Scripture of Days Past

Following the demonstration, the share price of the Azure Sun Trade Association skyrocketed, and large numbers of cotton merchants flocked to Azure Sun County to invest in the shares.

Even the general public was getting in on the craze; some households pooled together funds just to purchase a single share. All of a sudden, everyone in Azure Sun County developed an obsession with getting rich overnight through investing in shares.

In the end, the share price rose to a peak of forty-six taels of silver a share.

In order to reciprocate the market and thank everyone for their support, Chu Qiguang announced that he would be splitting the shares yet again, with each share split into a hundred.

As a result, the share price dropped from forty-six taels of silver to four taels and six qian of silver per share. The overall market value hadn’t changed, but the barrier to entry of share trading had been significantly lowered.

The new barrier to entry brought in a massive new wave of investment from those who were previously unable to afford the expensive shares; even servants and farmers were clamoring to invest.

Chu Qiguang traveled to the Northern Mountain Manor City with Wu Wei, Chen Zhu, Chen Gang, Wang Cailiang, and several workers. Together, they went on a three-day tour, demonstrating the prowess of the water-powered machines to the people of the city.

On the third day of the tour, Chu Qiguang made a breakthrough, becoming a fifth-state Dao artist, and before long, the entire Northern Mountain Manor was thrown into an excited frenzy.

***

In the blink of an eye, it was January of the sixteenth year of the Yong’an Era. Today, County Magistrate He Wenyan made his way onto the bustling western main street with a group of bailiffs.

They saw a massive crowd of people gathered on the street, staring collectively at a two-story building. The building was once home to a bank, but it had recently been purchased by the Azure Sun Trade Association specifically to facilitate stock trading.

There was a huge sign hanging outside the trading center’s entrance, and written upon it in red text was the current share price, which stood at nine qian and nine fen[1]

Right before everyone’s expectant eyes, the sign was removed, and it was replaced with a new one, stating the price of one tael of silver.

The crowd erupted into cheers at the sight of it. However, He Wenyan immediately rained on the parade, sending his bailiffs forward to force their way through the crowd before surrounding the trading center.

Wang Cailiang stepped out of the trading center, and then he wiped the sweat off his forehead before saying, ”Sorry to trouble you, County Magistrate He.”

”It’s fine,” He Wenyan replied. ”As the county magistrate, it’s my job to take care of things like this.”

Wang Cailiang instructed the employees behind him to drag out several burly men, and then he explained, ”These people falsified documents to pose as shareholders, but they didn’t know that all of our shareholders are registered with us, so we immediately uncovered their ruse because their identities didn’t match up.”

He Wenyan instructed some of the bailiffs to take the men away, while the rest of the bailiffs remained at the scene to maintain order.

Wang Cailiang invited He Wenyan inside. At this point, all of Chu Qiguang’s shares had already been transferred to Wang Cailiang’s name, and the new trading center was also being managed by the accountants sent by the Wu Clan, the Hao Clan, and the Daoist temple.

In total, there were over a hundred people working in the trading center, and they finally managed to just barely keep up with all of the daily transactions.

As He Wenyan followed Wang Cailiang inside, he said in a disgruntled manner, ”Everyone in Azure Sun County is obsessed with stocks right now. The people are no longer tending to their fields, and everyone is trying to get rich overnight by trading stocks! It’s madness!

”There are even people turning to underhanded tactics to try and cheat the system, like those men just now.”

Chu Qiguang had anticipated this complaint from He Wenyan, and he had already told Wang Cailiang how to respond.

”Considering how much money is gathered here, it’s only natural for some people to entertain some absurd ideas. However, only by pooling funds can anything significant be done. Right now, we are gathering all of the county’s resources to support the production of textiles. If we want to expand our business, then we’ll have to spend more money.

”At the moment, land annexation is becoming more and more of a problem, and there’s less and less land available to farmers. However, if we can get some textile manufactories up and running, at the very least, people will be able to work there instead of starving or being forced to leave the county.”

He Wenyan remained unconvinced.

”But it’s still not a good idea to sell these shares to the general public. They should be reserved only for the upper class. Otherwise, the people will become completely fixated on getting rich through trading stocks, and they’re not going to do what they should be doing, like tending to the fields and raising livestock.”

In He Wenyan’s eyes, farmers ought to stick to being farmers.

Since He Wenyan refused to see the light, Wang Cailiang finally pulled out his trump card.

”Brother Chu has always told me that you’re a capable and compassionate county magistrate who always thinks about the people’s best interests. As a gesture of admiration and gratitude, Brother Chu has instructed me to reserve a thousand shares for you.”

He Wenyan immediately changed his tune.

”The imperial court has always wanted the people of the north to plant more cotton. Now that the textile industry is booming in our county, it’s only right that I do everything to support this trend. I’ll leave a few bailiffs behind to keep watch outside. If anyone does anything funny, you can just tell them, and they’ll take care of it.”

***

”How high is it now?”

”It’s one tael of silver now, Abbot Chen Zhu.”

A wide smile appeared on Abbot Chen Zhu’s face. The more he thought about it, the more elated he became. Recently, his favorite pastime had been to send his Daoist attendants to check on the stock prices. He had been doing that over ten times a day.

”Our initial investment of ten thousand taels of silver has now risen to four hundred thousand taels of silver in value,” Daoist Master Law Origin said, sighing in amazement. ”I’ve never seen anyone earn money so easily in my life! Chu Qiguang is truly a brilliant man.”

”It’s not just a matter of money,” Chen Zhu said, ”Right now, the entire Azure Sun County and half of the Northern Mountain Manor are completely invested in his two water-powered machines. Who will dare to get in the way of his business?”

Just then, a Daoist attendant entered the room and reported, ”Abbot Chen Zhu, Young Master Chu has come to see you.”

Chen Zhu instructed the Daoist attendant to invite Chu Qiguang inside, and then he turned to Daoist Master Law Origin, saying, ”Chu Qiguang wants to discuss two things with me—firstly, using some of his shares to exchange for Seven Treasure Pills. I already agreed to that proposal, and I’ve recently contacted the other Daoist temples in the Northern Mountain Manor to get as many Seven Treasure Pills for him as possible.

”Secondly, Chu Qiguang seems to be about to embark on a long journey soon. He told me that there have been some shady individuals hanging around outside the workshop of late, so I want you to go with some people and keep an eye on it day and night. Don’t let even a single thief sneak inside.”

”B-But what about the morning and night lessons in the temple?” Daoist Master Law Origin asked.

”Are the lessons more important, or is the workshop more important?” Chen Zhu countered. ”Right now, the workshop is our top priority, and we must make sure that no nefarious individuals manage to make their way inside of it.

”As for the daily lessons, you have my permission to skip them for now. You must always remember that the Profound Origin Dao Lord exists in your heart, not in those lessons.”

1. A fen is a tenth of a qian, so this is essentially 9.9 qian or 0.99 taels of silver. ☜