Chapter 62: When Officials Rise, the Mirror Turns

The pavilion of the flowing‑water banquet was taken down, the tables and chairs were neatly cleared, and it was already deep night.

The sky was full of bright, twinkling starlight.

Two aunts and their younger cousins were so tired their eyelids were fighting, and they went back to their rooms to sleep.

Zhang Gui and his mother sat in the courtyard beside a large jar filled with shrimp paste, gazing at the stars overhead, speaking privately.

"Son, you are now a Martial Scholar, and the Imperial Court does treat you fairly.

You'd better not rebel."

"Amu, my uprising is not for myself, but for all the people of the Ming Song Kingdom.

For the sake of justice in the world!"

"Ah, back then our ancestors of the State of Stone Corpse's northern invasion probably used the same excuse.

Who would believe it?" Guan

"The ancestors certainly didn't have intentions as lofty as mine.

Besides, even if I stop now, it's already too late."

"Why?"

As soon as Caiyang Duojie's words fell, a rapid galloping of hooves suddenly broke the night from afar.

Zhang Gui felt a sudden stir, sprang up, looked toward the direction of the hoofbeats, and said, "It sounds like it's coming from the direction of Wangbei Manor.

The matter finally broke out."

Early the next morning, Zhang Gui left a note for Zhang Jiujiang and Zhang Qitong.

He wrote that yesterday was still the eleventh day of the first month, and he had troubled the two of them for his tribute extraction, making them trek hundreds of li and be busy the whole day.

Especially Zhang Jiujiang, it didn't matter whether he followed or not.

Moreover, after the Lantern Festival he must immediately return to Qingdou Academy; once he leaves, it will be at least several months before he can see his parents.

Yet he stayed the whole way out of loyalty, which moved Zhang Gui but also made it hard to accept such generosity.

So yesterday, during the few hours returning from Longmen Bo to Pingyang Town,

he specifically asked Zhang Qitong in detail about the procedure of submitting a petition at the Siyang Commandery City Government Office.

Thinking that there was precedent, he didn't want to bother others.

Please have Zhang Qitong and Zhang Jiujiang stay home today and spend the New Year with their families.

He himself went to the commandery city to handle the process.

After that, Zhang Gui no longer used the official carriage of the Pingyang Zhang Family.

Instead, he spent money to board a carriage that travels between cities, hurrying toward Siyang Commandery City.

Just half an hour after Zhang Gui left Pingyang Town, news began to spread:

the Pingyang Zhang Family had just transferred to the Shuanghu Rong Family's Wangbei Manor over a hundred shopkeepers and Shop Assistants;

dozens of manor guard warriors;

over ten thousand young strong men;

along with all the manor's livestock and vehicles;

the countless silver taels stored in the treasury vanished mysteriously.

It truly was a bizarre, incomprehensible event.

At that moment, the whole Pingyang Town instantly fell into heated discussion…

Siyang Commandery City is the inland‑sea trade hub of the Ming Song Kingdom, a place where gold mountains and silver seas gather.

The entire city is built according to the "Nine Palaces" orientation.

Horizontally and vertically it can be divided into three major districts.

Each district, following the "Nine Palaces" layout, is divided into nine wards.

According to Ming Song convention, the distinction between wards is based on two things: purpose and the social class of the residents.

In Siyang Commandery City, aside from the central ward where many government offices reside,

the other eighty wards are all for commerce.

Here, lights shine day and night, as if it were a city that never sleeps.

The streets and alleys are filled with foreign pavilions, like a world exposition.

Zhang Gui, with the ceaseless flow of people, passed unimpeded through the oversized city gate and stepped into this land of flowing gold.

Zhang Gui, following the endless flow of people, passed unhindered through the exaggeratedly large city gate and entered this land of flowing gold.

Similar to the bus of his previous life, the Dragon Ox Mechanism carriage was parked by the road, waiting for passengers.

The Pingyang Zhang Family originally obtained a similar Mechanism Art, the "Ironwood Turtle Ship".

Only by successfully venturing into maritime transport could they regroup in the Ming Song Southern Kingdom and reestablish roots.

Unexpectedly, this similar secret technique was being used here to earn a few coins by ferrying passengers.

While marveling, Zhang Gui, curious, shuffled over.

The girl who was soliciting passengers saw him dressed in a sleek black outfit, with probably a couple of filthy coins in his pouch, and immediately greeted sweetly:

"Young master, would you like to ride the Dragon Ox carriage?"

"The omen is good, it runs steadily."

"One block ride costs only ten copper coins."

"You can tour the entire Siyang Commandery City."

To say the fare for this carriage is not cheap.

But wherever it's pricey, that's the reality.

Zhang Gui smiled and got on.

【61】 The carriage interior was about the size of a minibus from his previous life, and the seats were cramped.

The carriage was packed with people, the mechanical carriage started slowly, but did not accelerate; it just kept moving at that slow pace.

Zhang Gui then realized that the so‑called Dragon‑Ox mechanical carriage was probably an inferior product.

No wonder the little hostess who attracted customers only talked about stability and never mentioned speed.

After wandering for an entire hour and spending a modest three taels of silver, Zhang Gui finally arrived at the core of the Commandery City, the Yellow Eel Shop…

The Yellow Eel Shop, where "Yellow" sounds like "imperial" and "eel" sounds like "good".

One of its main streets, Benevolent Governance Street, is precisely where the Siyang Commandery Office and the Siyang Commandery City Government Office are located.

The two offices stand side by side, one large and one small in scale.

The Siyang Commandery Office is imposing and solemn.

The Siyang Commandery City Government Office, described as "evil runs rampant, attached to the county office", is dilapidated, dim, and sullen.

Originally, the Commandery City Office held a rank half a grade higher than the county office.

But because the attached‑city superior could not expand, anyone with any connections refused to endure this grievance…

Compared with the bustling, ever‑crowded, noisy market streets of the Commandery City, the Yellow Eel Shop is rather desolate.

The large phoenix trees planted along the road have long shed all their leaves, and three‑zhang‑long poles stand in the ground like spears.

The neatly laid bluestone slab road is spotless.

Among the few pedestrians on the road, most travel by carriage or sedan chair; only the maidservants and junior attendants expose their heads.

Those like Zhang Gui who arrive by mechanical carriage appear somewhat shabby.

After alighting and straightening his clothes, he reached the side entrance of the Siyang Commandery City Government Office to handle official business.

A gatekeeper there asked the reason.

Following the procedure he learned yesterday, Zhang Gui bribed exactly three taels of silver, handed over a petition post and the waist badge that signified his status as a Martial Scholar.

The petition states that, in accordance with the wishes of the Pingyang Zhang Family elders, he submits a letter to the office, voluntarily severing his path to the Imperial Examination, which he has never taken.

He volunteers to serve the Imperial Court directly as a Martial Scholar.

Zhang Bashan, Zhang Gui's cheap and heartless father, had spent decades attempting the literary imperial examinations without success, wasting his years.

In the end he also submitted a petition, becoming a Ninth Grade Compassionate Farmer Official who ordinarily, in the villages surrounding Pingyang Town, encouraged farming, and during tax collection supervised junior clerks to avoid overly exploiting the peasant folk.

Zhang Gui, however, is a Martial Scholar who earned his position through merit.

He belongs to a category that can be reverse‑discriminated against, and is worth considerably more than a proper literary scholar.

Within the clan, an Eighth Grade naval officer titled "Bandit‑Suppressing Colonel" was appointed, a seal‑bearing official whose word is binding.

His subordinate Military Fort is situated far from the bustle, nestled between mountains and sea, still listed under the Imperial Court's Ministry of War, yet it does not receive the troop‑maintenance silver for training.

In Zhang Gui's view, it is somewhat akin to a self‑funded enterprise unit from his previous life.

It gave him the sense that, regardless of how vast the differences between multiverses or worlds may be, governmental systems always share commonalities.

And because everything had already been arranged.

Thus, after Zhang Gui submitted the petition, his status changed as smoothly as silk, transitioning from commoner to official.

Then, smoothly, the Commandery City Office assigned him, taking him to the Siyang Commandery Military Prefecture to enroll him in the Yellow Register.

He transformed into an Eighth Grade reserve officer of the Ming Song Dynasty.

(End of Chapter)