Chapter 228: Maybe That’s Just Life
Li Family Bookstore.
“Chief Li, why aren’t they asking court officials for help this time? Could there be some hidden scheme here, which is why those officials are unwilling to intervene?”
Fei Ming, one of the Seven Great Notaries, spoke to Li Guozhong with some trepidation.
The other notaries also looked toward Li Guozhong.
Previously, no one had thought much of their seven great bookstores – it was always those officials who fought against Zhang Fei. This time they suddenly hired them, which made them all somewhat nervous.
They worried that they would fail to catch the fox and end up covered in stench instead.
Li Guozhong laughed, “Don’t overthink it. There’s no hidden scheme here. The reason they hired us this time is that Remonstrator Fan didn’t defend that Wei Yushan last time, so they don’t really trust him.”
“That’s true.”
Tang Zi nodded, “I also watched that lawsuit. Remonstrator Fan clearly had his own agenda. We really can’t be compared to that – when we take money, we definitely give our all.”
Li Guozhong nodded, “Exactly.” The other notaries also understood.
Fan Chunren was a remonstrator after all. If this lawsuit involved shady dealings, and you asked Fan Chunren to handle the case, wouldn’t you have to tell him about all these shady dealings? Then what kind of lawsuit would it be – Fan Chunren would directly impeach them.
Fan Chunren lacked the professional ethics of a pen-in-cap; he was a career official.
Of course, after Fan Chunren lost several times in a row, those people had no confidence in him either. For this kind of matter, they still needed to find pen-in-caps to handle it.
Fei Ming immediately turned from worry to joy, “Then this is a good opportunity for us. Nowadays pen-in-caps have almost become Zhang San’s exclusive domain – when people mention pen-in-caps, they only recognize Zhang San. If we can win, then we can suppress the Bianjing Law Firm.”
Li Guozhong nodded, “Exactly, that’s what I think too. So this time we must give it our all.”
Tang Zi added, “But the key to this case lies in the evidence. If the opposing side has ironclad proof, we might not be able to accomplish much!”
Li Guozhong said, “Regarding the evidence, I’ll discuss it with you all in detail later. This lawsuit definitely has merit.”
Horse Trade Street was also one of the bustling markets in the capital, especially at night when its liveliness rivaled that of Bian River Street.
Another torrential downpour had just passed, and each shop hung up their lanterns as people emerged from their homes to stroll the night market.
This was an exclusive privilege of Song Dynasty citizens that other dynasties could never experience.
“What’s happening up ahead? Why is it so noisy?”
“Seems like it’s Hong Family Shop.”
“The Hong family? Isn’t that the gambling house? Are they gambling right at the entrance now?”
“Let’s go take a look!”
In a small alley ahead, it was packed with people. Getting closer, they could see a small shop inside with crowds gathered at its entrance – both peddlers and laborers in short brown clothes, as well as young masters and officials’ sons in fine garments.
Under normal circumstances, these two groups would almost never crowd together in one place.
Since ancient times, only gambling could break down all class barriers.
“What? Seven Great Notaries at two-to-one odds, Zhang San at one-to-one?”
A handsome young master stood before the shop, glanced at the wooden board above, then spoke to the youth behind the table.
Seeing the young master’s unfriendly expression, the youth quickly smiled apologetically, “Young Master Han, please forgive us. Since that Zhang San has never lost, naturally the odds are lower.”
The young master was indeed Han Pan, grandson of Han Qi.
“Is that so?”
Han Pan said, “I’m just afraid you won’t be able to pay if you lose!”
The youth looked at Han Pan nervously and said, “I… I don’t know how much Young Master Han plans to wager?”
Han Pan spread his five fingers, “Five hundred strings.”
As soon as he said this, the crowd erupted in amazement.
Truly worthy of Han Pan – his moves were on a different level.
The youth looked at Han Pan with furrowed brows, pondering for a long while before gritting his teeth, “I’ve opened my doors for business, so there’s nothing I wouldn’t dare accept. At worst, I’ll just sell this ancestral shop of mine.”
Just then, an even more arrogant voice rang out, “Five hundred strings – you think that’s worth bragging about?”
Another voice followed, “Little Seven, don’t be afraid. My brother and I support you.”
Two young men squeezed their way in.
It was Cao Dongdong and Ma Xiaoyi.
Cao Dongdong placed his hand on the youth’s shoulder, “Little Seven, Zhang San’s one-to-one odds are too much. Make it half that, and for the Seven Great Notaries, make it five-to-one.”
“Ah?”
The youth looked at Cao Dongdong in surprise, “Young Master, this… this won’t work!”
Cao Dongdong said, “What are you afraid of? This Young Master is here, and I won’t let you sell your shop. If we lose, it counts as my loss. If we win, I’ll take eighty percent and you take twenty percent. How about it?”
After hearing this, the youth nodded repeatedly with joy. This was a sure-profit deal with no risk of loss – if he didn’t agree to this, he might as well go carry night soil.
Han Pan looked at Cao Dongdong with displeasure, “Cao Dongdong, you are serious about five-to-one?”
Cao Dongdong tossed his head, “Taozi, change it!”
“Yes!”
Taozi immediately took down the wooden board and wrote on the other side “One-to-Two, Five-to-One.”
Ma Xiaoyi provoked, “Young Master Han, do you dare to bet?”
Han Pan’s lips curved upward, “Fine, since you are running the house, five hundred strings is indeed a bit little. I’ll bet one thousand strings on the Seven Great Notaries. Let’s write up an agreement first, and I’ll have someone bring the money shortly.”
Cao Dongdong waved his hand, “The agreement is unnecessary. With this amount of money, you wouldn’t stoop to defaulting.”
Five-to-one?
If he didn’t gamble now, when would he ever get another chance?
The people behind immediately surged forward.
“I bet one string on the seven notaries.”
“I bet five coins.”
“Five coins, we don’t take.”
Cao Dongdong’s face darkened.
“Ah?”
“We take it, we take it.”
The youth turned to Cao Dongdong and Ma Xiaoyi, “Young Master, Brother Xiaoyi, this rough work should be left to your little brother. You two go inside for some tea and sit for a while.”
Thanks to these gambling houses, this lawsuit had become a matter of public attention.
Actually, there had been people running books on this case before. These gambling operators weren’t fools either – Zhang Fei was so good at attracting hatred that opening a book would definitely draw people in. But because the previous cases had involved Fan Chunren and Qian Yi, they didn’t dare openly run books and had to operate secretly.
But this time was different – this time it was all pen-in-caps and notaries.
So there were no qualms about it.
With participation came naturally rising attention.
Zhang Fei, however, was largely unaware of this. These past days he had been staying at home with Xu Zhiqian, Gao Wenyin, and Feng Nanxi, organizing evidence.
There was simply too much of it.
“It’s truly shocking!”
Xu Zhiqian set down another ledger, “Just from the accounts we’ve already reviewed, the tax evasion already exceeds ten thousand strings. If everyone paid their taxes, how could the government lack money? They wouldn’t need to force those common people to pay more taxes.”
Zhang Fei glanced at her, “You’re overthinking this. There are ways to live with little money, and ways to live with much money, but lacking money is the one eternal constant. Moreover, those lower-level officials are all starving. The taxes the common people should pay will still need to be paid – there won’t be much improvement.”
Xu Zhiqian said despondently, “When you put it that way, what’s the point of fighting this lawsuit?”
Zhang Fei smiled, “The point is to get this hungry wolf to first turn its attention to those fat, big pigs, instead of always staring at those skinny monkeys. What’s the point of gnawing bones when you could feast lavishly?”
Xu Zhiqian snorted softly, “What pigs? Those people are the real wolves. The government can only be considered a fierce tiger, but even a fierce tiger can’t withstand a pack of wolves, so they all choose to eat sheep.”
As she spoke, she pouted her little mouth in grievance.
Zhang Fei nodded with a smile, “Your analogy is indeed more apt. That’s exactly how it is.”
Xu Zhiqian said gloomily, “But there seems to be no way to solve this. Even the law can’t stop it.”
Zhang Fei said, “That’s not necessarily true.”
Xu Zhiqian asked, “How so?”
Zhang Fei answered with a question, “What if the sheep are all eaten up?”
Xu Zhiqian said, “Then they would have no choice but to kill each other.”
Zhang Fei said, “Therefore, the significance of the law lies in making them eat slowly and regularly, giving the sheep time to give birth and graze, rather than devouring everything at once, which would leave everyone finished.”
Xu Zhiqian rolled her eyes, “The way you put it, I don’t even want to be a lawyer anymore.”
Zhang Fei shrugged, “But this is life!”
“Forget it, let’s not talk about this anymore. The more we discuss it, the more frustrated I get.”
Xu Zhiqian shook her head and asked Zhang Fei, “What do you think Li Guozhong and his people will do in this lawsuit? Last time I crossed swords with that Li Lei, they’re no pushovers either—not easy to deal with.”
Zhang Fei thought for a moment and said, “I can’t say for certain. That depends on how those landlords operate. The only thing I can be sure of is that they’ll definitely hold onto the tenant farmers and not let go, trying to push all responsibility onto the tenant farmers, then use the tenant farmers to gain the government’s sympathy and thereby evade taxes.”
Xu Zhiqian nodded, “That’s exactly what makes this lawsuit so difficult to fight.”
Zhang Fei nodded, “That point is indeed very difficult, but only on the surface. As long as we approach it from different angles, we can turn these unfavorable factors into advantages for us.
We can even use this lawsuit to make the court pay attention to the survival of tenant farmers, thereby establishing laws to provide some support for tenant farmers. Current laws are completely biased toward landlords. If tenant farmers sue landlords, it’s almost impossible for them to win, unless the landlord actually kills the tenant farmer.”
Xu Zhiqian’s eyes lit up, “Can we actually achieve this?”
Zhang Fei said, “That depends on the other side’s performance. The better they perform, the more likely it becomes.”
At the Kaifeng Prefectural Office.
“Why did you come back empty-handed? Where are the account books from the Three Financial Bureaus?”
Lu Gongzhu looked at Li Kai, who had entered empty-handed, and his heart couldn’t help but skip a beat.
Li Kai glanced nervously at Lu Gongzhu and lowered his head slightly, “There was a bit of an accident at the Three Bureau Archives.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Gongzhu frowned, “What kind of accident?”
Li Kai said, “Haven’t there been heavy rainstorms these past few days?”
Lu Gongzhu looked completely puzzled, “Don’t tell me that the imperial city flooded, bypassed every other department, and happened to wash away just the Archives.”
“No, no,” Li Kai said awkwardly. “If floods were to hit, they’d strike our Kaifeng Prefectural Office first—we’re closer to the river.”
Lu Gongzhu said, “Then what does this have to do with the matter?”
Li Kai sighed, “The roof of the Three Bureau Archives has been in disrepair for years, and apparently many cats have been running around on the roof recently, causing rainwater to seep into the room where the account books are stored. Many of the records got soaked, and they’re still sorting through them now. They said it would take several more days before they could send them over.”
Lu Gongzhu was amused, “Cats that can actually trample through a roof—what a marvel! Are you sure they didn’t mistake pigs running around up there?”
Li Kai sighed helplessly, “That’s what the Three Bureau Archives said. There’s nothing I can do about it.”
Lu Gongzhu said, “Didn’t you go in to take a look?”
Li Kai said, “I did look. It really is quite serious—water everywhere inside. Apparently, after the Three Financial Bureaus learned that Wang Anshi had come to the Kaifeng Prefectural Office to file a complaint, they requested that the Three Military Divisions send people to strictly guard these account books to prevent any oversights. No one has been inside for the past few days, so it went unnoticed.”
The Three Military Divisions, the Three Financial Bureaus—they’re all getting involved now! Lu Gongzhu closed his eyes and sighed deeply, then asked, “Are the account books related to this case still there?”
Li Kai said, “They should all be there. I just found one or two volumes. Some pages have become rather blurred, but they’re still legible.”
“The court session is in just a few days.”
Lu Gongzhu sighed, “Go to the Three Bureau Archives again and tell them to take their time sorting through everything—no need to rush. Just have them send the books over on the day of the court session. I’m too tired to look at them anyway.”