Judge of the Song Dynasty

Fan Li was an old hand when it came to schemes in the business world. He had already guessed Zhang Fei’s purpose before he arrived. So, when he came to the appointment, it was not just to scold Zhang Fei or expose his true intentions. The source of thɪs content is novel✦fire.net

If he really wanted to retaliate against Zhang Fei, he could have directly informed Li Guozhong and the other notaries about this matter.

But he didn’t do that.

The reason was that he saw the potential benefits of working with Zhang Fei.

A single contract could fetch him several hundred strings.

Incredible!

If he could cooperate with Zhang Fei, his bookstore would take off!

Although Zhang Fei had offended many people, it seemed that there were also many people supporting him, including the current top figure Wang Anshi and Xu Zun.

Moreover, despite being encircled by many high-ranking officials, Zhang Fei still managed to break through and make a stunning appearance.

So Fan Li had to weigh carefully who was stronger and who was weaker. And his previous tough talk was, of course, to put himself in a better bargaining position.

But it was all in vain!

Zhang Fei simply didn’t buy it, not only that, he also overwhelmed Fan Li.

In the end, Fan Li signed the partnership agreement.

Zhang Fei would join their Fan family’s bookstore as a partner and would revise the management system of the bookshop to be primarily run by partners. This system had relatively loose restrictions on the partners, allowing Fan Li, nominally in charge, and Zhang Fei, actually in charge, to be separated.

In other words, if something really went wrong, Fan Li would take the blame.

“I have to hurry back and tell that woman this good news, to make her happy.”

Getting off the boat, Zhang Fei hurried back to the Xu mansion.

It should be noted that this was his true purpose. He wanted to regain his pride, to prove that the effort against him was futile, and to give the other party a big surprise, to show that he was not so easy to bully.

And Xu Zhiqian was also very much looking forward to this moment.

“Senior Brother Wang?”

Back home, just as he was about to inform Xu Zhiqian of the good news, he suddenly found Wang Ye there as well.

Wang Ye bowed and said, “I apologize for the intrusion, I hope you can forgive me for the disturbance, Brother San!”

Zhang Fei hastily replied, “Firstly, this isn’t my home, and secondly, I hope you can come by more often.”

Wang Ye exclaimed, “Really?”

Zhang Fei nodded, “Of course. I presume you have brought fine wine and cuisine along with you.”

The smile on Wang Ye’s face gradually stiffened, the phrase “like old friends at first sight” was forcibly suppressed.

Xu Zhiqian, who was aware of the situation, bit her lip, nearly bursting out laughing. Seeing Wang Ye’s embarrassed face turning red, she thought to herself and said to Zhang Fei, “It seems like we have been mistreating you.”

Zhang Fei hastily explained, “Of course not, don’t misunderstand. It’s just that the food and wine brought by Senior Brother Wang is truly very enjoyable, don’t you think?”

Xu Zhiqian glanced at Wang Ye discreetly, nodded, and said, “Obviously so.”

Zhang Fei chuckled, “So, it’s two different matters, they shouldn’t be confused. Your Xu family has treated me very well, I’m truly grateful.”

Xu Zhiqian remarked, “So you do have a conscience.”

The two of them bantered back and forth, which eased Wang Ye’s embarrassment. He smiled, ” Brother San, you are truly a paragon of loyalty and righteousness.”

Loyalty and righteousness? Did he misunderstand something? He hurriedly explained, “Senior Brother Wang, don’t misunderstand. Lady Xu and I are just business partners. Besides arguing, we have nothing else to discuss privately.”

Xu Zhiqian didn’t think there was any issue with this statement, but with Zhang Fei’s explanation, she became flustered and nodded vigorously, “Yes, yes, Senior Brother Wang, please don’t misunderstand.”

Wang Ye glanced at the two of them and chuckled, “I was just joking, why are you both so nervous?”

“Who’s nervous?”

They both said in unison.

After speaking, they exchanged a knowing glance.

Wang Ye laughed heartily, “Junior Sister, quickly bring out the wine and dishes I brought, I want to have a few drinks with Brother San.”

But in his heart, he thought, thankfully he brought them, otherwise this day might not have gone so smoothly. It wasn’t about trying to please Zhang Fei with the wine and dishes; he just felt that visiting the Xu mansion was a disturbance to others and felt rather embarrassed about it, so he brought provisions from the palace.

The dishes were served, and Zhang Fei was in a good mood today, so he started off by downing three cups with Wang Ye.

Wang Ye chuckled, “Brother San seems to be in good spirits today.”

Zhang Fei laughed, “Pretty good! Pretty good!”

Wang Ye continued, “The saying ‘even a few days can cause a person to make great progress’ truly befits you. Now, the whole Bianjing is talking about the matter of housing loans, and your performance was truly outstanding.”

Zhang Fei chuckled, “I never wanted all this commotion; I was just driven by circumstances.”

Wang Ye sighed and added, “Regarding restrictions targeting pen-in-caps, I’ve heard about it. I also feel indignant for you, Brother San. They couldn’t argue with you in the courtroom, so they resorted to such means to suppress you. It’s truly unfair.”

Xu Zhiqian glanced nervously at Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei gestured his gratitude, “Thank you for standing up for me, but there’s no need to be angry. After all, they’re not targeting me specifically.”

Xu Zhiqian breathed a sigh of relief.

Wang Ye looked puzzled, “Then who are they targeting?”

Zhang Fei smiled, “They’ll target anyone who opposes them!”

Wang Ye paused for a moment, then slapped the table, laughing heartily, “Marvelous! Marvelous! What a statement! They’ll target anyone who opposes them.”

Xu Zhiqian’s forehead and palms were already sweating.

Wang Ye raised his cup again, “Brother San, you’re so magnanimous, let me toast to you.”

“I’m not just magnanimous, but also straightforward! Cheers!”

Zhang Fei, feeling parched from speaking, immediately drank after lifting the cup.

After putting down his cup, Wang Ye smiled and said, “Your ingenious plan has also inspired me. I just wonder if my idea is feasible.”

Zhang Fei asked, “What idea?”

Wang Ye replied, “Currently, there are countless people buying houses, leading to a rise in housing prices in the market. However, the increase in housing prices is not necessarily a good thing. Brother San, why don’t you make suggestions to Academician Wang again, and let him petition the imperial court to allocate some land for building houses, and then sell them to the public. This way, it can suppress the rise in housing prices and also increase revenue for the government. Wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone?”

After Wang Ye finished speaking, he saw Zhang Fei sitting there stunned and asked, “Why aren’t you saying anything, Brother San?”

Zhang Fei was taken aback, “That will absolutely not work.”

“Why not?” Wang Ye asked in confusion.

“What you said about suppressing housing prices sounds good, but as you also said, the imperial court is currently short of money. If the government makes money from building houses, wouldn’t they just raise the housing prices even higher?” Zhang Fei countered.

“You have no evidence for that claim. The court’s intention in building houses is to stabilize housing prices, they wouldn’t arbitrarily raise them,” Wang Ye shook his head.

“No evidence?” Zhang Fei chuckled, “Currently, the main source of income of the court is taxes, if taxes can rise, why wouldn’t housing prices?”

Wang Ye’s expression froze, embarrassment evident on his face.

There was a light clang.

Zhang Fei glanced sideways and saw that Xu Zhiqian’s glass had been knocked over. He then glanced at her, “Lady Xu, why are you sweating so much?”

“I-I can’t handle my drink,” Xu Zhiqian chuckled awkwardly.

Zhang Fei remarked, “That’s true, you should drink less. We’re even now, so you shouldn’t overdo it again.”

Xu Zhiqian glanced at him sideways, “You handle your drink well?”

Her eyes flashed almost crazily.

Zhang Fei muttered to himself, “At least better than you.” Then, seeing Xu Zhiqian looking at him with affection, he couldn’t help but wonder, Is this woman in heat? Why is she giving me such suggestive looks? Or have I been pent up for too long and now hallucinating?

Suddenly, Wang Ye asked, “What are you talking about?”

Xu Zhiqian was startled, seeing Wang Ye smiling at her, she hurriedly said, “Nothing, nothing.”

Seeing Xu Zhiqian looking flustered, Zhang Fei also realized. Oh, right, I shouldn’t let him know what happened. He quickly changed the subject, “Let’s continue discussing housing prices.”

Xu Zhiqian almost bit her tongue. Are you blind? She also felt a bit anxious in her heart, after all, she had concealed Wang Ye’s identity. If Zhang Fei said something wrong, she would be responsible too.

Wang Ye nodded with a smile and asked again, “Then according to your opinion, how should the imperial court suppress housing prices?”

Zhang Fei smiled, “Actually, the rise in housing prices is not necessarily a bad thing.”

Wang Ye hurriedly asked, “What do you mean by that?”

Zhang Fei replied, “That’s if the court knows how to play the game!”

“Play the game?”

“Uh, it means understanding how to manage matters,” Zhang Fei clarified.

“Oh, please continue, Brother San.”

“If the court knows how to manage matters, it should adhere to the policy of renting public housing. They can allocate land, they can build houses, but they must be affordable public rental housing.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s very simple.”

Zhang Fei explained, “People survive based on their homes. With a house, they have a home, and with a home, they won’t easily leave. However, everyone must work hard to survive. In the process of working hard, tax revenue is generated. The more people there are, the more taxes there will be. This momentum will continue indefinitely, and the national finances will become rich. Once the economy improves, housing prices will inevitably rise. But this kind of rise is a reflection of prosperity, and is not a bad thing. The key is that with public rental housing, it won’t affect the common people. It’s all just officials and wealthy gentlemen trading among themselves. A slight increase won’t hurt anyone. Based on their status and position, apart from the government, I doubt anyone else would dare to maliciously drive-up housing prices.

Doing the opposite, will lead to a vicious cycle.”

He didn’t believe that the rise in housing prices would cause major problems. The key was land. The court’s land was also limited and couldn’t be allocated too easily.

Wang Ye pondered for a moment, then suddenly looked up at Zhang Fei and smiled, “Your words have enlightened me. I toast to you.”

“What’s with the toasting? Don’t be so formal, just drink!” Zhang Fei said.

“Cheers!”

Another glass was emptied.

Wang Ye continued, “Although your words make sense, if the government doesn’t build houses, those wealthy merchants will find ways to build.”

“Have some big picture perspective!” Zhang Fei waved his hand, “I say, Little Brother Wang, you need to broaden perspective a bit. That’s just peanuts. Why bother focusing on them? I’m just playing around with them.”

Upon hearing this, Wang Ye felt deeply ashamed.

Is my perspective really so narrow?

Cough, cough!

Just a moment ago, he was Senior Brother Wang, now he’s Little Brother Wang. Xu Zhiqian’s headache was getting worse, so she coughed lightly.

Zhang Fei glanced over, and Wang Ye asked first, “Is your throat uncomfortable, Junior Sister?”

“Huh? No! Well, just a bit itchy,” Xu Zhiqian squeezed out a smile tinged with apology.

“A sip of wine will take care of that itch,” Zhang Fei chuckled.

“What?” Xu Zhiqian didn’t find it amusing. Instead, she gave him a disdainful look. However, she noticed Wang Ye’s expression wasn’t quite right and hurriedly said, “You two continue chatting. I’ll pour wine for you.”

She then got up to pour wine for them.

In front of her boyfriend, she was so gentle and virtuous? Zhang Fei looked at Xu Zhiqian in astonishment.

Wang Ye, with renewed interest, asked Zhang Fei, “May I ask, what is meant by big picture perspective?”

Zhang Fei smiled, “Of course, it means developing industry and commerce. Urban development relies on these two. As I said earlier, renting public housing allows for the retention of people. If people want to live, they must work hard. Working hard generates tax revenue. But how to work hard and where are the opportunities? That is what the government should do. As long as the government makes proper arrangements for the people and ensures everyone has work to do, taxes will never be lacking, and the future will be limitless, just like this wine. Let’s have another drink!”

“Good! It is great to drink with such a gentleman!”

Wang Ye raised his glass.

Xu Zhiqian muttered, “What gentleman? He’s a pen-in-cap?”

“Haha! Ahem!” Zhang Fei sprayed the fine wine from his mouth again, thinking, Does this count as cursing at me?

“Brother San, are you alright?” Wang Ye hurriedly asked.

“I’m fine! I’m fine! It’s just a waste of this fine wine!” Zhang Fei glanced at Xu Zhiqian, then suddenly turned his eyes back and pointed to his own wine glass, looking rather cool.

Xu Zhiqian approached Zhang Fei with the wine jug in hand, bent down, and whispered calmly, “You can’t hold your liquor, so drink less.”

Zhang Fei whispered back, “Can’t you tell that I’m just giving you the opportunity to show some virtuous feminine behavior in front of your Senior Brother. Just fool him for now. Once you’re married, you can do whatever you want. Otherwise, who would marry you?”

Xu Zhiqian’s cold eyes shot two killing glares, but she remained silent and stood up to go to Wang Ye.

Wow! She could even tolerate that without losing her temper. It seems she really loves her Senior Brother Wang!

Watching her graceful figure, Zhang Fei suddenly felt melancholy. It seems I need to visit those kinds of places, but I wonder if they’re expensive?

Wang Ye had been furrowing his brows, lost in thought, and didn’t notice the two’s subtle movements until Xu Zhiqian came to pour him wine.

“Thank you! Thank you!” Wang Ye nodded slightly, then quickly looked at Zhang Fei. “Brother San, you made a lot of sense. But how should the government make arrangements for the people?”

Zhang Fei wondered, “Wow, Little Brother Wang, there’s no need to delve so deeply into this. Let’s just chat casually. It’s not our place to make decisions about this!”

Boasting was about exaggeration, wasn’t it? Who talks about details?

“Of course, of course,” Wang Ye nodded, his eyes revealing a hint of reluctance.