In fact, Zhu Yunwen did not believe at all that this house was passed down from his ancestors. After all, the house was relatively new, probably only about ten years old. How could it be passed down from his ancestors?
Furthermore, whether this was passed down from ancestors or not, the local people certainly know, and it wouldn't stand up to scrutiny.
So his statement was clearly risky. What if Zhu Yunwen cared about this matter a lot, or if he suspected something about him and investigated, wouldn't that cross the line?
However, the truth was that it wasn't that complicated at all; the magistrate then spoke directly:
"Old Master Sun, this house isn't an ancestral heirloom, is it? When I came to take office, I saw that Old Master Sun's mansion was still being decorated and embellished, so it shouldn't be very old."
Upon hearing the magistrate's words, Old Sun coughed once before speaking:
"This house was indeed only recently built..."
So Zhu Yunwen brought up the topic again, saying:
"In other words, Mr. Sun's ancestors were very wealthy and left him this sum of money, which enabled him to build such a house?"
However, before Old Man Sun could speak, the county magistrate chimed in, perfectly in sync with him:
"Obviously not. I heard from a minor official in the government office that before becoming an official, Old Master Sun's family was poor. He studied hard for ten years and finally became an official in the previous dynasty, which enabled his family to suddenly become rich in recent years."
Old Sun's brows furrowed more and more, and his expression even turned somewhat unpleasant.
If there were some doubts before, it is now basically certain that Zhu Yunwen and the county magistrate came to his home because they suspected him.
Or perhaps it's a way of testing the waters and embarrassing oneself.
Thinking about this, he knew he had to be careful, otherwise he might expose some of his secrets.
So, Old Sun quickly got up, walked to Zhu Yunwen's side, knelt down, and said:
"Your Highness, I am guilty."
Zhu Yunwen feigned concern and stepped forward to help Old Master Sun up, saying:
"What crime has Elder Sun committed? Please rise!"
After getting up, Old Sun sighed and said:
"To my shame, before I became an official, my family was very poor. Through years of hard study, I finally entered the court and became an official, which improved my family's situation."
In this situation, due to the incompetence and tyranny of the previous emperor, the common people of the land suffered greatly. We officials were even more insecure and unable to protect ourselves.
Under such circumstances, the commoner, blinded by greed, took advantage of his official position and power to line his own pockets and provide himself with certain benefits.
This allowed him to accumulate more land and property. Fortunately, Heaven has eyes, and the current emperor ended the reign of the previous incompetent ruler and established the Ming Dynasty.
The lives of ordinary people and officials have finally improved considerably. As for me, I felt guilty because I had served as an official in the Qin Dynasty and had been greedy. Therefore, I served as a local military and political assistant official in this dynasty.
They dared not harbor any greed like the previous dynasty. As for the land they had acquired, they voluntarily handed it over to the government when His Highness ordered the land of the realm to be remeasured and redistributed evenly.
As for this mansion, it was built with the money earned from the property and land he acquired while serving as an official in the previous dynasty.
"If it is His Highness the Crown Prince who wishes to investigate, then this humble commoner will naturally demolish the house."
After saying this, Old Sun knelt on the ground again.
Zhu Yunwen narrowed his eyes. Clearly, this old man Sun was a cunning old fox who had cleverly transferred his vast wealth, of dubious origin, to the previous dynasty.
He deliberately denigrated the previous dynasty and elevated the current dynasty to an unparalleled level, thus proving that he made the wrong choice at the wrong time and the right choice at the right time, making it difficult for Zhu Yunwen to cause any more trouble in this matter.
The previous dynasty was the Yuan Dynasty. In the late Yuan Dynasty, the emperor was indeed incompetent and corrupt, officials were only concerned with their own survival, and the people were suffering terribly. He used this as a reason to say that when he was an official in the previous dynasty, he did use his position to seek some personal gain.
However, in this situation, he also praised the Ming Dynasty highly, saying that when he served as an official in the Ming Dynasty, he never did anything to abuse his power for personal gain, which further elevated the Ming Dynasty's reputation.
This easily gives one the feeling that, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, he had no choice but to do so, but the Ming Dynasty was like a beacon of light shining upon the earth, causing even an official like him to see the error of his ways.
As the grandson of the Ming Dynasty, how could Zhu Yunwen possibly hold onto this issue?
So Zhu Yunwen was at a loss for words. The magistrate's eyes darted around, and he looked at Zhu Yunwen, wondering if Zhu Yunwen had any ideas on how to continue the discussion on this topic in a deeper way, that is, to try to get more information out of him.
Zhu Yunwen did not disappoint the magistrate. He smiled slightly and said to Old Man Sun:
"Old Sun, please get up. Let's not talk about the past dynasty. In this dynasty, you have done some good things. Speaking of which, we are truly grateful for your support of me and the court regarding the land reform policy."
However, to be fair, given the circumstances of the previous dynasty, it's truly admirable that Elder Sun was able to so easily amass such a vast fortune by leveraging his official position.
When Old Sun got up and heard Zhu Yunwen's obviously sarcastic words, he didn't blush or skip a beat. He just smiled slightly, as if he hadn't understood.
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