Several merchants selling threshers had been invited over by the yamen runners, and Tong Ruyu in prison was also brought to the lobby.
Thanks to Nan Nan's arrangement, Tong Ruyu did not suffer much in prison. Now that he is out and sees Nan Nan, he feels relieved. Since Nan Nan is here, he will be fine.
Seeing that the official sitting in the hall was no longer the previous prefect, he became curious about what had happened.
The merchants were kneeling in a row. They obviously knew what had happened in the hall and were trembling with fear. After all, they were the ones who colluded with the prefect to exploit the people.
"Please spare me, sir. It was the prefect who asked us to buy the blueprint at a high price. I spent five thousand taels to buy it. I am just doing business normally."
"Yes, I spent six thousand taels."
"I spent five thousand five hundred taels."
…
One by one, they began to shout out how much money they had spent on the blueprint, and to complain about their grievances. Bai Yuan looked at several merchants and calculated in his mind that this blueprint had made this gentleman earn tens of thousands of taels.
He glanced at the former prefect and smiled: "Your Excellency is really smart, you know how to make money. Of course, how many drawings you get is not important, what is important is, how much do you sell a thresher for?"
The merchants felt as if their throats were strangled and they could not utter a word, because the threshing machines in their stores were very expensive. The prices were not cheap, and the cheapest one was five taels of silver per machine.
Needless to say, the expensive ones are just to satisfy their own needs first. As for why Tong Ruyu was arrested, the main reason is that they were sold too cheaply.
Compared with Tong Ruyu's selling price, the merchants naturally dared not say anything. Bai Yuan looked at everyone helplessly: "What? Do you look down on me? You don't even answer my questions?"
The merchants were so frightened that they could only tell the prices they sold them at: "The cheapest one in our house is 5 taels, the most expensive is 10 taels, and if we rush, it's 20 taels per piece."
After listening to the merchants' quotations, Bai Yuan smiled and said, "Not bad, at least the common people are not cheated. They are so expensive that they can't afford them. Well, these things, you are allowed to deduct your own capital, and the others are all sold for only 200 coins each. The money you spent on the blueprints can be considered as this punishment, and it is not included in the capital."
Two hundred Wen is the price that Tong Ruyu sells it for. No matter what, these are all businessmen, and they will definitely rush in when they see the opportunity.
Besides, they didn't harm the poor people, so they should just be punished. When the merchants heard this, they knelt down and said, "Thank you, sir."
Bai Yuan glanced at Tong Ruyu standing there again: "Your name is Tong Ruyu, right? You care about the people wholeheartedly, and the threshing machines you sell are not expensive. You were also caught in jail by mistake. How about this, the government will buy all the threshing machines you sell this time, one tael of silver for each one, do you have any objection?"
"The threshing machines we bought will be distributed to all the villages. That's it. Do you have any other questions? If not, you can leave now."
What else could be the problem? These things have been dealt with, and the remaining things cannot be dealt with here.
The original prefect was taken into prison. When the merchant was speaking just now, the prefect did not refute a word, which was tantamount to his consent.
After the court was adjourned, the people outside dispersed. The group of frightened merchants also left, and the only ones left in the court were Mu Yexiao's family and Fang Xiaoxi's family.
Qian Jiujiu said, "Since everything is fine now, shouldn't Lord Bai move to Xianyou Town to sort out the remaining matters?"
The remaining matters would naturally be the responsibility of the Shi family. Bai Yuan nodded immediately: "Yes, in order to avoid any more trouble, let's set off for Xianyou Town now."
When the group came, they were in a grand procession. When they left, they were even more grand and there were even more people.
Xianyou Town. Ever since Mu Yexiao and Qian Jiujiu were taken away, the people of the entire Xianyou Town have been worried. They hope that nothing will happen to such a good county magistrate.
Shi Feixian had sent people to escort the old lady and the other two, but these two people were very nervous. After seeing the change in the government hall, they left immediately. Then they ran all the way back to the Shi family to find Shi Feixian.
"Miss, something bad has happened..."
After recounting what happened in the government office, Shi Feixian felt something was wrong when he heard Mu Yexiao and others coming over here.
She immediately found her mother and tearfully told her what she had done: "Mom, I really just wanted to teach Fang Xiaoxi a lesson. I didn't mean any harm."
Madam Shi Er didn't know what to say. This matter was not something that a woman in the inner house could decide. She gritted her teeth and went to find Shi Chengyu.
"Master, something happened..."
Shi Chengyu was dumbfounded after hearing this. His daughter was too good at getting into trouble. But now that things had turned out like this, it seemed that she couldn't even escape.
When Mu Yexiao and the others returned to Xianyou Town, it was already the next morning that the Shi family had prepared. As soon as they arrived at Xianyou Town, they were discovered by the people in the town and greeted them one by one.
"My Lord, you are back. Is everything ok?"
Seeing so many people caring about him, Mu Yexiao was very happy in his heart. He waved his hand and looked at everyone: "I'm fine, don't worry, everyone, go and do your own things."
Anyone who went out early in the morning must have something to do. Although Mu Yexiao repeatedly told everyone to go about their own business, the people still excitedly sent him to the gate of the county government.
Inside the county government office, the bailiffs all started to work. When they saw Mu Yexiao coming back, they happily rushed up to him and said, "Your Excellency is back."
Mu Yexiao hummed and said, "Send two people to the Shi family and bring everyone from the Shi family here."
Although the two yamen runners didn't know what the Shi family had done wrong, they still obeyed and went to take the people away. Mu Yexiao looked at Bai Yuan beside him and asked, "Master Bai, do you want to take the seat?"
Bai Yuan glanced at Mu Yexiao, and after confirming that Mu Yexiao was sincerely inviting him, he sat down in the main seat: "Okay, since I am the one who is going to try the case, then let me sit in the main seat. Let's get ready and start the court session."
The people then saw that an old lady and a group of people were brought back together. The old lady was a little worried, and she didn't know if it would be any use if she threw a tantrum.
Fang Xiaoxi's family and the old lady all knelt down and said, "Greetings, sir."
Bai Yuanen said, "County Magistrate Mu, please find a place to sit down and wait for the people from the Shi family to be brought up for punishment."
Tong Ruyu also came back with them. After all, there were already people selling threshers in the city. If they missed the business opportunity, they would have no chance anymore. It would be better to come back directly.
Tong Ruyan still lived in the county government office these days. When she heard her brother coming back, she rushed up to him and said, "Brother, you're back."
Tong Ruyu said, "I'm back. It's okay. Let's stand aside. Don't disturb the adults from trying the case here."
The brother and sister went to the side to reminisce about the past, and soon everyone from the Shi family was brought in. In addition to Shi Chengyu bringing his wife and daughter, Shi Chenglin also came with his wife.
He just wanted to see who was so bold as to bring his family members into the court even though he knew that he was an official in Kyoto.
He just looked at Bai Yuan who was sitting on the main seat and was stunned for a moment: "Master Bai, why are you here?"
Bai Yuan glanced at Shi Chenglin and said, "It turns out that it is really Lord Shi. I thought it was a misunderstanding at first! I didn't expect it to be true. Lord Shi would do such a thing."
Shi Chenglin felt a little uneasy after hearing this, and looked at Bai Yuan: "What do you mean, Lord Bai?"
Bai Yuan waved his hand and said, "Master Shi, please stand aside and watch for now. When I have tried the case, you will know what happened."
"Old lady, all the people from the Shi family have been brought here. Since you said that it was someone from the Shi family who forced you to go to the capital to file a complaint, then identify them."
The yamen runners were very serious about their work. They brought the people from the Shi family that the adults mentioned, not even letting go of the cleaning servants, and brought them all in.
The old lady stood up and walked back and forth in front of the Shi family, trying to find the person who led them. As a result, she found that there were no two people at all, and she couldn't help but frowned, but she saw a little girl.
"She, it was her. She was the one who gave us the money and arranged for someone to take us to the capital."
The person who was identified was none other than Shi Feixian's maid, who had come from Kyoto with Madam Shi. The moment she was identified, she knew that she was finished.
Shi Chenglin still didn't know what happened. "No, Lord Bai, what's going on? Who is this old lady?"
Bai Yuan was in a good mood when he saw someone being pointed out, so he explained: "This old lady sued her son for being unfilial in the prefectural government office, but I found out that it was a lie, so she said that people from your mansion forced her to go. She is just a commoner, so she had no choice but to obey, and now they have even found the person."
Shi Chenglin's face was very ugly. He had only been back for a few days. How could someone in the mansion do such a thing? Unless it was someone from his second brother's family, but the one who was identified was brought by her from Kyoto.
Looking at the maid who was identified: "Tell me, what's going on?"
The maid knew in her heart that she was doomed, but she still wanted to argue: "Master, I am innocent. After I came to the Shi family, I have been following the young lady and never went out. How could I know this old lady?"
"Old lady, please don't accuse me. I have never seen you before."