The stall owner planted both hands on his hips, completely ignoring the other diners around him, and shouted, “Those blind, sour-grass scholars!”
“They’ve spent their whole lives reading worthless books, yet not once have I seen them spare even half a bowl of thin gruel for my family!”
“Here in Jiangnan, the reason poor folk can now afford to put an entire bowl of meat on the table is entirely thanks to the boundless benevolence bestowed upon us by Magistrate Xu! Who the hell do they think they are to curse him?”
His thunderous tirade immediately drew the attention of the diners at the low table beside them.
An old man turned around and shouted, “Boss! Your news is way behind! What Magistrate Xu? Don’t go calling him that!”
“The court issued the yellow proclamations and official gazettes weeks ago. The man has rendered a service of unparalleled merit, received an imperial decree of grace from the Son of Heaven himself, and was long ago conferred the title of Princess Wanping, a second-rank commandery princess!”
The stall owner stared blankly for a moment. Then he slapped his thighs with both hands, delight instantly spreading across his face.
“Good! Good!” he cried, his voice brimming with uncontainable satisfaction.
“Heaven has eyes after all! Princess Xu is a true benefactor, a great noble who actually does things for ordinary folk like us!”
“She deserves every bit of good fortune coming her way! Hmph! Let those sour-faced scholars who spend all day yapping at the tops of their lungs rot in a filthy ditch!”
Xu Youde could no longer suppress the smile at the corners of his mouth.
The vicious anger that had been lodged in his chest moments ago was swept away by the stall owner’s blunt cursing.
He lifted a slice of meat glistening with bright red braising sauce and put it into his mouth, chewing slowly.
The tender, melting fat and rich sauce burst between his lips and teeth, immensely satisfying.
He raised his tea to wash it down, then arranged a kindly smile on his face—just the right amount—and adopted the bearing of an old merchant who had traveled far and wide before swaying leisurely as he joined the conversation.
“What the boss says hits the nail right on the head.”
“I deal in silk thread up north, and on my journey south to Jiangning, I heard plenty about the thunderous methods of that Princess Wanping.”
“She has opened up a way for common folk to earn real silver.”
“With such boldness and breadth of vision, she puts not only women, but even those eminent ministers at court, to shame.”
“The common people of Great Qian truly need a noble such as her—someone daring enough to take decisive action and stand behind them.”
Hearing this, the stall owner seemed to have found a kindred spirit. Every wrinkle on his face crinkled with laughter.
“Exactly! An old gentleman who’s traveled far really does see things clearly! What good are so-called eternal traditions? If they let ordinary people eat meat at every meal, now that’s a rule worth having!”
Xu Youde did not reply. He merely lowered his head and prodded the few strands of noodles left at the bottom of his bowl with his bamboo chopsticks.
But from the corner of his eye, looking over the chipped rim of the bowl, he silently turned his attention to the low square table beside him on the right.
Two burly, rough-looking men sat facing each other there.
Both wore coarse hemp clothes, washed pale and covered in fuzz, and both had straw sandals caked with dried yellow mud on their feet.
At the center of the table sat two large sea bowls filled with cloudy, inferior liquor.
The food to go with the drink was pitiful: a single dish of finely chopped salted turnip and a plate of peanuts fried until slightly charred.
The pungent bite of the cheap liquor mingled with the river breeze and blew straight into their faces.
The bearded man on the left lifted his sea bowl, tipped back his head, and poured most of the strong liquor down his throat.
Bang!
He slammed the bowl onto the greasy wooden table.
The bearded man wiped the liquor from his chin. His eyes were webbed with blood vessels as he launched into a furious curse in a thick Huguang accent.
“Damn it! The owners of those seven or eight major mills in Jiangning, along with those blasted heads of the textile guilds, have issued a decree these past two days that’s meant to cut off every last avenue of escape!”
“They’ve posted notices at every major crossroads. Any outsider who wants to find work in the streets must have local ‘guild registration papers’ bearing the guild’s internal seals and verification. Anyone without them dares not take a job. They say it would be no different from smashing the rice bowls their guild halls have passed down for generations!”
Xu Youde’s chopsticks paused slightly over the noodles.
The bearded man smacked his enormous palm against his thigh. Though his voice was furious, his expression was helpless.
“Those local snakes eat people without even spitting out the bones!”
“And they’ve even sent out word! If they catch anyone working without guild registration, every guild throughout Jiangnan—big or small—will blacklist them and refuse to hire them ever again!”
“Dock work, hauling timber at the shipyards, weaving cloth in the mills—there won’t be a road left for us! Those bastards mean to drive us brothers who fled famine in Huguang straight through the gates of hell!”
The scar-faced man sitting opposite him did not join in the cursing. Instead, he let out a long, heavy breath.
He picked up a peanut from the table and tossed it into his mouth.
“Third Brother, they have the upper hand because they’re holding the very thing we can’t afford to lose.” His voice was thick with helplessness. “What good is cursing them? Look at the dozens of brothers we have staying in those ramshackle houses behind the City God Temple.”
“The local landlords see our accents are foreign and look at us as if we’re thieves waiting to break in.”
The scar-faced man sighed heavily.
“Yesterday, the landlord stood in the yard with his hands on his hips and issued an ultimatum. This month’s rent has tripled. If we can’t produce the silver, he’ll throw our bedrolls out before nightfall and send us outside the city to drink the northwest wind!”
“We’re trapped from both sides!”
“The new factory is offering honest work and ready silver. But if we bypass the local guilds and sign on as long-term laborers at the new factory, we’ll be openly tearing our faces with Jiangning’s local power brokers.”
The scar-faced man’s eyes grew red as he spoke.
“What if… I’m only saying what if—the new factory is shut down by the authorities one day, or gets into trouble and closes its doors?”
“Then our whole group won’t have a road left to retreat down! Without the guilds’ permission, all we’ll be able to do is let the local merchants squeeze and twist us as they please, until our wives and children starve to death in this supposedly prosperous city!”
The oil lamp on the long table flickered in the wind, casting an unsteady light over the two Huguang men’s despairing, flushed faces.
Xu Youde sat beside them with his eyes half closed.
The great guilds and mill owners had used the rules surrounding “guild registration” to seize the outsiders by their most vulnerable point.
They used rent to force them into submission and blacklisting to cut off every possible path.
By exploiting local prejudice and solidarity, they were cutting off the new factory’s access to labor at its very roots.
Every blow struck the vital organs.
Xu Youde suddenly opened his eyes. A cold glint flashed through them.
He wasted no more time.
Gulp—
He drained the last mouthful of thick, milky bone broth from his bowl.
Then he set the empty bowl firmly on the greasy tabletop.
From deep within his wide sleeve, Xu Youde produced half a string of copper cash and placed it on the table.
After that, he rose abruptly.
“Boss! The noodles were excellent, and you gave me a generous portion of meat. No need to return the change.” Xu Youde tossed out the words.
“Thank you, honored customer! Thank you!” The stall owner waved his long-spouted brass kettle and called out warmly through the billowing steam. “Enjoy your meal! The night is cold, old sir—watch your step, and take it slow!”
Xu Youde neither paused nor looked back.
He simply walked into Jiangning’s deep, bottomless night, heading straight through the dazzling streetlights and roaring bustle without turning around.
