Great Tang Idyll

Book 2: Chapter 58

On this day, the sky over top of Little Luo'Shui Wharf was densely covered with dark clouds, but people were still weaving through the place as usual while the people on the boats and ships were calling out to each other to give way.

Magistrate Cheng Ling'xiang, who was going to leave for his new workplace in two days, was standing on the newly built bridge. He looked at the prosperous scene in front of him, with a lot of emotion.

He was already assigned to another official position and he planned to board a ship in the next few days to take up his post. Magistrate Cheng was relegated to the position of a recorder. At the beginning, he thought he would be given a position at the Prefecture level, but now he was assigned to an inferior position instead. However, his ranking went up to a sub-sixth rank. This was how it worked and he had no other choice because the ranking of the recorder position in Chang'an's was specially set like this. The Chang'an Magistrate, Pei Yao'qing, was a proper sixth rank.

"My lord, didn't you say you wanted to go over there and have a look?" A servant next to Magistrate Cheng saw him standing there watching for a while without leaving, so he whispered a reminder.

"Okay, I'll go over there now. I heard that the lake there is still being worked on, so it's a good opportunity for me to have a look at the progress. I wonder who the next county magistrate is. The letter of referral I have written was submitted already. This dock alone would bring in a lot of tax money each year. Although the taxes are exempted in our county this year, it's still a bowl filled with oily fatty meat1 and quite a few people would want to come over to take a bite from it."

The wharf was complete, and after a few rains, the place was open for ships to travel. The people of San'shui County alone didn't need that many goods, but the people from other places needed it. The river was connected to the sea, and the river passed through a lot of places, including the important Capital city. Some other places that were far from the river or did not have a wharf could only transport freight to this side.

Others were simply merchants from other places who arrived here by boat, rented warehouses at the docks, and traded with each other. There were many people who came to look at the goods, and some goods were transported directly elsewhere before even disembarking, but regardless, the docking fee still had to be paid.

Just like the person in Zhang Manor said, when times were prosperous, the locals would also have a new way of living. Some of them carried goods, and some even borrowed money to buy a carriage to transport goods back and forth.

Occasionally, those who sold liang'pi and savory crepes would set up their stalls in the surrounding area. The serving size was large, and the cost was reasonable and cheap, so those that didn't have a lot of money would choose to buy a portion. Some chose to eat the two items together so that they could eat dry and wet food together.

The servant listened to the Magistrate's words and was also anxious. He was afraid that someone had their eyes set on this place too, but he couldn't continue talking about it so he had to change the topic, "My lord, it is not just the wharf that is prosperous; there will be more people in the county in the future. Many temples have been demolished, and land that used to be tax-free will be allocated to others."

"Yeah, it's good that they're demolished. The commoners don't have much money to begin with, and yet they have to pay them money. The saved money could be used to buy other items for their family. I heard that the Zhang Manor and a merchant from the Capital are fighting against each other. It seems that they're going to exchange the goods here today; we will stay to watch the commotion."

Magistrate Cheng looked at the grains piled up on the opposite side, and he suddenly thought of this. New grain was exchanged for the old grain and the old grain had to be sold. It was obvious that this would result in a loss of money. He wondered what the Zhang Manor was planning to do? He had sent someone to inquire about it, but all he was told to do was to bring some men with him today.

"My lord, I know about this. A grain shop in the Capital has set their eyes on the Zhang and Wang manors' seeds and they want to buy them to re-sell them, or find a place to grow them. They're just an ordinary rice grain shop and they're not well-known. I think they are going to suffer pretty badly this time.

Think about it, the Zhang manor has already told them the price. The grains are still in the fields. If they want to buy it, then they can buy it, if not, they can just leave. Why do they insist on scheming against the manor? They wanted to collect old grains from their manor and then use new grains to exchange for the manor residents' grains. The farmers' grains will not be considered as seeds since they still need to eat.

The servant thought hard, and analyzed the situation to Magistrate Cheng. He laughed when he heard the servant say such a thing.

"You little boy, what do you know? This is the Zhang manor asserting their dominance. I'm leaving soon. The San'shui County is such a good place. The new county magistrate has not been decided yet. How many pairs of eyes are set on this place? It's not hard for those with a bit of power to find out about the relationship between us and the Zhang Manor. What will happen if the Zhang manor plays weak at this time?"

"Even more people will belittle them. Those who didn't dare to reach out their malicious hands before would want to try to now. No wonder. I'm too stupid." The servant understood now.

"Humph! Someone is stretching out their hands for their grains, they won't care. In this place in front of us, is there anyone who doesn't want to stretch out their meddling hands to them? This place is like a chicken that lays golden eggs. You and I are about to leave. Yesterday they sent someone over to deliver that much silver. Isn't it just for me to bribe my superiors and subordinates?"

Magistrate Cheng looked at the young man who had been working for him since he was six or seven years old, and said helplessly.

The servant nodded. "What my lord has said is correct. They're really daring to give it. Other than for a small amount they kept for their own emergency use, all the other income from the wharf is given to us. Are they not afraid that we're going to double cross them when the time comes? That's a year's worth of money from renting out the warehouses and operating the restaurant and shops. The total came out to be more than 20,000 taels of silver."

Magistrate Cheng shook his head slightly, and said to his servant: "Do you dare to turn against them or do I dare to turn against them? Yao Chong is removed and Song Jing has replaced him. The Si Cang Can Jun, Zhou Kong, did not stand on the wrong side this time. If we double cross them, the Zhang Manor won't even have to do anything because Zhou Kong will definitely not spare us. They have a mastermind working with them that can foresee all of this, so what do they have to be afraid of?

Do you remember the silvers that Song Jing'gong brought over at the beginning? Originally it was unknown that it was Zhou Xi'hu. The money he gave was far more than the amount of money I normally gave out. They're trying to tell me that if I don't do anything, they will directly send the money to the person working above me. They would give the magistrate the money that would have been used to bribe someone working at the Prefecture level. This is the threat that they're trying to deliver to me. What do you think will happen if we double-cross them and pretend that nothing happened? "

"They will send more money to my lord's superior." The servant replied.

"That's right. If you look at how they treated their residents, and the bailiffs at the administrative office, it's obvious that they don't want to be betrayed. Once such people find out that they were betrayed, they will act like this. They will kill a chicken for the monkey to see. Bring the money. The Capital is not like other places; expenses are really high. With my salary, I can only manage to scrape by. We need to know how to be grateful."

The servant nodded hurriedly. "My lord can be assured that I will never think of things I shouldn't. They also said that if we don't have enough money after we arrive at that place, we can send them a letter. They also want us to help some students with preparing for the exam. I don't know what is the use of building good connections with the scholars. How will they know who will be successful in the future?"

"It's enough to have one person out of a hundred people that is successful. This is spreading out investments. Once one of the students they sponsored becomes an official in the future, if the manor needs any help, that person would not decline. If the person doesn't help, then that person would be labeled as an ungrateful traitor. How could someone like that expect their superior to treat them well?"

Magistrate Cheng gave an explanation, and the servant spoke as if he had a moment of realization, "So that's the reason. It might waste a lot of money, but it is a very good plan."

"Good plan? Is this even significant? The master of the Zhang family has been preparing to take the imperial examination. Perhaps within this or next year he will go to the Capital. Once he tells people that he sponsored those students, his name will be immediately established. This is the most amazing part. I wonder what the relationship between the mastermind and Zhang Zhong and Zhang Yong'cheng is, or if the mastermind were old friends with the Old Master. He put in so much effort to pave the way for them.

When the time comes, the Prefecture will submit a letter of referral and I'll help out too. This would be the time for me to use the connections that I built using their money. At the beginning, if there was someone like that that helped me, I wouldn't have to wait this long to become just a sub-sixth rank. "

When Magistrate Cheng talked about the master of the Zhang family, he was not only envious, but also sad. So much money was used to pave the way for a person. This made people not really know what to say.

"Huh? It's like this? The Zhang manor is really not an ordinary place. But is it worth it? What if they help the people of the Zhang family, and the people of the Zhang family don't appreciate their efforts?"

"That's not all of it. When they brought the money over yesterday, didn't they say that as long as I have encountered a problem, regardless whether it was government affairs or other aspects, I can write to them? They're doing this to help protect my position so that when he goes to write the exam, no mistakes will arise. In a way, I have benefitted from them too."

When Magistrate Cheng spoke, he felt very happy. In any case, they did help him, and they were going to continue to help him. With the guidance of the mastermind, his career would be easier in the future. The only regret is that there he had never seen the mastermind personally before, and he couldn't find a chance to seek discipleship under him.

During the time the two people spent talking, they had already walked into the building complex here. The streets were wide, spacious, flat and even, and there were various shops on both sides of the street. There were even people carrying baskets just to pick up the things thrown down by others. Open wooden buckets with words and pictures on it that were spaced out along the street so that people can throw garbage into it.

The street next to a pier would normally be messy, but this place was so clean and tidy that people wanted to buy a house here. Unfortunately, the place here only rented places out and did not sell.

"My lord, they're really good at coming up with ideas. Who would have guessed that the place that was bought at a loss using a thousand taels of silver has become a priceless place? Huh? What is that place for? When I came here yesterday, I didn't see it."

The servant looked at the surrounding scenery and praised it again. He suddenly noticed something in front of him that he didn't see yesterday.

Translator's Notes

1. Bowl filled with oily fatty meat

This just means lucrative and/or enticing.