Great Tang Idyll

Book 2: Chapter 59

There was a white thing floating there, which seemed to have a square shape, and it had a few ropes connected to it from underneath. On the white part itself, there were a few big red letters written on it. This thing was really big and it made the servant feel a little bit scared.

"Placement for advertisements." The servant has served Magistrate Cheng for so many years already, so he was able to recognize the words on it. After the object rotated around, the other face was seen, and there was another sentence on it. The servant read aloud again, "Leave your name in the sky."

Now the servant had a clear look at it. The rotation of this thing depended on the two people below pushing a millstone like object that was made with wood. Every time it turned, the thing tied by the four ropes turned one side in the sky, and there were a total of four sides. After waiting for a few moments, the thing up there rotated again.

"Advertising place, The First Near Water." The servant figured it out. This was what Between The Water And Clouds came up with at the beginning. The price was cheap, and it used flags and banners. However, at this place here, they had an object flying in the sky. The so-called The First Near Water' was the name of a restaurant that was located the closest to the shore. If a person wanted to go to the restaurant, then the person would have to take a boat there. From the looks of it, it seemed like to post an advertisement, the person would need to go there to find someone.

The servant waited for the thing to rotate to the other side, and then his mouth gaped open. The words Price, ten taels a day' was written on it.

"That's too expensive. Who would be stupid enough to post an advertisement here? Ten taels of silver can be used to do a lot of things."

The servant looked at the price above, and began to mutter. Ten taels of silver for just some words written on something that was about a zhang1 in length and width. As long as the person wasn't mentally ill, no one would be willing to waste this money.

"Let's go to The First Near Water place, and get something to eat there too. It's almost noon." Although Magistrate Cheng also felt that the price was too high, he still wanted to see it.

Following a small road, they arrived at the smallest place by the river with a small boat waiting there. Before the Magistrate spoke up, someone immediately asked, "Magistrate Cheng, do you plan to go to that place to eat?"

The place he was talking about of course was The First. Magistrate Cheng nodded. He lifted his leg and got into the boat. The person on the boat rowed with both of his hands, and the boat headed towards The First Near Water.

Shortly after, they asked some experienced people what height the water in this place could reach, and they were told that the entire first floor could be submerged under water.

Song Jing'gong was happy to hear this. He immediately let people continue to build on top of it so that it had three floors in total. Even if the water level was high, there were at least two floors above the water that could be used. Although, there might not be that much water all the time.

Thus, The First Near Water was created. Furthermore, there was only one restaurant here, and the others were all built more inland. It rained a few times this year. Even though the level of precipitation in San'shui County was not that heavy, the water level of the upstream river has risen. With the water directed here, a large part of the first floor of the restaurant was submerged in the water.

No other restaurant was like this. Many people choose to eat here because of a special atmosphere, even if there were always worries like there would be a flood or a boat might come crashing over and hit the building.

"My lord, how long do you think wood can be soaked in the water? In case it rots, and something happens to the guests, then there might be lawsuits." The servant has only eaten here twice, and he felt that the taste of the food was no different from other restaurants. There wasn't much meat in the minced meat tofu dish, and instead, he felt like the portion was a bit small.

"It won't rot within a year's time. Look, the wood has been soaked in oil, so it might be fine for another three to five years. When the water is low, someone will come and check which pillar is not good anymore, and it can be removed and changed. Boatman, are there many guests there right now?"

Magistrate Cheng did not have any fears about this restaurant at all. Standing at the bow of the boat, he asked the boatman.

"My lord, there are more than the usual number of guests today. The first floor is filled already with guests sitting in wooden boxes, and there are quite a few guests on the second and third floors that have not left yet. There will probably be more people coming soon."

The boatman replied.

"Then do you know why?"

"Yes. It's because of the Sky Lantern2 advertisement. The manager of the restaurant is responsible for managing this. Anybody that wants to buy a spot would have to come here. The people who come will eat first, and inquire the waiter about it. The manager will then go speak to each person. It is inevitable for people to order food and wine."

The boatman replied again.

The servant also spoke up, "There are actually people who are that foolish? How weird."

"This young brother here, you're wrong. Although ten taels a day sounds like a lot, we actually spend a lot of money on making it. The paper on the lamp needs to be glued properly. Just the lamp oil alone costs hundreds of coins everyday. It stays in the air for an entire day, which is 24 hours. People who came back with a few ships of goods needed to shout out to others to find a buyer or they had to go to the agency at the Between the Water and Clouds.

That would cost a lot of money. If a ship's cargo was over a thousand taels of silver, it's better to leave an ad on the lantern. If not, they would have to spend fifteen to twenty taels of silver at the agency. A few days ago, six ships of fabric arrived here to be sold. More than seventy taels of silver was paid to the agency, and this was with a discount. "

The boatman knew that Magistrate Cheng and his servant were not in a hurry, so he rowed slowly so that he could talk more and help advertise the wharf. Mister Song had said that they were not only responsible for rowing the boats, but to also help win over the guests. This was their side job.

They didn't understand why they had to do this. Usually, they didn't charge money when they helped others, but they had to make sure the people remember that they were the wharf's boatmen.

The three people who were not in a hurry began to drift in the water. After the servant heard this from the boatmen, he also didn't understand.

"Isn't that stupid? You should be able to earn money from helping people do work. Isn't this common logic? If you don't help, it's not like they will stop coming to the wharf."

"If you don't understand, don't talk nonsense. The Zhang Manor is worried that the new magistrate would want to earn money and take the risk of being impeached by building their own wharf on the opposite shore while the water level is still low. As long as they have someone else supporting them from behind, they won't be scared of being impeached. If this does happen, the current merchants, who are accustomed to receiving special treatment from the wharf here, will consider coming here first whenever they have things to sell."

Magistrate Cheng thought more than his servant did. He knew that by then this was not just the financial benefit, but also the familiar experience. Merchants would not care about this little amount of money, but they would care about who treats them with sincerity. Both were places that they could dock their ships, but they will naturally choose the place where they feel comfortable about. The Zhang Manor was making plans for the future.

"My lord is still the great one. I never thought about that. So it turns out there were those kinds of benefits. We were also told to tell the boat riders about the situation here, such as which restaurant's food was delicious, the prices, and more. We even have to tell others about some business news.

The boatman also suddenly realized what Magistrate Cheng meant. While he spoke, he began to make calculations in his mind. Working with these kinds of people was too easy because he didn't have to worry about being schemed against by these people in the future.

Magistrate Cheng nodded and pointed to The First Near Water. The boatman immediately rowed the boat over, and when the two people stepped on the stairs that stretched into the water, he turned the boat around and looked around. He noticed that no one was calling for him, and that there was nothing else to do, so he rowed back to the place where he waited for new boat riders.

"What do you think? Now you know how amazing they are?" Magistrate Cheng went directly to the third floor; he did not go to the roof floor, which had a wider view of the surroundings. Now the wind wasn't as strong as it was before, but the clouds were still black and heavy. It looked like it will rain in a while.

"My lord, I understand now. But what's the purpose of that lantern? If it was me, I'd put a lantern like that on my ship and it would cost little to nothing. They never said that this is not allowed."

The servant still didn't understand the purpose of the advertisement, and felt that there were many shortcomings.

"Just ask the manager here and you'll know. Waiter, call your manager over." Magistrate Cheng did not directly explain to the servant, and ordered the waiter who was serving the food.

Magistrate Cheng and his servant did not choose a private room, but just sat in a small place partitioned by a screen on the third floor. Before the manager arrived, he heard someone talking near the screen.

"Boss Jin, I heard that this time the people of the Mi3 family are fighting with that manor and they plan to trick the manor. I wonder which side is Boss Jin going to help? The seeds they're selling are way too expensive. A few days ago, I have also heard that one mu of farmland can produce a maximum of five picul of grains.

Originally I wanted to buy some, but the price is too high. It costs a hundred coins per catty, so it would cost 150 to 160 coins to plant one mu of land. The crop yield would be increased by around two piculs, or twenty-ish dou. If one dou is worth ten coins, then it would be an extra two hundred coins that is earned per mu. Then that means the extra money just goes towards the seed seller. "

Translator's Notes

1. One zhang is about 3.33 meter.

2. Sky Lantern (kong ming deng)

Also known as a Kong Ming Lantern, it is a small hot air balloon that is made of paper. It resembles an upside down long rounded trapezoid box, and the bottom side is open where a fire source is placed.

It is dated back to at least the 3rd century BC.

3. Mi family

The character for Mi' is , which actually means rice.