The Most Powerful Young Master of the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 38: Where Is Divine Justice?

Aside from the Great Demon King, Sima Shengren was also a complete penniless pauper. In terms of salary, Sima Guang earned slightly more, as his official rank was one level higher than that of the Demon King’s father. In the Song Dynasty, official ranks were somewhat similar to military ranks in later eras, primarily used for receiving salaries and measuring status, but in principle, they had no direct relationship to the specific positions officials held. Of course, the discrepancy couldn’t be too extreme—for example, it would be unthinkable in later times for a captain to serve as a battalion commander. Additionally, officials in specific posts could receive a separate salary; for example, Sima Guang’s position as Military Commissioner and Wang Anshi’s role as Transport Commissioner both came with a stipend. All this money added up to a considerable sum by the standards of the time. However, given that Sima Guang’s book collection was even larger than Wang Anshi’s, he had more dependents to support, and he even kept two horses just to show off, Sima Guang’s financial situation was, in theory, even tighter than Old Wang’s. “Those fools in Bianjing all live in luxury, dressed in fine silk and feasting on delicacies. When they go out, they’re accompanied by a large retinue of servants, with fine horses clearing the way. Even Old Wang’s family’s lifestyle is changing—so why is it such a struggle for my Sima family to eat a single egg? Where is justice?” Driven by a mix of envy, jealousy, and resentment—and since his young son, Sima Kang, was still a child who needed to eat eggs—Sima Guang had now taken matters into his own hands and was stationed at Old Wang’s house. But there was no way to get rid of this fellow. Sima Guang watched with his own eyes as Wang Bang arranged the eggs one by one at specific intervals on egg trays—like drawers—which were then inserted into a large iron box and stacked layer upon layer. He left reasonable spacing between the layers to allow heat to circulate properly inside, simulating the temperature of a hen’s rear. That, in general, was Sima Guang’s understanding of the process. He was actually quite clever. Afterward, they closed the box and placed it over a charcoal fire to begin baking. The child prodigy, officially recognized by the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, stood nearby munching on a chicken drumstick while giving orders. The gang of ruffians led by Ma Jinsi also seemed very enthusiastic; as they followed his commands, they muttered things like “Work hard and diligently, like a dog.” This wasn’t like the fully automatic, temperature-controlled ovens of later generations. Aside from the internal structure having undergone repeated testing and fine-tuning, the heating rhythm also required skill—knowing when to use high heat, when to use low heat, when to extinguish the fire, and how long to wait before reheating. These processes were etched into the little calculator’s mind like a mathematical equation. And they were still being refined and improved. The process still went through various versions, from 1. 3 to N. 8. After watching for a while, Sima Guang didn’t really gain any insights, so he folded his arms behind his back and asked, “Young man, I hear you’ve been making bold claims—that you can supply the entire Shuzhou Prefecture with chicks, and that these chickens have superior bloodlines to those on the market and lay eggs without any fuss. Is there any truth to that?” His loyal father had said to respect this man; since he had come in person—rather than sending one of his lackeys to spy—it wouldn’t be appropriate to beat him up. Since it would be pointless to offend him—and since Wang Bang was wasting his time on a futile endeavor anyway—he clasped his fists and said, “In reply to Your Excellency the Prefect, you truly have eyes as sharp as a torch, and my admiration for you is as vast as the surging river…” Sima Guang felt a headache coming on and interrupted, “Skip the next three hundred characters and get to the point.” Wang Bang’s eyes darted about, then he spread his hands and said, “That’s it.” “What do you mean, ‘that’s it’?” Sima Guang asked, taken aback. Wang Bang chuckled, “After skipping three hundred characters, there’s nothing left—including the flattering words I had planned to end with.” Sima Guang couldn’t hold back any longer and blurted out, spittle flying, “Wasting this old man’s time first thing in the morning—are you playing word games with me?” Wang Bang flinched and tucked his neck in. Jeez, I thought people like you loved word games—why are you yelling at me? What good does it do to raise your voice? Seeing the kid put on that innocent, well-behaved act again, Old Liao’s face darkened. Seeing that he couldn’t do anything about the kid, Sima Guang had no choice but to say, “Stop being so mischievous. I’m here in a private capacity—not to spy on your secret formula, but simply out of curiosity, and as a side note… If you’re not exaggerating and your chickens really lay eggs like that, I’d like to raise a few at home so my child can eat some eggs.” He was being sincere. The last time he’d “scammed” Wang Bang out of his secret recipe, he’d actually fallen into a trap—that kid had even been named a child prodigy by the emperor. If he tried to pry into the secret recipe again, not only would he stir up too much animosity, but he had no idea how the emperor would reward the Wang family. Wang Bang laughed. “So you’re here to place an order? You should’ve said so earlier—then we wouldn’t have had all those misunderstandings.” After a pause, Wang Bang added, “Your Excellency has keen insight. I’m skilled at training them—after my training and optimization, this batch of chickens is really coming into its own.” Sima Guang furrowed his brow, thinking that his grammar must have been taught by Ma Jinsi, not at the provincial academy. Wang Bang continued, “As for the methods of raising chickens and the principles behind the use of compound feed, I have already submitted them to the imperial court under your pressure. What belongs to the imperial court belongs to the Great Song—every bit of it is useful. “I guarantee that this method will significantly increase egg production without raising costs. So, of course, you are welcome to use this method as well. However, the chicks I provide are exclusive—anything produced by the Wang family is guaranteed to be top-quality. When fed the compound feed, they gain a mysterious bonus that boosts egg production by about 20 percent.” Old Sima seemed somewhat taken aback as he asked, “Is that really true? Aren’t you just bragging to sell your chickens?” Wang Bang replied, “That tone of yours suggests you’re rather narrow-minded and distrustful of others. Life is full of unexpected twists and turns—how can I possibly guarantee anything? As for the specifics, won’t you have to put it into practice yourself and investigate the matter?” Sima Guang couldn’t very well say he was wrong, but being criticized by a little brat like that was truly embarrassing. “So, are you going to pay for them or not? How many chicks do you want to buy to give it a try?” Wang Bang asked, biting his finger. Erya cradled two fluffy, adorable chicks in her arms and said, “They’re so cute. Why don’t you buy them and raise them, Prefect?” “Is there a friend’s discount?” Sima Guang asked. Wang Bang shook his head with righteous conviction. “We treat everyone equally—no favoritism, no cheating the young or old. It’s the national retail price, with no discounts.” Then, with a sly grin, he added, “But if you’re willing to, you know, do that thing when you allocate land to me, you won’t have to be so formal about paying. Just take some chicks to raise…” Sima Guang interrupted, pointing a finger at his nose: “Don’t even think about it. I can give you the land, but the price was set long ago—there’s no wiggle room. If you don’t want it, then forget it.” Wang Bang said, “Isn’t the government under your jurisdiction already poor enough? Do you even understand that this is a venture that benefits the country and the people? If you don’t want to support it, so be it. However, those derelict houses that should have been sold long ago are dilapidated from years of neglect, leaking everywhere, and in poor condition. If we don’t sell them now, the price will drop even further.” Sima Guang replied, “So, do you want it or not? If you don’t want it, I have no intention of selling it myself. I’ll just seal it away until the next term so someone else can deal with it—that way, I’ll come out clean and free of any trouble.” What an idiot. Wang Bang considered this to be the kind of lazy governance typical of a troublemaker. As the saying goes, “Do nothing, and you’ll make no mistakes.” To put it bluntly, he valued his reputation more than the interests of the entire Shuzhou Prefecture. Zhang Fangping hated people like this the most—which was precisely why Old Zhang had placed the “Great Demon King” here to confront him. However, Pang Ji, as Prime Minister, favored such a disciple. The student was upright, incorruptible, and as pure as water, while also respecting his teacher and valuing the Way—naturally, Pang Ji liked him. Old Pang was already Grand Tutor and Prime Minister; he didn’t need his subordinates to achieve any political accomplishments. Therefore, Old Pang believed that “not causing trouble is a merit, and not bringing trouble or trouble to this Prime Minister is a mark of seniority.” This is precisely where the mindset of “do nothing, make no mistakes” among almost all bureaucrats comes from. The reason is that there is no leader with genuine conviction and aspirations to inspire them; thus, birds of a feather flock together. A political party’s ideology and the behavior of its leader truly reveal the character of its members. After finishing his musings, Wang Bang said dejectedly, “Is there really no room for negotiation on the land price?” “No. If you don’t want to, forget it.” Sima Guang turned and walked away, looking as if he wouldn’t die even if he didn’t buy Wang Yang’s chicks. “All right, Uncle Sima, please wait! We’ll settle on the land price as is, and I’ll sell you the chicks at cost—a friend’s price,” Wang Bang hurriedly added. “Just a ‘friend’s price’? Isn’t there a ‘respect-for-teachers-and-the-way’ price?” Sima Guang pressed further, taking advantage of the situation. This was nothing short of extortion… but Wang Bang seemed to lack any backbone; after charging him only the cost price, he had Erya catch eight chicks and hand them to Sima Guang. Sima Guang hesitated and said, “The chicks are so small; I can’t even tell if they’re male or female…” Wang Bang interrupted, “No need to worry. If you end up with a rooster, you’ll actually come out ahead. When the time comes, I’ll personally come and help you castrate the rooster—it’s a skillful job. Afterward, not only will the rooster stop bullying the other chickens, but it’ll also grow incredibly fast. The extra meat you get will be more cost-effective than the eggs you’d get from it. If you end up with a male and don’t want it, you can return it to me—I’ll be even happier, since it’ll be a breeding rooster, right?” With that, Old Man Sima beamed with delight as he left with the eight fluffy chicks. Though he didn’t say it out loud, he marveled inwardly: such precious chicks came so effortlessly. This young man really knew his stuff—he’d managed to replace the hens and produce a steady stream of chicks in this cold season. Impressive. Wang Bang, on the other hand, was truly frustrated. In this era, without any instruments, it was impossible to tell the sex of chicks that hadn’t yet left the brooder. Honestly, if he accidentally sold a rooster to Sima Guang, it would be Wang Bang who’d be at a loss. Generally speaking, in ancient times, even with Da Bang’s expertise, the accuracy rate for distinguishing the sex of chicks wouldn’t be very high. However, there’s a simple and straightforward method for identification: relying on the parents’ lineage. Suppose both the rooster and hen lineages are genetically pure—the rooster has red plumage, and the hen has white plumage. In that case, the chicks they produce can be identified as male or female solely by their plumage, with a 99 percent accuracy rate. This is the beauty of pedigree science. Unfortunately, it’s still early days, and the evolutionary breeding program for the Wang Bang population hasn’t officially begun yet—it’s still a long way off. Consequently, we must raise the newly hatched chicks for a longer period than is typically required for weaning from the brooder before we can distinguish their sexes, which will lead to a certain increase in costs…