CH 22

After Shopkeeper Ji finished settling the accounts, the sun had already risen high in the sky and it was almost noon. Cui Xie invited him and the clerk to stay for a light meal. Although Shopkeeper Ji was a hired employee in Cui Xie’s store, he was also an ordinary and good commoner. In addition to this, being at such an old age, he could comfortably sit and have a drink with his Master while Clerk Ji was entertained by Cui Yuan and his son in the side wing.

The meal was made by Zhang mama, who prepared white liquor and locally brewed grape raw wine. Accompanying the wine were several kinds of in-season and ripe fruits as well as a number of side dishes brought from the capital like smoked bean-curd, pickled springtime bamboo shoots, fresh ginkgo nuts, freshly-picked walnuts, braised shad with red dates, and other side dishes. The main course consisted of four freshly cooked meat dishes: stir-fried shredded pork, stir-fried Chinese yellow eel, chicken meat and radish rice balls, and lastly, stewed pork shoulder. These four individual meat dishes were stir-fried with various kinds of meat and seasonal vegetables, and at the very end, the meal was finished off with a creamy Crucian carp soup.

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

Cui Xie invited Shopkeeper Ji to drink the white wine while pouring himself a small amount of the locally brewed raw grape wine. He accompanied Shopkeeper Ji with a few sips but did not drink much. The wine that was bought was not fermented with the natural yeast contained in the grape skins. Instead, the wine was made from externally added yeast. Although the wine was sweet and sour, the wine’s flavor was not like what he usually drank during the modern era—even the homemade brewed wines sold on the Internet were not as good as this wine. The wine was turbid and flocculent. Furthermore, there was also a strange flavor that was mixed with the liquid, as if it had been mixed with mulled rice wine.

Shopkeeper Ji also did not drink too much.

In fact, ever since he had sat down at the table, he had been very restrained. If Cui Xie poured him a glass of wine, he would drink one glass of wine. If Cui Xie used chopsticks to give him a piece of meat, he would only eat that one piece of meat.　　

Shopkeeper Ji was already an elderly person and seeing him suffering while eating only made onlookers feel bewildered and uncomfortable to see. But Cui Xie could not turn around and leave him to eat by himself. Without any better option, he could only say something indifferently to help ease the awkwardness: “I don’t understand the rules of publishing and do not have much money on hand to invest in book engraving and printing*. Shopkeeper Ji can be considered an old hand familiar with the trade, can you educate me on such matters?”

The emergence of engravings provided the essential conditions for the widespread dissemination of culture and language. It was popularized in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Engravings reached their peak in the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) when specialized engraving institutions appeared both in the government, the common people, and schools of such characters/personal styles arose. 

Shopkeeper Ji felt much more comfortable talking to Cui Xie instead of eating, and thus, he swiftly set down his chopsticks and replied respectfully: “When it comes to printing books, this old man does indeed have a few methods that come to mind. The easiest method is to charter a boat and travel by sea to buy the Masha edition in Jianyang. There are many bookstores in Jianyang and the books are also cheap. Since the Song Dynasty, it is a place where all the books under the sky circulate and congregate. It is just that Qian’an is too far away. If acquiring their books makes it too inconvenient to transport, one can also buy their engraved printing sets and print them in one’s own shop. All you need to do is put the Zhirong Study’s insignia printing tile into the set and once printed, it will become our own goods.”

As he spoke, Shopkeeper Ji became more energetic and lively. Now that the conversation turned to something he was interested in, he dared to pick up the cup, moisten his lips and take a sip.　

Cui Xie picked up a piece of ham for Shopkeeper Ji. After seeing him eat it, Cui Xie conveniently raised his wine glass and inquired, “Just what kinds of books are the Masha edition of books, are they authorized by the Imperial court? Do the authors permit others to reprint their works?”

He wanted to ask about copyright laws, but when Shopkeeper finished speaking, Cui Xie remembered that there were no such instances of ‘copyright’ in the Ming Dynasty—at least not till the establishment of the Republic of China—so he could only change his question to asking about the government and the original authors instead.

Shopkeeper Ji smiled and explained, “The authors just write the books, and the ones who print the books are in charge of printing the books. We can print whatever we want, how can there be so many rules? Aren’t all of Masha’s books engraved from other people’s works? As long as one doesn’t print those evil, heretic works or disrespectful articles, the Imperial Court will not intervene. Do not worry Young Master, I am an old hand in this line of work. Once these pair of eyes look at a page, they will know whether this book is prohibited or not!”

Is that so? But he saw that inside the storytelling and poetry literary novels printed by Yongshun Hall, the pages were clearly printed with “This hall’s edition, if it is reprinted, it will be investigated for thousands of miles.”

Cui Xie had some reservations regarding Shopkeeper Ji’s opinions that he held back on commenting on. But when he saw the man was happily talking and forgetting to be cautious, Cui Xie poured him a glass of wine and picked up a few vegetables for him using chopsticks. This was to let Shopkeeper Ji be able to talk freely while eating.

Brewed wine was several degrees more potent than regular wine, and ordinary people did not often have the chance to drink it. Shopkeeper Ji downed a few more glasses, the tipsy feeling of alcohol going to his head, thoroughly letting go of control of his body. Like an unceasing torrent, he babbled on: “Back when the store still was making a profit and had money, we went to Shuntian Fu’s Ceremonial Rites storehouse to copy that year’s weimo examination papers. Even in a small place like our county, we can sell about two or three hundred copies and editions can even be reprinted again. Some old articles that were published years ago are still bought. A thin book can sell for a couple of silver and if you print that edition once, you will have income for most of the year!”

府(fῠ): is a compound, house or mansion. Fu (府) can only be labeled 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 the 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.

Weimo: means trial recording and refers to Imperial examinations and the township usually selected and distributed works of scholars they thought to be outstanding that year

Cui xie could not help but think of the box full of old weimo examination papers that Assistant Liu had gifted to him, and he sucked in a deep breath: the things Assistant Liu gave him were truly too precious—although he probably made a lot of money from printing it himself.

Furthermore, the Great Ming’s publishing industry did not require one to pay their taxes. As long as you had the ability to print and sell, the government did not care how much money you earned. Compared to other businesses, this line of work was pure and honest as well as profitable.

But it hasn’t been long since he transmigrated over, the moral principles of publishing ethics had not been assimilated into the local publishing workers of the Great Ming Dynasty. He did not want to make money from the writings and works that others had specially collected and sent to him.

However, reprinting weimo examination papers was not the only avenue to making profit, Shopkeeper Ji explained, “Novels also sell well, 《Romance of the Three Kingdoms》is particularly good. Unfortunately, 《Water Margin》was banned, otherwise it would sell even better. Those novels with embroidered-like images (paintings) sell better than those without. At that time, our family invited from Yongping Residence a master painter that painted three silvers per piece of “Three Brothers in the Peach Garden”, “Diao Chan Tricks Lu Bu”, “Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage”…the initial cost of production is high, but the high profit return more than makes up for it. We sold four or five hundred copies, even an illiterate person would buy the novels just to look at the paintings inside!”

《Three Kingdoms》: one of China’s greatest and most influential works of literature. It is an epic tale of war and heroes, loyalty, betrayal and cunning plans; of beleaguered morality versus cruel political reality; and of what men are capable of doing in the pursuit of power (source: randallwriting.com)

《Water Margin》:tells of how a group of 108 outlaws gather at Mount Liang (or Liangshan Marsh) to form a sizable army before they are eventually granted amnesty by the government and sent on campaigns to resist foreign invaders and suppress rebel forces

Yongping is a county in the Yunnan Province; this Yongping Residence was a prefecture-level administrative division in the Ming and Qing Dynasties where government officials and envoys deal with the court/political matters and oversee the counties they are assigned. Any functioning office most likely needed skilled painters and calligraphers.

Three Brothers in the Peach Garden: fictional even in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms in which Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei take an oath of fraternity in the Peach Garden and become sworn brothers. They vow to protect the Han Empire from the Yellow Turban Rebels. Often a symbol of fraternal loyalty.

Diao Chan Tricks Lu Bu: Diao Chan is one of the Four Beauties of China and in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, she has a romance with warrior Lu Bu and causes him to betray and kill his foster father, a tyrannical warloid. She is lauded as a heroic, beautiful woman that led to the end of a regime of terror and the eventual end of Lu Bu leading to the formation of the Three Kingdoms. 

Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage: Famous story about Zhuge Liang in which Liu Bei in order to ask Zhuge Liang to help him, visits him three times at his cottage and Zhuge Liang eventually agrees to help, moved by this sincerity. This story became synonymous with seeking talent.

Shopkeeper Ji consecutively downed a few more cups, his face engraved with a tipsy feeling and his eyes were shining brightly at Cui Xie, as if he was looking at silver in front of him: “Young Master, you are also a scholar, don’t you know how to write some novels or stories? Let’s write our own works and publish them ourselves. Afterwards, we can then sell them out everywhere and everyone under the sky will have read it. Won’t you also be able to become on the level of those extraordinary scholars Shi Nai’an and Luo Guanzhong?”

Shi Nai’an: author of Water Margin

Luo Guanzhong: author of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Cui Xie nodded, placed the pot of wine in front of himself and scooped a fresh bowl of fish soup for Shopkeeper Ji to warm his stomach and intestines. He got up and called out: “Pengyan, go and ask Zhang mama to make a sobering soup, Shopkeeper Ji has drank too much.”

Hadn’t he read Ming and Qing novels before transmigrating over? In those Ming Dynasty novels, even for just the opening, one would have to write more than a couple sentences! He had read so many books and did not have many introductions memorized—he only memorized Yang Shen’s 《Immortals by the River》, 《Journey to the West》 and 《Dream of the Red Mansions》because he had read them all several times. Otherwise, he had not memorized much of any novel’s introductions.

Yang Shen’s Immortals by the River is often known as the opening poem of the famous novel of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms but wasn’t thought to be added until the early Qing Dynasty (after Ming Dynasty)

Can’t even memorize it, let alone write it down himself? That type of delving, meticulous studying and tempering wouldn’t be good.

It was better to let the Shopkeeper Ji quickly sober up.

The task of writing a novel still had to be handed over to a talented Great Ming citizen, he as a transmigrator would be squandering his own time and inverting root and branch. His real advantage was not the dozens of online webnovels stored in the hard disk, but was rather the future development and evolution of novels over centuries, the knowledge of book packaging.

Inverting root and branch: basically it means to put the cart before the horse and its an idiom that means confusing cause and effect

That’s right, packaging.

Good works were not easy to write, but beautifully crafted book covers, inner pages and illustrations could make a not-so-good-to-read book appealing and arouse people’s desire to buy it. 

When he was very young, he often bought pirated books for the beautiful illustrated portraits on the covers of books or manhwa. As he grew up, he continued to be attracted by the exquisite designs on book covers and colorful pages, often buying several expensive and impractical design books. Shopkeeper Ji himself had also said that books with illustrations sold better than plain text novels. That is to say, the preferences of ancient and modern readers were the same, pictures are more impactful than text and people are more willing to pay for them.

If the Ming Dynasty had activities where one bought snacks and pictures, maybe it would have aroused a burst of a purchasing craze.

Copying books is difficult and a gold-handed person like him didn’t need to do it! In the chemistry textbook, there were plenty of printing techniques developed in the late Ming Dynasty describing and depicting printing techniques that used woodblock printing to print arched flowers. The bookstore had also contracted a lot of artisans who could engrave printing blocks. Then, why doesn’t he play to one’s strengths and print some books that attract customers by the virtue of their appearance rather than their content?

Cui Xie made up his mind, went back to the table to grab some food and occasionally took a sip of not very good raw grape wine, slowly rolling out a blueprint for the future in his heart.

Not long after, Zhang mama brought in Orange Ginger-infused soup to sober them up, also bringing over a big bowl of hot noodle soup. The soup was a thick, concentrated chicken stock and while one did not know what was mixed in the noodles, the noodles themselves had a savory taste. If one pursed their lips and smacked their tongue, umami flavor would melt into existence on the tip of their tongue.

The wine that had rushed from his stomach to his face was also washed away by the fragrant noodle soup. His mind and spirit was unprecedentedly content and full of vigor. As soon as the tripartite agreement was signed, he had been abruptly interrupted by his sudden transmigration, but now the morale of entering the workplace revived*.

This last line is a reference to the tripartite agreement college graduates sign once they are hired by employers in China. It is an agreement signed by the graduate, employer ,and university prior to commencing work. As Cui Xie was just about to graduate, he was in the middle of this process but was interrupted through his transmigration.

After lunch, when Shopkeeper Ji and Clerk Ji said their farewells to him, Cui Xie walked up to the two of them, slightly smiled and said, “Let us go together, I want to see what our family’s bookstore is like.”

Clerk Ji’s face stiffened and he glanced at Shopkeeper Ji. However, the Shopkeeper Ji’s complexion was completely bright red, the tipsy feeling having not dispersed yet and he kept saying, “Go go go, Young Master must take a look at our study, the bookstore is located on the back street of the yamen, the best location in the west part of the city!”

Yamen: administrative government office of a local bureaucrat/officials

Cui Yuan immediately set up the carriage and drove them all to Zhirong Study.

Cui Yuan had never entered the storefront when he was younger. He only ever saw it once from a distance, but he remembered that the store was bright and tidy, stacks of books were piled high on the gleaming shelves. Many scholars stood in the store to read or transcribed works at writing desks. But now, the store seemed to have accumulated a sense of antiquity and the shelves were relatively empty except for a few books such as the Four Books and the Five Classics, Yunfu’s Rime Dictionary, as well as some various, miscellaneous poems and articles. There were only three or so sporadic scholars transcribing in the store.

Cui Xie had never had this experience before and it felt exciting to see a store like this, so he took the lead to go inside first out of the group.

There was only one clerk in the store supervising the store, and because there weren’t any customers at the moment, he was not very diligent as he sat there in a half-asleep stupor fanning away flies with a fuchen.

Fuchen: horsetail whisk that is often seen in Chinese martial arts movies but was literally a household tool designed to whisk away flies, sweep dust, a symbol of Daoist monastic life.

Clerk Ji went forwards to scold him and told him to get up to meet the Young Master, but the clerk did not even raise his eyelids and lazily said: “Little shopkeeper, there is nothing to eat, so what is this talk about fulfilling the boss ah? The restaurant behind is rather quick…”

Clerk Ji’s face flushed, he hurried up to cover the other’s mouth and cursed in a low voice: “You are going to die, this is our Young Boss, the one who got a commendation from the Imperial court!”

Only then did the lazy clerk wake up, trembling all over, making bewildered looks and blaming Clerk Ji, “Why are you calling the Young Master over at this time? Any other day before today it would still be easy to hide matters, but today that family came over to make trouble again. The business inside should not be so easily provoked, this morning, throwing and smashing, scratching their faces and racking up a noise —what a big show!”

The voices of the two of them were extremely quiet and lowkey. Cui Xie did not hear them, but catching sight of Shopkeeper Ji’s flushed face and red eyes, he asked him where the bedroom was and wanted to help Shopkeeper Ji in to rest.

The storefront had two floors and there was a courtyard in the back. Originally, the back courtyard should be where the workers and clerks lived. Shopkeeper Ji pointed upstairs and Cui Xie saw that the two other men were busy talking, so he asked Pengyan to help him lift Shopkeeper Ji up and escort him to a sectioned-off room on the right hand side on the second floor.

Once they set down the person, they heard a burst of smashing and shattering objects outside the window, a sharp cry sounding from the courtyard: “I was originally the daughter of a good family in Luanzhao Prefecture. It was the lowly thief Wang Xiangzhen who had his way with me, detained me to this county, instructed those cuckolds and those thieves’ wives to supervise me so I could not escape! A distinguished neighbor please help report this case to the authorities and capture these vicious thieves, requesting that the officials beat him to death with a stick!”

cuckolds/tortoise egg: big insult in Chinese culture, it insinuates that one doesn’t know their own father which hints that their mother must have been promiscuous and insulting one’s purity is a big dishonor in ancient times and nowadays as well.