The visitor was a censor from Chaoge.
The censor had been on leave, but with nothing to do on his day off, Xin Jia had sent him to deliver a message.
"You're quite young for a censor." Huang Ming returned his greeting. Though the censor was only an ordinary official in the Censorate, his authority to submit reports based on hearsay was formidable. He had probably come here hoping to find something worth reporting, too.
"You flatter me, Lord Huang," the censor said. "The merchant caravans that came with me this time are all looking to buy stone carbon and copper ore."
Huang Ming hesitated. "Stone carbon is no problem. It's all over the mountains and plains. But copper ore..."
"There isn't much copper ore in my mining district."
If there had been copper ore, Huang Ming would have taken his men to dig it up long ago. If he did not send some copper to the palace soon and King Zhou kept melting things down, not a single bronze vessel from the former kings would remain!
"That's all right," the young censor said. "I was only mentioning it on their behalf anyway. Lord Huang, here is a letter for you from Deputy Chief Censor Xin."
The censor took out the letter. Huang Ming accepted it, pleasantly surprised.
He had seen the paper used in Chaoge, but this was the first time anyone had sent him a letter.
Huang Ming opened the letter and studied it for a moment.
Good heavens, I can't read this. The characters on bamboo slips used to look more or less alike, so he could at least recognize their shapes. Now that paper had appeared, everyone's handwriting had taken on a different style, far more unrestrained. He really could not make it out.
Huang Ming