Chapter 17: My Family

"Young Master, I was confused! I said the wrong thing! I beg Young Master to spare my life!" The subordinate knelt on the ground, kowtowing.

Wang Yang certainly couldn't kill him, but since he had said "Death to those who insult one's mother," changing his mind immediately after the subordinate admitted his mistake would make him look weak. It would be best to have another step to climb down from.

But where was this step?

According to normal behavior, Du Du Du Sanye should come out to smooth things over and plead for his subordinate, but he suspected Wang Yang's background, so he remained silent, just watching coldly to see how Wang Yang would end this.

The Black Man was also in a dilemma. If it weren't for his daughter, he would have gritted his teeth and killed him. But Ah Wu was so young; if he were sentenced to beheading, who would take care of her?

Besides, who among the other three subordinates dared to speak at this time? They were all silent as cicadas, and the air seemed to be frozen.

Little Ah Wu looked at the subordinate kneeling on the ground, trembling like chaff, then at Wang Yang's cold face, then at Du Du Du Sanye's expression of watching the change, and her father's action of holding the saber without cutting. Her big eyes turned, she rushed up to hug her father's arm and shouted: "Dad, you can't kill anyone!"

Then her little head turned to Wang Yang: "Young Master, you look so good, you must not be a killer!"

Wang Yang frowned slightly: "What does looking good have to do with not killing?"

Little Ah Wu said with an innocent face: "People who look good are good people! Good people naturally don't kill! Bad people kill, and bad people look ugly!"

You little clever ghost! You have quite the style I had when I was young!

Wang Yang got his step and immediately climbed down, laughing heartily: "Good, good, good! Since I look like a good person, I won't kill this person. Black Man, put the saber away."

The Black Man finally breathed a sigh of relief, sheathed his saber, and made a deliberate, heavy 'clink' sound. The subordinates felt a chill in their hearts. The person who was kneeling on the ground and "escaped death" kowtowed repeatedly to thank him.

Du Du Du Sanye arched his hands: "This young master, I don't know what your background is. We have no grudges, and I never thought of offending you. It's just that debts must be paid; it's a matter of principle. No matter where you go, you can't refute this logic."

"Isn't it just money? What's the big deal? How much does he owe you?"

"Thirteen thousand two hundred coins."

The Black Man was shocked: "That's not right! It's not that much!"

"It wasn't that much before, but you haven't paid it back, and the interest is one percent per month. It's clearly written in the contract. You can calculate it yourself; I wouldn't cheat you out of this little bit of money." Du Du Du Sanye sneered.

The Black Man felt his whole body go cold, but Wang Yang said indifferently: "Isn't it just this little bit of money? Wait three days. I'll give you the money in three days."

"He can't take it out now, but he can in three days?"

"He can't, but I can. The people coming to pick me up will arrive in three days. Come here at sunset in three days to get the money."

"Young Master Wang..." The Black Man was so moved he was about to cry. This much money was not a small amount; even if he sold himself, he couldn't pay it back. Not to mention he was still in the military register; even if he wanted to sell himself as a slave, he didn't have the qualification.

Du Du Du Sanye stared at Wang Yang with his hawk-like eyes: "But why should I wait three days?"

Wang Yang yawned and said lazily: "Aren't the four words 'Langya Wang Family' enough for you to wait three days?"

"You... are you from the Langya Wang family?!"

Although he had long suspected that this person was from a high-ranking gentry family, Du Du Du Sanye was still very surprised when he heard him say "Langya Wang family" himself.

Wang Yang smiled and didn't speak.

At times like this, you need someone to play along; saying it yourself lowers your value.

The Black Man stood out very consciously and introduced: "This is Young Master Wang of Langya, his uncle is the Sanqi Vice Minister (Palace Attendant)!"

"Sanqi Vice Minister?" Du Du Du Sanye's eyes were suspicious, focusing on Wang Yang's face, as if trying to capture the slightest change in his expression: "There is only one Langya Wang family in Jingzhou city, and that is the one living in the old Ding family residence in Shoukang Lane, named Wang Tai, aged thirty-nine. Your Excellency is very young, really doesn't look like thirty-nine."

Wang Yang half-closed his eyes, patted his leg, and chanted sonorously:

"Beat the drums, the drums are loud, we are eager to use our soldiers. We build the walls of the capital, I alone go south."

Everyone felt inexplicable. No one present had read the Book of Songs, so they didn't know what Wang Yang was reciting, but they could hear it was poetry. It was just that the tone was very strange, very different from ordinary speech.

Du Du Du Sanye frowned: "What do you mean by this?"

Wang Yang ignored him and continued to chant: "Following Sun military supplies, to pacify Chen and Song. They didn't bring me back, my heart is full of worry."

Du Du Du Sanye was knowledgeable and heard that Wang Yang's tone had a heavy nasal sound and long syllables, which seemed a bit like Northern dialect.

"Where to live? Where to stay? Where did I lose my horse? Where to look for it? Under the forest."

Wang Yang became more and more excited as he chanted. In the humming and clanging sound, everyone gradually heard some rhythm of poetry. Just as they wanted to continue listening, the chanting stopped abruptly.

A room full of people looked at Wang Yang in confusion. Wang Yang looked at Du Du Du Sanye: "Understand?"

Du Du Du Sanye was blank: "This... understand what?"

Wang Yang showed an arrogant expression: "This is the 'Luo Sheng Yong' (Luo Student Chant), the standard elegant pronunciation of the Central Plains! Since the chaos of the Five Hu, the gentry moved south. There are few who can make this sound. Although there are many gentry in Jiangnan, they can only speak 'Wu dialect'! But for me, this is an heirloom of my family, what is difficult about it?"

The aristocracy of the Southern Dynasties was divided into two parts. The first consisted of the prominent clans from the Central Plains who migrated south after the Uprising of the Five Barbarians. Because they were living as sojourners in the south, they were called "Qiao surnames." For example, the Wang clan of Langya and the Xie clan of Chen Jun were both representatives of the Qiao surnames.

The other part was the local families who had lived in Jiangnan since the Eastern Wu era. They were called "Wu Xing" (Wu surnames).

There had always been a chain of contempt within the gentry, that is, the Qiao Xing looked down on the Wu Xing. They looked down not only on their bloodline, culture, and scholarship, but even on their accents. So although they had lived together for many generations, there were still some old Central Plains families who insisted on learning Northern accents and were unwilling to be assimilated by the Wu dialect.

However, as time passed, the mixing of Northern and Southern accents was inevitable. Under such a trend, "Luo Sheng Yong" became a relatively unique "skill."

"Luoyang elegant pronunciation" refers to the standard elegant pronunciation used by the Taixue students in Luoyang before the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Ordinary gentry children couldn't do it at all. Only those from orthodox Qiao Xing high-ranking families with family learning inheritance could cultivate children who knew "Luoyang elegant pronunciation."

Wang Yang didn't have the opportunity to be influenced by high-ranking family learning, but he had received modern academic training. Mr. Chen Yinke once pointed out in "On the Qieyun from Historical Facts" that the Sui Dynasty rhyme book "Qieyun" represents the system of the old Luoyang pronunciation before the Eastern Jin moved south. The so-called "old Luoyang pronunciation" refers to the sound reading of "Luoyang elegant pronunciation."

So the "Luoyang elegant pronunciation" Wang Yang chanted relied on the book "Qieyun," which had not yet been published. Although it couldn't perfectly reproduce the standard Luoyang pronunciation, it wasn't far off.

Firstly, the era was long gone, and the inheritance of Northern accents was not orthodox, so Luo Sheng Yong was originally difficult to be authentic. Secondly, Du Du Du Sanye was neither a master of phonology nor a child of a Qiao Xing big family, so how could he distinguish what Luo Sheng Yong was?

However, he had heard Northern dialect and had heard of the Qiao Xing gentry's admiration for the so-called "Central Plains orthodox sound," so he was still shocked by Wang Yang's "recitation performance."

More importantly,

The style of suddenly chanting poetry during negotiations, as if there was no one else in the room, really had the air of a great gentry family!

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Note: Using "Luoyang elegant pronunciation" to shock people is not Wang Yang's unique case. When Huan Wen set up a Hongmen banquet and set up armor to threaten the court officials, Xie An chanted Luoyang elegant pronunciation in public, and Huan Wen "feared his broadness and distance, so he hurried to disband the troops." (Shishuo Xinyu, Elegant Demeanor). There is also the historical material of the Southern Qi Book cited by the author, where the mountain barbarians were preparing to kill Zhang Rong to eat meat, and Zhang Rong "chanted Luoyang elegant pronunciation, and the thieves found it strange and did not harm him." This is also an example.

There is a rumor that "Five Hu Chaos China" is a term from later generations. Actually, it has existed for a long time. He Changzhi of the Liu Song Dynasty said: "Since the Five Hu Chaos China, the people have been in misery, and the number of people who died unjustly is countless." (Guang Hongming Ji, Answering Emperor Wen of Song's Praise of Buddhism). As for the usage of Five Hu and Chaos China, it is even earlier, especially Five Hu, which is a common concept in the medieval period. ===== CHAPTER 18 =====