Be a small county magistrate in ancient times

Chapter 271 Not That Kind
"Why are you so angry, sir? You came to the Hong family to do business. How can you do business if you are angry?" The steward, whose name was unknown, had probably seen big scenes and did not take Qi Renli's anger to heart at all.

"It seems that I am really not worthy of the Hong family. Well, I won't be the middleman anymore. We are not destined to be together." Qi Renli turned around and left.

No one knew what the manager was thinking, but he actually stopped Qi Renli.

"Sir, why are you leaving before we even discuss anything?"

Qi Renli said angrily: "Does your Hong family want to talk to me?"

"Why not?" The steward made a gesture of invitation. "I'm here to talk to you. It's not even summer yet. Why are you so angry?"

Qi Renli had learned a lesson from this family. They were so bold that they treated him like a monkey. Whenever he got angry, he was wrong.

OK, very good!

No matter how good-tempered a person is, he can't help but think that if he gets the chance, he must take revenge on this family.

The steward took them back to the room they had been in, and sat them face to face. Not only was there no tea or snacks, there was not even the slightest respect.

I don't know what this steward wants to prove by looking down on Qi Renli, but it is obvious that he feels very comfortable by doing so.

The steward asked, "Mr. County Magistrate, which merchant are you trying to connect with? Has the Hong family cooperated with them before?"

"It's not a famous merchant, so you don't need to ask." Qi Renli said, "He used to sell local silk from the south, so it's impossible for him to have had any contact with your family."

"Since you have already picked out the goods at the cloth shop in town, I won't bother asking you to look at them again. Everything that my Hong family sells will never be inferior, so you can rest assured." The steward said, "Let's talk about other things. When do you want the goods? Do you want to pick them up yourself, or do you want us to send them to you?"

Qi Renli: "Let's talk about the price first."

"Look at what you said. You have to decide how to pick up the goods first before you can decide the price." The manager smiled and said, "If you come to pick it up yourself, the price will be lower, but if you want us to deliver it, the price will be higher."

"That's common sense." Qi Renli sat upright on the stool, "Then tell me how much the difference between the two prices is."

"Five hundred coins short," the steward said, "The silk here isn't as fine as the silk in the south, but it's silk after all. Since the county magistrate has come to our house in person to make this deal, then we'll charge three taels of silver per piece. If you want us to send it to the south, we'll charge an additional five hundred coins per piece."

As the steward spoke, he took out a pen, ink, paper and inkstone from the cabinet next to him and said, "If you think it's suitable, give me a deposit of one thousand taels and write the contract now."

After listening to this, Qi Renli laughed twice, "You guys are so good at negotiating business. You haven't paid for the goods yet, and the price is fixed. Are you waiting for me to pay?"

"Alas, what you said is not professional." The manager said, "If you had asked around, you would have known that the price is not high. If you don't even accept this price, what business are you doing?"

"I'm definitely not cut out for business." Qi Renli stood up, "I'm certainly not cut out for doing business with your Hong family."

Now Qi Renli wanted to leave and refused to stay no matter what the steward said.

Qi Renli didn't breathe a sigh of relief until he left the Hong family.

Ma Laifu looked at the closed door and asked, "Master Qi, why didn't Captain Yang come out?"

"He left through the side door. Let's go look for him."

Qi Renli led everyone around the wall of the Hong family and finally found the side door that Yang Zheng went out.

"This is the path. If we follow it, we should be able to find Captain Yang."

Sure enough, after walking along the path for a while, they saw several rows of houses, and Yang Zheng was standing in one of them. "Master Qi." Yang Zheng waved at them, "This way."

The convoy stopped at the door. Yang Zheng, who had just been complaining about men, became alert, "Sir? Who are you?"

"Don't be afraid. This is Lord Qi from Beishan County. He is here to investigate the Hong family's oppression of the people. Tell him what you just told me."

The man didn't show any joy on his face. He pushed Yang Zheng out of the house with a look of horror, and then quickly closed the door. "Stop hurting me. If I really tell you, can my family still survive here?"

Yang Zheng knocked on the door. "What are you doing? If you don't speak out what grievances you have, how can the adults know and give you justice? Are you still counting on the Hong family to be kind?"

"I have no grievances, please don't leave!" Hearing the knocks on the door, the person inside said, "Please let us go, I beg you."

Yang clenched his fist angrily and wanted to smash it on the door, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Brother Yang, come here." Qi Renli didn't even get off the carriage.

Arriving in front of the car, Yang Zheng said helplessly: "These people have grievances in their hearts but are unwilling to speak out, hoping that others will take the lead, and they are waiting to pick up the ready-made ones."

"What did he say to you before? Tell me."

"They said the Hong family was oppressing them. The price of silk thread kept rising, while the price of silk kept falling. They wanted to sell it, but no buyer dared to buy it. They said that things made with the Hong family's silk thread can only be sold to the Hong family.

In his words, the Hong family was very domineering, they were simply the local emperors of this area, and the government had to do things according to the Hong family's wishes.

The man also said that some people had wanted to speak up for the people before. The earlier county magistrate had wanted to check the accounts of the Hong family. At that time, many people thought that they would be able to see the light of day, so they jointly wrote a complaint, recorded the Hong family's domineering behavior in the past years, and submitted it to the county magistrate.

And guess what?

The magistrate was replaced soon after. "

Qi Renli sighed: "If it is really as they say, is there still justice and law in Daliang?"

"Sir, if we want to take care of this matter, we need the victim to come forward. Otherwise, we have no position to take care of it, right?"

Qi Renli also found it strange. The last time he was in Hongfu Village, many people came to him for help. If he didn't feel sorry for those people, why would he wade into this muddy water?

"Qi Xiang, let's go to the same family as last time. I want to ask them. If no one is willing to sue the Hong family, then there is no need to hand over the token given by the prefect to Dazhou Prefecture."

The group took several small paths and walked around for a long time before returning to the place they had been to last time.

Seeing Qi Renli coming with the yamen runners, the old men from last time immediately came forward excitedly to greet them.

After the two sides talked, Qi Renli realized that the village where the strong man was located did not belong to Hongfu Village.

The Hong family's house was built between two villages, occupying a lot of land. Coming out of the gate and walking along the main road would lead to Hongfu Village, but going out of the side door and walking along the small road would lead to another village.

"We raise a lot of silkworms here, and they weave a lot of cloth there, but in the end, they all rely on the Hong family for their livelihood."

Another person said, "The Hong family said that these skills were taught to us by their ancestors, and we cannot use them for free. Not only do we have to give them the cocoons and silk threads, but we also have to pay them rent. Our village rents the mountain land, and their village rents the looms."

"Who knows if what the Hong family said is true! It was taught by their ancestors. How can the Hong family be so magnanimous? Can they teach others skills for no reason? I only remember that I learned my skills from my grandfather and father."