When villains rule, men devour men

Gu Zhengchen knew that those at the bottom of a feudal dynasty could only be ants, and ants did not even have the right to struggle!

This was the Hongwu Dynasty!

Live as a commoner?

He would face endless corvée labor: building walls, dredging rivers, hauling grain, all manner of taxes and levies. Even as a provincial examination graduate, exempt from corvée and entitled to a small grain allowance, Gu Zhengchen could not protect himself, let alone his family!

Claims that provincial graduates never struggled financially, enjoyed lofty status, and could never be bullied by wealthy households-that only lower-degree scholars were poor, never provincial graduates-were pure fantasy. Some even cited Fan Jin as proof: after he passed the provincial examination, he had maids and serving women, and people gave him money and land...

Yes, provincial graduates enjoyed higher status and tangible benefits. But many people forgot that maids and serving women cost money, that a new graduate had to hand out money to celebrate, and that whatever remained had to cover his living expenses. People offered benefits because they wanted something in return. Did anyone really think those gifts came free?

Without anything in return, who would flatter you?

If you passed the provincial examination but had no powerful backing and no prospect of being recommended for office, who would give you the time of day?

Did people really believe becoming a provincial graduate meant wealth and nothing but good days ahead?

Even officials dared not claim they would remain wealthy for life. If provincial graduates had it so grand, why bother taking the metropolitan examination? Why not simply eat well, drink well, and idle their days away?

"White-haired in a scholar's blue robe, destitute and down on his luck"-that was the true portrait of most provincial graduates' lives!

Become a merchant?

Old Zhu hated merchants. Apparently, Shen Xiaosan was helping him build Nanjing's city walls, but in just a few years, the man would meet disaster, along with whole swarms of wealthy gentry and landowners.

Besides, once the Guo Huan case erupted, those with money and land would practically all be swept away. Being a merchant was a bruising business...

To become a fierce beast capable of protecting himself, he had no choice but to enter officialdom.

Gu Zhengchen gazed up at the vast sky, his expression grave.

An official career under Hongwu was almost a road to death.

The infamous Four Great Cases of the Hongwu reign had yet to erupt, but in less than three years, the Blank Seal Case would raise the curtain on bloody slaughter. Surviving one storm of blood and blades after another would require more than intelligence and cunning. It would also require luck...

But could luck be trusted?

Although he knew Ming history and could follow its course to seek advantage and avoid disaster, this was still a dance on a blade's edge. One careless step, and his head would fall!

Yet there was no other road. If he did not want to be humiliated and bullied, he had to hold power in his hands. That was the only rule of the feudal age!

Now that the imperial examinations had been abolished, there was only one way to enter officialdom, shed his "half-commoner" status, and step into Hongwu's tumultuous bureaucracy:

Obtain a "recommendation" from the magistrate of Teng County or the instructor at the county school.

But Gu Zhengchen was a typical bookworm. His father, Gu Pei, had taught him to read and write. He neither knew the instructor nor had ever courted the magistrate's favor. His success in the provincial examination was probably the result of repeatedly sitting it for years, slipping into the ranks like a sham musician in an orchestra. Winning the magistrate's or instructor's favor and recommendation was almost impossible.

Was there no road ahead?

Then he would hack through the thorns and carve one out!

Before that, however, he had to settle his debts. He had only seven days. If he could not repay them, he would spend the rest of his life farming for the Wang family.

Seven days, six strings of cash!

That was no easy task.

Gu Zhengchen left word with a neighbor so his mother would not worry if she returned early and found them gone, then left home with Gu Qingqing.

Dayan Village lay four li north of the Teng County seat. They took a narrow path from Dayan Village to the Sanli River, crossed the bridge, and reached the broad but uneven official road.

Gu Qingqing turned to look at Gu Zhengchen. Seeing him staring at the road, she could not help asking, "Brother, what's wrong?"

Gu Zhengchen's gaze traveled from near to far along the official road, taking in its endless potholes, large and small. He frowned. "I remember the court began establishing relay stations and repairing official roads in the first year of Hongwu. Why is this road in such terrible condition?"

Gu Qingqing glanced at the road beneath her feet. "It was repaired, but it gets very muddy after rain. With so many carts, horses, and people passing through, potholes are inevitable."

Gu Zhengchen nodded, his lips moving slightly. "If only we had asphalt roads or concrete roads."

"What roads?"

Gu Qingqing looked puzzled.

Gu Zhengchen smiled and shook his head, pointing toward the distant county town. "Nothing. Come on, let's take a look around town."

Along the official road, commoners entered and left town carrying shoulder poles, bundles of firewood, and baskets. Traveling merchants and peddlers led little donkeys laden with goods north and south.

Teng County's seat was a small town. Its walls, one zhang high, bore the weathered marks of history, and the patrolling soldiers were not particularly strict. Old Zhu had yet to introduce the travel-permit system, so entering and leaving town was relatively easy.

"Brother, where are we going?"

Once inside, Gu Qingqing looked at the somewhat bustling streets and asked.

Gu Zhengchen considered the town's layout, then glanced at the lone copper coin in his hand. Helplessly, he said, "Let's find a tea stall where we can rest."

"Tea?"

Gu Qingqing winced at the expense. This was the two-cash coin Mother had given her when her brother passed the provincial examination. Now he wanted to spend it on something to drink?

Extravagant. Far too extravagant...

Gu Zhengchen did not want to spend it either, but he did not even know which powerful families lived in Teng County or what they liked. How could he tap the wealthy for six strings of cash?

Marketing knowledge from later ages had taught him:

Thorough research made precise targeting possible.

Catering to people's tastes filled the coffers to the brim.

The first step to making money was research-gathering information.

A roadside tea stall.

When tired and thirsty, peddlers, porters, and laborers would stop there to rest their feet and have a cup of thirst-quenching tea.

It was the fourth lunar month, and the weather had grown rather warm.

Gu Zhengchen chose a seat farther inside. Unwilling to spend one cash on a bowl of tea, Gu Qingqing simply sat and watched.

This tea has steeped too long. It's too alkaline.

Gu Zhengchen tasted it in silence.

Most of the chatter concerned everyday household trifles. Surprisingly, someone brought up the Battle of Lingbei, prompting a chorus of sighs.

The Battle of Lingbei had taken place the previous year, the fifth year of Hongwu. Historians of later ages called it the Ming founding emperor's second northern expedition.

Zhu Yuanzhang had dispatched Xu Da, Li Wenzhong, and Feng Sheng, each commanding fifty thousand cavalry, to attack the Yuan court along three routes. Old Zhu had hoped to finish everything in one campaign and clear the Mongolian desert once and for all. In reality, Xu Da's main force on the central route suffered a crushing defeat, Li Wenzhong's eastern force had gains and losses in equal measure, and only Feng Sheng's western force emerged victorious.

Xu Da's defeat at the Battle of Lingbei cost not only more than ten thousand lives but also a severe loss of warhorses. The Ming was forced onto the defensive, able to do little over the next eight years but lick its wounds and gather strength.

"I heard the court may have commoners raise horses..."

"What do commoners know about raising horses? If one dies, won't they have to pay for it?"

"Shh, watch your tongue. Court affairs aren't for us to discuss. Have you heard? A few days ago, the Liang family's old patriarch celebrated his sixty-sixth birthday. He hired an opera troupe for three straight days and even went onstage to perform himself. Haha..."

An opera fanatic?

Gu Zhengchen held his tea bowl in his left hand, his right resting on the table. When he heard the amusing story about the Liang patriarch, he lifted his right middle finger slightly and tapped the table twice in quick succession.

A little bored, Gu Qingqing watched his right middle finger tap the table from time to time and silently counted, Once, twice...

These people really could talk: how Landowner Sun could not get through a day without sweets, how the widow in the Wang household had left her door open, how the Sun family had arranged a marriage, how many jin of meat the Hu family's butcher shop had sold...

"Madam Gu has been kneeling outside the Zhao Family's gates for two days now, hasn't she? That old Zhao is far too heartless. He won't even let her inside. Pah! Some in-law he is!"

"They aren't in-laws yet, are they? Gu Zhengchen is only betrothed to the Zhao Family's third young lady. They haven't married."

"Surely the Zhao Family wouldn't dare break the engagement?"

"So what if they do? I heard that provincial graduate from the Gu family has gone dim-witted. Breaking the engagement would only earn the Zhao Family fifty strokes of the light cane. Spend a little money, and they could avoid even those fifty..."

Seeing Gu Zhengchen's face turn dark as still water, Gu Qingqing softly called, "Brother."

Gu Zhengchen narrowed his eyes slightly, handed the copper coin to the attendant, and tucked the one-cash coin he received as change into his robe. Rising, he said, "Sister, have you heard this poem? Never let deceit dwell in your heart; three feet above your head, the gods keep watch. If evil deeds meet no retribution, villains across the world will devour their fellow men!"

Gu Qingqing shook her head. She had never heard it, but she could feel her brother's fury.

After Gu Zhengchen and Gu Qingqing left the tea stall, a refined middle-aged man stared in the direction they had gone and asked the white-bearded elder before him, "If evil deeds meet no retribution, villains across the world will devour their fellow men! Such fierce wrath. Instructor Xu, do you know who that man is?"