Chapter 96 The Monkey Keeper of Wei and Song
"In the ancient state of Song during the pre-Qin period, there was an old man who raised monkeys. He loved monkeys and kept them in groups. The macaques could generally understand what the old man was saying. Perhaps the old man was gifted, or perhaps he had spent a lot of time with the monkeys, he also understood their thoughts."
"In order to raise monkeys, this old man often saved the food rations of his family to satisfy the monkeys' appetites. Over time, the family naturally ran out of food."
"Having no other choice, he could only reduce the amount of food given to the monkeys. But he was afraid the monkeys would get angry and disobey him, so the old man first deceived the monkeys, saying, 'I will give you acorns, three in the morning and four in the evening. Is that enough?'"
The monkeys were furious upon hearing this, but the old man immediately changed his tune, saying, "I'll give you acorns, four in the morning and three more in the evening. Is that enough?" The monkeys, delighted, knelt at the old man's feet, completely submissive to him…
“Your Excellency, Miss Xie, you are both graduates of the academy and well-versed in the classics. You must have heard this little story about being fickle in the morning and evening. What do you two think of this story?”
"Is the monkey keeper in the Song Kingdom both kind-hearted and wise? As for the monkeys, we can't completely laugh at their stupidity, since humans and monkeys are inherently different, and this is just the nature of monkeys."
"The important thing is not to try to reason with them or explain that there is no difference between being fickle and being unfaithful. No monkey will listen to that. The important thing is to go along with their nature and resolve these small conflicts when they get along. Only in this way can monkey keeper and macaques get along well... That's the most important thing, isn't it?"
Inside a private room on the second floor of Yuanming Tower, Liu Ziwen's gaze swept past the table of delicious food, and he smiled as he looked at the two people opposite him. He slowly finished telling a short story, with a touch of emotion in his voice:
"When I was a student, I read this story and was deeply moved. The monkey keeper in the State of Song really had a tough job. There's really nothing new under the sun. Our ancestors taught us all these lessons."
"Oh? Is that so?" A handsome young man laughed, "Is this the kind of stuff that Master Liu's ancestors taught? It's a bit different from what my ancestors taught."
Xie Lingjiang said crisply, "Perhaps my senior brother and he are not from the same ancestor."
Liu Ziwen's smile remained unchanged: "Is that so? What's the difference between your ancestors and mine, Magistrate?"
Ouyang Rong propped himself up on the table with his elbows, his chin resting lightly on the back of his interlaced hands.
Under the gazes of Xie Lingjiang beside him and Liu Ziwen opposite him, he leaned forward slightly and nodded with a smile:
"What a coincidence! I also happened to hear a story about a monkey keeper from my ancestors. However, it seems to be slightly different from the one that Master Liu told me."
"Oh? What's the difference? Tell me, sir."
"The story I heard was not set in the State of Song during the pre-Qin period, but in the neighboring State of Wei."
“In the past, there was also an old man in the State of Wei who raised monkeys. However, unlike the monkey keeper in the State of Song, he made a living by raising monkeys. What they had in common was that he could understand the monkeys’ thoughts, and the macaques under his command could also roughly understand his words.”
“Every morning, the old man would have the monkeys line up in the open space in front of his house and start a meeting to assign tasks. He would have the old monkey lead the macaques to the back mountain to pick acorns and then return at night. Each time, the old man who raised the monkeys would take half of the acorns as tax to support himself.”
“If any monkeys misbehave, refuse to give acorns, or steal acorns, or if the daily acorn income is insufficient, the old man will whip the monkeys with an iron whip.”
"The monkeys were all afraid of him and dared not disobey him."
"However, one day, the monkeys who went up the mountain to pick fruit encountered a wild monkey. The wild monkey, curious, asked, 'Were all the fruit trees on this mountain planted by that old man?' The monkeys replied, 'No, they grew naturally.'"
The wild monkey asked again, "Now that the old man is gone, can't you guys go pick fruit anymore?" The monkeys replied, "No, anyone can pick it!"
The wild monkey asked again, "Then why do you depend on him and even offer him tribute?" Before he finished speaking, the monkeys immediately understood.
That night, the monkeys waited quietly until the old man who kept them fell asleep, then climbed over the fence, divided up the stored food, set the yard on fire, and ran off into the mountains, never to return. In the end, the monkey keeper of Wei State starved to death.
After finishing his speech with his eyes lowered, Ouyang Rong looked up and smiled, asking:
"Master Liu, you are familiar with the story of raising monkeys. Have you heard this story before? What do you think of the story I am telling you?"
"From this perspective, monkeys don't seem so stupid after all; they can understand reason. After all, the more correct the reason, the simpler and even more obvious it is."
"Also, it seems that monkeys prefer to live in the mountains by nature. Does Master Liu have any ideas on how to adapt to this? How do you think monkey keepers should resolve this 'minor conflict' and get along well with the monkey troop?"
The young magistrate paused, then smiled and waited patiently.
Xie Lingjiang noticed that Liu Ziwen's face darkened after hearing his senior brother's story. He stared at his senior brother expressionlessly without saying a word.
The atmosphere at the table fell silent.
Ouyang Rong suddenly laughed and said:
"It seems that Master Liu's ancestors didn't teach this..."
"It's alright. In this Great Zhou Dynasty, there are plenty of people who haven't heard the story of the monkey keeper from the State of Wei. The most widely circulated story is about Master Liu's monkey keeper from the State of Song who was fickle. Master Liu, there's no need to belittle yourself. I only heard it secondhand."
He also showed some emotion on his face:
"It's also quite remarkable that the monkey breeders in Wei live such good lives. They do nothing all day and still manage to collect half of the taxes."
"But the ending was quite interesting. It seems there are still new things happening under the sun. Even our ancestors could create so many stories from raising a bunch of monkeys. Monkeys are hard to please, we have to be careful. Who knows what new tricks they might come up with next time? What do you think, Master Liu?"
The young magistrate smiled and asked, raising his wine cup to toast Liu Ziwen, who was sitting opposite him without saying a word, before tilting his head back and drinking it down.
The noble lady Xie smiled and picked up the wine pot with a slender spout, filling his small cup again.
"Good, that's a good story. Thank you for your kind guidance, Magistrate. I've learned something new today."
Liu Ziwen suddenly nodded and clapped his hands.
He reached out, grabbed the wine glass, drank it all in one gulp, and exhaled a long breath, saying:
"Alright, as a token of our gratitude, the soup kitchen can be closed."
Xie Lingjiang nodded slightly: "It should have been done long ago."
Liu Ziwen ignored her and stared at Ouyang Rong, nodding and saying, "I have shown my sincerity. I wonder if the path you have offered is wide enough."
"I am actually fine with anything, it just depends on how big Master Liu's appetite is. You can give me some pointers."
“Alright, then I, Liu, will not hold back any longer. We hope to exchange a Di Gong sluice gate, along with the closure of the soup kitchen and the orphanage, for the opportunity to enter the Zheyi Canal. Our Liu family is willing to make this offer.”
Liu Ziwen held up one finger to Ouyang Rong.
The latter glanced at it and nodded: "One million strings of cash?"
"..."
“It’s ten thousand strings of cash.” Liu Ziwen frowned and said, “Magistrate, you must be joking. One million strings of cash? Is this for building the Grand Canal?”
"So it's only 10,000 strings of cash? That's fine then."
Ouyang Rong smiled casually.
But he was actually quite surprised. Ten thousand strings of cash was more than the investment of Wang Caozhi, Manager Li, and Manager Ma. Although it could not shake the Longcheng County Government's leading position in the construction of the Zheyi Canal, it was the largest investment from the county government.
So, does the Liu family really think highly of Zheyiqu? Or do they genuinely want to make peace with him and are showing their sincerity?
Just as Ouyang Rong was pondering this, Liu Ziwen nodded and said, "However, the Liu family has a small condition regarding Zheyiqu."
“What are the conditions? Tell me.” After a pause, Ouyang Rong added, “The county government already has enough manpower, even some to spare, so we probably can’t arrange for anyone else to come in for Master Liu.”
"That's not the condition."
Liu Ziwen said with a calm expression:
"I believe that if we're going to build a river, we should build the biggest and best one! I've seen the miniature landscape model that the county magistrate has, and I think it's a bit too small-scale. I suggest we deepen and widen the river channel, using the ten thousand strings of cash I've invested!"
Both Ouyang Rong and Xie Lingjiang couldn't help but glance at the young master of the Liu family again.
It sounds like there's no problem; after all, there's a sucker willing to pay, who wouldn't want something given away for free? But...
Xie Lingjiang suddenly said:
"If we add more specifications, then the previous preparations will need to be improved again, and we'll have to stop and make changes... The completion time of the Zheyi Canal may be delayed again. Are you business people willing to wait?"
Liu Ziwen glanced at the silent Ouyang Rong, shook his head, and said calmly:
"It's alright. The Zheyi Canal is of great importance to Longcheng, so it should naturally be repaired to the best of its ability. Our Liu family is willing to pay for it. Anyway, it's a good thing for everyone. There's no rush. The magistrate and Miss Xie can go back to the county office and discuss it further. It doesn't matter if the repair is slow. Quality is the most important thing."
"I heard before that the county magistrate wants to build the Zheyi Canal in two phases. Is it because there is a shortage of money, grain and manpower, and he wants to build a rough one first? I think this is not appropriate. If it is built in two sections, we will have to widen the river channel now, which will be very troublesome."
"It's best to build it all at once. Do the preliminary work well and don't rush. If there's a lack of money, food, or manpower, our Liu family is willing to provide assistance to you, sir, and the county government. If 10,000 strings of cash isn't enough, we can add more."
Liu Ziwen smiled and looked at Ouyang Rong: "What do you think, sir?"
The young magistrate glanced at him and remained silent for a moment.
(One more chapter at midnight)
(End of this chapter)
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