Chapter 134: The Flower Appreciation Party

Zhou Dongtian admitted that the deduction wasn’t bad, but it was useless to them. Reasoning is built on a foundation of abundant information. They were completely ignorant of the various local figures in Hangzhou. There could be hundreds, or even thousands, of people who fit Zhao Yingong’s profile. Confucian scholars gave themselves courtesy names and literary names as casually as eating cabbage; one person could have three or four, or even a dozen. Who knew who this “Fool of Longmian” was?

Xu Ke suddenly said, “Could it belong to Zhang Dai, who just passed by?”

From Zhao Yingong’s deduced profile, Zhang Dai seemed to be a good fit. But Zhao Yingong dismissed his guess. He had read “Dream Memories of Tao’an” and remembered that Zhang Dai’s courtesy name was “Zongzi,” and his literary names included Tao’an, Tiansun, and the Lay Buddhist of the Butterfly Hermitage, but not the Fool of Longmian.

“We should go back and find a copy of the ‘Register of Gentry’ to check,” Zhao Yingong said with a sigh. “We know too little about the basic situation of the Ming Dynasty. It’s all just a superficial glimpse.”

Zhou Dongtian sneered. “There’s no point in knowing so much. Anyway, once the cannons wash the land, everything will be clean. Why bother with all these trivial details?”

The men continued to watch from the terrace for a while. When the initial novelty wore off, they returned to the cabin. Mei Lin was no longer so reserved. He was engaged in a grand discussion with Mei Yan’er about the Buddhist statuary of the “Three Temples of India”—this was likely a smattering of knowledge he had picked up from an elective course in school many years ago. Not only did Mei Yan’er listen attentively, but she could also chime in with a few remarks from time to time. Zhao Yingong was secretly amazed: the high-class courtesans of this era really had some skill. No wonder Yu E’shui had said in a training class that the wealthy men of the Ming Dynasty frequented brothels mainly for their “social life.”

It was nearly noon. Mei Niang had already entered with her maids, carrying trays. While setting the table, she asked the distinguished guests what wine they would like to drink.

“I have a rare fine wine here, which I had to go through connections to get. Would the masters like to try some?”

Zhao Yingong saw that four exquisite small dishes had already been placed on the table. He smiled and said, “Oh? What fine wine is so rare? So difficult to obtain even in this, the finest city of Jiangnan?”

“It’s from Guangzhou, said to be a fine wine brewed by foreigners,” Mei Niang said. “Not to mention the quality of the wine, even the bottle it comes in is priceless! Nowadays, even the big shots in power can’t easily get their hands on it…”

At this point, Zhao Yingong understood. It must be Guo Yi’s “private brew.” To think that a brothel on West Lake could get its hands on “Peerless Statesman”! This wine was hard to come by even in Guangzhou—Guo Yi had always practiced “scarcity marketing,” positioning it as a high-end gift with very low production. After the Guangzhou station’s distillery was destroyed last year, it had only just been restored, and production was even lower now.

He immediately said, “‘Peerless Statesman’ is too strong. The weather is hot today. It’s better to have some light Shaoxing wine.”

Mei Niang smiled. “Very well. I also have a jar of fine ten-year-old aged Lanling wine. I’ll open it for the masters.” She then humbly added that the boat’s kitchen was simple and had no fine delicacies to offer, displaying her social grace.

Eight exquisite cold dishes were brought to the table to accompany the wine, four meat and four vegetable. Snow-white glutinous rice-stuffed lotus root, bright red Jinhua ham, golden-yellow shredded chicken, and crimson watermelon cake… it was a feast for the eyes.

The wine was also warmed and served. They immediately began to drink and play drinking games. They also listened to Mei Yan’er sing a few songs. The lyrics were literary, and with her southern accent, no one except Zhao Yingong could understand them very well. They just thought the melodies were pleasant and offered some random praise.

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Zhang Dai’s boat was, at this moment, less than two hundred meters away on the lake. After arriving in Hangzhou, Wu Zhixiang had learned that Zhang Dai was quite influential in the Fu She. He also knew that Zhang Dai loved excitement, enjoyed curios, and had a strong interest in new things. So, he changed his original plan and focused his efforts on cultivating a relationship with Zhang Dai in Hangzhou first.

Fortunately, Zhang Dai was not a cold and arrogant scholar. He was quite casual in his dealings with people and enjoyed making friends. Wu Zhixiang didn’t have to expend much effort. Through an acquaintance’s introduction, he presented eight pots of Dutch tulips brought all the way from Guangzhou. The rare “foreign flowers” were very much to Zhang Dai’s taste. He saw that Wu Zhixiang visited frequently and treated him with great respect. In addition, Wu Zhixiang’s conversation was not vulgar, and he brought many interesting stories from Guangdong, especially about the currently popular “Australian goods.” Thus, he gradually warmed up to this new friend. Over time, the two became well acquainted.

At this moment, Wu Zhixiang, Zhang Dai, and a few friends were relaxing on the upper deck of the boat. The eight pots of tulips that had crossed the ocean were arranged in two rows before the steps. The brilliant flowers, under the clear early summer sun, stretched out their colorful petals. Their fragrance wafted over to the banquet on the warm breeze. The friends had already admired and praised them once. Everyone present marveled at the brilliant colors of these foreign flowers, offering their critiques. Today’s outing on the multi-story boat was not to see the beauty of West Lake, nor to watch the dragon boats, but specifically for a “flower appreciation party.” They had also composed a few poems and were now sitting, chatting, and continuing to drink and admire the flowers.

The banquet, exquisitely prepared by the expert chefs from Zhang’s mansion, was now half-finished. Maids and servants were clearing the table and setting out fresh wine and fruit.

“Beautiful, yes, but a bit too vulgar and gaudy,” a half-drunk scholar commented on the pots of tulips before them. “Bright red and yellow, dazzling to the eye, and standing alone on a single stem. In terms of style, it falls into the vulgar, lacking a certain refined and elegant quality…”

Zhang Dai disagreed. “By your logic, are peonies and tree peonies also vulgar?”

He was a sumptuously dressed scholar with an intelligent and friendly face, and a meticulously groomed three-stranded goatee.

“Although peonies and tree peonies are brilliant, their brilliance is upright and magnificent, without any seductive air…” The man continued to expound on his own invented theories of flower appreciation, such as “vulgar brilliance,” “elegant brilliance,” “proper brilliance,” and “seductive brilliance.”

“I find your words a bit biased, brother. There are many kinds of flowers, all created by nature. Why must we rank them?” The speaker was Sun Chun, an ordinary-looking scholar.

Though ordinary in appearance, he was a key member of the Fu She.

“That is where you are wrong—”

The two began to argue. A look of boredom appeared on Zhang Dai’s face. He took a bright red cherry from a large Xuande porcelain bowl beside him, and with a lazy yet elegant gesture, removed the green stem and popped it into his mouth. Seeing Wu Zhixiang also sitting with a look of helplessness, he couldn’t help but smile.

In the end, as usual, Zhang Dai stepped in to smooth things over. He said that all flowers have their own merits, and while observers may have their preferences, it’s not easy to definitively rank them. This finally quelled the debate. After that, the topic of conversation shifted from the tulips to “foreign goods.”

“Speaking of these Western gadgets, they are not made of gold or jade, but they certainly have a way of captivating people,” Zhang Dai said with a smile. “A few days ago, Mizhi lost a ‘thousand-li mirror’ on this lake. He sent people down to search for it, but they couldn’t find it. He was so annoyed that he didn’t even want to stay in Hangzhou anymore and left for Nanjing yesterday.”

“What’s a single ‘thousand-li mirror’ to make a fuss about? Just go to the Catholic church and find one,” said the scholar who had been critiquing the tulips. His name was Wen Huai, a government-subsidized student from Jiaxing Prefecture.

“Although a ‘thousand-li mirror’ is not a great treasure, it’s not something one can find often,” Zhang Dai said. “I often go to the Catholic church and am acquainted with Johann Adam Schall von Bell. According to him, this item is also rare in the land of the Franks. They only get a few when a ship arrives. Where would one find one so easily?”

From the ‘thousand-li mirror,’ the conversation shifted to the recently popular Australian goods. Wu Zhixiang had come from Guangzhou and brought quite a few “Australian goods.” Lately, they had often talked about the various novel gadgets of the Australians. For a wealthy scion like Zhang Dai, ordinary foreign goods were no longer rare, but the few “Australian goods” Wu Zhixiang had shown him had opened his eyes and piqued his interest in the Australians.

Wu Zhixiang then launched into a grand account of the origins of the “Australians,” their luxurious lifestyles, and their various strange goods, captivating his listeners. Although they didn’t fully believe everything Wu Zhixiang said, they had seen the various novel Australian goods before and were thus full of curiosity about this suddenly emerged “Australia.”

“This Australian flush porcelain toilet, I truly yearn for it,” Zhang Dai said with a laugh. “In the past, some have set up embroidered couches and beautiful maids in their latrines, and burned agarwood—but it’s still just a latrine. How can it compare to something so clean and refreshing?”

“I’ve only heard that it’s not easy to build,” Wu Zhixiang said. “The Ziming Lounge used to have one. When Governor-General Wang was suppressing the ‘hairy-headed barbarians,’ I once entered the Ziming Lounge and specifically went to see its layout—it was truly ingenious, with all sorts of clever devices and methods that are simply beyond our reach.”

He then described the plumbing, valves, water-lifting machinery, and the water tower in detail. Wu Zhixiang was very curious about the facilities at the Ziming Lounge and had often asked Pei Lixiu about them in the past. After the Ziming Lounge was shut down, he bribed the guards and made a special trip inside to see everything, from top to bottom, inside and out. He now spoke about it with great authority.

Zhang Dai listened with interest and laughed. “It’s a good thing Mizhi didn’t hear you say that, or he’d be tempted to go to Guangzhou immediately to see these Western curiosities!” He then shook his head. “If it weren’t for the arduous journey, even I would want to go and see all these rare Australian things.”

“Why not?” Wu Zhixiang was currently investing a lot of effort in Zhang Dai. He immediately said that if Zhang Dai was interested in going to Guangzhou, he could stay at his “humble abode.”

“…As for the journey, now with the Qiwei Escort Agency, whether by sedan chair or boat, it’s much more convenient than before.”

Just as Zhang Dai was about to speak, Wen Huai interjected, “The Australians claim to be descendants of Huaxia, scions of the Song Dynasty, yet they only value industry and commerce, creating all sorts of vulgar and ingenious gadgets. They are all coarse and uncultured, neither properly Chinese nor properly barbarian. I’m afraid their Song ancestors are weeping in their graves.”