Chapter 6: Misfortune Follows Extreme Joy

The pier at Futou Village, located more than ten miles north of Zhang Village, is quite large and serves as the maritime shipping terminal for Fushan County. The road leading west from the pier passes through Zhang Village on its way to the county seat; it is paved with coal cinders, so there should not be much mud on it.

"First, recruit two strong men and a girl who knows how to cook. The two men will serve as personal attendants to accompany you when buying supplies, and the girl will help Xia Hua with the cooking. They will eat at our house and go to sleep at that large courtyard on the front street at night." Zhang Chen smiled slightly. "In these next few days, I will find a way to swindle some silver—or rather, earn some silver—and once we do, we will move into that large courtyard. By then, we can buy more attendants, maids, and servants."

Fei Niu and Xia Hua, who had just stepped out of the bedroom, exchanged a secret glance. Everything had changed; the young master had become like a stranger! The former Zhang Chen was a bookworm, dull and dim-witted. Although he could be petty, he was so timid he wouldn't say boo to a goose. The current Zhang Chen was free-spirited and unconventional. With the family's silver running low, he was actually planning to swindle others out of theirs. Yet, Fei Niu and Xia Hua were certain that the Zhang Chen before them was indeed the same young master they had served for years. They could only lament that the Tian family’s actions had provoked him into becoming a completely different person.

There were no asphalt or concrete roads in the Great Ming. The main street of Zhang Village was a dirt path, and even with the layer of coal cinders, there was surely mud to be found. After lunch, Fei Niu went to the county seat to shop and recruit the attendants. The sky had cleared, and Zhang Chen’s mood improved slightly. He did not go out; he stayed in his study reading. Even if there were no mud on the road, he had no desire to go out.

Most people in the Great Ming looked down upon uxorilocal sons-in-law. The villagers of Zhang Village mostly looked down on Zhang Chen, and whenever they encountered him on the road, they would pretend not to see him. The Zhang family had gifted Zhang Village to Magistrate Tian Xuewen as part of Zhang Chen’s dowry. Yesterday, the Tian family had sent the property deeds and land titles for Zhang Village to the village, handing them over to Zheng Shizhen, a loyalist of the Zhang family. Loyal to the late Zhang Yuanyi, Zheng Shizhen had gone to the relevant county authorities yesterday to transfer all the deeds and titles of Zhang Village into the name of Zhang Yuanyi’s eldest legitimate son, Zhang Chen. In other words, most of the villagers in Zhang Village were now Zhang Chen’s tenants, yet they still mostly ignored him. Being a uxorilocal son-in-law was synonymous with being a "kept man" who was lazy and idle; it was understandable that the people looked down on him and ignored him. But Zhang Chen felt aggrieved—he had never wanted to be a kept man!

Zhang Yuanyi’s second son, Zhang Er Chen, and his third son, Zhang San Chen, were both born to the Zhao woman. This meant that the twins, Zhang Er Chen and Zhang San Chen, were also Zhang Yuanyi’s legitimate sons. Sending Zhang Yuanyi’s eldest legitimate son, Zhang Chen, to the Tian family as a uxorilocal son-in-law was the Zhao woman’s way of ensuring that the bulk of the Zhang family estate would be divided among her own biological sons, Zhang Er Chen and Zhang San Chen.

Shaking his head, Zhang Chen, who had nowhere to seek justice, continued reading. The Zhang Chen of this era had studied the classics, histories, and philosophical works well; he had memorized the Four Books and Five Classics and other Confucian works, and he was skilled at writing "eight-legged" essays. The truth was, the original owner had simply not performed well during the academy examination a few days ago. This meant that, barring any accidents, Zhang Chen would certainly pass the academy exam to become a *xiucai* next February.

The original Zhang Chen of this era had been very honest and cowardly, rarely speaking; his introverted nature and lack of eloquence made him unwilling to express his opinions or emotions, leaving him remarkably silent. This character trait manifested in his writing as stiff, rigid, and lacking inspiration. Zhang Chen, however, had spent over a decade working in the twenty-first century and had endured countless beatings by society. The soul of a doctor from the twenty-first century had traveled into the original owner’s body, compensating for his flaws. This allowed Zhang Chen to make significant progress in his writing, giving him a certain degree of confidence in passing the provincial examination next August to become a *juren*, and a high probability of passing the metropolitan examination the following year to become a *gongshi*.

With a certain confidence in becoming a *juren* and an official, Zhang Chen looked at his books listlessly. He spent most of his time daydreaming, missing his friends and family from the twenty-first century.

Before dinner, Zhang Chen interviewed the two men and one woman whom Fei Niu had recruited that afternoon.

"Master, this humble one is named Pang Ding, formerly a scout for the Fuzhou Guard in Liaodong." Seventeen years old and burly, Pang Ding performed a set of the Founding Emperor’s Long Fist, moving with a fierce, whistling wind.

"Master, this humble one is named Jiang Chen, formerly a soldier in the Xuanfu Garrison." Sixteen years old and possessing a rugged, fierce look, Jiang Chen also performed a set of the Long Fist, doing so even better than Zhang Chen.

"Master, this young woman is named Jiang Xianghua, from Chenzhou Prefecture in Henan. My father was a clerk at the county magistrate's office, and I can cook anything." Fifteen years old, Jiang Xianghua had clear, beautiful eyes and was literate; she wrote her own name.

The Great Ming lacked national ID cards, computers, and the internet; Zhang Chen had no way to verify the identities of Pang Ding, Jiang Chen, and Jiang Xianghua. Having no reason to interview them further, Zhang Chen found them agreeable and hired them. Following the unwritten rules, Zhang Chen renamed Jiang Xianghua to Zhang Xianghua, Pang Ding to Zhang Da'an, and Jiang Chen to Zhang Er'an. Tomorrow, Fei Niu would take them to the Fushan County agency to have them sign their deeds of servitude. From then on, they would be Zhang Chen’s household slaves.

Two years ago, after his family was wiped out by the Jurchen Tatars, Pang Ding had fled from Liaodong to Shanhai Pass and headed south, wandering into Fushan County, Dengzhou Prefecture, three months ago. Three years ago, at thirteen, Jiang Chen had taken over his older brother’s post as a soldier in the Xuanfu Garrison. The Ming military household system had long since collapsed, turning soldiers into slaves of their officers. Two years ago, Jiang Chen’s parents and siblings had died of illness or starvation. Unable to get enough to eat and subjected to slavery by his officers, Jiang Chen had deserted a year ago, wandering south and arriving in Fushan County two months ago.

This summer, the Chenzhou Prefecture in the Southern Metropolitan Region had suffered a flood. Two months ago, Jiang Xianghua had fled the famine with her parents, arriving in Fushan County. A month ago, her father died of illness, and that very morning, her mother had starved to death. With no immediate family left, Pang Ding, Jiang Chen, and Jiang Xianghua were all willing to sign their deeds of servitude to become Zhang Chen’s slaves.

Having gone without a full meal for days, the three of them nearly devoured all the steamed buns Xia Hua had made that evening. "Eat slowly. I’ll say it again: you shouldn't eat too much for your first meal," Zhang Chen said, taking a sip of water. "In this household, I can't promise much else, but from now on, I will make sure you are fed well at every meal."

...

It was the second year of the Chongzhen reign, the early years of Chongzhen, and most government departments were still operating normally. At the fifth quarter of the *chen* hour the next day, the courier from the postal station delivered two letters to the large courtyard on the front street. Zhou Yichao, a classmate from the local academy, was a close friend of Zhang Chen’s and invited him to a literary gathering at Penglai Pavilion in Dengzhou City for the upcoming Double Ninth Festival. Ma Tingyu, a classmate from the county academy and one of Zhang Chen’s fair-weather friends, invited him to drink flower wine at the local entertainment district in Fushan County the following afternoon—and, incidentally, invited him to the literary gathering as well.

A year ago, Xu Zize, the legitimate son of the Shandong Governor Xu Congzhi, and his legitimate sister, Xu Zihan, had traveled by boat from Dengzhou Prefecture to Guangdong to visit relatives. Three months ago, they had set sail from Guangdong back to Shandong. Along the way, their fleet encountered several groups of pirates. Xu Zize had commanded the fleet’s guards in a bloody battle, successfully repelling the pirates. A few days ago, the fleet had reached the waters off Dengzhou City. Finally near their destination, Xu Zize and his sister were overjoyed, forgetting the idiom that "extreme joy begets sorrow."