Following Zhang Xiaobao and w.a.n.g Juanâs answers, the members of the two families of Zhang and w.a.n.g valued these two children more and more. Especially after w.a.n.g Manor had also imitated Zhang Manor by hiring several more people and discovered that the money spent wasnât that much but the people underneath worked even harder than they had previously.
In the afternoon, the temperature went back up. Zhang Xiaobao and w.a.n.g Juan brought along Shiliu as they walked towards those fields that had been completely harvested. At this time, the fields had patch after patch of short stubble; it was all like this, regardless of whether it was rice, wheat, and millet.
âXiaobao, can some vegetables be planted during the winter?â w.a.n.g Juan picked up a leaf that had been blown by the wind onto her body and felt that for the land in front of her to be empty for the winter was a bit wasteful.
Zhang Xiaobao pursed his little mouth as he gazed at those fields. Only after a long while did he shake his head and say with resignation: âTo want to plant these lands here isnât feasible. Wonder how much is 1Â cattyof cuc.u.mbers in the winter?â
âShiliu, how much do cuc.u.mbers cost in the winter?â w.a.n.g Juan turned her head around to ask Shiliu who was following closely.
âWhere are there cuc.u.mbers? After two more days, the stockpiled cuc.u.mbers will need to be eaten up otherwise theyâll go bad. If Little Miss wishes to eat cuc.u.mbers, the cuc.u.mbers can be dried in the shade.1Then, use water to soak them with to eat themâthe other vegetables are prepared this way, too.â Shiliu didnât know what these two little guys were thinking? To even expect to buy cuc.u.mbers in the winter.
âThen if there are cuc.u.mbersâjust pickedâhow much money would you be prepared to buy them for?â Zhang Xiaobao subsequently asked.
âIn reply to Little Misterâs words, I wouldnât buy them. Even if they could be bought, I wouldnât be able to afford them.â Shiliu also didnât have anything to do so she went along with conversing on these topics that were impossible to realize.
But w.a.n.g Juan didnât think so. If Zhang Xiaobao didnât have a way, he wouldnât be so fixated on this line of questioning. She thought on it for a while but discovered that a greenhouse2Â couldnât be built so she could only use her hand to b.u.mp Zhang Xiaobao: âHow do you want to plant cuc.u.mbers?â
âErniu has grown idle. Have him go to Mu Manor to collect firewoodâthat is, the stalks from rice, wheat, and millet. This stuff should be extremely cheap as 1 wen [cash] of money should be enough to buy several large bundles. Then, weâll plant the cuc.u.mbers. Today, weâll do the preparation work; tomorrow, weâll do it.â
Zhang Xiaobao started planning things out while to the side, w.a.n.g Juan still had not figured out how the cuc.u.mbers could be planted.
Not waiting for her to ask, Zhang Xiaobao explained it for her: âIn fact, this is a scamâone that a subordinate had originally thought up. I thought that it wouldnât be easy to implement so I didnât use it. This method can, in a situation without using any transparent materials, plant vegetables in the north during the winter.
Theoretically, itâs possible but the reality of the process is that it doesnât compare to just shipping it over from other summer seasonal countries. The investment is large but the gain is small so the revenue wouldnât make up for the deficits.3Â Over on this side, some of the materials are cheap and you donât even need to account for the time or labor; on top of that, winter has no cuc.u.mbers so it should be able to make money. Tomorrow, get busy along with me.â
w.a.n.g Juan, seeing that Zhang Xiaobao had spoken of it in pa.s.sing but still hadnât pointed out the matter, didnât hurry to ask as she would know by looking at how he prepared today.
With business to be accomplished, the three of them didnât linger much outside as they turned around to go back and Zhang Xiaobao started setting up the arrangements.
Picking out a plot of land that was 40 meters by 40 meters in the back, he and w.a.n.g Juan did the rough measurements together, digging out a square trench located every 5 meters by 5 meters with the trench being 1.5 meters deep.
Subsequently, a wall was built on top to surround that area of over 20 square meters. It was the kind that was hollow-sh.e.l.led4Â in the middle with a wall height of 2 meters. Near the top of the interior, holes that were as thick as a small childâs arm were drilled in place at every 1 meter interval.
The manor was currently not busy and had a lot of people. The master-family took care of the meals so that they could even save up some of their own familyâs food grains. So they all came over to help. Once the holes on the wall had been completely bored out, another hole was drilled in each exterior surrounding wall that was slightly larger.
It was only when night came that these could all be considered to be finished though it had not dried yet. Erniu brought over firewood to start baking the walls during the night as a stove5Â had been connected to the bottom hole and firewood placed within the stove so that the hot air could travel along the area in between the two walls to move to other places.
During this one night, there were a lot of people lighting the fire so it was rather lively. The little kids of the manor were all too excited to sleep as they wandered back and forth.
Morning, the next day. Zhang Xiaobao had people go and collect matsâthose types that were the cheapest. They could be mats6 woven out of gra.s.s and could also be woven out of reeds. Bamboo wasnât considered as they were a bit costly. They did purchase countless bamboo poles that were as thick as a little childâs arm and at least 2.5 meters long, which was around 6 chi [foot].
Donât just see how the stuff wasnât worth any money. To buy everything had even cost Zhang Xiaobao 100 bolts of silk along with 20 silver taels, causing Steward Zhang who had been looking on from the side bad heart pains.
âFor Little Mister whoâs been busy these past few days making money, it hasnât been so easy either. Mess around once and 20 taels were gone. The spicy sauce, vegetable oil, and borrowing on credit for the past two days had to be resorted to make up for it. And the money from Little Mister selling the carrots has even been used. Of the money of the two manors added on top of the money that Little Mister made, 3,900 taels of silver has all been exchanged for food grains. This even includes that portion originally from Mister Song.
The chicks have grown up quite a bit but selling them isnât allowed and theyâll only be able to produce eggs next year. After paying the taxes in grains,7Â the manor wonât have any extra money8Â to spare. Right now, all of the expenses of the manor are even being supported by the money from Little Misterâs daily sale of the oil and sauce. Mistress, how about persuading Little Mister?â
Steward Zhang muttered for a while at Mrs. Zhang-w.a.n.g who was also watching the commotion. 20 silver taels, ~ah! It was enough for the courtyard houseâs overhead for a single month.
âSteward Zhang, Xiaobao wants to do this and heâs even using his own money so bystanders shouldnât mind. Xiaobao has his own plans.â
Mrs. Zhang-w.a.n.g was rather indifferent. There were still hundreds and tens of guan [strings of cash] in the house and when she looked again at those food grains that had been piled up into hill after hill, she basically wasnât worried. Moreover, that vegetable oil would have daily revenue and even after subtracting the two manorsâ expenses, there was still a surplus left over.
When it was night, several people remained here to light the fire and keep watch as w.a.n.g Juan and Zhang Xiaobao also came over to see.
âXiaobao, youâre thinking of planting cuc.u.mbers in the middle here. If itâs cold, just light up the fire a bit. During the daytime, open up the shed and connect the hollowed out bamboo so as to preserve the interior temperature. If two bamboo poles are joined together, their two ends would meet up just right. Then, cover it up with mats at night. Then, what about the moisture level for winter here, ~ne?â
w.a.n.g Juan understood. No wonder Zhang Xiaobao said that it was a scam. Wasnât that so? If placed in that time, this stuff would require a lot of moneyâitâd even more expensive than building a greenhouse. Cuc.u.mbers could be had elsewhere and basically couldnât be sold for too much money. How much money would be needed to ship it over from the south to the north?
âMaintaining the moistureâs easy. Just spraying water on the mats covering it would be fine. The mats consumed will be a bit more but itâs good that theyâre inexpensive. The most important consideration for winter is the snow. If there really is heavy snow, then people will need to get up to brush it off at night. The land fears the chill so the trenches were dug out so that it could be baked with fire every few days.
Under this kind of sunlight, the cuc.u.mbers will grow slowly. Itâs the middle 10 days of September9Â right now, according to the calculations on this side. With another 2 and half months, itâll be the New Year, which is about when theyâll come down. Then, weâll earn a big sum and have a good New Yearâs. The secrecy needs to be protected well when itâs being artificially pollinated.â
As the words slowly came out of Zhang Xiaobaoâs mouth, w.a.n.g Juan gazed at his calm expression on his face and felt that this was the style that International Criminal Swindler of before should haveâjust like a patriarch10Â commanding their subordinates to knock down one after another one of their enemies with a steadfast and profound bearing that allowed their subordinates to forever be filled with confidence and hope.
âDidnât expect it, ~ah. Something that was originally meant to scam people with could actually make money on this side. By that time, eating a bite of cuc.u.mbers would be more expensive than eating a bite of meat. Letâs go. Tomorrow morning, Mister Song will be returning to give us the money from selling the sugar in cooperation with that Zhou Xihu. The peasants from your and my two familiesâ manors needs people to go renovate their houses as well as to set up the kang [bed-stove]. Itâs all counting on this sum of money, ~ne.â
w.a.n.g Juan pulled on Zhang Xiaobaoâs hand as she turned around to walk towards the residential area, the two small little figures growing longer and longer under the firelight.
The morning of the second day, Song Jing-gong rushed back as he first took out the money from the oil that had been sold yesterday. It wasnât much, being only 900 or so copper coins and not even reaching 1 silvertael. However, carrying it wasnât light or easy. The main thing was that a lot of people had used other things in exchange.
According to Zhang Xiaobaoâs instructions, if these things could be preserved, they were aggregated before being sold off in bulk while the ones that couldnât be preserved were basically some edibles such as 3catties of dewy spinach that were used to exchange for 1 catty of tofu. The spinach would be directly brought over to that small eatery that had been purchased. The accounts were recorded separately and then, would be settled at the end of the month.
âLittle Mister, this is the money that Zhou Xihu gave. Based on what you [honorific] said, I initially asked for 30% of the money, lowering the 50% by two levels on my own. That Zhou Xihu was so badly delighted. This is 120 silver taels. Carrying them on my person along with those copper coins almost crushed me to death.â
Song Jing-gong placed a bundle heâd been carrying on his back in front of Zhang Xiaobao and w.a.n.g Juan. He pulled open the knot to reveal inside the gray-white color of silverâ12 ingots, each ingot weighing 10Â taels.
Zhang Xiaobao nodded his head. Having this money would be enough.
Song Jing-gong saw that Little Mister didnât have any expression of surprise so he himself couldnât be so excited, either. So he asked as if wishing to play a guessing game with Little Mister: âLittle Mister, why donât you [honorific] guess why over 100 silver taels were gained in such a short time?â
âThis requires a guess? Zhou Xihu has been spoiled and pampered since birth and he hasnât even come of age yet, ~ne, so heâs still considered a child. Heâs the same as me and wants to have the people in his family be happy. So in the end, he used quite a few tricks to transport over a large amount of brown sugar to make into white sugar and then sold them using the connections that he found.
I can guess that within the prefecture, any place that sells sugar will have his white sugar. What youâve brought over will only be the first sum of money; the next sum of money will soon arrive. Yesterday night, I told Erniu to leave the prefecture today and go elsewhere to buy brown sugar. Before the New Year, itâll increase greatly in priceâthe money that needs to be made still has to be made.â
Zhang Xiaobao used his hands to caress the silver, feeling the coolness of the surface while he talked.
âLittle Mister, Iâll go back first. Tomorrow, Iâll return in the afternoon and bring over the second sum of money here.â
After Song Jing-gong finished listening to Zhang Xiaobaoâs words, the last trace of excitement also disappeared from his face as he stood up, leaving behind a sentence before he listlessly and dispiritedly left. He suddenly felt like his constant swindling in the past had been meaningless. Facing Little Mister, he was like a small child who had just learned how to walk.
âXiaobao, youâve scared him.â w.a.n.g Juan knew as a matter of course what Song Jing-gongâs mood was like. It was just like when she had first seen Zhang Xiaobaoâs data. When you were faced with this type of genius who you couldnât deny, there was a sense of powerlessness.
âI didnât scare him. Iâm giving him confidence. Heâs a conceited person who thinks that heâs smarter than other people. Iâll keep him tightly in check and then, heâll think it through.
He himself is already that impressive and behind him, thereâs an even more impressive personâso what does he have to fear when heâs doing something? Heâll then utilize all of his abilities and not need to think of a path for retreat and will let him be self-confident. This is the position that he should be in.â
Zhang Xiaobao provided w.a.n.g Juan a one-time a.n.a.lysis of the motivational theory behind human nature and talented personnel.
âYin ganâ (èäčŸ) basically means âto dry in the shadeâ and refers to a type of food drying. This would be an ancient way of dehydrating food for the purposes of storage preservation where the food is placed in a cool and dry place for a period of time so that the water contents can naturally evaporate. The ancient Chinese did this for a variety of foods that included vegetables and fruits as well as medicines and herbs.
âDa pengâ (性æŁ) literally means âbig shedâ but usually refers to a greenhouse or a building/covered awning under which plants and crops are grown.
I translated for the meaning of the Chinese expression used here of âru bu fu chuâ (ć „äžæ·ćș), which breaks down etymologically as âentry (intake) not sufficient for exit (expense)â and is generally translated as âunable to make ends meet.â
Technically, it is described as âjia cengâ (ć€Ÿć±€) in the original text, which literally means âfolded layerâ and can either refer to a mezzanine-like middle layer or a double-decker setup or a structure whose layers are folded around a hollow center. Based on the description and to avoid reader confusion, I chose to word it as âhollow.â
The kind of stove that they are talking about here is slightly different in structure and design than the ones most people have in mind as they share the same function as modern stovetops but had different designs. In Chinese, it is called a âzao taiâ (ç¶ć°) and was a structure that was the combination of a hearth and stove. For a picture, go to the Baidu page baike.baidu.com/view/1199948.htm.
âXiziâ (ćžć) just means âmatâ in Chinese and described mats that were typically woven out of straw or reeds as ones that were woven out of cloth were usually described as rugs or blankets rather than mats in Chinese. For reference, the âxiziâ (ćžć) would closely resemble j.a.panese tatami mats or reed mats from India and Thailand.
The original Chinese of âxiang shang mian jiao wan liangâ (ćäžéąäș€ćźçł§) literally translates to âgiving the food/grains upwards,â which would sound confusing to readers. To clarify, âupwardsâ is an euphemism for the government which rules over all of them. So in this case, Steward Zhang is speaking of paying taxes to the government using food grains in exchange rather than hard currency.
The term Steward Zhang uses here is âhuo qianâ (掻éą), which works out to mean âlive moneyâ but it essentially means 'spare cash.â
âZhong xunâ (äžæŹ) refers to the time period within a month that is specifically the 11th to 20th day. âJiu yueâ (äčæ) means â9th monthâ and though itâs not stated whether they are using the Gregorian or lunar calendar, I chose to translate â9th monthâ as September for the sake of convenience.
âJia zhangâ (柶é·) normally means âparents or childâs guardiansâ in Chinese and you will see it being used within the term that is the Chinese equivalent for a parent-teacher conference. However, it literally means âfamily elder/chiefâ and in this case, it is being used for its connotations as the head of the family (i.e. the patriarch or matriarch). Since Juan-Juan is using it as an a.n.a.logy for Xiaobao, I have chosen to translate it as âpatriarchâ in this context.