Aoyama

Chapter 447 The Rules of Chongli Pass
Chen Ji sized up the thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy in front of him.

The boy's tiger's mouth had thick calluses and fine, twisted scars, clearly indicating that he was someone who had been wielding a knife for many years. He had been outmatched in a knife fight and had his tiger's mouth cracked by the force of the blow.

The boy had a two-foot-long short knife hanging from his waist, wore straw sandals, and had a purplish-red face tanned from the sun and wind. His eyes also held an undisguised cleverness.

When someone passes by the two, they will smile and greet the boy, "Ah Sheng is back?"

Ah Sheng would patiently respond to everyone, saying, "Hello, Brother Zhang Qi."

The boy was like a sapling that took root and sprouted from Chongli Pass, possessing a vigorous and abundant vitality.

Ah Sheng turned to Chen Ji and said, "Young Master, are you really not going to buy military merits? Young Master Li and Young Master Wang from the Xuanzuo Prefecture's Thousand Household Office are also waiting to buy military merits. If you don't want them, I'll go ask them."

Chen Ji refused again, saying, "I don't buy military merits."

Ah Sheng was stunned: "Aren't you going to buy it?"

Chen Ji reiterated firmly, "I won't buy."

Ah Sheng asked in confusion, "Is the young master worried that I'm selling counterfeit goods?"

He took off his crossbody bag and opened the pocket, showing Chen Ji the ears that had been preserved with lime: "Look, they are all right ears, all cut off by my own hands. I would never fool anyone with a left ear... I'm doing this business with Master Hong for the long term."

After saying that, he suddenly pulled an ear out of the bag and handed it to Chen Ji as if he were holding not an ear, but a piece of sorghum candy.

Chen Ji glanced at the ear, but still refused, saying, "I really won't buy it."

Ah Sheng's eyes darted around: "Young master, you must be from a big city, I'm guessing the capital?"

Chen Ji asked calmly, "How did you guess?"

Ah Sheng laughed: "At first glance, your black clothes seem ordinary, but upon closer inspection, they are not simple. The lotus pattern on the cloth is fine and neat. If I am not mistaken, your clothes are the same inside out, so they look the same whether you wear them or not."

Chen Ji then asked, "How can you prove that you came from the capital?"

The clothes he was wearing were a gift from Chen Lizun. The black cloth had no pattern from a distance and was not decorated with gold or silver thread to make it look luxurious. Only when you got close could you see the lotus pattern on it. He wore it as ordinary clothes and did not think it was very valuable.

Ah Sheng chuckled: "You probably didn't order this yourself, did you? The person who ordered it for you must be very particular. This fabric is kesi, which can only be spun by the Jiangning Weaving Bureau. As the saying goes, an inch of kesi is worth an inch of gold. It is usually only used on dragon robes, court robes, or for mounting calligraphy by great masters. Only high-ranking officials in the capital can get their hands on such things. If it could be sent to Liaoyang Prefecture in the capital of the Jing Dynasty, a single bolt could be exchanged for several hundred taels of silver."

Chen Ji re-examined Asheng.

Ah Sheng glanced at the brick house behind Chen Ji: "Young Master, you still don't know the benefits of buying military merits, do you?"

Chen Ji said casually, "I'd like to hear the details."

Ah Sheng explained with a smile, "Look how cramped this place is. More than fifty people sleep on one big communal bed. Not to mention the smell of sweaty feet, we have to compete to see who can fall asleep first. If you fall asleep slowly, you can only listen to other people snoring."

Chen Ji asked, "What if I become a centurion?"

Ah Sheng pointed to a row of blue brick houses not far away: "Once you become a Hundred Household, you can live there. It's a private house with its own courtyard, and you won't have to listen to other people gossiping anymore. Moreover, Hundred Households have their own meals, and Thousand Households have their own meals."

Chen Ji asked curiously, "I heard that an ear costs a hundred taels of silver?"

Ah Sheng nodded: "That's right."

Chen Ji became even more curious: "If a fool bought ten ears and became a centurion, wouldn't he have caused the deaths of hundreds of infantrymen?"

Ah Sheng laughed and said, "No, Chongli Pass is said to have two guards, but in reality there are only a little over eight thousand men. The general knows this. He'll just give you a vacant centurion position, but you don't have any soldiers under your command."

Chen Ji was taken aback: "Such a large shortage? What will we do if a war breaks out?"

Ah Sheng didn't care at all: "With so many fewer people, the food and pay will barely be enough to feed the brothers. If there are more people, they will all go hungry. Besides, if a real battle breaks out, it will be the soldiers of the three Imperial Guards who will take the lead. The infantrymen of Chongli Pass will only be repairing the city walls and doing odd jobs."

Chen Ji pondered for a moment, but ultimately shook his head and refused, saying, "Forget it, I didn't bring that much silver with me when I went out, that's the truth."

Ah Sheng quickly replied, "Ninety-eight taels is fine too."

Chen Ji changed the subject: "You have many connections. If I wanted to not accept the goods that night, how much silver would it cost?" A Sheng raised an eyebrow: "You want to not accept the goods that night? What would you do if you didn't accept the goods that night?"

Chen Ji said with a smile, "When I saw you and Master Hong come back earlier, I thought it was pretty impressive that you didn't collect the money that night."

But Ah Sheng shook his head and said, "Young master, do you know what a night scout is? It means that even after nightfall, the scouts inside the pass are not recalled. The gates of Chongli Pass are never closed until the night scouts arrive. Young master only sees the glory of the night scouts, but does not know that 'three out of ten will return'. If three out of ten go out, it is considered good."

Chen Ji asked curiously, "So you're not going to collect it that night?"

Ah Sheng grinned and said, "I'm just a worthless person, I'm not afraid. My father was also a night scout, he died outside the Great Wall. My mother died of illness. Master Hong said that I was only a little over a year old when my mother died. When he found me, I had been lying next to my mother for three days. It was only because the family dog ​​stole fruit to feed me that I survived. Master Hong said that I shouldn't be called a night scout, I should be called a heaven scout."

Chen Ji remained silent: "Is there no other way to not collect it that night?"

Ah Sheng shook her head: "I'm not a night watchman either. Night watchmen are judged by their skills; if you don't have real ability, the general won't look up to you. Besides... are you married and have children?"

Chen Ji tentatively asked, "Why are you asking this?"

Ah Sheng replied matter-of-factly, "A night watchman can't be without children."

Chen Ji asked, puzzled, "What kind of rule is this?"

Ah Sheng grinned and said, "This is an old rule of Chongli Pass. Of the ten night scouts, three must return. They must leave incense offerings before leaving. Master Hong adopted me because of this rule, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to be a night scout. Later, Master Hong became very capable, so he was specially allowed to take me with him when he left the pass. He and Uncle Baizi are the only night scouts who have lived in Chongli Pass for more than ten years."

Chen Ji frowned, thinking that Emperor Ning probably didn't know about the rules of Chongli Pass, nor had he ever paid attention to them.

But what about myself? It's too late to have another child now... and it's not worth it.

Ah Sheng turned and left: "It's normal that you don't trust me now, but when you want to buy war merits, you can come to the small house next to the blacksmith shop in the north of the city to find me."

Chen Ji returned to the courtyard and continued weaving straw sandals at a leisurely pace. He didn't finish until sunset, when he had woven a crooked straw sandal that revealed half of his foot when he put it on.

Zhang Tonggou and the others pointed at his tattered straw sandals and laughed loudly: "A young master from the capital, clumsy as can be."

Chen Ji didn't care about his comical appearance and laughed along: "I'm really not some rich kid. I'm just a peasant. It's just that I've never woven straw sandals before. When I was an apprentice at the clinic, I had to fetch water every day. The floor had to be wiped with a wet cloth first and then with a dry cloth. My fellow apprentices took turns emptying the chamber pots, and it stank horribly."

Zhang Tonggou was slightly taken aback. He had seen plenty of sons of high-ranking officials who slacked off and amassed military merits, but if it were one of them, he would start to act childishly: "I don't think you're lying. Why would someone of your rank be an apprentice in a medical clinic?"

Li Ahu stretched out his wrist with some skepticism: "Then take my pulse. If you say I'm pregnant, I'll hit you."

Chen Ji sat cross-legged on the ground and took off his straw sandals: "I am an illegitimate son. I haven't learned anything real in the two years I've been at the clinic, but I was quite happy as an apprentice there, much happier than I am now."

“So you’re an illegitimate son,” Zhang Tonggou and the others exchanged glances. “Then why did you come to Chongli Pass to gain merit again? There are rules for the sons of officials and nobles. Those centurions and chiliarchs have a set of coded language that speaks in reverse. The wealthiest families go to the Xuanzuo Prefecture Chiliarch Office, where the labor is lighter and they don’t have to leave the pass. The Xuanqian Prefecture Chiliarch Office is different; they are assigned the hardest and most tiring jobs.”

Li Ahu also asked in confusion, "Yeah, if you were assigned a job to go out and cut timber, you might not even come back alive. Did you offend someone before you came here?"

Chen Ji frowned slightly. Is that even a possibility?
Then it seems that someone deliberately prevented me from becoming a night watchman.

strangeness.

If you really want to harm yourself, you should make yourself a night watchman in the most dangerous job; if you really want to protect yourself, you should simply send yourself to Xuanzuo Prefecture.

What's their intention in placing Xuanqian Prefecture in such a mediocre position? This has left Chen Ji completely confused.

At this moment, Zhang Tonggou said, "Why don't you just buy straw sandals from us? Why bother making them yourself? We won't cheat you; they'll cost five coins a pair."

Chen Ji replied with a smile, "I won't buy it. I'll learn it sooner or later. Look, the 'warp rope' I made this time is better than last time. I've memorized all your straw sandal weaving techniques: first weave the warp rope, then the sole, then the toe and the upper..."

Zhang Tonggou was silent for a moment, then picked up a pair of woven straw sandals from beside him and tossed them to Chen Ji: "Here's a pair for you, I can weave them fast anyway. Give me back a pair when you've learned how to weave them."

Chen Ji didn't mince words and simply put them on: "Thank you."

He stood up and paced back and forth a couple of times: "Not bad, at least I have a pair of shoes to wear."

Zhang Tonggou pointed at him and said to the others, "Now I believe he's a peasant too. Those rich kids all complain that our straw sandals are too prickly."

(End of this chapter)