"Ha, you really know how to dream." Gu Dagui sneered and said, "The workshop’s profit is shared between us and Big Brother, but each ti we take the lion’s share. Big Brother’s silver is already less than ours, and he still has to prepare Brother Xing’s betrothal gift. How much private money can he give ? Fifty taels would be good."
Does he think Big Brother is a mountain of gold, inexhaustible?
Mrs. Chen listened and finally felt happy, arranging the clothes that had been disordered on Gu Dagui, saying, "Look at you, getting angry. I was just casually asking, didn’t an to make a big deal out of it."
Pah, Gu Dagui snorted disdainfully, "Are you asking? It’s obviously a punch!"
Gu Dagui felt truly wronged, having done his best to be good to Mrs. Chen, but this woman always suspects and questions him.
"Am I so untrustworthy to you?" Gu Dagui asked.
Mrs. Chen laughed it off, saying, "How could that be? I trust you the most."
Gu Dagui chuckled, "Trust you? That’s nonsense."
She clearly doesn’t trust him, fearing he might keep a mistress outside, hence she’s always guarding the family’s silver, not letting him have any money. Whenever he has silver, she goes crazy.
However, Gu Dagui understood why Mrs. Chen was like this; frankly, it was fear. Growing up in the Old Chen Family, she developed a temperant of relying on silver as the most dependable, hence holding tight to the silver.
"I know you feel uneasy, but those things are all in the past. Now you have a husband, a son, and lots of silver; life is solid and stable, no need to be afraid anymore." Gu Dagui said, holding Mrs. Chen’s hand, "I have never disliked you for anything related to your natal family’s matters. If I truly disliked you, I would’ve divorced you when the Chen Family caused trouble at the door back then."
The Chen Family caused a far bigger commotion in those years than now, Mrs. Chen had considered suicide by cutting her throat, and her father got very angry, pushing him to divorce her and eject her from the house.
Yet he found this girl too pitiful; since he had married her, he should treat her well... Ultimately, the Old Chen Family’s issues were resolved, and they have bickered and endured together for over a decade.
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Chen cried out loud, with heart-wrenching sobs that moved Gu Dagui to tears. He comforted her, "Don’t cry, everything is in the past. We’ll be fine as a family, and with Elder Xu helping, the Chen Family people are..."
"Yes, I won’t cry anymore; it’s not worth shedding tears for the Old Chen Family." Mrs. Chen didn’t even listen to Gu Dagui finish, wiped her tears, pulled Gu Dagui up, and seeing him still crying, chided him disdainfully, "Really useless, a grown man crying like a fool?"
Gu Dagui wanted to strangle her, "I’m crying with you, do you have any conscience?!"
"Alright, alright, I was wrong." Mrs. Chen laughed heartily, "Co on, let’s go have a al, I’m starving here."
She pushed Gu Dagui out of the guest hall door and headed to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, Granny Cao had already arranged for dishes to be kept warm for them in the pot, with both vegetables and at, quite sumptuous, all made from congratulatory gifts sent by the neighbors.
Mrs. Chen was extrely hungry, gobbling down the food. Midway through eating, Gu Dagui said, "This ti we’ve troubled Brother Xing, and owe the Xu Family a favor. When Brother Xing is engaged and married to the Xu Family girl, the congratulatory gift we give should be tripled."
"Triple!" Honestly, Mrs. Chen was quite worried, but the Xu Family did help imnsely, taking on the hassle of the Chen Family, so reluctantly, after a mont, she nodded in agreent, "Alright, let’s do as you say."
...
The next day, the steward of Magistrate Gu sent a servant to Gu Jin’an’s house, inquiring about last evening’s matters.
Chen Cangjin and Chen Canggu were intercepted on the street by Mrs. Chen with a mule cart at dusk and forcibly taken away; so people indeed saw this. Hearing the news, Magistrate Gu feared there might be trouble, so he sent soone to ask.
Gu Jin’an and Gu Dexing told the servant, "It’s nothing major, just so folks trying to freeload the autumn winds, it’s been resolved, they’ve been sent back to the countryside."
After hearing this, the servant relayed the statent to the steward and Magistrate Gu.
Magistrate Gu, upon hearing, simply said, "It’s fine, no need to investigate further."
Just a bunch of freeloading relatives; as long as it doesn’t blow up publicly, tarnishing the New Scholar’s reputation and leading other magistrates to mock him, Magistrate Gu wouldn’t say anything. Right now, there are more troubling issues for him anyway.
The Emperor’s imperial decree arrived; all the Jianghuai Prefectures were to increase taxes. Originally, the sumr tax, autumn tax, population tax, and labor duties were already heavy enough, now there’s additional taxation, doubling it!
Upon learning of the Emperor’s new decree, Magistrate Gu was dumbfounded. An old hand in office for many years, even he felt a surge of fear... Definitely don’t let any disastrous calamities happen, otherwise the people will surely overturn the Great Chu.
But before this ship capsizes, Magistrate Gu could only act according to the imperial mandate, summoning all the stewards, Judge Tang, and the newly arrived Su Vice Magistrate to inform them of the tax increase.
Su Vice Magistrate, in charge of these matters, frowned and said, "Lord Magistrate, this might be difficult to implent."
Magistrate Gu: "This is the Emperor’s direct decree; whether difficult or not, it must be done."
Pointing at Judge Tang, he said, "Lord Tang will assist you; if anyone dares to disobey, arrest them."
Judge Tang’s face froze a bit, shaking his head he said, "My lord, my subordinates consist of only a few governnt officials and prison guards. If faced with tough opposition, and the numbers are large, they won’t be able to handle it."
This statent implicitly suggested: this matter might escalate to rebellion or uprising; if hundreds or thousands, or even more people rioted, his n wouldn’t stand a chance.
Magistrate Gu said, "I understand that I’m putting you two gentlen in a difficult position, but this is an imperial mandate. If we don’t act, we die... How about this, I’ll notify General Guo of the Prefecture garrison camp to dispatch troops for assistance, ensuring any uprising can be swiftly suppressed."
He added, "Our He’an Prefecture is relatively fortunate; the people are well-off. Counties closer to Central State aren’t so lucky, they’re very poor. If anything happens, it will be in those places first, with people in the front, we can rest assured."
Once turmoil arises in a place, the Capital will send troops over, and grace us places that haven’t yet rioted. Even if tax collection isn’t complete, the Capital shouldn’t bla us.
Judge Tang and Su Vice Magistrate both understood this implication, smiled, and nodded, saying, "Lord is right."
However...
Su Vice Magistrate asked, "Isn’t the Kangrong tax too high?"
They were already collecting head taxes, but now the Kangrong tax demands one tael per person, that’s exorbitant.
Nowadays, there are many families living with several generations under one roof, with tens of mouths, just paying this Kangrong tax would be unaffordable, it’s practically unlivable.
Hearing this, Magistrate Gu looked at Su Vice Magistrate, with a colder tone, "Lord Su, be careful with your words."
Whether it’s high, whether it should be collected, those are not discussions for us. This is the Emperor’s command, we just need to execute it.
Su Vice Magistrate’s expression changed, hurriedly said, "Lord Magistrate, please forgive . I misspoke."
User Comments
0 comments from readers