Top Scholar

The 47th chapter, Scholar Xiucai, has rendered meritorious service.
Inside the house.

The clerk brought out the general household register, the "Military Recruitment Register," and turned to the page for Erlang's Hundred Household Office.

The Su family's military register was also laid out on the table. Su Lucai noticed that on the yellow-bound cover, written in Jiang's handwriting:

'The Yongning Guard Commandery in the thirteenth year of the Hongzhi reign.'

Taiping Thousand Household Office, Yellow Register No. 9.

The military register of Erlang Hundred Household Office belongs to Su Daxiang.

When the clerk unfolded the yellow book, Su Lu saw that inside was a square sheet of white cotton paper, about 1.2 feet in size.

The right side of the fold-out page begins with the Su family's ancestral home and lineage: 'Originally a military household of the Fengyang Left Guard under the Zhongdu Garrison. In the fourteenth year of Hongwu (1380), Su Jimin was transferred to Yongning Guard. Jimin's son was Zhang, Zhang's son was Yongye, Yongye's son was Ming'an, and Ming'an's son was Daxiang.'

Then there are four general headings, each described as follows:
'Old system: 18 adult males, 13 female males.'

Newly acquired: Zheng Ding Yi Kou.

Dismissal: Female Ding Yi Kou.

In reality: 19 adult males and 12 female males.

Further to the left are the detailed household registration records. They are divided into two categories, one for those currently serving in the military. There are two regular soldiers and two surplus soldiers, among whom the eldest uncle's name, 'Su Youjin,' is prominently listed as one of the two regular soldiers.

The rest were unenlisted, totaling fifteen men, including the old man, the eldest brother, and the father. The last name was Su Dan, and judging from the bright ink, it had indeed been added recently.

As for the women, they were listed after their respective husbands' names and were not categorized separately.

Based on the information provided by the uncle, the clerk added a new column after Su Dan's name, writing:
'A man named Su Lu, son of Su Youcai, was born on the 24th day of the ninth month of the fourth year of the Hongzhi reign (1408). His mother, née Wang, is deceased. He served under Yan Shi.'

After the clerk finished writing, he put down his pen and asked his uncle to check it for accuracy before taking it to the commander to affix his seal.

Although the status of soldiers is low nowadays, a fifth-rank commander of a thousand households is by no means considered low. Especially in the Taiping Thousand Household Garrison, Commander Ma wields great power, and everyone has to defer to him.

Even the arrogant and domineering Master Cheng had to be very polite to Commander Ma.

Therefore, Commander Ma already had official status, and lower-ranking officers who came to handle matters usually never saw him, even if they came to deliver people to their deaths... uh, no, to register their household registration.

Su Youjin didn't expect to meet the commander, so he and Su Lu waited obediently in the household office.

Before long, the clerk returned and beckoned to the two of them, saying, "Come with me quickly, the commander wants to see you."

"Really?" The uncle was startled and asked, flustered, "What, what happened?"

"How would I know? I saw your household registration and said I wanted to call you over." The clerk urged, "Hurry up, Commander Qian is impatient."

"Okay, okay." The uncle quickly walked out while straightening his blue round-collar robe, and whispered to Su Lu, "Take a look, is there anything that's not straight?"

"They're all very proper." Su Lu hadn't expected his uncle to be so nervous, so he could only encourage him by saying, "They're very impressive."

That's not far from the truth. Su Youjin is burly and broad-shouldered, with a leopard-like head and piercing eyes, and he has the air of an ancient general.

Those two legs were like sieves, which really ruined her image.

Su Lu had no choice but to imitate the old man and whisper in his uncle's ear, "Stand up straight, don't embarrass yourself!"

Upon hearing this, the uncle was startled, and before entering the room, his legs miraculously straightened.

~~
Inside the house where the household registration office signed the deposit.

Ma Qianhu wore a blue silk robe with a dark floral pattern and a round collar, a net on his head, and had a neatly trimmed beard.

He is actually the same age as the old man, but he takes good care of himself and looks more than ten years younger than the old man.

The uncle hurriedly led Su Lu to bow and said loudly, "This humble officer, Su Youjin, a junior officer of the Hundred Household Office, pays respects to Commander Qianhu!"

“You have gold, don’t be so formal. Your father and I have worked together for many years, no need for formalities.” Commander Ma slightly raised his hand, gesturing for the uncle and nephew to rise and speak. He was probably in a good mood today, showing no signs of his usual irritability, and spoke kindly to his uncle:

"How is he feeling?"

"Thanks to Commander Qianhu, my father has always been in good health," the uncle hurriedly said.

"That's good. Tell him not to stay cooped up at home all day, but to come to the office when he has time. As people get older, they tend to think about the old days." Commander Ma said with a nostalgic look, "He wants to see his old friends."

"Yes, I will certainly pass on the message." The uncle quickly agreed, of course not taking the commander's polite words seriously.

"Is this your nephew?" Commander Ma looked at Su Lu again.

"Yes." Su Youjin quickly nodded and said, "This is my second brother's son. He was admitted to Taiping Academy this year."

"Really? That's impressive." Commander Ma rested his chin on his hands, looking relaxed. "If I remember correctly, your son is also at Taiping Academy, right?" "Yes, thank you for your concern, sir. My son will be taking the county examination this year." Su Youjin spoke with a bit more confidence for the first time.

"Oh? Isn't it next month? Hurry up and get him to pass the imperial examination, so your father can finally get revenge." After exchanging a few more pleasantries with his uncle, Commander Ma got down to business:

"By the way, I heard from Lao Liu that 'Sweet Water' was incredibly popular at the temple fair recently. Did they get in through your connections?"

"Uh..." The uncle finally understood why the commander had come to see him, and hurriedly nodded and said, "What connections do I have? I'm just asking a fellow villager to ask the office and you, sir, for a chance to make a living."

Su Lu's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that they've already been targeted so quickly?
"Hahaha." Commander Ma didn't believe it; Su Youjin had no benefit in this. He laughed, "Youjin is a man of principle. Sweet Water Restaurant is also very principled. I heard that during the temple fair, half of the stall fees collected by the station came from them."

"Huh?" Su Youjin immediately broke out in a cold sweat. Had he become a complete scapegoat?
But he was a lowly official, and if he didn't pay the full amount, the sweet water would have been sold long ago.

"I only told them to pay the full amount of taxes, but I didn't expect them to pay so much," he said, wiping his sweat and looking flustered.

"It's not that they pay more; it's that everyone else is cheating and cheating, and no one is willing to pay one-tenth of the total." Commander Ma praised, "Don't worry, such honest merchants are the ones we commanders will focus on protecting!"

"On their behalf, I thank Commander Qianhu for his kindness." Su Youjin quickly bowed deeply.

"However, if the dike is higher than the bank, the waves will surely destroy it. Their business is so good, it's easy to attract envy," sighed Commander Ma. "I heard that the proprietress is a widow."

Su Lu's eyes narrowed. What was this old coffin-head trying to do?
"Yes." Fortunately, Su Youjin hadn't lost his temper and quickly said with a wry smile, "That's right. She's also Master Cheng's daughter, so the pressure is even greater."

"Is that so?" Commander Ma could not hide his disappointment upon hearing this. Although he didn't need to care about scholars of his rank, those scholars who had the ability to file a complaint all the way to the provincial level were a different story.

He had witnessed firsthand how Scholar Cheng had filed a complaint before the Provincial Education Commissioner, drawing the attention of the Vice Minister and enraging the Chief Minister. How could he dare to provoke such a reaction?

"Yes. Master Cheng thought it was improper for her to show her face in public. On the sixth day of the month, he stood in front of the sweet drink stall all day. He had to persuade her a lot before he agreed to let her work until the fifteenth before going home." Su Youjin never expected that one day she would have to use Master Cheng's name as a shield.

"What, such a lucrative business, you're going to quit after the fifteenth?" Commander Ma frowned.

"It's a real pity," Su Youjin sighed. "But she can't let her father die of anger."

“Yes, every family has its own problems.” Ma Qianhu scratched his temple and pondered for a moment before saying, “Setting up a stall at the temple fair is indeed not very elegant. Why not find a shop to settle down in? Once she becomes a stationary merchant, Master Cheng won’t have to worry about her showing her face in public anymore, right?”

"That's for sure," Su Youjin said with a wry smile. "But to be honest, the landlady's husband's family went bankrupt, leaving her with a mountain of debts that she doesn't know when she'll be able to pay off. Where would she get the money to rent a storefront again?"

“That’s easy.” Commander Ma suddenly smiled and said, “I happen to have a spare shop in a good location. I won’t charge her rent; I’ll just let her decide whether to convert it into some shares. If she’s willing, you can come and talk to me again.”

He paused for a moment, then added in a mocking tone, "Don't make things difficult for them. If they don't agree, that's fine."

"Yes, sir. I will certainly pass on the message and report back to you as soon as possible." Su Youjin quickly replied.

~~
When my uncle came out of the garrison, he looked completely exhausted. He went to a food stall at the temple fair, ordered a bowl of shao sheng (a type of local liquor), and without caring whether it tasted good or not, he gulped down half a bowl before finally exhaling a breath of stale air.

"Are you hungry?" The uncle ordered another bowl of wontons for Su Lu and a bowl of vegetarian noodles for himself.

He then whispered, "I never expected that registering your household would be so exciting."

"Yes, I never expected that a dignified commander like you would take a liking to our little business," Su Lu said in a low voice.

"Sweet Water Shop is no small business; no one in the entire Taiping Town makes more money than it," the uncle sneered. "Initially, he wanted to take over Sweet Water Shop for himself without spending any money. That old bastard is good at this kind of trick!"

"Fortunately, my uncle was quick-witted and cut off the conversation beforehand." Su Lu sincerely praised, "It was truly remarkable that my uncle could remain sober at that time."

This is true. Once Commander Ma reveals that intention, he won't give up easily, even for the sake of saving face.

"Hehe, I was perfectly sober the whole time." The uncle took a sip of liquor with a smug look on his face and boasted, "I was just pretending to be weak in front of him. All's fair in war, you know?"

"Impressive, Uncle even uses military strategy," Su Lu praised, blowing on the steam rising from his bowl.

"Your uncle has a lot of secrets to tell, kid. You'll learn from him for half your life." The uncle picked up a piece of plain noodles with his chopsticks, then said with a worried expression, "How should I tell the landlady about this?"

“Say it the way you want,” Su Lu said. “We are just minority shareholders; the decision still rests with the boss’s wife.”

“She’ll definitely ask your dad, uh, about our stance,” the uncle said.

“Say whatever you think, Uncle,” Su Lu said with a smile. “I need to focus on my studies now and can’t afford to be distracted.”

"School hasn't started yet," his uncle persisted. At least when it came to business, his uncle respected him greatly.

"I feel that if I still want to do it, I have no choice but to agree," Su Lu said.

“Indeed, if you don’t agree, you can forget about selling sweet water in Taiping Town.” The uncle wholeheartedly agreed.

“If they only want shares and don’t interfere in the management, it might turn a bad thing into a good thing,” Su Lu said slowly. “He wants a share of the pie, and we also want to have a powerful backer. Let’s all get what we need.”

“Yes.” The eldest uncle agreed, “The banner of the commander is still very effective, at least in Taiping Town.”

(End of this chapter)