Preparing for the Locusts (2)
Since this was an age that had never even conceived of insect netting, Hui-yeom first had to explain the idea itself.
"So you're saying we weave something like a giant net out of hemp, fine enough that locusts can't get through, and drape it over the paddies and fields?"
"Exactly."
"Hmmm…"
Elder Kwon O-jung stroked his chin with grave seriousness at the rather absurd proposal, then spoke.
"There are quite a few practical problems."
"Go on."
"We could make them, of course. But first, covering every farm plot across the vast expanse of Sichuan with these nets is simply unrealistic. Second, cost. Hemp cloth may be cheap, yet enough of it to cover entire fields would still be far beyond what ordinary farmers can afford. Third, even if we somehow solved those and actually covered the fields, the netting would cut the sunlight reaching the crops and hurt the harvest."
In truth, the best solution Hui-yeom had imagined for stopping a locust plague was something like a vinyl greenhouse, but that was impossible here, so he had settled on blanketing the fields with nets. Hemp, however, blocked more light than plastic ever would, and mass-producing it was no simple matter either.
Hui-yeom answered the elder's points one by one.
"Let's take them in order. First, the claim that covering every field is impossible. Simple: we won't cover every field—only some of them."
"Which ones?"
"All land belonging to the Dang Family, and beyond that, only the plots whose farmers have signed supply contracts with the Agricultural Cooperative, field by field."
"Supply contracts?"
When Kwon O-jung tilted his head, Jin Cheong stepped in to explain.
"It's a new product from Hwieon Comprehensive Finance's agricultural arm. They're calling it a Crop Purchase Guarantee Contract. We buy every crop grown on the contracted fields. The price isn't set by yield; we fix it in advance according to the land's area and purchase at that rate."
"And how does that help our family?"
"There are pros and cons. In a bumper year we buy grain cheaply. In a bad year, when the harvest fails, we still pay out pure cash."
In effect it also functioned as a kind of insurance. With chemical fertilizer improving yields and pesticides keeping pests in check, the arrangement was not a terrible one.
"We'll only cover crop failure caused by natural disasters—drought, flood, and the like. We won't compensate for a poor harvest that comes from a farmer's own laziness."
"Hmm. And how do you intend to judge laziness?"
"We'll set a minimum yield floor based on each contracted plot's size. Fall short of that floor and the contract is considered broken. If there's no natural disaster yet the yield is still at famine levels, that can only be the farmer's fault. In that case we pay only a portion of the originally agreed purchase price."
Everyone who heard the full explanation nodded thoughtfully. Even an average year would turn a profit; a bumper year would be highly profitable. Losses from genuine disaster could therefore be offset. And paying only half for a harvest ruined by laziness meant even that scenario would not become a serious loss.
"Thank you for the explanation, Elder Jin. Now, back to the nets. We'll issue them only to the farms that have signed the supply contracts I just described. That takes care of the first problem. As for the second—how farmers are supposed to afford the nets—we won't make them buy the netting. The Agricultural Cooperative will keep it in stock and simply lend it out."
Jin Cheong had clearly not heard this part before; he had been nodding along until his face suddenly went blank with surprise.
"Then the cost becomes another expense for the Cooperative…"
Jin Cheong's expression crumpled, but Hui-yeom ignored it cleanly.
"In any case, that solves two of the three problems, yes?"
"Yes."
"The third problem… for that one there's no real solution. We'll keep the nets rolled up along the edges of the paddies, ready to unfurl at a moment's notice, and only spread them when the locusts actually arrive."
"But will a mere hemp mesh even stop them? Those things devour everything they touch. They'll just chew holes straight through the netting."
"We can coat the nets with insecticide, and in truth the nets only need to hold the locusts back for a short while. We'll be laying down large-scale toxic fog with pesticides anyway."
"Hmmm…"
Elder Kwon O-jung ran a few quick calculations, then spoke.
"We'll try it. In that case I'll need to know roughly how much acreage of netting we must produce."
"Decide the acreage and target farms in consultation with Elder U Seong-sik. For production costs and storage sites, work with Elder Jin Cheong."
"We receive your command."
U Seong-sik and Kwon O-jung offered formal martial salutes. Jin Cheong, however, still looked as though something grated on him; after glancing at Hui-yeom's face he finally asked,
"Young Master, this is not personal dissatisfaction—I'm asking as the man responsible for the Financial Branch. Even if the locusts do come, fine. But if they never appear, doesn't the entire cost of making these nets simply go up in smoke?"
Hui-yeom smiled faintly.
"Depending on how well the nets are made, if the swarm fails to arrive this year we simply store them carefully and use them against the next one. I also have ideas for turning them into weapons."
"Weapons?"
While everyone else wore blank expressions, Hui-yeom grinned.
"Yes. The details are classified, but I have no intention of letting this end as wasted money. Gentlemen, I am Dang Hui-yeom, the Prophetic Dragon. Have you ever known me to throw away so much as a single silver coin without purpose?"
"Never."
"Indeed not."
"Ha!"
"Unthinkable…"
The chorus of wry answers made Hui-yeom tilt his head.
"I feel as though a little emotion just crept into those replies…?"
"Not at all."
The perfectly synchronized denial came back, yet Hui-yeom's eyes narrowed a fraction.
Something feels off…
Still, he decided to let it pass. The remark had not been idle talk. He was thinking of the black powder currently under development in the Innovation Hall and of the guncotton that would follow it. Guncotton was a transitional explosive between black powder and smokeless powder; as the name suggested, cotton was the base material. Hemp could be substituted just as easily. Because hemp was tougher than cotton, the resulting powder was actually more powerful—yet France and Germany had used cotton simply because hemp was scarcer there. If the locust threat proved a false alarm, the great mass of hemp netting already produced would become raw material for guncotton—or rather, hemp powder.
Of course we'd have to tear the nets apart and reprocess them, but that only costs labor; the material itself isn't wasted.
Dang Hui-yeom never took a loss if he could help it.
Late autumn arrived. The harvest was finished and ordinary people finally had free time—yet the Dang Family grew busier than ever.
The busiest of all were the branch workshops under the Sichuan Dang Family's textile division.
"Come on, move it!"
"Why are we making this much hemp cloth? Is anyone even going to buy it all?"
"It's an order from the Young Master!"
"Ah. Then we make it."
"What would ignorant folk like us know? If the Young Master says make it, there's bound to be some deep purpose."
"True enough, true enough."
Among the people of Sichuan—and especially among those of the Dang Family—Hui-yeom's credibility was already high enough that they would have believed him if he claimed red beans made soybean paste. No one raised serious objections.
Moving with equal urgency were the agents of the Minjeongwon.
"They say a locust swarm might come next year?"
"Aigoo, don't say such unlucky things!"
"But this is the result of research by the Sichuan Dang Family itself. It's credible!"
"The Dang Family studied a hundred years of climate and locust patterns or something, and according to that the odds of a swarm this year are high!"
"Heavens, what do we do? We're finished!"
"We were just starting to live decently… what kind of disaster is this…"
As the crowd fretted and fretted, one farmer spoke up.
"You still haven't joined the Agricultural Cooperative?"
"The Cooperative? Oh, that place that sells fertilizer?"
"I joined just to buy fertilizer."
"I haven't yet. Why?"
"I've never met such dense people. The Cooperative isn't just a fertilizer shop, you lot."
"Stop making fools of us and spit it out. What about the Cooperative?"
Once he had their attention the farmer puffed up as though he were suddenly important.
"If you join, they let you sign something called a Crop Purchase Guarantee Contract. Even if natural disaster ruins the harvest, they still pay you the amount fixed at the start, by the plot. So if a locust swarm eats my whole field bare, they still hand over the money!"
"What? Is that really true?"
"Have you spent your whole life being fooled? I'm telling you it is."
"Is the Cooperative farming the dirt itself? Isn't this a scam?"
"Sounds like a scam."
"Ha! Truly dense people."
The farmer thumped his chest, face flushed as if he had been personally insulted.
"Do you know who owns the Cooperative? The Dang Family! The Dang Family! You think the Dang Family has nothing better to do than cheat farmers like us? They have a reputation, and they've already done plenty for Sichuan."
"Ah… it's a Dang Family thing?"
"Hmm… well then…"
The trust attached to the name Sichuan Dang Family softened their suspicion somewhat.
The farmer continued.
"So that's what it is. When farmers like us lose a whole year's crop, our lives are ruined. This was made to stop that. In return, even in a bumper year they only pay the original contracted sum and take the grain, so we might lose a little when the harvest is huge. That's the idea."
"Ah, now I get it."
"And they don't just give you the contract. They sell pesticide that only kills pests, and for any field under contract they also lend out hemp netting you're supposed to throw over the crops if the locusts come."
"Netting?"
"Would that even work?"
"How do you cover fields that big?"
"I'm telling you, it's the Dang Family. Stop doubting."
When the crowd kept voicing worries, the man seemed to deflate; he drained his rice wine and said,
"If you still can't believe it, suit yourselves. I've said my piece."
"Who said we don't believe it?"
"Where do we sign up for that?"
Clinging to the trust the Dang name inspired, the farmers knocked on the door of the Sichuan Agricultural Cooperative as though grasping at straws. The branch staff under Elder Jin Cheong of the Financial Branch kindly guided them through enrollment and contracts. And every time those contracts generated a bill that landed on Hwieon Comprehensive Finance, Jin Cheong had to swallow stomach medicine.
"Young Master, I know we have surplus funds overflowing, but this still looks like a loss no matter how I figure it… If we invested this money elsewhere…"
"There is no better investment than buying the people's hearts. And if Sichuan is reduced to scorched earth by locusts, what exactly do you plan to sell here afterward?"
"Urgh… this is the kind of thing the state is supposed to handle…"
As Jin Cheong groaned, Hui-yeom grinned.
"As it happens, I just returned from securing a firm promise of public funds from the Provincial Commissioner."
"Truly?!"
"Of course. It's a relief matter. Naturally the Commissioner wants a spoon in the pot as well."
In reality the Commissioner had not agreed so readily. Yet confronted with the meticulously prepared report Hui-yeom had brought and the young master's dazzling powers of persuasion, the man had finally, after long deliberation, stamped the official seal.
"The Sichuan Provincial Administration will underwrite half of every Crop Purchase Guarantee Contract the Cooperative is pushing, and half the netting production costs as well. We'll split the profits, of course. Risk management is necessary on our side too."
"Young Master! Good heavens! I believed in you all along!"
Jin Cheong's face lit up with the pure radiance of a man whose cancer had just been cured.
The Poison Hall was no less busy. Its people were working day and night to develop a new poison capable of wiping out a massive locust swarm.
"Isn't Guchung-po enough? One mouthful and they all drop dead on their own."
"Do you have any idea how many fields vanish in the single 'one mouthful' those countless locusts take when they descend?"
"…One mouthful does sound expensive."
"The Young Master himself said the scariest bug in the world is the 'one-mouthful bug.'"
"What's a one-mouthful bug?"
"The bastards who refuse to order noodles at a restaurant, then the moment the food arrives demand 'just one bite' and steal half of it."
"Those deserve to die."
Dang So-cheon's eyes turned sharp at the idle chatter of the direct-line poison masters.
"You have time for gossip? Aren't you all supposed to be researching?"
"Forgive us, Hall Master."
"Listen carefully. Our family may be thriving in business these days, but what is the root of the Dang Family?"
"Poison!"
"If our results fall short of those nets, just wait. I'll pickle the lot of you in the underground poison bath until you turn into fish sauce."
"Hic!"
At Poison Hall Master Dang So-cheon's blood-chilling warning, the researchers hiccuped in terror.
Meanwhile work continued in the Innovation Hall as well…
—BOOM!
"Hahahaha! Explosives really were the answer after all! Life is explosion!"
"…I'm certain I assigned him to pesticide development."
At the distant explosion and Dang Un-hwa's manic laughter, Hui-yeom tilted his head. Dang Su-jeong merely shook hers, the look of someone who had already given up.
"…He claimed he was looking for a way to use blasts to disperse and fumigate pesticide more efficiently. I figured if I stopped even that, he'd blow up the entire Innovation Hall, so I left him alone. You'll just have to understand."
"…Otaku…"
Hui-yeom clapped a palm loudly to his forehead and sighed.
In any case, that was the mood in which autumn and winter passed—the whole of Sichuan preparing for the coming of the locusts.
And at last, the following spring arrived.