White-robed Minister

0014 [Buy books when you have money]

When Xu Lai was led to the outer office, Uncle Zhang, Bu Chao, and others were still eating.

"Sanlang, have you finished eating?" Cousin Buchao asked.

Seeing that there was no one else in the room, Xu Lai said dejectedly, "I was starving. I only picked up a couple of bites and drank a cup of wine. There was no food on the table."

Liu Da said, "Then come and sit down quickly. There's a pot of white rice here, and plenty of vegetables too. I'll get you a bowl and chopsticks."

After enduring hunger for more than half a month, we can finally have a full meal!

Xu Lai picked up the bowl and wolfed down his food.

Uncle Zhang asked, "What about the exemption from corvée labor?"

Xu Lai laughed and said, "The ten of us will be exempt from three years of service. The rest of the villagers will all be exempt from one year of service."

"That's great."

"Sanlang, you're amazing!"

"If the villagers knew, they'd be ecstatic!"

"..."

Xu Lai's ability to accomplish this task further convinced them.

If it weren't for Xu Lai's suggestion, we would have fled back to Qingxi Village last night, and there would have been no way we would have gone back to ambush the salt bandits.

If Xu hadn't asked the officials for a reward to exempt him from corvée labor, how could the whole village have benefited from such a good thing?

While everyone was still eating and drinking, a clerk led his men in.

Xu Lai quickly stood up, clasped his hands in a salute, and said, "May I ask your honorable name, sir?"

The clerk smiled and said, "My surname is Wu, you can just call me Clerk Wu. The basket contains your reward money, a total of ten strings of cash. Once you've counted it, put your fingerprints on it."

Saving ten strings of cash, which is actually 7700 coins.

If it were ten strings of cash, that would be 10000 coins.

The government uses the provincial system to calculate both the cash and the strings of cash. This applies not only to rewards given to the common people, but also to the stipends received by officials.

Xu Lai didn't count the money. Instead, he picked up a small string of coins and handed it to Wu, the clerk, saying, "How could you have miscounted, clerk? Here's a hundred coins as a token of my appreciation. Please have some wine with me."

Wu, the clerk, casually tossed the item to his entourage: "Here, Xu Sanlang is treating you to some wine."

The accompanying officials and servants clasped their hands in thanks, saying, "Thank you, Xu Sanlang!"

Clerk Wu then asked, "Where are Zhang Er and Bu Chao?"

Uncle Zhang and Bu Chao quickly stood up.

Wu, the clerk, said, "The county command is short of archers. Zhang Er will be the deputy captain, with a monthly salary of eight hundred and a bushel of rice. Bu Chao will be the tenth officer, with a monthly salary of five hundred and a bushel of rice. Are you willing to accept the positions?"

"Yes, yes!" Bu Chao was overjoyed.

Uncle Zhang also said, "I'm willing."

The pay they received was actually very low; renting a place in the county town would cost a lot, but it was still better than digging in the mountains.

If you want to have a surplus, you have to find a way to make money yourself.

Wu, the clerk, had Uncle Zhang and Bu Chao put their fingerprints on the employment contract and then told them, "Remember to report to the county commandant on the first day of next month."

Although the two were illiterate, they looked at the documents with great joy.

Having settled the matter of recruiting archers, Wu Yasi then asked Xu to submit the list of those to be killed.

Xu Lai not only reported his own group of seven, but also Yang Peng, who was ill and unconscious, as well as Chen Da and Yang Kui, who took Yang Peng home. According to Xu Lai, Yang Peng, Chen Da, and Yang Kui were injured in a fight with salt bandits!

Xu Lai pulled Wu, the clerk, to a corner and asked in a low voice, "When will the village clerk know our real names and origins?"

Wu, the clerk, said, "There are too many people and too many eyes in the county government office, so it's really hard to say."

"Please, clerk, help me keep this a secret for a few more days," Xu Lai pleaded.

Wu, the clerk, laughed and said, "What are you afraid of? Next month is the twelfth lunar month. The village clerk is replaced every year, and next year it won't be the same one."

Xu Lai, taking advantage of the situation, said, "I'm afraid I'll ruin the two officials' plans, so it would be best to delay for twenty days."

"Alright, then I'll hold onto the documents for now." Wu, the clerk, seemed quite agreeable.

Xu Lai and his accomplices impersonated villagers of Fenggu Village to mislead the patrol officer into targeting the wrong person for revenge, while the village clerk of Dafu Township was from Fenggu Village.

The document exempting Qingxi Village from corvée labor would be submitted to the county government's household registration office for filing, and it was highly likely that the village clerk would discover it. Once the village clerk discovered it, he would certainly relay the news back to Fenggu Village, and the patrol soldiers would soon find out.

Twenty days was the period for the inspectors to redeem themselves through meritorious service, which was a customary practice of the imperial court.

Xu Lai felt that it wouldn't take more than twenty days for the enraged Yu Jing to send people to conduct a thorough investigation—ten days should be enough to delay it.

As for whether the salt bandits will retaliate, we'll have to wait until after next autumn's harvest.

Even salt bandits had to farm!

Smuggling salt and committing murder and arson were sideline occupations for salt bandits during their off-season from farming.

After finishing these tasks, Wu, the clerk, took out another piece of paper and handed a pen to Xu, saying, "Fill in your name, place of origin, and mourning record."

This is a guarantee.

With this thing, you can enter the examination room for low-level exams!

Xu Lai suppressed his excitement and wrote down his message: "Thank you for your help, sir."

"You wait here." Wu, the clerk, personally took the guarantee to the inner office.

Soon, he returned with the guarantee, which now bore two seals—the official seal and the personal seal of Magistrate Shen.

It has already become an official guarantee document.

Wu, the clerk, chuckled and said, "Eat slowly. After you've eaten, go sleep in the archers' quarters. You'll eat with the archers tonight too. Don't leave the city. A team of archers will escort you back to the village tomorrow."

"Thank you very much, clerk!" Xu Lai said sincerely.

Wu, the clerk, handed Xu Lai another piece of paper: "On your way back to the village, or after you return, if the patrolmen want to cause trouble, just show them this document. The village clerk of Dafu Township is arbitrarily conscripting laborers, and none of you should have been assigned to the local army. Therefore, you are not deserters and have nothing to do with the patrolmen."

This was to distance Xu Lai and his group from the patrol inspectorate and completely solidify their status as righteous citizens. Magistrate Shen and Registrar Wang had already considered this, so they gave Xu Lai a "protective shield."

After giving his instructions, Wu, the bailiff, left with his clerks, leaving only his fellow villagers inside.

Bu Chao carefully put away the archer's appointment letter, grinning as he said, "Now that I've become one of the ten archer generals, do you think I'll be able to marry a woman from the city?"

The villagers of Qingxi Village either marry within the same village or exchange brides with other villagers in other mountain villages.

Bu Chao has no sisters to arrange marriages with, and he doesn't find any suitable women in the village to marry. As a result, he is already 22 years old (by Chinese reckoning) but still unmarried and is working hard to save money to find a wife.

Now that he's become one of the top ten archers, he looks down on women from other mountain villages and even dreams of marrying a city girl.

Xu Lai chuckled and said, "How about I find you a young lady from a wealthy family?"

"Sanlang has connections?" Bu Chao actually took it seriously.

Xu Lai ate his rice and joked, "If I had connections, I would have married her long ago."

Bu Chao chuckled: "You're still young, no need to rush into marriage."

While eating, everyone discussed how to divide the reward money.

They all wanted Xu Lai to make the assignment, but Xu Lai refused and insisted that Uncle Zhang make the decision.

Uncle Zhang went to count the money first and was astonished to find that not a single coin was missing: "A total of 7700 coins, after 100 coins were bribed, there are really 7600 coins left. The officials didn't deduct any?"

Xu Lai laughed and said, "Deductions have to be done at the right time. The two officers are watching."

That Wu clerk, no matter how you look at him, seems like a smiling tiger, definitely not someone you can get along with.

But this kind of person actually makes Xu Lai feel more at ease.

Because a smiling tiger is often shrewd and knows what to do at what time.

This matter concerns the careers of Magistrate Shen and Registrar Wang. If Clerk Wu dares to interfere or make any underhanded moves, the two civil officials will spare no effort to kill him.

Veteran officials can be difficult to deal with, but only if the civil officials don't overturn the table.

When things really come to a point of no return, the clerks will absolutely not be able to withstand the wrath of the civil officials!

After some discussion, Uncle Zhang summarized everyone's opinions and said, "The seven of us will each receive 800 coins. The three of them will each receive 600 coins. The remaining 200 coins will also go to Yang Peng, since he is sick and needs to eat well. If he dies, the money will go to his family."

After distributing the reward money, Xu Lai put down his chopsticks and said, "I'm going to take a stroll in town. Anyone want to come along?"

Everyone shook their heads.

Having worked hard on empty stomachs for days, and having not slept all night, and having endured another morning of hardship, all they wanted to do was lie down. They were taken to a barracks near the county government office, which was the nighttime resting place for the archers on duty.

Xu Lai left with 800 coins in his pocket, the money weighing several pounds!

"Brother, may I ask where there are any bookstores in the city?" Xu asked a hand.

Manual labor was also considered a form of service, meaning working for the government for free. He pointed southeast and said, "Most bookstores are over there."

Xu Lai was exhausted, but he still insisted on going to the bookstore, yawning as he went.

He found a bookstore that also sold writing brushes and ink, went in, and asked, "Shopkeeper, how much are your writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones?"

The shopkeeper sized up Xu Lai's clothes to guess his spending power, then picked up a calligraphy brush and recommended, "This kind of brush costs ten coins each."

"What about this kind?"

"Five coins. If you buy more, I can give you a discount."

"What about this kind?"

Thirty coins.

"How much is the paper?"

"It depends on which type you buy. Buying a whole horse will get you a discount."

"How much is a bolt of paper?"

"One bolt of paper can be cut into one hundred sheets of writing paper."

Xu Lai took out the guarantee: "What kind of paper is this? How much does it cost?"

Upon noticing Magistrate Shen's official seal, the shopkeeper's attitude immediately became even more enthusiastic, bowing respectfully and saying, "So you are Scholar Xu!"

Xu Lai's name is on the guarantee.

Xu Lai asked again, "What kind of paper is this?"

The shopkeeper replied, "This is Yuan paper. The family petitions, guarantor's certificates, and even the examination scrolls required for the imperial examinations all had to be made of this paper."

Xu Lai asked, "Does the county examination also use Yuan paper?"

The shopkeeper nodded and said, "We use both."

"Do we have to buy our own exam paper?"

"Buy it yourself."

Damn it, you have to pay for your own answer sheets for the imperial examinations.

The shopkeeper, noticing Xu's ignorance, explained, "These bamboo tubes are used to store petitions, legal documents, and rolled-up papers. Since all kinds of petitions must not be damaged, Scholar Xu should buy them now. Your official petition might be rendered unusable if it gets damaged; putting it in a bamboo tube is the most suitable solution."

Xu Lai carefully examined the bamboo tube, but instead of saying whether he wanted to buy it, he continued to inquire, "What other rules are there for the exam?"

The shopkeeper patiently explained, "Before taking the exam, you need to paste the family petition and the exam paper together with rice paste. The family petition should be on top as the beginning of the exam paper, and you should hand in the papers together after the exam."

Xu Lai pointed to the Yuan paper and asked, "How many sheets are needed for the county exam?"

The shopkeeper said, "One sheet is enough for writing a family petition, one for writing a guarantee, and one for answering questions. In recent years, the county exams have only tested poetry and prose, which can be completed on one sheet of paper."

Xu Lai slammed the 800 cash reward on the table, then pulled out two sheets of paper: "I need to buy two sheets of paper, as well as writing materials and books. I'd like to trouble the shopkeeper to help me write a family petition."

The family statement contains the candidate's family information. Xu Lai didn't know the format, so he had to ask the shop to write one for him.

The shopkeeper glanced at the copper coin, then grinded the ink and picked up his brush with a smile.

After the family petition was written, Xu Lai asked, "What other essential items are needed to participate in the county examination?"

The shopkeeper brought out a copy of "The Rhyme Dictionary of the Ministry of Rites": "I also need this book. Bring it into the examination hall to check the tones and rhymes. Moreover, the book also includes the regulations for the imperial examinations and a list of prohibited characters. If Scholar Xu buys it from our shop, he can come back every year to inquire whether the prohibited characters have changed."

"Can the 'Rhyme Dictionary of the Ministry of Rites' be brought into the examination room?" Xu Lai was quite surprised.

The shopkeeper said, "Of course you can bring them in. Otherwise, who could remember the rhyme scheme and tones of every character?"

Well, the imperial examinations in the Song Dynasty were really interesting; they actually allowed candidates to bring reference books into the examination hall.

To prevent cheating, when Zhao Gou became emperor, he forbade candidates from bringing their own rhyme books, which were instead distributed by the invigilators upon entering the examination hall.

Xu Lai asked, "How much does a copy of 'A Brief Account of Rites' cost?"

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "This is the latest official edition, meticulously proofread. Not a single word is wrong, and it even includes the most recent list of prohibited characters. 850 coins!"

Xu Lai had only the 800 coins he had just received as a reward, and the dozen or so coins he had left from when he was conscripted.

Buying these things is simply not enough.

But Xu Lai remained unperturbed and continued to inquire: "What's the difference between the poems for the imperial examinations and ordinary poems? Are there any formats that must be followed?"

The shopkeeper stared at Xu Lai with a look of utter disbelief, as if he'd seen a ghost.

Not knowing how to paste the family document and answer sheet, or that the "Rhyme Dictionary of the Ministry of Rites" could be brought into the examination room, are not big problems. Someone can just give you a few pointers.

But he didn't even understand the format of the imperial examination poems, yet he dared to go and participate in the county examination?

Why would the county magistrate personally vouch for someone like that?

The shop owner felt his head was spinning, completely baffled by what was going on with this person.

He didn't go to see the excitement in the morning and didn't know that Xu Lai was the righteous citizen who killed the bandits. He thought he had gotten some connections with the county magistrate.

Xu Lai bowed respectfully: "Please enlighten me!"

-

(Note: The Song Dynasty's monetary system was very complex, with various forms besides the 77-province currency, including 80-province and 55-province currencies.)

(In order to attract good money from the Southern Song Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty even created the "20 Provinces' Currency." That is, 20 copper coins from the Southern Song Dynasty could be used as 100 coins in the Jin Dynasty.)

(In everyday conversation, besides "saving x strings of cash" and "having enough x strings of cash," "thousand coins" is also used as a unit of large sums. For example, 45000 coins is simply said as "forty-five thousand coins.")