Rice is not a very demanding cereal because it tolerates a wide variety of soils well, but in order to obtain high yields in small areas it is necessary that the cultivation is well oriented. In the growing season the water must have a certain minimum depth to ensure uniform growth. To conserve water, therefore, small walls are built around the fields which, through irrigation channels, make it possible to manage the crop. When the harvest approaches, the fields are drained and the harvest begins.
As in the past, Li went on to visit the weekly market. Among a wide variety of products, merchants sought to attract the attention of potential customers. In those spaces they sold a bit of everything: from ceramic pieces to fabrics; passing by agricultural products; natural medicines; cattle and so many other things. Tournaments and shows were held periodically, which, with their diversity, lent a bit of joy and enthusiasm to the faces of the people. Once in a while there were interesting people there, almost always with an enigmatic message to leave, sometimes pleasant, sometimes not so pleasant. They traveled through esoteric worlds, full of magic, speaking of “future truths” almost always improbable and nebulous. But if the message was promising, the clients retained in their memory the hope of a time full of mystery and charm. As she witnessed those scenes, Li recalled a time in her youth when, accompanied by her uncle, one of those “fairies” insisted and pursued her for a long distance, telling Li that she had an important message to give to her. Her uncle, at that time, drove away the said “fairy” several times, but that one, with the insistence of those who have a high mission to fulfill, did not let go of her. Already tired of being bothered so much, she looked the said “fairy” in the eye and told her:
- What is so important you have to tell me?!
Her uncle still tried once again to intervene, but that gesture proved late, as the “fairy” had already taken her hand and started to read the message: “the girl is of good lineage and has a beautiful future ahead of her! You are well educated and have good principles but almost always you will not be understood in your intentions. You will travel and meet other places - attracted by dream, beauty and charm. You will live among silk, jewels and gold, but you will not be happy in this place. The sunshine will not let you see the stars, even though they so insistently look at you. This place, from the distance, will seem to you a paradise, full of gardens and charms, but as you approach, you will notice that it exhales strong odors of putrefactive matter. Everywhere you will find flowers laden with poison, living side by side with verdant trees where menacing snakes walk. The air in this garden is almost unbreathable. At first you will feel attracted by the beauty of this place and makes an effort to adapt, but you will not be able to live with all that! One day, dragged by a strong storm, you will return to the place where you were born. There you will find again the peace and the star that for a long time was looking at you. Then, as if by enchantment, your life will change, becoming intense, exuberant, distributing knowledge and joy everywhere. Then you will feel invaded by a wave of happiness and with it everything around you will grow, like an immense virgin forest full of sunshine and charm!” Li remembered saying to her: “That’s all?” surprised by the message. At the time the good “fairy” smiled, accepting the little silver coin that her uncle gave her. She also remembered that on the way home she had not stopped thinking about everything she had just heard, but as at that time she understood almost nothing of what the good “fairy” had told her, she shrugged her shoulders and fell silent. Now, years later, recalling those scenes (but without her uncle’s presence), she wondered: “how is it possible that now, after all these years, the words of the “fairy” make perfect sense?
A few days later...
She went to her uncle’s house to gather opinions about the school project. She found him rather crestfallen. His brother’s death had brought him much bitterness. He had not yet accepted the new situation, perhaps because they were twins. All his life they remained very close to each other, maybe that’s why the abrupt estrangement sent him into a deep emptiness. Li never understood how a few months’ uterine closeness between two beings could have such an intense and prolonged effect on their lives! Still as a child, she had a few embarrassing moments when she called her uncle her father and her father her uncle. Almost always these situations occurred when he had to refer to a third person having previously been with one or the other.
In her meeting with her uncle she preferred to omit the reason for the visit at first, but was surprised by his words.
- You come to tell me about your concerns?
- What do you mean?!
- Don’t try to avoid what your eyes reveal.
- I didn’t even know my eyes spoke!
- Of course they do! And I see it for as long as I know you.
- Well, then, here it is! I don’t know if you know this, but I’d like to open a school. Your opinion is very important to me.
- Your mother had already told me about it. As you know, a decision of that nature represents a great personal responsibility. It involves financial resources, human resources, and also a lot of organization. I’m sure if your father were alive he wouldn’t stop helping you. You’ll have my full support!
- I look forward to your help in choosing the location, facilities, masters and everything else! – Li said, with a smile.
- One thing at a time! I’m going to have to involve other people to solve several of these issues. As for the location, I already gave it some thought. There are at least two alternatives, but I have to talk to your mother first. However, there are things you can already start thinking about, for example, the program content of the future school.
- I was hoping Uncle would tell me about it. I have a number of ideas here, which I’ll leave you to analyze and give me your opinion.
- Very good. In a few days we’ll talk about this again.
When, moments later, she said goodbye to her uncle, she appreciated that he looked less gloomy than before, what she took as a good sign. Perhaps school business could help to invigorate his own life and perhaps also be a new hope. That afternoon Li saw her ideas revived, so after dinner she went to the garden to take a short walk, something she had not done for a long time. The garden formed a large annex to her parents’ house and as a whole was bordered by the fields of the vast property. While walking, she went over places and talks from other times. After some time and already very close to her house she remembered in particular the long conversations her father had with her uncle, usually at the end of the afternoon, catching up on business matters. Next to the house there was still the reclining chair, as in other times. She approached and sat down. Li sat there for a long time, looking at the immensity of the sky, until the night came. That time allowed her not only to regain serenity and calm, but above all to find herself again, listening to the voice of her heart. When she finally went to bed, she was feeling a great inner peace. The next day Li woke up revigorated, lighter and with an enviable disposition. She had to repeat that experience more often, “to restore the joy of living,” she thought.
The school project was now a priority in Li’s life. It was necessary to decide on the location. So that morning she chose to take a walk around her father’s estate in an attempt to find a suitable place. The future facilities should allow, as far as possible, easy access and be as close as possible to the surrounding villages. It was also desirable to have a minimal cost solution, perhaps with the remodeling of one of the existing buildings. As Li’s uncle reminded her, the total costs are always significant. She would also have to think about the basic equipment needed for classrooms, offices and so many others. At that moment, the important thing was to find the appropriate building, everything else would come in due time. Li walked around all morning without finding a solution that to her seemed appropriate. The existing buildings did not fit in with the global goals she had set. After the midday meal she stayed home scribbling out possible solutions for the construction of facilities. Near the afternoon, Li lef
t. She had an absolute need to talk to the people, to know their needs. So she decided to make a walking tour around the village. She collected opinions about the school (generally favorable), but the people were permanently concerned - the costs of attending it. The weak financial resources of most people in the village were the main reason for so much concern. The financial issue had already been widely considered in her reflections, but still with no solution in sight. Li was convinced, however, that a solution would be found in due time - she expected a positive contribution from her uncle on this matter, too. The following days went by peacefully, but also with great anxiety. Her uncle’s response was delayed and with it doubts about the motives grew. Since she was a little girl she had a strong affective and trusting connection with him, so she had no choice but to wait.
One fine morning Li received the news that her uncle was coming to visit her in two days. He would stay to have lunch and talk about school. That news left her in a state of even greater anxiety, only balanced by the serenity of her mother who welcomed the good news with great satisfaction. Since her father’s death, her mother would spend the days gathered over herself, so the uncle’s visit would also represent a different day for her. At noon, as he had promised, the uncle entered her mother’s house with his wife and son. The first moments, after the welcome, were built with great silence. The painful departure of her father was still very much present in everyone’s memory. Little by little, however, the conversation took hold, pulled by recent events and the school. The arrival of her cousin, a lively and well-educated boy, recently returned from distant lands, made him a new and pleasant subject of conversation.
In the past, her cousin, still very young, had left in a wagon of rich silk merchants. When he left home, driven by adventure and trade with distant peoples, he did not expect such a distant return in time. He left with parental permission, despite the many reservations of his mother and aunt. The merchants, who traded regularly with his father and uncle, were well-known people who could be trusted. For that time the son’s departure represented a serious risk, but it ended up representing a great opportunity, not only in the strengthening of commercial relations, but above all, opening horizons of knowledge for the boy. After all these years, the balance is frankly positive, not only because of the business, that has experienced an unusual growth, but because it has allowed him to have a solid professional training. The early days required a great effort of adaptation and dedication on both sides, but over the years, the results came and were strongly encouraging. At present the boy holds a significant share of the company’s capital that he shares with the merchants. A real commercial empire! The genius for business was in his blood and the merchants soon realized it. From a very young age he began to participate in the business meetings that his father and uncle had with the merchants, revealing a great insight. The result is in plain sight today. During lunch Li revealed herself to be a satisfied woman and had good reason for it. With the arrival of her son, her uncle now had a frankly more positive attitude. The dark and sorrowful air had disappeared from his face. There were other reasons for those changes, as Li would later confirm. Hence her intervention.
- So, Uncle, have you had a chance to think about it?
- Yes, the school is one of the reasons we’re here today. Let’s talk about that later. Right now I want to give your mother some support. To tell her that, after all, life goes on. Kids can be a good reason to keep fighting. I confess that my boy’s recent arrival has brought great joy to our home. I thank heaven he has arrived well and in good health. Today, a man made, full of vigor. Isn’t that a satisfaction?!
Li’s mother sketched a little smile, for everyone’s pleasure. Since her husband’s death, the lady’s face was wasting away every day. She rarely spoke and when she articulated a word she did so with a bitter expression - of a totally shattered soul. It was already difficult to convince her that she had to eat. It was with great joy, then, that Li observed that her mother showed the first signs of hope for life! Confirmation of this fact was in itself a strong reason for satisfaction, but lunch would reveal greater surprises.
- My boy’s got a lot of projects on his hands. I therefore ask your attention to what he has to tell us! After that I will then talk about the school.
The eyes fixed on the young man, curiously, waiting for his words.
- The question is very simple. We have several trading posts spread throughout the Mediterranean, some of them with great strategic importance, such as those in Tunis, Florence and Alexandria. As we intend to open others in Asian cities, with emphasis on the commercial warehouse that we plan to install here, we need skilled people to manage all this business. Now, the school can make a good contribution in this sense. My father has some ideas on this subject, so I ask for your attention to what he has to tell us.
- In my opinion, the State has had a very restrictive stance on Education, confined to Public Administration functions without taking care of other needs of the country, in particular those emerging from trade. On the other hand, it is necessary to train people who want to learn a profession without social class restrictions. From this perspective, my child is available to contribute financially to the school, especially in the training of the children of the most deprived farmers. For my part, I am open to making available the houses located near the village for the installation of the school, and also to contribute to the costs of rehabilitation.
- The ones at the village entrance? - Li asked, curious.
- Those same ones! Does that sound good?!
- An excellent location! - Li replied, with a broad smile.
- Well, it is then agreed that next week we will stop by to make a survey of the changes to be made.
Those words enlivened the lunch, which also helped for Li’s mother to have an increasingly positive attitude towards life. That fact in itself was already a great cause for satisfaction, but the revelations of her cousin gave her even more confidence in the promising future.
Six months later...
Li now proved to be a woman grateful for life and for very good reasons: the school had scheduled to start the next month; the hiring of the schoolmasters had been completed; the cousin’s commercial warehouse was running and, as if all this were not enough, financial aid to the school was guaranteed. Among the schoolmasters hired was Zeng, an acquaintance of Li since palace times, where he held public office in the State Administration at the time of the Emperor, a position which, together with his father, he abandoned following the Emperor’s death.
Zeng’s arrival in the village provided Li with news from the palace. Empress Xi was now the woman of whom much was spoken, not only because she had assumed the regency of the empire in place of the heir who was still too young to reign, but above all because of her wrong attitudes in the conduct of affairs of state. As a result, a deep uneasiness among many state cadres was installed in the palace. The old sages did not forgive the Empress for having put Zhu as their advisor - now the affairs, before being dispatched by the Empress, had to go through Zhu’s screening. This situation was unacceptable to most state leaders, who thought that in this way one day the government of the empire would inevitably fall into ruin. Among all the news brought by Zeng, one made Li curious. The Emperor made a will to donate goods, not only to relatives and nobles, but also to her. The strange thing is that after all those months, after the Emperor’s death, the palace did not inform Li that she was also heiress! For Li that situation could not go unanswered, not so much for the value of the donation, but, above all, for the appreciation Li had for the memory of the Emperor. When she learned of this situation, she informed his mother and uncle. When some time later a meeting was agreed at school between Zeng and her relatives, Li was the first to intervene.
- At that time my departure from the palace was untimely and the result of a disagreement with the present Empress. I will not recall any unpleasant details of that time, but I wish to point out that I intend to claim what belongs to me. As
you can understand, I would like to not return to the presence of that “rattlesnake”, so I thank you to help me find a solution.
Li’s eyes invariably fell on Zeng, who was not indifferent.
- When I informed Li of the Emperor’s donation, I was convinced that the palace had given notice to all concerned. As you can confirm from the copy I gave to my father, Li’s name is on the list. The Emperor was a very strict and far-sighted person. He took care to indicate in the same document of appointment of the Crown Prince all donations, the respective people and goods donated, as well as to have copies made in the same number as those involved. With this he guaranteed not only the authenticity of the document, but also that all interested individuals would be aware of it.
-In your opinion, what can we do? – Li said, apprehensive.
- By Law it is always possible to claim, at any time, the donation made by the Emperor.
- Yes, but I don’t want to go there!
- It can always be done by a person to whom you have conferred full powers of representation.
- How do you do that?!
- After conferring full powers of representation on your mother, uncle, or anyone else, with the respective certificate and accompanied by the Emperor’s document, that person may withdraw the donation.
The Great Empire--Bilingual Edition Page 20