Section 9: The Scholar Does Not Consort with Eunuchs

  Notification: From Chapter 5 onwards, there are some minor changes. Please go back and take a look for readers who are following the updates. Sorry for the inconvenience!

  The old hunter, who had changed his surname to Bai, put on his full hunting gear and prepared to take Baimenghe into the mountains. At the same time, he said: "You said last night that you wanted to borrow this mountain valley to store water, but how do you plan to let the water flow to those villages?"

  "I have my own way." Bai Minghe didn't explain any further. After seeing this valley, he thought of the future's Yan Se Lake, flooding this abandoned quarry wouldn't be a big deal, and the connected valleys wouldn't be instantly flooded, giving small animals a chance to escape.

  As for some trees on the mountain, those with low terrain will definitely be submerged in water, so it's better to cut them down in advance.

  After circling around in the mountains and confirming the location, when I returned to Lao Lie's hut, the Sun family had also arrived.

  "Go, to the Lu's!" Bai Minghe had already made up his mind. He brought a deer shot by Old Hunter as a gift and rushed to the Lu's without stopping. At this moment, Bai Minghe knew that only the Lu family could help him.

  The land is ownerless; it all belongs to the government; in a word, it all belongs to the Emperor.

  To whom does this mountain forest and valley belong? Bai Minghe needs to know clearly whether it can be done, first of all, the ownership of the land must be opened.

  Arriving at the Lu residence, the third master of the Lu family, a current fifth-rank Hanlin scholar, personally received Bai Minghe in the side hall. As for the Sun clan members, they were naturally invited to the woodshed to have some hot food and drinks.

  "Lord Lu, to be honest with you, I have already found a solution to this matter. And it can guarantee that the spring irrigation situation in Bali San Shi Er Village will improve this year, and next year it can be completely solved. Moreover, I have a big profit project here, which can bring at least 1,000 taels of silver income to Bali San Shi Er Village every year, and pay 100 taels of tax to the government."

  Lu Zhengqiu sat down afterwards, originally still prepared to politely say a few words of courtesy.

  It stands to reason that Bai Minghe should apologize first, as this is a major disturbance during the New Year's celebration and especially on the Lu family's banquet day. He should say some words of self-reproach and apology, so Lu Zhengqiu originally prepared polite and courteous lines.

  But who would have thought that Bai Minghe would solve the problem as soon as he opened his mouth, and really embarrassed Lu Zhengqiu.

  "Hiss......" Lu Zhengqiu took a deep breath, after all, this was a problem that had not been solved for decades. Who dared to say that the previous county magistrates and prefects were incompetent?

  But in fact, there really are people who have gone further than them.

  "Virtuous nephew, is it true?" Lu Zhengqiu's address had changed. His sons were both two years older than Bai Minghe and also participated in the imperial examination as a holder this year. It was not excessive to call him "virtuous nephew", but rather more intimate.

  "Our family also came to listen, is this the young and arrogant, or the talented and capable holder of the imperial examination!" A young eunuch walked in from outside, although arrogant, but when he saw Lu Zhengqiu, he still bowed: "Lu sir, our family originally came to bid farewell, but heard some interesting news, and apologize for any disrespect."

  A good reputation is built on solid foundation.

  Since the eunuch gave Lu Zhengqiu face, Lu Zhengqiu smiled and nodded, then introduced to Bai Menghua: "This is Jin Guanshi, the official in charge of food in the palace, who went to Shanxi to purchase wine and vinegar. The road was difficult to travel due to snow, so he borrowed 100 servants from my Lu family and wants to deliver the wine to the palace before the Lantern Festival!"

  Lu Zhengqiu's few words not only introduced this eunuch but also revealed his attitude and reflected many problems.

  First of all, calling him a eunuch indicates that one has nothing to do with this eunuch. It's a way of drawing a line, after all, as a scholar, one naturally doesn't associate with eunuchs.

  Another point is that Bai Minghe guessed it himself, now during the Chinese New Year, the county and prefecture governments are afraid of not being able to gather enough manpower, even if they can gather together, it will delay time. Also, this eunuch's position is not high, there is no way to borrow the help of the guards.

  The last thing was that this young eunuch really worked hard and didn't delay the journey because of the heavy snow blocking the road.

  This official, named Jin Jie, held a low-ranking position as a minor officer in the Wine and Vinegar Face Bureau, one of the eight inner bureaus. This time his task was to go to Shanxi to escort tribute wine into the capital.

  Nei Guan, twelve monitors, four offices, eight bureaus, collectively known as the Inner Twenty-four Yamen.

  He had borrowed people, before leaving office to come and give Lu Zhengqiu a farewell call, this is his courtesy. Hanlin Academy positive five product officer, but not a small official, this is the future can enter the hall of people, Jin Jie how also want to come over to walk the face.

  On the road, he heard that there was a holder of the imperial examination certificate who had put up all the floating tickets for the provincial examination to resolve the contradictions between the eight villages and thirty-two villages over the years. So when he heard people talking inside, being young after all, he couldn't help but shout out a few sentences.

  Lu Zhengqiu's attitude was audible, and Jin Jie felt somewhat sentimental.

  After all, in the eyes of these literati, this ninth-grade eunuch leader was simply not worthy of consideration in Lu Zhengqiu's eyes.

  The originally young and curious heart disappeared, and he bowed: "Thank you, Lord Lu, for your assistance. When I return to the palace, I will definitely report to Grandfather about Lord Lu's kindness."

  The "grandfather" in Jin Jie's mouth was naturally not his grandfather.

  Eunuchs refer to the various positions of inner officials, and only those with a certain rank are qualified to be called Taipings, such as Jin Jie's level, who mostly address the emperor as "grandfather", while top-level eunuchs like Du Ling Shi have the qualification to be called "Huang Ye" or "Wan Sui Ye".

  (From: Mr. Chen Baoliang's "A History of Social Life in the Ming Dynasty".)

  Lu Zhengqiu simply nodded his hands, which was considered a return of courtesy. His interactions with the eunuchs were limited to formalities and only involved official business, without any hint of personal matters, which was the pride of the Ming dynasty's civil officials.

  Bai Minghe turned around and gave a slight bow, but secretly winked at him, hinting that they should discuss something outside the Lu mansion.

  Jin Jie seemed unresponsive, returned a courtesy and left, his expression somewhat gloomy.

  Lu Zhongqiu said to Bai Mengchu: "In my great Ming dynasty, there are now 100,000 eunuchs. The shocking event of the previous year was caused by the treacherous words of the national thief Wang Zhen. As a scholar, one should have integrity and righteousness, for the country and for the people."

  "Master Lu's teachings are that late birth receives education!" Bai Minghe didn't understand, what happened last year, but he also didn't want to say more.

  "What difficulties are there in the matter of the thirty-two villages within eight miles, which my young nephew has just said can be resolved?" Lu Zhengqiu's tone when speaking to Bai Minghe was completely different from that of Jin Jie earlier. This was the attitude between scholars.

  Bai Minghe said: "The solution is nothing more than having enough water. As long as the villages have enough water, this problem can be solved naturally. So I checked the waterway and found a place that might need to move some earth and rocks, so I wanted to ask Lord Lu to inquire about whose field it is. Secondly, I want to borrow some explosives for opening up the mountain!"

  Having said that, Bai Minghe asked for paper and pen, and carefully drew out the location of the mountain valley he had chosen.

  After understanding clearly, Lu Zhengqiu said:

  "You handle this matter first, it's the New Year period now. Gunpowder can solve a small part of the problem, if not enough, after the New Year, I will help you solve some in the Ministry of Works. As for who that mountain belongs to, we can only investigate after the New Year."

  "Thank you, Lord Lu." Bai Minghe bowed deeply.

  Lu Zheng got up and returned half a courtesy: "Also thank you for that deer, my mother likes it very much."

  "That night, the junior bid farewell and had many things to attend to. After all, spring plowing waits for no man." Bai Minghe bowed again.

  Lu Zhengqiu personally escorted Bai Minghe out of the inner courtyard gate, which was already a great courtesy. As they left, Lu Zhengqiu said: "I heard that my virtuous nephew will attend the Lantern Festival in Zhuozhou and participate in the trial meeting. At that time, you can join our Lu family, as we also have some nephews who want to go to Zhuozhou to gain experience!"

  "May our friendship last forever!" After saying this, Bai Minghe bowed again and left the Lu family's estate.

  Outside the Lu family gate, however, there wasn't even half a person in sight. Jin Jie, the little servant, might not have noticed his own expression, which left Bai Minghe somewhat disappointed.

  Ride on the donkey, let Sun Hu lead the way, and prepare to return to Xiaquan Village.

  But who would have thought that after walking less than five miles, they saw a horse carriage parked by the roadside, and Jin Jie was standing by the side of the road, looking at Bai Minghe from afar with an expression that seemed to be smiling yet not quite.

  Bai Minghe signaled Sun Hu not to come near and walked over alone.

  Jin Jie also had his attendants withdraw to a distance. Then, with a bow of his fist towards Bai Menghe: "Does the imperial examiner want to make acquaintance with this eunuch?" Jin Jie's opening words were self-deprecating, and it was well-known that certain terms were strictly taboo in palace rumors. Obviously, Jin Jie had just been provoked by Lu Zhengqiu.

  "You're just a dog."

  Jin Jie's face still wore a smile, he didn't believe that Bai Minghe had asked to meet just to scold him. So he continued to wait for Bai Minghe to continue speaking.

  Bai Menghua was also a test, if Jin Jie didn't have any conscience at all, then there would be no need to continue talking.

  "This dog is only loyal to one person, everything including its own life belongs to that person. Being a good dog like this, even if it bites to death countless famous ministers, it will still be eternally fragrant...!" White Crane mentioned the dog again, but Jin Jie's face couldn't help but sink down, yet continuing to listen, Jin Jie had no choice but to admit that White Crane was speaking words of great truth.

  Bai Minghe raised his hand again: "I, Bai Minghe, have read extensively and am committed to being trustworthy. I made a vow in the 32 villages of Bali, and I must fulfill it. However, it's difficult for me alone to accomplish this great task for the sake of 5,000 fellow villagers, so I'd like to ask for your help. Of course, I can also help you."

  "What's in it for me?" Jin Jie was a clever man, but also a pitiful one.

  He was not a Han Chinese, but a young boy kidnapped from Annan. After entering the palace, because his childhood was similar to that of another eunuch, he was adopted as a son and also surnamed Jin. That person was a very loyal eunuch named Jin Ying during the reign of Emperor Yingzong, who supported Zhu Jianshen as crown prince, so now he has been accused of countless crimes and is under house arrest.

  Kim Jeong was no longer able to get any help, and many officials in the court who were loyal to the current king, as well as eunuchs from the inner palace, also shunned and isolated him.

  He quickly found some paper and pen in the car, then picked out some charcoal from Jin Jie's fire for warmth.

  He couldn't write the eight-legged essay, nor could he write the grand strategy of the Ming dynasty. But Bai Menghuo was able to write a plan for future generations. Sitting in the carriage, he wrote out a 3,000-word plan with ease.

  "Listen to me, in such a few opportunities, you can hand this thing over to the Emperor. Then under different circumstances, you have different excuses. My reward is those few mountain heads. For the people of 32 villages in Bali to have water for spring plowing this year, I, Bai Menghe, have thanked him."