Great Tang Idyll

Book 2: Chapter 50

Volume 02

The road home was long; the bells jingled a song. Shi'liu was feeling confused; inside the carriage joy perfused. The bright sun hung in the empty sky, green trees were on the sides that we passed by, fragrant wildflowers on the other shore of the river.

After joking around and laughing, Zhang Xiao'bao finally disclosed the plans he had in his mind.

"It's actually very simple. People here belong to the north, so they don't like fish. Fish scales can be made into snacks, but it's trickier to work with the fish meat. There are still many rivers here, and since the fishing techniques are rudimentary, it's impossible to overfish. I'm planning to earn money using fish. When the people here get used to the taste of fish and like the taste of fish, we can buy the sea products that can't be made into MSG and sell them to earn more money."

"Humph, you're finally being honest. I knew that there is no such thing as a good international conman. Ordinary people walk step by step, but if they're a bit smart, they will think about the next step as they take one step. However, if the person was even more smart, then they will think about the next three steps as they take one step. People like you will think about at least the next five steps for every one step taken, and still think that they're at a disadvantage."

Wang Juan was now satisfied. She didn't want to keep up with Zhang Xiao'bao's train of thoughts. When people like him did not do anything, they would appear to be an innocent person, but once they were ready to strike, it was impossible to tell what they were going to do.

"Hmm, I'll take it that you were complimenting me. Let me give you a detailed plan. This is what I'm thinking, people here don't like to eat fish mainly because there are abundant lambs and pigs, and that there aren't a lot of recipes that use fish. If fish is not prepared well, it would taste fishy and bitter. However, if it's done correctly, it would be completely different. Even the word fresh1' is written with letters found in the words fish' and sheep'.

"Then the eggs on our manor can be sold, right? I knew it, things won't be that simple. You are using all the people you have access to, including Ying'tao and your family, as well as me and my family."

Wang Juan was really surprised. Zhang Xiao'bao took almost everything into consideration. As long as there was a resource that he could use, he would definitely use it.

"With you guys, it's not called using, it's called cooperation. I'm also contributing. When you guys use my things, when did I even say the word no'? It's the Kai'yuan era; food won't be that valuable during the middle and later stages of the era. What can't I consider changing my business route? Let me ask you, do you want me to use you?"

Zhang Xiao'bao absolutely did not allow anyone to doubt his attitude towards his family. While he talked, he angrily turned his head to look outside the window.

Wang Juan felt that Zhang Xiao'bao was the cutest during times like this. She couldn't help but kiss him on the face. "I do. If you need to use me, then use me. If you don't make use of your talent to integrate resources, even the Heavens would disapprove. But why didn't you tell me straight up? It's not like I won't support you."

"I'm used to it. Sometimes I can't reveal my thoughts to other people because I need to appear mysterious in front of my subordinates. When you're standing up high, you'll find that you're lonely. Didn't the person surnamed Chen say Lamenting about the sky and earth ah ah, lonely melancholy makes tears go whahh whahh.'2 "

And the one surnamed Su, he also said that every time the altitude increases by one kilometer, the temperature will drop by nearly six degrees. It's cold. What could be done? Poor people can hustle together for warmth, but he can't because he's a scholar. So, he can only dance. In a dark area, he can wave his arms around eight or six times a second, and this would create an afterimage3.

It's a pity that we are quite a few years away from him, otherwise, with his application of optics physics, we can accomplish a lot. If there's no other choice, we can consider finding the guy surnamed Li. He knows that when drunk, there are shadows of three people4. When muddle-headed, a single shadow will look like two. People who drink too much are like this. Including himself, there are three people. Amazing. "

Zhang Xiao'bao touched the place where he was kissed, and started talking.

Wang Juan was confused by what Zhang Xiao'bao said. After a few seconds, she chuckled out loud. "I haven't seen anyone make fun of them just like you did right now. What do you mean sky and earth ah ah' and tears go whahh whahh'? It's sky's and earth's endlessness' and making tears fall', okay? Chen Zi'ang was lamenting. You even made fun of Su Shi. He's trying to express a kind of helplessness and loneliness towards family. As for Li Bai's poem, that's just a metaphor. "

"Sophistry, absolutely sophistry. What do you think that Chen guy means by endlessness'? I know that white clouds are endless5', but how would the sky and earth be endless? Sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, happy, sadness--- which one is not endless? Later he was already melancholic, how uncomfortable. Could tears possibly desire to appear but act coy and fall down slowly? If so, then he's too fake. Crying should be like whahh whahh'. Sadness requires tears to fall like rain.

And that surnamed Su, if he's not faking it, what else could it be? Cold up high? Who doesn't know that? Those who challenge the tallest mountain know how low the temperature is up there. I don't think he should write poems. You say you're up high, but no matter how high you are, could you be as high up as the emperor? He can easily make you fall from 8,000 meters above sea level to a few hundred meters below sea level. This is what the transition from high mountains to basins is like.

And that surnamed Li, he basically drinks every day. If you're really immune to alcohol, he still can't drink too much. He goes unconscious after drinking a bit of rice wine; he can't hold his drink. Take me as an example. State Banquet Mou'tai aged for 15 years with 53% ABV. I can drink two bottles in one go and still be able to con those that I need to con.

Zhang Xiao'bao finally led Wang Juan's attention to the wrong place by speaking nonsense--that was his goal.

Wang Juan really forgot about buying flour. Her big eyes and long eyelashes blinked again and again. This was the first time she heard such words. It was really astonishing. As long as this person didn't care about being shameless, he had the guts to say anything.

"What do you think, are you overwhelmed?" Zhang Xiao'bao asked in a timely manner.

"Yeah. Amazing. International conman---what a well-deserved reputation. Remarkable, truly remarkable. No wonder you were able to deceive so many politicians. Politicians are usually quite depressed, but after hearing your jokes, they of course will support you. How old is Li Bai now? Thirteen? Fourteen? How pitiful."

Wang Juan pinched Zhang Xiao'bao's chubby face. She really didn't know what to say.

"Facts are facts, you have to admit that. Tell me, with an alcohol tolerance like that, wouldn't that guy with the surname Li cause a lot of issues if he becomes a major official?" Zhang Xiao'bao continued what he was talking about earlier.

"Stop making fun of others. Even if you belittle others, you can't make yourself appear more highly. You're this old already, telling jokes like that is not fun at all."

"I'm not joking. What I said was true. If you want to hear a joke, I will tell you one. In fact, it actually happened. I met a mayor--not a municipality level mayor, but a prefecture level. We had lunch together and he drank too much. Later in the afternoon when he had a meeting, his secretary finished speaking and asked him to speak.

At that time, he was really good. He went on stage while swaying, and the audience was giving him a round of applause. He said one sentence, and everyone in the audience was shocked. I've always wanted to learn how to do that, but I feel like I'm nowhere as good."

Zhang Xiao'bao reminisced as he described the past.

"Huh? Was he that amazing? What did he say? Which cadre did he want to investigate?" Wang Juan really couldn't think of what the mayor said at this time.

"Okay, don't go on, I know who he is. He's the one who said Meeting in the morning is the policy, drinking during lunch is not an oddity, meeting in the afternoon is the countermeasure, sleeping at night has rules you must remember.' he left the stage right after saying that, and even two provincial senior left the stage with him. Let's talk about something else."

At this time, Wang Juan finally stopped refuting Zhang Xiao'bao. She already knew who Zhang Xiao'bao was talking about. She was the one who led her team down the stage. If it was other people who went down, then there was a chance for the charges to be reduced, but the special forces team two didn't care about those things. They arrested their family and caught their illegitimate sons. If they were unwilling to speak, then don't blame the special forces team two for being unsympathetic.

"Okay, let's talk about something happy. How much do you think our manor's crop yield will reach this year? Do you there's 10,000 catties per mu?" Zhang Xiao'bao continued to joke.

"Ten thousand catties is nothing, I'm guessing that there are at least twenty thousand catties and that's for a low quality farm land. When the time comes, we should somersault over top of it." Wang Juan also joked with him.

Zhang Xiao'bao looked at the dry field on the road they passed by; it was obvious that those fields would not be able to produce much. He sighed and said, "The land our family farms on probably has more than four piculs but less than five in the top-quality field, more than three piculs in the middle-quality field, and less than two piculs in the low-quality field. Increasing by about 40% sounds like a lot, but in fact, compared to our time, it is far worse. Back then, did anyone plant crops that had a crop yield of less than 500 catty per mu?"

"Yeah, 200 kilograms in the top-quality field is really too little. Don't worry, we'll take our time. Worse comes to worse, we can go find Li Xun to see if there are experts in this area. The society is developing, and there will always be people who can come up with better techniques."

Wang Juan estimated that this year's upward trend of crop yield was much higher than the original crop yield of this time period. However, after comparisons were made, it was apparent that a crop yield like this was not profitable and would result in a net loss.

People outside the carriage can only hear some incoherent words coming from the inside of the carriage. Even Shi'liu, who was sitting right next to the carriage, couldn't understand what her Young Master and Young Miss were talking about.

These people know that the Young Master and Young Miss were going back to see the autumn harvest. In their hearts, this year was a big harvest year, but they were unaware that the two little masters in the carriage were not satisfied with it.

When the two carriages arrived on the main road outside the Tu'qiao Village, another team coming from a distance could be seen. The noisy sound was heard from time to time, regardless of whether you liked it or not.

Sitting in the carriage, Shi'liu frowned when she heard this noisy sound. She stood up and looked over there. She suddenly knocked on the door of the carriage with excitement. She shouted to Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan inside,"Young Master, Young Miss, they're back, and our stuff is back. Xiao'hong and Ying'tao are back too."

1. The characters fresh', fish' and sheep'.

In Chinese the character for fresh' is written as which is composed of the two characters (fish) and (sheep/lamb).

This is not obvious in English so I changed the wording a bit by saying that the f' in fresh' refers to fish', and the sh' in fresh' refers to sheep'.

2. He is referring to the poem "Stepping Onto the Tall Stage At You'chou" by the Tang Dynasty poet Chen Zi'ang.

Here's my rough translation of the entire poem:

Not seeing the people of the past in the front,

Not seeing people coming in the back.

Lamenting the sky's and earth's endlessness,

Lonely melancholy making tears fall.

3. He is probably referring to the poem "When Did The Bright Moon Appear" by the Song Dynasty poet Su Shi.

Here's my rough translation of a part of the poem:

When did the bright moon appear,

Holding up wine to ask the blue sky.

Not knowing on the palace in the heavens,

What year was it tonight.

Wanting to ride the wind to the sky,

But fearing that the jade tower was too high,

And its cold was unbearable.

Dancing to create shadows,

Incomparable to the human realm.

4. He is referring to the poem "Drinking Alone Under The Moon" by the famous Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai.

Here's my rough translation of the entire poem:

A bottle of wine amongst the flowers, drinking alone without any companions.

Raising the goblet to invite the bright moon, including my shadow there are three people.

Since the moon doesn't drink, my shadow will follow my body.

Accompanying the moon and shadow temporarily, enjoying this beautiful scenery and time.

I recite poems as the moon moves with me, my dancing figure brings chaos to my shadow.

When awake we enjoy our time together, when drunk we part ways.

Swearing that the companionship lasts forever, meeting again later on a vast cloudy day.

5. Since Zhang Xiao'bao doesn't mention the poet's name and he only mentions a part of the poem line, I can't be certain which poem he is referring to. If I were to guess it would be "Yellow Crane Tower" by the Tang Dynasty poet Cui Hao.

Here's my rough translation of the poem:

Passed people have ridden away on the crane, here is the empty redundant Yellow Crane Tower.

Yellow cranes never return once gone, thousands white clouds carrying empty endlessness.