Judge of the Song Dynasty

Like Zhang Fei, Xu Zhiqian had never imagined marrying him before, but when faced with the choice, he was the only option.

During her two days at home, Xu Zhiqian tossed and turned, considering countless possibilities. But the more she thought about it, the more deeply ingrained their shared moments became, impossible to dismiss.

When Zhang Fei asked her directly earlier, she found herself unable to refuse.

“How do you plan to promote the tax calculation service?” Xu Zhiqian asked with forced composure when Zhang Fei got into the carriage, as if nothing had happened moments ago.

Zhang Fei smiled, “You must know that the government will soon be collecting summer taxes. The county offices have already sent people to collect them.”

“Summer taxes?” Xu Zhiqian pondered briefly before asking, “You want to use this to promote the tax calculation service?”

Zhang Fei nodded, “That’s the idea. I heard from Feng Nanxi and others that because the government’s land registry isn’t updated promptly, many commoners end up paying too much, while some landlords pay too little.”

Xu Zhiqian nodded and sighed, “We can’t entirely blame the government. The number of land transactions in our dynasty is unprecedented in history – even within half a year, the land registry may already be outdated.”

Zhang Fei said, “I want to use this situation to promote our tax calculation service. If people can pay less tax using our system, why wouldn’t farmers come?”

Xu Zhiqian frowned slightly, “Are you planning to challenge the government over this?” Zhang Fei hesitated, “It’s just a promotional tactic. Whether it becomes a legal dispute depends on the government’s reaction. I’m not so brazen as to constantly sue the imperial court. Besides, I’ve heard many honest officials have issued decrees addressing similar issues, but frequent position changes make enforcement inconsistent.”

Xu Zhiqian nodded, “Indeed. When my father was a county magistrate, he did the same, but things returned to normal after he left.”

Zhang Fei smiled, “This shows the problem isn’t severe and won’t hurt too many interests. With court officials focused on stopping the Reform Planning Commission, and my recent imperial recognition, I doubt they’ll challenge me over this.”

Xu Zhiqian nodded slightly, “Actually, royal relatives have tax exemptions, and wealthy merchants like the Fan and Ma families store large amounts of land under the Xiang-guo Temple’s name. All they have to do is pay 20% of what they would have to pay as taxes to the temple as incense money.”

Zhang Fei frowned, “Given the chance, I’d abolish these damned privileges.”

Xu Zhiqian was encouraged, nodding eagerly, “Do you have a way?”

Zhang Fei startled, almost revealing his thoughts, and quickly said, “I’m just talking. Only the imperial court can correct this.”

Xu Zhiqian scoffed, “The imperial court won’t correct itself.”

Zhang Fei said, “Isn’t Academician Wang implementing reforms? He might do it.” Check latest chapters at novel·fire·net

Xu Zhiqian asked, “I haven’t heard that Uncle Wang plans to remove privileges. What makes you say that?”

Zhang Fei smiled, “Don’t you see? Academician Wang’s reforms mainly improve finances, which means increasing taxes. Since commoners are already taxed heavily, the only option is to tax these privileged people.”

Xu Zhiqian found his analysis convincing, “Can it succeed?”

Zhang Fei shrugged, “Who knows?”

As they chatted, they seemed to return to old times, forgetting about the marriage proposal. Without realizing it, the carriage had reached the outskirts.

Suddenly, someone shouted from the roadside, “The officials are killing people! The officials are killing people!”

Zhang Fei and Xu Zhiqian exchanged knowing glances.

Another voice yelled, “Keep shouting! You’ll just get more official runners here! You’re paying these taxes today whether you like it or not!”

Zhang Fei perked up and immediately said, “Stop the carriage.”

Before it fully stopped, he climbed out.

“Where are you going?” Xu Zhiqian called out, quickly following him.

Outside, Zhang Fei followed the sound and saw a bald man rolling on the ground by a vegetable garden, crying for help, while a government runner with a whip stood before him, berating him endlessly.

“This is perfect!” Zhang Fei was delighted and walked over quickly, about to intervene when a jade arm pulled him back. “Wait!”

Zhang Fei turned back, excited, “Why are you stopping me? This is a great publicity opportunity- ahem, I mean, don’t stop me from helping!”

But Xu Zhiqian held firm, “I know what you’re thinking. Just wait a moment.”

“If we wait any longer, someone might die.” Zhang Fei was anxious, eager to announce himself as Zhang San the pen-in-cap and stop the tyranny of the corrupt.

Xu Zhiqian said, “Listen to me, just wait and see.”

Meanwhile, the man’s shouts had drawn more onlookers.

“Just you wait, you scoundrel Li!” The runner, seeing the growing crowd, left with this threat.

Is that all? Zhang Fei was dumbfounded, expecting at least some whipping.

The man stood up, brushed off the dirt, and sneered at the runner’s retreating figure, “With your pathetic showing, you think you can get money from me? You should ask around about Old Li the vegetable seller’s reputation.”

“What’s going on?” Zhang Fei turned to ask Xu Zhiqian.

Xu Zhiqian explained with a smile, “While corrupt officials and runners exist, not every commoner is honest and easily bullied. Crafty people like this are common around the capital. Collecting taxes from them isn’t easy!”

The commercial atmosphere in the capital was strong, with constant movement of people. The rulers never had the environment to domesticate the people, who became very clever at playing tricks. Many famous troublemakers went their whole lives without paying taxes.

Crucially, many of these tax collectors were upper-class households serving corvee labor to the government as runners under without official positions. They wouldn’t fight with these troublemakers who had nothing to lose – it would always be a losing battle.

Of course, many troublemakers didn’t own much land. The real landowners with significant holdings didn’t dare play tricks with the government.

“I see!”

Zhang Fei nodded, suddenly realizing Xu Zhiqian was still holding his hand. He immediately gripped back and said, “In the future when I’m impulsive, you need to hold me back too.”

Xu Zhiqian quickly withdrew her hand and huffed, “Only if I can hold you back!”

Suddenly Long Wu called from behind, “Benefactor, be careful.”

Zhang Fei turned to look at Long Wu, who jerked his head forward. They saw that thug surnamed Li walking toward them, staring intently at Xu Zhiqian.

Xu Zhiqian, being a woman familiar with the ways of the world, frowned with disgust but showed no fear.

“Well, isn’t this a pretty young lady!” the thug said with a lecherous smile. “My oh my! What a beauty! I, Old Li, have never seen such a pretty young thing.”

Zhang Fei leaned back and whispered to Long Wu: “Don’t intervene unless I fall down.”

He then pulled Xu Zhiqian next to Li Si before stepping in front of her, shouting at the thug, “If you don’t want to die, get lost, you wretch!”

The thug sized up Zhang Fei, noting his arrogant tone that didn’t sound like a local accent. He grinned and said, “Old Li’s been wanting to die for ages, just haven’t found anyone brave enough to do it. If you can’t kill me today, we won’t be done here.”

This shameless thug was playing on people’s fear of trouble – his life was worthless, and no one wanted legal problems over someone like him.

Except for a pen-in-cap.

Zhang Fei smiled, “What a coincidence! Me too. Come on, hit me if you dare!”

The thug hesitated, wondering if Zhang Fei was one of his own kind. But seeing his clean appearance, handsome face and thick hair, he didn’t look like a thug. He rolled up his sleeves and gave Zhang Fei an experimental push.

Zhang Fei flew backwards, crashing heavily into the carriage. Clutching his chest, he shouted, “Help! Murder!”

The sudden turn of events left Xu Zhiqian dumbfounded.

The thug was also stunned, staring at his hand in confusion.

Zhang Fei shouted for a while, then looked at Long Wu with a questioning expression.

Long Wu returned the same confused look.

“Is he really this slow?” thought Zhang Fei as he sat down on the ground.

Long Wu immediately sprang into action.

The thug had just started to protest, “You’re framing me!” when Long Wu pounced on him, clawing at him with his hands.

Zhang Fei watched in astonishment as Long Wu fought like a market woman, scratching and clawing at the thug. Wasn’t he supposed to be a skilled fighter?

After the scuffle, Long Wu gained the upper hand, making the thug flee while covering his head and yelling, “Ouch! Ouch! Help! Help!”

The watching crowd, rather than helping, burst into laughter.

His shouts reminded Zhang Fei to clutch his chest again and yell, “I’ve been attacked! Murder!”

Xu Zhiqian and Li Si were desperately trying to hold back their laughter.

“Who’s calling for help?”

The runners who had left earlier came running back, panting.

Long Wu immediately stopped fighting.

“He did!”

Zhang Fei and the thug pointed at each other in perfect synchronization.

The thug pointed at his scratched-up face, “Officer, look what he did to me!”

But Zhang Fei politely handed the guard a small piece of paper, “My name is Zhang San.”

“Zhang San?” The guard started, then jumped. “Pen-in-cap Zhang San?”

Zhang Fei nodded with a smile, “This is my business card.”

“Business card?”

The guard didn’t know what that was, but looking at it he saw Zhang Fei’s full name (Zhang San in brackets), along with “Bianjing Law Firm” and its address.

Zhang Fei said, “This man harassed my fiancée and attacked me. Fortunately, my servant helped me. Everyone here witnessed it. Please take him to the magistrate’s office – I’ll send someone to file charges later.”

Xu Zhiqian blushed and muttered, “What fiancée? I haven’t agreed to anything yet.”

“Oh, certainly!”

The guard was delighted, grabbing the thug’s collar and laughing, “Old Li, you’re done for now. You’ve offended pen-in-cap Zhang San.”

The thug seemed to recognize Zhang Fei’s name and stared at him, stammering, “P-pen-in-cap Zhang San?”

Zhang Fei nodded with a smile, “Enjoy your stay inside.”

“Oh no! I was blind! Please spare me, Master Zhang! Please spare me!”

The thug began wailing.

Zhang Fei laughed, “Don’t admit defeat before we even go to court!”

If he didn’t admit defeat now, there would likely be no mercy later.

The runner understood and dragged Old Li away.

Xu Zhiqian approached with a smile, “What bad luck for that small-time thug to run into a big-time one!”

Zhang Fei glanced at her, “With thugs, you can only use their own methods. There’s no point in reasoning with them.”

Xu Zhiqian thought about it and had to agree.

Zhang Fei suddenly looked at Long Wu, noticing an angry red scratch on his neck. What kind of expert fighter was he? He asked, “Long Wu, what were you doing back there?”

Long Wu said, “I-I was afraid of killing him.”

“…?”

Zhang Fei made a choked sound and asked, “Do-do you kill people often?”

Long Wu quickly shook his head, “Not often.”

Xu Zhiqian stared at Long Wu in shock.

Li Si also nervously took a step back.

Zhang Fei nodded, “I understand.”

He coughed and looked around, “Zhiqian, shall we look around?”

Xu Zhiqian came to her senses and nodded, following him with small steps while whispering, “Zhang San, this Long Wu…!”

Zhang Fei said, “He’s not a bad person.”

Xu Zhiqian asked no more.

As it was now time to collect summer taxes, runners could be seen everywhere visiting households to collect tax money.

“Please, sir, have mercy. We really don’t have any money right now. If you could give us some more time, we’ll sell our grain and pay the taxes immediately.”

A young peasant stood in his farmyard, pleading humbly to a tax runner.

“So you want me to wait for you? Don’t you know how busy I am? Fine, I’ll just take these bags of grain as payment.”

“Sir, that’s our summer food! If you take it, my whole family will starve!”

“What are you yelling about? I’m not taking all of it. I’ll leave you one bag. Your family only has four people – how much grain could you possibly eat?”

The Song Dynasty also used a two-tax system – summer taxes were collected in copper coins, while autumn taxes were collected in grain.

Ancient coins were hard currency, so common people had very little cash. Summer taxes were actually more troublesome than autumn taxes, and people were often extorted by tax runners due to a lack of money.

Xu Zhiqian turned to Zhang Fei and said, “Weren’t you going to play the hero? Go on!”

Zhang Fei started, asking naively, “Is this for real?”

Xu Zhiqian nodded, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Zhang Fei immediately walked over with an authoritative air and asked, “What’s going on here?”

The tax runner sized him up. “Who are you?”

The young farmer also stared at Zhang Fei in confusion.

Zhang Fei said, “Let me introduce myself! I’m Zhang San, the pen-in-cap.”

“Zhang-Zhang San the pen-in-cap?”

The tax runner immediately gulped.

Zhang Fei asked, “How much grain were you just saying would cover the tax?”

“No-nothing! I didn’t say anything! I have business elsewhere – I need to go!”

The tax runner fled in panic.

This Zhang San had given the Kaifeng Prefectural Office’s runners no end of trouble – all runners in the vicinity knew his name.

But the farmer apparently hadn’t heard of Zhang San’s reputation. Seeing how this young man had scared off the tax runner with just one sentence, his legs trembled as he clasped his hands and bowed. “Many thanks for your help, brother.”

Zhang Fei smiled slightly and took out a small piece of paper. “This is my business card.”

“Business… card?”

The farmer took it but looked completely bewildered.

Zhang Fei said, “My name is Zhang San. I specialize in fighting legal cases for common people. If officials try to overtax you, you can find me. My address is written here. I guarantee you won’t have to pay a single extra coin in taxes.”

“Really?” the farmer asked excitedly.

Zhang Fei nodded with a smile. “Come find me if you need help. I’ll take my leave now.”

“Thank you, brother! Thank you!”

“It was nothing.”

Zhang Fei nodded slightly and left the farmyard.

Xu Zhiqian immediately came over. “By the way, what was that business card? Do you have another one I could look at?”

Zhang Fei took one out and handed it to her.

Xu Zhiqian took it and said with a smile, “Your card looks quite similar to an official’s visiting card, just simpler and much smaller.”

A visiting card was what officials used when paying calls – essentially a business card. However, Zhang Fei’s cards were much larger than modern business cards, about six or seven inches long, rolled up and tied with silk thread.

She looked up at Zhang Fei again. “They can’t read – what’s the use of giving them this?”

Zhang Fei smiled. “Someone who can read will always turn up.”

Xu Zhiqian asked, “This isn’t your method of promoting the tax calculation business, is it?”

Zhang Fei nodded and smiled. “Indeed it is!”

Xu Zhiqian shook her head. “I don’t think it will be very effective.”

Zhang Fei smiled. “Always remember one thing – words are cheap.”