cite Han

Chapter 98 Usury

Ma Zhou and Cai Sheng were so drunk that they could be described as "both losers" and neither one took advantage. Liu Jingliu slept soundly in a drunk town and left with Liu Zhu and Liu Liang.

"Ziming, you can drink quite well." Liu Jing realized that he underestimated his neighbor's younger brother. Although Liu Liang was only 15 years old, he didn't feel drunk even after drinking more than ten glasses of wine.You must know that what he drank was not bland Chinese wine, but a spirit developed by Liu Jing's later methods.

Liu Zhu nodded in agreement and said, "Zi Ming is indeed a big drinker, and the subordinates have grown up drinking with the elder brother since he was a child, and he dares not drink like him."

Liu Liang said with high spirits: "The wine of drunken hometown is really strong. It's not like the wine at a family banquet. You can't get drunk from the beginning to the end."

Liu Jing shook his head with a smile, before stepping out of the Zuixiangju gate, he saw the Changleju gate not far away, and several people holding wooden sticks and bamboo sticks were attacking one person violently.As the surrounding people continued to come forward to watch, his vision was soon blocked.

Liu Jing's heart was agitated, he rarely took a rest today, but he actually encountered this rubbish thing, and immediately walked over with an unhappy face.

Liu Zhu and Liu Dian glanced at each other and followed closely.

Liu Jing was dressed in his regular clothes today, and the people's attention was on the beating and the being beaten, but no one found him along the way.

Liu Jing squeezed into the crowd and found a middle-aged man with a mustache wearing a blue robe standing on the field with his hands behind him. The green scarf thugs with wooden sticks and bamboo sticks continued to slam the opponent.

How could Liu Jing end up in person in this scene, Liu Zhu drew his sword out of the sheath, stepped forward and shouted, "Stop!"

The middle-aged mustache glanced at Liu Zhu and saw that he was a young man of eighteen or nineteen years old. He couldn't help showing a contemptuous smile on his face, and said, "Where did Shuzi come from, how dare you give me orders? You don't want to live anymore?"

At the entrance of Changleju, a few teenagers who were lying beside Hu squatting and watching the excitement saw Liu Zhu, jumped up one after another, and came to greet Liu Zhu.

Liu Zhu and his former partner nodded one by one, and then sneered at the middle-aged mustache: "I don't want to live anymore? I think you are dying without knowing it. I am Liu Zhu, the mayor," and then to the man behind him. Liu Jing bowed and said, "This is the supervisor of the city and Liu Jun..."

Liu Jing's prestige in the market is so high that no one can match him, and the onlookers couldn't help but exclaimed:

"Liu Jun..."

"Liu Jun..."

"Liu Jun..."

Thousands of people bowed their heads in unison, only facing Liu Jing.

The six Qingjin thugs were stunned, and without waiting for the master's order, they threw away the wooden sticks and bamboo sticks in their hands, and honestly knelt down to plead guilty.

What kind of character is Ou Xiong?At the beginning, he brought dozens of customers to the market, and flogged the city officials in public. The city was shocked. What was the result?He almost died in the market. It is said that he is now guarding the Yangtze River in Baqiu, and he will never be able to return to Linxiang for the rest of his life.From this we can see Liu Jing's terror.

The owner might be able to save a life, and for such a small person, Liu Jing didn't mean to run over to death.

The middle-aged Bazihu ​​swallowed his saliva, came to Liu Jing tremblingly, and said: "The villain is blind, and he didn't see Liu Jun. He deserves death, he deserves death..."

Liu Jing stared straight at the middle-aged mustache without saying a word.Although the other party faced him with a look of fear, he did not reach the point of panic. It seemed that there was a backer behind him.

"The villain is confused and hasn't introduced himself yet. The villain's name is Pan Qin, and he makes money and rice for his business. The thief won't pay back the money he owes, so the villain has no choice but to beat him up."

"It turned out to be loan sharks." Liu Jing heard a headache after hearing that, loan sharks can be said to have a long history in history, as early as the "Underground Palace" in "Zhou Li", it was recorded: "The Quanfu is in charge of the market to collect cloth, and the market is not sold. , and those whose loans are stranded on civilians can buy them with their money.”

"Where credit is granted, there will be no more than ten days for sacrifices, and no more than three months for funerals; for loans from the people, they will be granted instead of having a lawyer, and the national uniform will be the interest."

Entering the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, usury became more and more prosperous. According to the "Historical Records", Lord Mengchang, one of the "Four Young Masters of the Warring States Period", once lent money to farmers in Xueyi, and he could "get [-] yuan in interest" at a time.

The most famous usury in the Han Dynasty was undoubtedly the Wuyan clan during the reign of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty. According to the Records of the Grand Historian, the famous "Seven Kingdoms Rebellion" broke out at that time. The imperial court lacked military funds and borrowed money from the "Ziqian family" in Chang'an, that is, the usury. Rebellion, the masters of the Qian family thought the current situation was too chaotic, and they all said that they had no money. Just when Emperor Jing of Han was at a loss, the Wuyan clan agreed to lend Emperor Jing of the Han a thousand pieces of gold, but there was one condition—return it tenfold.

Emperor Jing of Han gritted his teeth and agreed to his request. After the court had the money, it took only three months under the command of Zhou Yafu to quell the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, and the Wuyan family successfully received ten times the interest, which can be said to be a lot of money. Full, became the richest man in Guanzhong.

But in the Eastern Han Dynasty, loan sharking was no longer limited to "Zi Qian's family", "Dong Guan Han Ji" and "Huan Tan Biography" recorded: "Today, the wealthy businessman, the big businessman, lends more money and loans, and the son of the middle family protects him. Tend to go with the servants and other diligent, collect taxes and seal the emperor." Even the sons of the middle family were like this, and the people of the lower classes were even more unable to escape, so they could only "sell the fields and houses to repay the loans".

Liu Jing hated usury in his heart, it was definitely a major harm to the people, but it was a pity that in modern society, usury is still as difficult to eradicate as a gangrene.

There are three evils in the city, and there are also three evils among the people: loan sharks, tycoons, and petty officials. They are much more powerful than the three evils in the city. Each is an expert in destroying families. What is even more terrifying is that these three can basically be regarded as one. ...

At this time, Liu Zhu had learned the whole story from his former partner, and whispered: "Liu Jun, this person's younger sister became the wife of Zhang Tingjun, the commander of Linxiang last year."

Liu Jing suddenly realized that he felt that Pan Qin was not very afraid of him before, and seemed to rely on him. It turned out that his sister was Zhang Yi's wife.The little wife is not a wife, but a concubine.

Liu Zhu added: "The name of the person who was beaten was Wang Qiang. His family was a merchant's family. He had run Jiaozhou from generation to generation. His father died two years ago. Since the opening of Changle Residence, he has lost hundreds of thousands of money before and after, his family property has been completely defeated, and now he is borrowing money from Zijia..."

When Liu Jing heard this, he instructed Liu Zhu and Liu Liang, "Wenxiu, Ziming, go and bring Wang Qiang here."

"promise."

Liu Zhu and Liu Liang helped Wang Qiang, who was beaten to death, in front of Liu Jing.

Wang Qiang is of medium stature, dark complexion, and has a long face that is not surprising. If it weren't for Liu Zhu and Liu Liang to support him, he would have been difficult to stand, so he reluctantly clasped his fists and said, "Thank you for your life-saving grace, Jun Liu, if it wasn't for him. Liu Jun, the villain is afraid of his life."

Liu Jing laughed when he heard the words, and said to himself, "This person is a bit smart."

(End of this chapter)