Chapter 234 Traitors in Chaotic Times (10) How to Become a Super Strategist...
Upon arriving at the county government office, Chief Constable Wang signaled to the short constable to throw the boy into the cell, while he led Song Ce into the inner hall.
Song Ce followed Constable Wang through the front courtyard without making a sound. He saw that although the county government hall was not exactly simple, it exuded a desolate atmosphere, obviously because it had not been properly maintained for a long time.
"The lord is on official business. Please wait here for a moment!" Chief Constable Wang led him to a side room, said this with a forced smile, and then turned and left.
Song Ce surveyed the room, getting a general idea of the situation. He walked to the window and opened it, just in time to see several yamen runners gathered in the pavilion in the backyard, fighting crickets and occasionally letting out vulgar laughter and curses. It seemed that the administration of Shiguan County was even more corrupt than he had imagined.
About half an hour later, a series of slow footsteps finally came from outside the door.
Song Ce turned around and saw a middle-aged man in a blue official robe walk in, waving a folding fan. He was pale, unsteady on his feet, and had dark circles under his eyes, looking as if he had been drained by wine and women.
Magistrate Fang Dahong snapped his folding fan shut, sat down in the main seat with an air of superiority, casually glanced at Song Ce, and said disdainfully, "Who are you?"
Song Ce smiled faintly and replied, "Just a scholar."
Fang Dahong scoffed, "Since you're a scholar, do you have a name?"
"My name is Song Ce."
Fang Dahong glared at him hatefully and sneered, "Song Ce? You're the troublemaker who dared to defy the officials in the streets of my Shiguan County and incite a crowd to cause trouble?"
"That's not the case." Song Ce said calmly, "I only stepped forward to speak with your county's yamen runners because I couldn't stand seeing the weak being bullied. How could that be considered resisting the officials? As for gathering a crowd to cause trouble, that's utter nonsense. If arguing rationally is considered causing trouble, then wouldn't there be disturbances in the courts of Dali every day? The onlookers were just watching the show; they didn't make a fuss or cause any trouble. How could they be considered the crowd you're talking about?"
"You're certainly quick-witted!"
Fang Dahong scoffed and slammed his hand on the table. "In this county's territory, if I say you're causing trouble, then you're causing trouble! What nonsense are you spouting?" As he spoke, he leaned forward, his waistline swaying. "Let me ask you, that young man stole grain from the philanthropist Master Li, caught red-handed. Why did you obstruct him? Tell me honestly, what is your relationship with that grain thief? Why did you dare to publicly protect him?"
Song Ce smiled and countered, "That boy was merely picking up some wheat ears from the field and had already paid the dues according to the rules; he didn't steal. May I ask, sir, where is the 'stolen goods'? Shouldn't the common people speak out and seek justice in public when they encounter trouble? Or are they only considered law-abiding if they swallow their anger? As the head of a county, to be so perfunctory and careless when faced with injustices suffered by the people under your jurisdiction, sir, you are truly unworthy of being a public official!"
"How dare you!" Fang Dahong roared, his beard bristling and eyes wide with rage. "You, a poor scholar with no official rank, dare to speak so eloquently and presumptuously in front of this county magistrate? You're tired of living! Guards!"
"Yes, sir!" Constable Wang smiled inwardly and immediately stepped forward.
"Drag this troublemaker out and give him twenty heavy lashes! After that, lock him in a cell and let him reflect on his actions!" Fang Dahong angrily pointed at Song Ce and shouted.
"Yes, sir!"
Just as the constables stepped forward to arrest Song Ce, he suddenly said loudly, "Sir, are you planning to torture me?"
"Hmph, you're scared?"
Song Ce stood firm, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the crowd, showing no fear whatsoever: "May I ask, sir, what crime have I committed?"
Seeing this, the county magistrate behind Fang Dahong sneered, "That boy committed theft, and you spoke up to protect him, so you are obviously an accomplice in sharing the spoils! Furthermore, you offended the magistrate's authority in court and disrupted the proceedings. The magistrate only gave you twenty strokes of the cane, which is already a lenient punishment!"
"Yes! Yes! Magistrate Zhu is absolutely right!"
Just as Fang Dahong was about to order the constables to take action, the clerk, who had been standing silently in the corner, stepped forward and whispered in his ear, "Sir, this is not a good idea! This scholar doesn't seem like an ordinary person. He dares to be so defiant; he must have powerful backers. I'm worried that if this matter escalates... it might cause trouble! How about we lock him up in jail first and then make further plans later?"
Fang Dahong was taken aback, then glared fiercely at Song Ce, though he also tempered his temper somewhat. His advisor had served him since childhood, was a shrewd and calculating man, and would never speak without reason. Since he said the execution was inappropriate, then it would be postponed for a few days.
Thinking of this, Fang Dahong slammed his fist on the table. "Guards! Take this scoundrel away. I will definitely interrogate him thoroughly in the main hall on another day!"
Constable Wang's heart skipped a beat; he clearly hadn't expected the young man to escape unscathed at this critical juncture. He swallowed hard and respectfully asked, "Sir, where do you think it would be appropriate to detain this man?"
Fang Dahong tapped the table and snorted, "Since he's an accomplice of the grain thief, then lock them both up together! Take them away!"
"Yes, sir!"
Seeing Song Ce emerge unharmed from the side room, Steward Li, who had followed them all the way, turned pale. He tried several times to step forward and say something, but was stopped by Constable Wang's eyes.
Fifteen minutes later, the wooden door of the cell creaked open, and a strong musty smell mixed with a faint stench of urine wafted out. Head Constable Wang covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve in disgust, and before leaving, he gestured to the constable to lock Song Ce up inside, and to teach him a lesson.
Having received his instructions, the constable initially intended to roughly shove Song Ce, but for some reason, he subconsciously recalled the whispered conversation between the clerk and the magistrate, and the fleeting apprehension in their eyes. After some thought, he decided to be more polite to this man.
"You better behave and go in by yourself!"
Song Ce smiled slightly and stepped into the cell on his own. The constable, seeing this, did not linger and quickly left after locking the cell.
At this moment, the boy was huddled in the corner. Hearing the noise, he looked up, and when he saw that it was Song Ce who had been locked up, the boy hurriedly got up and said in a trembling voice, "Young master, you... how did you get locked up here too? It's all my fault! If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have..."
Song Ce waved his hand to interrupt him, glanced around the cell, then walked to the haystack and sat down, patting the spot next to him. "Come sit down. I don't blame you, and you don't need to feel so guilty."
The boy looked at the closed cell door, then at the smiling Song Ce, and finally hesitated before walking over and awkwardly sitting down next to him.
After a long while, the boy finally spoke in a low voice, "Young master, it's all my fault. If I hadn't gone to pick up those ears of wheat, you wouldn't have been implicated and thrown in jail. I... I'm so sorry."
Song Ce shook his head and asked him gently, "It's alright, what's your name?"
The boy paused for a moment, then replied softly, "My name is Hu Zi, and I live in Da Liu Shu Village outside the city."
"Tiger, that's a sturdy and auspicious name." Song Ce smiled and asked softly, "Who else is in your family?"
Tiger lowered his head, his fingers unconsciously clutching his tattered clothes. "Now I'm all alone. My father and mother... they both died of an epidemic the year before last."
Song Ce was silent for a moment, then asked, "What about the legacy money?"
Tiger paused, his eyes reddening, and said, “According to the county’s rules, if we want to scavenge the leftovers of landlords and philanthropists, we have to pay them some money as payment for borrowing the land. A few days ago, I went up the mountain to collect some herbs and sold them for a few copper coins, which I have already sent to Master Li’s house! But… but I had only collected half a basket when the steward and his men grabbed me and accused me of stealing grain. I tried my best to explain, but they wouldn’t listen and started chasing after me and beating me. If it weren’t for you stopping me, young master, I’m afraid they would have beaten me to death.”
Song Ce patted Hu Zi's head, lowered his eyes and asked him, "Did Master Li's family also collect the leftover grain tax in the same way every year?"
Tiger sniffed and said in a muffled voice, "In previous years? In previous years it was better. As long as you paid the money, you could pick up trash in the fields all day. But ever since the new magistrate took office last year, those landlords have been treating us even worse."
Will this legacy money be handed over to the county government?
"No, no way." Tiger shook his head, looking at him with a "how could you think that?" expression. "They all kept for the men's own families. Besides the inheritance money, there was also lake silver, firewood silver, firewood silver, and mountain silver. As for the others... I don't know much about them."
Song Ce sighed softly. The waters of Shiguan County seemed to run deep! Officials and gentry colluded to exploit the people, even turning something as trivial as gleaning into an excuse for them to make money. He straightened up against the wall, about to ask something more, when suddenly the sound of chains dragging on the ground came from outside, accompanied by the rude shouts of the yamen runners.
"Behave yourself! If you dare to move again, I'll break your legs!"
A moment later, a heavy thud came from the next cell, followed by a suppressed cough that sounded like that of an elderly man.
Tiger shrank back into the corner in fright. Seeing this, Song Ce patted him on the back and comforted him, "Don't be afraid, they'll be gone soon."
Sure enough, not long after, the constables said a few harsh words and then left the cell with their arms around each other's shoulders.
Tiger was about to stand up, leaning against the wall, when he heard another violent coughing fit coming from the cell next door. It took a long time for the cough to subside.
"Grandpa, are you...are you alright?" Tiger asked worriedly through the bars of the cell.
From the dim darkness came the old man's hoarse voice, "Child, I'm fine... it's just an old ailment. You don't sound very old, so how did you end up locked up in this filthy place?"
Tiger and Song Ce exchanged a glance, then Tiger briefly explained his situation and asked, "Grandpa, why were you brought in?"
The old man sighed upon hearing this. "What else could it be? My family has no money to pay the land rent. This summer, there was a huge flood, and all the crops in the fields were destroyed. But the government's taxes and tributes cannot be reduced by a single cent. The magistrate sent someone to urge us, and when he saw that I really couldn't produce any grain, he locked me up and arrested me. He said that my son should raise the money and grain, and we can come to the yamen to redeem me when we have raised enough."
Song Ce paused, then said coldly, "The laws of the Great Li Dynasty clearly stipulate that if the people suffer from natural disasters, all taxes and tributes shall be waived. As a local official, he dared to arbitrarily increase taxes; this is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of his family!"
"A crime?" The old man gave a bitter smile and said helplessly, "Young man, in this Shiguan County, the magistrate is like heaven. Who dares to convict him? His word is law! At the end of the year, Manager Sun from the west of the city went to the court to demand an explanation, and the next day he was accused of theft, given thirty lashes, and exiled to another place. His wife and children at home have disappeared without a trace!"
Song Ce stared at the hunched figure in the next cell, his mind racing through the information he already had.
From the various exorbitant taxes levied under different pretexts to the undiminished taxes levied despite natural disasters, the officialdom of Shiguan County is truly rotten to the core. Fang Dahong's audacity suggests he must be colluding with higher authorities.
Night deepened.
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Author's note: I really couldn't squeeze in any time during lunch break, so I could only write after get off work [crying emoji], hence the slight overlap. I'll fix it soon (sighing emoji).
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