After ten years of accompanying me in my studies, the entire court begged me to shut up.

Liu Jian looked at the ledger and asked, "What is this?"

Yang Shen replied, "These are all the land deeds and transaction documents archived by the Wuqing County government over the past month, or more precisely, from the day the Hun River breached its banks, a period of thirty-five days."

Cheng Zhirong's expression changed drastically. In the midst of the chaos just now, someone had actually gone to the warehouse.

Yang Shen continued, "After reviewing the records, I found that Wuqing County completed land deed transactions totaling 537,400 mu within the past thirty-five days."

Liu Jian's pupils contracted slightly: "How much did you say?"

"537,400 mu".

Yang Shen handed over the booklet and continued, "The entire cultivated land of Wuqing County is only three million mu."

"The Zhao family monopolizes the cloth and silk business in Wuqing County, the Chen family monopolizes the brewing and tea business, and Manager Zhang is a merchant who buys all kinds of goods and sells them all over the country. The three of them are the most prominent gentry in Wuqing County."

"Half of the land in Wuqing County was under the names of these three families, while the remaining 30% was scattered among other gentry, but they were also closely related to these three. Less than 20% of the land was actually in the hands of the common people."

The hall was quiet, and everyone's face looked grim.

Liu Jian did not look through the account books, but slowly said, "The laws of the Ming Dynasty do not prohibit the purchase of land. As long as the money is paid in full and the contract is complete, it is legal for wealthy households to buy land. Yang, you can't prove anything with just this."

As if grasping at a straw, Zhao Xingye immediately shouted, "Your Excellency is wise! My family has been running a farm in Wuqing for three generations. We've saved up some money through frugality. When we saw the disaster victims selling their land to survive, we bought it. This is also doing a good deed! Are we just going to watch them starve to death?"

Chen Wanyou nodded repeatedly: "Exactly! We're giving real money, and we're not forcing anyone to buy or sell. What law wouldn't allow that?"

Cheng Zhirong then said, "This humble official can vouch for these local gentry. All land transactions in Wuqing County are conducted in accordance with the law, with deeds and taxes paid, and the accounts are clear and there is absolutely no illegality. As for the amount of land transactions, that is a matter for the people themselves. This humble official cannot stop disaster victims from selling their land, nor can he stop wealthy households from buying land."

Liu Jian remained noncommittal, then turned to Yang Shen: "Yang, do you have anything else to say?"

Yang Shen asked calmly, "May I ask Magistrate Cheng, what was the price per mu of land in Wuqing County in previous years?"

Cheng Zhirong blurted out, "Fields vary in fertility and location, and prices naturally differ. Generally, top-grade fields cost around three taels, medium-grade fields cost two taels, and bottom-grade fields cost around one tael and five mace."

"And what about this year?"

"This year, due to flooding, most of the fields are covered with silt and cannot be cultivated, so prices are naturally lower."

"How much lower?"

Cheng Zhirong's eyes flickered, but he did not answer.

Yang Shen answered for him: "In the past few years, the average price of medium-sized land in Wuqing County was between one and a half taels and three and a half taels, while in the transaction documents of the past month, the land price is one and a half taels."

Liu Jian frowned: "One qian and two fen... one mu?"

"Yes, the cheapest, eight cents per acre."

Yang Shen opened the book of deeds and pointed to a section, saying, "Please take a look, Mr. Liu. This is a deed that was completed three days ago. The seller is Wang Laosi, a disaster victim from Wangjiazhuang Village in Wuqing County. He sold twelve mu of land for one tael and four mace and four fen of silver. According to the market price in previous years, these twelve mu of medium-sized land would be worth around thirty taels."

The hall was silent, and everyone's face was grim.

Cheng Zhirong chuckled dryly: "Who knows if crops can still be grown on flooded fields next year? The disaster victims are in a hurry to exchange money for grain, so naturally they sell at a lower price. This is the price agreed upon by the buyer and seller, and the county cannot forcibly raise the price."

Zhao Xingye immediately chimed in, "Exactly! When I bought those lands, many disaster victims knelt and begged me to take them, saying that if I didn't sell my land for food, my whole family would starve to death. I couldn't bear to do it..."

Yang Shen couldn't help but interrupt, "Manager Zhao couldn't bear it, so he spent less than one-tenth of the price of previous years to buy tens of thousands of acres of land?"

Zhao Xingye choked and fell silent.

Chen Wanyou quickly said, "That's because they were willing to sell! Besides, if we hadn't paid for the land, those disaster victims would have starved to death long ago! We're doing a good deed!"

Yang Shen turned to Liu Jian: "Master Liu, what I am about to say may be a bit unbelievable."

"It's alright, speak!"

"As you all just mentioned, the land was flooded, and it's unknown when it can be cultivated again, hence the price plummeted. Disaster victims are willing to sell, and wealthy households are willing to buy; it's a fair trade, and there's nothing wrong with it."

He paused, then continued, "But what if this flood was deliberately caused?"

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop; all that could be heard was heavy breathing.

Yang Shen's voice remained calm as he continued, "Magistrate Cheng said that these transactions were all legal. Indeed, the deeds are complete, and the deed tax has been paid. I've calculated that with this year's low land prices, even if we take one-thirtieth, the tax payable wouldn't be much."

"The students were just wondering if these disaster victims, when they were selling their land to survive, knew that this flood, which inundated their ancestral homes, destroyed their crops, and even took the lives of their loved ones, might not have happened at all?"

Cheng Zhirong's face was deathly pale, his lips moved but he couldn't make a sound.

Liu San hid behind the crowd, his legs already trembling uncontrollably.

Zhao Xingye suddenly coughed heavily and said in a deep voice, "You brat, spouting nonsense! You say the dike was breached, where's the evidence? You say we knew beforehand, where's the evidence? Without any evidence, you think you can accuse us of murder for money based solely on a few land deeds?"

Yang Shen looked at him and retorted, "When did I say that you were plotting to kill for money?"

"You, this..."

Zhao Xingye was somewhat speechless, then immediately said, "You said someone deliberately flooded the land to buy it at a low price, and you also said that we bought a large amount of land. Isn't that implying that we deliberately flooded the people's land?"

Yang Shen waved his hand: "Manager Zhao, don't be in such a hurry!"

After saying that, he turned around and peeked out the door.

No one knew what he was looking at, so they all craned their necks to look, but there was nothing there.

Zhao Xingye couldn't help but retort angrily, "Young man, why don't you answer my question?"

Yang Shen waved his hand, indicating, "Don't rush, wait a little longer!"

Zhao Xingye asked suspiciously, "Wait...wait for what?"

Yang Shen stopped talking and just stared out the door.

The crowd looked at each other, their faces full of confusion.

"Hey, I'm asking you a question, what are you waiting for?"

Seeing that Yang Shen wouldn't even look at him, Zhao Xingye finally couldn't hold back any longer and shouted, "Are you trying to stall for time? Let me tell you, this is a serious matter! Magistrate Cheng is an honest official, and you're going to ruin his reputation. If there isn't an explanation today, the people of Wuqing County will jointly petition the emperor in the capital!"

"Don't rush, don't rush!"

Yang Shen pointed to the main entrance and said, "Look, isn't that them coming?"