The Bund Chronicles, Chapter 27: The Perilous Path Ahead, The Fog Remains Unyielding

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Money is not everything, but without money, nothing can be done.

After Liu Lichuan founded his society, his greatest difficulty was not suppression by rival gangs, but money.

Without money, there was no way to win the loyalty of his followers.

Why else would people choose to follow him if not because, whenever trouble arose, the society could lend them its strength?

If they could not even fill their stomachs, what use was it to speak to them of ideals?

The same principle applied to scholarship. Learning required money as well. Libin was still a licentiate, and his family could be considered comfortably off, but even they could not support his study of Western learning.

The English edition of The Wealth of Nations in his hands alone cost five silver dollars at a bookstore in the foreign settlement.

He wanted to open a publishing house and gather a group of like-minded scholars. Could he do that without money?

Did these men not need money to pursue their studies?

For any country or people to develop and grow strong, the accumulation of capital was indispensable. It could be gained either through plunder or through the savings amassed by an entire generation.

Chen Lin went on to share with Liu Lichuan some of his thoughts on the development of gangs, introducing several ideas about the growth of political parties in later generations.

For a gang to grow and prosper, it needed its own base of support, a shared interest to bind its members together, and, from that, a central ideology.

These words made Liu Lichuan look at him in an entirely new light.

He stared at Chen Lin, reassessing the tall young man before him.

No. Is he really only a young man? Liu Lichuan wondered inwardly.

“You speak with great sense. Hong Bing is already considered a mid-level leader in our Small Knife Society. When I have the opportunity, I will take you to meet a few people. They may be able to help you.”

Then Liu Lichuan turned to Chen Lin with a worried expression.

“Someone has spread the word that you have made a fortune. Quite a few gangs have their eyes on you now. The men who blocked your way earlier were only one of them.”

Liu Lichuan had returned so quickly because he had heard that Chen Lin had been abducted in town.

This was also territory controlled by the Small Knife Society. An incident of such magnitude had naturally reached Liu Lichuan’s ears very quickly.

“Looks like I will have to hide in the foreign settlement from now on.” Chen Lin let out a bitter sigh.

He understood the principle that wealth should not be flaunted. Unfortunately, Mr. Dandy loved to show off. He had publicized the matter in order to build a reputation for himself.

He had never expected it to become Chen Lin’s nightmare.

“That will not work. If those people want to move against you, they will eventually find an opportunity. There is only one solution: make them understand that they cannot afford to touch you.”

Chen Lin’s expression turned solemn.

“Brother Chuan, what should I do?” The matter involved the underworld, and Chen Lin did not understand it very well.

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Liu Lichuan pointed at Hu San, who was wolfing down food and drink in the courtyard.

“Your attendant may be loyal, but at best he can serve as a human shield. I will arrange a few capable men for you later. They have all seen blood. Once they take care of a few fools who do not know their place, no one will dare set their sights on you again.”

“Brother Liu, you made it sound so dangerous just now. Does the government not intervene?” Libin asked from the side, trembling inwardly with alarm.

Chen Lin and Liu Lichuan turned to look at him as though he were a complete idiot.

“Brother Bin, do not place any hope in our government. They bow and scrape before foreigners. Do you really think they care whether ordinary people live or die?” Chen Lin said.

Libin was, after all, a respectable scholar, and a licentiate besides. For a moment, he could not process what he had heard.

His mind was full of the problems facing scholars in the present age, but he had never considered overthrowing the ruling dynasty.

Chen Lin did not say any more. Some things had to be understood by oneself.

The three men talked until late into the night.

After drinking a little foreign liquor with Liu Lichuan and Libin, Chen Lin became somewhat light-headed and decided to spend the night at the Liu residence.

Miaomiao clung to Chen Lin that evening, insisting that her older brother hold her while she slept.

The little girl fell asleep within seconds of lying down. Listening to his sister’s faint snores, Chen Lin sank into thought.

According to Liu Lichuan, someone had deliberately spread the news that Chen Lin was wealthy, which had led to the kidnapping that day.

But who was it?

Who was manipulating everything from behind the scenes, determined to bring about his death?

Fortunately, his business ventures had finally begun to take shape. The patent buyout fee from the Dandy Trading Company was of enormous importance to him.

With that money, he could get many things underway.

Libin’s publishing house, Liu Lichuan’s society, a construction company, his own laboratory...

He still lacked people. The construction company needed professional managers, and when he began opening factories, he would need capable administrators there as well.

Where was he supposed to find all these people?

There were simply too many problems. In a way, that meant none of them was insurmountable.

Yangjing Town, Wu’s Pawnshop.

The main proprietor’s room was lit that day. Ordinarily, it remained closed, for the proprietor had so many enterprises that he seldom came to this pawnshop.

A middle-aged man in his forties sat behind a pearwood desk in the study. His face was slightly plump, and he was dressed with refinement: a long silk gown beneath a plain waistcoat. Though not ostentatious, the quality of the fabric was unmistakably superior.

An elderly man with a goatee stood before the desk. He was the very pawnshop manager Chen Lin had met before.

“You were brought to heel by a mere boy. So what if the manager is a foreigner? James is only an Irishman, the lowest sort among white men.” The man was berating him, and the matter concerned Chen Lin.

“This is not about a few dozen silver dollars. If word gets out, what will become of the reputation of our Wu’s?”

“What will people say? That we seized an orphan’s little fishing boat, were caught red-handed, had him come to our door, and finally admitted our guilt and paid him compensation?”

Sweat had already begun to bead on the manager’s forehead. He defended himself in a low voice.

“Master, I only offered the boy a little compensation out of respect for James. We can also find the man who sold us the boat. We are the ones in the right here.”

“In the right? You paid him money. That means you admitted your mistake. Who cares what your reasoning was? Next time, think before you make a decision. If you have no brains, pack up and return to your old home in Xiangshan.”

“Yes, yes. This subordinate knows his mistake.”

The manager was no longer young, yet he remained extremely deferential before Wu Jianzhang.

Within his commercial empire, he was the emperor. Those beneath him had only one duty: obedience.

“Show some restraint in the future. Stop fixating on petty sums. Your primary role is to cooperate with the opium dens. They draw in the customers; you are responsible for converting those customers’ assets into cash, so they will have money to spend.”

Wu Jianzhang once again emphasized the operating principle of Wu’s Pawnshop.

He could not help inwardly marveling at the foreigners’ genius for business. They had actually discovered something like opium.

Once a person became addicted to the stuff, ruin was inevitable. It brought in money even faster than robbery. A robber still had to enter someone’s home and search for where the money was hidden.

This substance, however, made people willingly convert everything they owned into cash and then place it directly into your hands.

At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

The old manager went to open it, and a burly man entered.

He kept his head lowered, his face filled with dejection.

“Master, we failed. We ran into people from the county office.”

“Useless! You could not even capture one boy?” Wu Jianzhang slapped the desk and rose to his feet. “Was it that Tieliang again?”

The old manager nodded.

“Yes. He followed the case of the missing boys all the way to Yangjing Town. He has been watching us closely lately, making business very difficult.”

Wu Jianzhang stroked his beard and pondered.

“I will deal with him. You only need to take care of the business.”

How could a man with a fortune of several million taels of silver possess no means of his own?

The county constable named Tieliang had ruined Wu’s Pawnshop’s plans more than once.

Suddenly, the old manager felt icy all over. He could sense the thick murderous aura radiating from his master.

Tieliang had served as a constable in the Shanghai County Office for many years, and most local residents knew him.

He was kindhearted toward ordinary people and implacable toward evil, and he was greatly admired by the populace. No matter whether successive county magistrates liked him, none had dared move against him.

Yet Wu Jianzhang claimed that he could dispose of the man. Clearly, he already had a plan.

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