Chapter Summaries

Gu Zhengchen went to Teng County to buy a bondservant who could manage household and business affairs. He met Xue Cheng, a well-traveled man desperate to pay for his sick wife’s treatment, but ordered Liang Laoliu to verify his story before deciding whether to take him in.

• Gu Shi buried ten strings of coins beneath the cowshed while Gu Qingqing kept watch.
• Gu Zhengchen reflected that the Wang Family was unlikely to threaten the Gu Family soon and that the Sun Family’s white sugar workshop would take time to establish.
• Gu Zhengchen went to Teng County with ten strings of coins and told Liang Laoliu he wanted to buy a steward.
• Liang Laoliu found Xue Cheng, who said he had traveled trading silk and needed money to treat his wife after she miscarried.
• Gu Zhengchen asked Liang Laoliu to check Xue Cheng’s record with the county office and have a physician examine his wife before he agreed to take him.

Gu Zhengchen investigated Xue Cheng, accepted him as a lifelong servant, and discovered that the contract was written as a marriage document. After commissioning long blades for harvesting wheat, he encountered someone who asked how he felt about Zhao Ya'er’s impending marriage to Zhang Shiping.

• Liang Laoliu reported that Xue Cheng had fallen into poverty after losing a shipment of silk and satin, and confirmed that his wife, Chen Shi, was ill.
• Gu Zhengchen offered Xue Cheng either two strings of cash with no obligation or fifteen strings in exchange for serving him for life, and Xue Cheng chose to stay.
• A broker drew up a document that described Xue Cheng as Gu Zhengchen’s foster son through a marriage contract, while Liang Laoliu arranged for Chen Shi to be taken to Dayan Village.
• Gu Zhengchen tried to reimburse Liang Laoliu for the money, then visited Blacksmith Sun and ordered three long sickle blades for harvesting wheat.
• Gu Zhengchen saw betrothal gifts being delivered to the Zhao Family, and a familiar person told him Zhao Ya'er and Zhang Shiping were about to marry before asking how he felt.

Gu Zhengchen discussed Teng County’s potential for coal mining and declared that he would rather be himself than imitate an ancient model official. Li Yi added him to the court’s nomination register, while an urgent edict arrived at the county offices.

• Gu Zhengchen dismissed Zhao Ya’er’s betrothal procession without regret as Li Yi followed him and invited him for tea.
• At the teahouse, Gu Zhengchen argued that Teng County could prosper by mining its abundant coal and transporting it by canal.
• Li Yi said he aspired to become a Gong or Huang, and Gu Zhengchen answered that he would rather be himself.
• After Gu Zhengchen left, Li Yi ordered Yan Bin to add him to the nomination register and discussed the danger Hu Weiyong might pose to an outspoken official.
• Deputy Magistrate Jin Dache reported that an edict had arrived, and Li Yi hurried back to the county offices.

Zhu Yuanzhang explained his suspension of the imperial examinations as a way to balance regional and political interests, while county officials received an order to map the realm. In Dayan Village, Gu Zhengchen left his mother and sister in Xue Cheng’s protection, renamed him Gu Cheng, and shared a saying about seeking light.

• Li Yi read the emperor’s directive ordering prefectures to submit maps of their mountains, rivers, passes, distances, and local produce in every leap year.
• Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the laws reprinted, called on local authorities to recommend talented men, and promoted Li Tai and Liu Zhao.
• Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao discussed Goryeo’s tribute request and the possibility that Nahaqu had arranged the murder of Ming envoys; Zhu Yuanzhang suspended trade with Goryeo.
• Zhu Yuanzhang explained that he suspended the imperial examinations to counter southern scholars’ dominance, give northern scholars time, and signal his position to the Huaixi nobles.
• Gu Zhengchen entrusted Gu Shi and Qingqing to Xue Cheng’s protection, renamed him Gu Cheng, and recited, “The dark night gave me black eyes, yet I use them to seek the light...”

Gu Zhengchen used a Reaping Scoop to harvest wheat at remarkable speed, drawing the attention of Dayan Village and County Magistrate Li Yi. Li Yi proposed sending the tool to Jinling for the emperor’s approval and wider promotion, while Gu Zhengchen reacted sharply to learning Li Yi was the county magistrate.

• Gu Shi welcomed Chen Shi and cared for her, while Gu Cheng slept in the courtyard and ate apart from the household.
• As the wheat ripened, Gu Zhengchen, Gu Cheng, and Gu Qingqing took their Reaping Scoops to the fields, where Gu Zhengchen challenged Whiskers Wang and Uncle Zhang to a harvesting race.
• Gu Zhengchen harvested far faster than the villagers, and Elder Yan asked to borrow a Reaping Scoop; the villagers soon claimed all the tools, leaving Gu Zhengchen unable to continue.
• Gu Zhengchen took Xue Cheng to the county town and ordered more than thirty long sickle blades from Blacksmith Sun, Blacksmith Wang, and Blacksmith Zhang.
• News of the Reaping Scoop’s speed reached County Magistrate Li Yi, who visited Dayan Village with Registrar Sun Ang and urged Gu Zhengchen to help promote the tool.
• Sun Ang addressed Li Yi as Your Honor, and Li Yi tested a Reaping Scoop before proposing that it be sent to Jinling for the emperor to approve its manufacture and wider use.

Li Yi discovered the remains of Gu Pei, Gu Zhengchen’s father, in a pond and began investigating whether officials had falsified his corvée records. A rabbit in an official’s hat painted nearby suggested someone had witnessed the crime, while the Wang Family’s boat raised suspicion.

• Li Yi signaled Gu Zhengchen that he had been recommended to the imperial court and might leave Teng County in three months, leaving Gu Zhengchen worried about his mother and sister.
• Li Yi ordered county elders to make grain scoops, and smithies worked through the night to produce them.
• Zhou Er found skeletal remains in a pond near the county office, and the coroner identified the body as Gu Pei from a wooden tag.
• Li Yi recalled that Gu Pei had been recorded among the dead from a corvée expedition and ordered the records examined for possible tampering.
• Li Yi noticed that the boat used to sink the body belonged to the Wang Family and summoned Gu Zhengchen without alerting Gu Shi.
• Li Yi found a rabbit wearing an official’s hat painted on a wall and suspected it was a sign that a witness was crying out against an injustice.

Gu Zhengchen examined his father Gu Pei’s remains and learned that someone in the County Yamen had falsified the death register. He suspected Wang Fugui and agreed to find the artist of a mocking drawing, leaving the magistrate with a question about the punishment awaiting Wang Fugui’s household.

• Gu Zhengchen inspected Gu Pei’s skull fractures and learned that his name had been added to the death register in a different hand.
• Gu Zhengchen recalled Wang Fugui’s dispute with Gu Pei over the family’s land and told Magistrate Li Yi about the Wang Family’s later apology and payment.
• Li Yi had Yan Bin share the investigation’s findings with Gu Zhengchen, including the rabbit wearing an official’s hat.
• Gu Zhengchen reasoned that a Yamen insider had altered the register and proposed finding an eyewitness who had seen the drawing.
• Gu Zhengchen asked Li Yi to let him remove the official’s hat from the drawing to protect its artist, then asked whether Wang Fugui alone would die if proven guilty or whether his entire household would.

After learning his father Gu Pei had been murdered, Gu Zhengchen pursued clues linking the crime to a painting of a rabbit and confronted its artist, Deng Quan. Deng Quan recognized Gu Zhengchen but demanded proof of his identity before revealing what he knew.

• Gu Zhengchen vowed to avenge Gu Pei and told Gu Cheng to accompany him into town.
• Wang Youcheng mocked Gu Zhengchen at the pond, and Gu Zhengchen warned him not to provoke him again.
• Gu Zhengchen wrote a defiant poem beneath the rabbit painting, then searched the marketplace for similar artwork.
• A ragged boy identified the artist as Deng Quan and directed Gu Zhengchen to the Wenchang Shrine.
• Gu Zhengchen confronted Deng Quan, who denied knowing anything and asked him to prove he was Gu Pei's son.
• Gu Zhengchen showed Deng Quan the wooden identity tag bearing his name.

Magistrate Li Yi confronted police registrar Huang Lin over corruption and the falsified death register entry for Gu Pei. Huang Lin confessed that Wang Fugui paid him to add Gu Pei’s name, but Li Yi doubted his explanation and pressed him for the real reason.

• Li Yi questioned Huang Lin about his conduct under the Yuan and challenged him over Gu Pei’s entry in the register.
• Huang Lin denied responsibility until Cao Su confessed that Huang had ordered him to imitate the handwriting and add Gu Pei’s name.
• Chief Clerk Sun Ang and yamen runners brought out chests of Huang Lin’s hidden wealth, and Li Yi accused him of corruption.
• Huang Lin offered Li Yi a bribe and claimed that what Emperor Zhu would not give him, he would, but Li Yi ordered Jin Dache to slap him.
• Huang Lin said Wang Fugui had paid him two hundred strings of cash to add Gu Pei’s name, and Li Yi questioned why Wang would risk exposing himself.

At the County Yamen, Gu Zhengchen sought justice for his murdered father as witnesses exposed Wang Fugui and Chief Clerk Huang Lin’s roles in the killing and cover-up. Wang Fugui denied the charges and demanded evidence, and Gu Zhengchen prepared to provide it.

• Gu Zhengchen asked Li Yi to apprehend his father’s killer, and the coroner testified that Gu Pei had been murdered for vengeance.
• Wang Fugui admitted his family had a land dispute with Gu Pei but claimed they had since made peace.
• Deng Quan testified that Wang Fugui had bludgeoned Gu Pei to death and sunk his body in the pond.
• Deng Quan said Chief Clerk Huang Lin had witnessed Wang Fugui covering up the murder, and Huang Lin confessed to taking half of Wang Fugui’s assets and placing Gu Pei in the Register of the Dead.
• Wang Fugui denied the accusations and demanded evidence, and Gu Zhengchen said he could provide it.

Gu Zhengchen helped expose Wang Fugui’s murder of Gu Pei, and Li Yi used the household servants’ confessions to close the case. Witnessing the magistrate’s authority stirred Gu Zhengchen’s ambition to enter Great Ming’s officialdom, while Wang Fugui’s death sentence awaited review by the Capital.

• Gu Zhengchen pointed out bloodstains on the Wang Family boat’s mooring rope, and the coroner confirmed they were blood, supporting testimony that the boat had been used to sink Gu Pei’s body.
• Li Yi summoned Wang Zhi, Wang Er, and Wang Liu and warned them of the penalties for murder and helping dispose of the body.
• Wang Liu confessed that Wang Fugui killed Gu Pei and that he carried the stone; Wang Zhi and Wang Er then also confessed and signed their statements.
• Wang Zhi revealed that Wang Fugui had taken Gu Pei’s three hundred copper coins and paid the servants twenty taels each to stay silent.
• Li Yi sentenced Wang Fugui to beheading and the three servants to one hundred strokes and exile, then ordered the case documents sent to the Capital for review.
• Gu Zhengchen was impressed by Li Yi’s authority and longed to become an official and wield power.

After Wang Youcheng struck Gu Zhengchen, Gu Zhengchen beat him and invoked the law to secure a reduced punishment for striking second. He brought Gu Pei’s remains home for burial, while Gu Shi mourned her husband in private.

• Wang Youcheng punched Gu Zhengchen outside the County Yamen, and Gu Zhengchen beat him until County Deputy Jin Dache intervened.
• County Magistrate Li Yi ruled that Gu Zhengchen’s punishment was reduced by two degrees because Wang Youcheng struck first, and ordered Wang Youcheng to receive forty lashes.
• Gu Zhengchen brought Gu Pei’s remains and Memorial Tablet home, and Gu Shi wept when she saw her husband’s remains.
• Three days later, Gu Shi and the villagers of Dayan Village buried Gu Pei’s remains in the Clothes-and-Crown Tomb.
• Gu Shi kept Gu Pei’s Memorial Tablet close and spoke softly to the darkness at night.

Gu Zhengchen helped Sun Bing and Liang Fengyang establish white sugar production and warned them against becoming grain stewards. The partners launched Juren White Sugar with a tale and rhyme linking it to success in the examinations, and buyers rushed to purchase it.

• Magistrate Li Yi sent the Gu Family ten strings of cash as burial compensation for Wang Fugui’s killing of a family member.
• Gu Zhengchen gave Sun Bing the white sugar-making process, and Sun Bing and Liang Fengyang made a batch and burned the written instructions.
• Gu Zhengchen challenged Sun Bing and Liang Fengyang to spread the product widely and warned them not to hold much farmland or become grain stewards.
• The Sun Family and Liang Family built their own white sugar workshops as black sugar arrived in Dayan Village.
• On the fifteenth day of the sixth month, shops in five cities began selling Juren White Sugar alongside a tale and folk rhyme associating it with examination success, drawing eager buyers.

Gu Zhengchen kept the Juren White Sugar business affordable while withdrawing to Dayan Village to learn from Elder Yan. Meanwhile, Zhu Yuanzhang learned that Gu had invented the Reaping Scoop, and Empress Ma celebrated the invention and its creator as a blessing for the people and the court.

• Gu Zhengchen stopped the Liang Family and Sun Family from raising white sugar prices, keeping Juren White Sugar at sixty-six copper coins per jin despite high demand.
• Gu Zhengchen left the business to the two families and stayed in Dayan Village, where Elder Yan taught him about local customs and how to conduct himself.
• A Ministry of Personnel document arrived at Teng County Yamen, and County Magistrate Li Yi and his officials awaited news of an appointment.
• Zhu Yuanzhang ordered rewards for the soldiers who subdued the tribesmen of Pingteng Stronghold, then went to Kunning Palace to see Empress Ma.
• Zhu Yuanzhang told Empress Ma that Gu Zhengchen's Reaping Scoop let farmers harvest up to six mu of wheat a day, and Empress Ma praised the invention and Gu's talent.

Gu Zhengchen received his appointment as county magistrate of Jurong and reflected on how he might help strengthen Great Ming. The next morning, he promised his father’s grave to serve honestly, while Gu Shi urged him to arrange a marriage before leaving.

• Yan Bin delivered Gu Zhengchen’s appointment notice, naming him county magistrate of Jurong.
• Gu Zhengchen considered Jurong’s proximity to Nanjing and wondered whether his appointment had been deliberately arranged.
• Gu Zhengchen resolved to help Zhu Yuanzhang build a stronger Great Ming, though he feared Hu Weiyong’s rise might threaten him.
• Gu Shi and Gu Zhengchen visited Gu Pei’s grave, where Gu Zhengchen promised to serve the people and improve the empire.
• Gu Shi made Gu Zhengchen promise to remain honest and then asked whether he wanted to marry before leaving.

Gu Zhengchen learned that he had one month to travel to the Capital and received the credential token needed to take up his appointment as Jurong County Magistrate. He arranged to travel with Liang Family Jiajun, while Liang Heng advised him to make a good impression in office and Gu Zhengchen bargained for the Liang Family to pay their travel expenses.

• Li Yi told Gu Zhengchen that he had one month to reach the Capital, where he would register with the Ministry of Personnel, and named Zhang Shiping and Liang Family Jiajun as the other recommended men.
• Gu Zhengchen learned that Zhang Shiping had been appointed Left Vice Minister of Ministry of Works and Liang Family Jiajun an assistant instructor at the Imperial Academy, and he accepted the uneven appointments without complaint.
• Li Yi gave Gu Zhengchen a matching Credential Token and told him to return before departure to collect a thirty-tael travel allowance.
• Gu Zhengchen visited Liang Heng, who advised him to make a bit of noise as a magistrate only if it pleased people and asked him to travel to the Capital with Liang Family Jiajun.
• Gu Zhengchen agreed to accompany Jiajun if the Liang Family covered their travel expenses, leaving Liang Heng exasperated by his bargain.

After Zhao Ya'er married Zhang Shiping, Gu Zhengchen prepared to leave for the Capital while reflecting on his lack of connections. Wang Youcheng then died under suspicious circumstances, and although Gu Zhengchen had an alibi, the cause of death remained unknown.

• Zhang Shiping married Zhao Ya'er, and Gu Zhengchen told Li Yi he would rather find someone who understood him than dwell on the match he had lost.
• Li Yi warned Gu Zhengchen that officials needed powerful connections, while Gu Zhengchen said he would follow the Purple Forbidden Star's guidance.
• Gu Zhengchen's family prepared for his journey to the Capital, and he taught Gu Cheng to cook as his companion and servant.
• Jin Dache questioned Gu Zhengchen about Wang Youcheng's death, but Gu Zhengchen said he had stayed home all day and had witnesses.
• Gu Shi warned Gu Zhengchen never to take an innocent life, while the coroner suspected Wang Youcheng had been poisoned but found no poison or wounds.
• Li Yi learned that Wang Youcheng had threatened the Gu Family two days earlier, but his movements on the day he died revealed no clear suspect or cause.

After Wang Youcheng’s death remained unexplained, Gu Zhengchen left Teng County for Jurong with Liang Family Jiajun to take up his post at the Imperial Academy. He parted from his family and villagers, accepted Sun Shiba as a companion, and left County Magistrate Li Yi still questioning him about Wang Youcheng’s death.

• County Magistrate Li Yi found no evidence to explain Wang Youcheng’s death, and the case remained unsolved.
• Gu Zhengchen said farewell to Gu Qingqing, Gu Shi, Chen Shi, and the villagers, who sent him off with warm eggs and promises to protect his family.
• Gu Zhengchen and Liang Family Jiajun set out for Jurong with Gu Cheng and Liang Wujin.
• Sun Bing assigned Sun Shiba to accompany Gu Zhengchen, while Liang Heng advised Liang Family Jiajun to seek Gu Zhengchen’s counsel when needed.
• County Magistrate Li Yi asked Gu Zhengchen whether he had caused Wang Youcheng’s death, and Gu Zhengchen insisted that he was innocent.

Gu Zhengchen and Liang Jiajun traveled from Teng County to Xiacun and arranged a boat south toward Suqian on their way to Jinling. After the boat set off, Sun Shiba warned Gu Zhengchen that several bandits might be among the passengers, leaving the party on guard for danger ahead.

• Gu Zhengchen discussed The Great Learning with Liang Jiajun during their carriage ride to Xiacun.
• Gu Zhengchen and Liang Jiajun chose the eastern waterway to Suqian and arranged to sail the next morning.
• Gu Zhengchen and Liang Jiajun discussed Fang Guozhen, the Grand Canal, and the risk of a future Yellow River flood damaging Shandong.
• Gu Zhengchen, Liang Jiajun, and their party boarded Boatmaster Wang's boat and began traveling south.
• Sun Shiba warned Gu Zhengchen that three passengers were likely bandits and that others might be hiding among the travelers.

Gu Zhengchen suspected that three men aboard the boat were mounted bandits planning a robbery and tried to work out where they would strike. He concluded that Luoma Lake was the likeliest target, but worried that he and Sun Shiba might not be able to stop them.

• Sun Shiba asked whether they should warn the master of the Liang Family, but Gu Zhengchen told him to keep watch over the cabins and luggage without alarming anyone.
• Gu Zhengchen questioned the boatmen about the route and stopping places, then inspected the passengers in the hold.
• Gu Zhengchen noticed three suspicious men with empty chests and missing fingers, and apologized when he bumped into their luggage.
• Gu Zhengchen reasoned that the men would likely strike near Luoma Lake, between Pi County and Suqian, and wondered whether he could fight them.