The King of Black Fog

Was he a true official of integrity, or was it just an act?

In a blink, he tossed the matter to the back of his mind.

"Liu De."

"Yes, Second Master." Liu De stepped forward.

"Go to the accounting room, I'll give you a note for money to buy some peonies, hire the dockworkers in front of the Commander Mansion to move them. On May third, I will hold a Peony Charity Ball at the Commander Mansion, inviting the elite of Song City to attend, and have them donate for the construction of dormitories."

"Yes!" Liu De took the note and hurriedly went to find the accounting room.

In the living room, with only Li Changzhou remaining, he tapped his fingers, thinking about how to deal with the city's ringleaders and gangs.

With these people around, no matter how high the workers' wages, they would be siphoned off until nothing but skin was left.

Ringleaders, gangs, martial arts schools, and even some government officials, military officers, they had formed a chain of interests. "I'm your underling, you're my backer," and to resolve it without bloodshed would be both time-consuming and unlikely.

After pondering the matter for a while, he had his plan for constructing dormitories written down on paper, then stepped out of the Commander Mansion.

It was already noontime, and the porridge shop had begun to provide porridge.

Many ragged individuals were lining up with bowls to receive their share.

Seeing a strikingly handsome young man emerge from the Commander Mansion, a few cries of "It's the Second Master!" led to a mass of people kneeling down.

"Stand up!" Li Changzhou said with a hint of reprimand, "Eating your fill is more important than kowtowing to anyone!"

"Thank you, Second Master! Many thanks to Second Master!"

"Girl, quickly kowtow to the Second Master, thank him for giving us food!"

Li Changzhou entered the porridge shop, checked the porridge vats, which were very thin and without any side dishes, he tasted it and indeed, it had a hint of the fragrance and sweetness of rice soup.

There were reporters from the newspaper, frantically taking photographs on one side, their flashbulbs firing without cease.

Li Changzhou had no intention of showing off, after confirming there were no issues with the porridge, he didn't serve it personally but returned the ladle to the servants of the mansion.

He had the announcement about "constructing dormitories" posted where the workers were receiving porridge.

"What does it say?"

"I can't read."

"Hey, Old Song, you've had some education, come and see what it says!"

"Let me see, hmm—, to construct worker dormitories, hiring workers, 60 cents a day..... dormitory rent is one dollar a month, limited to workers, laborers, and women living in this city... the cafeteria is hiring..."

With every phrase Old Song read, doubt was evident amongst the listeners.

Old Song continued reading: "Wages paid in full on the same day, if a penny less is received, fight!"

"It's Li Second Master!"

"Second Master said these words last night!"

"It's true, absolutely true! There's really work to be done! And we don't have to give a cut to the ringleaders!"

"More than that! We're working for Second Master Li, I'd like to see which gang dares to come and ask for protection money!"

Realization dawned on the crowd, who then expressed their astonishment with faces lit up with wild joy.

"Old Song, where do we sign up?" People were urgently asking as many had no income and were surviving solely thanks to the porridge shop.

"Let me see, it says here the Treasury will soon come to recruit workers, those who are strong will contribute their strength, those with skills will contribute their skills, and women can also go to the construction site to cook, with wages of 20 cents."

"Mom..."

"Go, I'll be fine on my own."

"A'Nuan, I'll go to the construction site in a few days, you take care of the kids."

"I'll come with you, the kids are grown, let them stay on their own, it's 20 cents a day!"

While speaking, the crowd looked expectantly at Li Changzhou in the distance, as if seeking confirmation for something. Every nod from Li Changzhou made the fire in their eyes burn a little brighter.

Six men hesitated for a moment, then approached.

"Second Master, we thank you for your life-saving grace!" The six men came forward and knelt on the ground to kowtow.

Li Changzhou recognized them as the leaders of the workers he had seen the previous night in front of the Pear Garden gate.

"No need to thank me. I want you to do something for me," Li Changzhou said without letting them rise.

"At your command, Second Master!" replied the man who had cried the loudest the night before, immediately looking up.

"Regarding the construction of the dormitory, the payment is fixed; that is to say, no matter how much or how little is done, the amount is the same. I will give you each a daily wage of three pieces of money; you help me supervise those people well."

The six men were stunned for a moment—the task wasn't just a task; it was a reward!

"Second Master, we don't want money, just feed us, and we'll work for you free of charge!"

"That's right, although we are lowly folks, just a word from you, Second Master, and we'll do anything!"

"This money isn't for nothing," Li Changzhou interrupted, "You supervise well, and if the project is completed a day earlier, it saves me thousands of pieces of money."

The six men, upon hearing this, didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Second Master," the leader of the group said, "we'll do whatever you ask, but three pieces a day is too much!"

"Indeed, if you insist on paying us, Second Master, sixty cents a day will do."

Li Changzhou smiled: "You think these three pieces are easy to earn? Workers earn an extra day's pay with each additional day they work; you push them to work faster, won't you be hated? That's how it is, now get up."

The six men looked at each other and finally did not object. Deep down, they really needed money.

"Don't worry too much," Li Changzhou said, "the dormitory will be completed a day sooner, everyone will have their rooms a day earlier, and as I've said before, I guarantee you all work. If worst comes to worst, I'll build more roads, wharves, and still hire you to work."

The six men were finally reassured and vowed to supervise the workers well for Second Master.

Li Changzhou chatted with them for a while, seriously understanding their lives.

Besides not having work, their greatest troubles included being deducted money by foremen, regularly being forced to pay protection fees to gangs, and how to hide their money.

Though it was little money, the living environment was poor, and so was the security; they were always visited by thuggish thieves.

"Don't worry," Li Changzhou laid out his plan, "There will be a police station established in the worker's dormitory. Oh, would you six like to be police officers? You'll be in charge of the disputes in the dormitory, how about it?"

"Us... become police officers?"

"Can we really be police officers?"

"No, no, Second Master, we can't do it!"

The more he thought it over, the more feasible it seemed to Li Changzhou, so he ignored them and turned to Liu De and said, "Call the police station. Take them today to get their police uniforms, and start their basic training to be police."

"Okay," Liu De nodded.

"Police officers..." the six men muttered to themselves, not daring to believe it.

Overnight, they went from nearly starving to death to being police officers living on the government's dime.

In their eyes, police officers were esteemed people who wouldn't be bullied by any gang; punks would walk away in fear at the sight of them, and they were paid their wages fully and on time.

"I'm having you become police officers because you've had hard times; you know what workers worry about, where precautions are needed, and how to handle affairs in a way that's best for them," Li Changzhou explained.

The six men knelt again, but this time it wasn't just about doing a job for Li Changzhou...

"Second Master, just give the word. Even against a gun barrel, we would stand in its way! No matter how big the waves in the sea, we would jump in to retrieve the cargo!"

"I'm asking you to live a good life, what good is it to me if you die? Get up."

When they mentioned the sea, Li Changzhou asked about the sea freezing over again, and this time he heard some different information.

"Second Master, I think this sea freezing over isn't just due to the weather. It's... there's a monster!"

"Ah Hai, don't talk nonsense! Where's there a monster?"

"No, you talk," urged Li Changzhou to the man called Ah Hai.

"I saw it with my own eyes. It was shortly after the sea started to freeze, and there was still some cargo coming into the harbor. We six slept directly on the wharf to get to the work faster the next morning, and that night, I couldn't sleep because of the freezing cold, so I wandered around the wharf. I saw a huge monster!"

"Did you see clearly what it looked like?" asked Li Changzhou.

Ah Hai scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed: "It looked like a squid, but also like a fishing net; it was too dark to see clearly."

"It's just a fishing net." A man among the six named Ah Zhao spoke up.

"Second Master, sometimes people dry their fishing nets on the wharf," said another man called Ah Xiong, who had cried the loudest the previous night and was also the leader of the six.

"No! The youngest, Ah Hai, reddened immediately when contradicted, "I've been unloading cargo at the wharf since I was twelve, don't I know what a fishing net looks like? It was definitely a monster!"

Li Changzhou reflected thoughtfully.