The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the Carpenter Prince!

It was the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, at dusk.

Chenhewan is located thirty miles north of Tongzhou City. It was originally a small wharf. In winter, when the waterways are frozen, travelers on the land routes to the south and north would change horses here. The walls of the two rows of post stations were covered with snow, and the lanterns under the eaves swayed in the wind, one bright and one dim.

When the inspection team arrived, it was almost dark.

Wang Chengen dismounted, his legs wobbling on the horse's back for a while before he landed, leaning on the saddle for support. Behind him, two clerks from the Ministry of Revenue, Censor Zhang Shenyan, and the assistant director from the Ministry of War dismounted one by one, brushing the snow off their clothes. The mule cart stopped behind them, and Wang Tiezhu and Liu Danian got off along the shaft, pulling their cotton hats down to cover the gap in their right ears.

The postmaster had already greeted them at the gate, his voice booming.

"Master Wang, you must be tired from your journey. Your Excellency, Censor, Minister of War, and all other officials, please come in. We have prepared three excellent rooms, with charcoal braziers and hot water ready. The food and wine will be served shortly."

His smile was wider than a washbasin.

Wang Chengen answered politely and followed him into the post station.

Wang Tiezhu put his backpack down and glanced around the courtyard. The pillars were freshly painted, and the courier who came out of the kitchen wiped the snow off the threshold, making it spotless. The two woodshed doors in the corner of the courtyard were also newly replaced, the bolts still gleaming with a metallic sheen and not yet rusted.

He made a mental note of it.

He had passed through this area of ​​Chenhewan once ten years ago. At that time, the post station was dilapidated, with cracked thresholds and dust two fingers thick accumulating on the corridor. In the past ten years, the world has changed drastically, and for a small post station to be repaired so neatly must mean it has just been renovated. Moreover, it must have been carefully considered. Anyone who has been in the military knows that the latches of a small post station that rarely sees travelers would not be so gleaming—it must have been rushed out in the last few days.

The postmaster repeatedly urged the kitchen to serve the dishes, and personally arranged for two literate tenants to stay in the back corridor's side room. His tone was even more enthusiastic than when he spoke to the censor.

Wang Tiezhu lowered his head and repeatedly said, "I dare not accept such praise."

Upon entering the side room, he placed his backpack in the corner and sat on the edge of the couch. Liu Danian then closed the door behind him.

"Listen."

Liu Danian lowered his voice.

Wang Tiezhu took off his cotton hat and placed it on his lap, leaning against the earthen wall as he slowly said, "This place is too nice, too lively."

Liu Danian hummed in agreement, but didn't say anything more.

Wang Tiezhu closed his eyes.

…………

late at night.

Wang Tiezhu lay half-reclined on the couch, still wearing his coat, his hands clasped in front of his abdomen, breathing evenly. The fire in the charcoal brazier was kept very low, crackling occasionally.

Footsteps suddenly sounded in the back corridor.

Two light and one heavy, stopped outside the side room door.

"Brother."

The voice was kept extremely low.

"Open the door! The boatmen are here to sell fish. The fish were just frozen this morning. We're selling them cheaply to you, sir."

The side of the boat.

Wang Tiezhu's lips twitched slightly. The waterways here had been blocked for more than ten days, and the boatmen had long since stopped sailing.

He wrapped his coat tighter, got out of bed, and dragged his feet to open the door, rubbing his eyes with one hand as if he had just been startled awake. A cold wind rushed in as soon as the door opened, and a man in his thirties, not very tall, stood outside, wearing a tattered felt hat and carrying a willow basket on his shoulder, with two carp placed at the bottom of the basket lined with straw.

Wang Tiezhu squinted and looked her up and down for a moment.

The man's cotton-padded jacket had two dark marks on the cuffs, one around his wrist and the other hidden inside the sleeve edge.

That's horse sweat.

When you're rushing a horse, the sweat from its neck splashes onto your sleeves, leaving these dark reddish-black marks when it dries. Sleeves used for fishing in water will only turn white and develop salt stains.

He glanced again at the fish in the basket. The carp's bellies were limp and half-thawed, and water droplets still clung to their gills. Freshly frozen fish should be rock hard in the morning; these two were clearly frozen and thawed last night.

"Sir, would you like to buy two? They're cheap."

Wang Tiezhu exhaled a puff of white breath, his voice low and strained, adopting a local accent: "Brother, I'm a farmer. The two adults are asleep inside, so I can't make the decision about your fish."

The man's gaze didn't waver, sweeping from Wang Tiezhu's face to his shoulder, then to his waist, and back to his face. Wang Tiezhu's cleft ear was hidden by his cotton hat, but the man could clearly see the calculation in his eyes—a calculated look, devoid of any merchant's calculations.

"Which department are you gentlemen from?" the man asked casually, as if he were a seasoned江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and outlaws). "I heard that it's a group of officials from the capital passing by today. Are you taking the western or eastern official road?"

Wang Tiezhu grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth: "Brother, how would I know if you ask me this? I'm just a gofer; I listen to whatever the adults say."

"Oh," the man said, "then do you want it yourself, brother? Thirty coins a piece."

"I have no money."

"Two for fifty coins."

"Brother, I really don't have any money. These shoes were given to me by someone else. Look." Wang Tiezhu lifted his foot, and indeed, the shoe had been patched in three places.

The man's gaze finally relaxed for a moment: "Alright, brother, you can go to sleep now."

The man turned and left, his footsteps echoing deep into the back corridor and around to the back of the courtyard.

Wang Tiezhu closed the door and listened intently for a couple of breaths. Outside, besides the sound of the wind, there were very faint footsteps coming through the courtyard wall, sometimes rising, sometimes falling—like a horse leading someone, the bridle biting lightly. This time, it was definitely not just one person.

He then turned around, went back to the couch, wrapped his coat tightly around himself, and lay down halfway.

Liu Danian, peeking out from under the covers on another couch, asked, "How many?"

"One, and there are probably two or three others traveling the same route. There are people waiting outside the courtyard wall with their horses."

"Which route are you from?"

Wang Tiezhu closed his eyes briefly: "I can't figure it out. The person in the sleeve came on horseback, they've been running errands for the government for a while; but the way they questioned me doesn't seem like someone from a garrison or the Ministry of War."

Liu Danian did not respond to this.

Should we report this to Manager Wang?

"I will not report it. His Highness instructed me before he left to only record the numbers, not to make judgments or take sides."

"And tonight..."

"Just lie down."

I didn't sleep a wink all night.

…………

The next day, at Chen Shi (7-9 AM).

The sky was not yet bright, and the wind had weakened slightly.

Wang Chengen sat at his desk in the main room, a cup of hot tea in front of him, and a document in his hand. The postmaster had come again, and was even more attentive than last night.

"Manager Wang, there was something I overlooked last night, please bring it over this morning."

He handed over the invitation with both hands.

"This invitation arrived yesterday when I was informed by the post station. I didn't have time to look at it carefully last night, thinking it was just an ordinary congratulatory invitation. But when I saw it this morning, I dared not delay."

This item is definitely not the Ministry of War's fire token verified by the post station, but a red lacquered note with gold trim at the four corners. A private seal is neatly placed on the top of the note, with a deep, solid cinnabar color.

Wang Chengen picked up the invitation and brought it close to the candlestick. There were four characters printed on it.

British Duchy.

Wang Chengen paused for a moment, then looked through the letter again. His face remained expressionless. He folded the letter, placed it back on the table, and pressed it down gently.

"I understand."

"Serve the tea."

"No need, you go ahead and do your work."

The postmaster bowed and withdrew.

The main house returned to quiet.

Wang Chengen stared at the letter on the table for a long time. Having spent over a decade in the Ministry of Revenue, he was intimately familiar with the difference between official and private seals. Official seals followed procedures and regulations for signing and filing, while private seals relied solely on personal connections. Although the private seal of the British Duke's Mansion couldn't be measured in weight, it carried immense weight. Within Zhili Province, the promotions and successions of military leaders—from the garrisons to the lieutenants—all depended on the patronage of their families' noble lineage. The title of the Five Military Governors' Office had been held by the British Duke's Mansion for two hundred years, resulting in deeply entrenched local military power. When this private seal arrived at Chenhewan, the surrounding villages would understand, and even the shipping companies that knocked on doors that very night would have to think twice.

Wang Chengen sighed softly. He understood the affairs of the court, but he only gradually grasped the intricacies of the external world when he was fifty. A duke he had never dealt with before suddenly sent a letter to Shenhewan, not to protect Wang Chengen, but to ensure the safe passage of the inspection team.

So, who invited them?

…………

Back corridor.

Wang Tiezhu squatted by the wall, grooming the mule's hooves, while Liu Danian came out of the house to tighten his cotton-padded coat. The two looked at each other for a moment, neither speaking.

Wang Tiezhu whispered, "The invitation has arrived."

"What mark?"

"The British Duchy".

Liu Danian paused slightly, then continued tying his coat: "Then we've got this back corridor under control."

Wang Tiezhu grunted in agreement, straightened up after cleaning the hoof, and casually pulled down his cotton hat to cover the gap.

His Highness's friendship with the Duke of England's family saved him from this ordeal.

As for the variables in the next stage, we'll have to wait and see.