Chapter 124 To strike a snake, one must strike its vital point...
To strike a snake, you must strike its vital spot.
Although Guo Baiwen is only a Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations), he has been traveling between various academies for many years. While a Xiucai cannot directly become an official, he has made many like-minded friends as a result.
When the rumors first started circulating, Master Zhang from Chengnan Bookstore privately wrote to inquire whether he needed help with the matter.
After all, the Zhao family had been operating in Xiuning County for many years, and they had some connections with people in their interactions.
This matter is neither too big nor too small. If Master Zhang takes the initiative to step forward and help mediate, the Zhao family will at least give him some face.
But this was ultimately a matter between the Guo and Zhao families. After thanking the teacher for his kindness, he decided to proceed according to his own ideas.
"For the Zhao family, besides their reputation, what they value most is naturally their own business." These were Guo Baiwen's words of comfort to Grandma Guo and Guo Songwan.
He recently learned from some classmates in the prefectural city that the Zhao family, salt merchants in Xiuning County, were busy pulling strings and trying to take advantage of the opportunity to contract the transportation of official salt in Qianzhou Prefecture.
This is a potentially lucrative business, but it requires government approval and places great emphasis on the "character and reputation" of the merchants who take over the business.
He didn't choose to directly report the Zhao family. Since the previous rumors had already taken root in people's hearts, coupled with his later "Defense of the False Accusations," which was half explanation and half accusation, it was likely that many more people knew about this matter.
Since the Zhao family had chosen this method, he also intended to let them experience firsthand what it meant to be "a fearsome person."
So he asked someone to deliver an anonymous letter to the magistrate in charge of the matter in Qianzhou Prefecture. The letter made no mention of the rumors that the Zhao family had spread near the county town. It only objectively stated that "Zhao, a salt merchant from Xiuning County, has recently had a falling out with poor scholars and gentry families over a marriage. There is also a lot of criticism about this among the people. I hope Your Excellency will investigate whether his character is suitable for handling official salt."
Anyway, the rumors about the Zhao family at the beginning were that the Guo family was being obsequious and trying to curry favor with some other local gentry.
His letter contained no defamatory words, yet it hit the nail on the head regarding the crucial approval process.
The judge was always extremely cautious about the character of the merchants. The fact that the Zhao family was chosen as a candidate was not only due to the daily assessments, but also because the family had made extensive efforts to win over people.
The letter has been received. Regardless of whether its contents are true or not, the misconduct of the official salt commissioner will eventually breed hidden dangers such as smuggled salt and tax evasion.
Since it wouldn't make much difference to a few more days, the judge immediately slowed down the approval process and sent people to secretly investigate the Zhao family's reputation.
Upon learning of the postponement of the approval, Boss Zhao was extremely anxious. He knew that this official salt business was crucial to the rise of his family. After operating in Xiuning County for so many years, he was now able to help the family move forward again, and he could not let the rumors ruin everything.
The official salt route from Suzhou to Qianzhou Prefecture was a lucrative business, coveted by countless salt merchants, both openly and secretly!
If the Zhao family hadn't seized the initiative and quickly smoothed things over, who knows how many more complications would have arisen.
If we can't get our hands on this right now, it's even harder to say whether we'll be able to get it again later.
Moreover, if the application for official salt is suspended, the Zhao family will lose all the bribes and preparation costs they have spent in the early stages, and they will need to increase the amount again if they want to get through it again.
Putting aside whether the Zhao family can still come up with so much money, just thinking that if the Salt Bureau really sends people to carefully investigate their family's reputation, they will inevitably find out about the rumors he spread before.
That's the strange thing.
At the time, Boss Zhao thought that he was only dealing with a scholar from a poor, remote area, so he left a lot of traces in his private efforts to instigate the matter.
For someone like Guo Xiucai, these traces were naturally difficult to investigate thoroughly. But when they were brought before the Salt Bureau, which was focused on investigation, it was like a mediocre magic trick; the investigation revealed a huge hole.
At that time, not only would the official salt route be ruined, but their existing salt shop business might also be affected by the "misconduct" assessment.
No, we can't let this delay continue.
The rumors about the Guo family's sycophancy and the annulment of the engagement have long since passed. On the contrary, the popularity of the article "Refuting the False Accusations" has not only not decreased but increased. Even Young Master Zhao, who used to enjoy going out, has gradually reduced the number of times he goes out recently.
Although every time Mr. Zhao asked, his son said that he needed to stay home to recover from his injury, which was why he reduced the number of times he went out.
But no one knows a son better than his father, and Boss Zhao naturally knew that Young Master Zhao's current situation was not very good.
Thinking back to how all these things happened just to vent my anger, now that things have come to this point, do I really have to bow down and go to the Guo family?
Although the Zhao family was just a merchant family, they had been wealthy for many years and were respectfully addressed as "Master" when they went out. His inability to swallow that insult back then was naturally due to his own pride.
While he was hesitating, Boss Zhao suddenly heard the sound of firecrackers outside, followed by a lot of noisy shouting.
It just so happened that the noise occurred when he was seriously thinking about something!
Mr. Zhao picked up the slightly cold tea from the side, somewhat displeased. He was very impatient with the noise outside and scolded, "What's going on outside?! It's so noisy that I can't even enjoy my tea! What's happening outside now?!"
The question had barely left his lips when the servant went to check outside. He'd barely crossed the threshold when the gatekeeper, who was usually at the gate, stumbled over and hurriedly announced, "Master! News just arrived that Guo, the scholar from the south of the city! He's passed the provincial examination!!!"
"Now he's Scholar Guo, Master Guo!"
The last sentence was loud enough that it could be heard clearly even if one couldn't get through the archway.
Not only did Boss Zhao hear it clearly, but even the maids and servants who were sweeping in the courtyard heard it all.
"really?!"
Mr. Zhao panicked and immediately stood up from his chair. The teacup he had been holding steadily was unknowingly knocked over completely because of his movement.
Only a layer of tea dust remained on the surface, scattered on the table, and water stains, along with the tea leaves, gradually spread into an unsightly stain.
Once outside on the street, Boss Zhao could truly understand what the gatekeeper had said earlier: the procession with music and fanfare had just come from the county government and was heading to the Guo family to deliver the good news.
Xiuning County hadn't produced a new scholar in the imperial examinations for several years. As the procession carried the good news, they repeated the announcement loudly several times, as if afraid the villagers watching wouldn't understand.
Thanks to them, Mr. Zhao has never heard the name 'Guo Baiwen' so many times in a single day.
That scholar Guo passed the imperial examination!
The difference between a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the county-level imperial examination) and a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examination) seems to be just one step away from each other, but becoming a Juren makes all the difference between a Xiucai and a Xiucai!
That means you can become an official directly! You can be respectfully addressed as "Master Juren"!
Mr. Zhao stood at the door for a while, the crackling sound of firecrackers on the street seemed to explode in his heart.
No, we can't let this drag on any longer!
After weighing the pros and cons, Mr. Zhao asked an intermediary to contact Guo Baiwen that afternoon, indicating that the Zhao family was willing to compromise completely.
Afterwards, he would not only read the apology aloud in public at several city gates in Xiuning County, but also post clarification notices everywhere, explaining all the events that happened between the Guo family and the Zhao family. He would also donate the twenty taels of betrothal money that his family had originally prepared to the Xiuning County granary in the name of the Guo family.
If the Guo family is still not satisfied, the Zhao family is willing to spend a lot of money to hire another opera troupe to perform "repentance plays" for three days.
After finishing their performance in the county town, they would tour more than a dozen villages and towns around Xiuning County in an attempt to salvage the Guo family's reputation.
Besides that, if Master Guo has any other requests, the Zhao family will agree to anything they can do.
I just hope this matter can be completely put behind us, and that the two families can reconcile and get along well from now on.
The humility and quick change of attitude left Guo Baiwen, who had initially thought the two families would continue their tug-of-war for a long time, speechless.
Mr. Zhao is quite capable to have built his business to its current level.
It's not easy to befriend someone who can throw away their pride so easily, and it's even more troublesome to become enemies with them.
When this matter came to light, the engagement between the two families fell through. After receiving the letter, Guo Baiwen thought about it and went to see Guo Songwan and Grandma Guo.
After all, they are the ones directly involved, and whether or not they are willing to forgive depends on their own wishes.
Grandma Guo was alright. Back when Guo Baiwen posted the "Defense of the False Accusation" to explain the situation, the neighbors around her came to her door every day to chat about the undeserved disaster that the Guo family had suffered. After talking about it so much while eating melon seeds, her mood improved a lot.
Guo Songwan snorted coldly at the letter sent by the Zhao family, clearly disliking them, but since Boss Zhao had said he could make some other requests.
After thinking about it, she added two more lines on top.
First, her embroidery workshop in Songlin, Xiuning County, had to stop work intermittently several times during this period. The Zhao family needs to fully compensate for all the losses caused by this incident.
Secondly, she didn't want to see any members of the Zhao family again, whether it was at Songlin Embroidery Workshop or anywhere else.
Once the Zhao family agreed to both of these demands, the matter could finally be put to rest.
Soon, the news that the Zhao family was organizing free opera performances spread throughout the streets and alleys of Xiuning County. Even Grandma Guo stood by the tea stall and listened for a while when she went out to buy braised food.
The assessment was, 'The singing wasn't as interesting as what was being performed at the market.'
But after all, it was a 'repentance play'! Each time, the rumors circulating during this period were explained at the beginning and end of the play. After the three-day performance in Xiuning County was over, the organized group actually marched to the surrounding villages and towns.
Seeing that the Guo family has now cleared their name and has not been tainted by the reputation of being "petty and vengeful towards ordinary merchants," they have instead earned praise for "accumulating virtue and doing good deeds" because of the twenty taels of silver donated by the Zhao family.
Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Guo Baiwen readily sent a report to the Salt Bureau stating that "Zhao has clarified the rumors and apologized to the Guo family."
The Salt Bureau verified the report and confirmed that the Zhao family had no other misconduct. They even paid the remaining taxes due to this incident, so the review process for their family was resumed.
As a result of this incident, the Guo family not only completely cleared their name, but Guo Baiwen's "Refutation of the False Accusation" was also copied and circulated among the literati of Qianzhou Prefecture. Song Wan's reputation for "chastity and propriety" became even more prominent, and the Songlin Embroidery Workshop, whose business had been somewhat damaged, also became famous.
From this point on, they could be said to have parted ways with the Zhao family.
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