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

The scholar Gao Yu, who had been listening for a long time, sneered: "Tsk, you are a coward, you really deserve to be bullied! It's not the time when you were almost trying to commit suicide. You shouldn't have let Mr. Lin help you."

After hearing this, Mr. Liu seemed to shudder slightly, but he still hunched his back and did not respond.

"Sir, if he won't speak, I'll speak for him."

As soon as Gao Yu said this, Liu Laoguan suddenly raised his head with some panic in his eyes. It was obvious that he wanted to stop him but didn't dare to.

"Sir, Liu Laogong couldn't pay the rent due to poor harvest, so the Li family forced him to borrow money from their family to pay the rent.

But the borrowed money has to be paid with interest. Liu Laoguan’s family worked so hard for a year and not only did they not pay back the money, but the interest kept increasing, and there was also new land rent to pay…”

Li Yun said, "He can't pay the rent, so he has to pay interest if he borrows money from others. How is that different from borrowing from me? Paying rent for renting land and repaying debts are all natural things, right? How can this be considered a sin?"

This is indeed hateful, but it is also hard to say that it is a sin.

"Your family is big and powerful, do you really need that little rent from Mr. Liu?"

Li Yun was even more disdainful: "Just because my family doesn't need it, does that mean he doesn't have to pay? Since his family rented my land, they should pay rent. If all tenants don't pay rent, what will my family eat?"

Gao Yu was immediately angry again.

"Li Yun, you are really shameless.

Soft leases can be deferred. You know that he can pay it back if you defer for another season or two, but you still rush to collect the rent before the harvest. Aren't you just trying to force him to borrow money from you so that you can collect interest?

Do you need that little bit of interest? Why are you so calculating and forcing a tenant farmer like this?"

"At the time, we agreed that the soft lease could be deferred for two seasons. I have already deferred it for two seasons. I have done my best. Why should I defer it for another season?"

Gao Yu was speechless for a moment.

Qin Yunhe's heart was moved: "Mr. Liu, how much interest do you want when you lend the money to the Li family?"

"Sir, three points of profit."

"How much did you borrow, and how much interest did you pay in total?"

"Sir, my family borrowed six taels, and the interest totaled... three taels and four cents."

Qin Yunhe nodded.

Gao Yu turned back and continued his statement.

"... When Liu Laoguan's family couldn't pay back the money, Li Yun forced them to give their granddaughter to them as a slave to pay off the interest. Later, Liu's family still couldn't pay back the money, and they continued to charge interest, so they asked Liu Laoguan to give their grandson to them as well. Liu Laoguan refused to go himself, and insisted on taking his grandson.

Mr. Liu felt that he couldn't live any longer and wanted to commit suicide. I happened to see him and then I learned the whole story."

Gao Yu glanced at Liu Laoguan angrily and said, "I felt pity for him at the time, so I asked Mr. Lin to intercede for him. Only then did Li Yun waive his interest and postpone the repayment deadline."

Li Yun sneered after hearing this, and her face was not good. "I was willing to suffer this loss because I respected your reputation, but who knew you were so ungrateful! If you want to talk about bullying, isn't it bullying that you let me waive the interest by relying on your reputation?"

After hearing this, Lin Chan and others all looked very unhappy.

The actions of Lin Chan and others were certainly righteous, but it was also natural for Li Yun to collect interest.

Unless the tenant admits that he was forced to borrow the money, Li Yun's behavior of collecting interest, although shameless, is not against the law.

Lin Chan said after a long while: "Does your family need that little interest? Are you forcing others to pawn their granddaughter to you?"

Qin Yunhe shook his head. This group of scholars meeting Li Yun was like a scholar meeting a soldier.

but.

Qin Yun thought to himself that Li Yun was probably really used to being a bully in the countryside and really thought that collecting interest was a natural thing and he could do whatever he wanted.

"Li Yun, is it true that Mr. Liu's granddaughter's interest was deducted?"

Li Yun said, "Your Excellency, Mr. Liu's granddaughter was indeed mortgaged with interest. But I did not force her to do so. She voluntarily mortgaged it to me."

Mr. Liu also nodded quickly: "Yes, sir, I am willing to give my granddaughter to Mr. Li."

Qin Yunhe nodded: "Mr. Liu, how much interest did your granddaughter pay off?"

Liu Laoguan was stunned for a moment, and said, "My Lord, it's worth three taels."

"Is this three taels included in the three taels and four cents you paid back?"

Liu Laoguan obviously didn't know how to answer this question. He glanced at Li Yun quietly before saying, "My lord, he's not here..."

Qin Yunhe then said, "Li Yun, do you know that the law prohibits using someone else's wife, concubines, or children to pay off a debt?"

Li Yun and Liu Laoguan were both stunned.

Liu Laoguan quickly said, "Sir, I volunteered to do this, Master Li didn't force me to do it."

"Fortunately, I was not forced. If I had taken it by force, I would have committed an even greater crime."

Li Yun obviously had no idea that it was forbidden to use someone's wife, concubines, or children to pay off debts.

He seemed to be a little bit unconvinced by Qin Yunhe's words, and frowned and said, "Sir, he couldn't pay off his debts and used his granddaughter to pay them off. This has always been the case among the people. What's the crime? If he can't pay back the money, can I still ask for the debt?"

There are indeed many cases in the society where debtors are forced to use their wives, concubines and children to pay off their debts, but no one sues them and they are generally not pursued.

But this does not mean that the population can be used to pay off debts.

"If a person defaults on a private debt of more than five taels and fails to repay it within three months, he shall be flogged ten times. The punishment shall be increased by one level for each month, up to a maximum of forty lashes.

If he can't pay the debt, you can go to the government office and tell him, and he will be punished by law. But you shouldn't let him use his granddaughter to pay off the debt privately. Moreover, "

Qin Yunhe looked at Li Yun and said, "According to the law, no matter how much you lend, no matter how many years you borrow, you can only get one interest for the principal. He borrowed six taels, no matter how long it takes, you can only get six taels at most. He paid you three taels and four cents in interest, and used his granddaughter to pay off three taels, which is more than..."

After hearing this, Li Yun's expression changed and she no longer had the arrogance she had just now.

Lin Chan and a few others became excited when they heard that there was a law that could punish him.

On the other hand, Mr. Liu looked miserable.

Qin Yunhe ignored everyone's reaction and continued, "This crime has been determined. We will discuss the crime later. Let's talk about the bullying of the neighbors first. Where are the neighbors?"

After hearing what Qin Yunhe said, Gao Yu immediately stepped forward and bowed: "Sir, the student is his neighbor."

Qin Yunhe raised his eyebrows: "Tell me, what's going on?"

"Sir, the Li family is overbearing. They often have their ridges driven to neighboring fields. Whenever we argue with them, we are often insulted and driven away by their servants.

Later, the Li family took a fancy to my family's land and wanted to buy it and merge it with his own land. The student failed to reach an agreement on the price, so he kept ordering his servants to come to my family's fields to cause trouble, and even destroyed my crops in the middle of the night..."

Destroying people’s crops.

Qin Yunhe frowned. The Li family was really domineering.

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"Although the years and months are many, the interest is still the same as the principal" means that no matter how long the loan is, at most the interest can only be the same as the principal, and cannot exceed it.

The rule that children cannot be used to pay off debts is based on the rules of the Qing Dynasty. The punishment for not paying back debts is also based on the rules of the Qing Dynasty - just a reference, this article itself is fictional