Chapter 726: Replacement

That evening, several hundred serfs arrived at the Imperial City. These serfs, who had boldly escaped from various households, were not stopped by their masters. However, having nowhere else to go, they could only come to the Imperial City to seek refuge with Li Qi.

Yu Yunqiu and Ao Shuangqian, however, dismissed these serfs.

"Over a dozen serfs from my household ran away last night," one said. "I didn't stop them. I even told the others, 'If you want to leave, just go.' But they didn't dare to!"

"I did the same as Brother Yu," another added. "I just let them go. Let's see what they'll eat once they're outside!"

Yu Yunqiu took a sip of wine. "Brother Ao, I'm not boasting," he said, "but in Xiaodu, if someone leaves my household, no one dares to buy or employ them. No one even dares to give them a single meal!"

Ao Shuangqian replied, "Brother Yu, I share that confidence. Any serf who leaves my home will simply starve to death. If they want to find Li Qi, let them try. I'd like to see what Li Qi will use to support them."

Yu Yunqiu sneered, "He said there would be no serfs within three days. Well then, let's just not call them serfs. We'll change their name to 'slaves'; it sounds quite agreeable."

Ao Shuangqian nodded. "The name doesn't matter," he said. "It'll be like humoring him."

"The urgent task at hand," Yu Yunqiu said, "is to retrieve the Fire Cage Colt."

Ao Shuangqian sighed, "This matter is indeed difficult to handle. The key is that Li Qi knows full well, and he could retaliate at any moment. The Fire Cage Colt was my gift, so I expect he'll come after me first."

Yu Yunqiu was also not optimistic. "The Fire Cage Colt is a family heirloom," he said. "If Li Qi investigates, he'll quickly trace it back to me. We should prepare early. If it comes down to it, we'll just have to break ties!"

Ao Shuangqian shared this idea. "While Li Qi is busy settling the serfs and spread thin," he said, "we should indeed make the first move."

Yu Yunqiu raised his wine cup. Ao Shuangqian gave a slight nod, and both emptied their cups.

Li Banfeng looked at the several hundred people before him, his expression somewhat grim.

He wasn't worried about how to accommodate them; he was annoyed that too few people had come.

"I took such a bold step," he muttered, "and only a few hundred people showed up."

Zhao Xiaowan, dressed in men's clothing, whispered to Li Banfeng, "It's a good thing only a few hundred came. There's no grain in the Imperial City, and our family's meager reserves will only last them a few days."

"Food isn't the problem," he replied.

"But we can't keep supporting them indefinitely," she insisted. "We need to find them a livelihood!"

"A livelihood isn't the problem either," Li Banfeng said grimly. "The only problem is the small number of people."

That afternoon, Li Banfeng went to the First City.

The First City was entirely factories. Though it seemed empty of workers on the surface, large numbers of serfs were busy working beneath the factories.

Li Banfeng entered a shipyard. In the first workshop, palm-sized boat models were soaking in large tanks. Various tubes were inserted into the tanks, injecting liquids of different colors.

Walking past two more workshops, Li Banfeng saw a series of connected pools. In each pool, small boats over a meter long were soaking.

It was hard to say if these small boats had any practical value. Their structure was so complex that not even one person could sit in them.

But these small boats looked very similar to the boat models he'd seen earlier. Could they be transformed from the models?

Li Banfeng continued walking forward. Along the way, he saw many pieces of equipment in the workshops: some stirring liquids, others grinding powders. He continued until he reached the end of the workshop, where he saw a vast open sea. Seven or eight ships of varying sizes were floating on the water.

Considering the boat models in the tanks, the small boats in the pools, and then these ships on the sea, Li Banfeng broadly understood the shipbuilding process in Neizhou.

To be precise, these ships weren't *built*; they were *grown*.

They first created palm-sized boat models, then cultivated them into meter-long small boats, and finally nurtured them into large ships dozens or even hundreds of meters long.

This shipyard was run by Banchiling. There was an issue with the piping connections on one of the ships, and Banchiling was on board, scolding the serf next to her: "How did you inspect this? So many errors, and you didn't notice them before?"

The serf explained, "I had people check it several times. We truly didn't find these sets of pipes connected incorrectly before."

Tie Baisheng was also there, holding shares in the shipyard. He carefully compared the blueprints. "These pipes were wrong from the very root," he said. "There's no way to fix them. This ship is ruined; ten-odd days of effort, all wasted."

Banchiling roared at the serf, "A perfectly good ship, just ruined like this! I should throw you all into the boiler and boil you alive!"

Tie Baisheng checked again; his professional skills were better than Banchiling's. "If I'm not mistaken," he said, "this must have been intentionally misconnected. It was wrong from the molding stage. There might be quite a few ships with this problem."

Banchiling grabbed the serf. "Do you think I can't really control you?" she demanded. "How do you account for these dozen-plus days of work? You will rework it now! If there's even a slight flaw again, I'll take your life!"

The serf said nothing. He neither argued nor pleaded.

He simply walked away in silence.

The serf's attitude made Banchiling very tense.

It wasn't just this one serf. Ever since Li Qi appeared, the attitudes of many serfs had changed, and the change became more evident day by day.

Banchiling picked up her whip, just about to call out to the serf, when she suddenly heard someone ask, "Building such a large ship only takes a dozen-plus days?"

Banchiling was startled and turned to look at Li Qi.

To be honest, Li Qi was also startled. Not by Banchiling, but by the ship itself.

In the Dark Star Bureau, he had carried out missions at sea. He had seen many warships, yet the ship beneath his feet was larger than most warships he had encountered.

Not only was it large, but even as a layman, he could tell that the craftsmanship of this ship was superior to that of military vessels from the Outer States.

With Li Qi's sudden appearance, Banchiling was speechless.

Tie Baisheng quickly bowed. "We were unaware of Your Highness's arrival and failed to greet you properly."

Banchiling also quickly followed suit and bowed.

Li Banfeng looked at Tie Baisheng. He noticed that among the group of ministers, this person was somewhat special.

He reacted faster than others, was smarter in his actions, and always responded correctly in front of Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng asked again, "Was this ship really built in just over ten days?"

Banchiling glanced at Li Banfeng. Her initial nervousness gradually subsided.

Rumors outside claimed Li Qi was inscrutable. Now, it seemed his elusive nature was true, but when it came to knowledge, he was just an ordinary person, capable of showing his ignorance. His last question proved how little he knew about construction methods.

Tie Baisheng explained, "Your Highness, this is just an ordinary cargo ship. Thirteen days of construction time is sufficient."

"What about a warship?" Li Banfeng asked.

"There are many types of warships," Tie Baisheng replied. "It depends on the size and purpose of the warship."

Li Banfeng touched the railing beside him. "A warship the size of this cargo ship," he clarified.

Tie Baisheng thought carefully. "There are also many types of warships of this size," he said. "The construction period usually ranges from twenty to thirty-five days."

Li Banfeng remained silent for a long moment. His expression was very serious.

He once had an idea: that in conflicts with Neizhou, as long as they suffered some attrition, they would become wary and no longer dare to easily attack Puluo State.

The ancient charm of Shang State's lifestyle sometimes created an illusion, making people believe their technological level was relatively backward.

Like the camp that invaded Baijun Commandery—an intricately constructed camp that could even move to Puluo State—Li Banfeng thought it would take a great deal of time to build such a camp, and destroying one would inflict a huge cost on Shang State.

Li Banfeng also believed that the naval base destroyed by the navy would also make Tufang State pay a heavy price.

But now, on careful reflection, the truth of the matter might be vastly different.

The aerial camps and maritime fortresses that Li Banfeng considered extremely powerful might be nothing special to Neizhou.

The Outer States' decision to avoid direct conflict with Neizhou was correct. In terms of technological level, there was a generational gap between them.

Li Banfeng walked around inside the ship's cabin. "Such a good ship, only a few pipes are broken," he said. "Wouldn't repairing them suffice?"

Banchiling replied with some pride, "A broken face leaves a scar. If a ship is damaged, even if it's repaired, it will still have old wounds. The ships produced by our factory have an excellent reputation. We cannot ruin our brand for something like this."

What a strong-willed woman.

"If it's repaired carefully," Li Banfeng said, "it shouldn't ruin your brand, should it?"

Banchiling shook her head. "Defective ships are directly melted down and remade," she said. "Repairing ships also requires a lot of manpower, and my workforce is already not abundant. It's not worth doing such a thankless task."

Li Banfeng turned to Banchiling. "You said your workforce isn't abundant?" he asked.

Banchiling lowered her head. "City Lord," she began, "I was just about to discuss this with you. You may not understand construction methods very well. On the surface, my shipyard doesn't seem to need much manpower, but in reality, a large number of people are working.

"I have a total of over 2,300 serfs in my household. Even that is barely enough. All able-bodied individuals have been sent to the factory. I don't even have a single maid to serve me.

"If you make me release all my serfs, my factory will be ruined. If all the factories in Xiaodu are ruined, that would be considered poor governance on your part. You'd be laughed at outside. Don't you agree?"

Li Banfeng actually smiled. Banchiling spoke very directly.

Seeing Li Banfeng smile, Banchiling spoke even more boldly. "We Banchiling family members are straightforward; we don't beat around the bush," she said. "I'll tell you plainly, I cannot do without serfs.

"I can change their names," she continued, "just as Tie Baisheng suggested, change them to 'workers' first. And they'd be free to come and go; I wouldn't stop them. Once I have more flexibility with my workforce, I'll gradually abolish the system entirely. How does that sound to you?"

Li Banfeng looked at Banchiling. "Everyone in Xiaodu is doing this now, aren't they?" he asked. "Change the name, but the serfs remain serfs?"

Banchiling was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Your Highness, I'll tell you another truth," she said. "Everyone in Xiaodu is indeed doing this! And I'm just one more. Please don't force me!"

Li Banfeng shook his head. "I'm not here to force you; I'm here to help you," he said. "Aren't you short-staffed? I'll send some people over."

Banchiling was startled, realizing the seriousness of the matter. "Your Highness," she asked, "who are you planning to send?"

Li Banfeng smiled. "Commoners," he said, "commoners who have just gained their freedom."

Hearing this, Banchiling's face turned pale with fright. She knew what Li Banfeng meant, having also heard that over a hundred commoners had arrived at the Imperial City last night. "Your Highness, I cannot take these commoners!" she exclaimed.

"Why can't you take them?" he asked. "Aren't you short-staffed? I'll have them come work for you. Remember, they are commoners. They must be paid for their work, and their decision to stay or leave is up to them. I'll send the people over shortly." With that, Li Banfeng left the shipyard.

Banchiling was dumbfounded. She stared at Tie Baisheng and said, "Old Tie, why are you just standing there? Say something!"

Tie Baisheng seemed to awaken from a dream. "Ah," he said, "what do you want me to say?"

Banchiling was furious. "Who told you to talk to me?" she snapped. "Go tell the City Lord! He cannot send these hundred-plus people to our factory!"

"Why not?" Tie Baisheng asked. "You're always saying you're short on people. Isn't it just right to send us some manpower?"

"Are you really confused or just pretending?" Banchiling pointed at several serfs working on the ship and whispered, "Do you know who the City Lord wants to send? They are all serfs, just like them.

"But these serfs are now commoners. They have to be paid for their work, and they can come and go as they please. What will my own ser