Chapter 12 Nail House

Chapter 12 Nail House

Chapter 12 Nail House

Shao Quanzhong waved the oxtail knife in his hand and stared at the students of the Wen family with a smile.

“I am a rough man, I don’t know anything else but to pay my debts.

I heard from Uncle Wengui that Master Wen is an official in another place and has entrusted the family's land, oil mill, and grain store to you to manage. It's been four years, and not a penny has been paid to the Wen family.

You are all educated and sensible people—"

"Wenxiu is back, we will send all the money here right away."

"You are all gentlemen indeed. I don't know how much money this is, but I believe that you gentlemen can pay the full amount.

Of course, if you owe money for four years and the interest is compounded, it is even more difficult to calculate how much you will end up with.

You guys pay first, if I feel it’s not enough, I’ll go to your house to discuss, my haircut skills are pretty high.”

Everyone was frowning. Originally, Magistrate Wen could not pursue the matter too much even if they took more than they wanted. Now that Magistrate Wen was gone, they had to pay interest instead.

Everyone had to grit their teeth and agree. The knife was in their hands, and Wenxiu's in-laws also had the seal, so there was no other way.

This guy used a bull's tail knife to shave people's heads. If he accidentally cut his scalp, it would be a small matter. But if he cut his neck, he would die. When a scholar meets a soldier, he can't explain his reason.

"besides--"

And? We really don't owe any other money.

"Miss, show me your gift list."

Shao Quanzhong flipped through the gift list with his left hand and pointed at the scholars with his right hand, "Look, each family only gave 7 or 8 taels of mourning money, and some even gave 5 taels. Is this the proper etiquette for the loyal and brave people of the court?

In the future, when Master Wen is enfeoffed for three generations, he won’t be able to write two words with one stroke. Will you all also follow him to bring honor to your family?
My opinion is that each family should add an additional thirty taels of silver as funeral expenses.

Anyone who does not come out is looking down on the imperial court's reward and the ancestors of the Wen family. Don't you think this is reasonable?"

What the hell is that? Isn't eight taels of silver enough for me to offer as a token of condolence?

Thirty taels per family? That's robbery. This is called apportionment, which is even more severe than the new lijin imposed by the imperial court.

However, seeing the tip of the oxtail knife pointed at them, no one wanted to trouble this plague god to shave their heads personally, so they just wanted to get out of here quickly. They all bowed and said, "That makes sense. We'll send it back later."

During the whole process, from the four men breaking into the room to the relatives fleeing in embarrassment, the other three brothers stood by the door acting as door gods without saying a word. Shao Quanzhong was the only one performing.

Tian Xing joined Shao Quanzhong with the intention of doing great things. If Shao Quanzhong couldn't even handle such a small matter himself, he would not be qualified to be the leader of the four brothers.

Seeing Shao Quanzhong acting like a rogue and using a knife to force these unruly uncles and grandpas to pay up, Miss Wenxiu chuckled with tears in her eyes, looking radiant and beautiful for a moment.

A very solid feeling came over me. With an orphan and a widow, it would be difficult to have no man to support the family.

My father died for our country, it was an accident and there was nothing we could do about it, but he raised such a loyal subordinate before he died, which is really a blessing to future generations.

Brother Shao looks so delicate, and he seems rude and unreasonable, but he is really manly - Alas, why didn't Brother Shao study and have any achievements?

Wenxiu and her daughter were not actually short of money. Master Wen was an honest official, and the two men also brought back several thousand taels of silver from Shunyi. Of course, no one could ever have too much money.

Wenxiu's future father-in-law, Wu Wenxi, is said to be an honest official and a promising and famous minister.

After serving as prefect and circuit commissioner for more than ten years in various places, he had no idea how much money he had, but he bought the best garden in Taizhou, the "Sanfeng Garden", and spent 1,500 taels to renovate it. He changed the name to "Zhe Garden", which means he would stay in his hometown after retirement.

The Zhe Garden is the "first garden in the Huai River Left", second only to Suzhou's Humble Administrator's Garden and Yangzhou's Ge Garden in fame. To be able to afford such a garden, the "honest officials" of the Qing Dynasty were just that good.

Of course, compared with Heshen, it couldn't be clearer.

Shao Quanzhong didn't notice that Miss Wenxiu looked at him a little differently. He had no interest in the lady who was not from the same class as him.

Four years ago, he went to Shunyi to beg for food and sought refuge with his fellow villager, Mr. Wen. His purpose was simple: to climb up the social ladder by leveraging the Wen family's influence.

Don’t underestimate Master Wen, he is just a seventh-rank county magistrate, his teacher is Lord Pan.

Who is Pan Ge Lao? This is not important. Pan Ge Lao presided over the imperial examination. He passed the imperial examination in the same year as Master Wen. The thirteenth place in the second class was Li Hongzhang...

If you are unlucky and didn't read much in your previous life, and you weren't born into a scholarly family in your next life, you have to build connections and find someone to help you.
As for women, it is impossible for me to find one that I like with my current status. Hehe, I'll wait until I have a large army in my hands.

According to what he knew, Li Hongzhang would start recruiting Huai troops on a large scale next year. Even if Wenxiu was not sent away, he would still be preparing to go back to his hometown to organize militia training.

By then, with the recommendation of Master Wen, he could become an elite member of the Huai Army and set up a "loyalty" camp. That would be the avenue for a warlord to rise to power.

Shao Quanzhong worked hard and made all kinds of plans, but he never expected that Magistrate Wen would die unexpectedly for his country.

The recommendation letter I had been waiting for for several years was gone, which disrupted my plan. What should I do next? I will think about it first.

The annoying relatives had left, but the vegetarian feast for the mourners was still there. The four brothers hadn't eaten yet at noon, so they ate voraciously to fill their stomachs first.

After dinner, Song Laosan rowed the boat and brought old man Guo Wengui back.

Shao Quanzhong grabbed his brother and said, "I plan to go directly from Hailing to Jingjiang and go home. Let's have a drink next time we meet.

Tell me why our family moved."

Song Lao San looked around and sighed, "There's nothing we can do about this.

The imperial court asked each place to organize its own militia to resist the Taiping Rebellion and the Nian Rebellion. We have a hero in Taizhou named Yang Yong who is currently recruiting troops.

Yang Yong is a man of both black and white connections, and he claims to be friends with many gang leaders, making him a local bully.

Mr. Wu Wenxi was entrusted by Mr. Qiao, the Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner, to preside over the militia training in Taizhou, and we have to rely on him.

His militia didn't have many people, and their subordinates were all ruffians, so this burden was not small at all.

This is a money-hungry person. Rich people support him with money, and poor people also have to support him with money.

If you don't pay, you will be robbed by thieves on a dark and windy night.

You know your family's situation, how could you get the money? Uncle Shao had no choice but to move his family away. "

Wow, this is stealing my business. Moving my own house is a small matter, but blocking my way to advancement is a deadly grudge.

Shao Quanzhong's handsome face immediately showed murderous intent, and he turned back to look at Tian Xing, "Brother, have you heard of this name Yang Yong in the martial arts world?"

Tian Xing shook his head blankly.

Shao Quanzhong knew in his heart that this man was just a person who made friends with bandits and used the bandits' banner to deceive others, and he was not a master at all.

The people Tian Xing interacted with were either Hong Xiuquan or Zhang Lexing, or masters like Yang Luchan and Dong Haichuan, or at the very least the leader of the White Lotus Sect. How could he have ever heard of any tyrant of Taizhou?
Let’s put this aside for now and go home to see my parents and brothers before discussing this.

Shao Quanzhong said goodbye to Mrs. Wen again.

Mrs. Wen was extremely grateful to Shao Quanzhong and had decided to do him a big favor, but she didn't say any words of thanks.

The four brothers bought a new horse at the horse market. They didn't ask for fast horses, but only tall ones that could carry Zhang Siwen. The four horses headed straight for Jingjiang.

Jingjiang is quite close to Hailing, right next to the Yangtze River, and is now under the jurisdiction of Tongzhou.

The four of them arrived in Jingjiang the next afternoon. As soon as they asked about the newly moved old Shao family, someone immediately showed them the way.

The Shao family built a temporary thatched house on the desolate river beach.

The scenery here is nice, but because it cannot be used as a port and there are too many rocks on the river beach, it has no economic value, so only outsiders can settle here.

The four horses came to the riverside and saw the lonely thatched house by the river. Well, it was the same style as Shao Quanzhong's shabby house by the Chaobai River - both were built by the poor.

From a distance, I saw a few horses parked next to the thatched house. Could it be possible for distinguished guests to come to the house to ride horses?

Shao Quanzhong's face suddenly changed. He saw his mother kneeling on the beach with her hair disheveled. Her voice was broken. "Master Yang, we really have no money. Please let our wife go."

A burly man, who looked like Skywalker with a beard, pushed me aside and gave the old man Shao Shucai who was outside the house a big punch.

"How can a family of five have food to eat without money? Why did they have so many children? Wouldn't they sell two of them?
Let me tell you, even if you come to Tongzhou, it won’t work. I, Yang Yong, am in charge of both Tongzhou and Taizhou, so you still have to pay this fee.

If we can't deal with you, the stubborn tenant, who will be willing to pay us a share? Go borrow money from a loan shark!"

(End of this chapter)