Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 204: Foreigners who imitate Chinese elegance

"How much is this?" A blue-eyed, white-haired foreigner pointed at the landscape painting hanging on the display stand and asked in an accent so poor that it hurt his ears.

"What did this guest say?" The middle-aged scholar turned to greet the guest. Zhu Youxiao breathed a sigh of relief. He thought to himself: This lie is getting bigger and bigger, and it's almost impossible to cover it up.

"I'm saying, how much does this painting cost?" The blue-eyed, white-haired foreigner slowed down his already slow speech and spoke almost word by word.

"Oh! I'm deaf, but I heard that. This painting costs two taels of silver." The middle-aged scholar pulled out a small silver ingot weighing exactly one tael, and simultaneously held up two fingers, making the "two" sign. "If you want me to paint your portrait on the spot, it'll be the same price."

The blue-eyed, white-haired Westerner could only understand simple conversations spoken slowly. Once the words were out of common usage, he had to ask for help from others. He looked at another Westerner with light brown hair and brown-black pupils and asked in Portuguese, "Sir Bell, please tell me what he is saying?"

Tang Ruowang's full name was Johann Adam Schar von Baer. Few people would call him by this lengthy name. Xu Guangqi, Tang Ruowang's elder and superior, preferred to address him as "Little Friend Tang" to show his familiarity. Other Chinese Christians preferred to address him by his courtesy name, "Daowei," as a sign of fellowship. And after Tang Ruowang received his official appointment from the Emperor, merchants abandoned their previous formal address and addressed him respectfully as "Your Excellency Baer."

The merchants did not know what level of nobility the sixth-rank official should correspond to in Europe, but they knew that the de facto direct superior of Macau, the magistrate of Xiangshan County, was only a seventh-rank official.

"Dinesh João. This gentleman said that the painting costs two taels of silver. If a portrait is painted on the spot, it will also cost two taels of silver." Tang Ruowang didn't want to be the accompanying translator for this group of businessmen at all, but this was the order of President Long Huamin, so he could only accept it with a pinch of his nose.

Dinesh Joao nodded, then asked the middle-aged scholar in his broken Chinese: "Can I see some other paintings?"

"Please feel free to do as you please." The middle-aged scholar made a gesture of invitation.

As Dinesh João was flipping through other scrolls, the arms dealer named Harald Brandt recognized Zhu Youxiao. He nudged Rogers Heydrich, the French plantation owner next to him, and asked, "Hey! Look at that boy. Is he the young man who had dinner with us at Lord Xu's house? I think he looks a bit like him."

"Huh? What did you say?" Rogers Heydrich was still lost in the bustle and bustle of the Lantern Festival. He had been trading for over a decade, but he had never seen such a bustling market.

"That boy." Harald Brandt guided Rogers Heydrich to look at Zhu Youxiao behind the carpentry stall.

Zhu Youxiao also looked at the foreigners. He was sure he had seen them before, but he could no longer tell who was who. To Zhu Youxiao, these foreigners all looked similar, with only their hair and eye colors being different. The only one who caught Zhu Youxiao's eye was the foreigner who was translating at the painting stall.

The reason why Johann Adam Schall von Bell aroused Zhu Youxiao's interest was not because he spoke fluent Beijing dialect, but because he was wearing an official uniform made of "blue fabric and egret patches".

"Which government office are you from as a sixth-rank civil servant?" Zhu Youxiao asked.

"." Johann Adam Schall von Bell was still helping the Portuguese ship owner Dinesh Joao discuss portrait painting with the middle-aged Confucian scholar, and did not hear Zhu Youxiao's question at all.

However, Harald Brandt, who was staring at Zhu Youxiao from head to toe, noticed this move. He squeezed through the people in the middle and came to Tang Ruowang's side. He patted him on the shoulder and respectfully reminded him, "Mr. Bell, someone is asking you a question."

"Who is it?" Tang Ruowang asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Your Excellency," Harald Brandt guided again.

Tang Ruowang looked in the direction of Harald Brandt's arm and saw a pair of curious eyes. Although the face was childish, it gave Tang Ruowang a strangely familiar and at the same time very friendly feeling.

"My dear friend, have we met before?" Tang Ruowang asked. Although the father and son of the royal family did not look exactly alike, they did have about 50 to 60 percent of the same features.

"Of course not. If I had seen a foreign official wearing the uniform of a sixth-rank official, I would definitely remember his face." Zhu Youxiao didn't know why Tang Ruowang asked this question. He shook his head and asked his question again: "May I ask which government office this gentleman belongs to?"

"Imperial Astronomical Observatory, Spring Official." Johann Adam Schall von Bell replied seriously.

The Imperial Astronomical Observatory's calendar officials consisted of five: Spring, Summer, Middle, Autumn, and Winter. Their ranking was in no particular order, but Spring was generally the most senior. When Johann Adam Schall von Bell received the imperial decree, all five positions were vacant. To make room for him, Xu Guangqi, the Minister of Rites, who had absolute authority over the selection and transfer of Imperial Astronomical Observatory officials, directly reported to the emperor for approval. Spring was promoted twice, and he was transferred to Nanjing to fill the vacant position of Director of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory.

"Aren't all the officials of the Imperial Observatory hereditary?" The middle-aged Confucian scholar was very surprised.

The Ming Hui Dian records: In the sixth year of Hongwu, it was decreed that all personnel of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory were never allowed to move, and their descendants were only allowed to learn astronomy and calendar calculations, and were not allowed to learn other subjects. Those who did not learn would be sent to Hainan as exiles.

After Taizu, successive monarchs made some minor adjustments to the selection and examination mechanisms of the Imperial Observatory officials through imperial edicts, but they basically followed the customs of the Taizu period.

For example, in the 14th year of the Zhengde reign, it was approved that "the superiors of this academy shall select from the public the bright and talented sons of the officials and those who are qualified to serve as teachers, and send them to the Ministry of Rites for examination based on their seniority and artistic talent, and send them back to the various departments of this academy.

For example, in the fourth year of the Longqing reign, it was stipulated that "if there are vacancies in the astronomy department, we will wait for the end-of-year examination and first fill the vacancies with legitimate sons. If the family is extinct or the legitimate sons are not familiar with the art, the remaining men will be recruited according to the number of students. As for legitimate sons, we will wait for another examination to determine the final decision."

It can be said that the emperor's appointment of foreigners as imperial astronomical officials was a de facto breakthrough in the ancestral law. However, this breakthrough occurred during the Donglin Party case that shook the capital, and did not involve the personal interests of officials, so it did not cause any waves.

"My official uniform and black hat were bestowed by the emperor." When mentioning the emperor, Johann Adam Schall von Bell, like other Ming Dynasty officials, bowed in the direction of the Forbidden City.

"Have you ever met the emperor?" Zhu Youxiao swallowed and asked.

The Western envoys' visit to the palace didn't follow the usual formalities. Xu Guangqi ushered them through the Donghua Gate and then directly to the Southern Study. Zhu Youxiao wasn't present at the time, and since no one specifically informed him afterwards, he was unaware of the incident.

"Of course! The emperor even gave me a seat." Johann Adam Schall von Bell replied proudly.

"This is a great honor!" the middle-aged scholar exclaimed with envy.

Tang Ruowang later realized that, of the three people who had met with the emperor that day, he was the only one who had been given a seat. He felt a sense of pride, and his back unconsciously straightened a little. As expected, chatting with someone who knew the business was much more pleasant than dealing with merchants whose only concern was money.

At this point, Zhu Youxiao also understood why Tang Ruowang felt he had seen him before. He lowered his head, no longer looking at Tang Ruowang, and pretended nothing had happened. "Sorry to bother you, sir, please do as you please." "No problem." Tang Ruowang waved his hand kindly, indicating that Zhu Youxiao didn't need to mind.

"Mr. Bell, could you please ask me a question?" At this time, Harald Brandt came over and asked.

"Come one by one, I'm busy here." Johann Adam Schall von Bell has not forgotten what happened with Dinesh Joao.

"Okay." Harald Brandt had no choice but to agree.

Tang Ruowang turned to the middle-aged scholar and continued the conversation. "How long does it take to paint a portrait?"

"It will take two hours to draw just the portrait without the background," the middle-aged scholar replied.

"What about the background?" In order to avoid translating back and forth between questions and answers, Johann Adam Schall von Bell asked proactively.

"That depends on what kind of background you need." The middle-aged scholar gave an example, "If it's just a general landscape, it can be finished in half an hour. But if you want to add complex images such as flowing water, houses, trees, and maids, it may take longer than painting a portrait. But I won't charge extra, so you don't have to sit here and wait, you can come and get it tomorrow. Just give me a deposit of five cents of silver for one painting." As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. The middle-aged scholar made his living by selling paintings, and he had a lot of "common materials" in his mind.

"Okay." Tang Ruowang looked at Dinesh Joao and explained to him everything that Dinesh Joao had asked and had not asked in one breath.

"Thank you, Mr. Bell." Dinesh Joao also noticed Zhu Youxiao behind the woodcarving stall, but he adhered to the principle of completing one task at a time. Therefore, he only asked the other Westerners who came with him: "Gentlemen! I want this painter to paint my portrait. Do you want one too?"

"If you pay, I want it." Ryan Hobbs, who is also Portuguese, took the lead.

"Okay. I'll pay for it." For the leader of the merchant group on this trip, Portuguese ship owner Dinesh João, one or two taels of silver was just a small amount of money.

"Then I want one too." The slave trader Władysław Amato was in high spirits, because he didn't know that the emperor was no longer going to use him to reduce the population base of the northern border tribes.

"Okay, sure." Dinesh Joao changed the question and said, "Is there anything the gentlemen don't want?"

After waiting for a while, no one answered, so he looked at Johann Adam Schall von Bell and said, "Please ask Mr. Bell to tell this painter that I want to order six portraits with the Lantern Festival as the background." As he spoke, he opened his silver bag and took out silver.

When Tang Ruowang heard the six paintings, he immediately knew that his own was among them. He immediately refused, saying, "I don't want it."

"Mr. Bell. In Europe, true aristocrats would hang portraits of themselves or their ancestors in the main hall for banquets. Now that you have become a Chinese aristocrat, it is time to follow the local customs and have a Chinese-style portrait." Dinesh Joao's words just hit the spot for Johann Adam Schall von Bell.

"." Tang Ruowang didn't say anything, but his heart was already beating fast.

"Consider it as an apology for wasting your day." Dinesh Joao was very good at speaking. He did not say that this was a thank you gift, but an apology.

"Okay." Tang Ruowang agreed, and then said to the middle-aged scholar: "Six portraits, five of which are set against the backdrop of the Lantern Festival, and one with the study as the background."

"Big business! Thank you very much, sir, thank you very much!" The middle-aged scholar's mouth was almost stretched to the sky.

"Weigh it." Dinesh Joao took out a silver bar with cut marks and placed it on the desk of the middle-aged scholar.

Although I didn't understand what the foreign rich man was saying, the rules of weighing money did not require special instructions.

Generally speaking, the middle-aged scholar received small pieces of silver whose purity was readily apparent, and the whole silver he received was ingots minted by the imperial court. This was his first time receiving a whole, privately minted silver bar. So, he first tossed it lightly to gauge its weight, then carefully examined its surface color. Finally, he gripped the bar with both hands and bent it a few times to test its firmness. Only then did he pull out a small scale specifically designed for weighing silver from his backpack and weigh it.

After a moment, he said to Tang Ruowang, "Master Guan Zheng, please tell this rich man that six paintings will cost only twelve taels of silver. This is almost a pound of silver."

"Just cut it." Tang Ruowang did not translate, but said directly.

"I don't have any big scissors here, so I can only ask for silver. But I don't know if this rich man would accept the quality of my silver." The middle-aged scholar shook his head apologetically as he fished out several silver bars of varying sizes from the pockets of his backpack. "If not, please go to a nearby bank and ask the owner there to cut them for you. I'll cover the cost."

After hearing the translation, Dinesh Joao took the silver from the middle-aged scholar, took a quick look at it, nodded and said, "Don't bother, just give me the silver."

"Okay." The middle-aged scholar quickly weighed out the full amount of silver and gave it to Dinesh Joao. "I definitely can't finish six paintings in one day. I'll take three taels of silver first. I'll pay you for each painting you complete. What do you think?"

"No need, twelve taels, I'll take it all." Dinesh Joao waved his hand nonchalantly.

"Thank you for your trust, sir." The middle-aged scholar did not refuse. He collected the silver bar and reweighed the silver. "Your change is four taels and two cents. Please keep it."

"This is too troublesome." Zhu Youxiao sighed as he watched the back and forth.

"Indeed, it is strange that our Ming Dynasty uses silver so widely but does not mint silver coins." Johann Adam Schall von Bell liked this young man who looked very familiar, so when he heard the sigh, he immediately followed up.

"Silver coins. Are they the silver pieces in the shape of cakes with human heads printed on them?" Zhu Youxiao had seen the tributes that Westerners presented to his father, among which was a whole box of exquisite Spanish silver dollars.

"You know?" Johann Adam Schall von Bell was a little surprised.

Zhu Youxiao was stunned, and immediately realized that he seemed too arrogant. But after a brief panic, he calmed down and said, "I do know."

(End of this chapter)