Chapter 23: Fake Gentry Wearing Fake

"This kind of clothes is usually custom-made, not many are ready-made. There is a ready-made Shu brocade shirt—"

Wang Yang hurriedly interrupted the shopkeeper's introduction: "Forget about Shu brocade, our young master likes something simpler—"

To facilitate their actions, he and the Black Man disguised themselves as servants purchasing clothes for their master. They had already visited several clothing stores, but couldn't afford a single set of clothes for a scholar-official. The prices of such clothes were frighteningly high, especially Shu brocade, which was the luxury of luxuries in ancient times!

And for some reason, brocade was in short supply in Jingzhou this year. This caused the already high price of clothes to soar again, and also made Wang Yang, this fake gentry, sigh at the price.

The shopkeeper said: "Simpler ones include damask square clothes, patterned silk pants—"

"Ling" and "Qi" were high-grade silk fabrics inferior to brocade. Wang Yang couldn't afford them either, so he had to explain more clearly: "Our master likes clothes that are more elegant and simple."

"More elegant and simple? You mean pure-colored 'Luo' (gauze) or 'Sha' (thin silk)?"

Wang Yang asked: "Is it silk?"

"Of course."

"Simpler."

The shopkeeper looked at Wang Yang: "Then there is only hemp."

"Good quality hemp is also fine." Wang Yang said, biting the bullet.

The shopkeeper frowned slightly: "If it's hemp, there is a piece of Shu cloth unlined garment, but that's for summer, it's a bit early to wear it now. How about this one? The material is also very good, authentic yellow-moist fine cloth, shipped from Shu land last month, and the style is simple."

Wang Yang looked at the clothes on the rack, nodded, and asked: "How much?"

"4,200 coins."

Wang Yang immediately shifted his gaze, his eyes falling on a white garment not far away that was elegant and light like water. His eyes lit up, and he asked carefully: "This is not silk, right."

"You have a good eye. It looks like it, but it's actually not. It's also hemp, but it's fine yarn spun from ramie in Kuaiji, also called Yue cloth. The quality is not worse than yellow-moist cloth, but the price is much cheaper, only 3,000 coins."

Wang Yang was tearful, gritted his teeth and said: "Master won't like this one."

Is it that the master doesn't like it, or you don't like it?

Is it that you don't like it, or you can't afford it?

The shopkeeper looked at Wang Yang, his eyes playful: "Why don't you just say it, what kind of clothes does your 'master' really want?"

He emphasized the word "master," with an expression that saw through everything. He had long discovered that although the two people who came to buy clothes were not dressed well, they were like a master and a servant.

Wang Yang's face turned slightly red: "The cheapest one."

Wang Yang didn't want to shop anymore. He suspected that he couldn't afford a single set of clothes that a gentry could wear.

The shopkeeper was speechless: "Even if it's cheap, you can't wear coarse hemp, after all, he is a gentry!"

Wang Yang bit the bullet: "Yes, it must be suitable for a gentry, how much is the cheapest?"

The shopkeeper was completely certain that what elegant, what simple, was basically having no money!

This person was either a down-and-out noble or a child of a humble family.

"Humble family" (Han Sect) was not a poor family in the modern sense, but a class between high-ranking gentry and lower-class commoners, also known as "secondary families" at the time. The so-called secondary family meant "secondary to high-ranking gentry." But in terms of family background, it was still far higher than ordinary commoners. Many were local powerful families.

On one hand, they tried hard to imitate the gentry, and on the other hand, they were separated from the gentry by the strict hierarchical system. The shopkeeper felt that this person should belong to the extremely impoverished type among the humble families.

He found a white garment from the box and asked Wang Yang: "How about this white lined garment?"

A lined garment is a garment with a lining, which is thicker than a single garment worn in summer, and is generally worn in spring and autumn, which is just right for the current weather.

Wang Yang asked curiously: "Isn't this the same as the Yue cloth fine yarn before? It's just that the style is a bit different. Why is this one cheaper than that one?"

"Guest, look carefully again, these two clothes look like the same material, but they are actually very different!"

"Really?" Wang Yang touched the fabric and felt it was soft and light, but he really didn't find any difference.

The shopkeeper said proudly: "If you are not an expert, you can't tell! This is fine-spun kudzu cloth."

The Black Man gave a "yi" sound: "Is it fine kudzu?" He had heard that spinning fine kudzu was very difficult, and the price was also very expensive.

The shopkeeper waved his hand repeatedly: "The real fine kudzu is Yulin kudzu, the price of which can be compared to yellow-moist cloth from Shu! This is spun by a skilled craftsman at home."

Wang Yang looked at it carefully and was quite satisfied with this garment. He asked: "Wearing this as a gentry isn't considered shabby, right." Actually, he didn't want to wear anything too flashy, just don't make people feel like he wasn't a gentry when they looked at him.

How could it be considered shabby?

The shopkeeper thought so, but what he said was another matter:

"How can this be considered shabby? Look at these stitches! This texture! Most people can't tell it's kudzu hemp! Even if they can tell, you can say it's Yulin cloth, or banana kudzu, who would dare to look down on you?! Unless it's an expert who knows fabrics very well, otherwise they can't distinguish it."

Actually, gentry wearing Yulin cloth or banana kudzu clothes is only considered "not shabby" and "passable." Saying "who would dare to look down on you" is too exaggerated.

Wang Yang certainly knew that the shopkeeper's words couldn't be fully believed, but he really had no other choice, so he could only mock himself: Fake gentry wearing fake "brand names," that's right. He asked: "How much?"

"2,200 coins."

"Too expensive! 1,000!" Wang Yang cut the price in half directly.

"Impossible! If the guest thinks it's expensive, go to another store!" The shopkeeper's attitude was very firm.

The two pulled and tugged, and finally Wang Yang indicated that he would buy shoes here, and the shopkeeper reluctantly agreed to lower the price to 2,000 coins.

Wang Yang picked a pair of Hutou shoes with the most ordinary fabric, and the price was actually 500 coins! The shopkeeper wouldn't budge a single coin this time.

Actually, Wang Yang could choose cheaper square-headed shoes or round-headed shoes, but the shapes of these two types of shoes were relatively low, and most of them were worn by servants in gentry families. In order not to reveal his identity, he could only be this sucker.

He couldn't even take out 2,500, so he didn't dare to pick the skirt or pants to wear on the lower body. Fortunately, the gentry of the Six Dynasties wore wide robes and large sleeves, which was what they wanted for elegance and ease. It was also because of this reason that some shops dared not limit the size and directly put out ready-made clothes.

Wang Yang measured it, and the white lined garment hung down quite long, so the fabric on his lower body wasn't so conspicuous. Otherwise, he would have to choose a skirt or pants, or buy a robe that connected the upper and lower parts.

Wang Yang told the shopkeeper that he didn't have enough money and would go back to get it, and instructed the shopkeeper to keep the clothes and shoes he picked, then left with the Black Man.

The Black Man was worried: "Young Master, 2,500 coins, we are missing more than half, where can we raise the money?"

"Let me think."

Wang Yang lowered his head, walking forward while pondering the way to make money. When he passed the entrance of a wine shop and was about to walk out of this street, his arm was suddenly grabbed and he was dragged into the wine shop!

Wang Yang was startled and was about to break free, but the hand that grabbed him suddenly let go. He saw a fat teenager wearing brocade clothes and aged eighteen or nineteen, looking sincere: "I'm doing this for your own good!"

"Young Master!" The Black Man ran into the wine shop anxiously to check the situation.

There were more than twenty people sitting in the wine shop, all teenagers of the same age as the little fat boy. A small half of them were dressed exceptionally gorgeously, and the rest were also dressed very properly. They looked toward the window from time to time. Hearing the Black Man's shout, they glared at the Black Man together.

"Shh!" The fat teenager made a gesture to the Black Man and pointed to the seat opposite the table for Wang Yang: "Listen to me, just sit here and watch, it's not worth it."

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Note: The term "Humble family" (humble family) is used very casually nowadays. This casualness actually extends to academia. In many discussions about the Six Dynasties, concepts like "Han people" and "Humble family" are mixed together to refer to people without family background. Actually, it is not like this when restored to the historical context. Grassroots people with no family background were not worthy of being called Humble family at that time. Regarding this issue, Zhu Zongbin's "On the Aristocratic System of the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties" and Miyazaki Ichisada's "Research on the Nine-Rank Official System" have all discussed it, which can be referred to. ===== CHAPTER 24 =====