After Xu Zhiqian and Wang Ye left, Zhang Fei did not leave immediately. Instead, he sat alone in the hall, secretly tasting the remaining wine and food.
In fact, he was not the kind of person who had extremely high demands on material things, but the Xu family lived too peacefully, with plain tea and light meals every day, which really suffocated him. However, he had no complaints about this, and was just grateful because Xu Zun and Xu Zhiqian were the same.
As the saying goes, what is worrying is not the lack of wealth but the inequality of wealth.
It's rare to have some oil and water today, so I have to store more.
Just as he was enjoying it, he suddenly heard light footsteps. Zhang Fei quickly put the snack down and wiped his mouth.
After a while, Xu Zhiqian came into the hall, seemingly thinking about something, and did not notice Zhang Fei's little action.
"Boyfriend?" Zhang Fei asked with a smile.
"Boy friend?"
Xu Zhiqian looked at Zhang Fei with confusion.
Zhang Fei quickly explained: "Oh! It means old lover."
"What did you say?" Xu Zhiqian immediately glared at Zhang Fei.
"No, no, no, how do you say this? Oh, childhood sweethearts, two little kids who are inseparable." Zhang Fei also realized that he had said the wrong thing and was sweating anxiously.
Xu Zhiqian glared at him and said, "Stop talking nonsense! You are just a scoundrel, thinking about all kinds of obscene and dirty things."
Childhood sweethearts? Innocent couples? Is that also a dirty, dirty thing? Am I not well-educated and don't understand classical Chinese, or are you teasing me? Zhang Fei also felt wronged and said, "I'm just asking, why are you so angry?"
Xu Zhiqian was so angry that she asked, "If you didn't live in our house, would he be able to come here?"
That's right! After Wang Ye finished talking to me just now, he left immediately. Could it be that... Zhang Fei suddenly took a breath of cold air: "Are you jealous? No! Hey, hey, hey, I would rather you think I'm a pervert and I'm vulgar than think that I like men, or that there are men who like me."
I'm a straight man, no one can make me gay.
"You are hopeless."
Xu Zhiqian's face turned red, she waved her long sleeves, and turned to leave.
"Wait a minute."
Zhang Fei suddenly stopped her and said, "You are such a hypocrite woman. You always blame me for living in your house, but secretly you want to keep me. What are you thinking?"
Xu Zhiqian turned around and said angrily, "When did I want to keep you in our house?"
Wow! Why are you so fierce? Is that thing coming, or is menopause coming early? Zhang Fei said: "You said before that you would ask Qingmei to help me find a house, but I asked Qingmei, and you didn't tell her at all."
Did I say that? Xu Zhiqian blinked, and suddenly remembered that she seemed to have said this, but at that time it was just to tease Zhang Fei, and she said it casually. How could she let her maid help Zhang Fei find a house? She turned her eyes and said, "If you don't pay me, how can I help you find a house?"
But obviously he lacks confidence.
Zhang Fei said unhappily: "Why should I give you money now? You have to find the right one first. I will pay you after I have seen it!"
Xu Zhiqian raised the corner of his mouth, revealing a sarcastic smile.
Zhang Fei frowned and asked, "What are you laughing at?"
Xu Zhiqian said sarcastically: "Go back and read the Song Dynasty Criminal Code carefully, you are a man of ears and pen."
After saying that, she left.
Have you read the Song Dynasty Criminal Code
You told me, a person who only knows how to dictate, to read the Criminal Code of the Song Dynasty
This is such a great shame!
Zhang Fei was angry.
Without caring about the delicious food and wine on the table, he immediately went back to the house and angrily turned over Song Xingtong.
result... ...
It's a little bit embarrassing!
"What the hell?"
Zhang Fei said in disbelief: "This house purchase must be done through Fang Ya, otherwise you will be treated as a thief. Wow... This is too much! You really want money but no shame!"
It has to be said that the Northern Song government is really good at making money. There are so many miscellaneous taxes that you can't even remember them all. How could the Northern Song government give up the eternal business of buying and selling houses
You must pay deed tax.
However, there is no banking system at present, so someone is needed to supervise this matter. The power is delegated to the public. The court stipulates that all house transactions must go through the Fangya, and all procedures need to be handled by the Fangya. To put it bluntly, the Fangya is actually a non-staff member of the government.
No matter how many people buy and sell houses, the government only asks the real estate agent for money.
If you don't give the money, you will be treated as a thief. You should know that in ancient times, the crackdown on thieves was very severe and the punishment was also very heavy.
The punishment may be imprisonment at the lightest and exile at the worst, acupuncture and chastity whipping are all possible.
Everyone says that owing usury is terrible, but usury belongs to the people after all, you can still avoid it. At worst, you can just run away. But if you owe money to the government, haha, hurry up and buy a coffin!
Zhang Fei, who was full of energy, hurried to review.
If I fall on this house, it would be really... well, it doesn't seem so unfair. Who can escape this hurdle
... ..
Not long after Zhang Fei returned to the house, Xu Zun quietly came back from outside. After looking around for a while, he saw Xu Zhiqian sitting on the swing under the big tree, so he walked over and said, "Qian'er, has the emperor left?"
Xu Zhiqian did not stand up to salute, but looked at Xu Zun in frustration and complained, "Dad, how could you let a woman like me entertain the emperor? This is outrageous!"
She was also full of anger, and when she was suddenly told that the emperor was coming and she had to entertain him, she was frightened to death. She was very nervous when she spoke just now.
Xu Zun did not tremble this time, but explained humbly: "Dad doesn't want to either, this is all ordered by the government. If Dad sits here, how can he and Zhang San talk freely? Dad also has to be cautious, I'm afraid that kid will see something. Your brother is not at home, and you are the only one in the house, so I have to let you go."
Xu Zhiqian was puzzled: "But why did the emperor come to our house to see an ordinary ear-writer? This really puzzles my daughter."
"Nothing special?"
Xu Zun glanced at Xu Zhiqian and said unhappily, "When he went to Kaifeng Prefecture, the court was in an uproar. It was even more noisy than those imperial censors. Have you ever seen such a spy? How can the emperor not be curious?"
"It's such a big quarrel?" Xu Zhiqian asked doubtfully, "Does Chen Yuteng have such great ability?"
"It's none of his business."
Xu Zun waved his hand and said, "The key lies in the timing. Wang Jiefu has been preparing for the reform. This case is like timely help to him. He used this to criticize the disaster of private debt in the court and demanded severe punishment for Chen Yuteng, while Li Si and Zeng were treated leniently.
But it also met with opposition from many people, and many officials believed that Zhang San was just playing word games and the government should ignore it. "
Xu Zhiqian stood up excitedly and said, "If we talk about this word game, it was Chen Yuteng who played it first. Why don't they say anything?"
"Why didn't you say that?"
Xu Zun sighed, "This is where the difficulty of this case lies. As the Grand Secretary Sima and the Prefect Lu all know, Zhang San is just using his own methods to punish others. Not to mention that Wang Jiefu tried his best to protect Li Si and Zeng, in fact, they themselves did not want to punish Li Si and Zeng, but they also did not agree with Wang Jiefu's argument and did not follow the law. However, if they were not dealt with together, there was no other solution, so it has been delayed until now."
Xu Zhiqian lowered his brows and thought for a moment, then said, "If Chen Yuteng takes the initiative to admit his fault and is willing to compensate Li Si as a sign of reconciliation, can it be resolved?"
Xu Zun stroked his beard and said, "The people follow private agreements, and the officials do not care."
Xu Zhiqian asked: "How much compensation do I have to pay?"
Xu Zun shook his head and said, "Then I don't know."
Xu Zhiqian murmured to himself, "Anyway, it won't be less than one hundred strings of cash."
"What did you say?"
"No...nothing."
Xu Zun didn't care, and suddenly asked Xu Zhiqian: "By the way! How was the conversation between the emperor and Zhang San?"
Xu Zhiqian curled her lips and said, "The emperor seems to like Zhang San very much, and even wants him to serve as an official in the court."
"Really?" Xu Zun said, "What did Zhang San say to make the emperor so happy?"
Xu Zhiqian then told Xu Zun about the conversation just now.
"I see."
Xu Zun nodded thoughtfully.
Xu Zhiqian snorted softly: "In fact, Zhang San's theory is not a profound one. I really don't understand why the emperor is so happy."
"What is a high theory?"
Xu Zun smiled and shook his head, then said: "Zhang San's argument not only points out the root cause of the problem, but also points out the solution. There is nothing more to it than this!"
Xu Zhiqian said: "But many senior officials in the court have also mentioned similar discussions."
Xu Zun sighed, "But none of them can explain it as clearly as Zhang San. Most of the senior officials in the court also talked about the harm of usury. However, the harm of usury is only made more obvious by trying to cover it up, and the danger lies in the burden on the people."
Xu Zhiqian was startled, then suddenly realized what was happening, thinking, it seems that person is really capable. But she said, "They are not unaware, but pretending not to know."
Xu Zun said with a smile: "So, we should solve it by law."