Time swiftly passed, and soon the day of apprenticeship arrived.
After breakfast, Tong Sanlang and Yang Zheng bathed and changed their clothes, then paid respects to heaven and earth and to the sages. Lastly, Yang Zheng paid his respects to Tong Sanlang.
As a royal grandson, Yang Zheng was not required to kneel when taking on a master; a simple bow was sufficient.
After the ceremony, Yang Zheng presented his apprenticeship gifts: in addition to the traditional six gifts of ritual offerings, there was also a wooden chest containing banknotes—a total of two hundred thousand taels of silver.
This was money that Yang Hao had sent someone to withdraw from the Money House in town overnight. He had brought over two hundred thousand taels of silver for this trip, with two hundred thousand allocated for living expenses and the remaining tens of thousands certainly sufficient for other expenditures.
