Great Tang Idyll Volume 02 Chapter 12
Many thanks go to Jesse for commissioning chapters 08-12!
Volume 02 Chapter 12: Only Giving Fiefs But Not Land
Li Cheng worked hard to lure him in, but the waiter was still unconvinced.
"Are you sure you really don’t want to go there? If you go over there, I’ll give you the best things. I will give you a house, some grains, and money. I’ll treat you better than the current residents, and everyone else will envy you."
In order to pull this person over, Li Cheng promised him a lot of things.
After the waiter finished listening, he poured Li Cheng more wine and said, "I heard a story a few days ago. In the story, there was a shepherd who saw a sheep in the wild and he told the sheep that he would give the sheep good things. The sheep followed him back, and when they arrived at the sheepfold, the shepherd kept his promise.
He fed this sheep the highest quality grass and every other sheep was envious of this sheep since they ate the lowest quality grass. However, that sheep left the next day. The shepherd chased after the sheep and asked him, ‘I gave you the best of everything, so why are you leaving?’
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The sheep said, ‘I thought you treated all of the sheep the same way; I didn’t expect that I was the only one who would receive special treatment. Once a new sheep comes, I’ll be the same as the other sheeps and I would have to watch the new sheep eat tender grass, wouldn’t I? ’"
Li Cheng didn't expect this waiter was capable of saying something like this. After listening to him, Li Cheng was stunned for a while before he asked, "Are the newcomers on your manor not treated well?"
"Quite well, but not as well as the older residents. Although I’m just a waiter, if I fall ill one day, the Master household will send a doctor to treat me and I wouldn’t have to pay a single coin. Newcomers will have to pay a portion of the cost, and for the time being, they’re not allowed to owe money.
In fact, before this year’s winter, our Master will build new houses for us. Last year, our Master didn’t have much money, so he only helped with repairs. We are able to work since we have arms and legs, so we didn’t want our Master to pay for it, but our Master said, “The residents have worked their fingers to the bones for the Master family, so how could the Master family let the residents eat in the wind and sleep without shelter.' "
While the waiter spoke, he still retained a respectful tone, but Li Cheng was able to detect a sense of pride in his voice. This made Li Cheng feel frightened because it was now clear that it would be hard to take over the Zhang and Wang manors.
"Let’s not talk about this anymore. This thing in my hand is called a Rubik's Cube, do you know how to solve it? Do you know what the brain teasers will be? I can buy the questions from you."
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"This is the first time that I have seen something like this, so I have never played it before. I also don’t know what the brain teasers are. Even if I did know, I will not disclose it." The waiter replied back resolutely.
Li Cheng had no other choice but to bring the Rubik's Cube back and let the son get familiar with it as soon as possible. If he can get first place in three of the games, then he will surely get that damn trophy. He didn’t understand what was so good about the awards that the young childe insist on participating in the games.
This meal made him very uncomfortable. He didn't find out any good news, and he got bad news instead. The residents on the Zhang and Wang manors couldn't be bought, and he couldn’t use his identity to oppress them since the Zhang family sent so many poultry. If something really happened, that Yao Chong, would not care who the young childe’s father was and would report whoever needed to be reported. Others might get away with it, but Li Cheng will definitely be pushed out as a scapegoat, and being beheaded will be considered a light punishment.
Seeing that he had left, the waiter cleaned up the table, and placed the leftovers together to give to that family of four. The food was primarily for the little girl. The restaurant could not provide her family with higher quality food like the dishes ordered by the wealthy customers since it was too costly to make.
Two horses galloped on the main road. One horse was in the front and the other one followed behind. The man and the woman quickly arrived at the He’nan Division where the Prime Minister was at. The two people didn’t care whether the horses were tired or not, and they rushed over to the Prime Minister’s temporary residence. They got off their horses and ran straight in.
Yao Chong’s original intention was to leave this place as soon as possible, but after he found out about the Zhang manor and how there were so many poultries eating the locusts, he decided to stay for a while. Since he didn't dare to obliterate this great achievement of theirs, he had to learn about the details so that he could write a detailed memorial to the throne.
Hearing someone outside reporting that those two people had returned, he quickly called the two in and questioned them. After he learned about the Zhang Manor, Yao Chong sat there to write down a few things, and then he let out a long sigh.
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He got his secretary to come over, and when the secretary had a look at his writing, the more he read, the more surprised he became, “My lord, the Zhang Manor’s business trade is not small. Although they’re a manor, they’re involved in businesses. My lord should keep them in check "
"Who’s involved in businesses? They are a proper manor that has been farming their lands the entire time. They didn’t partake in buying and selling. Selling the surplus items on their manor is not considered as partaking in trade. Buying goods at a cheap price and then selling them at a higher price is considered as partaking in trade."
Yao Chong felt that the secretary was a bit dense, so he briefly reminded him.
"Yes, yes, what my lord has said is correct. They didn’t partake in trade. What are my lord’s plans when more poultries arrive?" The secretary came to his senses, and went along with what the Prime Minister said. When it came to business trades, as long as the person’s name was not attached to the business, no one could find any faults.
On the one hand, Yao Chong was happy that more poultries were coming, but at the same time, he felt a bit troubled. A normal commoner cannot be given an official position despite achieving such a significant accomplishment. How will he give the Zhang and Wang manor’s benefits without giving them an official position? From the looks of it, what they want the most were fiefs.
"Ask Magistrate Cheng to come over." Yao Chong couldn't think of a plan, so he had to ask the San’shui County Magistrate to come over and discuss what to do.
When Magistrate Cheng arrived here in this area, there was nothing for him to do. He idled around all day and occasionally when he was in a good mood, he went to help pick eggs. However, he received negative comments from the other egg pickers since from their perspective, he was fighting with them for eggs.
"My lord, are you looking for me?" After Magistrate Cheng arrived, he asked respectfully, and then he began to inquire about the important matters.
"Hmm." Yao Chong snorted softly while acting a bit arrogant. He looked away and tried to nonchalantly ask, "The Zhang Manor wants to keep their fiefs, and the Wang Manor wants to get some too. They shouldn’t hold hope for receiving some sort of official position, but I can help with the fiefs. As for the new residents and new land, I have no control over that. Do you know what plans the two manors have?"
"Huh? You have no control over the new residents and land? Then...then they have to find it by themselves, which will cost a lot of money, right? This is troubling for me too. The Zhang and Wang manors have done a lot of good deeds, but the rewards given by the Imperial Court seem a bit...you know?"
When the Magistrate Cheng saw that the Prime Minister was finally giving in, he was happy, but he had to appear like he was troubled. He wanted to help the Zhang and Wang manors get more benefits.
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"Oh, this situation is really difficult to handle. How about we get them to come over to pick a few people from here who are willing to join their manor? However, the land cannot be given." This was the first time Yao Chong made a troubled expression in front of Magistrate Cheng. If he was that manor’s master, he would be unhappy too.
He wasn’t the kind of commoner that didn’t understand anything, so of course he understood the importance of getting benefits. After speaking, he stared at the Magistrate Cheng.
Magistrate Cheng held back his happy mood and said, "What my lord has said is correct. The Zhang Manor should think about it themselves. They can’t possibly ask the Imperial Court for benefits just after bringing nearly 10,000 poultries, hundreds of thousands of catties of grain, and then sending another 20,000 poultry by carriage afterwards. When doing good deeds, people shouldn’t expect too much out of it."
His words pointed out that the Zhang Manor has done so much, but whether the manor wanted to receive benefits are not and whether the Imperial Court were going to reward them or not were two separate matters.
Yao Chong felt a little unhappy when Magistrate Cheng presented him this disguised threat, but he couldn't say anything about it. Suddenly, he thought of what the two people who came back had said, and he said to Magistrate Cheng,
"I heard that every resident on that manor is very protective of their master. I wonder what methods the Zhang and Wang manors used. Could it be that when the contract was made, they added some conditions that coerced the residents?"
While Yao Chong spoke, he acted like he was in deep thought. Magistrate Cheng admired the Prime Minister from the bottom of his heart. Since the Prime Minister had arranged for someone to go investigate the manors, it was not surprising that he knew how protective the residents were of their master. It was astonishing that he was able to ask a question like this. He was not an ordinary person and he was able to become the prime minister for a reason.
"My lord, I have never heard that the two manors have forced people to sign unfair contracts. Maybe it’s because the residents have lived there for a few generations? If my lord still has concerns, how about I go back to check it out, and then I’ll report back to my lord."
"That’s not necessary. I believe that since they can help with the disaster relief, they will definitely not mistreat their residents. Someone must be spreading false rumours out of jealousy. I am going to report this matter truthfully, and then you just have to testify when the time comes. It’s getting late, you should might as well stay and have dinner with me."
Yao Chong already knew from the words of those two people that the San’shui County’s Administrative Office operated as if it was run by the Zhang and Wang manors. The bailiffs travelled at a speed of 600 li a day just to deliver good news. If there really was any problem, the bailiff would travel at a speed of 800 li a day down the main road that was 60 li long and the smaller road that was 40 li long.
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Magistrate Cheng quickly said that he still had some matters to handle, and he got up and left. He didn't think that the prime minister wanted to invite him to just dinner.
"Li Cheng, find me more people to help me figure out this thing. Why is it so difficult? I have been trying to solve it for so long, but I only got one side. There’s a total of six sides."
Inside the newly bought manor, Li Xun fiddled with the Rubik’s Cube in his hand. He thought he was smart, but it took him a long time to solve just one face. The other five faces simply couldn’t match. If it weren’t for the fact that the six sides were matching when he first received the Rubik’s cube, he would have thought that he was being tricked by them.
Li Cheng was not familiar with this thing, so he could only agree to go out and find someone to help. However, he couldn’t find just anyone-- the person has to be good at playing Baguenaudier1. He wondered who came up with this Rubik’s Cube thing.
When Li Cheng left to go find help, Li Xun put down the Rubik's Cube and began to think about the brain teasers. He had no idea what brain teasers were. He figured that the questions were supposed to test if a person was good at using their brain or not. He got a few people to ask him a few questions that weren’t too difficult since the kids on the manor wouldn’t know a lot of things anyways.
He was finally happy when the person who was found did not have any difficulties solving the Rubik’s Cube. Li Xun thought about how he would win the trophy this time and how he could show it off to his father.
Translator’s Notes
Baguenaudier
This is a Chinese puzzle that is also known a Chinese Rings. The goal of the puzzle is to disentangle a loop from a sequence of rings
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