Chapter 291: Falling for It |
Actually, relatively speaking, the Northern Song had few corrupt officials compared to other dynasties, which was mainly due to the already excellent benefits they received.
Secondly, there was no restriction on land consolidation, which was very crucial, because high officials had many privileges – they could legally purchase large amounts of land while being exempt from taxes, making it very difficult for ordinary landlords to compete with them.
Finally, with a prosperous commercial sector, officials with business acumen all became extremely wealthy.
Therefore, to determine whether Northern Song officials had money, one didn’t look at the size of their official position, but rather at their business acumen and desire for wealth.
Officials like Sima Guang, Wang Anshi, Fu Bi, Wen Yanbo, and Zhao Bian – this group of chancellors – actually didn’t have much money at home. It wasn’t that they couldn’t make money, but rather that they simply weren’t interested in such things.
They wouldn’t even take advantage of the benefits the court freely offered them.
However, Gu Ji, who served as Director of the Imperial Treasury, was truly extremely wealthy. Speaking of official rank, his position wasn’t particularly high, and the Imperial Treasury currently only managed some ceremonial supplies – it wasn’t exactly a department with abundant opportunities for profit.
But the Gu family was very wealthy indeed.
This was because his family had originally been an official household and engaged in many businesses – silk fabrics, wine, sugar, grain, and so forth.
At noon that day, a luxurious carriage slowly stopped in front of the Gu residence gates.
The household steward immediately emerged with two servants and four maidservants, carefully helping Gu Ji down from the carriage.
Upon entering the main hall, tea and preserved fruits were all readily available.
After taking a sip of tea, Gu Ji suddenly seemed to remember something. “By the way! Has our carriage license been processed yet?”
The steward replied, “The General Police Bureau hasn’t relaxed the quota yet. Also, the young master mentioned wanting some kind of premium license plate, so I haven’t inquired about it.”
Gu Ji was momentarily stunned. “What premium license plate?”
The steward answered, “For example, sequential numbers like one-two-three-four, or identical numbers like four threes or four twos. Moreover, these premium plates have different carving craftsmanship and lacquer compared to ordinary license plates. I also felt that with your esteemed status, sir, you shouldn’t be the same as common people.”
Gu Ji nodded slightly. “That’s true enough, but they consistently refuse to relax the quota. Not only do they not give us special privileges, but they even let those merchants go before us. This really shows no respect for hierarchy – how outrageous.”
The steward asked cautiously, “Sir, do we still want this premium plate?”
After a moment’s contemplation, Gu Ji said, “Leave this matter to Qing’er to handle. In any case, this doesn’t prevent us from putting pressure on the Chamber of State Affairs.”
“Yes, I’ll remember that.”
The steward continued, “Also, this morning our shop on Embroidery Lane was hit by someone. It happened to be a lacquer transport carriage, and we lost quite a bit of embroidery.”
Gu Ji frowned upon hearing this and looked at the steward with displeasure. “For such a small matter, just let them handle it themselves. Is it worth bothering me about?”
The steward hastily explained, “But sir, it was a patrol police carriage that hit our shop.”
“Patrol police?”
Gu Ji was taken aback.
The steward nodded.
After pondering briefly, Gu Ji asked, “What’s the situation now?”
The steward replied, “Currently Manager Gu is still negotiating with them at the Patrol Inspection Office. The outcome isn’t clear yet.”
Gu Ji furrowed his brow. “They put up traffic signs and traffic regulations everywhere, yet now they’ve caused an accident themselves. This can’t be let go easily.”
He stroked his beard, then instructed, “Go check on this quickly. Whatever the situation, tell Manager Gu not to agree to anything for now.”
“Yes.”
Left District Patrol Inspection Office.
Since the General Police Bureau had just been established and was still under construction without an official opening, the patrol police were currently stationed at the military patrol posts.
“How outrageous!”
Cao Dongdong slammed his hand on the table.
Gu Yiyuan, the manager of Spring Breeze Ten Li, immediately trembled and said fearfully, “Young Master, I’m innocent! It was your carriage that hit my shop.”
Cao Dongdong glanced at him. “What are you afraid of? I wasn’t talking about you.”
Speaking of this, he suddenly looked at the trembling patrol police beside him. “How were you driving? There’s a perfectly good road, but you ran into someone’s shop instead. You’ve completely embarrassed me.”
The patrol police said, “Young Master, please forgive me. This… this really can’t be blamed on me. It was a corner, and I just happened to encounter another carriage. I couldn’t avoid it in time, so I crashed into it.”
“You’re still making excuses?”
Cao Dongdong glared at him angrily.
The patrol officer lowered his head.
Cao Dongdong then turned to Gu Yiyuan and asked, “How do you want to handle this?”
Gu Yiyuan said tremblingly, “Young Master, you see, I’m just working for someone else. Those fine embroideries are all ruined now. If we don’t get compensation, I won’t be able to explain this to my employer.”
“You still want compensation?”
Cao Dongdong’s eyes bulged with an intimidating presence. “This isn’t such a big deal. An apology should be enough.”
“Ah?”
Gu Yiyuan was dumbfounded. You damaged my goods, and I should apologize to you? “This… this probably won’t work.”
“What did you say?”
Cao Dongdong glanced at him sideways, his expression suggesting that if he said it again, he wouldn’t be leaving through that door.
If the person he was talking to were a proper official, Gu Yiyuan might dare to say a few more words, but this Cao Dongdong was thick-headed and unpredictable.
“Young Master!”
Zhang Fei at his side suddenly spoke up. “We should pay this compensation.”
Cao Dongdong glanced at him sideways, hesitated for a moment, then said, “I’ll leave this for you to handle.”
Zhang Fei immediately said to Gu Yiyuan, “Manager Gu, we can compensate you, but it must be at cost price, not market price.
Additionally, we must sign a settlement agreement, and you must also publicly state that we compensated you in full, without any coercion or pressure. How does that sound?”
This was much better than Gu Yiyuan had expected. The government damaged your goods and still compensated you in full – there was really nothing to complain about. Just as he was about to nod in agreement, someone outside shouted, “Is Manager Gu inside?”
Cao Dongdong frowned. “Who is it?”
Ma Xiaoyi ran in. “One of his shop assistants says there’s urgent business to discuss with him.”
Gu Yiyuan’s expression changed slightly. “Young Master, let me go see what this is about.”
Cao Dongdong nodded. “Go ahead.”
After Gu Yiyuan left, Cao Dongdong immediately whispered to Zhang Fei, “Will he really not agree?”
“Don’t worry. He can’t make this decision anyway, so whether he agrees or not doesn’t matter.”
Zhang Fei chuckled. “The Gu family isn’t short of this money. Using this small amount to annoy us – what could be more worthwhile than that?”
Cao Dongdong was still somewhat anxious. After all, Gu Yiyuan’s expression earlier had made him panic. “If he agrees, then we’ll have done all this work for nothing.”
“Don’t worry, don’t worry!” Zhang Fei laughed.
Ma Xiaoyi whispered, “Brother San, why don’t we just file a complaint directly?”
Zhang Fei replied, “That way, others might think we’re bullying people. We absolutely cannot give the common people that impression.”
After a while, Gu Yiyuan returned to the hall and bowed to Cao Dongdong. “Young Master, I cannot make this decision. I need to go back and ask my employer.”
Cao Dongdong asked in puzzlement, “You can’t make decisions about such a small matter?”
Gu Yiyuan said sheepishly, “This business doesn’t belong to me. I have no authority to make decisions!”
Cao Dongdong waved his hand impatiently. “Fine, fine, fine. Go back and discuss it quickly. I want an answer today at the latest, or I might change my mind.”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
Gu Yiyuan left the patrol inspection office but didn’t return to the shop. Instead, he went directly to the Gu family residence.
“In response to your question, sir, initially Young Master Cao was somewhat reluctant to pay compensation, but then Zhang San spoke up.”
“Zhang San?”
Gu Ji immediately asked, “What did Zhang San say?”
Gu Yiyuan replied, “Zhang San said they should pay compensation, but he demanded that it only be at cost price, and he also required us to publicly state that the police station compensated us in full without any coercion.”
Gu Ji smiled upon hearing this and asked, “How much did we lose in damaged goods?”
Gu Yiyuan said, “All the goods stored under the awning were destroyed, just to varying degrees. If we calculate everything, it’s probably seventy to eighty strings of cash. But if the other party haggles, even if they compensate sixty-odd strings, we won’t lose money.”
Gu Ji asked, “Are you calculating at cost price or market price?”
“Cost price, of course. At market price, even a hundred strings would be reasonable compensation.”
“Only a hundred strings?”
Gu Ji frowned and suddenly asked, “No one was injured, right?”
Gu Yiyuan hastily replied, “Fortunately, the clerk at the entrance had just gone inside to help, so no one was hit.”
“What a pity.”
Gu Ji showed a look of regret and continued, “Go calculate it, and calculate generously. Don’t let even the slightest loss slip by. In any case, use every possible method to calculate more money for me.”
“Master, this…”
“Didn’t you understand what I said?”
“Yes, yes, I… I understand.” Gu Yiyuan nodded repeatedly.
Seeing his anxious expression, Gu Ji couldn’t help but frown. After pondering briefly, he suddenly said, “You’re not good at this sort of thing. Go to Record Lane and find the Li family. Have them handle the negotiations. If they short us even one copper, I’ll sue them too.”
“Yes.”
Upon hearing this, Gu Yiyuan actually felt relieved.
“Go handle it quickly.”
“I take my leave.”
After Gu Yiyuan left, the house steward said, “Master, this will escalate the matter.”
“I want to escalate the matter.”
Gu Ji snorted, “How did Zhang San deal with Wang Wenshan and Wang Hong before? Wasn’t it all through litigation, escalating matters until the government had to settle things peacefully? Recently, the General Police Bureau has established all sorts of traffic regulations, yet they’re the first ones to overturn a cart. Hmph, this time I’ll give them a taste of their own medicine.”
The next day.
Patrol Inspection Office.
“Three hundred strings?”
Cao Dongdong angrily slammed the compensation notice on the table. “Do you think I have never dealt with embroidery? How could those few items possibly be worth three hundred strings?”
Ma Xiaoyi chimed in, “Brother is right. If we wanted to go into the embroidery business, you would be run out of business. In my opinion, those bits of embroidery and silk are worth maybe a few dozen strings at most.”
Gu Yiyuan glanced at Ma Xiaoyi and muttered to himself that these young masters really knew their goods!
Li Guozhong quickly said, “Please calm down. The account can’t be calculated that way.”
Zhang Fei asked coldly from the side, “Then how should it be calculated?”
Li Guozhong glanced at Zhang Fei, hesitated slightly, then said, “You see, when the cart crashed, paint splattered everywhere. It will take several days to clean up, and during those days we can’t do business. That loss must certainly be included in the calculation.”
Zhang Fei sneered, “Did the paint splash into the shop?”
Gu Yiyuan spoke up, “Although it didn’t splash inside the shop, with the outside looking like that, who would be willing to come in and browse? This will also damage the shop’s reputation.”
“What did you say?”
Cao Dongdong glared angrily.
Gu Yiyuan immediately fell silent.
Li Guozhong quickly said, “Manager Gu speaks the truth. Opening the shop without cleaning up the outside would leave customers with a bad impression. Also, the price can’t be calculated at cost. Many items are embroidered goods, and embroidery takes time, so it must be calculated at market price—consider these embroideries as sold to your police office. Additionally, the cleaning fees and the tables used to display the embroidery must all be included in the compensation.”
“Bang!”
Cao Dongdong slammed the table and jumped up, his face contorted with rage. “Outrageous! It’s always been me doing the extorting—ahem—how dare you try to extort me! Guards!”
“Please calm yourself.”
Zhang Fei quickly stepped forward to restrain Cao Dongdong, then said to Li Guozhong, “We cannot possibly agree to these conditions. At most, we’ll agree to compensate at market price.”
Ma Xiaoyi jumped up excitedly, “Brother San, they’re going too far! How can you agree to their demands?”
Cao Dongdong also pointed at him angrily, “Zhang San, I never thought you were such a coward.”
Zhang Fei frowned and said in a low voice, “Please consider the bigger picture. If your father finds out about this matter…”
“Hmph!”
Cao Dongdong turned his head away. “Little Ma, let’s go. This is utterly humiliating.”
The two stormed off angrily.
Zhang Fei actually breathed a sigh of relief, then said to Li Guozhong, “You saw that. These are our final terms—not one copper more is possible.”
Li Guozhong said apologetically, “I’m truly sorry, but we cannot reduce it by even one copper.”
Zhang Fei asked, “If we don’t agree, what do you plan to do?”
Li Guozhong replied, “Then we can only file a lawsuit.”
Zhang Fei sneered, “A lawsuit? Are you certain you want to do that? I, Zhang San, guarantee you that when this lawsuit is finished, the final result will be compensation at cost price. If it’s even one copper more, I, Zhang San, will never again appear in court to litigate.”
Li Guozhong said awkwardly, “I’m also acting on someone else’s behalf. My apologies.”
A flash of panic crossed Zhang Fei’s eyes. “Why don’t you go discuss it with your employer again? We’re willing to compensate at market price—that’s already an excellent offer.”
Li Guozhong thought for a moment and said, “Very well, I’ll go ask.”
“Much obliged.”
No sooner had Li Guozhong and Gu Yiyuan left than Cao Dongdong and Ma Xiaoyi slipped back in.
“Zhang San, how was our performance just now?” Cao Dongdong asked with a smug expression.
“Wow, it was absolutely fantastic.”
Zhang Fei said, “Young Master, I never imagined your acting skills had reached such a divine level.”
Ma Xiaoyi chuckled, “Well, of course. Big brother has to deceive his father and the Grand Empress Dowager—his methods are definitely impressive. Too bad I can only deceive my dad.”
“Ahem!” Cao Dongdong glared at him, then quickly changed the subject. “Zhang San, we’ve retreated another step. They won’t agree, will they?”
Zhang Fei smiled. “You can rest completely assured. The more we retreat, the less likely they are to agree. They’ll definitely hold firm against us.”
The Gu residence.
“Zhang San is willing to compensate at market price?” Gu Ji asked with evident delight.
Li Guozhong nodded. “That’s correct.”
Gu Ji stroked his beard. “I wonder what methods you employed to make them willing to make such a concession.”
Li Guozhong said, “I didn’t really use any particular methods. From what I can see, they don’t want to make escalate matters, which is why they’re willing to compromise.”
Just as this old man expected. Gu Ji suddenly looked toward Gu Yiyuan. “Manager Gu, didn’t you tell Mr Li about this my requirements?”
Li Guozhong quickly said, “Manager Gu already told me, but Zhang San isn’t someone to be trifled with either. If we litigate, I estimate that at most we’d get compensation at market price, but if the opposing side performs well, it might even drop to cost price. Now that the other party…”
This man really doesn’t understand the situation. Would this I care about those few dozen strings of cash? As long as we can ruin the reputation of that police station, it wouldn’t matter if we got no compensation at all. Gu Ji waved his hand. “Mr Li, please hurry back and write the complaint document.”
“Very well.”
Li Guozhong stood up, cupped his hands in salute, and said, “I take my leave.”
Gu Ji had the household steward escort him out. After they left, Gu Ji smiled coldly. “This time, this old man will also let Zhang San taste the pain of litigation!”