Given Cao Lin's position, his manner could indeed be called amiable, perhaps even excessively so. But considering how firmly established his status and abilities were, nothing he did could diminish his authority. One could only say that this Intendant did, to some extent, treat worthy men with courtesy.
Still, today was merely the bureaucratic formality of entering government service, not some actual trial of passing three checkpoints and climbing five floors. Zhang Xing, who could never accept notions of "superior and inferior" in any case, was hardly going to shed tears of gratitude over it.
Or, more directly, once he went out, collected the money, and set off, all he could think about was what horse to buy.
A horse, especially a good horse, was worth a considerable sum. If an ordinary household owned a good horse, it represented half their family property... literally half their family property. What was the market price of a good horse?
Thirty bolts of silk, or sixty strings of cash. What had now entered Zhang Xing's purse was thirty-six taels of silver, converted at the latest market rate for ease of carrying and preservation of value.
In his month in the Eastern Capital, Zhang Xing had fleeced Feng Yong and the Green Fish Gang of quite a bit, yet altogether it amounted to only thirteen taels of silver and a little over ten strings of loose cash. Only by enjoying the special employment benefits of the Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry could he acquire a good horse of his own.
Ultimately, not everyone was a top-ranking aristocrat like Bai Yousi, able to spend with such a lavish hand.
East from the island, past three wards, lay the famous Northern Market of the Eastern Capital... The Northern Market stood in the center of Luoyang County, complementing the Southern Market in Henan County, though each had its own character.
The Southern Market covered an enormous area, equivalent to four wards, with fully four or five thousand businesses inside. It catered to everyday trade and sold anything one could imagine. The Northern Market, only one ward in size, mainly dealt in luxury goods and bulk transactions, such as spices and colored silks.
Cattle and horses were actually high-end goods too, but their particular nature meant they were generally kept in Zhiye Ward northeast of the Northern Market. A dedicated Horse and Cattle Market was established in the market's northeastern corner, where transactions were reported for taxation.
"Are you gentlemen looking to buy horses?"
"Come to our place, gentlemen, our place! Our horses come from the northwest, brought across the desert by the Wu people. Every one of them is big and tall!"
"Don't listen to him, gentlemen! Northwestern horses are all show. The gentlemen of the Jing'an Directorate still prefer our Northern Wasteland horses. Sturdy, durable, easy to feed, and long-lived..."
The moment they reached the Northern Market's Horse and Cattle Market, a crowd of half-grown boys swarmed toward them, touting business while shoving one another. Yet not one actually came close to Zhang Xing or Qin Bao. Clearly, they knew the ropes and recognized Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry from the Jing'an Directorate coming to buy horses. All they wanted was five copper coins for guiding them.
Zhang Xing turned to look at Qin Bao.
Qin Bao merely spread his hands. "Don't worry. They all know what's at stake, and the horse dealers behind them run long-standing businesses. Nobody would ruin their reputation and provoke the Jing'an Directorate over one horse... Just do as we discussed on the way. Pick whichever type you like, and I'll choose the actual horse for you, Brother Zhang."
"Then let's go with what we said before... a Northern Horse!" Knowing he was an outsider who could only choose the model, Zhang Xing simply gritted his teeth and made his decision.
"I knew you'd want a horse from home." Qin Bao smiled. "Even if you've forgotten things, you must be used to riding them, just as you handle crossbows and big sabers so deftly."
Zhang Xing shook his head repeatedly... What did this have to do with home? It was simply that although this body plainly knew how to ride, riding itself was a technical skill that also tested one's nerves. Rather than seek excitement, he would rather get something reliable.
Yet although they had settled on the sturdy, durable, easy-to-feed Northern Horse, their search did not go smoothly. Qin Bao knew horses, but according to this expert, any good horses openly on display had long since been picked out by the Horse and Cattle Market owners and reserved for the city's princes and nobles. It was not that the remaining horses were bad, but buying one would rather make it seem that Qin Erlang had accompanied his brother for nothing.
And so they looked through four or five dealers without finding a good Northern Horse comparable to Qin Erlang's own yellow-brown horse. They even watched someone else lead away a Black Cloud over Snow just ahead of them. Qin Bao grew increasingly frustrated, while Zhang Xing found it awkward to dissuade him and could only signal the seller with his eyes.
The Horse and Cattle Market's proprietor was no touting boy from the Northern Market. He did not necessarily care much about selling a single horse; he merely did not wish to offend the Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry. Seeing the actual buyer signaling behind his companion's back, he understood, put on a momentary show of hesitation, then cupped his hands toward Qin Erlang.
"Sir... it's getting late. If you truly want to find a bargain, I'll venture to suggest somewhere. If there's nothing there, come back tomorrow, or return here and choose a Northern Horse of a good age. I'll throw in a saddle for you gentlemen... Either way is perfectly fine."
Qin Bao was surprised. "There's another Horse and Cattle Market?"
"No." The proprietor shook his head. "It's the Ghost Market, one that opens in daylight, in an out-of-the-way alley in Shiyi Ward southwest of the Northern Market. Boss Jiang runs the place. I truly wouldn't dare point anyone else there, but you gentlemen are important men from the Jing'an Directorate, and you, sir, know horses. That's why I dare risk suggesting it... If you're willing to go, I'll have my boy show you the way. Though you wear brocade, there should be no trouble if you go quietly to trade in daylight."
Qin Bao hesitated briefly, then nodded at once.
The proprietor immediately turned to call his son.
"What's a ghost market?" Zhang Xing, on the other hand, had become interested... He truly did not know. "Does it have something to do with cultivation? Is it full of people from the martial world playing at ghosts and gods? Does it have heavenly treasures?"
"It's just a private market. What martial-world people?"
Qin Bao frowned slightly and answered quietly. "The state's laws are strict... People live in wards and trade in markets, but the streets outside the wards and the Eastern Capital's three markets all close at set times. The taxes seem quite heavy too. Inside the wards, people can avoid some taxes and trade whenever they like, but the ward walls mean the selection of goods can never be complete... So in the southern city, where there are fewer Jinwu Guards, people often trade in drainage channels at night. Even then, afraid of being reported, they often wear masks or smear their faces with ash. At night, down in the drains, with everyone hiding their faces, passing inferior goods off as good ones and forcing purchases and sales are inevitable. There are even frequent fights and killings. Calling it a ghost market is quite fitting... To think the northern city has one too. That's something new."
Zhang Xing understood immediately. Put nicely, this was "the system failing to keep pace with the people's growing economic needs." Put less nicely, it was "tyrannical government is fiercer than ghosts."
Either way, it fell within the bounds of what he understood.
Unexpectedly, the proprietor's son, only eighteen or nineteen, was actually reading. After being called a couple of times, he emerged from behind the family stables, only to be scolded by his father, who even threatened to tear up his book. He could only lower his head and force a smile, tuck the book into his robe, then hurry up to the two men and give a scholarly bow. "My humble name is Yan Qing. Greetings, gentlemen... I'll take you there now."
Zhang Xing's sharp eyes immediately caught sight of an inexpensive edition of Spring and Autumn of the White Emperor. Feeling favorably disposed toward him, he offered some advice.
"You're so young. Don't spend all your time reading official histories. When you have time, read some famous novels. Those are what nurture literary grace."
Leading the way, Yan Qing lowered his voice and replied awkwardly, "You may laugh, gentlemen, but I come from a Horse and Cattle Market family. When I was little, we had only four or five horses and could only scrape by boarding horses for others. I inevitably had to get up early and in the middle of the night, and truly missed the best time to begin cultivation. Our family's doing a little better now, so I read a bit. It isn't literary refinement I'm hoping for. I just want to use these scraps of time to read some classics and histories, then see whether I can pass the Imperial Examinations and spend a little money to get a clerk's position..."
Zhang Xing understood at once.
Now, in this world, writing had been passed down ever since the Azure Emperor began educating the various peoples and spreading civilization, eight thousand years ago. Although civilization developed extremely slowly in its early stages, and the various peoples fought until heaven and earth went dark, forcing such formidable figures as the Black Emperor, Red Emperor, and White Emperor to emerge and attain the rank of Supreme One, the population base was there, after all, and knowledgeable immortals oversaw things. The spread of culture was therefore still considered important.
By the present day, there were classics personally handed down by several Supreme Ones and the Divine Lords beneath them. As dynasties rose and fell, official histories became an established practice. Later still, as literary traditions accumulated, outstanding writers occasionally emerged to produce fine essays and books... The vogue for novels and contemporary prose that had developed over the preceding centuries, represented by Biography of the Heroine Li Yue, was one such flowering of literary brilliance.
At least in Zhang Xing's view, this world's literature had reached a certain level of feudal cultural development.
But how to put it? Immortals and dragons were there, powerful clans and military aristocrats objectively existed, education struggled to flourish in remote wilderness regions, and there was also True Qi cultivation, the "proper path"... Thus, although the late emperor had established the Imperial Examinations, they had neither gained general social recognition nor become a complete system. At present, they still largely depended on a powerful person reading and appreciating one's paper. Otherwise, even someone who barely passed could only become a low-level clerk.
Only someone like Yan Qing, of humble origins, without connections or cultivation, yet unwilling to languish in obscurity, would think of taking this path.
Of course, Zhang Xing understood perfectly well that the elder brother had no business laughing at the younger. Never mind that he and Qin Bao had cultivated as far as the Fifth Orthodox Meridian and were addressed as gentlemen by everyone. Fundamentally, they could walk Heaven Street in brocade now only because the great aristocrat Bai Yousi had taken a liking to them and raised them up.
That was all.
At this thought, Zhang Xing grew slightly sober again and instinctively reflected on himself, feeling that he had become somewhat carried away these past few days.
But on second thought, his satisfaction did not come from promotion, a new position, or improved benefits. Rather, after struggling with the choice that day, he had gritted his teeth and risked striking down the strong to aid the weak. Above him, he had gained Bai Yousi's approval and earned the brocade he now wore. Below him, he had gained the respect of sensible and honest men such as Ward Chief Liu and Qin Bao. In between, he had freely repaid kindness and vengeance, settling his grudge against the couple who had plotted against him. That was why he had unconsciously become a little lightheaded and unrestrained.
Thinking this way, Zhang Xing reined himself in somewhat, but also regained his ease. He had done a good deed, something even he admired. Why should he not hold his head high and feel at ease?
All these thoughts passed in a mere turn of the mind.
Yan Qing, the Horse and Cattle Market owner's son leading them, was a capable young man. He chatted and joked along the way, neither servile nor overbearing, with both streetwise cunning and a touch of scholarly bearing. He truly inspired goodwill, yet had no idea that his reading and hopes of taking the Imperial Examinations had sent the mind of one Brocade-clad Patrol Cavalry rider behind him through countless turns.
"Gentlemen, this is the place."
Not long after turning into Shiyi Ward southeast of the Northern Market, Yan Qing suddenly stopped and pointed to an alley ahead. "My family runs a legitimate Horse and Cattle Market. It wouldn't do for me to enter in front of Boss Jiang's men... Please go ahead. If you can't find anything suitable, you can return to our place."
Qin Bao nodded first.
Zhang Xing, however, suddenly cupped his hands solemnly and said something startling, apparently changing the entire tone on his own. "You're a fine man, sir, and a fine man who loves learning. You're certain to accomplish something someday."
Qin Bao stared, dumbfounded.
Yan Qing was stunned too, and hastily waved his hands. "I don't deserve such courtesy, sir, much less to be called a fine man."
At this, Yan Qing paused, then hurriedly added in earnest, "I'm not merely being polite. My books say that a man standing in the world is like a dragon coiled beside snakes: you can tell at a glance. I'm already eighteen or nineteen and have read for several years, yet I'm still only a helper at a Horse and Cattle Market. I have neither your martial prowess nor any visible literary brilliance. How can I count as a fine man?"
Zhang Xing quickly waved his hand and answered with his head held high and a solemn expression. "That isn't so. Nobody recognized you because nobody had ever looked at you properly. Today, my brother and I looked at you seriously and found you eager to learn and well-mannered, like a young dragon whose horns already show their distinction, nothing like the ordinary snakes beside it... There's no need to belittle yourself!"
Qin Bao grew still more dumbfounded, while Yan Qing's eyes reddened and he nearly burst into tears. Clearly, recognition was rare in his life, and he had become excited.
"I am Zhang Xing of the northern lands, a brocade-clad patrol rider of the Jing'an Directorate. It has truly been my good fortune to meet you today." Seeing that the other man was about to lose his composure, Zhang Xing hastily introduced himself, solemnly cupped his hands, and left.
"I'm Qin Bao of Dengzhou." Qin Bao also cupped his hands in bewilderment, then turned and hurried after him.
For a moment, only Yan Qing of the Horse and Cattle Market family remained, wiping his tears while cupping his hands before covering his face and leaving.
Leaving Yan Qing aside, Qin Bao caught up with Zhang Xing and entered the private market amid the hesitant glances of several enforcers. Unable to contain himself, he asked first:
"Brother Zhang, just now, how did you... how..."
"How did I set his blood boiling, like a scene from an old book?" Zhang Xing turned and asked expressionlessly. "And how did I decide at one glance that he was a fine man? And now you want to learn too?"
"That's right." Qin Erlang gritted his teeth and admitted it.
"The glib answer is that you can judge horses, and I can judge men," Zhang Xing continued expressionlessly. "One glance told me that boy wasn't a creature destined to remain in a pond... You can't learn that."
"And the honest answer?" Qin Bao asked eagerly.
"Honestly, if he never becomes a fine man, will anyone make a point of remembering this? Conversely, if he really does, won't it be a stroke of good fortune for both of us?" Zhang Xing stopped, raised an eyebrow, and spread his hands. "Besides, forget the future. Even taking ten thousand steps back, here's a boy who loves learning, yet people look down on him because he lives among the markets and streets. Even his own father clearly doesn't understand his reading, but he persists. That says something about his character. What's wrong with my doing the opposite and offering some sincere encouragement? Does it take more effort than that bucket of sour plum soup at noon?
"A child who loves learning deserves encouragement!"
Qin Bao, who seemed to have learned something again, actually had nothing to say.
Just then, Qin Bao suddenly froze, then immediately turned, his gaze settling on the mouth of an alley in the distance. Zhang Xing followed his gaze and saw a sturdy white-and-brown Northern Horse stamping its hooves and lifting its head to look at him.
Both men were instantly overjoyed and walked over together.
But when Zhang Xing reached out to take the Northern Spotted Horse he had fallen for at first sight, Qin Bao reached for a half-grown colt behind it instead. The colt was lean, with yellow and black spots mixed over a white coat, rather like a leopard's markings. It also had a fleshy lump beneath its jaw and could only be called ugly.
Yet without Qin Bao saying a word, Zhang Xing instantly realized that this ugly horse was the truly extraordinary one. Just as Qin Bao reached for it, before he even touched it, its hair stood straight up. Qin Bao recoiled in astonishment, but the horse made no sound. It merely shook out its coat and stood still again.
Zhang Xing had already guessed what had happened. This ugly horse had actually drawn out the Fixed Thunder True Qi Qin Bao cultivated.
"Private-market prices are cheap. No bargaining..." Just then, a man wearing a bamboo hat suddenly spoke from the alley behind the two horses. "Both horses together, a hundred and forty strings of cash."
The spotted horse was just the right age, well-fed and strong. By the usual reckoning, its standard market price was sixty strings. The private market was cheaper, so it might well be fifty strings or even less.
In other words, the seller was no fool. He knew there was something special about the other ugly, half-grown spotted horse. That was why, despite its ugliness and immaturity, he wanted nearly twice the spotted horse's price for it.
Qin Bao's spirits sank at this. He had already spent his warhorse allowance on a yellow-brown horse. Even if he recognized something extraordinary, where would he find the money to buy another horse, especially one so plainly much more expensive than an ordinary sturdy mount?
"I'm only selling this horse because I have no choice." Seeing this, the man in the bamboo hat grew somewhat impatient. "It may well be a Dragon-Blooded Steed. I meant to take a gamble... But it eats meat and drinks wine, and if I don't give it any, it tears down the stable. It's only half-grown, and I already can't afford to keep it. I simply don't have the money or energy to wait until it matures and gamble on whether it really is a Dragon-Blooded Steed... If you won't buy it, I'll have to risk taking it to Heaven Street and see whether some high official or noble recognizes its worth."
"Careful you don't meet some middling official or soldier first, before any great noble, who takes a fancy to it and leads it away without paying." Zhang Xing exposed the man's predicament in a sentence. "We're both penniless outsiders. We really don't have a hundred and forty strings... You'll have no trouble selling the spotted horse. Just tell us how much you want for this ugly spotted colt."
"Eighty-five strings!" The man in the bamboo hat paused, then answered gruffly. "No more bargaining."
"Eighty strings, all in silver. Silver's in short supply right now. That comes to forty-eight taels, and I'll give you forty-nine. Wrap it up in a little bundle and hide it wherever you like... How about it? That's all the silver I have. I have to keep my few remaining coppers to feed myself." Zhang Xing calculated as he worked to persuade him.
The man pressed down his bamboo hat and looked at their brocade robes and sleeve blades, then answered in a muffled voice, "You're not easy men to deal with. I'm not going with you to fetch the money... Forty-nine taels, brought here in actual silver!"
"Erlang, you ride fast. Go borrow a horse from the Horse and Cattle Market, then go to my lodging and fetch the thirteen taels in the saddlebag by my bed. I'll wait here." Zhang Xing turned and gave the instructions quietly without hesitation. "Go quickly and come straight back."
Qin Bao cast a somewhat reluctant glance at the horse, nodded, then immediately turned and left.
Once Qin Bao had gone, Zhang Xing stayed where he was, holding the horse and trying to draw the seller into conversation. But now that the seller had a firm commitment, he refused to say a word... With no other choice, the two could only wait idly.
Sure enough, Qin Erlang proved reliable, galloping back to Shiyi Ward with the silver before Street-Clearing. Zhang Xing wasted no time either, counting out thirty-six plus thirteen taels before the seller, forty-nine in total, truly the vast majority of his wealth, and handing it over. After the local boss inspected the silver and collected a one-tael cut, the transaction was complete, and they led the horse out of the alley.
"Congratulations on acquiring a dragon colt, Brother Zhang." As soon as they emerged, Qin Bao cupped his hands in congratulations, though he could not conceal the envy in his eyes.
Expressionless, Zhang Xing merely wound the reins around the other man's cupped hands, then cupped his own in return. "Congratulations to Qin Erlang for recognizing a fine horse and acquiring a dragon colt. Don't forget to return my yellow-brown horse on time."
Qin Bao instantly understood what he meant and instinctively wanted to refuse, for the difference in the two horses' value was simply too great... Yet with the reins in his hands, he, a lover of horses, could not bear to let go.
Only after a long while did he awkwardly squeeze out a few words. "Could it be that Brother Zhang considers me a fine man too?"
Zhang Xing burst out laughing. Countless fitting replies had already flashed through his mind... There was the straightforward approach:
Of course Qin Erlang was a fine man. A treasured steed belonged with a hero!
There was also an answer closer to the central theme:
People were the foundation of all things under heaven. What was a mere horse beside Qin Erlang?
Having spent his days in his previous world debating politics and history online, he could produce a dozen such lofty declarations without repeating himself.
But after thinking it over, Zhang Xing found them dull instead. So he merely tipped his chin, reached out to pat Qin Bao's shoulder, and said with a smile:
"Nothing else to it. I just think you're a good fellow, Erlang. Someone worth being friends with!"
Qin Erlang had an inward perceptiveness and naturally understood that the other man was joking to keep him from feeling too burdened by this, so he smiled along. Yet for some reason, after Zhang Xing turned away, even though he understood what was happening, his eyes still reddened for a moment, just like those of the half-grown boy Yan Qing.
PS: What a surprise! I discovered that Lord Tongtang had tipped enough for an Alliance Leader.
Exorcising the Dragon: Zhang Xing and Bai Yousi, by the great author Water-Fearing Grenade, provided by you.
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