Protégés

The day before the autumn examinations, a few more leaves fell from the persimmon tree beneath the Eastern Palace corridor. The fruit still hung on the branches, green tinged with yellow; another ten days or so of sun would ripen them fully. Qi Yu leaned out of the east wing's window, reaching for a low-hanging branch outside. His fingertips touched a persimmon. It was hard, not yet soft. He drew his hand back and tapped the dirt from beneath his nails against the windowsill.

"Brother, when will these persimmons of yours ripen?"

Qi Ling sat behind the desk in the main hall, a list spread before him. Xie Chen had delivered it early that morning. It contained six names, all candidates in this year's autumn examinations. He circled two names with a vermilion brush. "At the end of the month."

"I'll come pick them then."

"As you like."

Footsteps sounded in the courtyard. Fu Shun led a man into the main hall. He was in his early thirties, wearing a somewhat worn blue-green official robe with a quail embroidered on its rank badge: a minor eighth-rank official. After entering, he glanced behind the desk, then knelt with perfect form, pressing his forehead against the gray bricks. "This humble official, Sun Qiwen, a section secretary of the Ministry of Revenue's Yunnan Office, kowtows before Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Qi Ling turned a page of the list. "Rise."

Sun Qiwen rose, his hands hanging at his sides. He had spent six years in the Ministry of Revenue, working his way up from clerk to section secretary, overseeing Yunnan's tax registers. His rank was low, but his post was far from peripheral: figures for every province's grain taxes passed through his hands. Qi Ling picked up a tax register and opened it. A sheet tucked inside listed the output and destinations of Yunnan's copper production over the past three years. The writing was small but neat, the figures precise down to the last digit. Qi Ling studied it for a while, then set it on the desk.

"Who have you mentioned the copper mines to?"

"In answer to Your Highness, only my superior. He said the figures were too large to report." "Why were they too large to report?" Sun Qiwen's Adam's apple bobbed. "A report would require an investigation. An investigation would require someone to be held accountable. And in the end, that would mean asking who approved the mining permits back then." Qi Ling folded the sheet and tucked it back into the register. "You've been in the Ministry of Revenue for six years. Have you never considered a transfer?" "I have. I had no connections."

"Now you do."

Sun Qiwen knelt again. This time he said nothing, knocking his forehead against the floor a little harder than before.

Leaning on the windowsill, Qi Yu watched the scene in the main hall from a distance. He rested his chin on the back of his hand, his gaze lingering on Sun Qiwen before shifting to his crown prince brother's face behind the desk. The crown prince's expression was much as it was at court: mild, his speech unhurried, every question striking at the heart of the matter. Sun Qiwen had been somewhat nervous upon entering. When he left, his back was noticeably straighter.

Fu Shun brought in the second man. He wore a newly made silk robe, with a jade pendant of good quality hanging at his waist. He was a scion of an aristocratic family, a distant nephew of the vice minister of rites. He began by discussing the balance of power at court, who belonged to whose faction and who was at odds with whom, constantly hinting at his extensive connections and ready access to information. Qi Ling listened for the time it took to drink a cup of tea, then asked him a question. "How does this dynasty's monopoly on salt and iron differ from that of the Han dynasty?" The young aristocrat opened his mouth, then closed it. He had probably prepared a great deal to say, but not an answer to that question. Qi Ling had Fu Shun escort him out.

When the third man entered, Xie Chen followed him. After entering, Xie Chen first saluted the crown prince, then stood beside the man.

"Your Highness, this is Gu Hengsheng."

Qi Yu straightened up at the windowsill. He recognized the name. Yesterday afternoon, A Ping had returned from outside the palace and said that a candidate had fallen asleep beneath a stone lion outside the examination compound, a book covering his face, his snores louder than Marquis Xie's war drums. A Ping had asked the people nearby and learned that the man was called Gu Hengsheng. He came from Henan Circuit, his family had been tenant farmers for three generations, and his father had sold their ox to scrape together his travel expenses. Qi Yu had been feeding his rabbits at the time. After hearing the story, he had stuffed the remaining half carrot into the cage and said the man was really giving it his all. Today, that man stood in the Eastern Palace's main hall.

Gu Hengsheng still wore yesterday's blue cotton robe, its cuffs frayed and an ink stain marking its hem. His collar, however, had been cleaned up, probably wiped with a damp cloth before he came. His movements were somewhat stiff as he knelt, his knees striking the brick floor with a solid thud.

Qi Ling looked at the name on the list. It had not originally been on the list Xie Chen submitted. He had only added it after returning last night, having met Gu Hengsheng outside the examination compound yesterday.

"Xie Chen said you read beneath the stone lion until dark. What were you reading?"

"In answer to Your Highness, the Great Learning."

"Did you bring your copy of the Great Learning with you too?"

"I did." Gu Hengsheng took a book from inside his robe. Its cover was wrapped in cloth that had worn into little pills. He unfolded the cloth, revealing a rain-soaked copy of the Great Learning. Its pages were badly wrinkled, with water stains along the corners.

Qi Ling took the book and turned a few pages. The upper and lower margins of every page were filled with tiny writing. The characters were extremely small and densely packed, the ink varying in darkness. Some had been ground from ink sticks, while some had been made by mixing soot from the bottom of a cooking pot with water, leaving pale gray marks on the paper. Qi Ling turned to the final page and closed the book.

"Henan Circuit suffered a severe drought this year. What proportion of the taxes was remitted?"

Gu Hengsheng raised his head. It was a tremendous leap from the Great Learning to taxes, the subjects worlds apart. He considered it before speaking. "The court remitted thirty percent. But the county collected the taxes before granting the remission. The common people received their remission certificates three months after the court's edict."

"How many times did the bailiffs come to your door during those three months?"

Gu Hengsheng's fingers curled against his knees. "I can't remember. I only remember my father taking down our door once to cover the payment."

Qi Ling was silent for a moment. "Now that you're in Capital City, how much money do you have left?"

Gu Hengsheng took a few copper coins from his sleeve and spread them in his palm. Three cash, one coin missing a corner. Qi Ling picked up the list and slowly drew a circle beside Gu Hengsheng's name with his vermilion brush. He closed the list and told Xie Chen to take Gu Hengsheng to the side hall for a meal. As Xie Chen led him away, he glanced back at the crown prince and gave a slight nod.

Qi Yu came out of the east wing, still carrying his unfinished plate of osmanthus cakes. He walked into the main hall, sat beside his brother, and put the cakes on the desk.

"Brother, what was that business about the copper mines Sun Qiwen mentioned?"

"Yunnan's copper mines reported an annual output of three thousand jin. Their actual output was at least eight thousand. The missing five thousand went into private furnaces."

"What do private furnaces cast?"

"Copper coins. Privately minted coins contain only sixty percent as much copper as official coins. The remainder is exchanged for silver and goes into private coffers."

Qi Yu wrinkled his nose. "So Sun Qiwen was the one who didn't dare speak up."

"He didn't dare speak because no one would listen." Qi Ling set the tax register aside. "No one would listen because listening meant offending people. He's willing to speak now because he has someone who dares listen."

"Oh," Qi Yu said, picking up an osmanthus cake and taking a bite. After chewing, he asked, "What about Gu Hengsheng? He only brought three cash. How will he take the examination?"

"The examination compound supplies the baskets for the autumn examinations. If he passes, he'll receive a subsistence allowance. If he doesn't, Xie Chen said he could lend him some money for now."

Qi Yu swallowed his Osmanthus Cake, suddenly stood, and headed outside. He moved so quickly that his knee struck a table leg, making him hiss with pain, but he did not stop. Returning to the east wing, he tipped his saved allowance out of its box and counted it, then put half back and wrapped the rest in a handkerchief. Then he ran to the side hall, where Gu Hengsheng was eating. There was a generous spread on the table. He ate quickly, but his table manners were not poor.

Qi Yu placed the handkerchief on the table. "For you."

Gu Hengsheng opened it and saw the pieces of silver inside. His chopsticks stopped. "This gentleman is...?"

Fu Shun hurriedly introduced him from beside the table. "This is the Fourth Prince."

Gu Hengsheng set down his chopsticks and rose to pay his respects. Qi Yu pressed a hand to his shoulder, stopping him from kneeling. "Don't kneel. Eat well and sleep well these next few days. Do well in the examination, and when my crown prince brother needs you in the future, just don't disappoint him." With that, he turned and left.

Gu Hengsheng stood beside the table, watching the boy's retreating figure disappear through the doorway. Fu Shun said softly beside him, "That's just how the Fourth Prince is." Gu Hengsheng slowly sat back down, carefully tied the handkerchief shut, and tucked it inside his robe.

Qi Yu returned to the main hall. His brother was still reading the list. He sat back in his chair and stuffed the final osmanthus cake into his mouth. As he chewed, he suddenly said, "Brother, that aristocrat couldn't answer your question about the salt and iron monopoly. If he had answered it, would you have kept him?"

Qi Ling put down the list and leaned back in his chair. "Being unable to answer doesn't necessarily mean he's of no use. But he came in talking about connections rather than practical matters. His intentions aren't right. If I employed him, the Eastern Palace's doorstep would be crowded with people delivering notes asking for favors. I want people who do the work, not people who hold office."

Qi Yu nodded and swallowed the last of his Osmanthus Cake. "I like Gu Hengsheng. His book was soaked by the rain, and he was still reading it. If he can fall asleep beneath a stone lion, he'll surely be able to fall asleep in one of your Eastern Palace chairs someday."

Qi Ling glanced at him. "Do you think everyone is like you, able to fall asleep anywhere?"

"It's a talent." Qi Yu folded his legs beneath him and leaned back in his chair, looking up at the rafters. "Brother, do you think Father knows you're taking on protégés?"

"He knows."

"He didn't say anything?"

"No."

"Then he's tacitly approved. It's only natural for the crown prince to cultivate his own power base."

Qi Ling said nothing. He lowered his head to look at the two red circles on the list. One was beside Sun Qiwen's name, the other beside Gu Hengsheng's.

A gust swept through the courtyard outside the window. The persimmon branches swayed several times, and a green fruit tinged with yellow fell, rolled half a turn across the brick paving, and stopped beneath the steps. On the palace path beyond the courtyard wall, two young eunuchs carried a basket of newly arrived autumn pears toward the imperial kitchens. The pears were tribute from the south, thin-skinned and juicy, each wrapped in tissue paper. The eunuch in front said this year's pears were good, a size larger than last year's. The one behind said their size made no difference: His Majesty hardly ate pears, though the Fourth Prince liked them, so they should have the imperial kitchens set aside a few extra to send to Yuning Hall. The two walked away, still talking.

At the examination compound, the final preparations to seal the grounds were underway. The locks on the examination cubicles were checked one by one. The xuan paper for the answer sheets had already been cut and sealed in a storeroom. On the stone lion outside the compound, someone's child had used a pebble to scratch four crooked little characters. The marks were so shallow that they were invisible unless one drew close. They read, "Good luck in the autumn examinations." Not far away, a tea stall was still lit. Several candidates from Jiangnan sat around the table in the farthest corner, eating dry rations with their tea. No one spoke. They were all silently reciting from memory.