Sugarcane

  In the twenty-ninth year of Yongli, on the first day of the first month, before dawn broke, Chen Yonghua led the officials from Dongning to the Silver Bell Hall in the Yanping County Prince's Mansion. Since Zhu Jin was not present, Chen Yonghua sent someone to the Lotus Garden where Chen Zhaoniang lived to invite Zheng Kezang to come out and accept the bows of the officials. Faced with the good intentions of the group of ministers, Zheng Kezang seemed somewhat evasive.

  "The lady said that the young master is still young and should not meet with Chen Gongshi and other officials, if you gentlemen are willing, you can go to pay respects to Guo Tai and Tang Furen." The small eunuch in the Silver Bell Hall repeated Zheng Kezang's words to the officials from the Ministry of Rites. "If the old ancestors and stepmother do not want to show their faces, the officials can also bow in the direction of Siming."

  After Xiao Neishi finished speaking, he patted his butt and walked away. Gongguan Yang Xian, whose face had turned dark from the sea wind, immediately approached Chen Yonghua: "General Commander, at the beginning of the Yuanhui, it should have been presided over by Qianyang, but Yuanshi is unwilling to usurp power outside the palace. What should be done about this? It can't really let all officials worship Siming from afar."

  "Yuánzi Shǒulǐ is being modest, it's a good thing, but what Yang Dàrén said is indeed correct, Yǎo Cān Sī Míng does have some issues. Chen Yǒnghuá thought for a moment. As for the Yuán Huì meeting, whether it should be hosted by Qiányáng or Kūnyīn, it's strange that I didn't ask for instructions beforehand. Now that things are urgent, we'll just have to make do, let's first send someone to invite Guó Tàiyè and Táng Fūrén."

  Yang Xian glared at Chen Yonghua with his eyes wide open, while Chen Yonghua, who was calm and composed in his heart, fearlessly stared back. After a long time, Yang Xian, who was defeated in the staring contest, reluctantly said: "It seems there's no other way for now?"

  "Sons pay respects to their mother and wish her blessings from the Bodhisattva, may all things go as she wishes."

  "The daughters-in-law pay their respects to their mothers-in-law, wishing them a happy new year and all the best."

  "The grandchildren kowtowed to their grandmother and wished her good fortune, longevity, peace, and eternal youth."

  "Alright, alright, auspicious words are all the same every year, what's the point of saying more, let's get up, stop kneeling."

  Dressed in a four- auspicious-cloud-patterned brocade, with an outer cloak of eight-bundle auspicious-meeting thick satin embroidered with silver fox fur, Dong Guo Tai sat upright on the sedan chair, waving her hand at the kneeling descendants, although a considerable number of them were not born to her, and there were several whom she found repulsive at first sight. However, on New Year's Day, she naturally wouldn't say anything unpleasant or inauspicious.

  The Zheng family members and their spouses from the ground got up one after another, each finding their own seats. As Zhu Jin was not in Dongning this year due to his conquest of the mainland, the first seat on the left side was taken by Princess Tang of Yanping and six-year-old Zheng Kesong, while Zheng Kezang, as the eldest son, sat in the back row because of his mother's lower status.

  Seeing this symbolic scene, Dong Guotai subconsciously frowned. As for Zheng Kecang, this grandson, she was not very fond of him, but also understood that the upper and lower levels of Dongning had already regarded him as Zhu Jin's successor. In this situation, if today's seating arrangement gets out, it will inevitably cause a considerable stir.

  In order to eliminate the possibility of internal strife, Dong Guotai thought of a perfect solution: "Qin She, come and live with your grandmother."

  "Ah!" Zheng Keshuang responded with a cheerful and childish tone, not understanding the situation. He quickly ran to Dong Guotai's side and sat down, looking at and touching Zheng Keshuang's face with affection. The Zheng family members and their spouses were secretly speculating about the scene, trying to interpret it from different perspectives, with many of them having a thoughtful glint in their eyes.

  The family reunion dinner had begun, and at first it was quite formal. But after Dong Guotai, who had been a vegetarian for many years, had eaten a few bites and then left the table with Zheng Kesuan, the atmosphere changed completely. Zheng Ming and others, who had been suppressing their emotions, suddenly opened fire on Zheng Cong.

  "I heard that second brother had a great harvest this year, but eating alone is not a good thing. Please, second brother, be generous and give some to your brothers to share the profit."

  "What? What did you say? I didn't mishear, did I?" Zheng Cong glanced at several of his brothers before bowing to Lady Tang. "Aunt Wang, there are some unsavory words being spoken here, and it's not suitable for your ears. Please take the other sisters with you and leave first." The women stood up one after another, preparing to leave, and Zheng Kechang also tried to slip away unnoticed. However, Zheng Cong saw through his plan and decided to drag him down. "Qin She, you can't leave. Your father is not here, so you have to stay behind and help your uncles make a decision."

  Zheng Kezang couldn't help but laugh and cry, it was indeed afraid of what came what, but Zheng Cong had already spoken out, he also didn't dare to ignore him and leave. However, Zheng Kezang also noticed that after Zheng Cong's words came out, there was a hint of unnaturalness on Tang Furen's face, as well as the worried look on his mother Chen Zhaoniang's face.

  In order not to worry his mother, Zheng Kezang had no choice but to try to extricate himself: "Second Uncle, Third Uncle, Fifth Uncle, and Sixth Uncle, Seventh Uncle, Eighth Uncle, Ninth Uncle, you are all seniors. Seniors are superior, how can juniors lecture seniors? This is against etiquette and the law. It's better for your nephew to take his leave first."

  "No, you stay," Zheng Cong had made up his mind not to let him go, and for this reason, he did not hesitate to clarify the cooperative relationship between the two parties in front of everyone. "You also have a 20% stake in Sugar Hut, if you don't stay, Yu will also save himself from trouble with them."

  Zheng Cong said so, Zheng Kezang couldn't leave even if he wanted to. Since that's the case, he had no choice but to sit down and keep him company.

  At this time, the women and children had all gone, and Zheng Cong sat upright with a stern expression on his face. He looked at several brothers who were not in good spirits and said: "Alright, those who should leave have left, and the rest of you, let's get straight to the point, Old Three, and you few, bring out whatever rules you have, I'm waiting."

  "Second brother, don't put on a domineering air, I'm not afraid of you." Zheng Ming glared at Zheng Cong. "We're all brothers, and we won't bully you either. We'll give you two options: either hand over the recipes for top-grade rock sugar and ice sugar, or let our brothers join your sugar workshop as partners. In short, if we're going to get rich, we'll do it together; if you want to eat alone, there's no way."

  "Haha, what a big tone." Listening to Zheng Ming representing the other brothers' demands, Zheng Cong was furious and laughed. "Why should I bring you few idiots along when I make a fortune? You want to take advantage of me, enjoy the benefits without doing anything, you guys are thinking too much, come on, try it out, see if I won't beat you until you're toothless."

  Zheng Cong's words had barely fallen when Zheng Kuan let out a faint, sinister laugh: "Second Brother, it's better not to be too full of yourself. You never know when you might need us brothers to help you out in the future. If you cut ties with us now, it'll be hard for you to ask for our help later on."

  "Are you asking us a few fools for help?" Zheng Cong seemed to hear something ridiculous and couldn't help but laugh. "I'm afraid that time has passed."

  "Second brother, you really don't care about brotherly love." Zheng Zhi's face was menacing as he pressed on, while Zheng Cong just rolled his eyes. "Everyone has seen his true colors now, fine, if he doesn't act with benevolence, don't blame us brothers for being unrighteous. Let's go find Chen Yonghua and have him strictly order the local area not to sell sugarcane to private individuals."

  "Go, go." Zheng Cong waved his hand impatiently. "What's the point of talking nonsense? Hurry up and go, don't blame Second Brother for not telling you guys that Chen Fufu is eager to ban private sugar cane sales. If you go, he'll definitely say a few words about the noble Hou family, just don't move the stone to hit your own foot in the future."

  When they saw Zheng Cong, they were not afraid of threats. Several of them looked at each other in dismay, and just as they didn't know what the problem was, they heard Zheng Kezang chuckle a few times. Zheng Ming immediately rolled his eyes: "Qin She, your second uncle is so confident, isn't it that you've given him some idea again? Tell your uncles about it."

  "Second Uncle, I've already said so." Anyway, this news can't be hidden from those with a keen eye, Zheng Cong nodded indifferently. Thus, Zheng Kezang explained: "Third Uncle, the other day, Second Uncle had already discussed it with the Ministry of Works and they agreed that from now on, Second Uncle's sugar mill will directly purchase raw sugar from the Ministry of Works at market price. The Ministry of Works saves on transportation costs and labor for refining white sugar, while Second Uncle saves on labor and animal power for sugarcane processing and can also expand white sugar production. As the saying goes, 'both benefit when they come together'. So, whether Chen Zong's side bans the sale of sugarcane or implements a monopoly, it actually has no impact on Second Uncle at all."

  "What!" Zheng Ming and the others' faces changed greatly, they had finally come up with a plan to trick Zheng Cong, but now their punch had hit empty air. This feeling of misusing their strength made them all feel quite uncomfortable. Of course, Zheng Ming and the others were also quite shameless, seeing that it was impossible to reason with Zheng Cong, they immediately shifted their attention to Zheng Kezang, who also had a share in the sugar refinery. "Qin She, your second uncle is so stubborn, you should be more accommodating. Besides, you're just a child, why do you need so much money? In the future, when you inherit the throne, won't all of Taiwan be yours?"

  "Third Uncle, Father King is in his prime, it's not good to speak nonsense."

  Zheng Kezang's face sank like water, and he immediately pointed out that Zheng Ming's words were somewhat inappropriate. Zheng Ming only realized that he had misspoken when Zheng Kezang spoke so sternly. However, before he could retract his statement, Zheng Kezang continued to speak.

  "A few uncles, it's not that I'm unwilling to transfer the shares, but it's really inconvenient to do so. Firstly, all of you know that my nephew has set up a children's camp, although it's just for fun, but the expenses are not small. Chen has allocated funds from this side, but there is still a shortage. The part that is lacking, I still need to rely on the sugar refinery's profit-sharing to make up for it. Secondly, my share in the entire sugar refinery is only 20%, so who should I transfer it to? Can you uncles teach me?"

  Yes, there are only two of us, and giving it to any one of the other six would be unsatisfactory. Let's divide it equally instead. How much will we end up with in the end? And we must also be careful not to offend Zhu Jin.

  At the moment when Zheng Ming and others were sitting in their seats like deflated balloons, a brilliant idea suddenly flashed through Zheng Kezang's mind. This was an excellent opportunity, and he naturally wanted to seize it: "Nowadays, refining sugar is very profitable, and Dongning has restricted the cultivation of sugarcane fields to ensure grain supply. I think, uncles can start from this aspect."

  "Right! Our sugarcane fields!" exclaimed Zheng Wen, who was one year younger than Zheng Kezang. "After we get back, let's have them all change to sugarcane fields."

  "Lao Ba, have you gone mad? You've changed the millet fields to sugarcane fields, what about the food supply for your household?"

  "Provisions, Sixth Brother, you've made a mistake. Who's provisions can be shortchanged? Can we brothers in the mansion have our provisions shortchanged?"

  "Right!" exclaimed Zheng Rou, who was of the same age as Zheng Wen. "With money, what's to fear about not being able to buy grain?"

  "Right, right!" The others also came around. "Let's go back, let's go back, and after the New Year, we'll change the grain field to a sugarcane field?"