Ming Dynasty 1627

Chapter 148 Zhang Pu, who thinks too much

Zhengyangmen Street, a vital thoroughfare of the Ming Dynasty, is currently being swept by an unprecedented heat wave.

Crowds thronged the streets, and traffic roared.

In the past, the bustling atmosphere here was filled with the cries of merchants, the hurried footsteps of pedestrians, and the vibrant life of the marketplace.

Today, however, the heart of this wave of enthusiasm is a collection of bookstores that are not usually the busiest in the town.

"Give way! Give way!"

"Stop pushing! Line up at the back!"

"Shopkeeper! Give me another one! Just one!"

The clamor of voices nearly broke down the door of the bookstore. Whether they were well-dressed wealthy men or scholars wearing square headscarves, they all lost their usual composure and craned their necks to force their arms and money inside.

In the center of the crowd, a scholar in a Confucian robe, who had finally managed to snag a copy of the "Da Ming Times," was surrounded by three or four heads before he could even catch his breath.

"Brother, I'll give you two coins! How about you give me the rest?"

"I'll offer five coins!"

Just as the scholar in his Confucian robes was about to refuse, a portly merchant pushed through the crowd and exclaimed, "One tael! Brother, please do me a favor!"

The scholar in the Confucian robe's eyes lit up, and the newspaper, still smelling of ink, was instantly handed over.

The portly businessman, overjoyed, held up the newspaper and left triumphantly amidst the envious gazes of the crowd.

Not far away, several students from the Imperial Academy surrounded a classmate who had bought a newspaper, chattering excitedly. Their faces were beaming with the excitement and joy of someone who had just passed the imperial examination. They walked happily toward the Imperial Academy in the north of the city.

Xia Yunyi and his servant Xia An stood at the bustling street corner, dumbfounded by the scene before them.

This isn't buying newspapers, it's outright robbery!

Xia An swallowed hard, glanced fearfully at the bookstores with the largest crowds, and asked in a low voice, "Sir, should we... still go in?"

Xia Yunyi's face turned pale and then flushed.

He recalled the promise he made to his friend Zhang Pu at the banquet yesterday, a promise he had made with his hand on his chest.

"Don't worry, Brother Qiandu, I'll take care of this mere newspaper!"

The words were still ringing in my ears, but the scene before me felt like a silent slap in the face.

He gritted his teeth, as if he had made some kind of decision.

"Buy! Why not buy!"

He said in a deep voice, "A gentleman's word is as good as his bond. Now that I have promised Brother Qiandu, how can I back down now!"

He pointed to the two largest bookstores on the street and said to Xia An, "You go over there, I'll go over here, let's split up!"

"Yes, sir!" Xia An replied, lifting his robe and following Xia Yunyi into the surging crowd.

……

A moment later, Xia Yunyi was shoved out of the crowd by a strong force, his hair disheveled, his clothes wrinkled, and he looked utterly disheveled.

He leaned against the wall, catching his breath, and anxiously searched through the crowd.

Soon, he spotted Xia An looking around under the eaves of a rice shop on the street corner.

"Did you manage to buy it?" Xia Yunyi hurriedly went to greet him.

Xia An shook his head dejectedly, his face covered in dust.

"I rushed into four or five bookstores, my voice was hoarse from shouting, and I asked them all," he said, panting. "The original editions of the Times printed by the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs' Imperial Archives are long gone. The scribes hired by each bookstore are now working hard to copy them, but even if they are copied, the next batch won't arrive for another hour, and... and they've all been pre-ordered!"

He looked up at the sun, his face contorted with worry, and said, "Sir, it's almost halfway past noon, and we probably can't wait for the next batch. What about yours?"

Xia Yunyi's cheeks flushed slightly, and he mumbled a reply: "...It's the same on my end."

He was too embarrassed to shout, and somehow he was squeezed out.

He was filled with remorse.

It's all because I drank too much yesterday and had a hangover, which is why I woke up so late.

If it had been an hour earlier, things wouldn't have come to this!

"What should we do?" Xia Yunyi paced anxiously. "They're not at Dengshikou, they're not here, are we really going to try our luck at the City God Temple? What if they don't have them either!"

Just as the master and servant were at their wits' end, a few soft coughs came from behind them.

"This gentleman."

Xia Yunyi turned around at the sound and saw the rice shop owner standing behind the counter, smiling at him.

The shopkeeper was about fifty years old, with a fair complexion, a goatee, and a particularly warm smile.

"But are you asking to purchase the *Da Ming Times*?"

Xia Yunyi nodded repeatedly, as if grasping at a lifeline: "Exactly! It has to be the September 20th session, nothing else. Shopkeeper, do you have any?"

The rice shopkeeper's smile deepened. He stroked his beard and said slowly, "Unfortunately, this old man does have a copy here. Moreover, it's an original copy from the Imperial Scripture Factory, with bright ink and clear engraving, far superior to those rough copies found elsewhere."

He smacked his lips, as if savoring some delicious treat: "I bought it and read it. Tsk tsk, that article is truly... groundbreaking and insightful!"

Xia Yunyi had no time to listen to his lament. He hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "Shopkeeper, I have been entrusted by a friend to buy a copy before noon to keep our appointment. Do you think... you could reluctantly part with it?"

As soon as he said that, Xia An rolled his eyes.

Oh no, that was way too honest.

Sure enough, a glint flashed in the rice shop owner's eyes, and his smile became even more amiable.

“Since you need it urgently, sir, and it's for an appointment, I shouldn’t do you a favor.” He changed the subject, speaking slowly and deliberately, “However, this newspaper is simply too wonderful; its opinions are truly thought-provoking. I find it irresistible…”

He paused, then looked at Xia Yunyi with a sly smile, finally revealing his true colors.

"Considering you've been asked to do this, selling it to you isn't out of the question. However..."

"—You need to pay more!"

Xia An had anticipated this, so he stepped forward and asked without any hesitation, "How much?"

The shopkeeper slowly extended a hand.

Xia An raised an eyebrow: "Five coins?"

The shopkeeper shook his head and flipped his palm back and forth.

"Five taels!"

"what?!"

Upon hearing this, both the master and servant gasped in shock.

Xia An pointed incredulously at the bookstore across the street and angrily said, "You're so greedy! The original is only five coins a copy, and the copy sold at the bookstore across the street is only one hundred coins a copy! You're going to mark it up a hundred times?"

The shopkeeper remained unmoved, slowly shaking his head and uttering only two words: "Original version."

"This thing is only valuable for the next couple of days!" Xia An said angrily. "It's being copied everywhere in the Imperial Academy. In a couple of days, your paper will be worthless!"

The shopkeeper remained calm and collected, shaking his head and repeating, "Original version from the factory warehouse."

Xia An was so angry that her eyes twitched.

The rice shop owner clearly saw that they were easy targets who were in a hurry to make a quick buck, and wanted to make a fortune in one go!
It's all that foolish old man's fault for saying those stupid things; now he's got his hands on.

He tugged at Xia Yunyi's sleeve and said, "Master, let's go! Let's go to the City God Temple and see. I refuse to believe that in such a vast capital city, we can't find a single newspaper!"

However, when he pulled, Xia Yunyi did not budge.

Xia Yunyi stood rooted to the spot, his face full of hesitation and struggle.

A fine warhorse weighs only eight or nine ounces, so spending five ounces on a single sheet of paper is ridiculously expensive.

But... it's not that he can't afford it, and more importantly, the party later on is waiting for this newspaper.

On the other hand, there's the promise I made to my friend, and the earth-shattering secret that the article might contain.

After a moment, he finally made up his mind, raised his head, looked at the shopkeeper, and tentatively asked, "Three...four ounces, is that alright?"

The shopkeeper's eyes lit up instantly. Without the slightest hesitation, he slammed his hand on the counter and said loudly, "A gentleman's word is as good as his bond! Seeing how eager you are, sir, I'll take the loss today. Four taels it is!"

Xia Yunyi's heart skipped a beat.

The call was too low!

But once the words are spoken, it's difficult to take them back under the watchful eyes of everyone.

With great reluctance, he took out four taels of loose silver from his sleeve and clutched it tightly in his palm.

The shopkeeper was a shrewd man. He snatched the silver from the man's hand, weighed it in his hand, and then, with a smile, pulled out a neatly folded newspaper from under the counter and presented it to him with both hands.

"Sir, look at this paper, this ink, this calligraphy—it's absolutely authentic!"

Xia Yunyi took the newspaper and carefully unfolded a corner of it.

As expected, it was produced by the factory warehouse. The paper was thick, the engraving was exquisite, the characters were clear, and a faint scent of ink wafted out.

With the matter settled, a great weight was lifted from his heart, and the heartache he felt lessened considerably.

He carefully tucked the newspaper into his pocket and said to Xia An, "Let's go, it's getting late, let's hurry over."

……

Ten miles northwest of Gaoliang Bridge, a spring emerges from the ground and flows into Haidian.

This place is rich in water and grass, and lush with trees, making it a first-class scenic spot in the outskirts of Beijing. The villa of the Marquis of Wuqing, Li family, called "Qinghua Garden," is located here.

The garden covers an area of ​​ten miles, with pavilions, towers, artificial hills and flowing water, and is extremely luxurious.

Unfortunately, such places are not places that ordinary scholars can venture into.

Xia Yunyi and a group of scholars who had been invited set up a banquet for the day in a wooden pavilion by the water near Danling outside Tsinghua Garden.

Looking into the distance, one can see figures moving about in the pavilion, the water shimmering, and Haidian in the distance resembling a giant piece of jade under the autumn sun, a truly enchanting sight.

Xia Yunyi led Xia An into the pavilion in a hurry, and more than a dozen pairs of eyes turned to look at them at once.

The person at the head of the table, dressed in a moon-white scholar's robe, with a broad face, was none other than Zhang Pu, the host of this banquet.

Seeing Xia Yunyi arrive, he laughed heartily and stood up: "Brother Yizhong, why are you so late! According to the rules, you should be punished with a cup of wine!"

Xia Yunyi bowed deeply, his face showing apology but without the slightest hesitation: "I was delayed by worldly affairs on the way, and I am at fault for being late. I deserve to be punished!"

After saying that, he walked to the table, picked up a glass of wine, tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp.

"it is good!"

"Brother Xia is so straightforward!"

The crowd in the pavilion cheered in unison.

In the crowd, a man leaned against a pavilion pillar and lazily said sarcastically, "In my opinion, Brother Yizhong is not accepting punishment at all; he's clearly here to cheat people out of drinks."

Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter.

Xia Yunyi looked closely and saw that the person who spoke had a thin face and a somewhat unruly look between his brows; it was Zhang Cai.

He pointed with his hand and laughed, "You bastard Zhang Shouxian! Today I'm going to get you drunk!"

Zhang Cai leaned against the railing, his chest exposed, holding a slender bamboo pole in his hand, casually teasing the fish swimming in the water.

He didn't turn around, but just sneered: "Xia Yizhong, the wine at this banquet today isn't something you can just drink whenever you want."

Zhang Pu watched the two laughing and joking with a smile, without saying a word.

After the laughter in the pavilion subsided, he coughed softly.

"Gentlemen."

The sound wasn't loud, but the pavilion gradually quieted down.

Zhang Pu stood up, looked around at everyone, and his expression became serious.

"Everyone has arrived. Those present today are all my good friends, but we may not all know each other. Let me first introduce you gentlemen."

He raised his hand and pointed at Xia Yunyi.

"Xia Yunyi, also known as Xia Yizhong, was a native of Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture."

Xia Yunyi cupped his hands in greeting to the crowd, and they all returned the greeting.

"Xu Qian, Xu Jiuyi; Jiang Can, Jiang Taozhong. Both of them are from Changzhou County, Suzhou Prefecture."

"Shi Kefa, also known as Shi Xianzhi, was a native of Xiangfu County, Kaifeng Prefecture."

As Zhang Pu introduced them, everyone stood up to pay their respects, and the atmosphere in the pavilion gradually shifted from relaxed to serious.

Zhang Pu then pointed to two young men who were noticeably taller and more robust than the average scholar.

"Zhang Mingzhen, Zhang Houfu, was from Jiangning County, Yingtian Prefecture."

"Li Ruolian, Li Chengfu, a native of the Shanglin Garden Training Office."

"Both of them intend to participate in next year's martial arts competition."

When the two men rose to greet each other, they exuded a powerful aura and had sharp eyes, clearly indicating that they were martial artists.

Finally, Zhang Pu pointed to himself and Zhang Cai.

"Zhang Cai, Zhang Shouxian."

“Zhang Pu and Zhang Qiandu. We are both from Taicang Prefecture in Southern Zhili.”

After the introductions, the atmosphere of the banquet had changed.

After everyone was seated again, Zhang Pu announced in a loud voice, "As the host of today's banquet, I should first set the rules."

"Firstly, at today's banquet, we will not discuss romance, poetry, or the rigid eight-legged essay; we will only discuss policies to govern the country and benefit the people! Do you all agree?"

Everyone's expressions turned solemn. They exchanged glances and then raised their right hands.

Zhang Pu nodded and continued, "Secondly, today's drinking ceremony will not involve drinking games or punishments. Only those who offer insightful and thought-provoking words will be granted a cup of wine to moisten their lips! Do you all agree?"

Everyone raised their hands again.

"Thirdly," Zhang Pu's voice grew louder, "today's procedure is that one person will first read aloud a magnificent text to us, and then we will each express our own opinions! Do you all agree?"

The crowd raised their right hands for the third time.

After raising their hands three times, the atmosphere in the pavilion was completely different from the laughter and commotion just moments before.

Even Zhang Cai, who had been leaning against something, dropped the bamboo pole, straightened his clothes, sat up straight, and looked serious.

The lake surface was still sparkling, with fish swishing their tails and creating ripples.

A gentle autumn breeze blew outside the pavilion, and the willows swayed gracefully.

Inside the pavilion, however, the atmosphere was completely different.

Zhang Pu turned to Xia Yunyi and asked gently, "Brother Yizhong, have you managed to purchase the September 20th edition of the *Da Ming Shi Bao*?"

Xia Yunyi nodded and solemnly took out the expensive newspaper from his pocket.

Zhang Pu gestured for him to enter.

"Then I would like to trouble Brother Yizhong to read this...the greatest masterpiece of all time to come to govern the world for us."

Xia Yunyi took a deep breath, carefully unfolded the newspaper, and his eyes fell on the earth-shattering headline.

He cleared his throat and began to read aloud in an unprecedentedly solemn tone.

"Some Speculations on the Timing of the Fall of the Ming Dynasty".

"...During the reign of Emperor Cheng Zhou, the dynasty lasted for eight hundred years, the longest in history..."

"...And in our Great Ming Dynasty, from the founding of the dynasty by Hongwu to the present, two hundred and fifty-nine years have passed..."

Zhang Pu listened quietly to Xia Yunyi's unhurried recitation, but his mind was no longer on the article itself.

He had already read this article.

He paid the bookstore owner five taels of silver every month, and whenever the "Da Ming Times" was published, the bookstore's servant would leave a copy of the original and send it to his residence in the Suzhou Guild Hall as soon as possible.

The reason why Xia Yunyi had to go through so much trouble to buy it was...

I just wanted him to feel that he was contributing to the team.

The young emperor on the throne once said that only the sage of this era could answer the questions of this time.

Zhang Pu understood in his heart that the wisdom of one person may reveal the problems at a particular time, but the will of the masses is what can save the situation from collapse.

Zhang Pu will surely pass the imperial examination next year and be listed among the successful candidates.

However, some things can be arranged in advance.

The people in front of him were the first group of people he had carefully selected from among the scholars preparing for the imperial examinations in the capital.

Among them were scholars preparing for the imperial examinations next spring, as well as promising military talents whom he admired and intended to select for the military examinations.

The question of human nature and the relationship between land and people ultimately cannot be separated from external conquest.

Although His Majesty said it was not the right time yet, he was still young, and if he accumulated enough experience over a few years, he could wait until that time came.

At that time, wouldn't it be a replay of the story of Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang?!

……

Xia Yunyi's voice echoed in the pavilion, and soon he reached the end of the article.

"...The Emperor said: 'Those who wish to join me in reversing this great situation and defying this destiny...raise your right arm!'"

After reading the last sentence, the pavilion fell silent.

Xia Yunyi slowly put down the newspaper in his hand and remained silent for a moment.

Then, he raised his right hand.

The pavilion was completely silent.

Immediately, Zhang Cai, Xu Qian, Shi Kefa... one by one, young yet serious faces raised their right hands.

Arms like a forest, standing tall and unyielding.

The lake outside the pavilion was ruffled by the wind, and the shimmering light reflected on everyone's faces, sparkling with eager light.

Zhang Pu smiled gently, putting aside all the myriad thoughts in his mind.

He raised his wine glass, looked around at everyone, and said loudly, "Gentlemen! Let us drink this cup to break this fate!"

"Cheers!"

Everyone shouted in unison, raised their glasses, and drank it all in one gulp!

(End of this chapter)