by C. T. Hsia
LÜ YIJIAN: The decision is entirely up to Minister Fan.
MASTER LIU: Minister Fan, I will draw up a document as guarantee: if anything goes wrong when my two sons go to sell the rice, I myself will be held accountable.
MINISTER FAN: Since Master Liu has vouched for you, kneel in the direction of the palace and hear the imperial command: Because a severe drought has caused crop failure in Chenzhou and the people there are in dire straits, you two will proceed there to open the imperial granary and sell the rice. By imperial decree five taels of silver will buy one picul of rice. You must be just and respect the laws. Do not resort to punishment in dealing with the people. Today is an auspicious day, so you can set out on the long journey without further delay. Bow facing the palace in gratitude for this imperial favor.
(LIU DEZHONG and YANG JINWU make obeisance.)
LIU AND YANG (together:) Thank you all, good sirs, for thus elevating us. We will go with pure hearts. When we return with the mission accomplished, you will for sure cheer us loud and clear.
(As they are leaving, MASTER LIU speaks furtively to his sons.)
MASTER LIU: Come here, my sons. I have a high enough official position, but our family’s wealth is somewhat depleted. Now you two are going to Chenzhou—use this official mission for our private gain. Take the price that the prime minister fixed at five taels and change that to ten taels per picul. Mix up some sand and husks in the rice, measure out eight units in every peck, and fix the scale by a third more.18 If word gets to the prime minister, I will take care of the situation here—go and let nothing weigh on you.
LIU DEZHONG: Father, we know, you needn’t have said anything. We’re even smarter than you are. There’s just one thing, however: suppose the people of Chenzhou don’t obey us—how would we control them?
MASTER LIU: Son, that is a good point. Let me speak to the prime minister about this. (He presents himself before Minister Fan.) Minister Fan, I have just one question. When my two sons go to Chenzhou to sell rice, if the people there turn out to be unruly, how will my sons control them?
MINISTER FAN: I anticipated this and have already submitted a memorial to the emperor. If the people of Chenzhou cannot be controlled, we have a purple and gold mallet bestowed by imperial order. They may use it to quell unrest, no questions asked. Guard, bring the mallet here right away. Master Liu, here it is. Give it to those sons of yours, and instruct them to be very careful with it.
LIU DEZHONG: Today we have received the minister’s commands and are on our way to Chenzhou to open the granary. (Recites:)
Five taels per picul is the price they set,
We’ll change it to ten and hedge our bet.
Father gave his word—nothing can go wrong,
We two are ruthless scoundrels all along.
(LIU and YANG exit together.)
MASTER LIU: Minister Fan, my two sons have left.
MINISTER FAN: So your sons have gone. (Sings:)
[Xianlü mode: Time for Appreciating Flowers]
All because of the drought that has lasted years, crops have failed,
And more than half of the people are adrift,
Hence the mission to sell rice at Chenzhou.
You have vouched for your sons,
But I wonder whether they could shoulder part of the emperor’s load? (Speaks:)
Guard, bring my horse; I am going to make my report to His Majesty.
(FAN and LIU exit.)
DUKE HAN: Minister Lü, as far as I can see, sending those two will do no good; they will certainly bring misery to the people. If in the future any memorial of complaint arrives from Chenzhou, I will know what to do.
LÜ YIJIAN: I look to you, sir, for plans to save the people and the realm.
DUKE HAN: Minister Fan has already gone to court to report to His Majesty. Let us go home. (Recites:)
Relieving the famine is no small matter,
We count on honest and able officials to make things better.
LÜ YIJIAN (recites:)
If in time we hear of anything untoward,
You and I must make our case with our sage ruler. (Exit together.)
ACT 1
(LIU DEZHONG and YANG JINWU enter leading their followers and carrying the purple and gold mallet.)
LIU DEZHONG (recites:)
As the Young Master I have charms galore.
Justice? My love for money is front and fore.
Should exposure one day cause my head to fall,
I must with a big piece of plaster a wound forestall.
I am Master Liu’s son, Liu Dezhong. Together with my brother-in-law, Yang Jinwu, I’ve come to Chenzhou to open the granary and sell rice. By our father’s advice, we are to change the price from the original five taels per picul to ten taels per picul. We will be mixing sand and husks with the rice. As for the transaction: a peck will be a short peck of only eight units, and the scales will measure one-third more. If these folks don’t submit, we need have no fear: for the imperially bestowed purple and gold mallet is right on hand. Followers, summon the granary hands for me.
RETAINER: Where are the granary hands?
(Two CLOWNS dressed as GRANARY HANDS enter.)
GRANARY HANDS (recite:)
As granary hands we have two eyes in fives,19
We pilfer granary rice to feed our wives.
We don’t cart it off outright
But just build “chicks’ nests” in plain sight.20
We are both granary hands. Our supervisors consider us simple and honest since we haven’t coveted even a single grain of rice, and so they have employed only the two of us for many years. Now two freshly minted grain commissioners have arrived, and we have heard that they are not to be trifled with. I wonder why they summon us. Let us go and see. (They present themselves to LIU DEZHONG and YANG JINWU.) Sirs, you have summoned us?
LIU DEZHONG: So you’re the granary hands. Let me tell you that the price has now been fixed by imperial decree at ten taels per picul, and this is a number we cannot tamper with. There is nothing to be done but to secretly change the peck and the scale—so that a peck will amount to only eight units, and the scale will measure a third more. I will take the larger share of the profit and you will get the smaller share, so I’ll be splitting it with you sixty-forty.
FIRST GRANARY HAND: I get it. In this way Your Honor is looking after our interests and providing us with a tidy profit. Now we will go open the granary and see if anyone comes.
(Three PEASANTS enter to purchase rice.)
FIRST PEASANT: We are all commoners from Chenzhou. Because a severe drought has been going on for three years, all the crops have failed, and our lives have been truly difficult. Thanks to imperial grace, two special commissioners have come here to open the granary and sell the rice. I heard one of the officials said that imperial decree set the price at five taels per picul, but now it has been raised to ten taels per picul. Sand and husks have been mixed in with the rice, and the grain is sold with an eight-unit short peck, while we are paying to a scale enlarged by one-third. We fully realize this is not a fair transaction, but except for the granary, there is nowhere else to buy rice. What are we supposed to do, starve? There’s nothing to be done but to pool together some cash to buy rice and try to survive. Ah, we’ve arrived at the granary already.
FIRST GRANARY HAND: Where are you peasants from?
SECOND PEASANT: We are from Chenzhou and have come all the way to buy rice.
LIU DEZHONG: You two—examine their silver carefully. Some kinds of counterfeit silver are easy to detect, but you must watch out for those “four walls.”21 Don’t let them fool you with that kind.
SECOND GRANARY HAND: Hey, you peasants, how much money have you pooled together to buy rice?
THIRD PEASANT: We have raised twenty taels.
FIRST GRANARY HAND: Put them on this scale. Not enough! Not enough! Your money amounts to only fourteen taels.
SECOND PEASANT: Our silver weighs a little over twenty taels!
>
LIU DEZHONG: What an unruly lot! Bring that metal mallet here and beat the hell out of them.
FIRST PEASANT: Your Honor, don’t beat us. We will just give you more money.
FIRST GRANARY HAND: You had better pay more right away; I want to split it forty-sixty with the granary commissioners.
(The PEASANTS put more money on the scale.)
THIRD PEASANT: We are paying six taels more.
SECOND GRANARY HAND: This is still short, but we’ll let it go.
LIU DEZHONG: Since the money is sufficient, measure out the rice for them.
SECOND GRANARY HAND: One hu, two hu, three hu, four hu.22
LIU DEZHONG: Don’t measure the full amount; tilt the scoop at an angle and give them some of that “chicks’ nest.”
FIRST GRANARY HAND: I know; I’m doing it in a hurry.
FIRST PEASANT: You have only measured out one picul and six pecks, and it is mixed with sand and husks. If we pound the rice and remove the husks, we will only have a little more than one picul. Have done! Have done! Have done! It’s the fate of us commoners to suffer such grinding misfortune! Truly, “For the cure of the eyes’ sores he vouched, / But just then flesh from the heart is gouged.”23 (Exits.)
(MALE LEAD dressed as ZHANG PIEGU enters with son YOUNG PIEGU.)
ZHANG PEIGU (recites:)
The poor patch up their tattered clothes in a hundred ways,
Even as corrupt officials in long robes tarry on spring days.
Whose fault is it that what we grow is destroyed?
By whom are the crop-ruining wind and rain employed?
I am from Chenzhou and my surname is Zhang. People think I have a bad temper, so they call me Zhang “The Cantankerous.” I have a son named Zhang Ren. Because Chenzhou is running out of grain, two granary commissioners have recently been sent here. I heard that the price is fixed by imperial decree at five taels per picul in order to bring succor to the people of the region. Now the two granary commissioners have jacked up the price to ten taels per picul; they also give short pecks and heighten their money scales by a third. I’ve scraped up these few taels of silver around my farm and I am going there to purchase some rice.
YOUNG PIEGU: Father, there’s just one thing I should mention. You have a cantankerous temperament. When we get to the granary, it would be best if you didn’t say anything.
ZHANG PIEGU: It is the virtuous intention of the court to bring succor to the people. If they misuse public resources for private gain, how can I let them off so easily? (Sings:)
[Xianlü mode: Touching Up Red Lips]
So these officials are in cahoots together.
Conspiring inside and out,
They squeeze us poor folks in between.
Let us write this down and sign our names
And indict them all the way to the Grand Council.
YOUNG PIEGU: Father, since we have run into this kind of officials, what’s there left to say?
ZHANG PIEGU (sings:)
[River Churning Dragon]
They are “upper beams that fail to be upright”;24
They set out to hurt others to profit themselves: how they invite acrimony!
If they should give me any trouble,
Don’t say I wouldn’t dare to take up the cudgel.
There is nothing gentler than water in the creek,
But, reaching unlevel ground, even it makes a rumble.
If they purposely disobey the emperor’s decree,
They’d just be vermin depleting the grain store
And bloodsucking, pus-sucking flies. (Speaks:)
Well, we’re here already. (ZHANG PIEGU greets the GRANARY HANDS.)
FIRST GRANARY HAND: Hey, old man! If you’ve come to buy rice, bring your silver here for me to weigh it.
(ZHANG PIEGU hands him the silver.)
ZHANG PIEGU: Isn’t this silver right here?
(GRANARY HAND weighs ZHANG’s silver.)
FIRST GRANARY HAND: Well, old man, you only have eight taels.
ZHANG PIEGU: I gave you twelve taels, but your scale shows only eight. How could it be that short?
YOUNG PIEGU: Sir, we brought twelve taels, how could it weigh only eight? You should weigh it fairly.
SECOND GRANARY HAND: You ass! The scale now shows eight taels. Did I swallow a piece of your silver?
ZHANG PIEGU: Well! We did have twelve taels. How could it weigh eight? (Sings:)
[Oily Gourd]
Good sir, do not be so overbearing:
Do you dare let me weigh it myself?
FIRST GRANARY HAND: This old fellow is so dense. Your silver was short from the beginning. How could I weigh out any more for you? Heavens above be our justice!
ZHANG PIEGU (sings:)
Who in this day and age is not shrewd?
Here I am, turning round and round, as if endless peaks me confound,
Here I am, pacing step by step, as if falling into a well glazed with pap.
FIRST GRANARY HAND: According to this scale, you don’t even come up to eight taels.
ZHANG PIEGU (sings:)
When you weigh silver,
Your scale favors you by more than a sliver.
(GRANARY HAND measures out some rice.)
SECOND GRANARY HAND: I will measure out the rice for you, make a “chicks’ nest,” then grab some for myself.
YOUNG PIEGU: Father, that man took some of our rice.
ZHANG PIEGU (sings:)
Aiya! Above all else this is an unfair sale;
All along they use eight-unit peck and plus-three scale.
Our silver is said to be two taels short—
How can I not fight them?
FIRST GRANARY HAND: Our two officials who opened the granary are honest and upright; they don’t accept any bribes from the people—they just want straight cash plain and simple. They are there for the people!
ZHANG PIEGU: What sort of officials are they?
SECOND GRANARY HAND: You can’t tell? Those two are the granary commissioners.
ZHANG PIEGU (sings:)
[Joy for All Under Heaven]
Compared to Bao Longtu of Kaifeng
You are four measures short.25
FIRST GRANARY HAND: Old man, no more of your nonsense! Those two are men of power and influence. Don’t provoke them.
ZHANG PIEGU (sings:)
Your charade of honest officials
And laws dutifully upheld!
Give a bit more! It’s not as if you would then bear the blame!
SECOND GRANARY HAND: This pile of rice tapers to a point—I had better take some more off the top.
YOUNG PIEGU: Father, he took more of our rice.
ZHANG PIEGU (sings:)
Here they shortchange you half a peck,
There they pinch off a few units;
Belittling us, they belittle themselves!
SECOND GRANARY HAND: Keep your sack open and I’ll measure it out for you.
ZHANG PIEGU: How are you measuring it? I haven’t come to buy rice for my own gain.
FIRST GRANARY HAND: You haven’t come to buy rice for your own gain, and neither have I. I have received an official appointment to sell rice.
ZHANG PIEGU (sings:)
[Golden Cup]
You say you have an official appointment,
But I say you are working for your private gain.
As I see it, one-tenth of a unit of rice
Is tied up with eight or nine lives.
This is not like a crowd fighting over wild game.
You are truly taking bones and scraps from hungry wolves
And grabbing dregs from a beggar’s bowl.
I would rather lose units than pecks,
And why do you care for gain but not your name?
FIRST GRANARY HAND: The old guy is an ignoramus. How dare you curse the granary commissioners? I’m going to report on you.
(FIRST GRANARY HAND reports to LIU.)
LIU DEZHONG: What do you two want?
FI
RST GRANARY HAND: Sir, I would like to inform you that an old man came to buy rice and didn’t have enough money, and he turned things around and cursed you.
LIU DEZHONG: Bring him here. (ZHANG PIEGU greets LIU and YANG.) You bandit!26 You are courting death! You come up short, yet you dare to curse me!
ZHANG PIEGU: You two are nothing but robbers who ruin the people. You are a scourge for the people! You do the state no good!
FIRST GRANARY HAND: You see, sir, that I wasn’t lying. Isn’t he cursing you?
LIU DEZHONG: This old fool has no sense of propriety. Bring me that purple and gold mallet so I can beat him. (ZHANG PIEGU is beaten, and his son puts his hands around his father’s head.)
YOUNG PIEGU: Father, wake up! What did I say? I told you not to open your mouth, and now you have suffered the blows of this mallet. Father, I fear you may not survive this!
YANG JINWU: You didn’t beat him hard enough. If it were up to me, I’d dash his brains out so that he wouldn’t even be able to wrap his head scarf.27
(ZHANG PIEGU gradually regains consciousness.)
ZHANG PIEGU (sings:)
[Welcoming the Drums in the Village]
All I saw was the gold mallet falling—
Just as if thunder struck me down.
He beat me until my body is blood bespattered;
How can I fight with him?
I don’t even know where I was beaten,
On the spine? The shoulders? The top of my head?
I just feel the pain as if
My teeth were drilled,
My heart cut out,
Flesh being scraped off my bones.
Oh, heavens! Wouldn’t this just finish me off!
I came to buy rice. Why did you beat me?
LIU DEZHONG: That life of yours counts as much as a blade of grass. What does it matter if I beat you? It was I who struck you, so go ahead and report me wherever you want.
YOUNG PIEGU: Father, what will we do now?
ZHANG PIEGU (sings:)
[Song of the Yuanhe Reign]
We rice buyers, what crimes are we guilty of?
With you rice sellers we would tangle and not let go.
LIU DEZHONG: It was I who beat you, but so what? Go right ahead and accuse me wherever you can.
ZHANG PIEGU (sings:)
The punishments of exile and beating are right there to be suffered by the lowly.
