Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 205: See through but don’t tell the truth

"How do you know? There should be no silver dollars circulating in the north, right?" Zhu Youxiao's answer aroused Johann Adam Schall von Bell's curiosity.

Silver dollars were indeed used as a medium of exchange among the Chinese people. For example, the earliest and longest-lasting Spanish silver dollar was called the "Benyang." Because the obverse of the silver dollar featured a portrait of the Spanish king wearing a wig, which resembled the hair bun of Gautama Buddha, it was commonly known as the "Buddha Head," "Buddha Head Silver," "Buddha Face Silver," or "Buddha Head Silver." Furthermore, because the reverse featured the Spanish coat of arms, flanked by a pair of Hercules Pillars, the Spanish dollar was also known as the "Double Pillars" or "Pillar Yang."

Spanish silver dollars were 90% silver, of excellent quality. However, while in circulation, the common practice was to convert them into silver taels, using weight rather than the actual silver coin as a proxy for value. Because a silver coin weighed approximately seven qian and two fen, each silver coin was typically valued at seven qian of silver. In other words, although Spanish silver coins circulated in parts of China, the Spanish king received no seigniorage from the Chinese.

The so-called "partial areas" here refer to areas in the south with developed maritime trade. Because when tax silver was sent to Beijing, the silver coins would be melted into official ingots like other miscellaneous silver. They would not directly enter the circulation area in the north.

It was precisely because they knew this in advance that the maritime merchants recast some silver dollars into silver bars that were easy to carry and cut and brought them to Beijing for use.

"Someone gave them to me, and I have a few of them in my collection at home," Zhu Youxiao said righteously.

"I see." Johann Adam Schall von Bell had no doubts. Exchanging gifts among scholars and officials was common. It was entirely possible that southern scholars and officials had brought foreign silver to Beijing as a gift, mistaking it for an unusual handicraft.

While the two were talking, the middle-aged scholar took out his brush, ink, scroll, and other tools and asked, "Which guest would like to go first?"

"Excuse me." Johann Adam Schall von Bell smiled at Zhu Youxiao, then relayed the middle-aged Confucian scholar's question to the merchants.

"Mr. Bell, would you please go first?" The sponsor Dinesh Joao waved his hand respectfully.

"You guys go first." Johann Adam Schall von Bell also declined modestly.

"Then I'll just obey your command." I don't know who Dinesh Joao learned this from.

"Please sit here for a while." The middle-aged Confucian scholar handed a small wooden stool to Dinesh Joao and said to Johann Adam Schall von Bell, "Mr. Guanzheng, you can paint before the sun sets. While I am painting for this guest, you can take the other guests to other places." He had already made it clear that this young foreigner in official uniform was the only one among this group of Semites with whom he could communicate normally.

"There are storytellers, opera singers, and jugglers over there. You can go and take a look." The middle-aged scholar gestured.

"Okay." Johann Adam Schall von Bell bowed slightly, then turned his gaze to the arms dealer Harald Brandt. "Tell me, who do you want me to ask you what questions?"

"Sir Bell, please ask this stall owner," Harald Brandt said, looking at Zhu Youxiao. "Just ask him if he's the young man who went with Sir Zhu to Sir Xu's residence that day."

"What!" Tang Ruowang's eyes immediately widened.

Tang Ruowang had heard this incident mentioned by merchants before. At the time, they said, the official leading the trade negotiations was a tall man named Zhu. The merchants observed that this Lord Zhu clearly held a higher position than Lord Xu. Furthermore, the merchants reported that Lord Zhu was accompanied by a boy who bore a striking resemblance to him. Based on their interactions, the merchants speculated that the boy was his son.

According to Johann Adam Schall von Bell, in the Ming Dynasty, besides the emperor, the only figures higher in rank than the six ministers were the six ministers of the cabinet, the four eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department, and noble relatives. Neither the cabinet nor the Imperial Household Department had a single noble named Zhu. Therefore, after instinctively ruling out the emperor as the most unlikely option, the Jesuits speculated that this noble named Zhu was most likely Duke of Cheng, Zhu Chunchen, whose status among the noble relatives in the capital was second only to Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian. But now, this speculation seems to have been overturned.

Harald Brandt thought that Johann Adam Schall von Bell had not heard clearly, so he repeated the previous question.

But at this time, Tang Ruowang could no longer listen to anything. He suddenly looked at the young man who was huddled behind the carpentry stall, struggling with the wood. The young man seemed to sense his gaze and shrank back again.

In Johann Adam Schall von Bell's mind, the young man in front of him gradually became associated with the Emperor, whose face always had a kind smile.

His breathing began to become rapid, and a hint of red appeared on his thin cheeks due to nervousness and excitement.

"Your Highness?" Tang Ruowang's lips opened and closed, and he uttered two words like a delirium.

Because the lantern market was noisy, no one except him heard the word that was enough to cause a big commotion. Only the sword-wielding guard beside Zhu Youxiao, who had always been on high alert against these foreigners, read the word through lip reading.

The guard's face changed immediately. He quickly glanced at Zhu Youxiao and found that the prince had not noticed the emergency. He immediately decided to "execute first and report later."

The guard took two long strides to Tang Ruowang, put his arm around his shoulders, and while preventing Tang Ruowang from kneeling and saluting, he whispered a serious warning in his ear: "Don't shout. Just keep it to yourself!"

At this point, Johann Adam Schall von Bell hadn't reacted yet. But behind him, in the teahouse, the other guards, who had been sitting by the windows for almost a day, suddenly stood up. They were ready. If the captain downstairs drew his sword or called out, they would jump from the second floor, clear the street in front of the stall, and set off special fireworks to call for reinforcements.

Once the guards did so, the Imperial Stables would immediately take action and seal off the Lantern Festival until His Highness was safely returned to the Forbidden City.

"What are you doing?" Zhu Youxiao raised his head and looked at the captain of the guards in confusion.

"This imperially appointed official is quite interested in the young master's handicrafts. He wants to buy one to take home for his collection. I will help the young master to greet him." The captain of the guards waved his hand slightly in the direction of the teahouse, indicating that others do not need to be nervous.

Zhu Youxiao came to his senses, sighed lightly, and said to Tang Ruowang, "Sir, the items on my stall are sold for ten taels of silver each. If you don't mind the price and are willing to take care of it, you can take your time to pick whatever you want, but please don't disrupt other people's business." The corners of his mouth raised in the arc of a stall owner welcoming customers, but his brows were still slightly furrowed.

"Okay, okay, I get it." Tang Ruowang turned his head to look at the burly man holding him, and said, "I won't yell."

"I'm glad to know. You can choose whatever you want." The captain of the guard patted the back of Tang Ruowang's collar, then walked back to his original position and stood still.

"I, uh." After Tang Ruowang's suspicions were confirmed by the guards' warning, he was at a loss for words. "Sir Bell, what are they talking about? What's wrong with you?" Harald Brandt's Chinese was barely better than Dinesh João's. He had met the emperor, but he had no idea what he looked like, so he didn't understand Tang Ruowang's expression, which changed so many times in such a short period of time.

"It's okay. I just suddenly wanted to buy a wooden sculpture to decorate my study." Johann Adam Schall von Bell wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and said to Harald Brandt.

"Okay, Lord Bell, which one do you want?" Although Johann Adam Schall von Bell had not yet given Harald Brandt the answer he wanted, this did not prevent him from seizing the opportunity to please him.

After the three missionaries arrived at the palace to meet the emperor, the merchant representatives gathered for a brief meeting to discuss their views on Johann Adam Schall von Bell's appointment as the Imperial Minister. The final conclusion was that Monsignor Bell, once a nobody, had now gained the favor of the Ming Emperor. Therefore, his importance to the merchant corps was equal to, if not greater than, that of Jesuit President Long Huamin. The merchant corps should spare no effort to curry favor with Monsignor Bell as a subtle expression of goodwill to the Emperor, even if Monsignor Bell disliked merchants.

Merchants visited the Lantern Festival not only to observe and experience the splendor of the Ming imperial capital up close, but also to seek an opportunity to curry favor with Johann Adam Schall von Bell. It could be said that the very act of having Schall von Bell serve as interpreter for the delegates was the merchants' primary goal. Approaching the monarch by currying favor with favored officials was a common practice in Europe.

Long Huamin was completely unaware of this, and thought this was an opportunity to demonstrate his authority within the Jesuit Order and in front of the sea merchants. So he used his position as the head of the Jesuit Order to pressure Johann Adam Schall von Bell, forcing him to do something he was reluctant to do.

"Young Master, please help me pick one." Johann Adam Schall von Bell didn't even look at Harald Brandt, but stared at Zhu Youxiao with a slightly fanatical look.

After that audience, Johann Adam Schall von Bell became the emperor's most devoted supporter. He believed that the "Haotian God" (Haotian Shangdi) and the biblical Elohim were one and the same. He believed that his journey across the ocean to the Ming Dynasty, where he could serve the emperor, benefit his subjects, and restore the glory of his ancestors, was guided and protected by the "Haotian Shangdi," or the "One God."

Zhu Youxiao was so frightened by his stare that he said, "Master Guan Zheng, could you please stop looking at me like that?"

"Yes, okay." Johann Adam Schall von Bell quickly turned his head to the side.

"If Lord Guan Zheng really likes it, take this." Zhu Youxiao looked around and picked up a pine crane and placed it on the edge of the table. He said, "Although I didn't put much thought into making this, I just copied it from a jade carving at home. But since Lord Guan Zheng asked me to choose, I have to find something to say. I wish Lord Guan Zheng a crane that stands out from the crowd and a 'red robe and crane patch' soon."

The so-called "red robe and crane patch" actually means an official of the first rank, the highest position among officials.

"Thank you for your kind words, thank you for your kind words!" Tang Ruowang certainly understood. He picked up the wood carving and examined it like a treasure. He exclaimed, "This wood carving is so beautiful! It looks like a crane about to soar into the sky. It's truly a masterpiece!"

Harald Brandt quickly took out his money, but he didn't know how much it would cost, so he took out a large silver note of one hundred taels and respectfully handed it to Zhu Youxiao, and asked cautiously, "Is this enough?"

"That's enough. It's enough for each of you to pick one." Zhu Youxiao was quite happy when he heard Tang Ruowang's praise, but when he saw the silver note with a face value of 100 taels, his mood immediately became complicated. He had not forgotten Ding Baiying's price for these things.

"Your Excellency asked each of you to pick one." Tang Ruowang was unable to discern the complex emotions behind Zhu Youxiao's simple words. He simply felt that everyone should come and admire this incredible and ingenious wood carving.

"Okay!" Harald Brandt had no intention of asking Zhu Youxiao for change. Instead, he called on other merchant representatives to come over and choose the sculptures they liked.

After Dinesh João left his seat, the middle-aged scholar could no longer paint. He had realized that both the beautiful wealthy lady and the overseas merchants before him had a close relationship with the young master. They were not buying wood carvings, but relationships. However, he was not envious, let alone jealous. Instead, he felt that the young man was a lucky star. If the young man had not set up a stall next to him, there might not have been any business for these six portraits. He turned to look at Zhu Youxiao and said with a bow, "Congratulations."

Zhu Youxiao was speechless and could only cup his fists and sigh, "Thank you."

While selecting the wood carvings, plantation owner Rogers Heydrich whispered to Harald Brandt, "Harald Brandt, is this stall owner the young gentleman who visited Lord Xu's residence the other day?"

"Mr. Bell didn't say, but judging by your reaction, this is most likely the Duke's son," Harald Brandt replied. The merchant representatives also believed that the so-called Mr. Zhu was probably Zhu Chunchen, Duke of Chengguo.

"Then how about spending a little more money and giving an extra tribute?" Each of them carried at least two hundred taels of silver. If necessary, they could simply hold a small meeting and quickly gather over ten thousand taels of silver in banknotes. If they sent someone to Macau, they could even get even more.

"The Chinese often say that too little is as bad as too little, and I think that makes a lot of sense. Let's wait and see how Mr. Bell reacts," said Harald Brandt.

"Okay." Rogers Heydrich nodded slightly in agreement.

None of these foreign merchants knew the value of the goods; they only picked the big ones. Among them, the smallest but most valuable one, the tiger-patterned golden nanmu longevity lock, was left untouched.

"Sir Guan Zheng, these are the only things I have on my stall. If you have picked everything, please leave quickly." It was not late and the sky was just getting bright, but Zhu Youxiao suddenly felt a little tired.

It was a taboo for a stall owner to ask a customer to leave, which would damage his reputation. But Tang Ruowang did not take it as an offense. Instead, he bowed respectfully and said, "Please give my regards to your father."

"Greetings." Zhu Youxiao nodded and waved his hand.

"Goodbye!" After Tang Ruowang bowed again, he said to the merchants, "Let's go somewhere else."

"I also want to paint a portrait," said Dinesh Joao.

"Mr. Dinesh Joao, it's all right for you to continue painting the portrait, but don't bother that gentleman," Tang Ruowang mercilessly exposed Dinesh Joao's thoughts. "He won't understand you and won't bother guessing what you're saying. Don't try to make things worse."

"Yes." Dinesh Joao raised his eyebrows and sat back in front of the middle-aged scholar's painting stall with some embarrassment.

(End of this chapter)