Chapter 37: Ordinary Zhang San
After Xu Zhiqian and Wang Ye left, Zhang Fei didn’t immediately depart. Instead, he sat alone in the hall, secretly savoring the remaining fine wine and dishes.
In reality, he wasn’t someone with extremely high material demands. However, the Xu family’s lifestyle was just too plain, with plain tea and simple meals every day, which had really started to get to him. But he didn’t harbor any complaints about it; he felt nothing but gratitude because both Xu Zun and Xu Zhiqian themselves were people who lived like that.
Again, as the saying went, the problem was not scarcity, but inequality.
Today, it was rare to have some extra indulgence, so why not stock up a bit more?
As he was enjoying himself, he suddenly heard the sound of light footsteps approaching. Zhang Fei quickly set down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth.
After a moment, Xu Zhiqian entered the hall, seemingly lost in thought, not noticing Zhang Fei’s discreet actions.
“A boyfriend?” Zhang Fei asked with a sly smile.
“A boyfriend?” Xu Zhiqian looked at Zhang Fei with a puzzled expression.
Zhang Fei hastily explained, “Oh! I meant an old acquaintance.”
“What did you say?” Xu Zhiqian immediately glared at Zhang Fei. “No, no, no, how should I put it… Oh, childhood friends, innocent and pure.” Zhang Fei realized he misspoke and was sweating profusely.
Xu Zhiqian glared at him, saying, “Stop talking nonsense! All you think about is vulgar and dirty things.”
Childhood friends? Innocent and pure? Are these vulgar and dirty things? Am I too ignorant or are you trying to fool me? Feeling wronged, Zhang Fei said, “I was just asking a question, why are you so angry?”
Xu Zhiqian, in frustration, retorted, “If you didn’t live in our house, would he come here?”
Right! After Wang Ye finished talking to me earlier, he immediately left. Could it be… Zhang Fei suddenly took in a sharp breath, “Are you jealous? No way! Hey, hey, hey, I’d rather have you think I’m vulgar and dirty.”
“You are beyond help.”
Xu Zhiqian blushed deeply, swirled her long sleeves, and turned to leave.
“Wait a moment.”
Zhang Fei suddenly stopped her and said, “You are such a woman of mixed signals. You keep blaming me for staying at your place, but secretly, you want me to stay. What’s on your mind?”
Xu Zhiqian turned back, furious, and said, “When did I want you to stay in our house?”
Wow, why so fierce? Zhang Fei continued, “You said that you told Qing Mei to help me find a place, but I asked her, and you never actually instructed her to do so.”
Did I say that? Xu Zhiqian blinked and suddenly remembered she had indeed said those words, but at the time, it was just an offhanded statement. She couldn’t possibly be so nice as to have her maid help Zhang Fei find a place. With a sly look, she said, “If you don’t give me the money, how can I help you find a place?”
Zhang Fei said, irritated, “I’ll give you the money now. You have to find a suitable place, and I’ll pay after I’ve seen it!”
Xu Zhiqian smirked, showing a hint of sarcasm.
Frowning, Zhang Fei asked, “Why are you laughing?”
Sarcastically, Xu Zhiqian said, “Go back and reread the Song Code of Punishments carefully, pen-in-cap.”
With that, she left.
Reread the Song Code of Punishments?
You’re telling me, a pen-in-cap, to reread the Song Code of Punishments?
What an insult!
Without paying attention to the sumptuous dishes and fine wine on the table, Zhang Fei immediately returned to his room and angrily delved into the Song Code of Punishments.
The result was somewhat embarrassing!
“What the heck?”
Zhang Fei couldn’t believe it, “To buy a house, it must be done through the hands of a real estate agent, otherwise, it will be treated as theft. What the heck! What a shameless money-grubbing move!”
It had to be said that the Northern Song government was quite adept at making money. There were so many miscellaneous fees and taxes that it was hard to keep track of them all. The buying and selling of houses, an age-old business, was something the Northern Song government would never relinquish.
Certainly, stamp duties had to be paid.
However, with no banking system currently in place, there needed to be someone to oversee the process, and this power was delegated to civilians. The court decreed that all property transactions had to go through a real estate agent, and all procedures had to be handled by them. In essence, these real estate agents were unofficial personnel of the government.
Regardless of how many people bought and sold houses, the government would only need to collect their money from the real estate agent.
If you didn’t pay this money, you would be treated as a thief. It’s important to understand that in these times, the punishments for thieves were very severe, with punishments such as imprisonment, exile, whipping, and more.
Everyone says that owing money to loan sharks is scary, but loan sharks were essentially private individuals, and you could escape from them. If you owe money to the government, well, you better start buying a coffin!
With lingering fear, Zhang Fei quickly reviewed the regulations.
If he messed up in this matter, it would be… well, not entirely unjust. After all, this was something that applied to everyone.
Not long after Zhang Fei returned to his room, Xu Zun sneaked back into the house from outside. After glancing around, he saw Xu Zhiqian sitting on a swing under a big tree and walked over, saying, “Qian’er, has His Majesty left?”
Without getting up or performing a courtesy, Xu Zhiqian glared at Xu Zun and complained, “Father, how could you let me, a woman, entertain His Majesty? This is simply unacceptable!”
She was also full of frustration. She was suddenly informed that the Emperor was coming and that she had to entertain him. It had scared her half to death; when she spoke earlier, she was genuinely apprehensive.
This time, Xu Zun didn’t react with alarm but instead explained in a subdued tone, “I didn’t want this either. It was His Majesty’s command. If I were to stay around, he and Zhang San would not be able to speak freely. I’d have to be cautious too, fearing that he might notice something. Your elder brother is not at home, and you’re the only one here, so you’re the one who has to go.”
Xu Zhiqian was puzzled and asked, “But why would the Emperor specifically come to our house to meet an ordinary pen-in-cap? It’s truly perplexing to me.”
“Ordinary pen-in-cap?” Xu Zun looked at Xu Zhiqian and said with some annoyance, “Just one visit to the Kaifeng Prefectural Office, and it caused such a huge commotion. His ability to cause a ruckus exceeds even that of the imperial censors. Have you ever seen a pen-in-cap like that? How could His Majesty not be curious?”
“Huge commotion?” Xu Zhiqian was confused. “Does Chen Yuteng have such remarkable abilities?”
“It’s not about him,” Xu Zun waved his hand and explained, “The key lies in the timing. Right now, Wang Anshi is preparing to implement his reforms, and this case is like a timely gift for him. During a session of the Imperial Court, he seized the opportunity to vigorously denounce the problems caused by lending practices and demanded strict punishment for Chen Yuteng. But he suggested being lenient with Li Si and the Lady Zeng.
But he faced opposition. Many officials think Zhang San is just playing word games and believe the government should not intervene.”
Xu Zhiqian stood up in excitement and said, “If we’re talking about word games, it was Chen Yuteng who started it first. Why aren’t they saying anything about that?”
“They’re not not saying anything,” Xu Zun sighed, “That’s where the difficulty in this case lies. Scholars like Sima and Prefect Lu know that Zhang San is just using the same methods as Chen Yuteng. It is not just Wang Anshi who supports Li Si and Lady Zeng, they don’t want to punish them as well. However, they don’t agree with Wang Anshi not applying the law equally. Yet there’s no other way to avoid punishing all three of them together, which is why the issue has been delayed until now.”
Xu Zhiqian lowered her head in thought for a moment and then asked, “If Chen Yuteng proactively admits his mistake and is willing to compensate Li Si, could the case be resolved?”
Xu Zun stroked his beard and said, “The government would not interfere in private agreements.”
Xu Zhiqian asked, “Then how much would he have to compensate?”
Xu Zun shook his head and said, “That I don’t know.”
Muttering to herself, Xu Zhiqian said, “In any case, it won’t be less than a hundred strings of cash.”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing, nothing.”
Xu Zun didn’t pay much attention and then suddenly asked Xu Zhiqian, “By the way, how did His Majesty get along with Zhang San?”
Xu Zhiqian smirked and said, “His Majesty seems to like Zhang San quite a bit. He even has the idea of appointing him as an official.”
“Is that so?” Xu Zun asked, “What did Zhang San say that made His Majesty so pleased?”
Xu Zhiqian then roughly recounted their conversation from earlier.
“I see,” Xu Zun nodded thoughtfully.
Xu Zhiqian grumbled softly, “Actually, Zhang San’s arguments aren’t anything extraordinary. I really don’t understand why His Majesty is so delighted.”
“What do you mean by ‘extraordinary’?” Xu Zun smiled and shook his head. He continued, “Zhang San’s arguments not only identified the root of the problem but also provide a solution. That’s quite extraordinary!”
“But similar discussions like this have been raised by many high-ranking officials in the court,” Xu Zhiqian pointed out.
Xu Zun sighed, “But none of them have been as thorough as Zhang San. Most of the high-ranking officials in the court have discussed the issue of high-interest loans, but the issue of high-interest loans is just the tip of the iceberg. The real danger lies in the burden of the people.”
Xu Zhiqian was taken aback and suddenly realized that it seemed that this Zhang San did have some ability. She thought to herself that it appeared he was quite capable. She said, “They are not unaware of it, but they pretend not to know.”
Xu Zun chuckled and said, “Therefore, the problem should be solved through the legal system.”