It took a full stick of incense to list no less than fifty crimes against Su Ren, and all of them were conclusive. If these crimes were proven true, not to mention ninth- and fifth-rank officials, twenty-rank princes would be killed.
It's still not over yet.
The more he heard about Chang Shi, the more regretful he felt. Several Cao rafters encouraged themselves to give Su Ren a show of strength. This was good, the power of the show was strong, but if not, they would have to join in. Looking at those Cao rafters, they were salivating one by one and wished they could kill him.
Su Ren chopped it up and ate it, and Chang Shi lamented for the Cao rafters. Ever since Su Ren came to Chengdu, these Cao rafters had really had a hard time. They were suppressed by Su Ren in everything they did. Today they can finally be released.
"Mr. Su, what else do you have to say?" Qihu Cao looked at Su Ren fiercely.
Su Ren slowly put down the tea cup, looked at Chang Shi, and said with a smile: "The prefect's tea is really not as good as my family's. I will have someone bring some over tomorrow. This tea will be greasy after long drinking. We eat meat often and should drink more."
."
"Su Ren!" Bing Cao shouted: "Today you must give an explanation to the people of Shu County. Don't evade the important and take the easy."
Su Ren still ignored Bing Cao and continued to say to Chang Shi: "In addition to tea, there is also wine. You must drink less wine. Drinking too much will harm your health. The prefect entertained everyone with tea today. I am very pleased. Tea is abundant in Shu. If
If you can make people all over the world drink tea and drink less alcohol, not to mention how much wealth it can bring to Shu County, the amount of food saved every year through brewing is probably not a small amount."
"I think the prefect should report this matter to the court. The Empress Dowager is in good health. It would be a great thing if she can get the approval of the Empress Dowager! Prefect? Prefect?"
Su Ren called out twice before he came to his senses. He didn't understand that Su Ren completely ignored everyone's questioning and instead talked to him about tea. But according to what Su Ren said, he could also get favor from the court.
Paying attention, he nodded quickly: "Junior brother, I will remember what I said!"
"Prefect, this Su Renming is stubborn. Please order this person to be handed over to Jue Cao and interrogated severely. We are not afraid that he will not explain his guilt!" Qihu Cao shouted the loudest and naturally took the most money from shopkeeper Hu.
.
Su Ren bowed deeply to Chang Shi, then turned around and looked at Qihu Cao. Qihu Cao couldn't help but take a step back. Su Ren smiled: "Does Qihu Cao hate me so much?"
"You are wrong. I have no enmity or enmity with you. I only do it for the people of Shu County!"
"Okay, since Qihu Cao is for the people of Shu County, let's talk about it. Let's talk about the first thing first. Qihu Cao said that I deceived the merchants of Shu County. I dare to ask you which business is not the result of mutual discussion. I
I neither forced Shopkeeper Hu and others to pay with a knife, nor did I go to their house to threaten them. They came to my store and were willing to pay a high price to buy colorful stones. Is this considered fraud?"
"You, you!" Qihu Cao was speechless for a moment. Shopkeeper Hu said quickly: "You deliberately set up a trap to make us think that the worthless colorful stones are worth a lot of money. Isn't this fraud?"
"Set up a trap? What trap? If you weren't greedy, how could you get in even if I set up a trap? Besides, I didn't set up a trap. Do you remember the auction at Cuixiang Building? Shopkeeper Hu and Mr. Han wanted to get a piece of
The multicolored stone, I just had to roll up my sleeves and fight. If I hadn't dropped the gavel in a hurry, I'm afraid shopkeeper Hu would have been willing to spend 100,000 yuan to buy that transparent multicolored stone, right?"
Shopkeeper Hu had nothing to say, and Su Ren would not give him a chance to speak. He turned around and looked at Qihu Cao: "Qihu Cao, do you think there is any evidence for my fraud? Although I am not an official, if someone makes a false accusation, then
Don't blame me for falling out?"
"Let's not talk about the distant ones, let's talk about Qihu Cao. As a household Cao, his monthly salary is only ten dan. Qihu Cao served as a household Cao in Shu County for six years. What was he like when he came? You should still remember that he was dressed in ragged clothes and had only one person.
Old slave, where are you now? There are thirty houses in the east of the city, fifty acres of fertile land outside the city, and no less than a hundred servants at home. Dare I ask how many years it will take to get so many things with Qihu Cao's salary, even if he doesn't eat or drink?
moon?"
"And you, Bing Cao. I have been a Bing Cao for a few days. When it comes to setting up county soldiers, you are always trying to push back. One is that there is no money in the county, and the other is that there is no armor in the treasury. Let me ask you, since the prefect Wen took office, every year the court and the
The subordinate yamen will allocate 100,000 yuan to the county soldiers. I have 30,000 soldiers in Shu County. You don’t need to worry about food and salary. Free Lieutenant Cao Zhangluo. Although my Shu County belongs to the border county, it has been peaceful for many years. I dare to ask where the 100,000 yuan is.
Where?"
"Let me also do the math for you. The Bing Cao is the same as the Hu Cao, with a monthly salary of ten stones. You are from Shu County, and you all know some of the land. After serving as the Bing Cao for ten years, your house has changed from three rooms to
Now fifty years old, the land has grown from one to a hundred, the number of servants in the house has increased from ten to more than three hundred, and he has even married ten concubines, raised a team of singing prostitutes, and how many soldiers can he earn with his salary?
Year?"
Listening to Su Ren's words, those who originally stood with Qihu Cao unconsciously took a step back.
"You are all the same. You keep saying this for the sake of the people of Shu County, and you say this out of conscience! Where were you when I led people to guard Chengdu City? Where were you when I rebuilt the county soldiers? Where were you when I wiped out the bandits? I
Su Ren is not a good person, I admit that, but I did not serve as a market leader for half a year just for myself, opened up a trade route to the Qiang region, served as a soldier for a few days, and guarded Chengdu from the rebels;
After a while, the school captain led his men to eliminate the surrounding bandits. If any of you can say something that will make you look good, I will refund all the money of Hu without saying a word!"
It was so quiet in the lobby that you could hear a pin drop. Su Ren stared at everyone's face and glanced at everyone's face. Anyone who met Su Ren's eyes inadvertently lowered their heads quickly.
"There are four of you! Seeing that the Sichuan Chamber of Commerce is booming, you immediately got together and harmed everyone for your own benefit. I was dismissed from office. You think the Shuzhong Chamber of Commerce is dead. Okay! I didn't stop you from leaving. Since there are
If you have the guts to go against the Sichuan Chamber of Commerce, then wait for my revenge! To tell you the truth, I set up a trap for you this time, and you just jumped in like this, which only shows how stupid you are."
"The colorful stones I made are really stones, but they are not from the mines. They are made by me. You can have as many as you want, in any shape you want, as big as you want, as beautiful as you want. These things
The cost is only two yuan. By the way, let me tell you one more thing. This thing is of no use at all. Apart from being used as a decoration, it is also fragile. Shopkeepers should be careful to store it after returning home. If it breaks, it will be damaged twice in a row.
There’s no money left!”
Su Ren stood up, saluted Chang Shi, and glanced at everyone present: "I've finished my words. If you want to fight to the death, I don't care. It depends on whether you are willing to give up all your wealth to fight with me. No need to give up, I
I’m waiting at my home in Xishi, whoever wants to come can just come!”
He held his head high when he came in, and he still held his head high when he went out. Everyone, including Chang Shi, watched Su Ren swaggering out of the office. Shopkeeper Hu wanted to cry a few times, but as soon as he showed some signs, he stood aside
Qihu Cao kicked him to the ground hard: "Come on, lock up these black-hearted guys!"
More than a dozen officials swarmed in, and without any explanation, they grabbed the four merchants and dragged them out. Everything returned to its original calm. Everyone looked at Chang Shi, who sat there motionless, and the tea bowl in his hand did not move.
After a while, he sighed, got up and walked back.
Chang Yuan followed Chang Shi at a distance of just one step, not too far but not too close. Turning around the corridor, Chang Shi suddenly asked: "What do you think Su Ren is going to do?"
Chang Yuan didn't speak, and Chang Shi said again: "I think a lot of what he said today was meant for me, especially that sentence, whoever wants to go against him will have to give up all his wealth. Is this a threat?"
Chang Yuan still didn't speak. Chang Shi looked back at him, and Chang Yuan stood calmly: "You don't want to say it, or don't you want to say it?"
Chang Shi also smiled, and then sighed: "This time we did go a bit too far. We offended Su Ren for 50,000 yuan. If Su Ren doesn't leave, our life in Shu County will be difficult!"
"Su Ren will go to Chang'an in a while!" Chang Yuan said suddenly.
Chang Shi shook his head and smiled bitterly: "When people leave, their thoughts are still there. What's the difference between this and not leaving?"
When he got home, the sun had already set. Su Ren took off his robe to cool himself down. While fanning himself, Huang Shisan asked Huang Shisan to find some herbal tea for himself to quench his thirst. After a trip to the government office, he was indeed very angry.
The dogs in Shu County wanted to tear off a piece of flesh from their bodies. Could it be that they were easy to bully? After taking two sips of herbal tea, the anger in their chests subsided a little.
Huo Laosi came in, holding a roll of bamboo slips in his hand. He looked at Su Ren and laughed: "Brother Ren is still angry? Now that we have established a firm foothold in Chengdu, let alone ordinary things, even Prefect Wen cannot easily
Whatever we do, don’t worry, Shopkeeper Cui and I will take good care of this stall."
Su Ren nodded: "I'm not worried about this, I'm just angry. What a group of vampires said in front of me for the sake of the people of Shu County, do you think it's ridiculous?"
Teacher Huo nodded repeatedly: "That's right, without Brother Ren, we wouldn't have such a good life. Maybe we would still be selling private salt in warm water! I was molested by my beloved, and I didn't dare to say a word."
"Hahaha..." Su Ren laughed loudly: "You can't blame me for this, Leng Jun did it all!"
Joking makes people relax. Su Ren's mood improved a lot. He drank the herbal tea in several sips and looked at the bamboo slips in Huo Laosi's hand: "What is this?"
Huo Laosi quickly presented it to Su Ren: "It's an account book. It's almost the beginning of the month, and the money for the officials is being prepared."
"Oh! How many are there?"
"In total, there are about 50,000 to 60,000 Ling Ling, and the prefect has the most, 20,000 per month!"
"Twenty thousand, this common thing is really nothing. I give him 20,000 every month, and he still wants it. Starting from next month, the money given to common things will be halved!"
Huo Laosi frowned: "Brother Ren...!"
"Listen to me, cut it in half!"
"No!" Huo Laosi sighed and nodded. (To be continued)