Chapter 64: Making a Grand Entrance in Full Costume

Bureau Chief Wang's original name was Wang Liguo. The man's adaptability was off the charts — not long after crossing over, he leveraged his unique credentials of once having managed large-scale financial allocations to brazenly usurp the Company's fiscal authority, formally becoming its "head steward" and rising to the post of Financial Director.

It bears noting that his ascent was accomplished amid a wave of tacit consent. A considerable number of "uninformed" bystanders, even those who barely interacted with him, actually had a rather favorable impression of his usual geniality and spring-breeze manner — the combat capability of a genuine Division-level cadre was thus on full display.

After taking office, Director Wang Liguo didn't launch any sweeping initiatives; he merely straightened out the accounts of the various departments and standardized the financial regulations. Pointing out so bluntly, as he did today, that the Human Resources Department was engaged in "wining and dining on public funds" — truth be told, this was the first time.

Faced with the dog official's baseless accusation, Feng Jun naturally would not sit still and await his doom — this touched on his reputation and that of his Human Resources colleagues. After firing back at Wang Liguo, Feng Jun paused; there was probably fire in his chest, for his normally gentle voice now sounded somewhat sharp: "Once we occupy Dayuan in the future, there will certainly be a considerable period when we must rely on grain shipped out. For these people, the cost of eating a bowl of mixed-fish rice here at the Hangzhou Canal Transport Hub today will be no higher than the cost of eating a bowl of plain rice in Dayuan later."

Gently setting his bowl down at his feet, Feng Jun raised his head and continued: "Pioneering in a savage wilderness with nothing but savages and malaria, surrounded on all sides by enemies — I'd say a sturdy laborer who can do heavy work the moment he steps off the ship is far more useful than a malnourished, sallow-faced sick ghost, wouldn't you agree?"

At these words, several of those buried in their food off to the side nodded subconsciously. Feng Jun then curled the corner of his mouth in a smile, raised an index finger, and weighted his tone: "Calories are not a wallet — they can't be stolen. Every big calorie these people consume will ultimately be repaid to us through their labor."

"As for the expense — it may feel a bit high, I suppose. But some things, well, we still need to take the long view, don't we, Bureau Chief?" At this moment, only half of Feng Jun's face seemed to be smiling.

"Hahaha, not bad, not bad — Old Feng's analysis makes a lot of sense. Still, Old Wang's concern is also necessary; it's all for the work. Everyone, hurry up and eat — today's schedule is very tight. After we finish, we'll go take another turn around Wuxian Temple."

At the critical moment, Xia E deployed a leader's essential ultimate move — muddling the waters — loosening the atmosphere. Bureau Chief Wang let out a few dry chuckles at this, then, as if nothing had happened, lowered his head and dug into his food.

The interlude seemed to pass just like that. In the afternoon, the Supervisory Team made another round at the Beggar Sect's Head Hall east of the city, had a cordial chat with Group Head Zhou, and toiled all the way until dusk before heading back.

As the days slipped by, the atmosphere inside the Company gradually grew tense. With equipment, personnel, and supplies progressively falling into place, the preliminary preparations were steadily nearing their end. At the same time, some of the Transmigration Company's early-investment "quick-win" projects had finally reached the moment of truth.

On September 16, Year 167, the eighth day of the eighth lunar month, the Great Ming Dynasty's triennial Autumn Examination was about to be held in Ming territory.

North of Hangzhou City, inside a quiet courtyard in Bao Xin Fang. Huang Zhicheng sat beneath an osmanthus tree, tilting his head to stare blankly at the sliver of bright waxing moon. Only after a long while did he slowly exhale, withdraw his gaze, pick up the tea bowl from the stone table before him, and take a shallow sip.

The Huang Zhicheng of old — clad in Tang-style attire, short ponytail tied back, toting a painting case and peddling fake art everywhere — had long since vanished into the Old World. In his place was the man now before one's eyes: wearing a Tang-style cap, a plain white inner robe, every gesture identical to a Ming Dynasty literatus — "Huang Ping, Xiucai Huang." Zhicheng was now his courtesy name.

Just a few days earlier, the Ming man Huang Ping, who had been cloistered in this courtyard preparing for the exams, had fallen ill according to plan. Not long after finishing breakfast, Xiucai Huang felt dizzy and muddle-headed, as if he had caught a chill, and so returned to his room and sank into a dazed sleep.

Not long after, Nan Wang, Xiucai Nan, "happened" to come visiting. Finding Huang Ping unconscious, he flew into "great alarm" and, before the sky had fully darkened, hired a cart and boat and, together with the courtyard's maids and servants, brought the man silently to Tangzhuang to "seek medical treatment and medicine."

While Xiucai Huang hovered between consciousness and unconsciousness, a certain white-robed monk — Nan Wang's good friend, a "Divine Monk beyond the world" — took his pulse and diagnosed him with excessive rumination, bodily and qi deficiency, and wind-cold invasion, requiring bed rest and recuperation on the spot.

Naturally, with this period of recuperation, Huang Ping would miss the Autumn Examination he yearned for day and night. In truth, from this moment on, he was already under house arrest; Xiucai Huang would never return to that courtyard again.

The next morning, Comrade Huang Zhicheng — the Li Gui who had spent many days in Tangzhuang studying calligraphy and brushwork and watching footage of Huang Ping — made his grand entrance in full costume: clad in a sapphire-blue straight-hemmed robe, Square Pacifying Cap on his head, folding fan in hand, with that tall "Chang Sui" in tow.

Master and servant went straight to the courtyard in Bao Xin Fang and swaggeringly took possession of the Tang Monk's travel permit — ahem, Xiucai Huang Ping's identity papers. In that moment, the Six-Eared Macaque formally set out to fetch the scriptures from the West.

The neighbors, naturally, would not notice that the exam-candidate xiucai, who ordinarily hardly ever went out and devoted himself single-mindedly to the sage classics, had been swapped. And at Xiucai Huang's place, apart from the disappearance of that one maidservant, everything else remained as usual. Every day, the xiucai merely studied the crafting of eight-legged essays; the fake-painting craft he had once relied on for a living in the Old World had long since been tossed aside.

As for the question of how Comrade Huang Zhicheng was to be deployed in the future, the inside of the Transmigration Company had buzzed with chaotic discussion several times before a final decision was reached.

At the start, Feng Jun and the others' plan had actually been quite vague; they hadn't thought that far ahead. However, with the ceaseless growth in the number of transmigrators crossing the boundaries of time and space, with the newcomers' ever-deepening understanding of the Ming Dynasty, and with the perfection of the entire system and the elevation of their own confidence, the present-day Transmigration Company — or at least one part of it — was now capable of casting its gaze toward the future and making some long-term plans.

The whole series of titles originally earmarked for Huang Zhicheng was dismembered amid a cacophony of voices, and at least two other positions were split off from it in the process.

The first post: Merchant. This was a role requiring public appearances, responsible for managing all of the Company's legitimate commercial operations in the Jiangnan region in an overt capacity.

The second post: Chief of the Jiangnan Intelligence Station. This was a covert post, responsible for overseeing refugee transport, managing the Beggar Sect, and controlling the entire Jiangnan region's intelligence network.

As for Huang Zhicheng, a major figure pointed out: given his special identity, the Gentry and the Cultural Propaganda Front were where he would have room to display his talents in the days to come. Therefore, the focal point of future Candidate Huang's work — his primary task — should be "Reputation Building." After this, in the ideological sphere, collecting high-level movements, exerting influence on the political thought of the Jiangnan Gentry Class, and engaging in incitement and agitation would be his main work.