Aoyama

Chapter 362 One in a Thousand
As Chen Ji left the Wendan Hall, he subconsciously looked back at the council hall.

The eaves beasts on the double-eaved roof have endured countless seasons of wind and rain, witnessing the passing of many high-ranking officials and the strife that have taken place there.

This is not home.
It was clearly a battlefield.

Upon returning to Ginkgo Garden, a middle-aged man and four maids were blocked outside the door.

The middle-aged man was dressed in a dark blue scholar's robe, while his four maids wore light green ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), with ribbons tied in their hair and plain silver earrings.

According to Xiaoman:
In the Chen household, third-class maids were only allowed to wear wooden hairpins, second-class maids could wear at most one silver hairpin, and only first-class maids were allowed to tie their hair with ribbons, tie ear loops, and wear plain silver earrings.

Only the maids who served as concubines were allowed to have jade embellishments on their silver earrings.

There is a clear hierarchy.

At this moment, Xiaoman's voice came from afar: "Young Master didn't tell me that he was going to bring a new maid. Arranging a maid is fine, but we'll talk about it when my young master comes back."

The middle-aged man calmly said, "I am the head steward of Qinzheng Garden. You are just a maid in the mansion. Whether or not to arrange servants in Ginkgo Garden, I do not need to tell you in advance."

The middle-aged man was Wang Duo, the head steward of Qinzheng Garden.

Xiaoman stood in the doorway, hands on her hips: "What kind of bullshit head steward is this? When did the second wife's steward get to manage the third wife's affairs?"

Wang Duo sneered: "How dare a mere maid be so unruly? It seems I'll have to sell you off to the livestock farm."

Xiaoman angrily said, "Why don't you send your mother to be sold to the livestock farm?"

Wang Duo was taken aback, and was about to get angry.

Chen Ji arrived at the door: "What's going on?"

Wang Duo suddenly turned his head: "Young master, your maid is vulgar and unruly. She said she would sell my mother to the livestock farm."

Chen Ji was silent for a moment: "Did you say thank you?"

Wang Duo was taken aback.

However, he was no pushover either. Seeing that Chen Ji was determined to protect his own, he immediately changed his expression and bowed, saying, "Young Master Chen Ji, the Second Master just said that you are a pillar of our Chen family and should focus your attention on family affairs, not be distracted by daily trivialities. Before he left, he specifically instructed me to arrange four first-class maids to serve you carefully. These four maids are very obedient and will do whatever you ask them to do."

Chen Ji knew that the second wife was about to get serious.

He first caused Chen Wenren to be exiled to Lingnan, then caused the Wang family of Shuntian Prefecture to be raided and wiped out, and now he has taken control of the salt business, causing them to lose hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

Chen Lizhi was now truly enraged. The other party had first planted spies in Ginkgo Garden, and now they would probably find an opportunity to kill him.

Seeing that Chen Ji remained silent, Wang Duo smiled and said, "Young Master Chen Ji, these four maids are named Yushui, Lixia, Xiaoshu, and Dashu. Xiaoshu and Dashu are twins, which are very hard to find outside."

Chen Ji shook his head: "The Ginkgo Garden doesn't need any more maids."

Wang Duo's expression turned serious: "As the saying goes, one should not refuse a gift from an elder. This is something the Second Master ordered, how can you refuse? If you don't want it, then I will sell the four of them to the Eight Great Hutongs."

Upon hearing this, the four maids lifted their skirts and knelt in front of the Ginkgo Garden, looking pitiful: "Young Master Chen Ji, please let us stay."

Chen Ji slipped through the gap between the group and slammed the door shut: "Remember to charge a higher price."

Inside the door, Xiaoman followed Chen Ji, muttering to herself, "Young Master, what if they kneel in front of the door and don't get up? The second branch knows your temperament. Maybe they're determined to make these maids kneel to death in front of the door and accuse you of being 'heartless'."

Chen Ji didn't answer. He turned around and closed the door, leaving Xiao Man outside: "I'm going to change my clothes."

Xiaoman continued muttering to herself at the door, "I'm just afraid that their actions will jeopardize your future. Perhaps we should let them into the courtyard, and I'll just guard the main house. Otherwise, they might get the censor to impeach you, and you'll be bombarded with questions..."

Chen Ji changed his clothes and walked out while tightening his belt: "Let them complain. Six hundred thousand taels of silver have been sent to His Majesty, so it has to be worth it."

Xiaoman was stunned: "What? Six hundred thousand what?"

Chen Ji changed the subject: "What did you make this morning?"

Xiaoman turned around and went to the side room to bring back a tray: "Plain porridge and mutton and scallion pancakes, they smell delicious."

The sound of several maids crying came from outside the door, but Chen Ji ignored them and sat down at the stone table, eating two mutton rolls before stopping.

He turned to look at the side room and saw a large plate of stir-fried mutton and scallions on the cutting board, along with a thick stack of spring pancakes.

Xiaoman stepped aside, blocking Chen Ji's view, and said somewhat awkwardly, "I have a big appetite..."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Roll two more for me and wrap them in palm leaves."

Xiaoman agreed with a "yes".

When Chen Ji came out of the Ginkgo Garden, the four maids were still kneeling in front of the door. Wang Duo stood behind them, his hands clasped together, calm and composed, his eyes closed as if resting.

Xiaoshu, on the verge of tears, said, “Young master, when I was twelve, both my parents died of the plague. We had no choice but to live under the roof of my uncle’s house, but unexpectedly, my uncle sold us to the Chen family as slaves. Now we are all alone and helpless. If you don’t take us in, Steward Wang will really sell us to the Eight Great Hutongs.”

Chen Ji looked down at her: "What's your uncle's name?"

Hesitant during Lesser Heat.

Chen Ji walked outside: "Xiao Man, throw Wang Duo into the Qinghua Pond in Xiaoyingzhou to wash his brain."

Xiao Man responded with a "Yes!" and, beaming, grabbed Wang Duo's belt and left. Wang Duo shouted in a panic, but to no avail.

The Chen family diverted water from the Jade Spring into their residence to create the "Little Yingzhou" garden. The bottom of the Blue and White Porcelain Pond was paved with broken blue and white porcelain pieces, which shimmered in the sunlight like a cascading galaxy.

Chen Ji said without turning his head, "Xiaoman, if they don't leave, throw them into the Qinghua Pond too. Steward Wang, go back and tell Second Uncle that we appreciate your kindness."

Xiaoman subconsciously turned around to look at her young master's back, feeling that he seemed to have suddenly changed.

……

……

As Chen Ji exited through the side door, Si Cao Gui lowered the brim of his bamboo hat and said softly, "Young Master, congratulations."

Chen Ji shoved the bundle of palm leaves into Si Cao Gui's hands, then climbed into the carriage: "Si Cao, are you so well-informed?"

Si Cao Gui casually tucked the bundle of palm leaves into his pocket and drove the carriage onto the right side of the mansion: "In this deep mansion, everything spreads quickly. With so many servants coming and going, there are bound to be some who can't keep their mouths shut. At dawn, when I saw Chen Yue enter the mansion, I was worried that you, being so young, would fall into their trap. I never expected that you would turn the tide and outmaneuver them."

Chen Ji leaned against the carriage wall: "Someone once taught me a principle: if you want to succeed, don't let others see through you too easily. Those people in the salt shop shouldn't have revealed what they wanted to do so early on."

During that heavy snowfall in Los Angeles, Mr. Feng taught him two principles in the Secret Service office.

The first principle is that if you want to succeed, you need to be shrewd and not let others see through you easily.

The second principle is that a person who can't give up anything can't change anything.

Chen Ji looked out the window through the carriage curtain, but he didn't know what Mr. Feng had given up or what he wanted to change.
Si Cao Gui, sitting outside the carriage, sighed, "Everyone says that a nephew resembles his uncle, but I used to think your uncle was like a dragon, while you were like a worm. But now, you are becoming more and more like Lord Lu... When you take charge of the Chen family, and you join forces with Lord Lu, perhaps our Jing Dynasty's great cause can truly be accomplished."

Chen Ji leaned against the carriage wall, not responding to that question: "What else did Lord Si Cao find out today?"

Si Cao Gui solemnly said, "Chen Lizhi smashed several porcelain pieces after returning to Qinzheng Garden. I'm afraid he won't let you off the hook." Chen Ji calmly replied, "Go to Wenchang Inn in Nianzi Hutong. There are still many things to finish up."

Si Cao Gui asked in confusion, "Aren't you going to the Governor's Office to report for duty?"

Chen Ji hummed in agreement: "From now on, we don't have to be so obedient in reporting for duty anymore."

As the carriages left Zhengyang Gate, more and more scholars and literati arrived in the capital to take the imperial examinations. They carried bamboo book baskets on their backs, with sunshades on top of the baskets.

The vendors on the street no longer sell Aiwowo (a type of steamed bun), but instead sell Dingsheng Gao (a type of steamed cake) and Zhuangyuan Bing (a type of cake).

The ingot-shaped Zhuangyuan cake is pressed with the words "Ding Sheng" (meaning "Victory is assured") by a mold, while the jujube paste Zhuangyuan cake is imprinted with the words "Kui Xing" (meaning "God of Literature"). Scholars and literati who pass by will buy a few pieces to try for good luck.

On the overpass, there were even shops selling "Jidi Congee," made with pig liver and pig intestines. The "liver" is a homophone for "official" and the "intestines" is a homophone for "growth."

Such dishes as Qingyun Dong, Zanhua Bing, Wugeng Ji, and Sanchang Bao are too numerous to mention.

Some vendors were loudly hawking their wares: "Do you know Mr. Wang Daosheng? He didn't become the top scholar back then because he didn't eat our top scholar cake!"

Scholars and literati laughed and scolded, "You only dare to slander Mr. Wang; anyone else would have thrown you in jail long ago!"

The carriage passed through the hustle and bustle of the city and slowly came to a stop in front of the Wenchang Inn.

Si Cao Gui used a purple bamboo pole to lift the carriage curtain: "Young master, we have arrived."

Chen Ji jumped off the carriage, lifting the hem of his robe, and headed straight for the inn's counter: "Which room is Young Master Huang Que from the south staying in?"

The innkeeper, unfazed, pointed upstairs without asking why: "Room B is it."

Chen Ji climbed the wooden stairs and stood in front of room number B, knocking on the door.

dong dong dong.

Huang Que opened the door, saw the traces of the past, and then closed it again expressionlessly.

Chen Ji wedged his foot into the door crack and said politely, "Brother Huang, I've come to apologize to you."

Huang Que gave him a cold glance and closed the door again: "Brother Chen Ji, you are too polite. You are the noble young master of the Chen family on Fuyou Street, while I am the son of a small salt merchant from the south. We are on different paths and cannot work together."

Chen Ji said through the door, "I know what kind of business Brother Huang is in, and I also know where the difficulty of Brother Huang's business lies. Brother Huang bought my salt permits, which can be used to pass through the passes and ferries with my Chen family's canal transport documents. I wonder if these documents are enough for Brother Huang to open the gate? Moreover, there is no need to buy 300,000 permits at once."

The door suddenly reopened, and Huang Que stood inside, staring intently at Chen Ji without any pretense: "You dare to lend the Chen family's canal transport documents to a salt smuggler? Aren't you afraid of death?"

Chen Ji said with a smile, "If anyone says that Brother Huang is a salt smuggler, I will be the first to disagree."

Huang Que fell silent, unsure how to react for a moment.

Chen Ji walked downstairs: "Shall we go to Plum Blossom Ferry together? There are some new rules for the salt permit trade."

Huang Que watched Chen Ji's figure disappear at the top of the stairs, and finally couldn't help but follow him.

The two boarded the carriage, and Si Cao Gui, as usual, searched Huang Que's body discreetly, being extremely cautious.

Inside the carriage, Huang Que couldn't help but ask, "Brother Chen Ji, do you know what you're doing? Why are you abandoning your noble birth and insisting on getting involved with us... us salt merchants?"

Chen Ji looked through the carriage curtain at the scholars coming and going outside and said, “Brother Huang, I am different from you. I can’t take the imperial examination step by step like you, enter the Hanlin Academy, enter the Six Ministries, enter the Grand Secretariat, and then do what I want to do. I can’t wait that long, so I have to take each step faster.”

Huang Que chuckled and said self-deprecatingly, "We? I'm not the same as them. Brother Chen Ji probably doesn't know, I started my studies at the age of four, and when I was nine, my father spent a lot of money to send me to the academy. The teacher praised me for being able to write beautiful articles at the age of nine, but when he learned that I was the son of a salt merchant, he didn't give me another glance. Scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants—it was only because my father spent a lot of money and begged and pleaded to change my status to farmer that I was able to participate in the imperial examinations."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "You are the son of a salt merchant, and I am the illegitimate son of the Chen family. It's just so that neither of us has to look down on the other."

We've arrived at Plum Blossom Ferry.

Chen Ji led Huang Que into Mei Rui Lou. As soon as they entered, Huang Que stood amidst the sound of abacus beads and looked at the wall opposite.

The wall was covered with bamboo plaques, each with a red paper pasted on it. The red paper read: "Gongyi, 100 yi, 380 taels."

“Yuncheng, one hundred taels, four hundred and fifty taels.”

"Guyuan, one hundred taels, two hundred taels."

“Jinling, one hundred yi, four hundred and sixty taels.”

"Zheng County..."

Huang Que stopped on the other side of the wall, puzzled: "Brother, this is... this is the first time I've ever seen someone sell salt permits like this. But you said before that each permit would only cost two taels of silver."

“Look, a salt certificate from Guyuan is worth two taels,” Chen Ji said with a smile. “Brother Huang, please don’t be in such a hurry. How many salt certificates did you usually buy at a time from the big salt merchants?”

Huang Que replied, "I have said it before, ten thousand yi."

Chen Ji then asked, "Of these ten thousand taels, how many are what Brother Huang wants?"

There have always been hidden costs associated with purchasing salt permits: salt permits, also known as road permits, cannot be resold elsewhere. If a salt permit indicates that the batch of salt is to be transported to Guyuan, it cannot be transported to other places.

Salt transportation resulted in extremely high losses, so large salt merchants would usually package up salt permits from remote and obscure locations and sell them to smaller salt merchants. The smaller salt merchants had no choice but to accept whatever they received.

It was common for small salt merchants in the southernmost part of the country to buy salt permits from the northernmost part. However, they couldn't actually travel from the south to the north to sell salt, so they could only accumulate the salt permits in their hands or resell them through middlemen.

Chen Ji looked at Huang Que: "Brother Huang, how many salt certificates do you have stockpiled at home right now?"

Huang Que pondered and said, "About three thousand verses."

Chen Ji pointed to the wall: "Brother Huang, you can choose the salt certificates you want here without wasting money. In addition, you can also sell the salt certificates you have here. The gate of Plum Blossom Ferry is always open to all salt merchants."

Huang Que looked at the bamboo plaque on the wall and asked in confusion, "If I pay four hundred and sixty taels of silver now, can I buy one hundred salt permits destined for Jinling on the spot?"

Chen Ji nodded: "Yes."

Huang Que then asked, "If I wanted to sell one hundred salt permits destined for Jinling, how much silver would I get?"

Chen Ji pointed to the bamboo plaque: "At the current price, it's four hundred and sixty taels of silver."

Huang Que was puzzled: "Under normal circumstances, the middleman would take at least 20%. If you do this, aren't you just doing the work for someone else? What will you gain?"

Chen Ji calmly explained, "Of course I also get a cut."

How much?

"One out of every thousand is selected."

thousandth.

After much deliberation, Huang Que concluded that taking one-thousandth of every thousand was far more profitable than taking twenty percent, almost negligible. He looked at Chen Ji suspiciously, unable to understand why Chen Ji was doing this business.

(End of this chapter)