CHAPTER 290: CHAPTER 211 OKAY_2

At the same time, because of disaster relief, Wanjin’s financial pressures were also enormous. To recover quickly, Wanjin was desperately dumping ironware and iron materials on the market, which caused the prices of iron goods at Atsuta Port to plummet. So...

Private businessmen like Hirajima Yoshichiro were out of luck. The "State-Owned Iron Workshop" only needed Harano’s command to start selling iron for the price of firewood—they could lose money to their grandmothers and still not care. But for the private workshop owners, they didn’t even need to lose money; not making a profit was enough to kill them.

Ishikuro was also helpless against this broader trend. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "It’s a lot harder to enter the Wanjin ironworks now than it used to be. Jiro, if you want to go, you’ll probably only be able to get some temp work at first. The pay isn’t very good—you’d really be lowering yourself..."

He paused, then asked, "Did you talk to Sun Liulang at all? You know a lot of people at the old ironworks—maybe there’s some way in?"

"I already asked at Iron Workshop Number One." Ishikuro sighed again. "I talked to both Sun Liulangs. The old ironworks there focuses now mainly on producing Iron Cannon, and management’s gotten even stricter. To bring in anyone, it has to be reported to Master Ah Man. Even day laborers have to be reported—they just can’t help out right now."

"Then I guess temp work is all I can do too," Ishikuro said. He could almost pass as respectable these days, but just hearing Ah Man’s name still made him uneasy. Almost unconsciously, he raised his hand to touch his face—when he first came to Wanjin, he got beaten more than once by Ah Man for his mistakes. Even over these past two years, if someone in the ironworks screwed up, Ah Man would send his people to drag them away. The results were rarely good, and just thinking about it was scary.

Hirajima Yoshichiro had no other options, and sighed, "Day labor is still work—as long as I can get a meal, I’ll thank the heavens. If nothing works out here, I might have to sign up for land reclamation at least I’d get a share of public fields, and at least I wouldn’t starve to death."

Joining a government-run reclamation squad was pretty much the last safety net for normal people. But these squads usually had to go to out-of-the-way places. If he could help it, he didn’t want to leave New Wanjin—the city was full of life, and he’d gotten used to living here. He’d nearly forgotten how to farm anyway, so going off to clear new land would probably turn out rough.

Ishikuro sighed along with him and hesitated before asking, "Jiro, did you ever try reaching out to Lord Nozawa? Back at the old ironworks, His Lordship once praised you to your face! With that kind of connection, he ought to look after you a little."

"I tried three months ago," Hirajima Yoshichiro replied, "and His Lordship later gave me an order. If not for that, I wouldn’t have made it through these past three months." Hirajima knew he’d been stung by policy—or by Harano, really—but he didn’t blame Harano. He knew Harano’s orders benefited all of Wanjin in the end. If he had to blame someone, he could only blame his own bad luck.

He said dejectedly, "I don’t want to bother the Lord again. No matter what, now is still better than back when I almost starved to death. I’ll start over on my own this time!"

Next time, he figured, he wouldn’t try to start a business again. He’d just work properly at Wanjin’s third ironworks, try to make up for the two or three years he’d lost. It was just a minor loss that he’d have to offload the house he’d bought in New Wanjin because of the collapse of the workshop—he’d have to sell the new house to pay off the mortgage. Luckily, he’d earned some money before, had a bit of savings, and could clear the debt. Otherwise, it would be even worse.

Still, it wasn’t too bad—at least he’d gotten married and the family had lived together in a new home for a couple of years. Unlike Ishikuro, who was still living in the dorms at the workshop and had to wait in line if he wanted to marry.

He comforted himself like that, and after that his mood improved slightly. He bowed his head to Ishikuro and said, "Liulang, from now on, I’ll have to count on you to help me out."

Ishikuro was secretly glad he hadn’t been as reckless as Hirajima Yoshichiro back in the day. When the old Wanjin booze-seller got rich, he hadn’t run off to try to copy him. Still, he said sincerely, "Don’t talk like that, Jiro—in those days I didn’t know anything, and it’s because you dragged me along and made me learn. If not for you, I’d probably still be doing grunt work!"

"Let’s not mention the past. Anyway, this is all in your hands now."

"Should be fine. You have skills, you’ve run a workshop, even been a master. Maybe after a few months temping, you’ll get hired for good."

"I hope so!"

Hirajima Yoshichiro could see hope for life again. He immediately poured Ishikuro a drink. Tonight he was going to treat him to a proper meal. The two kept toasting, reminiscing about hard times, remembering how they’d once been hauled into Wanjin by an ox cart tied up with straw rope. And now, able to drink freely, even if they’d hit a wall, it didn’t seem so bad.

At that moment, a worker from Hirajima’s ironworks suddenly rushed in. He glanced around, spotted Hirajima Yoshichiro, hurried over and called out, "Master, the Lord is looking for you."

Hirajima Yoshichiro froze. "The Lord? Which Lord? Lord Nozawa?"

"Of course, Lord Nozawa!" The worker didn’t want to see his own ironworks go under either—he’d be out of a job too. He said hurriedly, "Master, you’d better go quick! Maybe the Lord has another order for us."

......

If there was any hope at all, Hirajima Yoshichiro didn’t want to see his business—Hirajima’s Ironworks—collapse just like that. Hearing that Harano had sent for him, he dropped everything else and sprinted straight to the Wanjin Public Office.

He was running so fast and wild that he almost got picked up by the patrolling police for a thief. Luckily, the police were easy to talk to—after clearing things up, it didn’t take much time.

When he arrived, he couldn’t meet with Harano right away. Two young female staff led him to a reception room where they did a super-thorough registration, asking about every bit of his background since he was a kid, then copying it all down for the records. Only then did they send him to the waiting room next to Harano’s office to start the proceedings.

Hirajima Yoshichiro was completely bewildered, but he didn’t mind. He’d always had a clean background—he was a true "Old Wanjin". If anything, he was just too short—the Wanjin Army wouldn’t take him. Otherwise, if Harano had called him to the front, he wouldn’t have had a word of complaint. Asking about his background and life story was nothing to him.