Meanwhile, back at the county yamen, Zhao Baozhu was sprawled weakly across his bed.
The moment he returned to the yamen earlier, he had vomited violently. Fortunately, they had been busy with the execution all morning and he had not yet eaten breakfast. After retching up several mouthfuls of bitter stomach acid, he finally felt somewhat better. Now he lay limp on the bed, his little face pale.
Originally Ah Long had managed to hold himself together, but the instant he saw Zhao Baozhu vomiting, he also felt nauseated. Master and servant ended up retching together for quite some time before Zhao Baozhu finally collapsed completely. Ah Long endured the nausea and boiled some corn husks into water for him to drink. “Old Master, have some of this. It’ll help settle the taste.”
Zhao Baozhu lay there with his pale face and closed eyes, his mind filled entirely with the image of that severed head. Hearing him speak, he lifted his eyelids for a glance before slowly climbing upright from the couch. After drinking half a bowl of the corn-husk water, he said to the equally pale-faced Ah Long: “You drink the rest.”
Ah Long did not stand on ceremony and simply finished the remainder from the same bowl.
Neither of them had any energy, nor any appetite for breakfast. Zhao Baozhu lay on the bed while Ah Long sat on the floor with his head resting against the side of the couch, the two chatting intermittently.
“Old Master, this is the first time I’ve ever seen an execution,” Ah Long said softly.
“Same here,” Zhao Baozhu replied with his eyes closed.
After a moment of silence, Ah Long curled his lips into a grin and tilted his head up toward Zhao Baozhu. “Old Master, after this, you’re going to become famous.”
Zhao Baozhu kept his eyes shut and said nothing. Ah Long’s eyes gleamed as he continued excitedly: “Old master is definitely going to go down in history as an honest official! After this, people all across the city will come looking for you to judge their cases.”
Listening to him, Zhao Baozhu’s face also revealed a faint smile. He hummed twice in acknowledgment.
Ah Long stayed quiet for a while before suddenly thinking of something. “Old Master, do you really know someone in the capital? That letter you wrote was so thick.”
Hearing this, Zhao Baozhu’s brows twitched slightly. His eyes remained closed as he answered with a soft “Mm.”
“There was a great benefactor who once took me in for a period of time while I was traveling to the capital for the examinations.”
Ah Long suddenly understood. “That’s a tremendous benefactor!”
Zhao Baozhu smiled and nodded. “Indeed.”
Ah Long then asked another question: “Then was your little jade rabbit also a gift from that benefactor?”
Over the past several days, he had been tending to Zhao Baozhu’s daily needs and was very familiar with his personal belongings. He often saw Zhao Baozhu playing with a tiny white jade rabbit before bed, clearly treasuring it greatly. Ah Long still had a childlike temperament, and since the jade rabbit was adorable, he had gradually grown curious about it.
Hearing this, Zhao Baozhu slightly opened his eyes and glanced at him. “What are you asking that for?” Then he added, “You can’t have this one. If you want one, I’ll carve you a wooden rabbit another day.”
At those words, Ah Long’s eyes widened immediately and he hurriedly waved his hands. “How could I dare want Old Master’s belongings? I deserve a smack for even asking!”
As he spoke, he actually slapped himself twice across the mouth. “It’s my fault for talking too much!”
Zhao Baozhu quickly pushed himself upright and grabbed his hand. “What are you making such a fuss for? Got too much free time?”
After a pause, he jerked his chin toward outside. “If you’re so idle, then go fetch my letter for me. I want to read it.”
Only then did Ah Long lower his hand and grin again. “But Master still hasn’t answered me. Was the little rabbit really from that great benefactor in the capital?”
Zhao Baozhu only wanted to send him away. “Yes, yes, yes. Stop talking nonsense and hurry up with my letter!”
Ah Long chuckled and turned to leave.
He was an exceptionally clever youth and believed he understood the situation perfectly clearly.
That jade rabbit was exquisitely lifelike, obviously something that had required immense effort to carve. In the past few years, even the previous county magistrate, who spent all day doting on his concubines, had never personally made them hairpins or ornaments. And then there was that letter, before Zhao Baozhu himself had even arrived, the letter had already come ahead of him, and it was so very thick.
Having been thoroughly corrupted by romance storybooks, young Ah Long’s imagination immediately ran wild.
Perhaps, when that great benefactor took Old Master in years ago, there had been a young lady of marriageable age in the household. Seeing such a handsome and refined young man as their Old master, affection gradually blossomed between them over time. But alas, their statuses did not match. Old Master had resolved to become a good official first, establish a glorious career, and only then marry the benefactor’s daughter,
What a perfect tale of a talented scholar and beautiful maiden!
Filled with enthusiasm, Ah Long watched Zhao Baozhu carefully take the letter and begin reading it with utmost seriousness. In his mind, it was practically a real-life version of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl. The man and woman loved one another dearly, but the lofty barriers of aristocratic families stood between them!
Zhao Baozhu had no idea that Ah Long was internally constructing an entire romantic drama.
Over the past few days, one matter after another had occurred nonstop, and he had not even finished reading a single page of Ye Jinghua’s letter yet.
Holding the letter in his hands, he had barely read two lines when Tao Rui’s voice suddenly came from outside: “Young Lord Zhao! The You family’s tax silver has arrived!”
“What?!” Zhao Baozhu sprang upright from the bed in an instant, tossed the letter aside, and dashed out in several quick steps. “Bring it over! Let me see!”
Standing nearby, Ah Long stared in complete shock at Zhao Baozhu’s agility.
After a long moment, he slowly closed his mouth, resigned himself to fate, and went to carefully store the letter away again. Inwardly, he sighed for the delicate young lady in the capital’s inner chambers who yearned for her beloved.
The beauty’s feelings were sincere indeed, but unfortunately she had fallen for their cold-hearted master.
Zhao Baozhu rushed all the way to the entrance of the county yamen. Sure enough, Tao Zhang and Tao Rui stood there beside two carts filled with tax silver. Seeing Zhao Baozhu emerge, Tao Zhang stepped forward and handed him the tax register in his hands.
“The You family said all the taxes for this season are recorded in here.”
Zhao Baozhu accepted the account book and flipped through it front to back. As expected, the You family’s own tax payments were not listed inside.
This was already within his expectations. Zhao Baozhu was not overly angry about it. After all, before his arrival, the taxes for previous seasons had all been collected on the You family’s behalf. Who knew how much they had embezzled from it?
Closing the account book, Zhao Baozhu said to the Tao brothers: “Move all of this inside. I’m going to inspect everything personally.”
Hearing this, Tao Zhang and Tao Rui exchanged glances, both deeply shaken by the determination hidden within those words.
To ordinary commoners like them, taxes were the greatest burden of the entire year. Being squeezed layer upon layer by local gentry and officials had long become normal. In a good harvest year, a family might barely avoid starvation. In a bad year, countless families were destroyed because they could not pay taxes, becoming slaves or refugees.
And now Zhao Baozhu had actually declared that he would inspect the taxes personally.
The Tao brothers’ hands trembled slightly with excitement. They hardly dared believe the best possibility that had entered their minds.
They pushed the two carts of taxes into a room, dumping grain, silver, tea leaves, and various other goods onto the floor all at once.
Zhao Baozhu did not bother with formalities. He simply sat directly on the ground, placing the account records and provincial tax laws beside him while his pale, slender fingers flew rapidly across the abacus.
Inspecting an entire season’s worth of taxes was meticulous work. Fortunately, Zhao Baozhu had already thoroughly memorized the province’s tax regulations, and he was highly skilled at mathematics. Concentrating fully, he spent two solid hours checking every last item.
Finally, Zhao Baozhu exhaled deeply and blinked his somewhat dry eyes. Looking at the results of his calculations, he let out a cold snort.
The taxes delivered into his hands alone already exceeded Wuya County’s proper quota by thirty percent.
He truly wondered what exactly the You family had been submitting each season. Most likely they had simply pocketed the silver and used it to curry favor with the prefectural magistrate above them!
Exploiting the people’s hard-earned wealth, evading taxes, bribing officials above and below,
No wonder the You family was so socially adept and capable of running rampant throughout Wuya County.
Zhao Baozhu burned with fury.
Though he had long anticipated that there was something deeply suspicious hidden within the tax system, seeing the facts laid bare before his eyes still infuriated him immensely.
Closing his eyes briefly, he forced out a steadying breath and calmed himself before flipping through the records again. Then he asked in confusion: “Why is there so much raw silk?”
Aside from the usual silver, grain, tea leaves, and other goods, there were an additional three hundred fifty bolts of raw silk included among the taxes.
Zhao Baozhu frowned and checked several years’ worth of county records. He discovered that this silk tax had only begun around ten years ago, and had steadily increased year after year.
The earliest surviving record he found dated back eight years, when Wuya County had collected only eighty bolts of raw silk. In merely eight years, the raw silk tax had increased nearly fivefold.
Zhao Baozhu’s brows knitted tightly together as he looked up at Tao Zhang and Tao Rui. “If I remember correctly, our county doesn’t produce much silk, does it?”
At these words, the brothers’ expressions became somewhat complicated, their silence carrying traces of resentment.
Seeing this, Zhao Baozhu’s heart suddenly sank. “What exactly happened?” he asked quietly.
The brothers exchanged glances again. In the end, Tao Zhang spoke first in a low voice.
“Our area really doesn’t produce much silk. We don’t know all the details ourselves either, this is just what the old folks in the county say. They say that decades ago there was originally a family surnamed Sang in our county who specialized in raising native silkworms and producing raw silk. Their family endured a great deal of hardship, reclaiming the wasteland on South Mountain to plant mulberry trees. They built an estate beside it and made a living from silk production.”
“But about ten years ago, the You family took a fancy to their business. Through deception and intimidation, they drove the Sang family away and seized the mulberry groves on South Mountain.”
“Afterward… afterward they gradually seized the surrounding farmland as well, using all of it to build silk-producing estates. Later, for some reason, the government suddenly began collecting raw silk as tax. At first, each household only had to provide half a bolt or one bolt. But every year they demanded more and more.”
“How could common families like ours possibly produce silk? We had no choice but to buy it from the You family using silver or grain, ”
As Zhao Baozhu listened, his catlike eyes widened larger and larger. His pupils contracted tightly, his chest rising and falling as his breathing quickened.
Seeing his expression, Tao Zhang feared Zhao Baozhu might become so angry he would faint, and his voice unconsciously grew quieter and quieter.
Zhao Baozhu listened silently to the entire explanation. Then suddenly he lowered his head, pulled out the provincial tax regulations, and rapidly scanned through them line by line.
Sure enough, he found the trick hidden inside!
In the twenty-fourth year of the Yuanzhi era, because silk textiles had become fashionable throughout the empire, the emperor adjusted the tax laws. Grain taxes were reduced in various regions, while every prefecture and county in the south that raised silkworms and produced silk was assigned a raw silk tax quota.
The total raw silk tax quota for Qingzhou and Manzhou together amounted to only five hundred bolts. Qingzhou itself governed eight counties, yet nearly eighty percent of that silk tax was supplied by Wuya County alone!
When the new tax law was first implemented, the eight counties under Qingzhou had still shared the silk tax burden fairly evenly. But in recent years, the other counties had contributed less and less, while Wuya County’s contribution had increased more and more.
There was no need to say it outright, this had to be the result of collusion between the Qingzhou prefect and the You family!!
The hand with which Zhao Baozhu gripped the legal statute trembled slightly from agitation. His eyes were red, yet his mind spun rapidly.
Within Wuya County, only the You family produced silk. If the raw silk tax increased, then the common people could only buy silk from them. Not only would the You family never worry about sales, but they would also earn even more silver. And the extra grain, tea leaves, and other goods collected in taxes could simply be resold through their grain and oil shops!
If things continued like this, how could ordinary families possibly have any surplus food left?
Whenever people needed food, drink, cloth, or new clothes, who could escape the You family’s grasp?!
What a ruthless strategy.
What a merchant clan the You family was!
These were not merchants at all, they were tyrants of commerce!!
Zhao Baozhu’s thoughts raced furiously, but to outsiders he merely sat there holding the tax law document in silence, not uttering a single word for a long while.
The Tao brothers exchanged glances with Ah Long, all somewhat unable to read Zhao Baozhu’s thoughts.
After a moment, Ah Long hesitantly stepped forward and gently placed one hand on Zhao Baozhu’s shoulder. “Old Master…”
But the moment he moved, Zhao Baozhu suddenly exploded upright from his seat. He seized the magistrate’s wooden striking block from atop the desk and slammed it violently onto the table below with a thunderous crash!
“You dogs of the You clan! If I do not kill you, I swear I am no man!”
Ah Long was so startled by Zhao Baozhu’s roar that he fell flat onto his backside.
Tao Zhang and Tao Rui also jumped in fright. Once they recovered, cold sweat instantly broke out across their foreheads, and they hurried to shut the doors.
If those words spread outside, they would not have enough heads to lose!
The brothers tightly shut the main hall doors and slid the crossbar into place before finally sighing in relief. Turning back around, they saw Ah Long kneeling on the floor in the courtroom, desperately hugging Zhao Baozhu around the waist.
“Old Master! master! You can’t smash this one! This is the brand-new table we bought for five taels of silver!”
Zhao Baozhu’s face was flushed red. Both hands gripped the edge of the magistrate’s desk as though he intended to flip the entire thing over the next instant.
Seeing this, Tao Zhang and Tao Rui hurried over to hold him back. Together with Ah Long, the three of them talked over one another trying to calm him down. After much effort, they finally coaxed Zhao Baozhu into loosening his grip and sitting back down.
The brothers went to brew calming tea, while Ah Long stood behind Zhao Baozhu patting his chest soothingly. At the same time, he glanced thankfully at the heavy cedarwood desk, solid as a mountain.
Luckily, when he had purchased it, he had been thoughtful enough to choose the heaviest one available.
Zhao Baozhu was so furious that the veins at his temples throbbed. His eyes were shut tight as his chest rose and fell.
By now Ah Long had figured out Zhao Baozhu’s temperament well enough. He knew that although Zhao Baozhu acted tough toward outsiders, inwardly he was soft-hearted to the core. No longer afraid of him, Ah Long complained softly: “Oh, my dear Old master, just look around this room, how many things are there that you haven’t smashed already?”
He continued: “How about this, I’ll go fetch a pillow from inside for you. From now on, whenever you’re angry, just beat that instead?”
After calming himself for a while, Zhao Baozhu finally regained some composure. He glared at Ah Long and snorted heavily. “I want to pinch your face to vent my anger. Will you let me?”
Ah Long immediately acted shameless, thrusting his dark reddish face toward him. “That’d be even better! Old Master can pinch me all he likes!”
Seeing his utterly shameless behavior, Zhao Baozhu was so exasperated he laughed. Sitting upright, he shoved Ah Long’s face away and spat: “Shameless rascal!”
Ah Long only grinned and pulled faces at him.
At that moment, Tao Zhang and Tao Rui returned with the tea. Zhao Baozhu took it and drank a few mouthfuls. His reddened catlike eyes blinked once, his gaze shifted thoughtfully, and in that instant a plan had already formed in his mind. “Tao Zhang, Tao Rui.”
Zhao Baozhu suddenly looked radiant with energy. A sly glint flashed between his brows as he curled his lips toward the two brothers standing nearby.
“There’s something I need the two of you to help me with.”
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