CH 21

Zhang mama, seeing Cui Xie holding his calligraphy and paintings, appearing perfectly content, she couldn’t help but release a sigh: “This child is really too sensible. This is not the end of it. What the Old Madam really wanted to give you was this, come over and look at it carefully.”

嬷嬷(mā mā): while it is pronounced mama, it refers to old female servants, and is used similarly to pozi

Rummaging through the trunks full of clothing, she pulled out a lump of money from the base layer, disassembled it, and showed it to Cui Xie. The entire piece consisted of twenty taels of gold-minted ingots which were equivalent to around 200 taels of silver. This was followed by a red sandalwood trousseau inlaid with gold and silver flowers, which was then carried softly and quietly as if it was a newborn baby being laid down to sleep. The trousseau was opened and pushed toward his direction. The top interior of the exquisite trousseau was inlaid with a glossy and sleek copper mirror that was as smooth as rippling water. Below the mirror, there were a few small drawers piled layer upon layer of hairpins, jewelry, bangles, and head ornaments. The luminous notes of light shining from the candle-light surrounded these precious jewels, pearls, gold, and jade, the treasures shining like the beautiful declining sun in the west, much like the last ray of the sunset. 

On the very bottom layer, the drawer only contained a few neatly folded mulberry papers.

She raised her eyes to look at Cui Xie, a turbid gaze appeared and it seemed to contain a lustrous gleam of radiance that was even brighter than these treasures in front of her. “These ornaments were all a part of your mother’s dowry. When your father remarried, the Old furen looked after it and kept it for you all this time. You must carefully store these deeds away somewhere, these two title deeds include the land lease to the Old Cui residence and the shop that was a part of your mother’s dowry when she had married over. There are also the Cui Yuan and son pair’s slave contracts…”

Furen (夫人; Fūrén): the honorific name used to call the Madam of a household

Cui Xie’s heart throbbed and he gently drew out the deed papers, unfolding to scan them closely.

One of the papers was the property deed to this residence. On this paper listed the length and width of the courtyard, until where the east, south, west, and north corners stopped as well as how many compounds there were, the main quarters, and how many gaps separated the residence’s wings; The other paper was a deed to a two-storied shop facing the street located in the city’s West street. Behind the storefront, there was a small courtyard about the same size as the residence; the remaining two papers were the slave contracts of Cui Yuan and his son, both of which were fingerprinted with red stamps and verified with a vermillion seal.

These were all his?

He no longer had to worry when this residence would be confiscated by Official Cui and his wife, and he no longer had to worry about Cui Yuan and his son being forcibly separated if their life contracts were in the hands of others. This residence had truly become a place where he could stay at ease?

He pinched the thin papers, his cheeks covered with a layer of dew and luster more moving than the pearls in front of him. He laughed comfortably and joyfully.

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Zhang mama stayed in Qian’an for two more days to help Cui Xie with the residence’s repairs.

In the past two days, they had been busy repairing the tombs in the mountains. County Magistrate Qi had instructed workers to repaint the residence’s walls, spread fresh dirt onto the roof and courtyards. The four walls were pasted with snow-white mulberry papers that snugly fit the space and only the pillars under the walkways and the courtyard’s veranda needed to be stained and the blue bricks on the ground needed to be paved again.

Zhang mama used a brazier to completely dry out Cui Xie’s quarters and Cui Yuan and his son moved to the East Wing——the old Carpenter Yu located across the street took the initiative to make furniture for the Cui Residence and Zhang mama followed suit, taking the lead to buy new beds and once again arranged the rooms. She also moved Cui Xie’s desk and trunks of books over to the West Wing, placing a bogu style framed bookcase, as if the shelves were floating, protruding from the wall itself. A small and exquisite study was put in order.

Examples of bogu style bookcases characterized by their open frames and “floating” shelves

She pointed out the changes in the rooms in the residence for Cui Xie to look at and was excessively long-winded, “Xie-ge, don’t think of me as managing it too much. These quarters are the master chambers, how can you let servants live here? I know you are afraid of the other room’s cold and dampness, but their bodies have long been used to such moisture and humidity. When they dwelled in the main chambers that father and son pair’s minds must have been quite unpeaceful and uneasy.”

Cui Xie understood that public morals in this era were as such. He merely nodded and said, “When we first moved in, the residence was too shabby, so there were only a few places fit to live. On the road, we also slept separately outside.”

Zhang mama comforted, “That is only right, that is the mannerism a great family’s Young Master should have.”’

She also prepared chestnut flour pastries, lotus root flour pastries, dainty dumplings with sweet meat filling and thousand-layered flaky mooncakes and instructed Cui Xie to carry the gift box to the yamen and pay his respects to County Magistrate Qi. 

chestnut flour pastries

lotus root flower pastries

dumplings with sweet meat

thousand-layered mooncakes

Yamen: administrative office of a local bureaucrat, like the law enforcement department of ancient China

County Magistrate did not consider it a big deal to have repaired and renovated Cui Xie’s residence for him, and he said with a smile: “You have a plaque suspended above your gate with the Imperial signature on it, if it is too shabby, would it not be disrespectful to the Imperial decree? Every year, the county preserves and sets aside funds aside for commendations or awards. It has not been used or spent for many years, and since it had some use for you,  I am happy to have been able to do so.”

It was now mid-August, and the county office was also busy with official business: the summer tributes and taxes needed to be immediately divided up and stored into the proper houses, horse grass needed to be sent to the border garrisons and artisans also needed to be sent to the capital to take turns on work shifts for public work projects.

County Magistrate Qi did not have the time to continue talking to Cui Xie and merely chided him to read and study more. Once some free time opened up, he decided he would check Cui Xie’s memorization progress on 《Compiled Transcriptions of the Six Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song》. Then, he conveniently called a bookkeeper over and instructed, “Didn’t someone send a basket of starfruits the other day? Take some and give it for Young Master Cui to take away.”

《Compiled Transcriptions of the Six Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song》: Technically it is the Eight Great Pros Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties: Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan, Ouyang Xiu, Su Xun, Su Shi, Su Zhe, Wang Anshi, and Zeng Gong. However, some argue that since three of them (the Su’s) are from the same family, it should be titled the ‘Six Great Prose Masters’ instead.

Unexpectedly, starfruits had already appeared and came over to China in this era? Cui Xie was so surprised that he almost doubted whether he had transmigrated over to an alternative historical storyline.

The bookkeeper quickly assented, hurrying away, and came back with a small basket of fruit to give to Cui Xie. That basket was not filled to the brim with yellow, bluish-green five-petaled starfruit, rather, it was an overflowing basket of fuzzy kiwis.

…

Cui Xie looked at the kiwi fruit in silence. The bookkeeper mistakenly thought that Cui Xie was barely restraining his gluttony, so he nimbly took one from the basket and stuffed it in his direction, telling him to secretly peel the fruit in his sleeves, “This is wild starfruit picked from Qinglong Mountain, super sweet. You can’t buy such a sweet and soft one in the capital. Even those starfuit vines grown by those households in paper-making workshops cannot bear such good fruit.”

Qinglong Mountain: Qinglong Mountain is located in Luan County, Tangshan City, Hebei Province. It is one of the three famous mountains with the same name as Jieshi Mountain and Pan Mountain. It was called Qingliang Mountain in ancient times, and also known as Jielong Mountain. Qinglong Mountain has many peaks and winding paths. There are steep cliffs, blurred seas of clouds, religious relics of nine temples and eighteen temples, and many myths and legends. In 1959, it was established as a state-owned forest farm, where trees such as cypress and pine are planted everywhere, and the forest area is over 80%.

That’s right, the sap secreted by the kiwi fruit vines was the most important ingredient and substance used to create xuan paper. The local goods mainly consisted of mulberry paper and the ancient papermaking process required one to use an additive to prevent sticking, which naturally required paper workshops to grow and cultivate kiwi fruits.

Xuan Paper 宣紙: The formal paper used for Chinese calligraphy and painting is called. The paper is made of many different plant fibers other than rice.

However, such precious and abundant goods, the County Magistrate did not need to especially provide him with such things. Cui Xie squeezed the soft kiwi fruit and said with emotion, “Da-ren is burdened with tremendous official business matters, yet still looking after me. I am truly grateful.”

Da-ren: honorific title used to address governmental officials or those of higher authority, literally meaning “Bigger person”

The bookkeeper also sighed, “Isn’t it? These days, da-ren does not even have time to write essays. Fortunately, it is only during the summer and autumn, these two seasons, that levying the taxes and grain taxes is the most time-consuming. Once the summer taxes are completed and the reports sent up, it’ll be much more peaceful. In the winter, at most, river embankments must be repaired and refugees must be relocated.”

Speaking of this, his lively face also showed a tinge of distress: “Our da-ren is truly unlucky, coincidentally taking office during a time when a flood that hadn’t been seen for a hundred years suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The previous Magistrate, in comparison, had left just in time.”

If during the term of office, there were major disasters such as floods or famines, by the time of the county evaluations, 80% of the evaluation would be marked with inferior low-grade, and promotion was absolutely impossible. One would be transferred down to lower counties…but Qian’an was already considered a lower county, so if one were transferred down, one could only become a county deputy at most.

Reminder of rankings in official positions in counties:

The bookkeeper was about the same age as Cui Xie, just right in the time when one was the most lively and sensitive. Usually, he waited upon a group of serious, stiff and mighty masters and did not dare to peep out of line. Upon encountering Cui Xie’s young age, mild-temperament and the fact that he was a good-looking peer who was of the same age, the bookkeeper could not help but say a few more words than usual, venting out what he usually tucked away in his heart and kept to himself.

Cui Xie was also feeling a little distressed and worried for County Magistrate Qi, but he did not know what he could do for him, so he lowered his gaze and silently listened the entire way. The bookkeeper escorted him directly outside the county office. Cui Xie took some light pastries and snacks from the carriage to give to him and comforted, “Floods are natural disasters, the Imperial court will not pin this problem onto the County Magistrate’s himself. Furthermore, as I see it, one cannot even tell that there had been such a disaster in Qian’an county. This is all because the da-ren managed matters well. There is still more than a year before the evaluations, once it approaches, there may not necessarily be no hope for a turnaround at that time.”

The bookkeeper let out a deep sigh like an adult, “It’s difficult. Our da-ren said if he cannot continue to be an official in the future, he should just build a farmstead in his hometown, write books and essays, wander leisurely around the forest springs…”

Cui Xie smiled and said: “If the County Magistrate’s compositions are collected into a book, I will definitely buy a few copies to add to my collection. That 《Qian’an Confucianism》is very well written. It is clear and righteous, has substance and contains a deep emotion sufficient to move the hearts of those who read it.”

The bookkeeper suddenly gathered up his energy and raised his spirits. Lifting the pastries in his hands, he said, “Upon my return, I will go find the da-ren and ask for some essays for you. Privately, the da-ren has commented that you are a child prodigy and regards you with importance. He would definitely be more than willing and happy to give you some to look at.”

When Cui Xie heard these two words “child prodigy”, his cheeks still turned scarlet and he gave a dry smile: “You should go back and eat these pastries, I will be heading home.”

There were still people waiting at home.

When he returned to the residence, Zhang mama brought a man in his fifties in tow behind her. The man was wearing a blue sansuo robe and kowtowed upon seeing Cui Xie. A young man in his twenties stood outside the door and saluted greetings to him past the gate partition. Cui Xie quickly helped the man up and said to him-and to the person outside the gate: “I am far too young to bear this find of greeting, don’t do this in the future. May I ask who these two uncles are?”

Sansuo: three shuttle cloth, type of fine cotton variety produced at Songjiang province commonly worn by commoners

The old man politely stood up and clamped his hands together in a respectful manner. Revealing a bare and receding hairline, he calmly explained, “This small one is called Ji Houye, the shopkeeper of the Zhirong Study located to the west of the city. Greetings to the Young Master. The 20-year-old youth standing outside is a clerk in the store, his name is Ji Dou. If the Young Master has any orders, please just tell him.”

Zhang mama elaborated, “Shopkeeper Ji is the shopkeeper of the shop your mother left for you. These past few days he has wanted to visit you, but unfortunately, you were not home and he was unable to. Now that you have returned, I promptly called him over to give his greetings and give you the accounts for you to look at.”

Before yesterday, he was an abandoned son who possessed nothing except the bare necessities. Suddenly, there was a storefront and shop, and even a shopkeeper who could make profit for him. This change was truly too surprising. He was left feeling out of it for a while and still felt the situation was rather surreal and just called a “Shopkeeper Ji, Clerk Ji”.

Shopkeeper Ji observed Cui Xie’s face closely, the corners of his mouth curling slightly, as he said with hints of sorrow and jow, “In a blink of an eye, the young master has become so big. When you were still with Old Cui furen, I had seen you a few times when I went to settle the accounts. Later, when you got older, I did not have the chance to see you again. Now, this shop is finally handed over to your possession, but the stock and inventory has been destroyed by the floods. These past two years we have only suffered financial losses. This rotten old thing is really so shameless as to greet you like this…”

Cui Xie supported Shopkeeper Ji’s trembling arm and comforted him, “Don’t be sad, Shopkeeper Ji. This is a natural and man-made disaster, it cannot be controlled no matter how much manpower there is. It is already fine that the people in the shop are fine.”

Shopkeeper Ji released a deep sigh, “Although the personnel are fine, the old book collections and engravings were damaged by water and there was not much money left in the account. It is barely enough to buy some basic academic works but selling them has gone poorly and it is not going well.”

In a small, backwater country like Qian’an, there were not many scholars in the first place and no scholar could buy several sets of the Four Books and Five Classics at once and put them aside.

What really sold well were collections of works, pedantic and vulgar essays and vernacular folk stories. But these texts from the Spring and Autumn Examinations could only be obtained from the Heavenly (Shuntian) Provincial Fu if one spent money to make a copy of the texts. Oftentimes, readers would change to follow other authors as soon as they are published. At the moment, the bookstore had no money and they did not dare to do this kind of high risk, high profit business and could only endure by selling some basic Confucian classics.

府(fῠ): is a compound, house or mansion. Fu (府) can only be labelled and called as such if it is bestowed as part of a position or inherited in the aristocracy. In this case, it is referring to an administrative governmental division in the Ming Dynasty, a local government office.

The Shuntian Fu was a high-ranking government office with jurisdiction of 24 countries. It had the highest local administrative agency in the capital and was a Superior Third grade, two to three levels higher than a general prefecture office. While a usual official third grade yamen used bronze seals, Shuntian Fu used silver seals.

While talking, Shopkeeper Ji held up the account bank with both hands and handed it to Cui Xie.

These accounts were all newly made and the old accounts were roughly recorded with the profits, transactions and balances due. After the flood struck last year, the bookstore had been closed for more than half a year and it still owed salaries to the Shopkeeper and the clerks running the shop. It would be better to close such a shop, rent out the storefront and earn enough to pay the employee’s one year worth of salaries.

Shopkeeper Ji looked at the account books with red-rimmed eyes and sadly said, “In the beginning, my family was sent to take care of this shop as part of the Eldest Miss’s dowry to make it more elegant and worthy of the Cui family’s xiucai. Later, although the Eldest Miss may no longer be with us, the Old Master thought that the Young Master would read our collections in the future. He also collected a lot of articles and essays written by various Sages and scholars, keeping them in the store for safekeeping. It is a pity that there is nothing left after this flood…”

Xiucai or otherwise known as Shengyuan: (生員, lit. “student member”), also commonly called xiucai (秀才, lit. “distinguished talent”), an entry-level licentiate who had passed the college exam

He nearly immediately moved to kneel down and apologize, but Cui Xie quickly stepped forward to support him. He comforted Shopkeeper Ji in a gentle voice, “It doesn’t matter, I am here. Those books can be bought again in the future. The floods have now subsided, we can always live better than the past.”