Chapter 23 Restaurant Incident (1)
Fan Zhiyu was stunned, and remembered Song Qianzhao's methods, and nodded involuntarily.
Song Qianzhao wiped away his tears and coaxed him with a smile, "Okay, don't cry. Although they took your money, they didn't take all of it. Have you forgotten? I saved 20,000 taels for you!"
After hearing this, Fan Zhiyu stubbornly replied: "That's your money!"
Song Qianzhao smiled and said, "We are friends, why should we distinguish between each other?"
Fan Zhiyu lowered his head in embarrassment, feeling that he had taken great advantage of Song Qianzhao.
After Song Qianzhao's words of comfort, the depression in his heart was immediately relieved a lot.
Song Qianzhao smiled and said, "Let's go. I happen to be going to Fengtian Prefecture. Would you like to go together?"
"From now on, you are my brother."
"You're just talking nonsense."
The two walked side by side on the long street.
Song Qianzhao tilted his head and asked curiously, "You usually go out with a crowd of people following you, why aren't your followers here today?"
After hearing this, Fan Zhiyu lowered his head and whispered, "I promised to reward them with one thousand taels, but now the money has been stolen. I am embarrassed to see them."
Song Qianzhao laughed and said, "You are such a face-saving person."
"Take a thousand taels from your savings and reward them. They follow you around like this, isn't it just to get a meal? As the boss, you can't let your men go hungry."
"Thank you, brother."
"By the way, did your father ask you about the origin of the money?"
"They asked, and I told them. But I didn't say I stole the Brocade Book and Clouds and Geese Painting from the mansion."
"That's good. What does your father think about this?"
"My father said Wang Yang was a fool. He said he seemed to be very good at dealing with people in the court, but in fact he was a two-faced person with no stance. Such a fence-sitter will fall sooner or later. If you want to cheat someone like him out of his money, just cheat him. There's no need to worry about it."
Song Qianzhao nodded, his comments on Wang Yang hit the nail on the head.
The most important thing when it comes to getting into the imperial court is choosing which side to take.
If you join a team, you may be punished, but it will not necessarily be fatal; if you remain neutral, you may also be punished, but you will not necessarily die.
Only those who are indecisive and wavering will surely die. No one wants to associate with a traitor who may turn against them at any time.
So Wang Yang will definitely die, and as for when he will die, it is just a matter of time.
Without the rhinoceros belt as a token of his allegiance, Wang Yang would not be able to rely on Li Shufeng.
Without Li Shufeng's support, Song Jian, who was plotted against by him, could attack the Wang family without any worries.
Even if they don't take action, Song Qianzhao will take action and make it impossible for the Wang family to recover.
This was the promise she made to Wang Ju in person, and she would definitely keep it to the end.
Of course, she didn't know that her uncle He Jingyi had already gone to help her fulfill her promise.
The three of them came to Fengtian Prefecture.
There were only two officers guarding the gate of Fengtian Prefecture.
As the saying goes, the gate of the government office opens to the south, and you can't come in without money or reason.
This statement works for ordinary people, but it has no effect on Fan Zhiyu and Song Qianzhao.
When the gatekeeper asked for the gate fee, Fan Zhiyu kicked him.
"Open your dog eyes and see clearly who I am!"
"Master Fan!"
The two gatekeepers were about to speak when a sergeant came out from the yamen and interrupted them. He clasped his fists and bowed to Fan Zhiyu, saying calmly, "I'm a newcomer and don't know much. I hope Master Fan will forgive me. I wonder what brings you to the yamen?"
"I have just acquired two shops and came to Fengtian Prefecture to replace the house deeds and land deeds." Fan Zhiyu said with his head held high, curling his lips.
"Changing house and land deeds is the job of the Household Department. I'll take you there."
As he was speaking, the leader of the jailer squad led Fan Zhiyu inside, but Fan Zhiyu did not follow him. Instead, he turned around and asked Song Qianzhao to go first.
The leader of the soap-robed squad only then noticed Song Qianzhao.
A person who even a playboy like Fan Zhiyu treats with respect must be from a prominent background.
Seeing that Song Qianzhao had no intention of talking to him, he tactfully didn't dare to approach her.
The leader of the black-robed squad led the three men to the household department of the yamen.
The Household Department personally helped Song Qianzhao to change the house deeds and land deeds.
After invalidating the original deed, Song Qianzhao specifically instructed the household department to add Fan Zhiyu's name to the new deed. Fan Zhiyu repeatedly declined, but ultimately succumbed to Song Qianzhao's insistence and had to add his name to one of the deeds.
The title deed had not yet been signed, and the Ruiqi Casino and Xiangyun Pawnshop had already been reduced to charred ruins, so there was no way to sign the deed.
After getting the new land deed, Song Qianzhao felt more confident.
Although her status as the young master of the Song family was already confirmed, wealth and prosperity were within her reach.
But she always believed that wealth gained from others was far less reliable than wealth earned with one's own hands.
After collecting the new title deed.
Song Qianzhao took Xunjiu and Fan Zhiyu away from Fengtian Prefecture.
The streets were bustling with people.
Song Qianzhao, Xunjiu, and Fan Zhiyu entered the Zuifeng Restaurant. Fan Zhiyu waved a folding fan in his hand. He looked around and grinned at the waiter not far away: "Hey, bring me a jar of your best wine first!"
Seeing that they were quite impressive, the waiter quickly approached them with a smile, "Come on, what else would you like?"
Song Qianzhao looked around and didn't sit down. He just asked, "Is your boss here? I need to see him for something."
The waiter was stunned for a moment, then smiled apologetically, "Sir, this is unfortunate. Our boss went out early this morning to discuss business. He said he wanted to buy a large quantity of fresh seasonal vegetables, and he's currently negotiating prices with the vegetable vendor. He won't be back for a while. Would you like to sit down for a while and have some tea?"
Fan Zhiyu leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and said with a smile, "That's perfect! Bring the food and wine first, and we'll eat while we wait."
Song Qianzhao and Xunjiu sat down.
Seeing this, the waiter quickly asked the kitchen to prepare the dishes.
It was dinner time, and the restaurant was getting bustling with people.
At this time, four young men of the same age as Song Qianzhao were sitting at the next table. They were discussing something intensely, slamming the table from time to time, with indignant looks on their faces and spitting everywhere.
Song Qianzhao pricked up his ears quietly, trying to hear what they were talking about.
"The situation in Liaodong is turbulent right now, with civil unrest raging everywhere. Lord Lu submitted a petition proposing an increase in customs duties, salt taxes, and other miscellaneous taxes, but it was rejected by the Li Party. How infuriating!"
"Right now, the national treasury is in dire straits and the world is in turmoil. Instead of helping the country, the Li Party is engaged in activities that bring disaster to the country and the people. How despicable!"
"Who the hell are those Li clique members? They're nothing but a bunch of shameless, treacherous villains who curry favor with the powerful. I wish I could just draw my sword and slaughter them all!"
Song Qianzhao listened to their discussion, shook his head slightly, and interrupted, "In fact, raising taxes may not be appropriate.
The burden on the people is already heavy enough, why not start with the commercial taxes? Dasui has many wealthy merchants, and if we adjust the commercial taxes slightly, wouldn't the national treasury be more well-off?
The four people at the table paused when they heard this, and turned to look at him in unison, their brows furrowed at the same time, obviously not expecting someone to suddenly interrupt them at this moment.
Song Qianzhao, however, remained calm and continued, "Take the salt tax for example. During the reign of the previous emperor, it collected 10 million taels of silver, but now it is less than one million. The difference has been secretly swallowed up by wealthy merchants.
If the imperial court could start rectifying these areas, wouldn't that be more appropriate than simply increasing taxes on the people? "
A young scholar frowned and retorted, "Merchants hoard goods and raise prices. They don't farm or weave cloth themselves, but simply make a profit by reselling. If the court increases their taxes, they will definitely make the money back from the people. People's lives are already hard enough, isn't this going to drive them to death?"
Song Qianzhao smiled faintly and replied calmly, "Brother, you are wrong. The reason merchants are shifting the tax burden is because the court is ineffective in its supervision. If a customs office is established to strictly investigate price gouging and salt permit quotas are set, how can merchants dare to act recklessly?"
Furthermore, the military pay in Liaodong has been in arrears for a long time. If the commercial taxes are not rectified, are we going to have to watch the soldiers at the border guarding the country with empty stomachs?
The suffering of the people comes from the exploitation by corrupt officials at all levels, rather than reasonable tax reform.
During the reign of the previous emperor, when the salt tax reached tens of millions of taels, salt prices were surprisingly more stable than they are today. This shows that the problem lies not in taxation, but in the administration of officials. If we abandon the issue of taxation and allow wealthy merchants to evade taxes, we will only bring real hardship to the people.
A young man in elegant attire sneered, "Humph, which salt merchant in this state doesn't have a reputation for his achievements these days? Since they've joined the ranks of scholars, they should enjoy preferential treatment and exemptions. If the court wants to levy taxes, they should go after the common people without any official titles."
"This is absurd!" Song Qianzhao frowned and raised his voice slightly, "According to what you said, wouldn't it be possible for merchants all over the world to donate a nominal title so that they can evade taxes openly? Wouldn't the imperial tax system then be useless!
The salt merchants donated money to become officials simply to evade taxes. Are such opportunists worthy of being called scholars? If this is the case, and grain and cloth merchants follow suit tomorrow, where will our tax base be?
The "Da Sui Law" clearly stipulates that official positions obtained through donations are merely ceremonial honors, with no real duties or tax exemptions. You are confusing the public, are you trying to help unscrupulous businessmen?
Moreover, everyone in the world is a member of the Dasui clan, so why should the poor be the only ones to pay taxes? The country is in danger now, so shouldn't scholars help to relieve the country's worries? Is it possible that after a hundred years of generous treatment of scholars, the imperial court has fostered these parasites who only know how to exploit the people?
"What did you say!"
With a "bang", the four young men slammed the table and stood up almost at the same time, their faces full of anger.
Xun Jiu was frightened by the sudden scene and turned pale. He hurriedly grabbed Song Qianzhao's sleeve, his voice trembling: "Master, they are so many in number, we... let's hide away first..."
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