Although Great Ming had been founded six years earlier, the reality of vast lands and sparse populations in the north had not fundamentally changed. Old Zhu had begun his migration program, but his chief concern at the time was still his hometown of Fengyang. Moving people from Jiangnan into Fengyang would also set hammers ringing as houses went up, preparing for a future relocation of the capital there.
The great migration from Hongtong in Shanxi had yet to begin, though it was not far off.
Overall, Shandong's population was still small, and land consolidation was a relatively minor problem. Most peasants owned land and did not need to sell themselves into servitude, so there were far fewer foster sons and foster daughters than in the south.
But there were always people driven into poverty by illness, disaster, or misfortune. With no control over their circumstances, they could only sell themselves as servants.
Gu Zhengchen, for instance, had gone bankrupt over a single round of the imperial examinations and nearly ended up a tenant farmer.
Tenant farmers were also known as tenant servants...
Liang Laoliu lived up to his position as steward of a wealthy household. He was highly capable, taking only four hours to investigate Xue Cheng's background thoroughly.
"Master Candidate, Xue Cheng has a clean background and has never been brought before the authorities. He has only his wife to depend on, and they have no children. A physician examined her; his wife, Chen Shi, did indeed suffer a miscarriage and is too weak to walk. He also has an elder paternal uncle, but relations between that uncle and Xue Cheng's branch of the family are poor..."
Gu Zhengchen nodded slightly and asked, "How did he fall into such poverty?"
Liang Laoliu sighed mournfully. "In his younger years, he traveled north and south doing business, and his family was comfortably off. Then the chaos of war brought the household into decline. After the dynasty was founded, he took up farming. He finally managed to save a little money, only to get the urge to trade again. Last spring, he went south to buy a shipment of silk and satin, but his boat capsized on the journey back. All the fabric was ruined, and that was how..."
"Buying silk and satin-that's hardly a good business to get into."
Gu Zhengchen sighed inwardly.
It was now the sixth year of Hongwu, and Old Zhu's restrictions on merchants were not yet especially harsh. At this point, merchants and wealthy households were not breaking the law by wearing fine gauze, silk, or satin.
The rule that "farming households may wear silk, gauze, plain silk, and cloth; merchant households may wear only plain silk and cloth. If even one member of a farming household engages in trade, that household may not wear silk or gauze either" did not appear until the fourteenth year of Hongwu.
Xue Cheng had not been wrong to consider trading in silk and satin. It was simply a difficult business, with long journeys, enormous costs in time, and considerable risks. Ordinary small merchants and independent traders could not afford such losses.
Liang Laoliu looked at Gu Zhengchen and raised his sleeve to wipe away his sweat. How was this a scholar who had spent ten years studying by a cold window? With such thorough consideration and caution, he was clearly an old hand seasoned in the ways of the world.
Back in the private room, Gu Zhengchen looked at the anxious Xue Cheng and took out two strings of cash. "I'll give you a choice. Either take these two strings home as a gift out of pity, with no need to repay me, or take fifteen strings and serve me for the rest of your life. Think carefully before you decide."
Liang Laoliu looked at Gu Zhengchen in surprise. Aren't you afraid he'll take the two strings and run?
Then, as the thought turned over in his mind, admiration welled up.
Gu Zhengchen was testing Xue Cheng. If he took the two strings and left, it would show that he did not understand gratitude and would struggle to share hardship and happiness alike. He might even abandon his master for his own interests. Such a man could be employed, but not entrusted with important duties.
Xue Cheng dropped to his knees with a thud and kowtowed. "Master Candidate, I, Xue Cheng, am willing to stay by your side and serve you for the rest of my life!"
Seeing that Xue Cheng had made up his mind, Gu Zhengchen looked at Liang Laoliu. Liang Laoliu brought in a broker to act as intermediary and drew up the document. What nearly made Gu Zhengchen cough up blood was that this supposed contract for adopting a foster son was actually a marriage contract...
"Xue Cheng hereby establishes this marriage contract. As daily sustenance has become difficult to secure, he willingly places himself, Xue Cheng, under Gu Zhengchen's name as a foster son through a matchmaker, receiving fifteen strings of cash as a betrothal gift. Henceforth, he shall obey all commands and never return to his birth clan. Should any person, within or without, provoke trouble or entice him away, the witnesses shall be relied upon to settle the matter. This marriage contract is respectfully established, with a handprint affixed, and delivered to the master for safekeeping as proof."
Gu Zhengchen's face twitched.
Looks like I damn well got married again. Or maybe I didn't...
Before Gu Zhengchen could take out his money and say anything about paying the remaining five strings once they reached home, Liang Laoliu had already paid the full amount for him. He also promised to arrange for someone to take Xue Cheng's wife, Chen Shi, to Dayan Village by horse cart.
After thanking them over and over, Xue Cheng left with a servant of the Liang Family.
Gu Zhengchen took out ten strings of cash and handed them to Liang Laoliu. "Take this money. Once they've been delivered, I'll have someone bring back another five strings. He's my man now. I can't let the Liang Family pay for him."
"Master Candidate, if I go back with this money, the old master and the master will beat me."
Liang Laoliu firmly refused to accept it. With the matter settled, he simply took to his heels.
Helpless, Gu Zhengchen left the restaurant and walked to a smithy on West Street, thinking about having a few Reaping Scoops made.
Reaping Scoops were miraculous tools for harvesting wheat in the north.
They were said to have appeared in Shanxi during the Song dynasty, but widespread use would not come until after the middle of the Ming dynasty. Presumably, migrants from Shanxi had carried the technique with them. Unlike harvesting with a sickle, bent at the waist with one's back hunched, a Reaping Scoop allowed wheat to be cut while standing upright, and far more efficiently.
Gu Zhengchen had asked around. Neither Dayan Village nor Teng County had Reaping Scoops, so if he wanted one to save himself some effort, he would have to find a way himself. Otherwise, slowly harvesting eight mu of wheat with a sickle—the other two mu held mulberry and hemp—would probably take four or five days and leave him flat on his back...
Several pairs of scissors, kitchen knives, and axes were displayed at the smithy, with shovels and sickles standing by the entrance. Inside, a rugged man was sweating buckets as he hammered a glowing piece of iron, clang after clang.
"Blacksmith Sun."
Gu Zhengchen called three times before the blacksmith inside heard him. He dropped the iron into water to quench it, raising a cloud of white vapor, then lifted it out with tongs and set it aside before wiping away his sweat and coming out. "Kitchen knives, thirty copper coins. Scissors, twenty. Axes... Oh, a sickle? Eighteen."
Blacksmith Sun picked up a sickle and handed it to Gu Zhengchen. Gu Zhengchen moved his thumb lightly along the blade to gauge its sharpness, then said to Blacksmith Sun, "Could you forge three long sickle blades for me?"
"What sort of long sickle blades?"
Blacksmith Sun asked with a stern face.
Gu Zhengchen set down the sickle, took a sheet of paper from inside his robe, and handed it over. "Four fingers wide, two feet five inches long, sharpened on one edge."
Blacksmith Sun took the drawing and examined it. He could not read the words, but he understood the dimensions. Puzzled, he asked, "What's this for?"
It certainly was not some sort of weapon. A weapon could be sharpened on just one edge, but it needed a handle at least. Otherwise, where would one grip it? Yet it did not quite look like a farming tool either. He had never seen a farming tool with such a long blade. Surely no one needed a two-and-a-half-foot blade to cut melons or chop vegetables...
Gu Zhengchen smiled. "Harvesting wheat. Can you make them?"
Blacksmith Sun looked Gu Zhengchen over and cautioned him, "I've never seen anyone harvest wheat with a blade this long. If you can't use them..."
"Don't worry. I won't come asking for a refund."
Gu Zhengchen gave his assurance.
Blacksmith Sun lowered his head to study the drawing again, then nodded. "One hundred and fifty copper coins for three. Thirty coins as a deposit. Come collect them the day after tomorrow."
"No problem."
Gu Zhengchen left his name, took out thirty copper coins as a deposit, and turned to leave.
As he passed along a street, the festive sound of pipes and drums came from the distance. Before long, he saw a procession delivering betrothal gifts. Most conspicuous of all was the wild goose at the front, white-bellied and black-winged, spreading its wings from time to time.
There was significance to presenting a wild goose with the betrothal gifts in ancient times. The reason was...
"A wild goose is used as the ceremonial gift because it travels north and south with the seasons, never failing in its appointed time. It is also a bird that follows the sun, signifying that the wife follows her husband..."
A familiar voice sounded beside Gu Zhengchen, followed by a soft chuckle. "Candidate Gu, the Zhao Family is receiving betrothal gifts today. Young Master Zhang Shiping of the Zhang Family and Miss Zhao Ya'er of the Zhao Family are about to be joined in marriage. How do you feel about that?"
Gu Zhengchen turned to look, narrowed his eyes, and said through gritted teeth, "You again!"
Before you continue