Chapter 79: The Great New Year

On the twenty-ninth of the twelfth month, except for one squad of combat troops on duty, everyone was on leave to buy New Year's goods. Mazi Dun had only a single grain shop, and no other New Year's goods at all. From the time they boarded the ships until now, they had been paid twice. These men usually had no time to spend money, so most still had over a tael of silver. Chen Xin advanced the monthly pay for the first month and also issued one tael of silver as New Year's money. All the military households dressed in new clothes and arranged with acquaintances to go together to Weihai Guard city to buy New Year's goods.

In his office, Chen Xin and several officers drew up the training plan for the first month. Chen Xin did not intend to give too long a break; normal routine would resume on the sixth day of the first month. In the first month, the combat troops were to begin combined training for the firearms squads and the assault squads. Once the official business was done, Zhu Guobin and the other two rose hastily. Dai Zhenggang said to Chen Xin, "My lord, each of our squads has pooled money. Today we are going to Weihai to drink, at the largest restaurant on West Street. If my lord has time, please come along."

Chen Xin agreed with a smile. Normally alcohol was forbidden in the army. These former trackers all liked a drink or two, and they had been holding back for a long time — no wonder they could not wait. They had clearly been notified that they could drink at the New Year's Eve gathering on the thirtieth, yet they could not wait even a single day. After the three left, a clamor rose from the camp outside, then gradually faded into the distance after a while.

Once they were all gone, the whole camp fell quiet. Chen Xin went to the watchtower, the camp gate, and the village entrance to inspect the soldiers on duty, then walked toward Liu Minyou's office. Now Chen Xin worked in the military camp, while Liu Minyou was in the work area at the northwest corner.

When he found Liu Minyou, the shut-in was still busy revising teaching materials. Chen Xin gave him no chance to argue, dragging him out the door. Chen Xin was also going to Weihai Guard city today, to take a break and relax, and to buy some New Year's goods along the way — just the right excuse to pull Liu Minyou along.

The four personal guards were waiting outside. Wang Daixi and Zhang Erhui had already been waiting for quite a while. Seeing them come out, Wang Daixi clapped her hands in delight. Wang Daixi was now a female bookkeeper, handling four-column ledgers, two-dimensional tables, and the abacus with great fluency. But she was still a little girl, only turning fourteen after the New Year.

Chen Xin waved a hand, and the group set off toward Weihai.

"For Dengzhou, we've already asked Song Wenxian to deliver the gifts. Here in Weihai, ten taels for Guard Commander Yang, five taels each for Vice Prefect Wang and Vice Prefect Jiang, and for the four Assistant Guard Commanders, Left Battalion Commander, Guard Judge, and Registrar — Brother Liu, take a look, is there anyone I've missed?" Chen Xin asked Liu Minyou quietly as they walked.

"Yes. Brother Chen can give me a few taels too."

Chen Xin gave a chuckle. "Brother Liu is a big boss; you wouldn't think much of my little gift."

Liu Minyou snorted. "What big boss am I? The silver from the clothing shop has all been taken by your wife."

"My wife — ah!" Chen Xin suddenly cried out.

"What is it?"

Chen Xin smacked his head. "I said I forgot someone — I forgot my wife and my mother-in-law."

Now it was Liu Minyou's turn to gloat. "Brother Chen, this is a political error, one that could affect the prospects of the rest of your life."

Chen Xin still wore a grin. "New Year's greetings have to wait until the first day of the new year. At least for now, there's no error yet."

The group chatted idly as they walked. The ten-li journey took nearly a full two-hour period before they arrived, entering the guard city through the north gate.

The Weihai market days were on the fourth and the ninth of each ten-day cycle: on the fourth, East Street; the ninth, South Street; the nineteenth, West Street; the twenty-ninth, North Street. Liu Minyou had already memorized the market schedule after arriving in Weihai. After the twenty-fourth of the twelfth month, it was practically a market every day. They still went to North Street first. The pedestrians were all dressed better than usual. The womenfolk of some wealthy households wore their most beautiful clothes, put on their jewelry, and adorned their hair with ornaments like swallows folded from gold foil, taking the chance of the New Year to go out and enjoy themselves. The sight dazzled the two men.

The group browsed along the street. Hai Gouzi and the other boys were all gluttons and soon had their back-baskets filled with plenty of snacks. Wang Daixi also bought a butterfly made of dark-gold paper and happily pinned it in her hair. The four little attendants now all earned wages. Hai Gouzi and Zhang Da were paid at the squad-leader rate of two taels a month. Wang Daixi, as a bookkeeper, also got two taels a month. Zhang Erhui now helped Tang Zuoxiang record data and was classified as a junior worker, earning one tael a month. It was the first time they had so much money of their own, and they spent it with great pride.

Wang Daixi still lived in a room by herself. She specially picked out peach-wood charms, painted with images of the door gods Shenshu and Yulei, planning to take them back and paste them on her door panels. She also had someone at a spring-couplet stall write spring couplets for her, carefully putting them away in her back-basket.

Liu Minyou had not originally planned to put up such things, but seeing everyone else buying them, he had no choice but to spend money on a set as well. They did not quite understand how the Ming dynasty celebrated the New Year, so they followed behind Wang Daixi, watching what she bought and buying some of the same things themselves — more like attendants than anything else. Zhang Erhui, his hands free, offered several times to carry things for Liu Minyou, but was refused each time. Liu Minyou still was not used to ordering people around.

"Daixi, all this food will be prepared by the logistics squad tomorrow, and there will be plenty of meat. You don't need to buy any," Liu Minyou said, seeing that Wang Daixi was about to buy pork and mutton, and quickly trying to dissuade her.

"Brother Liu, these three cooked meats are for offering to the ancestors. Of course I have to buy them myself. And the sweet rice for offering to the Kitchen God — I have to buy that myself too."

Only then did Liu Minyou understand. Many of these customs had already disappeared in his own era. "So that's how it is. Then I'll buy some too. But we don't have a kitchen — where do we make offerings to the Kitchen God?"

Wang Daixi scratched her head. She only had a single room herself and normally ate with the combat troops. Only those with families had set up their own kitchens. Zhang Da said beside her, "How about just putting it on the table?"

Hai Gouzi said, "Ancestor offerings go on the table."

"Wrong. The ancestral spirit tablets have to be set up separately. How could it be on the table?"

The several attendants began arguing among themselves. Chen Xin and Liu Minyou, not understanding any of it, wisely kept their mouths shut. In the end, the four attendants reached a consensus: there was no time to set up spirit tablets, so this year they would just place everything directly on the table.

Wang Daixi saw that Liu Minyou's back-basket did not have much in it and said to him, "Brother Liu, you should hurry and buy some of the three meats and some fruit, so you can make offerings to your elder brother's ancestors."

Liu Minyou was taken aback. His parents were still alive — but in another time and space. He did not know whether he counted as having ancestors here. This was really too hard to explain to Wang Daixi, so he simply bought a few things anyway and put them in his own back-basket.

Looking at the bustling crowd before him, he thought of his parents again. Although he was still alive, to his parents in that other time and space, he was already gone. How would they, with only one child, get through the years ahead? Was it time for the Spring Festival there too? Thinking of this, his eyes gradually grew a little blurred.

Chen Xin, on the other hand, was completely carefree, in high spirits the whole way. He stopped at a roadside gambling stall to play dice with some people. With five coins, he actually threw all heads once, winning over two taels of silver from those men. His subordinates all cheered loudly. Chen Xin looked immensely pleased with himself. He was only in it for the fun and did not linger. He gambled a few more rounds, won a little more, then left. They were a large group, so the losers did not dare stop them, only cursing their bad luck under their breath.

Liu Minyou waited for Chen Xin to come out. Seeing his cheerful face, his own mood improved a little. After adjusting his emotions, he asked Chen Xin, "All you do is play. Aren't you going to buy the New Year's gifts for those lords?"

"No need to buy things. Just giving some silver will do," Chen Xin said as he spotted a gold-foil shop by the roadside and walked in. The shopkeeper inside warmly came over to receive them.

"What would this young gentleman like to buy?"

Chen Xin picked up a New Year's greeting card made of red silk, with gold foil pasted on the surface. "I'll buy some New Year's greeting cards."

"May I ask, young sir, are these for a superior, an elder, or a peer?"

"Mm, for a superior."

Hearing it was for a superior, the shopkeeper realized Chen Xin was also an official. Seeing Nie Hong and the others following behind him, he knew Chen Xin was no minor official, and his attitude grew even more respectful. "Then the red-silk greeting card in your hand, my lord, is most suitable. I can also paste a congratulatory phrase on it in gold foil."

Chen Xin asked, "Is the only difference the congratulatory phrase?"

"Additionally, a blue backing shell is placed underneath, which indicates it is for a superior. For an elder, it is a red backing shell."

Chen Xin nodded, paid, and ordered ten cards with the phrase "rising step by step," requesting they be ready for pickup on the morning of the first day of the new year. The shopkeeper agreed readily. After taking the money, he also gave Wang Daixi a little swallow woven from gold foil.

After they left, Liu Minyou teased, "I never imagined the packaging would be even more exquisite than in our time."

Chen Xin said, "We've been here for some time now. These ancients are not to be underestimated. They know far more about many things than the two of us. Take fixed-load and granulated gunpowder, for example — I thought we could show off, but who knew they were already doing it long ago. (Note 1)"

"Lord Chen is rarely so modest."

Chen Xin smiled and shook his head. "Forget it. Let's not talk official business today. When it's time to rest, rest."

Liu Minyou had long believed that the ancients were not to be underestimated, so he had always been very modest. The most energy-consuming part of civil affairs at the moment was farming, so he often sought out the local military households to understand the situation and learn agricultural knowledge. Although he and Chen Xin were ignorant about many things, their way of thinking had, after all, been honed over many years, and their ability to learn was stronger than most people of this era.

The two chatted idly as they walked toward West Street, planning to go see Zhu Guobin and the others in their drinking contest. Just as they turned the crossroads, a dozen steps ahead, Wang Yuanzheng came walking toward them, his face full of panic. Behind him were several men who looked like household retainers, their faces equally alarmed.

The New Year was almost here — what could be troubling him so? Now that they had run into each other face to face, they had to show some concern. Chen Xin stepped forward with a cupped-hand salute and said, "Lord Wang, your subordinate was just on his way to pay a visit. Who would have thought we'd chance upon each other here — what a coincidence. If Lord Wang has the time, allow your subordinate to play host at midday."

Wang Yuanzheng saw it was Chen Xin and waved his hands repeatedly. "Company Commander Chen, I appreciate the gesture, but today is truly…"

Chen Xin saw him hesitate and said, puzzled, "If Lord Wang has urgent business, another day is fine. But if there is anything your subordinate can help with, Lord Wang, please do not hesitate to speak."

Wang Yuanzheng waved his men to keep passersby at a distance and said to Chen Xin in a low voice, "The Guard Commander had a batch of tea and silver robbed, and five household retainers were killed. I — I just received the news. And the Guard Commander won't be back until after the New Year. It's truly…"

"Oh." Chen Xin was slightly surprised. These mountain bandits and local thugs generally did not rob officials' goods, especially local officials, because officials could mobilize the court's forces against them. So bandits usually preferred to rob simple merchants — the risk was much smaller that way.

"How could these violent criminals be so brazen and reckless?"

Wang Yuanzheng said dejectedly, "Who knows? For so many years, though there have been plenty of bandits around, no one ever dared rob the Guard Commander's goods. The Commander has only been gone a few days, and something like this happens. I still don't know how to explain it to him."

Chen Xin consoled him. "It seems the bandits are out of surplus grain too. Do we know where they're from? Lord Wang can just muster troops and deal with them."

"They're from Zhuqi Mountain. The bandit chief is called Tongtian Liang. Originally his strength wasn't much, but this year he swallowed up several smaller bands of mountain bandits and his numbers grew. I never imagined he'd dare rob us. If I don't deal with him, I swear I'm not a man."

Chen Xin watched Wang Yuanzheng's teeth-gnashing expression. Why did Wang Yuanzheng hate this bandit chief so deeply? He probed cautiously, "Lord Wang, aside from the tea and silver, did this Tongtian Liang take anything else?"

Wang Yuanzheng said, pained, "There were also three hundred dan of grain I bought from Wendeng County. I thought it would be safer traveling with the Commander's goods. Who knew it would turn out like this? I could have made a tidy profit over the New Year…"

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Note 1: Qi Jiguang's *Jixiao Xinshu* records methods for fixed bamboo-tube loading and granulation of gunpowder. The fixed-loading method very likely originated from the Japanese pirates. During Japan's Warring States period, arquebusier squads used a type of fixed-loading bamboo tube called a "take-sei hayago"; the Japanese also had another type called a "dōran," a small metal tube serving the same function. Qi's army's fixed-loading bamboo tubes were probably learned during coastal campaigns against the Japanese pirates.