Chapter 335: A Good Man Returns Home, Imperial Favor Bestowed (Part Two)

"Ah! My son is back! Wait, Mother is coming!"

An aged voice sounded from within the door. Following a light patter of footsteps, the Xu family's shabby door was opened, and an old woman with a head full of white hair appeared in the doorway.

Seeing the crowd gathered outside the door, the old woman was instantly at a loss. She pulled Xu Yanqi inside and said with a somewhat reproachful tone, "Son, what kind of trouble have you gone and gotten yourself into this time?"

Seeing the fear written all over his mother's face, Xu Yanqi, a big strapping man, burst into tears on the spot. After a moment, he wiped his eyes and pointed behind him, saying:

"Mother, don't be afraid. Your son has made something of himself — your son has become a Zhuangyuan!"

"Don't talk nonsense. You don't know a single character, you can't even write your own name — how could you possibly become a Zhuangyuan? That's something only scholars can achieve." The old woman clearly did not believe him, and wore the expression of one about to properly lecture her son.

Xu Yanqi gave a wry smile. Before he could speak, an old man walked over and said earnestly:

"What he says is true — it's the military examination, the military Zhuangyuan! Didn't the court change the rules this year? Your son, from now on, is the military Zhuangyuan of our Great Ming! I said it long ago — this lad was born strong as an ox, how could he stay home tilling fields forever? He was bound to make something of himself!"

"Clatter—"

Not long after the old man finished speaking, the sound of something falling to the ground suddenly came from behind the door. Everyone turned to look, and saw that the water ladle in the hands of Xu Yanqi's wife, née Ye, had dropped to the ground, spilling water all over the floor.

"Mm."

Before Xu Yanqi could get a word out, Ye, who had seen everything from behind, wore an expression of utter disbelief. She covered her mouth with her hand, ran back into the room, and threw herself onto the kang, sobbing.

"Son, you've made something of yourself! If your father knew of this in the underworld, he would surely be proud of you!"

Finally, under the constant reassurances of the neighbors and villagers behind her, the old woman came to believe that Xu Yanqi had not gotten into trouble. She looked him up and down, and then mother and son embraced tightly.

"Make way! Make way!"

Before long, an even greater commotion came from behind the crowd. Li Ruolian, clad in a bright red flying-fish robe, a jade belt at his waist, riding a fine Wusun steed, held a golden scroll high in his right hand, and strode over proudly with six Embroidered Uniform Guard officers.

"The imperial edict has arrived! Xu Yanqi, military Zhuangyuan of the Bingxu examination class, receive the edict—!"

Hearing this, the surrounding crowd quickly knelt in a circle, and the noisy alley fell silent at once. Xu Yanqi released his old mother, stepped forward a few paces, knelt on one knee, and shouted:

"Your subject Xu Yanqi, receiving the edict!"

"By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:

The fortunes of letters flourish, and the fortunes of arms prosper. Xu Yanqi, first-place Zhuangyuan of the Bingxu examination class in the military examinations, has won first place in all three subjects — foot archery, great saber, and unarmed combat. We are deeply gratified!

The court's grace toward its scholars is nowhere greater than in commendation and reward; a son's utmost duty to his parents is nowhere more pressing than in bringing them glory. How much more so for a paragon of martial scholars, whose merits shine upon the field of battle — thus We extend Our gracious decree, regardless of whether they be living or departed.

In nurturing and instruction alike, a mother's virtue is no less than a father's; favor and honor are equally bestowed by the sovereign's heart, and truly rest upon the minister. For loyalty is rooted in filial piety, and parents are made illustrious through their sons — the bonds of human relations are thus upheld, and the rites and statutes all preserved.

You, née Wang, are the mother of Xu Yanqi, military Zhuangyuan of the Bingxu examination class. From a distinguished clan with inherited virtues, a woman of goodness, a worthy wife of diligence and frugality, combining kindness and filial piety, ever upholding righteousness, aiding in righteous instruction to raise your son — who has now risen in glory to the ranks of officialdom. As his emoluments of support now flourish and your venerable years are yet far from spent, it is fitting to extend Our gracious favor to show commendation.

You are hereby specially conferred the title of Grand Lady of Peace. May your blessings know no bounds, and may your family's precepts endure forever.

You, née Ye, are the wife of Xu Yanqi, military Zhuangyuan of the Bingxu examination class. Diligent and frugal in managing the household, virtuous in conduct and obedience, chaste and noble in character, aiding the family and assisting the Zhuangyuan's rise to success — it is fitting to extend Our gracious favor to show commendation.

You are hereby specially conferred the title of Lady of Peace. May your blessings know no bounds, and may your family's precepts endure forever."

Xu Yanqi had not expected the Emperor to think of everything so thoroughly — that upon his becoming Zhuangyuan, even his old mother and his wife would receive imperial commendations. His heart filled with even greater gratitude, and he shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Your subject Xu Yanqi accepts the edict and thanks Your Majesty for the grace! Long live the Emperor, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!!"

To receive commendation from the Son of Heaven, to be granted the flying-fish robe and jade belt — this was the greatest of glories. In that moment, Xu Yanqi felt as though he had reached the pinnacle of his life, suddenly becoming the focus of everyone's attention.

In truth, including Xu Yanqi himself, many people were seeing for the first time Embroidered Uniform Guard officers in flying-fish robes arriving to deliver an imperial edict.

On Li Ruolian's flying-fish robe was embroidered a ferocious, clawing "flying fish" — most of its body resembled a great python, with horns, but ending in a fish's tail.

This flying-fish robe, similar in form to a python robe, paired with the jade belt, was most imposing in appearance. In the past, such attire only appeared when an Embroidered Uniform Guard officer in a flying-fish robe led a team to arrest an imperial criminal.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard had always given the common people the same fearsome reputation as the agents of the Eastern and Western Depots. Many common folk were seeing for the first time Embroidered Uniform Guard officers coming into the streets to bestow honors upon ordinary citizens, and only then did they perceive the difference between the Guard and the Depot agents.

Watching Xu Yanqi and the surrounding commoners laughing heartily, as intimate as family, Li Ruolian — himself of humble origins — naturally understood that feeling, and was genuinely happy for them.

After all, this was precisely a sign that the current court was thriving.

Li Ruolian also understood that with him present, they might not be able to fully let loose. After he left with the Embroidered Uniform Guard officers, the commoners immediately became jubilant, cheers ringing out one after another, all rejoicing that their alley had produced such a military Zhuangyuan. Some even set off firecrackers.

Though this was the capital, the residents near Xu Yanqi's home were all very poor. Whether soldier or civilian, many wore clothes covered in patch upon patch, and their faces bore the sallow complexion of malnutrition.

Many children were dressed in tatters just like the beggars who used to roam the streets. But the common folk of this era were simple-hearted, and all genuinely rejoiced for Xu Yanqi and his family.

Seeing the change that Xu Yanqi's success in the military examinations had brought to his entire household, many young men unconsciously clenched their fists, a new spark appearing in their eyes that had not been there the day before.

Behind Xu Yanqi's rags-to-riches reversal, they saw new hope.

Three streets and fourteen lanes — this was the home Xu Yanqi knew well. Unlike later generations, the residents here were all intimately familiar with one another, each treating the other like family.

The three streets and fourteen lanes where the Xu family lived lay east of Chess and Card Street in the capital. Four or five streets away to the west was the bustling memorial archway. Not far to the south, a branch office of the Shuntian Prefecture had been added last month. Two streets to the north stood the Northern Camp of the city defense forces, a horse depot, and a fodder yard. One street to the southwest was the branch office of the Ministry of Works' Arsenal Bureau.

Though the area nearby was poor, the streets and alleys were dotted with numerous temples and opera stages — small, perhaps, but complete in every essential.

Since the year Jiashen, because the Chongzhen Emperor had repeatedly emphasized it, even the more remote alleys of Beijing had undergone great changes. Branch offices of the Troops and Horses Office, branch offices of the Shuntian Prefecture, and even the Eastern and Western Depot offices governing their respective districts were all built in prominent locations.

For certain special areas, Dong Qi had also petitioned the Chongzhen Emperor last year, and forty-six additional patrol stations for the city defense forces had been established within the capital, so that if any disturbance arose that local offices could not contain, soldiers could suppress it at any time.

The current Beijing was in fact tightly controlled at every level by various authorities, and with the close covert surveillance of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot, it was nearly as watertight as an iron bucket.

However, there were still matters the court could not attend to in every detail. Although Minister Feng Quan of the Ministry of Works had been persistently urging road construction, and had even personally thrown himself into certain tasks to curry favor with the Chongzhen Emperor, road-building was a long-term endeavor — within a few years, it was difficult to achieve any major improvement.

At present, though the capital's main thoroughfares had all been repaired and renewed, the residential houses and courtyards within the lanes and alleys remained mostly dilapidated, the lane surfaces still bumpy and pitted, strewn with garbage and mud.

In early Chongzhen nineteenth year, at the request of Wu Youke of the Imperial Academy of Medicine, and after deliberation by the Grand Secretariat, the Chongzhen Emperor issued an edict establishing a Street Directorate to replace the former offices, directly subordinate to the Ministry of Works, overseeing sanitation on the capital's streets and within its lanes.

Not long after, the Ministry of Works drafted and approved regulations for expanding refuse yards outside the capital, completed in the fourth month of Chongzhen nineteenth year, specifically for storing and processing the garbage produced within the capital, managed by officials dispatched by the Street Directorate.

In late April of Chongzhen nineteenth year, officials of the Street Directorate submitted a memorial stating that manpower was severely insufficient, and that the lanes and alleys were so filthy that daily cleaning could not keep up, requesting an increase in Street Directorate personnel.

The Grand Secretariat deliberated and deemed the request feasible, whereupon eight hundred subordinate personnel were added to the Street Directorate.

The Chongzhen Emperor understood the importance of the environment, and issued an edict for the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot to strictly control the streets. Within three days, the Guard and Depot, in coordination with the Shuntian Prefecture office, arrested two hundred and six offenders, and only then did the condition of the roads improve.

Thereafter, the Street Directorate never again submitted memorials stating that cleaning could not keep up.

The capital's streets at present, while still not perfect, were no longer the stench-filled mess they had once been. Every day, one could see Street Directorate personnel in blue cloth uniforms clearing away debris.