In fact, relatively speaking, there were relatively few corrupt officials in the Northern Song Dynasty, which was mainly due to the good welfare benefits.
Secondly, it is crucial not to suppress land annexation, because high-ranking officials have many privileges. They can legally purchase a lot of land without having to pay taxes, and it is difficult for ordinary landlords to outwit them.
Finally, business prospered and officials with business acumen became wealthy.
Therefore, to determine whether an official of the Northern Song Dynasty was rich or not, it was not the size of his official position that mattered, but rather his business acumen and his desire for wealth.
For example, prime ministers such as Sima Guang, Wang Anshi, Fu Bi, Wen Yanbo, and Zhao Yan did not have much money in their families. It was not that they did not know how to make money, but that they were not interested in these things.
They were unwilling to take advantage of even the benefits given to them for free by the imperial court.
However, Gu Ji, who is the judge of Taifu Temple, is really wealthy, but his official position is not very high. Moreover, Taifu Temple is currently in charge of some sacrificial supplies, and it is not a super lucrative department.
But Gu Ji's family is very rich.
Because his family was originally an official family, and they were engaged in many businesses, such as silk, wine, sugar, grain and so on.
These people are the most opposed to reform because they have already played the current system to their heart's content and their interests all derive from it, so of course they are unwilling to make changes.
...
...
At noon that day, a luxurious carriage slowly stopped in front of the gate of Gu Mansion.
The old man of the house immediately came out with two servants and four maids, and carefully helped Gu Ji get off the carriage.
Once you enter the hall, you will find tea, candied fruits and everything in between.
Gu Ji took a sip of tea and suddenly seemed to remember something, "Oh, right! Have we got the license plate?"
The old man replied, "At present, the police station has not relaxed the quota. Besides, the young master asked for a fancy license plate, so I didn't ask."
Gu Ji was stunned for a moment, "What kind of license plate number is that?"
The old man replied, "For example, consecutive numbers, such as one, two, three, and four, or the same number, such as four threes and four twos. Moreover, the engraving and lacquering of these beautiful numbers are different from those of ordinary license plates. I also think that the master's status is noble, so he can't be treated the same as ordinary people."
Gu Ji nodded slightly. "That's true, but they are still unwilling to relax the quota. Not only did they not give us any privileges, but they also let those merchants go before us. They really have no respect for the inferior. It's unreasonable."
The old man asked cautiously, "Master, do we still want this beautiful number?"
Gu Ji hesitated for a moment and said, "Let Qing'er handle this matter. Anyway, this will not prevent us from putting pressure on the Political Affairs Hall."
"Yes, I remember it."
The old man said, "Oh, right, this morning our shop in Xiuxiang was hit by someone, and the other party happened to be a carriage carrying paint, so we lost a lot of embroidery."
Gu Ji frowned upon hearing this, looked at the old man, and said unhappily, "Just let them handle this little thing themselves. Is it necessary for them to ask me?"
The old man hurriedly explained: "But sir, it was the patrolman's carriage that hit our shop."
"Patrolman?"
Gu Ji was startled.
The old man nodded.
Gu Ji hesitated for a moment and asked, "What is the situation now?"
The old man in the house said: "At present, Manager Gu is still negotiating with them at the Inspection Office, and the result is still unclear."
Gu Ji frowned, "They put up warning signs and traffic rules everywhere, but now they themselves have gotten into trouble. We can't let them off easily."
He stroked his beard and ordered, "Go and have a look. No matter what the situation is, tell Manager Gu not to agree to it yet."
"yes."
......
Left Wing Inspection Office.
Since the General Police Station has just been established and is still under construction, it has not yet been officially opened. Therefore, the patrol police are still staying in the military patrol shop.
"How can this be possible!"
Cao Dongdong slammed the table.
The shopkeeper Gu Yiyuan, who was very popular, trembled suddenly and said tremblingly: "Yanei, I am innocent. It was your carriage that hit my shop."
Cao Dongdong glanced at him and said, "What are you afraid of? I'm not talking about you."
At this point, he suddenly looked at the trembling patrolman next to him and said, "How do you drive? You're driving into someone else's store instead of on the main road. This makes me lose face."
The patrolman said, "Please forgive me, Young Master. This... this really can't be blamed on me. It was a corner, and I just happened to encounter a carriage. I couldn't avoid it, so I... I bumped into it."
"You're still trying to make excuses?"
Cao Dongdong glared at him angrily.
The patrolman lowered his head.
Cao Dongdong asked Gu Yiyuan again: "How do you want to deal with this?"
Gu Yiyuan said tremblingly: "Ya... Yanei, you see, I am also working for someone else. Those good embroidery are all ruined now. If he doesn't compensate me, I can't explain to the owner."
"You still need to pay compensation?"
Cao Dongdong's eyes bulged, and he was very aggressive. "It's not a big deal, just apologize and forget it."
"ah?"
Gu Yiyuan was dumbfounded. He said, "You can compensate me and I can apologize to you. I'm afraid this... this is not possible."
"What did you say?"
Cao Dongdong glanced at him sideways, and his eyes seemed to say, if you say it again, you won't be able to leave this door.
If it were a serious official, Gu Yiyuan would dare to say a few words, but this Cao Dongdong is a thick-skinned person with unpredictable moods.
"Yanei!"
Zhang Fei on the side suddenly said: "We have to pay for this."
Cao Dongdong glanced at him and hesitated for a moment, "I'll leave it to you to handle."
Zhang Fei immediately said to Gu Yiyuan: "Manager Gu, we can compensate you, but we have to compensate you at the cost price, not at the market price.
In addition, we must sign a settlement agreement, and you must also make it clear to the public that we will compensate you in full, but we will not force you or anything like that. What do you think?"
This was much better than Gu Yiyuan had expected. The government destroyed his goods and still compensated him in full. This was really beyond words, but he was just about to nod in agreement.
I heard someone outside shouting, "Is Manager Gu in there?"
Cao Dongdong frowned and asked, "Who is it?"
Ma Xiaoyi ran in, "A clerk in his shop said he had something urgent to discuss with him."
Gu Yiyuan's expression changed slightly, and he said, "Yanei, I'll go take a look first."
Cao Dongdong nodded and said, "Go ahead."
After Gu Yiyuan left, Cao Dongdong immediately whispered to Zhang Fei, "Will he really not agree?"
"Don't worry, he has no say in this matter. It doesn't matter whether he agrees or not."
Zhang Fei laughed, "The Gu family doesn't lack this little money. Is there anything more worthwhile than using this little money to disgust us?"
Cao Dongdong was still a little nervous. After all, Gu Yiyuan's expression just now made him panic. He said, "If the other party agrees, then we will have worked in vain."
"Don't worry!" Zhang Fei said with a smile.
Ma Xiaoyi whispered, "Third brother, why don't we just sue directly."
Zhang Fei said: "If that happens, others may think it's bullying, so we must not give the people this impression."
After a while, Gu Yiyuan came into the hall again and bowed to Cao Dongdong, saying, "Yanei, I can't make the decision on this matter. I have to go back and ask the owner."
Cao Dongdong wondered, "You can't even make the decision on such a small matter?"
Gu Yiyuan said awkwardly: "This business does not belong to me, so I cannot make the decision!"
Cao Dongdong waved his hands impatiently and said, "Okay, okay, go back and discuss it quickly. It's best to give me an answer today. Otherwise, be careful that I change my mind."
"Yes, yes, yes."
Gu Yiyuan left the Inspection Office and did not return to the store, but went directly to the Gu family.
"In reply to the master, Cao Yanei was reluctant to pay the money at first, but it was Zhang San who spoke up."
"Zhang San?"
Gu Ji immediately asked, "What did Zhang San say?"
Gu Yiyuan said: "Zhang San said that they have to pay the money, but he asked that they can only pay according to the cost price, and also asked us to make it clear to the public that the police station compensated us in full and did not force us."
Gu Ji smiled when he heard this and asked, "How much of our goods was lost?"
Gu Yiyuan said: "All the goods under the shed were destroyed, but the weight was different. If all were counted, it would be about 70 or 80 strings of cash. But if the other party is calculative, even if they pay 60 strings of cash, we won't lose anything."
Gu Ji asked, "Are you calculating the cost price or the market price?"
"Of course it's the cost price. If it's the market price, I'd be willing to pay a hundred strings of cash."
"Only a hundred strings of cash?"
Gu Ji frowned and suddenly asked, "Did you hit anyone?"
Gu Yiyuan hurriedly said, "It was really lucky. The guy at the door just happened to come in to help, so he didn't hit anyone."
“What a pity.”
Gu Ji showed a look of regret, and said, "You go and calculate, calculate more, and don't let go of any loss. In short, try your best to give me more money."
"Master, this..."
"Didn't you understand?"
"Yes... yes, I... I know." Gu Yiyuan nodded repeatedly.
Gu Ji looked at his apprehensive face and couldn't help but frowned. After a moment's hesitation, he suddenly said, "You are not good at this. Go to Lushi Lane to find the Li family and let them negotiate. If they pay even a penny less, I will sue them."
"yes."
After hearing this, Gu Yiyuan actually felt relieved.
"Just go and do it."
"I'll take my leave."
After Gu Yiyuan left, the old man said, "Master, this will make things worse."
"I just want to make things bigger."
Gu Ji snorted, "How did Zhang San deal with Wang Wenshan and Wang Hong before? Wasn't it all through litigation that he made things worse and forced the court to settle the matter.
Recently, their police department has set up various traffic rules, but they themselves failed first. Humph, this time I will give them a taste of their own medicine."
......
The next day.
Inspection Department.
"Three hundred strings of cash?"
Cao Dongdong angrily slammed the compensation slip on the table, "Don't you think I've never embroidered before? How can that little thing be worth three hundred strings of cash?"
Ma Xiaoyi chimed in, "Brother is right. We are going to do embroidery business. What can you do with it? In my opinion, those little embroidery and silk are only worth a few dozen strings of cash."
Gu Yiyuan glanced at Ma Xiaoyi and muttered to himself, these dandies really know what they are talking about!
Li Guozhong hurriedly said, "Young Master, please calm down. You can't settle accounts like this."
Zhang Fei on the side asked coldly: "How should it be calculated?"
Li Guozhong glanced at Zhang Fei, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Look, the car was hit and the paint was all over it. It will take several days to clean it up. We can't do business during these days. This loss must be included in the calculation."
Zhang Fei sneered: "Did the paint spill into the store?"
Gu Yiyuan said, "Although it didn't spill inside the store, but... but with the situation outside, who would be willing to come in and see it? It would also damage the reputation of the store."
"What did you say?"
Cao Dongdong glared angrily.
Gu Yiyuan immediately stopped talking.
Li Guozhong immediately said: "What the shopkeeper said is true. If the outside is not clean before opening the door, it will leave a bad impression on customers. In addition, the price cannot be calculated according to the cost price.
Because many of them are embroidery, which takes time, we have to calculate it according to the market price. These embroidery pieces are sold to your police station. In addition, the cleaning fee and the tables where the embroidery pieces are placed should also be included in the compensation. "
"Bang!"
Cao Dongdong slammed the table, jumped up suddenly, and said with a ferocious look: "How can this be absurd? It has always been me who blackmails people. Ahem, you dare to blackmail me. Someone come here!"
"Please calm down, Yanei."
Zhang Fei quickly stepped forward, stopped Cao Dongdong, and said to Li Guozhong: "We can't agree to this condition. The most we can agree to is compensation at the market price."
Ma Xiaoyi jumped up and down on the spot, and said excitedly: "Third brother, they are bullying us too much, how can you agree to them?"
Cao Dongdong also pointed at him angrily, "Zhang San, I didn't expect you to be such a rat."
Zhang Fei frowned and whispered, "Please consider the overall situation first. If your father knew about this..."
"snort!"
Cao Dongdong turned his head and said, "Xiao Ma, let's go. This is really embarrassing."
The two of them left angrily.
Zhang Fei, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief and said to Li Guozhong, "You can see that this is our final condition. We cannot ask for even a penny more."
Li Guozhong said apologetically, "I'm so sorry, I can't pay you less than a penny."
Zhang Fei asked: "If we don't agree, what are you going to do?"
Li Guozhong said: "Then we can only appeal."
Zhang Fei sneered, "Appeal? Are you sure you want to do this? I, Zhang San, promise you that after this lawsuit, the final compensation will be the cost price. If I can get a penny more, I, Zhang San, will never go to court to sue."
Li Guozhong said awkwardly, "I was also entrusted by someone else. I'm sorry."
Zhang Fei's eyes flashed with panic, "Why don't you go and discuss it with your employer? We are willing to compensate you at the market price, which is already a very good condition."
Li Guozhong thought about it and said, "Okay, I'll go ask."
"Thank you for your help."
Li Guozhong and Gu Yiyuan had just left when Cao Dongdong and Ma Xiaoyi slipped in.
"Zhang San, how was our performance just now?" Cao Dongdong said with a smug look on his face.
"Wow... that's just amazing."
Zhang Fei said: "Yanei, I didn't expect your acting skills to be so superb."
Ma Xiaoyi chuckled and said, "Needless to say, my brother had to deceive both his father and the Queen Mother, so his methods must be extraordinary. Unfortunately, I can only deceive my father."
"Ahem!" Cao Dongdong glared at him and quickly changed the subject: "Zhang San, we've taken another step back. Will they agree?"
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Don't worry. The more we retreat, the less likely they will agree. They will definitely bite us to death."
......
Valley Mansion.
"Zhang San is willing to compensate at the market price?" Gu Ji asked with a little joy.
Li Guozhong nodded and said, "Not bad."
Gu Ji stroked his beard and said, "I wonder what tricks Li Xing Shou used to make them willing to take a step back."
Li Guozhong said: "I didn't use any tricks. In my opinion, they didn't want to make a big deal out of it, so they were willing to compromise."
Gu Ji suddenly looked at Gu Yiyuan and said, "Manager Gu, didn't you tell Li Xingtou about my request?"
Li Guozhong said hurriedly: "Manager Gu has already told me, but Zhang San is not easy to mess with. If we go to court, I estimate that at most I will have to pay the market price. But if the other party plays well, it may be reduced to the cost price. Now the other party......"
This man is really ignorant. Why would I care about those few dozen strings of cash? As long as I can ruin the reputation of this police station, it doesn't matter if I don't pay. Gu Ji waved his hand and said, "Captain Li, go back and write the complaint."
"Okay...Okay."
Li Guozhong stood up, bowed and said, "I'll take my leave."
Gu Ji asked the old man to see him off. After they left, Gu Ji smiled coldly, "This time I will also let Zhang San taste the pain of this lawsuit!"
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