Rebirth: From being expelled from the imperial court to becoming a high-ranking official

"Of course you are on his side!" Lin Chan and others who were listening to the trial did not buy it: "Especially Gao Juncai, you are a family, right? You said that if the ancestral graves are not together, then they are not together? How do you know that they are not separated when the clan split up?"

Gao Yuan was right. After this incident, I'm afraid he has been despised by the gentry.

In fact, maybe Lin Chan and others were more dissatisfied with him than the Li brothers.

The old man who started to speak frowned and said, "Young man, how can you fake it when the ancestral tomb is right there? If you don't believe me, come with us and take a look, and you'll know.

I've already said that Juncai and the others just happened to have the same surname, what good would it be for us to lie to the inspector?"

"Who knows if you guys have colluded? You're all neighbors, so you're naturally thinking about him."

The other neighbors who came to testify for Gao Yuan also began to refute at once.

"You can't say this nonsense. The inspector is here. How dare we lie about such a big thing? We will be punished."

"Whether this is true or not, it won't affect our lives."

"Why don't you come with us and take a look..."

Lin Chan and the others were all scholars, and they were not good at speaking, so they were suddenly speechless.

Gao Yuan then spoke: "Mr. Lin, then tell me, what evidence do you want to believe that my family is indeed innocent? Tell me, and I will find it."

Yes, what else is there to prove?

The population register, family tree, neighbors, and ancestral tombs are all that can prove anything.

If these are not enough to prove it, what other evidence can he produce?

Lin Chan and the others naturally couldn't think of anything else and were speechless.

The reason they refused to give in was simply because they were still filled with resentment after being locked up for so long.

"Okay." Qin Yunhe slammed the gavel, and the hall fell silent.

"Gao Yuan has a clean background, this is indisputable."

After these words were spoken, Lin Chan and others looked obviously unwilling.

Finally, a scholar spoke up: "Sir, even if Gao Yuan has a clean background, he acted as a guarantor for a lowly person, shouldn't he be punished?"

Qin Yunhe had a slight headache and felt a little annoyed.

He finally understood why Gao Yuan couldn't get along with these people.

Gao Yuan is a pragmatic person who considers things from the perspective of pros and cons. However, these people act purely on impulse.

Without considering the consequences at all.

Qin Yunhe originally wanted to find out that Gao Yuan had a clean background.

One is that he does have some admiration for Gao Yuan.

Another thing is, there is more than one Gao Yuan who acted as guarantor for the Li family. If Gao Yuan is punished, should the other scholars involved be punished?

If the others were not punished, it would be obviously unfair. If the others were punished, several people would be implicated.

Apparently, some of the other scholars had thought of this as well, and they secretly tugged at the scholar's sleeve.

Qin Yunhe looked at Gao Yuan who was standing in the hall with his head down, sighed in his heart, and felt a little sympathy for him.

It is not easy for the whole family to escape here and find a place to stay, let alone to offer up a scholar.

But it would be fine if no one brought it up. Now that someone has brought it up, Qin Yunhe can't let it go easily.

After a moment's silence, Qin Yunhe said, "Gao Yuan... I have the audacity to provide a guarantee, so I will suspend one exam."

In the end, Qin Yunhe did not mention the other people who had guaranteed the Li family. He just hoped that no one would mention it again.

He finally understood better Tian Fen's unfair punishment of Zhang Yu.

Gao Yuan didn't react much, he just bowed and accepted the penalty.

The neighbors who came to testify for Gao Yuan looked at each other with sighs in their eyes, obviously feeling sorry for him.

The scholar who demanded that Gao Yuan be punished was still muttering to himself, obviously still dissatisfied with the punishment given to Gao Yuan.

Finally, Gao Juncai could no longer bear it: "You are all scholars and juren, if you keep chasing me like this, aren't you afraid that one day you will accidentally become a guarantor for a lowly person and be punished?"

The scholar said disdainfully: "I'm not afraid. Why would I be a guarantor for a lowly person?"

"Who would really be willing to check a person's entire family history as a guarantor? Unless you never guarantee anyone."

The scholar muttered a few more words and finally shut up.

Seeing that no one had any more objections, Qin Yunhe asked everyone to retreat outside the hall and summoned Li's tenants to come into the hall.

One of the accusations made by Lin Chan and others was that the Li family oppressed tenants and neighbors.

Three or four tenants of the Li family came and kowtowed to the emperor as soon as they entered.

"Everyone, stand up. Someone has reported that the Li family is oppressing their tenants. Do you have anything to say?"

A tenant farmer in his 40s or 50s spoke first: "Your Excellency, the rents of the lands of all the lords in our county are about the same, so there is no such thing as oppression or no oppression."

Another tenant said, "Yes. Mr. Li's family can choose between hard rent and soft rent, which is great."

"Yes, Uncle Li even lent us a cow..."

When Lin Chan and others heard this, they became anxious.

"Mr. Liu, have you forgotten how your granddaughter became his maid? It was so difficult that your grandson had to be given to his family. Now you say you haven't been bullied?"

Mr. Liu said, "Mr. Lin, that's not what you said. Farmers should pay rent. Even if it's not Mr. Li's family, you still have to pay rent if you rent land from other families."

Lin Chan was furious: "You have to pay the rent, but is that normal for his family to charge? You were originally renting a soft lease, but he kept adding interest. Isn't that why you can't pay it back? Do you think your granddaughter is not a human being just because you saved your grandson? You forgot so quickly."

Mr. Liu just lowered his head and pleaded: "Mr. Lin, it's not like that. I can't pay the interest that I borrowed from Mr. Li. I have to pay rent wherever I go."

Lin Chan and others were so angry.

"Didn't you remember that it was a bad year and his family changed their lease from hard rent to soft rent, which forced you to borrow money?"

"No," Liu Laoguan continued, "We couldn't pay the hard rent, so Mr. Li was kind enough to convert it to a soft lease for us."

It seems that Lin Chan and others think that these tenants are ungrateful.

Lin Chan and the others suddenly seemed to have figured something out, and said, "Don't be afraid, Mr. Liu. This is the inspector, not the magistrate. If you have any grievances, just tell us, and the inspector will make the decision for you."

Qin Yunhe could clearly see that Mr. Liu looked very embarrassed.

Qin Yunhe looked at Li Yun's face with a look of disdain.

Maybe Mr. Liu really had many dissatisfactions in the past, but now, it seems that he has no dissatisfactions.

Not to mention that these tenants will continue to rent the Li family's land in the future, if Li Yun knew about the accusations of Lin Chan and others, he would probably have found a way to appease his tenants long ago.

What the Li family lacks the least is probably benefits.

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Hard rent means that the amount is fixed and must be paid on time regardless of the harvest. Soft rent means that in times of poor harvest, the rent can be paid later or in less amount - but you still have to pay it later.

Then it is said that soft lease will be slightly higher than hard lease.

Both of these are fixed leases.