her, it was vastly different from having her husband by her side.

  "Is Brother Deng missing his wife? Look at how anxious you are, I'm afraid it's hard to wait any longer!" Sheng Huai Xuan said with a smile, holding the registration form of Deng Zi Xuan. Deng Zi Xuan didn't hide it and said: "Can I be at ease leaving my lovely wife at home? Since we got married, we've never been apart, Brother Sheng is making fun of me!" "Since ancient times, heroes have fallen for beauty, Brother Deng is a romantic, but we still need to delay for one more day!"

  "Why? The machinery has been inspected, we've paid the remaining foreign funds, and I've settled the foreign technicians. Besides, the machinery needs to be transported into the factory, and installation won't begin until at least half a month later. During this time, you and I are free, why not go back and enjoy some wine and leisure?" Deng Zixuan was perplexed. Sheng Huai Xuan smiled and said: "Younger brother! I know that these past few days have been tiring for you. If it weren't for your great talent, the Qing court wouldn't be able to find another person who understands foreign languages and is familiar with foreigners. To be honest, it would be a waste if you didn't contribute to the imperial court. The Grand Minister is very appreciative of talented individuals."

  "Brother, you're wrong! Am I not working for the imperial court now? Am I not toiling for the great Qing nation? But what I'm concerned about is why we need to stay here for another day?" Deng Zixuan pressed on. Sheng Huaixuan still smiled and said: "Alright, I won't argue with you anymore. The machine factory is a big deal, and the Grand Minister attaches great importance to it, but he's too busy to come and inspect it himself. So he entrusted Governor Ding Rìchāng of Jiangsu to come and inspect it instead, and he'll arrive tomorrow morning. Can we leave now?"

  When Deng Zixuan heard the name Ding Rìchāng, he felt a sense of disgust in his heart. This bear-like man was not only unscrupulous but also incompetent. Sheng Huaixuan saw Deng Zixuan's gloom and said: "Younger brother, I don't understand anything about machines, without you, I would be at a loss. Younger brother must bring this play to an end." Frankly speaking, I also dislike Ding Rìchāng, but he is currently the trusted aide of the Grand Minister, so we can't afford to offend him! Suddenly Deng Zixuan thought of his sworn brother and his eyes lit up: "Elder brother, you're thinking too much, how could I not understand the situation?"

  The next morning, Deng Zixuan and Sheng Huai Xuan stood on the dock. On a hot day, Sheng Huai Xuan wore official clothes and an official hat, sweating profusely. "Brother, you said being an official is good, but on such a hot day, you still have to cover up, be careful not to get heat rash! It's better not to be an official, isn't it? Freedom is so much better, no need to suffer this kind of torture!" Seeing Sheng Huai Xuan's uncomfortable appearance, Deng Zixuan teased.

  Sheng Huai Xuan wiped the sweat from his forehead with a fan, his face contorted in pain. "When will Lord Ding arrive?" Sheng Huai Xuan shook his head. Deng Zi Xuan leaned forward to gaze out at the river, where boats were densely packed, but there was no sign of an official vessel. "Brother Sheng, come with me!" "What are you going to do?" Sheng Huai Xuan stumbled after being pulled by Deng Zi Xuan.

  Before long, they drilled into a warehouse near the dock. Deng Zixuan ordered his subordinates to shut the door from the outside and then drove everyone out of the warehouse. "Hurry up and take off your clothes!" "What do you want to do?" "Stop pretending, or else you'll get heatstroke!" Deng Zixuan quickly stripped off Sheng Huai Xuan's clothes, leaving only a pair of pants on him.

  "Ah! So comfortable!" Sheng Huai Xuan closed his eyes, seemingly relaxing his entire body. Deng Zi Xuan saw the strange expression on Sheng Huai Xuan's face and couldn't help but laugh, "Alright, you've had enough comfort, hurry up and put on your official robes!" Then, Deng Zi Xuan directly put the official robes on Sheng Huai Xuan's naked body. "How can this be good?!" "Don't be so pretentious, Lord Ding will arrive at any moment, and this way you won't feel hot anymore!"

  Sheng Huai Xuan stood up again on the dock, and Deng Zi Xuan suddenly opened his shirt to reveal his chest. "No wonder you didn't want to be an official, at this moment it really shows the benefits of not being an official. My younger brother is still clever, just now if you weren't like that, I'm afraid I would have gotten heatstroke." Sheng Huai Xuan gained spirit and his mouth became more agile. "Elder Sheng, even if I were naked from the waist up, no one would blame me, this is the benefit of being a commoner. However, being an official has its own dignity, each has its own advantages!" The two bantered back and forth, the sun beat down on them for another hour.

  "He's here! Lord Ding has arrived!" a subordinate exclaimed in surprise. Sure enough, an official boat came downstream, and from afar, a group of people wearing official hats and robes appeared on the bow of the ship. Before long, the official boat docked, and a group of officials escorted Ding Rìchāng ashore. "Subordinate greets Lord Ding!" Shèng Huái Xuān knelt down on one knee to pay respects. "Humble citizen greets Lord Ding!" Dèng Zǐxuān also knelt down on one knee. "Brother Shèng, please get up quickly, we're all our own people, no need for formalities!" Ding Rìchāng came forward to help Shèng Huái Xuān up, showing great warmth and completely ignoring Dèng Zǐxuān.

  "Excellent, young Master Sheng! The Grand Minister is extremely pleased and has instructed me to come and inspect. Young Master Sheng, you have built this machinery factory so quickly, it's a great achievement, congratulations!" Ding Ri Chang pulled on Sheng Huai Xuan's hand, praising him profusely. The officials behind also chimed in with flattery, creating a lively scene. After the formalities were over, Sheng Huai Xuan hastily introduced: "Minister Ding, this is my cousin Deng Zi Xuan, he's my interpreter and specializes in dealing with foreigners." Upon hearing that he was his cousin, Ding Ri Chang said: "Our great Qing dynasty truly has an abundance of talent, your younger brother is so young yet already understands foreign languages, his future prospects are boundless!" "Thank you, Minister, for your praise!" Deng Zi Xuan couldn't help but be sincere, but in his heart, he thought that this Ding Ri Chang's appearance was really too unpleasant.

  Here is the translation:

  A subordinate came up and opened an umbrella, it wasn't hard to see that Ding Rìchāng was also hot enough to be out of breath. Next, a small sedan chair was carried down from the boat, and Ding Rìchāng hastily got in. The group arrived at the machinery factory. Ding Rìchāng pretended to carefully examine the machines and equipment piled up on the ground, while Shèng Huái Xuān accompanied him and introduced each one individually. "Foreigners' machines are really excellent! Good! Very good!" As he walked up to a machine tool, he stopped in his tracks and pretended to read the sign, "Not bad! Really not bad!" The sign was written with English letters, and Dèng Zǐ Xuān cursed in his heart: "Damn it, can you even understand it? What's with the pretentious act?" After walking around for a while, Ding Rìchāng started to sweat.

  The weather is too hot, and the factory is in a mess, so it's not possible to arrange a resting place at the moment. At this time, Sheng Huai Xuan was still reporting incessantly, and Deng Zi Xuan saw that Ding Ri Chang was uncomfortable and had already lost interest, so he said: "Ding sir, the inspection is not urgent, you must be tired from riding, why don't you rest at my humble abode? My house is just inside the city, and my cousin is temporarily staying in the government office, please do me the honor of visiting." Sheng Huai Xuan came to his senses and said: "That's right, I'm staying at my cousin's house, it's a very elegant place, why don't we..."

  "We're all family, respect is not as good as obedience, I'll take my leave!" After finishing speaking, Ding Rìchāng said to the accompanying officials: "You go rest at the guest house!" After finishing speaking, he hurriedly got into the sedan chair, he was really hot and couldn't wait any longer, guessing that getting into the sedan chair would allow him to take off his official hat and cool down. Entering the government office, Ding Rìchāng immediately changed out of his formal clothes and washed up, then changed into casual clothes and entered the living room. At this time, Deng Zǐxuān accompanied by Yuàn'ér, Shèng Huái Xuān accompanied by two madams were waiting quietly in the living room. When Deng Zǐxuān introduced Yuàn'ér, Ding Rìchāng was a bit dazed and said: "Young Master Deng is elegant and refined, your wife is beautiful and lovely, what a great pair of golden boy and jade girl! It's true that Suzhou and Hangzhou are famous for producing beauties, I've opened my eyes!"

  After the lady left, the wine and dishes were served. Ding Rìchāng started asking about the machine factory again, Shèng Huáixuān reported, and Dèng Zǐxuān played the role of listener. When it came to shares, Shèng Huáixuān said: "My younger brother also has shares in the machine factory, and he helped me a lot in raising funds, otherwise the machine factory would not have been so smooth!" "Haha! Your younger brother is not only knowledgeable about foreign languages but also has a wealth of money, Jiangnan is indeed a treasure trove of talents! Mr. Deng's heart is with the imperial court, congratulations and praise are in order."

  "Thank you, Lord Ding, for your kind words. I am but a humble subject, and it is my honor to serve under the great Lord Zhongtang. In our great Qing dynasty, only Lord Zhongtang is the pillar that holds everything together, and I am proud to be able to offer my services to him."

  Deng Zixuan's flattery was quite impressive.

  "Haha! Young Master Deng is indeed eloquent and knows how to speak to please others. It's a pleasure to listen to him!"

  "Bring it in!" Deng Zixuan shouted, and soon two servants brought in two flower vases. Deng Zixuan took them and said, "My brother has often praised Lord Ding's virtues, and I have long admired him from afar. These are Song dynasty vases, please accept them as a gift, Lord Ding. I hope you won't decline."

  Ding Rìchāng carefully examined the vases, confirming that they were genuine and valuable.

  Ding Rìchāng is an old hand in the officialdom and quickly understood its meaning, saying: "Young Master Deng! As the saying goes, no pay without work, I suppose Young Master Deng has something important to discuss. If you have a request for me, please speak openly and honestly, as long as it's something I can do, I won't be evasive!" After finishing speaking, he glanced at Shèng Huáixuān, Ding Rìchāng thought that Shèng Huáixuān had a request for him but didn't dare to speak up and let his younger brother speak on his behalf. Shèng Huáixuān was confused. Deng Zǐxuān said: "Ding sir is sharp-eyed and wise, truly a great official of the Qing dynasty! Since that's the case, I won't be polite anymore!"

  "Sir, to be honest with you, my brother-in-law Sheng Huaiyin has been the county magistrate of Changshu for many years. He is a diligent and kind-hearted official who cares about the people, and the people of Changshu all praise him. I heard that the new governor of Songjiang Prefecture, Wang Jie, is going to leave office soon. Can you please help us out?" Ding Rìchang was surprised: "Sheng Laoxiong, isn't Sheng Huaiyin your elder brother?" Sheng Huaixuan didn't seem too surprised: "Sir, what's going on here?!" "Sir! My brother doesn't know about this matter, but I am willing to recommend a good person even if he is my relative!" Deng Zixuan quickly explained.

  "This place has no silver, three hundred taels. Ding Ri Chang misunderstood even more: 'What a great way to promote the virtuous without avoiding relatives! Brother Sheng, you don't need to feel guilty, your younger brother's quick wit and words are what I like. Indeed, your older brother should also move out of the way. Brother Sheng, rest assured, I will recommend him to Minister Zhong, no problem!' Sheng Huai Xuan was speechless. Not long after, due to travel fatigue, Ding Ri Chang went down to rest. Sheng Huai Xuan scolded: 'Younger brother, you should have told me beforehand, Lord Ding has already misunderstood me!'"

  "Brother Sheng! At the wine table, I was inspired and couldn't help but speak out. Besides, Sheng Huaiyin is my brother-in-law, so it's reasonable for me to recommend him. Don't worry, Lord Ding expects you to make great achievements on his land, and he won't directly inform Lord Zhong about promoting officials. Just trust your brother!" Deng Zixuan patted his chest in guarantee. Sheng Huaixuan thought carefully and also felt relieved, Deng Zixuan's goal was achieved.

  Because Sheng Huai Xuan was going to settle in Shanghai for a long time, he bought a house inside the city. After Sheng Huai Xuan moved away, Deng Zi Xuan moved the entire Deng family troupe into the house inside the city. Because Deng Zi Xuan had to be busy at the machine factory for at least three months, firstly, the children's studies could not be delayed, and secondly, he wanted to lead the children to participate in the installation work of the machine factory, combining theory with practice, letting the children become familiar with mechanical principles and operation, and later they would also have long-term internships at the machine factory.

  The children are generally thirteen or fourteen years old and have become half-grown, so they can engage in physical labor. In addition, the children need to go through practical testing to observe who is suitable for mechanical work, who is suitable for smelting, and who is suitable for chemical work. The children of Deng's class will become engineers in industrial manufacturing or natural scientists in the future. Therefore, Deng Zixuan needs to teach them according to their individual strengths now. Especially since these children will be responsible for the manufacture of weapons in the future, Deng Zixuan must walk on two legs and quickly discover the children's strengths in order to plan their future direction.

  The tense and heavy installation work began, and Deng Zixuan took the children to the machinery factory every day. Fortunately, the children could communicate with foreign technicians in simple English, which invisibly accelerated the installation process. Deng Zixuan led the children to work in the factory in the morning and return to the mansion for classes in the afternoon. In a flash, two months passed, and the mechanical equipment installation was half completed. The various processes were basically on track, and Deng Zixuan didn't need to go to the machinery factory every day. The children continued as usual. Just then, Deng Zixuan took advantage of this period to compile new teaching materials for mathematics, physics, and chemistry, allowing the children to advance in the depth and breadth of science.

  That afternoon, a horse carriage stopped in front of the Deng residence. Only then did Sheng Huaiyin and his wife Jiner get off the carriage, and the servant reported that Deng Zixuan and Wanyu hurried out to greet them. "Second sister, how come you're here without even reporting ahead of time!" Wanyu rushed to Jiner's side, and the two sisters were affectionately reunited. Deng Zixuan knew the purpose of Sheng Huaiyin's visit, as Sheng had already been smoothly promoted to the position of Daotai of Songjiang Prefecture. After a simple exchange of pleasantries, Deng Zixuan politely invited Sheng Huaiyin into the house.

  As soon as they sat down, Sheng Huaiyin stood up again and said: "Zi Xuan younger brother, great kindness doesn't need to be thanked, Huai Xuan has already told me. From now on, if you need my help, I will definitely do my best to assist you, please don't be polite." "What's going on?" Wanyu was puzzled. "Sister, you still don't know? It's because your brother-in-law recommended you in front of the Governor, and your sister's husband has been promoted to be the Daotai of Songjiang Prefecture! We've already moved into Songjiang Prefecture!" Jiner said with a smile. "Wow! That's great, we sisters can see each other often now!" Wanyu was overjoyed.

  Deng Zixuan smiled and said, "Near the water tower first gets the moon, in the court there is someone good to be an official. Such a good condition not to use is foolish. Brother-in-law, now I need your help with a small matter!" "Brother, please speak!" "I have several fishing boats, but no dock to moor them. So I want to build a dock on Jinshan Island in the outer sea of Jinshan to moor the fishing boats. Jinshan Island is an uninhabited island, what do you think, second brother-in-law?" Sheng Huaiyin let out a long breath and smiled, "A small island is no big deal, I'll give it to you!"