Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 91 Huang Liji's Household Slave: Is Bi Ziyan even more important than the Emperor?!
On the post road between Guangping and Shunde in Beizhili, a horse was panting and struggling to move forward. This was because a burly man was sitting on its back. The man was nine feet tall and looked much larger than the horse. The combination of the two was quite comical.

A donkey followed behind, not very big, carrying a boy of about seventeen or eighteen on its back, which made things look much more harmonious.

The young man's eyebrows were uneven, and his expression was somewhat awkward. He seemed to have been holding back for a long time. Finally, he couldn't bear it any longer and said, "Brother, you've become the prefect now. Even if you don't have a grand display, you should at least get a decent horse, right? The way you're acting is just too ridiculous. People will laugh at you."

"You make it sound so easy for you! My annual salary is a total of one hundred and eighty taels of silver, but last year I only received eighty taels. Nowadays, a warhorse costs fifty taels, and even an ordinary horse costs more than twenty taels of silver."

Besides, even if I bought the horse, wouldn't it cost money to keep it? With my meager salary, I have to support my staff and feed you, kid. How am I supposed to manage that?!
"Besides, you have no taste! This horse of mine is a Debao pony. It was the same horse that Madam Wa rode when she went to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to fight against the Japanese pirates! This old horse has been with me for ten years. It eats little, has great stamina, and never gets sick. It is clearly a top-notch horse!" Lu Xiang-sheng said indignantly.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiangtong rolled his eyes and said, "Brother, let's go to the post station to rest first, otherwise your 'peerless horse' that has been with you for ten years will be exhausted to death."

Lu Xiang-sheng looked down and saw that the horse under his feet was sticking out its tongue and foaming at the mouth. He was startled and quickly jumped off the horse to lead it away. As he walked, he complained, "Old friend, are you getting old? When I rode you back then, you weren't like this. How come you can't even go sixty li now?"

The two walked another two miles and finally came to a rather dilapidated post station. A sign that read "Shunde Post Station" was hanging crookedly on the gate of the post station.

"Brother, Shunde Prefecture is a major prefecture, so why is this post station so dilapidated?" Lu Xiangtong asked curiously.

"This is Shunde County Post Station. The post stations in Shunde Prefecture are called Longgang Post Station," Lu Xiang-sheng explained casually.

"Is anyone here? Is the postmaster here?" Lu Xiangtong shouted.

"They've arrived!" A rather excited voice came from inside the post station, and then a minor official in blue robes strode out.

However, when he saw two people, a pony, and a donkey outside the fence, his face immediately fell. But he didn't turn away in a huff. Instead, he walked over, opened the gate, and asked, "Do you two have official business to attend to?"

Lu Xiangtong turned to look at his older brother, Lu Xiangsheng, who bowed slightly and said, "I have no official business today and would like to buy some water and fodder to feed our mounts."

"For feeding the horses, my post station has a well, so the clean water is free. Eighteen catties of hay will cost you ten coins, six catties of bean feed will cost sixty coins, and one ounce of coarse salt will cost ten coins. Don't think it's expensive; we run a post station and we have to use official salt from the imperial court, so that's the price. Of course, this is the price for a regular horse. These two animals of yours are neither horses nor horses, so let's just call them one and a half horses. You can give me one hundred and twenty coins."

"Didn't the imperial court change the salt law last year? How come salt is now selling for 100 coins a catty?!" Lu Xiang-sheng exclaimed in surprise.

"It's not even 100 coins yet, and the price of official salt has indeed increased by 30%, but you have to let us make some money, right? Our post station isn't having an easy time either. The government's allocation is so small, and powerful people abuse the official post station from time to time..." the postmaster said dejectedly.

Suddenly, as if he had just realized something, he abruptly changed the subject, saying, "Hiss... Judging from your outfits and direction, are you heading to the capital? A while ago, the number of candidates going to the capital for the imperial examinations was endless, and my little shop was bustling with activity, but now it's deserted."

"Since it's just the two of you here today, we're not the kind of people to cheat or swindle. Look at the sun; it's another forty li to the next inn, and dusk is approaching. Why don't you stay at our humble inn? We have excellent rooms and hot food—everything you could want—at fair prices, and we treat everyone honestly!"

Lu Xiang-sheng shaded his eyes with his hand, gazing at the high, bright sun, lost in thought. Seeing this, the postmaster said, "Don't be fooled by the fact that it's noon. I just said you wouldn't make it, and it's true. Spring days are short and nights are long; a day is only a little over five hours long, and it will be dark in just over two more hours. Besides, Hebei is not a peaceful place these days. If you were riding warhorses, you might be able to make it, but with these two animals, it's unlikely!"

“We will consider the lodging later. I hope you can first settle our livestock. We have been eating dry rations for several days and have not had a hot meal in a long time. It is really hard to bear. Since you have prepared food, please give us a lunch,” Lu Xiang-sheng said.

The postmaster summoned a boy of about half a year old and had him lead a donkey and a horse down the road. Then he welcomed Lu Xiang-sheng and his companion into the post station.

"Have some water first. I'll go ask my wife to make you some food. Thin porridge is one coin, thick porridge is two coins, meat porridge is five coins, and four dishes and a soup are one hundred coins including rice. What would you two like?" the postmaster asked, bending down and rubbing his hands.

"Two bowls of minced meat, three bowls of thick minced meat, and three bowls of thin minced meat," Lu Xiang-sheng said.

"Eight bowls?!" The postmaster was shocked. He said sincerely, "My two brave men, these bowls are all large bowls weighing over a pound each. An ordinary person would be full after just one bowl. Can you really eat so many?!"

Lu Xiang-sheng waved his hand, signaling him to do it without saying anything more. "Gurgle—" His stomach rumbled.

"Clatter clatter clatter! Whoa—!!!" At this moment, the sound of horses came from outside the post station again. Because of the galloping hooves, the noise was quite loud, and the postmaster ran out on his own initiative without being called.

"Brother, look! It's a white horse!" Lu Xiangtong said, looking out the door with envy.

Lu Xiang-sheng looked at it for a while, his brows furrowing. He said in a low voice, "It's a pity to use such fine warhorses in a place like this."

Lu Xiangtong was somewhat surprised that the man had started arguing with the postmaster.

"This is an official post station, only for government officials and their entourage. You can use it if you want, but you'll have to pay for the black beans and chickens to feed the horses!" the postmaster said.

"How dare you! Do you know who I am working for? I am on the orders of Grand Secretary Huang to go to the capital on business. If I am late, can you bear the consequences?!" After saying this, the man slammed a stack of documents into the postmaster's arms and then barged into the post station.

The postmaster was taken aback by him. He held the document and looked at it for a while before catching up and saying, "We postmasters are already struggling to keep up with the current officials, and Grand Secretary Huang has already retired. This is really inconvenient for you."

"It's not that I'm being disrespectful to Minister Huang, but the imperial court has recently issued several official documents to rectify the postal service and order reductions in expenses. This is the order of the current Grand Secretary, how dare we disobey? Besides, the hundred or so coins I received from you are barely enough to cover our expenses; I haven't taken a single penny more. I hope you will act according to the rules."

"Look carefully! Doesn't this document clearly state 'Bestowed by His Majesty, granted post station for returning home'? Does Bi Ziyan think he's more important than the Emperor?!" the man said angrily.

(End of this chapter)