Post by Gongsun Chao on Nov 14, 2009 5:03:41 GMT
Tags I'm going for:
Construction
Maybe Trading/Commerce
There had been some reports that trade flows were weak between the port city of Jiang Ling and Liu Bei's capital at Changsha. Having been told by his Lord to make sure that trade was running smoothly, Chao took a stroll to the marketplace to investigate. A young merchant girl quickly came running up to him.
"Lord Gongsun, Lord Gongsun!" She seemed almost out of breath. "You've got to help us. Our entire shipment of cloth just returned from Jiang Ling without a single ounce being sold."
Before turning, Chao laughed to himself. They couldn't bother him just because their goods weren't selling...Well, they could, but it wasn't so urgent. After turning around, Chao saw that he was being addressed by a young, pretty woman. She suddenly had his full attention.
"That is certainly odd, Miss. Might you have an idea why?"
The young merchant girl was very happy that the Lord had actually acknowledged her question.
"W-well, Lord Gongsun, the ship's captain said that the port was out of commission - destroyed by a flood."
Chao nodded apologetically.
"Ahh, damned floods. Such are the dangers of ports, I suppose."
The young girl agreed. She didn't say anything else and started to walk away dejectedly. Since she was pretty, and invoked in Chao a willingness to help, he followed her a few steps and she turned around.
"If I may....Lord Gongsun...that area of Jiang Ling hasn't been hit by a flood in over a year."
Chao just tilted his head, confused.
"Y-yes, m'Lord. When not helping my parents with their business I work with the flood records. There hasn't been one there in over a year."
Chao clenched his fist.
"Do not worry another moment, m'Lady, I will personally go to Jiang Ling and remedy the situation, then."
The young girl tried to mutter thanks, but Chao was already off towards Changsha's port. He, for once, foresaw that the problem might require some building, and he didn't know much about the art, so he asked his men which of them had worked in construction prior to their joining. He found about forty men who knew their way around a hammer, and took them with him to Jiang Ling. Chao also went to the ship's captain and requested the cloth, promising to sell it on Jiang Ling's markets.
The ride to Jiang Ling wasn't fun for Chao, but he spoke with his bodyguard to pass the time. Mostly, he talked about women and girls, but his bodyguard didn't share in the enthusiasm since he was already married.
When they arrived at the "port" in Jiang Ling, they saw a half-constructed port, looking as though all the workers had just up and left one day. Chao approached the port with his bodyguard and looked around, finding a fisherman not far from the port. They asked him about it.
"M-my Lord. You should talk to the building supervisor Zhang. He lives in that house behind the port."
Chao thanked the fisherman and followed the road behind the half-constructed port to the Building Supervisor's house. It was more of a large mansion, with extravagance written all over it. Chao and his bodyguard knocked on the gate, but there was no answer. His bodyguard just opened the door, as it was unlocked, and entered the house blazing his spear. There was no one to use his spear on though, and all they saw was a rather plump man asleep at his desk. Chao went over and woke him up.
"Building Supervisor Zhang, may I ask why the port is not complete?"
"Who-who are you? What are you doing in my house!?? Guards!!!??" the building supervisor yelled. A few guards came, but immediately put down their weapons when the saw the papers that Chao carried. Chao realized that there was some corruption going on, and he stopped playing nicely.
"I am Gongsun Chao, Retainer of the House Liu. You are under arrest for corruption and negligence of duty, unless you've a reason why I should believe that this port will be finished soon."
"Uh...I....uh...there was this flood....and..." The supervisor could give no adequate explanation, and Zhang Ci grabbed the man, pulling his hands behind his back. He was taken to the ship and placed in the brig.
Chao decided he would take over as Building Supervisor until the port was finished.
He bade his men take up the tools found on the site and finish the construction that had been started before Zhang took over the position as Building Supervisor. The men took up their hammers, nails, and planks and began the work.
"Give this your all, men of the Standard of the White Dragon, for you are the elite forces of Shu, skilled in both domestics and war. Use your talents, pick up your hammers, and build an economy that will allow you and your families here in Shu to prosper!"
As usual, his men were inspired and they worked hard.
During the morning, Chao took the cloth to the nearest market to sell. He walked down the streets, evaluating the prices that each merchant sold his cloth at. Extortion! The merchants must have been paying the Building Supervisor off so that cheaper cloth could not come from Southern Jing, since the merchants all charged high prices for their lower quality cloth. Chao first made a rounds of the market place, his rank scaring the corrupt merchants to close up shop for the day, and then set up his own booth to sell the cloth from Changsha. A woman from Jiang Ling passed by and looked at Chao's cloth, not understanding the low posted price.
"Straight from Chang Sha, the capital of Shu," Chao explained as he bowed to the customer. Soon, a good number of women had gathered by Chao's booth in order to buy the cheap cloth from Chang Sha. In order to keep them entertained, Chao told some of the jokes that he had heard during his time at the Imperial Capital. Many of the women laughed as they shopped, lightening the mood so they'd purchase more. It was a good strategy, and he had sold all the cloth by the second day of selling.
Each day, when he returned to the construction site, there was more work to be done. Chao wasn't very handy with a hammer, but he was good at directing the men. One of the soldiers explained to Chao what exactly needed to be done, and so Chao was able to supervise his men. Chao stayed in the city of Jiang Ling for the next week to oversee the construction his men were doing. It was hard work, but they had almost finished completing the work in a week.
Chao realized it would be another week, but he was determined to stay. One of his men was hurt when another accidentally dropped his hammer on the man's shoulder. After making sure he got medical attention for the man, Chao picked up the man's hammer and fulfilled the man's job. His men were exhilarated to see their young Lord working beside them, even if he wasn't as good as they were at the work they were doing.
After another week of continuing like this, they finished the port. It wasn't large, but it could serve as a trading post between Jiang Ling and Changsha, providing a better location for shipment ships to dock in the port city of Jiang Ling. Chao graciously, and personally, thanked every one of his men that aided him in this task. They finally boarded the ship to return home.
When the reached Changsha, Chao immediately approached the family of cloth vendors and gave them the profits from the cloth sale. The young woman wasn't home, a fact at which Chao frowned sadly, but the parents were very happy and thanked Chao profusely. Chao told them to continue exporting to Jiang Ling, as it was a good market for their lower-cost cloth. They obeyed.
The next order of business was to bring the Building Supervisor in for a trial. This was done in an orderly manner. Finally, Chao returned to his residence where he got a nice LONG sleep, happy with the work he'd done.
Construction
Maybe Trading/Commerce
There had been some reports that trade flows were weak between the port city of Jiang Ling and Liu Bei's capital at Changsha. Having been told by his Lord to make sure that trade was running smoothly, Chao took a stroll to the marketplace to investigate. A young merchant girl quickly came running up to him.
"Lord Gongsun, Lord Gongsun!" She seemed almost out of breath. "You've got to help us. Our entire shipment of cloth just returned from Jiang Ling without a single ounce being sold."
Before turning, Chao laughed to himself. They couldn't bother him just because their goods weren't selling...Well, they could, but it wasn't so urgent. After turning around, Chao saw that he was being addressed by a young, pretty woman. She suddenly had his full attention.
"That is certainly odd, Miss. Might you have an idea why?"
The young merchant girl was very happy that the Lord had actually acknowledged her question.
"W-well, Lord Gongsun, the ship's captain said that the port was out of commission - destroyed by a flood."
Chao nodded apologetically.
"Ahh, damned floods. Such are the dangers of ports, I suppose."
The young girl agreed. She didn't say anything else and started to walk away dejectedly. Since she was pretty, and invoked in Chao a willingness to help, he followed her a few steps and she turned around.
"If I may....Lord Gongsun...that area of Jiang Ling hasn't been hit by a flood in over a year."
Chao just tilted his head, confused.
"Y-yes, m'Lord. When not helping my parents with their business I work with the flood records. There hasn't been one there in over a year."
Chao clenched his fist.
"Do not worry another moment, m'Lady, I will personally go to Jiang Ling and remedy the situation, then."
The young girl tried to mutter thanks, but Chao was already off towards Changsha's port. He, for once, foresaw that the problem might require some building, and he didn't know much about the art, so he asked his men which of them had worked in construction prior to their joining. He found about forty men who knew their way around a hammer, and took them with him to Jiang Ling. Chao also went to the ship's captain and requested the cloth, promising to sell it on Jiang Ling's markets.
The ride to Jiang Ling wasn't fun for Chao, but he spoke with his bodyguard to pass the time. Mostly, he talked about women and girls, but his bodyguard didn't share in the enthusiasm since he was already married.
When they arrived at the "port" in Jiang Ling, they saw a half-constructed port, looking as though all the workers had just up and left one day. Chao approached the port with his bodyguard and looked around, finding a fisherman not far from the port. They asked him about it.
"M-my Lord. You should talk to the building supervisor Zhang. He lives in that house behind the port."
Chao thanked the fisherman and followed the road behind the half-constructed port to the Building Supervisor's house. It was more of a large mansion, with extravagance written all over it. Chao and his bodyguard knocked on the gate, but there was no answer. His bodyguard just opened the door, as it was unlocked, and entered the house blazing his spear. There was no one to use his spear on though, and all they saw was a rather plump man asleep at his desk. Chao went over and woke him up.
"Building Supervisor Zhang, may I ask why the port is not complete?"
"Who-who are you? What are you doing in my house!?? Guards!!!??" the building supervisor yelled. A few guards came, but immediately put down their weapons when the saw the papers that Chao carried. Chao realized that there was some corruption going on, and he stopped playing nicely.
"I am Gongsun Chao, Retainer of the House Liu. You are under arrest for corruption and negligence of duty, unless you've a reason why I should believe that this port will be finished soon."
"Uh...I....uh...there was this flood....and..." The supervisor could give no adequate explanation, and Zhang Ci grabbed the man, pulling his hands behind his back. He was taken to the ship and placed in the brig.
Chao decided he would take over as Building Supervisor until the port was finished.
He bade his men take up the tools found on the site and finish the construction that had been started before Zhang took over the position as Building Supervisor. The men took up their hammers, nails, and planks and began the work.
"Give this your all, men of the Standard of the White Dragon, for you are the elite forces of Shu, skilled in both domestics and war. Use your talents, pick up your hammers, and build an economy that will allow you and your families here in Shu to prosper!"
As usual, his men were inspired and they worked hard.
During the morning, Chao took the cloth to the nearest market to sell. He walked down the streets, evaluating the prices that each merchant sold his cloth at. Extortion! The merchants must have been paying the Building Supervisor off so that cheaper cloth could not come from Southern Jing, since the merchants all charged high prices for their lower quality cloth. Chao first made a rounds of the market place, his rank scaring the corrupt merchants to close up shop for the day, and then set up his own booth to sell the cloth from Changsha. A woman from Jiang Ling passed by and looked at Chao's cloth, not understanding the low posted price.
"Straight from Chang Sha, the capital of Shu," Chao explained as he bowed to the customer. Soon, a good number of women had gathered by Chao's booth in order to buy the cheap cloth from Chang Sha. In order to keep them entertained, Chao told some of the jokes that he had heard during his time at the Imperial Capital. Many of the women laughed as they shopped, lightening the mood so they'd purchase more. It was a good strategy, and he had sold all the cloth by the second day of selling.
Each day, when he returned to the construction site, there was more work to be done. Chao wasn't very handy with a hammer, but he was good at directing the men. One of the soldiers explained to Chao what exactly needed to be done, and so Chao was able to supervise his men. Chao stayed in the city of Jiang Ling for the next week to oversee the construction his men were doing. It was hard work, but they had almost finished completing the work in a week.
Chao realized it would be another week, but he was determined to stay. One of his men was hurt when another accidentally dropped his hammer on the man's shoulder. After making sure he got medical attention for the man, Chao picked up the man's hammer and fulfilled the man's job. His men were exhilarated to see their young Lord working beside them, even if he wasn't as good as they were at the work they were doing.
After another week of continuing like this, they finished the port. It wasn't large, but it could serve as a trading post between Jiang Ling and Changsha, providing a better location for shipment ships to dock in the port city of Jiang Ling. Chao graciously, and personally, thanked every one of his men that aided him in this task. They finally boarded the ship to return home.
When the reached Changsha, Chao immediately approached the family of cloth vendors and gave them the profits from the cloth sale. The young woman wasn't home, a fact at which Chao frowned sadly, but the parents were very happy and thanked Chao profusely. Chao told them to continue exporting to Jiang Ling, as it was a good market for their lower-cost cloth. They obeyed.
The next order of business was to bring the Building Supervisor in for a trial. This was done in an orderly manner. Finally, Chao returned to his residence where he got a nice LONG sleep, happy with the work he'd done.
