Chapter 35: Fortune's Opportunity

"Those few plots of land — you keep farming them from now on. In the future, no one will come to collect the land tax, but this year's grain from the fields goes to that Tax Register Clerk. Don't go arguing with the clerk over it. Take these taels of silver and buy grain, get through these next few months first."

Pang Yu took out three taels of loose silver. "If later the Tax Register Clerk or the Village Chief comes asking why you're farming the land, just say you're farming it for me."

Sun Tianxiu stood in the Pang family Medicine Shop, her face streaked with tears, looking at Pang Yu and just crying, keeping her hands behind her back, refusing to take the silver.

Zhou Yueru came over and gently put her arms around Sun Tianxiu. "Girl, take it quickly, your uncle is giving it to you."

Pang Yu handed the silver to Zhou Yueru. "I can't handle this. You talk to her."

Zhou Yueru fixed her gaze on Pang Yu for a moment, reached out and took the silver, then said to Sun Tianxiu, "You've been in the County Seat for three days now. Aren't you worried about your father?"

"I am."

Zhou Yueru continued, "Then take the silver quickly and go back to see your father. Your two little brothers are still at home. From now on, the whole family will have to rely on you."

Sun Tianxiu bit her lip and nodded repeatedly, then shook her head and said through sobs, "But we owe Uncle too much. We can never repay it."

Pang Yu patted Sun Tianxiu on the head. "Your uncle is a good person. As long as you live your life well from now on and don't make your uncle worry, that's repayment enough. If you truly want to repay it, then repay it later when you're grown up and have earned a lot of money."

"Then every year when I harvest the grain I'll come repay Uncle, a little each year. By the time I'm old, maybe I'll have managed to pay it back."

Pang Yu laughed. "That way I'll have fresh rice to eat every year. Since it's all settled, hurry back now with your second uncle."

Sun Tianxiu knelt and kowtowed to Pang Yu, then turned toward the courtyard and kowtowed to Zhou Yueru, Pang Yu's mother, his old father, and the others.

Pang Yu's mother pulled Sun Tianxiu up, looking utterly reluctant to let her go.

Because Pang Yu feared that second uncle might sell Sun Tianxiu off, he had kept her in the medicine shop these past Two Days. Sun Tianxiu was also extremely well-behaved; whatever she saw needed doing in the shop, she did it, and she picked up anything after being taught just once. Both Pang Yu's old father and mother had grown very fond of this little girl.

Pang Yu's mother hugged a large bundle of medicinal herbs, crying as she looked at Sun Tianxiu. "Such a lovable girl. I would have wanted to keep you here, but you still have your own family. Take this bundle of medicine with you, consider it a gift from this old woman."

The old father grunted, cutting in. "Who gives medicine as a gift? It's not exactly a good thing."

"Aiya, that's not what I meant."

Pang Yu interrupted. "Alright, alright. She needs to get back early. South Pond Neighborhood is still not the county town, after all."

With that, he led Sun Tianxiu out the door of the medicine shop. That second uncle was waiting right at the door. Pang Yu handed Sun Tianxiu over to him.

"I'm handing her over to you. From now on, you are not to sell her."

The second uncle hurriedly defended himself. "It was her father, it's not my fault..."

Pang Yu waved his hand, too lazy to hear his explanation. "Her father is bedridden. Your niece here, just a young girl, faces many difficulties. As her second uncle, you should help look after her. I'm not saying you have to give money or grain, but you should at least help with the work in the fields."

"Rest assured, sir. When it comes to money and grain, there's nothing I can do, but where I can lend my strength, no question. We country folk aren't short on strength. It's just that we don't hold the deed. If that Village Register comes asking..."

Pang Yu knew the second uncle wanted to get the deed into his own hands, but Pang Yu still didn't trust him, and also worried that once he had it, the Village Register would again be tempted to scheme. He figured it was safer to hold onto the deed himself.

"If later the Tax Register Clerk or the Village Chief comes asking why you're farming the land, just say you're farming it for me. If he has anything to say about it, tell him to come find me."

"Aye, this humble one will remember." The second uncle didn't dare press further for the deed and could only agree repeatedly. He glanced at Sun Tianxiu again and said, "This girl has cultivated good fortune to meet Officer Pang. Could she perhaps take Officer Pang as her godfather?"

Before his words had even hit the ground, Pang Yu said without the slightest hesitation, "I'm only a few years older than her, and I have no children of my own yet. It's not convenient to take a goddaughter. It's getting late; you should leave the city soon."

The second uncle froze for a moment. He raised his head to look at the sky — it was still Noon, how was it getting late? But Pang Yu urged them on repeatedly, so the second uncle had no choice but to take Sun Tianxiu and head toward Yimin Gate.

They had not gone far when Pang Yu suddenly called them to stop.

Pang Yu caught up a few steps, lowered his head to look at Sun Tianxiu's feet — dirty, bare little feet. He couldn't help but smile. "Your uncle will give you one more thing."

He led Sun Tianxiu forward to Aunt Xu's shoe shop and called into the shop, "Aunt Xu, buying shoes here!"

Because Tongcheng had fertile land, the common people's economic level was relatively high for the entire Ming Dynasty. Most urban families could afford shoes. In the countryside, the proportion who went barefoot was still quite high, especially in households with heavy burdens, where shoes were seen as non-essential.

Aunt Xu, who was minding the shop, quickly answered. Seeing Pang Yu at her door, she grinned so wide she couldn't close her mouth. After learning they were buying shoes for Sun Tianxiu, she checked the size of her feet and casually brought out a pair of black cloth shoes.

Pang Yu pointed at the display stand. "Aunt Xu, swap for that pair. For a young girl, it's better to wear something a bit prettier."

"Brother Yu has a good eye," Aunt Xu clapped her hands and brought out that pair of Futou Shoes. "Brother Yu, look at this pair. The front has two layers of auspicious clouds pasted in cotton, the edges stitched with silk thread pull-stitching. Look at this 'fortune' character in the middle — that's embroidered on, work that only women with the most exquisite needle skills can do. Look at the upper — another two layers of hanging fish. The insole is Ning silk at the heart, the shoe opening is satin, so smooth it won't chafe the top of your foot at all. And paired with that rough sole of eight-layer cloth..."

Pang Yu quickly cut her off. "Aunt Xu, you've been a matchmaker too long, introducing a pair of shoes like you're presenting a girl. This style — let the little girl try them on."

Sun Tianxiu's face went bright red. "Feet are dirty, won't try. If I get them dirty, Auntie will have to buy..."

In the end, even Zhou Yueru coming over to persuade her was no use. They just roughly compared the size, and so Sun Tianxiu bought the first pair of shoes in her life.

Sun Tianxiu had never imagined she could own such a beautiful pair of shoes. This style of Futou Shoes was normally worn only by girls from wealthy families; practically no one from the countryside wore them. She clutched the shoes to her chest like a treasure, as if afraid she might drop them.

Pang Yu crouched down and looked at Sun Tianxiu's Excitement-filled little face. "I like little girls who don't bind their feet the most. Your uncle gives you these Futou Shoes in the hope that you will walk well through life and receive abundant Fu Bao."

Sun Tianxiu grinned broadly and nodded with all her might.

……

"Second Brother, is this how you do big business?" He Xianya wore a Slight Smile. "Risked your neck to rob the New River Pawnshop, got the land, and gave it away for nothing, and in the end you even lost several taels of silver buying things for people."

Because of the delay from the Yue Ji matter, plus the time spent helping Sun Tianxiu, Pang Yu had fallen behind on quite a bit of work. It was now lunchtime, and with funds tight lately, Pang Yu simply canceled lunch and brought He Xianya along to work overtime.

Pang Yu fanned himself vigorously a few times with the palm-leaf fan, then slapped it down on the table. "Blame that damn woman Zhou Yueru for all of this. Made me take on this whole mess for no reason. Never doing this again."

He Xianya nodded in Approval. "Absolutely cannot do it again. It's already delayed our progress on the Bench assignments. This time, Lord Tang gave you the Silver Chest for Willow Tree Village — that's thirteen thousand mu of land, bigger than a lot of villages."

"People are breaking their heads fighting over the Bench Head position, but this one village only comes out to a little over a thousand taels in Commuted Tax."

"Your brother advises you, Second Brother — how many veteran clerks in the Six Offices have wanted to go to the Household Office to beg for a post and couldn't? Not only did Second Brother go, you also gained Lord Tang's regard. That's green smoke rising from the ancestral graves. Every endeavor is hardest at the start. This year we handle one village; next year it'll be two or three villages. As long as Lord Tang values you and the County Vice-Magistrate appreciates you, after Second Brother saves up two or three years of silver, you can donate for a tribute background. When a vacancy opens, you'll be a deputy clerk, and your brother here will have a future following you too."

Pang Yu looked at He Xianya's excited face and sighed. "The Tongcheng tax register lists eleven Battalion Commander, fifty-eight thousand Mouths. The land tax, the labor levies in silver, the customary fees for each office, the Xianyu Silver for the various lords and section offices in Anqing Prefecture, the Militia Squad Silver, the escort transport silver, the horse fodder conversion silver, the material conversion silver — all of it must be apportioned among them. With just these ten or twenty people in the Household Office, relying only on writing brushes and abacuses, I truly feel for our colleagues in the Household Office. Being a deputy clerk isn't easy, and us being clerks isn't easy either. Future prospects and all that, we can think about slowly. First, let's finish writing these thousand-odd Tax Tickets in front of us, then talk about anything else."

There were only five clerks inside the Household Office, plus a few runners doing odd jobs. Those engaged in document work numbered fewer than ten. These clerks were the core personnel of the Household Office, but even they were far from sufficient to complete the office's work, so each person hired Auxiliaries.

Before tax collection, the Household Office had a great deal of work to do. So although Pang Yu was a newcomer, because he could write and calculate, he was used as a clerk as well. The biggest task assigned to him was producing the Tax Tickets, also called Green Tax Tickets.

The Tax Ticket was divided into three sections: one section for the Tax Household, one section for the Bench contract silver, and one section for Local Retention by the Household Office. The number of Tax Tickets was enormous, so the format was printed. But because taxes were levied per household and each household's amount differed, every single one had to be filled out by hand. A large part of the Household Office's workload was this kind of clerical work.

The workload of cross-checking the Fish Scale Atlas was far too enormous. The Household Office kept the tax registers for each township and each village. If there were no changes, they simply copied them. If any buying or selling was involved, then the tax register had to be amended.

Pang Yu had been studying in the Household Office for a few days and had helped others write quite a few, which counted as practice. Aside from the tasks assigned by the Household Office, there was also that one Bench assigned to him. By the unwritten rules of the Household Office, he needed to write that himself; naturally, no one else was going to do the work for a newcomer like him.

After writing the Tax Tickets, they still had to be given first to the Silver Heads of each village, who would then distribute them to the individual Tax Household, so the Tax Household would know how much tax they had to pay this time and could prepare the silver in advance.

By now it was almost the middle of the month, so Pang Yu was very pressed for time. On top of that, his brush writing was very slow, so he had no choice but to bring He Xianya and work overtime. He felt like his hand was about to break from writing, and it looked like they might even have to burn the midnight oil tonight — his frugal mother wouldn't be able to save on lamp oil costs this time.

He Xianya felt a bit deflated at the mention of Tax Tickets too. This kind of repetitive, tedious work truly tested one's patience. He also stopped his brush and fanned himself a couple of times with the palm-leaf fan. "Speaking of household numbers, when they counted the Dingkou in the Hongwu Era, it was roughly the same. Now it's still eleven Battalion Commander, fifty-eight thousand-plus Mouths. Over two hundred years of this dynasty, Tongcheng has seen almost no military disasters or bandit plagues. Who would believe the Dingkou hasn't grown at all? As for the matter of merging the poll tax into the land tax, the common people also think about taking advantage of the court. The Village Chief, the Lice, and the Ward Constable help conceal Dingkou, each taking a little benefit from both sides. It's thanks to them doing this that we have less to write. Otherwise, what was assigned to the two of us wouldn't be just over a Battalion Commander — it would probably be over three thousand."

Pang Yu shook his head and was about to speak when Tang Weimin pushed open the door and walked in. Seeing Pang Yu, he said, "This afternoon, Lord Yang is going to Anqing Prefecture to report to Lord Pi on all matters concerning the autumn grain. He has ordered Lord Zhao and myself to bring two people from the Household Office along. This came up suddenly. The Tax Tickets assigned to those two are not yet prepared, so I must trouble Little Brother Pang to take them on."

Pang Yu cursed He Xianya's jinxing mouth in his heart, but with an agreeable expression he said, "Whatever tasks the lords assign are this humble one's duty. This humble one will certainly prepare the Tax Tickets on time."

The two scribes who had come in behind Tang Weimin each fetched the rations and pay registers from their respective spots, came over to tell Pang Yu what still remained unfinished, and then hurried off to make preparations.

Tang Weimin tidied up at his own seat and brought two smaller registers. Pang Yu had seen them before — they were all rations and pay figures, kept on hand for reference.

"Yang has not been in Tongcheng long, and this autumn grain levy he is also Acting Magistrate. Prefect Pi is probably not entirely at ease, so before the autumn grain levy begins, he is having Yang take the County Vice-Magistrate and the Chief Clerk to the prefecture for inspection."

Pang Yu understood at once. Anqing Prefect Pi Yingju was concerned that Yang Fangzao was newly arrived and only acting for a short term, and worried that the assistant officials and the Chief Clerk would not cooperate with him. So as not to affect the autumn grain levy, he had specially summoned the entire leadership team to Anqing to back Yang Fangzao in person, so that the Tongcheng team would unite and handle the critical autumn grain matter well.

"Then how many days will you be gone, sir?"

"We leave on the seventeenth. We will likely have to conduct an inspection with the Prefectural Office's Household Section. If the Household Section wants us to check maps and registers, it will take longer. If we travel slowly, the round trip will probably be around the twenty-seventh or twenty-eighth before we return."

"The County Vice-Magistrate, the Chief Clerk, Clerk Zhao, and you, Tang, have all gone to Anqing Prefecture. If something comes up in the office, which superior should we turn to?"

Tang Weimin said as he packed up, "The Magistrate has entrusted the granaries and prison affairs to Wang Instructor. Ordinarily nothing will happen; each office just does its own duties. You prepare the tax tickets yourself. That bench-submission matter we spoke of last time — when I return I must go over it with you in detail."

Pang Yu hastily agreed. Once Tang Weimin had put everything away, he went out the door. From the stable behind the Runner Room came bursts of neighing — the grooms were readying horses for Yang Fangzao and the others. Pang Yu saw Tang Weimin as far as the Ceremonial Gate and said his farewells.

Tang Weimin did not want Pang Yu to wait around, so he sent Pang Yu back to the Household Office.

As Pang Yu stepped onto Tangqian Bridge, there was a figure on the bridge sweeping the ground. Pang Yu paid no attention, but as he passed, he suddenly heard someone speak.

"Brother Rain."

Pang Yu had not expected a sweeper to call out to him. He turned his head, stared blankly for a moment before recognizing him, and said in surprise, "Gu Xiaowu, you're back from the Patrol Relay Station… What are you doing here?"

Gu Xiaowu's eyes were red. "Last time, Wang Dazhuang sent me to the North Gorge Pass Patrol Relay Station for over ten days. The moment I got back, he said the county school was short a sweeper. Not only did he make me sweep the county school, he wants me to sweep everything from the Admonition Stone Pavilion to the Eight-Character Wall in the county office — all by myself."

"That Wang Dazhuang has gone too far."

Gu Xiaowu choked up. "If my father were still here, would that Wang Dazhuang dare look down on people like a dog…"

"Then…" Pang Yu had wanted to ask Gu Xiaowu to help out in the Household Office — especially with the bench-submission matter, where he truly needed extra hands — but he recalled that Gu Xiaowu had been pushed out by Clerk Zhao. No matter what, he could not drag Gu Xiaowu into the Household Office; that would be a direct provocation of Clerk Zhao.

Gu Xiaowu wiped his tears with his sleeve, glanced toward the Ceremonial Gate, and said, "Brother Rain, no need to worry about me. I'm doing just fine. That opportunity I told you about last time — it's about to arrive."

"What opportunity?" Pang Yu said, delighted. "Brother Xiaowu, you've bought a clerk post? Congratulations!"

Gu Xiaowu said with some annoyance, "I've told you, every time I say something to Brother Rain, you never really listen. Right now I don't feel like saying more. Next month you'll know for yourself, and when the time comes, I certainly won't forget you."

With that, he picked up his broom and left. Pang Yu smacked his own head. "He mentioned some opportunity — how come I don't have the slightest memory of it."