The camp village

After hearing Wang Yang's words and seeing Squad Leader Xue and Clerk Wang's reactions, Ding Jiu had more or less grasped the situation. But he had spent the past two days running around at Wang Yang's beck and call and put in no small amount of effort. He could not bear to have it all come to nothing. Besides, what if this young wastrel still had another card up his sleeve? He ventured, "Young Master Wang, where are we going next?"

Seeing that he had finally shaken off Squad Leader Xue and Clerk Wang, Wang Yang was delighted. He planned to press his advantage and shake off the remaining two soldiers as well. Then he would be completely free!

How do I shake them off?

Borrow money!

He pretended to sigh. "I have nowhere to go for the moment. How about this-you lend me some money first. Once the people my second uncle sent to fetch me arrive, you'll be amply rewarded."

At the mention of borrowing money, Ding Jiu wanted to cry but had no tears!

He finally understood why Squad Leader Xue and Clerk Wang had fled faster than rabbits. This young master was nothing but a big talker!

A member of the illustrious Langya Wang had entered Jingzhou City and still needed to borrow money from him. What a sorry state to be in!

With a miserable smile, he said, "You must be joking, young master. Where would a lowly fellow like me get any money?"

Wang Yang continued wielding his supreme art of shamelessness. "If you have no money, finding me somewhere to stay will do! I happen to be hungry, too. Come on, come on-treat this young master to a meal first!"

Ding Jiu trembled with fright and rattled off, "Young Master Wang, I still have matters to attend to at home. I'll head back first and come serve you another time!" With that, he ran off without a trace.

Wang Yang laughed inwardly and turned to Black Han with a radiant smile. "How about lending me a little spending money?"

Without a moment's hesitation, Black Han took a small cloth bundle from inside his robe and offered it with both hands. "Young master, we soldier households rarely receive any pay. I don't have much money. I've only saved thirty-three copper coins-that's everything I own. Please take it." His expression was utterly respectful.

Wang Yang froze and blinked. What sort of game is this?

I've made myself look so unmistakably down-and-out. Can't he see it?

Or did Squad Leader Xue and Clerk Wang arrange this? Am I not allowed out of their sight until they verify my true identity?

Thinking of the latter possibility, Wang Yang hardened his heart and took the little cloth bundle. "Come on. Let's eat first."

Black Han looked troubled. "Young master, this really isn't much money. It won't even buy one good meal. And we'll still need lodgings afterward, so it certainly won't be enough."

Intent on frightening Black Han away, Wang Yang acted as though he had the man firmly under his thumb. "I'm hungry and tired right now. I'll leave the food and lodgings to you."

Black Han thought briefly. "If you don't mind, young master, you could stay at my home."

"Go... go to your home?"

"Yes. My home isn't far from Jingzhou City. You can eat and rest there, young master."

Wang Yang feigned delight. "Perfect! I have nowhere to stay and no money on me. I'll stay at your place for the time being!"

Rather than fleeing in fright as Wang Yang had imagined, Black Han cupped his hands and said earnestly, "I'll do everything in my power to take good care of you, young master!"

Wang Yang: ???

What is going on?!

Even that won't scare him off?!

Is this man too simple-minded, or has he been given some absolute order?

Who has whom under his thumb here?

Full of doubts, Wang Yang followed Black Han out of the city. The farther they walked, the fewer people they saw and the more remote their surroundings became.

Alarm bells rang in Wang Yang's mind!

Could this man secretly be in the business of trafficking people or kidnapping them for ransom? Although ancient times had no "kidney harvesting," kidnappings and abductions were hardly uncommon. There was a poem in the Han Music Bureau Songs called "East of Pingling": "East of Pingling, among pine, cypress, and parasol trees, who abducted the honorable lord? They abducted the honorable lord beneath a lofty hall, demanding a million in cash and two swift steeds..." That was about kidnapping for ransom!

Could he be after my status as a member of the Langya Wang, planning to kidnap me and extort the Wang family?!

While Black Han was not looking, Wang Yang picked up a stone from the ground and hid it in his sleeve.

"Young master, our Eighth Camp is just ahead!" Black Han stopped and pointed forward.

"Eighth Camp?" Wang Yang was startled. Has he tricked me into coming to another military camp?

Somewhat embarrassed, Black Han explained, "Since we're soldier households, our families have to be placed under the camp's supervision and live together. That's why the place we live is also called Ying Village. We're the eighth camp, so it's Eighth Camp Village."

Wang Yang recalled that during the Six Dynasties, "Soldier households" had also been called "camp households." Perhaps that had something to do with this arrangement.

Although Eighth Camp Village had "camp" in its name, it looked nothing like a military camp. From a distance, it was merely a cluster of shabby thatched huts, with all sorts of wooden frames and cloth awnings erected between them and clothes and quilts hung out to dry. The ground was wet and black as mud, making the whole place look filthy and disorderly.

Black Han's home stood on the edge of the village, with no structures erected around it, seeming somewhat out of place in Eighth Camp Village. Stranger still, darkness had already fallen and lights dotted the village, yet Black Han's home remained pitch-black.

Still six or seven paces from the house, Black Han called loudly, "A-Wu! My little A-Wu!"

Unsure whether this was some signal to an accomplice, Wang Yang tightened his grip on the stone in his sleeve and kept his guard up.

There came the patter of running feet, then bang, the brushwood gate swung open!

A tiny figure dashed out and hurled herself into Black Han's arms. "Daddy! I thought I'd have to wait another month to see you!"

Wang Yang was stunned. He really was coming home!

His face alight with joy, Black Han lifted his daughter and swung her around, making the little girl giggle as her long hair flew through the air.

Black Han drew his daughter over. "A-Wu! We have an honored guest! Quick, greet him! Call him Young Master Wang!"

She was a dark-skinned, skinny little girl. Her hair was long and black, but somewhat dry and yellowed, and she looked only five or six years old. Perhaps because she was so thin, her eyes seemed especially large. Or perhaps because her clothes were so loose, the worn little gray robe looked like a great sack draped over her, hanging all the way to her ankles.

"Greetings, Young Master Wang!" The little girl bowed with easy confidence, showing none of the fear of strangers common in other children.

Wang Yang bent down. "Your name is A-Wu, right? Which character is the 'Wu'?"

The little girl's expression changed, and she looked at her father.

Black Han patted his daughter. "Go prepare something to eat for Young Master Wang. Daddy will come help you in a moment."

The little girl glanced at Wang Yang, leaned close to her father, and whispered, "Do we have to prepare really good food?"

Black Han nodded awkwardly. "Of course. Young Master Wang is an honored guest. Go get the bowls and chopsticks ready. Daddy will be right there."

The little girl agreed and ran into the house.

Looking troubled, Black Han stammered, "There's something I should have told you beforehand, young master. It's my fault I forgot. But now that you're here, I can't keep it from you. My daughter... my daughter, she..."

Wang Yang asked curiously, "What about your daughter?"

"She... she's a Double Fifth child."

"What?" Wang Yang had not understood.

Black Han took the question as a sign of displeasure and hastily cupped his hands in apology. "Please don't be angry, young master! If you consider it taboo, we can find somewhere else to stay!"

"Taboo? What taboo? What was that Double Fifth you just mentioned?" Wang Yang was baffled.

"Young master, you've never heard of a Double Fifth child? A-Wu... A-Wu was... was born on the fifth day of the fifth month."

Wang Yang recalled an ancient custom: children born on the fifth day of the fifth month were not to be raised.

"Raised" meant brought up. According to folk superstition, the fifth day of the fifth month-the Dragon Boat Festival-was an "evil day," giving rise to all manner of activities intended to drive out evil and cleanse impurities.

In modern society, a child born during the Dragon Boat Festival would simply be a Dragon Boat baby. In those days, however, such a birth was considered inauspicious. People believed Double Fifth babies would bring harm to their parents and even others. Thus, they tried their best to avoid giving birth on the fifth day of the fifth month. If a child was nevertheless born that day, abandonment was common.

Naturally, Wang Yang believed none of this. "The Double Fifth taboo is utter nonsense. Lord Mengchang was born on the fifth day of the fifth month, too, and didn't he still leave his name in the annals of history?"

Black Han said happily, "I knew you were a learned man, young master! You wouldn't mind such things!"

Wang Yang smiled. "What does that have to do with being learned?"

"The more you know, the broader your outlook! Unlike those people in our village..." A hint of bitterness touched the corners of Black Han's mouth before he smiled again. "Ah, let's not talk about that! Young master, could you tell me about that great man surnamed Meng? Then I'll have something to tell people in the future."

Notes: ① The term "camp household" was connected both to wives and family members living in camps and to their household registration falling under the camp administration. Readers interested in this subject can consult He Ziquan's The Military System of the Wei-Jin Period and the Southern Dynasties and Chen Yuping's A Study of the Soldier Household System in the Wei-Jin Period and the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

② Too few documents from Southern Qi have survived to allow a detailed reconstruction of prices at the time using the available historical sources. However, there is some basis for constructing a pricing system if the Northern and Southern Dynasties are treated as a whole. The drawback is that fluctuations and differences in prices between individual dynasties must be sacrificed, but there is no way around that.

The pricing system depicted in this book takes the broad span of the Eastern Jin and the Northern and Southern Dynasties as its reference. The Family Instructions of the Yan Clan mentions a military commander in Ye who was deeply corrupt yet stingy. His household servants' morning and evening meals were provided "at a rate of fifteen coins," showing that fifteen coins fell below the normal standard for servants' food. If Black Han really wanted to eat out, the thirty-three coins he produced would have been enough for him and the protagonist to scrape together a meal. But his insistence that they "couldn't get anything good" was also true.

③ People during the Northern and Southern Dynasties liked adding "A" to affectionate names. In the Wu dialect, people referred to themselves as "A-Nong," called younger people "A-Nu," sometimes called sons "A-Er," and addressed fathers as "A-Ye." Adding "A" before personal names and courtesy names was also common. So the name A-Wu is actually "quite authentically old-fashioned," hahaha.

④ Don't listen to Black Han's nonsense. Lord Mengchang's surname wasn't Meng...