Traveler Major League

Chapter 313: Rich Family? Are They Qualified?
In this late spring season, the small county town in Guanzhong was shrouded in dust, and the flags on the city walls were dancing vigorously in the yellow sand, making a sound like thunder.

On the street, the pair of stone lions in front of the Xiao Mansion had thick ashes under their claws - last night another refugee froze to death on the street and was dragged to the mass grave outside the city by the servants of the Xiao Mansion and burned.

The most angry person was Master Xiao. The new magistrate Han Yuechuan was extremely neglectful to Master Xiao. This old man Xiao was a living devil in the land of Sanqin. The golden plaque "Five Generations of Magistrates" hanging high in the main hall was enough to make passing officials get off their sedan chairs and salute. The thousands of hectares of irrigated fields by the Wei River 20 miles east of the city, the shops on half a street in the salt market in the south of the city, and the blue brick courtyard with three entrances and three exits at the west market entrance were just a drop in the ocean for the Xiao family's assets.

Not to mention that Mr. Xiao’s third son is currently working in the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing, and the fifth concubine’s younger brother is the magistrate of Yan’an Prefecture.

Therefore, this man can be regarded as the leader of the county, and he is the best in everything. His land is vast and the rent is staggering, which is the best; his business is grand and the money is piled up like a mountain, which is the best; his mansions in the city are lined up one after another, which is the best; his family members hold many officials of various ranks, which is the best; of course, his number of concubines is staggering, which is still the best.

Therefore, the first thing every newly appointed county magistrate would do after entering the county government office was to submit a name card to the Xiao Mansion and personally pay a visit to Mr. Xiao. However, this Han Yuechuan was completely different. After more than ten days in office, he had not even handed over a gold-sprinkled name card, and there was no sign of him going to pay a visit.

"What kind of ignorant young man is this? He doesn't even know the basic rules."

Master Zhang was very loyal and repeatedly advised Han Yuechuan to go to the Xiao Mansion for some social activities so that he could gain a foothold in the county.

But Han Yuechuan and his brothers refused to obey. Han Yuechuan shouted angrily: "This shameless man who has committed so many evil deeds, I want to drill a big hole in his head, pour boiling lead water into him, and cut him into pieces, but it can't relieve my hatred. I want me to flatter him and be careful, don't even think about it!" He said to Master Zhang: "You should give me a good plan, how to secretly punish him, let him suffer, and finally eradicate him completely, so as to relieve my anger, and then I will be satisfied."

At this moment, Mr. Xiao was lying on a rosewood couch with carved dragon patterns, letting his fifth concubine dye his nails with balsam juice. Suddenly, he heard hurried footsteps coming from the outer courtyard.

"Master, the new magistrate Han is here to try a case today!" Butler Xiao Fu knelt hurriedly on the blue brick floor. "Zhao Shouren of Zhaojiazhuang sued the tenants for resisting rent. Guess what? The new magistrate actually made Master Zhao kneel down in court!"

The gilded filigree hand warmer hit the square brick with a clang. The cloudy old eyes of Old Master Xiao suddenly shot out a brilliant light, and his fingers like dead branches tightly grasped the "Jin Ping Mei" beside the couch, and the pages of the book rustled in the dead silence. The fifth concubine was so scared that half of her sleeves were stained red, but she saw the old master suddenly sneered: "He is a young man with a temper. Let's see how long he can toss and turn."

At this moment, in the main hall of the county government, Han Yuechuan's palms were sweating as he held the gavel. On the elm wood desk was the tax and service book left by the predecessor, and the official documents with fresh ink were pressed with a few ingots of silver - that was the "tea gift" that Zhao Shouren asked the registrar to send last night. The kneeling tenant Wang Laoshuan's trouser legs were still stained with straw. His right leg was broken by the Zhao family because he could not pay the rent last year. At this moment, he was hunched over and shivering.

"My Lord," Wang Laoshuan cried in Guanzhong dialect, "there was a severe drought last year and Master Zhao insisted on collecting 70% of the rent. I used my daughter as collateral for the debt and it was not enough. He is going to collect 'rat-consuming money' this spring." Before he finished speaking, Zhao Shouren suddenly straightened his back and shouted, "Nonsense! It's obvious that the unruly people are gathering together to resist the rent!"

According to the old custom, the landlord could stand aside when entering the court, but the accused tenants were supposed to kneel down as soon as they entered. Today, before the tenant had even knelt down, the landlord bowed and said, "Sir, order him to kneel down so that we can interrogate these stubborn people." The old guards holding sticks on both sides shouted loudly as usual, "Kneel down!"

The tenant immediately knelt down with a plop: "Master, I am innocent."

"Bang!" The gavel shook the dust off the beams. "Wait a minute!" Han Yuechuan stood up suddenly, his scarlet official robe fluttering in the breeze. "Why did you ask him to kneel down, but you didn't?"

The landlord of the Zhao family stared at the new master in astonishment, for he actually said such words. The burly men holding sticks also looked at the new master in astonishment.

"Kneel down too." Han Yuechuan said sternly, "Zhao Shouren! You have no academic title, and it is already an usurpation of power for you not to kneel before an official. How dare you roar in the court? I see that the tenant has difficulty walking, so I permit you to stand and make your statement. Du Bantou!" Master Zhang, who was standing aside, was secretly delighted with the new master's quick response.

Du Shaoling stepped forward and gently helped the kneeling farmer up: "Stand up." The tenant was bewildered and had to stand up slowly.

"You go over there too, kneel here, so that we can interrogate you." Han Yuechuan said to the Zhao family landlord who was standing at a loss. Du Shaoling stretched out his hand and pulled him to the middle to kneel down, standing side by side with the standing tenant.

The landlord didn't care at all. He knelt crookedly as if he was lying on a kang, looking leisurely and contented.

Du Shaoling kicked him in the calf in anger: "Kneel down and behave yourself!" The onlookers gasped, and several porters in shorts secretly moved a few steps to the front of the hall. Han Yuechuan noticed the sinister face of the Dianshi flashed behind the pillar. When this man collected the money from the Zhao family the day before, he patted his chest and said, "Leave it to me."

The trial has only just begun.

Han Yuechuan listened to the complaints of both the plaintiff and the defendant. Obviously, it was the landlord Zhao who was arrogant and unreasonable. The previous county magistrate had already collected this year's land tax, but most of the share was taken by the previous county magistrate. Now the former county magistrate has fled and disappeared, and the landlord wants the tenants to pay grain taxes to make up for his previous deficit. Han Yuechuan was furious when he heard this. He wanted to explode on the spot and sentence the landlord surnamed Zhao to return the rent to the tenants. However, Master Zhang winked at him, pulled him to the back hall and explained a few words in detail, "Dong Weng is confused! Zhao Shouren is the brother-in-law of Master Xiao's godson. Last year, he sent a whole fan of Guanxi ham to the Xiao Mansion." Before he finished speaking, there was a cry outside the hall. Wang Laoshuan's wife was seen kneeling on the stone steps holding a torn bundle, which contained three frozen black buckwheat buns.

"My Lord," said the old woman, with her forehead bruised and blue, "I made this freshly-baked food. It's time for dinner, so please don't mind its crudeness." Han Yuechuan felt a lump in his throat.

After a while, Han Yuechuan suppressed his anger and announced: "Adjourn the court! Wait for the verdict."

The landlord surnamed Zhao said worriedly, "My Lord, if this unruly man is not detained and bail is not given, and he escapes, who will I ask for rent from in the future?"

Han Yuechuan was about to get angry: "How can you be sure that he will lose the case?" But Master Zhang responded for him: "Back off! Your Excellency has his own ideas."

After the court was dismissed, the landlord surnamed Zhao went to the Dianshi in charge of the punishment and asked, "Brother Zhang, what's going on? The 'tribute' I gave doesn't count?"

The registrar curled his lips and snorted coldly: "Hmph, that little bit of money you have can't even fill the gaps between other people's teeth." In fact, most of this "filial piety" was pocketed by him, and the new master only got one third.

The news of the new master trying the case spread quickly: according to the new rules, the tenants did not kneel but the landlords did.

When the poor people who were usually supposed to kneel down heard this, they all felt that Xin County Magistrate Han Yuehong was truly an upright and honest official.

The landlords and gentry who had never had to kneel down before felt strange. Some said, "No wonder, the nerd has really become crazy after reading so much." Others thought that this would disrupt the rules and regulations, and it must not be allowed! So they shook their heads and sighed, "The country will no longer be a country." As usual, this matter was also heard by Mr. Xiao of the Xiao Mansion, but he remained silent and just fell into deep thought.

Three days later, a notice of the verdict was posted on the notice board at the entrance of the county government office. The landlord surnamed Zhao lost the case and had to return all the extra money and grain. This was like a pot of boiling water with the lid off, bubbling and surging in the county town: "Humph, this gentleman really takes himself seriously!"

"Hey, what kind of law is this?" Some people also accused the landlord surnamed Zhao: "He is too greedy. He collected too much money and grain, and then he went to file a complaint. He lost because of his own fault!"

This rare event naturally reached the Xiao Mansion. After hearing this, Master Xiao remained silent and kept silent!
When the poor people heard this, they were overjoyed and spread the news quickly: "The new Mr. Han forced Mr. Zhao to return the rent, and his face turned livid." Many people secretly thought: "We can't just let it go after being plundered by the landlords this year. Now that someone is backing us up, we have to make him return the money and grain."

Less than two months after Han Yuechuan took office, people came to him to do business and to pay tributes. In the eyes of other county magistrates, this meant a huge influx of money, which was something they had been longing for.

Han Yuechuan, however, felt upset and relied more on Master Zhang to deal with the situation. Anyway, Han Yuechuan set a rule for him: accept anything sent by the landlords, the more the better. Exploit them severely and make them suffer. He would delay the matter mentioned by him, rambling on and on, and not implement it anyway, saying that the "tribute" sent was not enough and it was difficult to handle the matter. As for those poor and decent people, he would not accept any of them.

At this time, the higher authorities issued an official document to collect a tax of 1,000 taels for defense against the Tartars, which had to be paid within a certain period of time. When a county magistrate encountered such taxes and donations, he would fill his pockets and then resign.

This kind of donation was nominally one thousand taels, and the county magistrate did not need to go through the trouble of collecting it himself. He only needed to contract out five thousand taels to others to collect it. It was quick to collect and profitable.

I don't know which dynasty or country this was, or which masters who were well versed in the ways of being an official came up with this wonderful method. It's really convenient. As for the landlords who contracted the taxes, they could take it back with 5,000 taels, and no one would interfere with who they wanted to collect and how much they wanted to collect. They could also collect 10,000 taels. This is really a great way to make a fortune.

As soon as the official document for the 1,000 taels of anti-Tartar donation was issued, the wealthy and powerful people were eager to make a move, running around, smoothing the way, and requesting to contract the anti-Tartar donation. But no one wanted to take it all for themselves, not even Mr. Xiao dared to take it all for himself, because this was a matter that needed to be shared equally, otherwise there would be no way things would go smoothly in the future. You asked to contract this town, he asked to contract that village, and if they paid the contract silver first, it would be feasible.

These conditions were quite generous, but Han Yuechuan refused to agree. He wanted to come up with a new set of rules and methods.

He went to ask Master Zhang about it. Master Zhang explained that the court was now burdened with heavy taxes, and it was because of the constant occurrence of natural disasters and border disasters. The taxes were like a rope tightened around the necks of the poor people. The city and the countryside were in turmoil, forcing many families to go bankrupt, many families to sell their wives and children, and many people to commit suicide. However, the rich people who contracted the taxes took this opportunity to make a fortune and laughed with elation, so the country people described it as: "The rich and noble are free and happy, while the poor people in the thatched cottages are in trouble."

"Wealthy family? Are they worthy?"

(End of this chapter)