Chapter 373: The Gathering, Part III

Wang Qisuo chimed in, “The chiefs have a big operation now, and they have to manage a lot of things. How can they take care of everything? Take me, for example. I’ve recently been pulled to be a musician and play the flute. Besides standing guard and patrolling every day, I also have to go to rehearsals! I heard it’s all in preparation for that ‘Cultural Festival.’ I heard from a few chiefs that the Senate is paying great attention to this matter. Many Senators have gone to the gymnasium to inspect it, and even Chairman Wen has gone to check on the work.”

“I don’t know why the chiefs are doing all these flashy things. Can you eat it? Can you fight with it? I heard it’s all being done by the students of Fangcaodi. A few pretty-faced little girls who are studying, what can they come up with? And yet the chiefs are particularly partial to them!” Someone immediately complained, triggered by Wang Qisuo’s words.

“You don’t understand. These children are the chiefs’ ‘emperor’s disciples.’ They will all become high-ranking officials in the future. How can we, the common soldiers, compare to them?” Huang Yang, who had had a few drinks and his face was flushed, was Huang Ande’s distant cousin, also from Dengzhou Town. After arriving in Lingao, he joined the National Police and was assigned to Fangcaodi Academy as a petitioning police officer.

Since the Senate was in a semi-wartime state, the security work was very heavy and could not rely solely on the semi-professional militia. Therefore, the National Police introduced the petitioning police system. The so-called petitioning police were security personnel who were dispatched by the police department or formed by the relevant schools, enterprises, and organizations themselves to patrol a specific area after applying to the government’s police department and obtaining permission. The expenses were borne by the applying department. It was roughly similar to the economic police and security guards of another time and space. Under the rule of the Senate, this police department was a formal establishment of the National Police, which was responsible for recruitment, training, and dispatch. The relevant personnel and duty expenses were borne by the departments that used the police.

The students of Fangcaodi were a rather mysterious existence in Lingao. They rarely went out on the streets. And every time they appeared in public, they always stood out from the crowd. Both boys and girls wore neat and beautiful uniforms, especially the girls, who were particularly eye-catching. They were all dressed in the most fashionable “Australian style.”

“You’re a police officer at Fangcaodi, so you’ve seen a lot. What’s that school really like?” Huang Xiong was about to become a father, so he was naturally very concerned about his child’s school.

“Fangcaodi, that school is amazing! It’s like a garden inside, even the grass is neatly trimmed,” Huang Yang had had a few drinks, and his desire to show off had greatly increased. “What I’ve seen and heard” was always the main topic at the dinner table. In the early years, if you went abroad and came back, you had to talk about everything, even the toilet lids in Japanese restrooms, to be considered done. “That building, that furniture—though it’s a collective dormitory, it’s much more beautiful than your house, Brother Huang…”

“Don’t just talk about useless things, get to the point!”

“Don’t be anxious, let me tell you slowly.” Huang Yang took a bite of food. “As for the food and clothing inside, I won’t go into details. Let alone us newcomers, even the old naturalized citizens, I think they are far behind—they eat chicken, duck, fish, and meat every day, at every meal. They also drink that fishy milk. Don’t look down on it, besides the chiefs, only they have it in all of Lingao!”

Huang Yang’s words caused a small stir of envy at the dinner table. Huang Yang liked this effect very much. He continued to boast, “Just look at the clothes. They are either fine cotton cloth or imported Western wool and fine linen. There are skirts, jackets, and hats. There’s a set for summer, another for spring and autumn, and even a cloak for winter…”

Zheng Yue’e brought over a large basin of hot and spicy soup and put it down. “What’s so strange about scholars eating and dressing well? Even the poor scholars in the Great Ming get a piece of cold pork.”

“That’s right, that’s right. I didn’t say it’s not allowed,” Huang Yang said quickly. “Besides, the students of Fangcaodi are not some poor scholars. They are all taught by the Senators themselves, the emperor’s disciples!”

“So it’s the Senate’s Imperial Academy,” someone who knew a little about the Ming’s official system said, showing off.

“Those who come out of the Imperial Academy only become minor officials,” Huang Xiong, who had been a military officer in the court, knew more about the official system. “Fangcaodi should be considered the Hanlin Academy—the emperor’s disciples.”

“Brother Huang Xiong still knows more,” Huang Yang complimented, then said mysteriously, “Besides, do you know who studies with them?”

“Who?”

“The Senators’ young masters and misses!”

Everyone at the table was interested. Naturally, the chiefs were also human and had their own desires. After a few years on the island, they also knew that the personal secretaries were the chiefs’ personal maids. But few people could see the Senators’ children. They almost never appeared in public.

Even a garrison soldier like Wang Qisuo rarely saw the Senators’ children. Though the garrison undertook a large number of security and internal guard tasks, the security of the Senators’ private lives was the responsibility of the guard company in the garrison, and the soldiers in it were carefully selected. A soldier like Wang Qisuo, who had not served for a long time and had no family, would not be selected.

“Come on, tell us quickly,” someone quickly filled his glass with wine.

Huang Yang tilted his head back, wiped his mouth, “Actually, I don’t know much either. There’s a special courtyard in Fangcaodi where the young chiefs study. The children who study well in Fangcaodi will be selected to be their study companions—think about it, won’t these study companions have a bright future? If a girl takes this opportunity to be noticed by a young chief and becomes his concubine, the whole family will enjoy good fortune.”

“Brother Huang Xiong, I think you’re going to be rich…” someone joked.

Huang Xiong smiled. “I don’t have that kind of luck!”

Someone else asked anxiously, “What do the young chiefs look like?”

Huang Yang said, “There’s nothing special about them. They just have the same spirit as the chiefs! They speak politely and are very learned! It’s just that a few of the chief’s daughters are very boisterous and don’t act like girls at all! I see that they are not young anymore, but they are not married, and the chiefs are not anxious…”

“What if they are anxious? They won’t marry you,” someone teased.

Huang Yang was already drunk and shook his head with a tipsy smile. “I don’t dare to dream of eating swan meat. These are the apples of the Senators’ eyes. I don’t even dare to look at them too much. These young ladies are all very charming, with short skirts and tight clothes, and their chests, their legs…”

The conversation at the dinner table inevitably slid in that direction. Huang Ande coughed repeatedly, finally stopping Huang Yang’s evaluation of the Senators’ daughters’ figures. “Did you know? The young chiefs are also going to participate in this cultural festival. A few of the Senator’s daughters are even going to dance. I really want to see it…”

Huang Ande coughed repeatedly, and Huang Yang finally stopped talking about the “young chiefs.” He then started to boast about the students of the Women’s College of Arts and Sciences. Compared to the “Senator’s daughters,” they were exposed much more frequently. Especially when it came to the girls’ uniforms, how beautiful they were, how exquisitely made…

These female students were a hot topic in the local area recently, because there was a rumor that these girls were originally bought to be the Senators’ personal maids. Later, Chairman Wen, with his benevolent heart, specially instructed the Senate to return their indentures and let them study, so that they could become officials in the future.

“Even if they are to become officials in the future, there’s no need to be so extravagant,” someone still felt that the Senate had gone a bit “too far.” After a few drinks, he was a little drunk. “The scholars in the Great Ming only get a few dou of rice a month and are exempt from two shi of grain tax. Do these little brats have the knowledge of a scholar? They are provided with such a luxurious life since they were young. It’s not impossible that they will grow up to be useless.”

Huang Ande’s face changed. He didn’t know the situation at Fangcaodi, but he knew that the students there were the apples of the Senators’ eyes. What Huang Yang had just said was already very inappropriate. If he said such things and the Senators found out, it would not be good. Just as he was about to speak, Huang Yang was already shaking his head.

“You don’t know shit. They are learning the Australians’ knowledge. Do you think it’s just a few sour scholars memorizing useless articles that can’t be eaten? This train, this gun, and this steamship… all of them are the Australians’ knowledge, and it’s not easy to learn. I was on duty at the school last time and saw a dozen children, following a book, knocking and hammering for more than a month, and they actually built a small machine that could move on its own. Add water and coal, and it would turn on its own, and it could be used for husking rice and grinding flour. Even the chiefs said they were capable.”

Wang Bao’er muttered while serving the dishes, “The schools run by the chiefs don’t teach the Four Books and Five Classics. Even if you study, you can’t enter the official examinations. What’s the use of being able to build a machine? You’re just a master craftsman at best.”

“Official examinations, official examinations! Even if you study, you’ll just be a sour scholar. In the end, you’ll be like your father, unable to even protect your own family,” Huang Xiong said with some displeasure. Wang Bao’er’s face darkened at this, and she threw down her apron and walked back to the kitchen.

Hearing Wang Bao’er’s complaint, the others at the table seemed to have found a topic and began to pour out their own dissatisfaction. Though everyone’s life was no longer as precarious as before after coming to Lingao, everything was afraid of comparison.

“Look at that Old Lü. When everyone was rising up, he was the one who ran away with diarrhea. Before everyone could enjoy the good life, he was the first to get there and get more than his share. Tell me, how could the chiefs take a fancy to someone like him?”

Someone said indignantly, “That’s right. When the chief wanted to save Master Sun, it was all of us brothers who risked our lives and charged forward with Brother Huang. That Old Lü took advantage of us. Now he eats and drinks better than us. Hmph.”

“The food here, you wouldn’t even dare to dream of it back home. Not only are we full at every meal, but we also have meat and fish all the time. Tsk, tsk. But when you compare people, you die. Let’s not talk about the old Lingao people here. Look at those workers who want to buy a house. We wouldn’t even dare to think about it.” Someone else said, “Queuing, queuing, queuing for a meal, queuing for a field, queuing for a car. We can tolerate that. But we even have to queue to take a shit. Brother, you tell me, how much do these chiefs like to queue?” This was someone who was not used to the new life.