Chapter 496: The Matchmaking Meeting

The next day, just as the sky began to brighten, roosters crowed and dogs barked in Erdaogou Village. The gate of Tang Wei's courtyard house began to thud loudly.

"Coming, coming." Tang Dongshi ran out from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron along the way, then used her sleeve to wipe the wood-ash smudges from her face a few times.

After the main gate opened, an older woman walked in beaming with delight. Tang Wei had just gotten up and walked to the doorway, calling out, "Third Aunt has come."

Third Aunt's booming voice instantly jolted the whole village awake. "Aiyo, Gou'er is back! Just look how sturdy he is. I'll tell you true, he's far more promising than when he left. I hear you're not playing that Tatar part anymore..."

Tang Dongshi quickly tugged at Third Aunt. "Third Aunt, don't bring that up. Gou'er doesn't like people talking about it."

Third Aunt hastily covered her mouth. "Right, right, just look at my mouth. From now on I'll never mention that Tatar-player business. I mean, being an actor is bad enough, but having to play a Tatar—how mortifying. Who knows what a girl would think hearing that. Best not do that Tatar-player stuff ever again."

Tang Wei just chuckled and didn't respond. Tang Dongshi's expression was sour; she hurriedly pulled Third Aunt into the house while tidying the things on the table meant for the Zhang Butcher's family: a sack of rice and a bolt of blue Dengzhou cotton cloth.

Dengzhou cotton cloth was fine, dense, and sturdy, and had already driven Jiangnan cloth out of Shandong. At year's end, Dengzhou had dumped large quantities of Jiangnan cloth, causing market confidence in Jiangnan cloth to plummet. The amount of Dengzhou cloth released was not large, but its price remained relatively firm. After the start of spring, it was virtually certain to dominate the North Canal and the entire northern market. But here at Aoshan Guard it was not expensive; Tang Dongshi's wholesale cost at the general store was just over two qian, making it very suitable as a gift. Rice was relatively scarce in Shandong; ordinary farming households could not afford tea leaves and generally boiled rice broth as the poor man's tea. Both items had been carefully chosen by Tang Dongshi—practical and presentable.

Third Aunt looked at Tang Dongshi somewhat strangely and said, "Gou'er is back, so why do you still have a face like a dead person?"

Tang Dongshi glared in Tang Wei's direction and said, "Last night this Gou'er said he doesn't want to go to the matchmaking meeting."

Third Aunt let out a cry of alarm. "Then what do we do? I've already told the Zhang Butcher's family."

"This matter is not up to him. I'll drag him there if I have to. But Third Aunt, when you're over there, don't you bring up that Tatar-player business. Keep that mouth of yours in check."

Third Aunt tilted her head, her face full of solemn righteousness. "You still don't know me, Third Aunt? Every word I spit is a nail driven home. If I say I won't mention it, I won't mention it. Sister, you can set your mind at ease."...

"Is Brother Zhang home? That Tatar-player I told you about a few days ago is back. Hurry and tell your daughter to come out and meet him." Third Aunt strode into the Zhang Butcher's courtyard first, but the moment she entered she let out a shrieking "Mama!" and turned and fled back out.

Tang Wei, following at the very back, listened carefully. From inside came the squealing of a pig, and a man's voice said, "Third Aunt, wait a moment. Let me finish slaughtering this pig first. It'll be done in the blink of an eye."

Tang Dongshi went over to Third Aunt and said, "Third Aunt, just what did you tell them? Why are they still slaughtering a pig at this hour?"

"It's nothing, nothing. The other day I only said we'd come before noon, didn't say it would be this early."

Tang Dongshi shot a glare at that courtyard, then turned to Tang Wei and said, "Gou'er, don't be impatient. Your Third Aunt has it all arranged. This daughter of the Zhang Butcher's family—I've watched her on ordinary days. She's a top hand at work, can farm, cook, feed pigs, everything. She's just like a man."

Tang Wei blinked and tried to recall. The Zhang Butcher's family had only come four years ago and lived outside the east end of the village. Only in the last two years, when life got a bit better, had they started slaughtering pigs. The pork was sold to seven or eight surrounding villages, and business was best especially during the Spring Festival. No wonder they were slaughtering a pig in the morning.

He had also seen that youngest daughter of the Zhang Butcher, but he had never spoken to her. He hadn't seen her for over two years, and his impression was somewhat blurry. Back then she had been about fifteen or sixteen, and he vaguely recalled her seeming a bit sturdy.

The pig inside kept squealing, and several men's voices spoke in turn. It seemed that pig had quite a bit of strength. Tang Wei had watched pig slaughtering before; it usually took two or three strong men. The Zhang Butcher alone could not manage it.

After another moment, the pig inside let out a wild series of shrieks, its piercing cries growing ever more grating. Tang Dongshi grew angry from waiting, went up and shoved the door leaf open, and scolded the Zhang Butcher: "You Zhang Butcher, on ordinary days you slaughter pigs neat and quick. Today I come to meet your daughter, and you drag your feet this way and that, and you've got blood all over the ground. Who are you putting on this show for? If you don't want this match, just say so. What's with this coy act?"

Curious, Tang Wei followed behind and looked in. He saw three brawny men in only short shirts pinning a fat pig of about four hundred jin onto a long stone slab. The middle-aged man at the pig's head held a dripping pointed knife; fresh blood gushed from the pig's neck. The fat pig's four hooves kicked wildly, its cries growing ever more shrill, but under the pressure of the three strong men it could not stand up.

The Zhang Butcher, knife in hand, turned his head and saw it was Tang Dongshi. He hurriedly put on an apologetic smile. Ever since the prospect of this match had arisen, he had been able to buy salt and grain cheaply from Tang Dongshi and had tasted a fair bit of advantage. The Tang family counted as a wealthy household in the village—the family engaged in trade, the son served in the army—and they surely brought in no less than fifty or sixty taels a year.

Seeing Tang Dongshi's face full of fury, he let go of the pig's head in his agitation and came over to explain: "Sister-in-law Tang, it's just that they're demanding the meat urgently. I thought you'd only come later in the morning. This fat pig is just too big, hard to kill." He turned his head to look at the house door and cursed, "That damned wife of mine, picking this moment to take the daughter out to buy beans, and not even bothering to come receive Third Aunt and Sister-in-law Tang..."

Before the Zhang Butcher could finish speaking, a cry of alarm came from behind. Tang Dongshi also shouted "Mama!" Before the Zhang Butcher could turn his head, the vigorous figure of a fat pig flashed past him.

Tang Wei at the gate swiftly dodged to one side. That fat pig of over four hundred jin, blood spurting from its neck, charged out the main gate with a maddened shriek, sent the petrified Third Aunt tumbling to the ground with a nudge of its snout, then bolted wildly down the village's dirt road, leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

"The pig's escaped! Catch the pig!" the Zhang Butcher bellowed madly.

The three strong men chased after it at once. The Zhang Butcher, clutching his butcher's knife, charged at the very front. Village women on the road were frightened into scattering in all directions by the frenzied fat pig. Some men randomly grabbed stones and hurled them, but they had no effect on the fat pig whatsoever.

Tang Wei looked around on the ground; there wasn't even a stone to be found. He had no choice but to snatch up a back-basket by the gate and join the chase. Although the fat pig was bleeding, its vitality was astonishingly tenacious. It bowled over two or three people along the way and blundered dizzily about the road. The Zhang Butcher, knife in hand, caught up from behind and stabbed wildly, but the thrusts to the pig's rump could not deliver a fatal blow. The pig summoned its last reserves of strength and bolted another stretch. Tang Wei began to feel anxious; there were children playing at the street corner up ahead. If this four-hundred-jin fat pig rammed them, disaster was certain.

Just as the fat pig was about to burst out of the street corner, a carrying pole came slanting in with a whoosh, swinging through the air. Bang! It struck the fat pig square on the head. The pig, weakened by excessive blood loss and already a spent force, let out a dying squeal, its head dropping forward as it tumbled and rolled out.

The villagers chasing from behind let out a cheer. Tang Wei steadied his gaze and saw a sturdily built young woman wielding that carrying pole. She swiftly caught up to the fallen fat pig and swung the pole, raining blows wildly and indiscriminately, smashing the pig's head until it was a bloody pulp. Finally, she swung it in a full circle and struck with all her might. The carrying pole snapped with a crack into two pieces, the front section spinning away as it flew off.

Only then did the young woman stop. She turned her head and said angrily to the Zhang Butcher, who had caught up, "I've told you before, when you slaughter a pig you have to tie its hooves. You just won't listen. Next time, I'll do the slaughtering..."

Tang Dongshi had also caught up. She pointed at the young woman and said to Tang Wei, "See that? That young woman is the Zhang Butcher's second daughter. I'm telling you, Gou'er, with that rump and that waist, she can definitely bear children."

Tang Wei stared at the young woman, dumbstruck. He did not take in a single word of what his mother said after that. Third Aunt, who had taken a tumble earlier, finally arrived. Panting, she said to Tang Dongshi, "Sister, I... I didn't lie to you. This girl can do any kind of work. Plowing the fields, she's as good as an ox. It's just that she's not much good at needlework, that's all. But what use is needlework anyway? For us country folk, farming well is what counts, isn't it? And also, naturally, she can slaughter pigs too."

Tang Dongshi beamed as she looked at the young woman. The Zhang Butcher, having been given a thorough scolding by his daughter, was hanging his head and preparing to carry the fat pig away with the other two strong men. When he turned and saw Tang Dongshi, he immediately switched back to a smiling face and said to his second daughter, "Look, Third Aunt brought that Tang family... that young fellow today, the one who's going to marry you."

The second daughter blushed at once, coyly covering half her face. Tang Dongshi looked her over carefully. Her features were still rather delicate, though the lines were a bit coarse. But country folk didn't fuss over such things.

She laughed heartily and said, "Good girl, come quick and take a look at my boy. You two are a match made in heaven." She turned around to pull Tang Wei over, but when she looked, she couldn't help freezing. "Where is he? Where did he run off to?"...

"Tomorrow I have to make a trip to Zhou Laifu's place. When he married off his daughter, I was held up by business. I hear that this time his son-in-law's family is also coming to Dengzhou for the New Year, so I need to go and help him put on a good show. These old subordinates are getting on in years, and there are more and more sons and daughters getting married." Chen Xin sipped hot tea, set down the cup, and then picked up a piece of bread. This stuff was sold in Jiangnan, said to have been introduced by Matteo Ricci. With Dengzhou's economic income now soaring, such Jiangnan snacks had followed their way in. Chen Xin was naturally quite accustomed to this bread.

Liu Minyou had come by today to visit. He and Li Ranzhu were both outsiders; when the New Year season came around, they had no relatives to call on, just subordinates coming to pay New Year respects. So he could only visit the homes of people like Chen Xin, Zhang Erhui, and Wang Daixi.

Liu Minyou said flatly, "These old subordinates are all forming marriage ties with each other. Is this the upper echelon's version of self-optimizing breeding?"

Chen Xin shook his head and smiled wryly. "If they don't form ties with each other, where else would they go? They're people of status and face now. The country gentry have standing, but they and we are on two different paths. As for the court officials, there's even less certainty—who knows when they might become our adversaries."

Liu Minyou thought for a moment and decided not to continue this topic. After all, the upper ranks of Dengzhou Garrison were still relatively young; at most they would arrange betrothals for their children. He watched Chen Xin still eating bread and frowned with a smile. "You actually find that stuff tasty?"

"Although the taste is different from what he used to eat, at least there's no need to worry about food safety."

Liu Minyou said, "What era doesn't have that? Don't you remember what Deng Keshan told us back then? There were people who put makeup on fruit, who used saltpeter to soak meat soft. The Ming Dynasty had those same kinds of people."

Chen Xin smiled and said, "When you eat at my residence, you can rest easy. The Aide Office has personnel specifically responsible for these things, and all purchasing is randomized. Even if someone wanted to poison us, they'd have a hard time finding an opportunity."

Liu Minyou thought about his own residence. Now there were also people from the Civil Affairs Department's Security Office specifically responsible for safety. Life was indeed vastly different from when they were ordinary people.

Liu Minyou waited a moment, then said to Chen Xin, "Speaking of which, there's something I think we ought to do now."

Chen Xin asked curiously, "Crack down on gutter oil?"

Liu Minyou shot him a glare and said, "That's included, but it's about the laws of our Dengzhou Garrison. Our fortified villages were born out of the guard-battalion system. Conflicts with the surrounding areas were mostly resolved through violent means. When conflicts arose within the fortified villages, they all relied on the administrative governance of the village chief and the community head. To put it plainly, fairness was maintained by the village chief's character and authority. Now that our numbers have grown and the origins of the population are more complex, public order incidents and disputes among village households are increasing. Just last month alone, there were three homicide cases among villagers, five cases of assault and arson, and seven commercial disputes, resulting in a total of seven dead and eleven injured. At least two of the homicides were caused by the village chief's mishandling. If this method of civil administration is not changed, problems will arise very soon. I've thought about this matter. Using the Great Ming Code is probably inappropriate. Its foundation rests on the gentry, clans, and hierarchical distinctions. For example, for the same crime, the punishment for a household slave is heavier than for a commoner. These are things we cannot accept. Revising a code of law from scratch would be an enormous workload, and moreover, it would give the imperial court the feeling that we are about to set up a separate kitchen."

"Then what do you propose?"

"I want to try using a common law system in the fortified villages."

Chen Xin tilted his head back and looked at the ceiling. After a long while, he said, "Implementing a common law system also requires many conditions, but it does indeed have its merits. You can first find a few places to try it out and see how it goes. But it must be limited to civil and commercial disputes only; it cannot involve administrative or military law."