serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 10 An Expensive Lesson

Guangling Station, the west courtyard was full of people, almost everyone in the station came, wanting to see what Jia Hu, the tiger who had crossed the mountain, wanted to do!
All the people opened their eyes wide and looked into the courtyard together.

Jia Hu has already changed into his official uniform.

Yi Cheng stood there blankly.

The three candidates who had been making a lot of noise just now quieted down and lowered their heads.

Jia Hu: "Where are you? You come here to eat and drink, and you even call a prostitute. What do you want?"

No one answered.

Jia Hu went on to say: "Don't talk? It's fine if you don't talk, and settle the account."

Yicheng looked at Jia Hu, then at the three candidates, and gritted his teeth: "There are 27 taels, three cents and five cents in total, and the five cents will be waived."

The three still didn't speak.

Yang Dayong couldn't bear it anymore, and said loudly: "Why? Don't talk about the king's law! Have you lost the rules? The sage is teaching you how to eat the country and the people?!"

The faces of the three of them suddenly turned pale, and they stayed there for a long time without saying a word.

Yicheng spoke: "Three masters?"

In one fell swoop, he took out a piece of silver from his body and put it on the dining table.

Another lifter untied the purse from his waist and put it on the dining table.

Yicheng grabbed the silver on the table and weighed it on the scale, smiling all over his face: "It's 11 taels in total." Then he turned his gaze to the last candidate, "This lord"

The man's face sank, he pulled the purse from his waist and threw it on the dining table.

Yi Cheng poured the silver into the weighing pan: "It's still short of six or two or four."

All three were stunned.

Jia Hu waved his hand: "Okay, Mr. Wang will pay for the sixty-two-four, so you can't let him eat for free!"

Yang Dayong and the officers all laughed.

Jia Hu slowly glanced at the old bustard and several singing girls, and then continued: "The "Law of the Great Zhou" contains: Scholars and people who enter and exit brothels will be stopped from scientific examinations for one session, whores can get thirty court rods, and get rid of their fame. Come on, take off their Confucian scarves, strip off their robes, pull down and strike thirty court sticks!"

Hearing the sound, Yang Dayong waved his hand and led six officers to rush forward.

The three shouted:

"You can't treat a gentleman like that!"

"We are Juren, under the control of the Xuezheng Yamen."

"Exactly, why did you change our reputation?"

Jia Hu waved his hand disdainfully: "Pull it down!"

"Let's go!" Yang Dayong grabbed a man by the collar and dragged him out.

Yangzhou City has been a prosperous resort since ancient times, and it is the only place for water transportation from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The rise of the salt industry has brought Yangzhou's prosperity to its peak, making it the richest country in the world.

The streets in the city are very wide, and five carriages can be lined up side by side. The streets are full of people, bustling and lively.On both sides of the street, brothels, restaurants, and inns are densely covered, and horse-drawn carriages are parked in front of the door, people come in and out, and there is a constant flow of traffic.

The Salt Merchants General Chamber of Commerce is located in the bustling place of Yangzhou New City. The street in front of the gate is full of all kinds of stalls, hawkers and bargainers, all speaking Wu Nong's soft language, twittering, very lively.

With a click, the door of the Chamber of Commerce slowly opened, and several salt merchants came out surrounded by Mr. Wang.

A salt merchant said: "Mr. Wang, I'm thinking that Master Futai's words seem to have some deep meaning. Could it be that the new governor of Liangjiang has something to do with the Jia family?"

Mr. Wang stopped subconsciously, and the others also stopped.

"Say, let's go on." Mr. Wang walked around again.

"Look, counting October, Jiangnan Camp has sent troops to encircle and suppress private salt for the third time. Why?"

"That's right, Lin Ruhai doesn't have that much energy yet."

"We donate 50 million taels to Liangjiang governor's yamen every year."

General Manager Wang nodded.

Mr. Xiao, who had been silent all this time, spoke at this moment: "Find a way to drive him away. There can't be such selfish people on the ground of Liangjiang."

Mr. Wang: "The governor of Liangjiang was appointed by the emperor himself."

Mr. Xiao was taken aback.

General Manager Wang sighed: "The thing I was worried about will finally happen. The family business accumulated by generations of salt merchants will be destroyed if it is not handled properly."

Suddenly, there was a sound of exclamation in the distance, and a team of horses rushed towards us like lightning, and several burly men held their whips to open the way.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"

The common people and small traders ran to both sides in fright. If they were a little slower, they were hit by the whip.

Wang Zongshang frowned: "Who are these people? They are actually riding horses and hurting people in the city, is it plausible?"

The horse team is approaching, Mr. Xiao said: "It's the eldest son."

All the salt merchants were also shocked, and they all looked at Mr. Wang blankly.

Mr. Wang was silent.

Amidst a burst of noise, Mr. Wang came galloping along with all the servants and thugs.

After galloping outside the General Chamber of Commerce, the horse team stopped.

Mr. Wang got off his horse with his servant, and said to Mr. Wang, "Father, what do you think of this horse?"

This big white horse is so beautiful. It has thick legs and is very well-proportioned. The white hair all over its body is neat and shiny. Its ears are erect and it listens to the movement around it at any time. Its two big eyes always look around. While patrolling, Mr. Wang's expression changed, he walked a few steps, and looked at Mr. Wang: "Army horse?"

Mr. Wang was stunned, and then pretended not to care: "It's just a few army horses, a few down-and-out frontier soldiers."

Wang Zongshang: "What a big tone! Desperate frontier army? Do you know how many generals from each province's general military mansion have come out of the side army?" At this point, his two cold eyes slowly looked at Mr. Wang's face Scanning upwards, "I told you a long time ago, don't provoke people in the military, especially the frontier soldiers, why didn't you listen?"

Mr. Wang became a little timid now, and slowly lowered his head.

Mr. Xiao asked several servants, his expression became serious, and he whispered something in Mr. Wang's ear.

Wang Zongshang's expression changed: "Huh? Shanhaiguan?"

At this time, the sound of rattling horseshoes and squeaking wheels came from a distance, and all the salt merchants stretched their necks and looked closely.

"It's them!" A servant shouted.

Mr. Wang was stunned for a moment, then lowered his voice: "It's them?"

Mr. Wang nodded.

Xiao Zongshang and a police officer: "The visitor is not kind!"

Yang Dayong took the lead, leading ten officers in front, and Yicheng followed behind in a carriage.

Walking in front of the chamber of commerce, Yang Dayong reined in the reins, and the entire group stopped.

Yi Cheng drove the carriage to a stop in front of Wang Zongshang and others, inserted the whip, jumped out of the car, went up to greet Wang Zongshang, and said to Mr. Wang: "My lord, there is still six months left. Two or four dollars, please pay the bill." Handed the bill to Mr. Wang.

Mr. Wang stared: "Are you fucking poor and crazy?!"

Mr. Wang looked at Yang Dayong and the others, then at the three rolled up mats on the carriage, and said to Mr. Wang, "Pay the bill."

Mr. Wang gritted his teeth: "Yes." To the boy: "Give me the money!"

The boy took out a ten tael silver ingot and threw it away: "You are rewarded!"

Yi Cheng hurriedly took the silver ingot, with an apologetic smile on his face: "Thank you, Mr. Wang! Thank you, Eldest Young Master!"

General Manager Wang bowed his hands to Yang Dayong: "This one."

Yang Dayong sat on the horse: "There is no need to be afraid. I am not here to ask for debts, but to inform Mr. Wang that the white horse is a birthday gift for the governor of Liangjiang. Therefore, Mr. Wang has to figure out how to deal with him. Lord Governor explained."

The expressions of Wang Zongshang and Xiao Zongshang changed drastically.

All the salt merchants were shocked.

Mr. Wang was startled: "You, you, you tricked me!"

Yang Dayong said contemptuously: "You are not worthy!" Turning his head to Wang Zongshang, he said: "The "Great Zhou Law" contains: scholars, prostitutes who raise people can stick thirty court sticks, and get rid of fame. These three people can't stand the court. Staff, the body has been sent back to you. Farewell." Ignoring Wang Zongshang and others, he flicked his horsewhip and walked out of the city.

Mr. Xiao and the salt merchants exchanged anxious glances, and they all looked at Mr. Wang.

Mr. Wang stepped forward, grabbed the thug's whip, and whipped Mr. Wang wildly: "I will let you buy a military horse by force! I will let you go whoring!"

Mr. Xiao walked forward and shouted: "Don't you take your eldest son away?!"

All the servants looked at Mr. Wang hesitantly.

Mr. Xiao stepped forward to grab Mr. Wang's arm, and shouted: "Young master is still a child, he just wanted to relieve your worries, just hit him twice." .

The boys supported Mr. Wang and walked away.

General Merchant Wang sighed, "He's trying to bring disaster to the salt merchants!" He said to the butler beside him, "Hurry up! Prepare 10 taels, and I'll rush to Jiangning Liangjiang governor's yamen right now."

Turning around, he said to Mr. Xiao: "You arrange the funerals of these three people first, and I'll talk about the rest when I come back."

(End of this chapter)