Their horses reached the entrance and before they could dismount the white-haired old man closed his sad eyes, tears streaming down his face, and said in a trembling voice, "Don"t press anymore, there"s no need to go to this extreme is there? You said my deceased father owed your family 1,000 taels of silver sixty years ago, who would believe such a thing? I was born here and will die here, so don"t use death to threaten this lonely old man who"s already got one foot in the grave. Death, as far as I"m concerned, is a nicer word than any other. I beg you all, let me die in piece on the land I was born on. It won"t be long. I don"t begrudge this house, but can you young people really be that impatient to wait?"
Wenchang still didn"t dismount. He said in a loud voice, "Sir, are you saying someone is trying to take your house?"
The old man flinched. The sound of that voice was not what he expected! He opened his old eyes and yes, wasn"t this man dressed differently? In a panic he said, "You… You all…"
"I"m just pa.s.sing through and wanted to trouble you, sir, for a cup of water."
"You two are travelers?"
"That"s right, we"ve disturbed you, sir."
"Please come in, please come in. Ah! For years now I"ve always been more than happy to treat traveling guests from all over. Seems the days of receiving guests like this to relieve one"s loneliness and pa.s.s the time are long gone."
Wenchang dismounted and blurted, "Who were those guys just now?"
Two elderly men in servant"s clothes took the reins and the white-haired man led the guests into the garden and they walked down the footpath among the flowers toward the large house as they talked. "That was the brothers of Master Zhu the Fifth, from the powerful family from the West Pa.s.s of Luoyang."
"Who is Master Zhu the Fifth?"
"The Zhu family of Luoyang is one of the nine great clans of Henan. Their whole clan extends from Ruinan to the Luo River, west to Gully River, that"s all Zhu family land. Master Zhu the Fifth is Zhu Ruinan. He not only has land, his paternal grandfather used to be an official in the capital. He himself has two grain shops in Luoyang City, a jewelry shop, three packhorse liveries, and a mercer"s shop. Also, his mansion is near West Pa.s.s, and he built a huge martial arts training centre near there, and they swing around sabres and staffs all day long with the village guards and Prince Yi residence guards. They ride their horses and practice archery and have become the richest family in Luoyang. They took a liking to my gardens and at first they sent someone to say they wanted to buy it for 100 taels of silver to use as a summer house, but I refused. But they were determined and insisted that my father sixty years ago owed their family 1,000 taels, plus more interest than they could count. They want me to hand over this place to pay it back, and they send people over here day and night to ha.s.sle me into signing a contract to pay the debt…"
Wenchang laughed. "Sir, why don"t you lodge a complaint?"
"Ah, Master Zhu the Fifth has connections with the local authorities and local bullies and hoodlums. I"m just a lonely old man, lodging a complaint would only bring myself to ruin."
"What is you surname, sir?"
"My family name is Dou. The Dou family too was influential in Henan, but has been in decline over the past century, one setback after another and has become just meat on someone"s chopping block. I have wors.h.i.+pped Buddha all my life, but still this has befallen me. Alas!"
"Hahahaha!" Black Iron PaG.o.da laughed. "Buddha? s.h.i.+t! My aunt"s been a nun her whole life. I asked her once if she"d ever seen the Buddha and she just shook her head. f.u.c.kin" h.e.l.l! Even if everyone in the world wors.h.i.+pped Buddha and became a monk or nun, not only would there be no more sons born, but in thirty to fifty years all the descendents would die off and we"d all be extinct. What son of a b.i.t.c.h brought that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Buddha into our Central Plains anyway? I"d grab that son of a b.i.t.c.h piece of s.h.i.+t and skin his hide and pull his tendons out and then we"ll see if his f.u.c.kin" Buddha has something to say about it."
Wenchang laughed. "Big bro, if your aunt heard you talking like this it"d be your hide instead. If you want to know who brought it here, you can go to White Horse Temple. It was those Indian monks Kasyapa Matanga and Dharmaratna. They"ve been buried there at the temple for more than a thousand years. I think it"s a bit late to skin their hides and pull out their tendons."
"You two talking like that is sinful, very sinful. I firmly believe that good and evil in the end will be repaid. The time has just not come yet."
"Heheh, when it comes to retribution, be it Buddha or some other G.o.d, sir, don"t bother talking about it. If I can trouble your precious abode for a cup of tea, then just watch in the next few days and you"ll see Master Zhu the Fifth receive his retribution."
♦♦♦
Soon the two of them were mounted up again and off toward Luoyang. Wenchang felt there was no need to stay the night at that old man"s house; Luoyang was a big metropolis, it would be easy to hide there. Today they needed to inquire about who the big heroes were in Luoyang, and they needed to find out more about Master Zhu the Fifth. Know yourself and know your enemy.[1] They had to inform themselves first.
The next day, they changed into new clothes, dressed like they were sons of a powerful family, blue satin-lined jacket and baggy blue "lantern pants" and thin-soled running boots with a honeysuckle pattern, and waving around their horse whips carelessly as they went along the west main avenue. The afternoon and evening before, they had spent some silver and prepared everything. Now that they knew about Master Zhu the Fifth, they intentionally revealed their names.
Near the west end of the pa.s.s on the left side of the street was a big storefront with a huge signboard written in big gold letters, "Gold Valley Mercery".
It was a big shop. There were closed bar-style long counters on the left and right, with shelves along the walls with all kinds of silks and satins, and a dozen clerks circling around their employer, attending to various task. The clerks and manager were all polite and friendly, and the vast majority of people who came into the shop were upper cla.s.s.
Two people swaggered into the shop and two young men promptly bowed and welcomed them in. A clerk rubbed his hands and bowed with a smile. "Sirs, you honor us with your presence, what can we do for you…"
Wenchang smiled and nodded and cut in, "I"d like to buy several bolts of your finest Jiading silk, is your shop"s…"
"Sir, rest a.s.sured, I dare say the Jiading silk in our shop is number-one in Luoyang. Not only are we completely stocked, our prices are reasonable, we are fair to old and young alike.[2] Please come in, sirs, I am at your service."
There was a counter where a clerk waited to take the customer"s order and would take down the bolts of fabric for the customer to select. Wenchang and Black Iron PaG.o.da strutted over and sat down pompously as the clerk came over to serve tea. "Since your shop is number-one in Luoyang, you must have every design and color!"
The clerk bowed his head slightly. "Our humble shop"s Sichuan silks are carefully selected by an expert who goes to Sichuan especially to choose only the finest quality. We guarantee it is authentic from Jiading prefecture. Sir, I am certain you will not be disappointed."
"Good, first bring over two bolts of plain white silk."
"Yes, sir, just a moment."
"Then two bolts of white damask silk…"
"Two bolts of silk gauze…"
"Two bolts of fine-woven satin…"
A string of orders and the counter was piled up with bolt after bolt of brightly-colored silks and satins, and still Wenchang ordered. "Two bolts of yellow damask silk… Two bolts of yellow satin…"
The clerks all stopped what they were doing and even the customers stared, watching curiously. It seemed those two gentlemen were going to buy out the whole store!
Black Iron PaG.o.da untied a long rectangular bag from around his waist and took out one gold foil note after another and casually placed them on the counter. The notes were all square and each worth a tael. From the looks of it, his bag likely contained three or four hundred taels.
When the clerk heard the order for yellow satin, he froze and shook his head. "Sir, as I"m sure you"re aware, yellow satin is forbidden. We don"t have that color."[3]
The manager had already come over and he now bowed in greeting. "Pardon us, sirs, our humble store doesn"t dare sell yellow satin."
"Oh! Your honorable store is actually a law-abiding establishment. That"s fine then. Isn"t your esteemed shop owned by Zhu Ruinan of Xi"an?" Wenchang said pointedly.
It was very rare in Luoyang for anyone to openly say Master Zhu the Fifth"s personal name; he was only ever referred to as Master Master Zhu the Fifth, or by his style name. Actually, Master Master Zhu the Fifth was not old, only forty. But he had money and power and influence, so why not nominally call him Master?"
The manager could tell by Wenchang"s tone that he was conceited, and Wenchang bore himself in the refined manner of a son of the n.o.bility, and since he had the nerve to openly ask to buy yellow silk, he might really be a n.o.bleman or a high official come to test them! The manager was terrified, and he smiled even more humbly and bowed. "Our humble shop thrives off its reputation; our proprietor"s prosperity is honestly obtained. He is universally praised in this prefecture. Please rest a.s.sured, gentlemen."
Wenchang pulled a faint smile and changed the subject. "Your esteemed store"s prices must be pretty fair."
"We treat everyone fairly, our prices are very reasonable. Sir, you are welcome to compare."
"Alright, I believe you. Let"s see, cont up the amount for these 36 bolts of silks and satins and have someone prepare them to be delivered."
"Yes, sir."
The manager and all the clerks watched Black Iron PaG.o.da count the gold foil notes. No one was suspicious of the notes because of course the bill would be paid in gold and silver. In those days silver notes were worthless and no one wanted copper cash. The markets all used silver, but the prohibitions had not changed much. The imperial court set the market value and set the tax rate. A silver banknote was worth three-hundredths of a tael of silver, and seven-tenths a copper. In fact, silver notes had nearly vanished from the marketplace, and even copper cash would be gone soon.
The manager clacked around with his abacus as a clerk called out the prices in a loud voice. Once it was totaled up, an accountant presented the bill. "Sirs, please take a look, the total is 1,400 taels."
Wenchang took the list and asked Black Iron PaG.o.da, "1,400, did you hear that?"
"That"s 350 in gold, it"s enough," Black Iron PaG.o.da declared.
Wenchang said to the clerk, "Excuse me, have someone go out to my carriage on the left and load up the goods." Then he turned to the manager. "I need three orders of this list, quickly!"
As he said, there was a two-horse carriage parked outside on the left. The driver wore a resplendent narrow-sleeved dark green robe and a sword hung from his waist. He looked quite dignified. There was a black curtain over the carriage window and the wooden posts were carved with cloud patterns. It was a gorgeous official"s carriage. The door lintel was carved with two lotus flowers and four large words: Cai of Chenliu Commandery.
One look and you would know that a high official from Kaifeng prefecture had arrived. The Cai family was one of the ill.u.s.trious five clans of Chenliu. The only suspicious thing was that silks and satins from all five major locations that produced it, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Songjiang, Jiading, and Huzhou, could all be bought more conveniently in Kaifeng than in Luoyang. In other words, silk and satin was cheaper in Kaifeng than in Luoyang. And as for Jiading silks, it had to go through the narrow roads Shaanxi and Sichuan, then the goods were s.h.i.+pped by boat Wuchang prefecture before being s.h.i.+pped out over land to various places from there. Kaifeng was closer than Luoyang, so the price of Jiading silk in Luoyang would certainly be higher than Kaifeng.
But this expert manager and the accountant were busy behind the counter with their work, and the clerks didn"t think of this either, as they were busy doggedly loading the carriage with the purchased goods.
Once everything had been loaded up, and the bill settled, Wenchang waved his arm and the carriage went down the main avenue heading east.
The gold foil notes were placed on the table were not suspicious, so they confidently and boldly let the carriage go. Wenchang was laughing. "Count the money, Big bro."
Black Iron PaG.o.da grabbed cloth handkerchief and laid the gold foil notes out one by one on it. He did so unhurriedly. He wanted to wait until the carriage started off before he acted.
"350 taels, bro." Black Iron PaG.o.da grinned as he bundled them up into the handkerchief.
Wenchang stood and took the bundle. "Give it to them."
"Okay," Black Iron PaG.o.da boomed like thunder. He loosened his collar and twisted out of his jacket. He was a big man, his jacket was big and wide, he loosened his belt, revealing his barrel chest and back which were strong and thick. "A silver note is worth three-hundredths of a tael of silver. Count it up, chumps!"
Heavens! He opened his s.h.i.+rt halfway and a pile of silver banknotes, crumpled and in shabby condition, tumbled out on the floor.
"That ought to be enough, if not then use gold to convert it," Wenchang said casually.
1. 知己知彼，百戰不殆 - "Know yourself and know your enemy and you will never be defeated". A famous quote from Sun Tzu"s The Art of War.
2. This is a somewhat literal translation of a common message on shop signs. As you can tell, they"re just saying that they"re honest and don"t cheat anyone.
3. Yellow could only be worn by the emperor.