Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 806 Arrival at Beitang
The rain slanted down for most of the day, showing no sign of stopping.

Water droplets streamed down the eaves of the West Flower Hall of the Ministry of Finance's main hall, dripping onto the bluestone slabs below. The splashes were immediately swept away by the cool breeze, clinging to the bamboo curtains of the window frames, leaving patches of shallow dampness.

On the cool couch in the flower hall, Bi Ziyan, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and Governor-General of Liaodong, was fast asleep, his eyes closed, leaning against a reclining chair covered with a blue satin cushion, his brow furrowed.

At this moment, Bi Ziyan's personal servant, Bi Shengzhi, lifted the bamboo curtain, tiptoed into the flower hall, came to Bi Ziyan's side, gently nudged his shoulder, and softly called out, "Master, it's time to get up."

Bi Ziyan's eyelashes fluttered, and he sat up groggily. The thin blanket slipped off his shoulders, and the dampness seeped in, making him shiver slightly.

"What time is it now?" Bi Ziyan rubbed his temples, his gaze drifting to the gray sky outside the window. He was somewhat dazed, as if still immersed in the faint dream he had just had.

Bi Shengzhi stepped back to the door, looked up at the sky which was completely obscured by clouds, and mumbled, "Master, the sky is so dark that you can't see the sun. But it must be past noon."

Bi Ziyan nodded and slowly stood up, supporting himself on the armrest of the recliner. Bi Shengzhi hurriedly ran to the corner, took the scarlet peacock-patterned robe from the clothes rack, came behind Bi Ziyan, and spread his arms out flat.

Bi Ziyan raised his hand and first put his left hand into the sleeve. Bi Shengzhi then pulled the fabric up a little and guided Bi Ziyan to put his right hand into the sleeve. After putting on the clothes, he went around to the front of him and carefully put the gold-flower belt on him after Bi Ziyan tied the clothes rope.

Bi Ziyan walked to the dressing table, picked up the official hat, gently placed it on his head, and then adjusted the hat wings in front of the bronze mirror.

After getting dressed, Bi Ziyan walked along the covered walkway toward the signing room in the second hall. The lanterns hanging under the walkway swayed gently in the wind, and raindrops dripped down from the lantern tassels, splashing into small puddles on the bluestone slabs.

As dusk fell, the lights were already on in the signing room, where several clerks sat at their desks, each doing their own work. A series of footsteps approached, and the clerks all looked up. When the crimson figure appeared, they quickly rose from their seats, walked to the open space in the middle of the signing room, and bowed respectfully: "Greetings, Right Master."

"No need, no need, go about your business." Bi Ziyan didn't even look at the books or the servants, just waved his hand, and walked straight to the rosewood desk, lifted his robe and sat down.

As soon as he sat down, Bi Ziyan reached out and took off the official hat he had just put on, placing it on the edge of the table. Although it was raining outside, it was still too hot to wear the hat all the time.

A yamen runner, who was specifically responsible for serving tea, brought Bi Ziyan a cup of warm tea at just the right time. The runner gently placed the teacup in front of Bi Ziyan, then bowed and withdrew. From the moment he entered until he left, the runner did not utter a single word.

Bi Ziyan picked up his teacup, skimmed off the floating leaves with the lid, blew on it to his lips, then stroked his long, black and white beard and took a small sip. The aroma of the tea, mixed with warmth, slid down his throat, completely dispelling any lingering drowsiness.

Bi Ziyan put down his teacup, reached for a large block of fine Huizhou pine soot ink from the table, and added some water to the inkstone. He rolled up his sleeves and slowly ground the ink. The ink block rotated along the texture of the inkstone, and the black ink gradually spread, filling the air with a faint fragrance of ink.

"Have any new official documents arrived?" Bi Ziyan asked casually.

The clerk in charge of receiving and sending official documents immediately stood up and replied respectfully, "Reporting to the Right Hall, there are no new documents arriving yet. However, someone has delivered a visiting card, which is in the basket on your left."

Bi Ziyan glanced at the basket and, sure enough, saw an opened visiting card inside. He didn't reach for it but continued grinding ink: "Whose visiting card is this?"

“Return to the right hall. The person who delivered the letter identified himself as ‘Luo Yagu,’ a Western monk.” The clerk looked at Bi Ziyan. “He said he came from the capital and had been summoned by the emperor. He is now in Beitang on business and hopes to meet you.”

Bi Ziyan stared at the ink in the inkstone, which was getting darker and darker, and murmured, "Luo Yagu..." Bi Ziyan quickly realized that he had never heard of this name before, but he had heard people mention more than once that the emperor had summoned the Western astronomer.

"What business does he have in Beitang?" Bi Ziyan put down the inkstone and looked up at the clerk.

“Deliver the letter,” the clerk said after thinking for a moment. “In the post, Luo Yagu said that he came to Beitang to ask those Western merchants to send their family letters back to their hometown thousands of miles away.”

Bi Ziyan grunted in acknowledgment, raised his hand and waved downwards, gesturing for the clerk to sit down. He then reached into the bamboo basket, took out the opened envelope, pulled out the visiting card, and unfolded it to examine it.

The paper was covered in neat, small regular script; not a single crooked foreign character could be seen. The word choice and sentence structure also followed Chinese grammatical conventions. As Bi Ziyan read it, he could even imagine a scholar who had failed the imperial examinations for many years scrutinizing the words under the lamplight.

"Right Master, there's one more small thing I forgot to mention about this visiting card," the clerk said hastily after sitting down, remembering something.

"What is it?" Bi Ziyan asked without looking up.

"The person who delivered the notice was not Luo Yagu himself, but a deputy inspector surnamed Ren from the Qilihai Patrol Office," the clerk said.

"Qilihai?" Bi Ziyan raised an eyebrow and asked casually, "What kind of place is that?"

The clerk pondered: "Qilihai is a large lake in Baodi County, surrounded by many villages. It is located at the border between Baodi County and the coastal defense camp, not far from Beitang, only a day or two away."

“Baodi County?” Bi Ziyan tossed the visiting card back into the bamboo basket. “So, this Luo Yagu isn’t from Tianjin?”

“It shouldn’t be,” the clerk said. “If it’s by land, then coming from Baodi is actually shorter than going through Tianjin.”

Bi Ziyan nodded and said to the clerk, "Make arrangements so I can meet with him at a free time."

"Yes!" Pu Shuban immediately responded, then took a blue memo from the desk, opened it, and made a note.

Bi Ziyan took the brush from the brush holder, dipped the bristles into the freshly ground ink, slowly wrapped them around the inkstone, and then scraped off the excess ink along the inner wall of the inkstone. He repeated this several times until the entire brush tip was evenly soaked in ink.

“Pu Shuban.” Bi Ziyan looked up at the clerk as if he had suddenly remembered something.

"Here!" Pu Shuban heard the call and was about to stand up again, but Bi Ziyan pressed him down with a wave of his hand: "You can talk while sitting, you don't need to get up."

Pu, the clerk, put his back down in the chair. "Does the Right Secretary have any further instructions?" "When did the official document from Tianjin arrive?" Bi Ziyan took a document and unfolded it in front of him.

“The official document from Tianjin,” Pu, the clerk, thought for a moment and replied, “Four days ago.”

"Has it been four days already..." Bi Ziyan muttered to himself, his eyes darting to the side.

Pu Shuban quickly opened the memo in front of him, pointed to a line of text and confirmed, "Yes, the most recent document from Tianjin was indeed sent four days ago. It mentions that the imperial envoy is about to travel east to Beitang."

"Any new information from the post station?" Bi Ziyan asked.

Pu Shuban shook his head: "Not yet. Should we send someone to look for it?"

“Alright.” Bi Ziyan nodded. “After all, he is an imperial envoy, so it’s good to take him seriously. Have someone from the post station go and report back immediately if there is any news.”

"Yes." Pu Shuban quickly replied and got up to leave.

"Furthermore," Bi Ziyan said, picking up his pen and writing, multitasking, "postpone the meeting with that foreigner. Don't rush to reply to him. Let me meet with those imperial envoys first."

Pu Shuban paused, then replied, "Yes."

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Beitang Post Station stands on a high ground beside the river, with blue bricks and gray tiles, and two faded red lanterns hanging in front of the gate. The origin of this post station is quite interesting—at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Beitang was merely a barren beach on the Bohai Bay, with only a solitary beacon tower belonging to the Tianjin Right Guard standing on a hillside, where smoke signals were lit at night to warn Japanese pirates and other dangerous sea raiders. It wasn't until the Jiajing era, when the threat of Japanese pirates from the southeast spread to the north, that the imperial court established checkpoints and defenses along the coast. Only then did Beitang have a post station under the jurisdiction of Baodi County, specifically responsible for transmitting coastal defense intelligence.

During the period of resistance against Japanese aggression and aid to Korea, the imperial court initially established the Tianjin Governor's Office to be in charge of coastal defense. At that time, there was no official office, so the governor used this post station as a temporary residence. It was not until the Tianjin Governor's Office, which is now the Beitang Military Supply Office, was completed that the post station resumed its original function.

At the hour of Si (9-11 AM), sunlight streamed onto the Haihe River, shimmering with golden light. Postmaster Peng Yi sat under a sunshade outside the dock, in a rattan recliner, while two postmen leisurely fanned him with palm-leaf fans.

Outside the sunshade, river workers were busy transferring grain. They came and went at the canal dock, their footsteps and shouts mingling together, making Peng Yi's already restless heart even more agitated.

Six days ago, the Beitang Post Station received a message from the Tianjin Post Station saying that the Emperor had sent an imperial envoy to Tanggu for inspection. They would arrive in Beitang soon, but he had been waiting at the dock with his men every day for the past few days, yet there was still no sign of the official ship, which made him unable to sleep soundly at night.

"Sir, sir!" a courier suddenly called out, "Look over there!"

Peng Yi suddenly opened his eyes and looked in the direction the courier pointed. He saw two cargo ships slowly approaching on the water in the distance, each with a bright yellow flag with the words "Imperial Envoy" embroidered on it, fluttering in the wind.

"They're here! They're really here!" Peng Yi jumped up from the recliner in a flash, his movements so fast and hurried that the chair wobbled. While straightening his clothes, he pointed behind him: "You, go to the Ministry of Revenue to inform Master Bi. You, go inform Eunuch Jin. You, go inform Eunuch Gao. Hurry! Run!"

"Yes!" the three couriers replied hastily and ran off. Peng Yi, along with the remaining couriers, quickly headed towards the dock.

About 15 minutes later, two cargo boats bearing the flags of imperial envoys arrived at the dock. The boatmen, bent over, pulled on the ropes and backed away step by step, the boats slowly approaching the pier, white waves splashing against the sides of the boats.

The sailors on the ship leaned out and threw the thick mooring rope to the shore, where it landed with a "thud" on the boardwalk. Several couriers quickly called over the river workers, who hurriedly tied the rope to the stone pillars on the bank, making a tight knot.

After the ship came to a stop, the sailors removed the sideboards on the ship's side and laid a wide wooden plank across the pier, which became a temporary gangplank.

The first person to step onto the gangplank was the courier who had been sent by Bi Ziyan to find the imperial envoy a few days earlier. As soon as he touched the ground, he turned around and eagerly stretched out his hand towards the boat: "Eunuch Gao. Come here. Let me help you."

However, the person who got off the boat next was not Gao Shiming, but He Xiaokui, who was wearing a blue constable's uniform. He didn't even look at the courier, jumped down in a few steps, and landed steadily on the plank road. Then he turned around and reached out to the boat: "Boss! Slow down, don't fall."

Gao Shiming frowned, took He Xiaokui's outstretched hand, and slowly stepped down from the plank. The courier, ignored, froze in mid-air, and could only awkwardly withdraw his hand, offering polite words of advice to the imperial envoys.

Gao Shiming had been on a boat all the way and had gotten used to it, but he still couldn't help feeling uncomfortable. He stood on the boardwalk for a while, closed his eyes slightly, took a few breaths, and then slowly opened his eyes.

Peng Yi strode over and immediately bowed to Gao Shiming, saying, "This humble servant, Peng Yi, the postmaster of Beitang Post Station, pays respects to the Imperial Envoy! May I ask the Imperial Envoy's name?"

"I am Gao Shiming, Director of the General Administration of Customs." Gao Shiming waved his hand, his voice still a little weak.

"So it's Director Gao!" Peng Yi bowed again.

At this time, Fang Zhenghua, the inspector of the Western Depot's External Inspection Division, Xu Fang, the deputy director of the Second Division of the Western Depot's Execution Bureau, and Pang Tianshou, the deputy director of the Audit Bureau of the Imperial Household Department, and others also disembarked one after another from another cargo ship.

Seeing this, Peng Yi quickly went to greet them and bowed to the three of them. Fang Zhenghua was naturally aloof and simply grunted in acknowledgment before continuing to walk toward where Gao Shiming was standing. Xu Fang also waved her hand without saying a word. Pang Tianshou, on the other hand, was relatively gentle and accepted the bow, saying, "Thank you for waiting here for so long, Postmaster Peng."

Gao Shiming gradually recovered, but his complexion was still not very good. He looked at Peng Yi, and without introducing the rest of the group, said directly, "Innkeeper Peng, we may be staying in Beitang for a while. We hope that your inn can arrange our food and lodging according to the rules."

Peng Yi quickly straightened up, his smile widening: "Don't worry, Eunuch Gao! This humble servant has made all the necessary preparations and is just waiting for you gentlemen to arrive!"

Gao Shiming nodded slightly and gestured with his chin toward Peng Yi, "Then I'll trouble you, Peng Yicheng, to lead the way. Let's go to the post station to rest first."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Peng Yi quickly stepped aside, gesturing for them to come this way. "This way, please."

(End of this chapter)