Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 175 A Small Test of the Guillotine
There was a joyful scene in the classroom just now, but when people learned that Yue Ling was really going to take action, no one could remain calm.

The servant replied tremblingly to the master, "Marquis An Jing personally led the troops out of the government office. The people who were following him said that he looked murderous and no one dared to approach him."

In the room, the heads of each family looked at Huang Wenhua, hoping that he could make a decision.

"Yue Ling has done such a ruthless thing. Who in this city will help him with disaster relief and stabilize the people? Can he really conjure food out of thin air?"

Huang Wenhua first looked at the Qingke standing beside him and asked, "Have you heard of any major events in the government recently? Is there any news that they need to borrow grain from the surrounding areas?"

Qingke shook his head and said, "I haven't heard of it. Apart from Marquis Anjing asking officials from the eight towns to come to Cangzhou, I haven't heard of any other major events. It seems that Marquis Anjing has been in the government office and has never left."

Huang Wenhua nodded slightly, took another sip of morning tea, wiped his mouth to calm down, and then said to the others: "Don't panic. Yue Ling went to East City just to find the Pan and Gao families and deal with them with thunderous means to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys. Don't be scared by him."

"The Pan and Gao families are the most humble among us. The Gao family didn't even come to the banquet a few days ago. I'm afraid they were scared and wanted to distance themselves from us. In comparison, the head of the Pan family is sensible, so we can't just stand by and watch."

"Everyone, go back home and pack up. We will meet in front of the Pan family residence later to see how Yue Ling will act."

……

East of the city, Gao family,
When Yue Ling and the soldiers from the Beijing camp arrived here, they saw that the gate of the Gao family was wide open. The head of the Gao family and everyone in the mansion were waiting in line, as if they were waiting for them.

When Yue Ling stood in front of the crowd and looked around coldly, he saw a middle-aged man in Confucian clothes walking out quickly.

"I pay my respects to you, Lord Marquis."

Yue Ling narrowed his eyes and looked at the man. He was of medium build, wearing a square scarf on his head and simple clothes, but he did not smell like money.

"Get up, you have achievements?"

The head of the Gao family stood up hurriedly, bowed again and replied, "I am stupid, I only passed the examination for a scholar, but failed the provincial examination. But my family is poor and my mother is in poor health, so I gave up literature and went into business to get to where I am today."

After that, the head of the Gao family hurriedly explained: "It's not that I want to go against the Marquis. The Gao family started out as a spice business and didn't have much surplus grain, so I didn't interfere with them. I sold my family property and used half of it to raise this grain. It took some time, and I hope I can help the Marquis."

Yue Ling couldn't help but nodded slightly, "You are a smart person."

The head of the Gao family said again: "Few merchants start their careers with clean backgrounds. I have also done wrong things. If I can make up for these sins, I hope that the Marquis can forgive me."

Yue Ling gently stroked the sword at his waist and replied, "After all, I am not a bloodthirsty person. Seeing that you are willing to admit your mistakes and have a good attitude, I will forgive you this time. Whether it is taking the imperial examination or doing business, you must always have a standard in your heart. Even if you can't say that you can 'worry about the world before you worry about yourself, and be happy after the world is happy', at least you must understand the principle of 'when you are poor, you should take care of yourself, and when you are rich, you should help the world.'"

The Patriarch of the Gao Family nodded repeatedly, humbly and respectfully, "My Lord, I will definitely keep in mind what you taught me."

Yue Ling then ordered the people around him, "Send the food in the mansion to the big warehouse in the city and store it for disaster relief. The rest of you, follow me to Pan's house."

After Yue Ling and the soldiers left, it was a long time before the head of the Gao family dared to raise his head, took a long breath, and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

When he returned to the room, he saw his wife and children crying and sobbing on the floor, which made him very upset.

"Master, you didn't do anything bad like other families. We are willing to accept the punishment, but why did you take the initiative to hand over half of your wealth? How can we live like this?"

The head of the Gao family slapped his wife and flew away, saying angrily: "You have long hair but little knowledge! It really proves Confucius' words that only women and villains are difficult to raise!"

Looking at his sons who did not understand what he did, the head of the Gao family said earnestly: "Business is ultimately a minor path, and is looked down upon by officials. You still have to study hard and pass the imperial examinations, so that you can revive the family."

"Dad, you've handed over all your money, how are you going to support us in our studies?"

The head of the Gao family frowned slightly and said angrily: "Don't you know the story of Mr. Fan who cut off the porridge with pickled vegetables? Even if he ate a pot of porridge and a few pickled vegetables every day, Mr. Fan could pass the imperial examination and become a role model admired by scholars all over the world. How can my family not let you have enough food and clothing?"

Seeing that their father was angry, the children dared not speak.

When Lord Fan was mentioned, the head of the Gao family's eyes lit up again, and he thought to himself, "When the Marquis just told me about Lord Fan's story, wasn't he trying to enlighten me? We should be content with poverty and not be greedy for wealth and fame, and cultivate a clean and upright family tradition?"

"It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality. These kids need to be properly disciplined."

Looking outside the door again, the head of the Gao family couldn't help but sigh, "The Marquis is a military officer with great prestige and is also skilled in civil administration. He dares to call all the officials of the eight towns to gather in the city to verify his achievements. I'm afraid he would even replace a county magistrate if he doesn't like it. How dare a bunch of merchants go against the Marquis without knowing the overall situation? How ridiculous, how ridiculous."

The head of the Gao family walked out of the door with his hands behind his back, his mind clear, and he raised his head and laughed again.

At that time, Huang Wenhua and his party happened to pass by the gate of Gao's family. When they arrived, they saw carts of grain being transported to the big warehouse in the city, and they also saw servants in the Gao's courtyard cleaning the yard. Everyone couldn't help but frown.

"Patriarch Huang, this Gao family..."

Huang Wenhua waved his hand and said, "He didn't see the situation clearly and gave away half of his family fortune in vain. We don't have to pity him. We will remove him from the Cangzhou Chamber of Commerce and see how he manages his family in the future."

"Yes, Patriarch Huang is right."

After stabilizing the situation, Huang Wenhua said, "Let's go to the Pan family first to check out the situation."

……

When Yue Ling arrived at the Pan family, he saw that the courtyard wall was high and the gate was closed. No one took Yue Ling's orders seriously at all.

Yue Ling and Jia Yun smiled and said, "This family is not as tactful as the Gao family just now."

Jia Yun replied, "If everyone is so tactful, then wouldn't it be a waste of time for the master to come out?"

Yue Ling nodded, "That's the truth."

Turning around, Yue Ling and the soldiers behind him ordered: "Break the door!"

"As ordered."

Immediately, dozens of armored soldiers stepped forward, smashed the door open with blunt weapons, and created a passage.

Then, Yue Ling waved his hand, and the officers and soldiers rushed in, lined up in the courtyard, and guarded the gates.

Hearing the noise, the head of the Pan family no longer hid in the room and hurried out to see what was going on.

Seeing the flags waving in the courtyard and the soldiers drawing their swords, he couldn't help but be startled.

"Sir, what are you doing?"

Yue Ling rode forward, frowned and looked at him, and asked, "You are the head of the Pan family? Don't you know my decrees?" The head of the Pan family nodded repeatedly, "Sir, I have read the ultimatum you sent. But the conditions in it are not met by my Pan family."

Yue Ling smiled and said, "Oh? How is it illegal?"

The head of the Pan family defended himself again, "My Pan family has always been honest and upright in doing things. There is no such thing as collusion between officials and businessmen. It was Prefect Park and Magistrate Ji who asked for bribes. I am unwilling to give them, but there is nothing I can do."

"Besides, if we talk about hoarding goods, it's out of the question. My Lord, don't you know that the prices in Cangzhou City are soaring now? This is not something that merchants like us can do. It's just that the supply is insufficient to meet the demand, and the cost is high. We have to raise the price to sell. We can't do business at a loss."

"We know how difficult it is for you, sir, so we have prepared three thousand kilograms of food for you. We hope you can understand how difficult it is for us. There are hundreds of mouths to feed in this family, and we can't feed them without some savings."

Yue Ling smiled again and said, "You misunderstood. I am not here to investigate these two matters."

The head of the Pan family looked puzzled and asked, "Then why did you break in today?"

"This Lord has good intentions, so I'll let you be a wise ghost."

Yue Ling waved to Jia Yun and said, "Jia Yun, explain it to him clearly."

Jia Yun cupped his hands and said, "As you wish."

Then he took out a stack of papers from his bosom and began to read out the Pan family's crimes. "In the 25th year of Yuanqing, the Pan family took over the granary repair project, falsely reported the accounts, cut corners, and embezzled more than 30,000 taels of public funds together with the prefect Pu Zheng. In the 28th year of Yuanqing, the Pan family was ordered to transport timber, falsely reported the loss, and privately traded round timber, making a total profit of more than 10,000 taels..."

When the head of the Pan family heard this, his face changed drastically, cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and his body trembled uncontrollably, but Jia Yun had not finished reading yet.

"We have measured the land occupied by the Pan family, including those given to others and actually controlled by them, totaling 1,320 acres, but the land register only shows 200 acres. Over the years, the tax has been evaded several times, and the losses caused to the imperial treasury are difficult to estimate in detail."

Jia Yun clasped his hands together and asked, "Master Pan, do you have anything else to say?"

At that moment, the head of the Pan family was already kneeling on the ground, his face pressed against the bluestone bricks, but he did not feel the coldness. Instead, his heart was even colder.

He never expected that Yue Ling had even looked up the old almanac.

Just ask yourself, how many businessmen have not used tax evasion methods when they started out? If you check carefully, you will definitely find problems.

According to today's standards, the situation will not be resolved until all the merchants in Cangzhou are uprooted.

But by then all the shops on the streets of Cangzhou City will be closed. Even if people have money, where can they go to buy things?

How can a city recover without business?
The head of the Pan family couldn't figure it out at all, and it was too late for him to figure it out.

Seeing that he had nothing to say, Yue Ling sneered and said, "Since you have admitted your guilt, there is nothing more to say. Come on, bring the guillotine!"

He ordered the head of the Pan family to be placed on the knife's edge. Yue Ling jumped off his horse and took the guillotine himself.

"If the prefect is the one who is punishing you, you might be able to bribe a few or sneak out of jail and avoid the disaster."

"However, I am here to punish you. As long as the crime is serious enough to warrant death, I can execute you immediately. There is no need to wait for the autumn to execute you. Do you think it will be painful?"

The head of the Pan family trembled slightly and said hurriedly, "Sir, please give me another chance. I will definitely exchange half of my wealth for food and send it to you. No, I will give you all my wealth! Please spare my life, and I will follow your lead in the future."

Yue Ling sneered again, "If I kill you, I will still get all your wealth, so why should I spare your life? Besides, I have given you a chance to hand over the grain earlier. How could you be in trouble today?"

"Or do you think that I am too young to handle old guys like you?"

The head of the Pan family burst into tears and cried, "How dare I look down on you, sir? My Pan family is just a small fish in Cangzhou City. You have someone else to deal with. My Pan family is willing to be your dog and help you succeed!"

Yue Ling raised the handle of the guillotine and said, "No need for that. I have never taken a bunch of rabble seriously!"

Before the guillotine fell, the head of the Pan family suddenly saw Huang Wenhua rushing to the door and shouted, "Huang Wenhua, you are wronging me! You are really wronging me!"

Then the guillotine fell, blood gushed out, and the head fell to the ground, splattering scarlet all over the ground.

Inside the Pan family mansion, everyone was crying. Even Jia Yun's eyelids trembled slightly when he saw this. He had never seen such a ferocious master.

Yue Ling wiped his hands with a silk scarf and ordered: "Confiscate all the wealth of the Pan family and inquire about the location of the hidden grain. Those who can provide clues from the Pan family will be exempted from exile. The rest of the men will be exiled to Yizhou, and the women will be sent to the Jiaofangsi."

A soldier at the side reminded: "My Lord, Cangzhou City is too poor, and there is no Jiaofangsi yet."

I think the women in wealthy families are not too bad at needlework, and Yue Ling will indeed need someone in this area in the future.

After thinking for a moment, Yue Ling replied, "Then let's keep them in the mansion to do some needlework. We can't just keep them for nothing."

"As ordered."

Yue Ling turned around and saw other wealthy business owners in Cangzhou Prefecture blocking the door of the Pan family. He walked over slowly, but scared them so much that they retreated again and again.

Yue Ling couldn't help but laugh and said, "Didn't you all come to the government office to see me a few days ago? I have something to say today."

Everyone hurriedly said, "My Lord, please speak."

At a glance, Yue Ling could not help feeling disgusted when he saw that these wealthy business owners were all wearing coarse linen clothes with patches on top of patches, pretending to be poor.

After frowning slightly, Yue Ling said, "You are all well-known figures in Cangzhou City. You don't want to end up in the same situation as the head of the Pan family, do you? Even if you die, your wives and children will also be implicated. Why do you want to do this?"

People who work in business are the best at observing people’s words and expressions, and they immediately understood what Yue Ling meant.

"I hope the Marquis can point out a clear way."

Yue Ling smiled and said, "I pointed out a clear path for you some time ago. If you don't follow it, you may not know my style of doing things. Today, I will open another way for you. Make up for the tax silver that has been missed for nearly five years. You can use grain to exchange for silver at the same price. If you pay it off, I will not care about it for now. How do you think?"

Seeing that everyone was hesitant, he was afraid that if he took out the silver, it would be regarded as an admission of guilt, and Yue Ling would turn against him.

Yue Ling added: "I won't mistreat those who obey me. As long as you do as I say, I will turn a blind eye to the food that you value so much."

"The current grain price in the city is 180 wen. I will allow you to sell it for 250 wen, and you are not allowed to lower the price. This will allow you to make a lot of money. How do you do that?"

　Today is the 30th day of daily updates. I promised everyone to update frequently for a month, and I should be able to fulfill my promise.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)