[Qing Chuan] Mu Emperor's Grace

After Liu Quan's injury healed, He Shen took leave of absence from the official school, and the master and servant embarked on the journey to Baoding.

He Shen rode a horse to the official road, looking left and right along the way, and everything he saw felt fresh.There is no smoke in the air, replaced by the smell of horse dung on the official road.

After walking like this for a day or two, Liu Quan hired a carriage when he saw that his face was tired.He Shen took the car, Liu Quan drove the car, and arrived in Baoding in four or five days.

The two repaired at the inn, and then came to visit.Lai's five senses are not big, but the house is not small, and it is not bad compared with the courtyard of Heshen's family in the capital.

Liu Quan stepped forward and knocked on the door of Lai's house, but the housekeeper only opened the door a crack, saw Liu Quan's shabby clothes, and closed the door without saying a word.Liu Quan was not a vegetarian either, so he held on to the crack of the door, trying not to let the butler close the door.He Shen stepped forward at the right time, and said in a gentle voice, "Please tell your master that Niu Hulu Shanbao is visiting."

The housekeeper was competing with Liu Quan. Seeing that He Shen was well-dressed and polite, his face softened a little, and he said, "Wait." Then he closed the door again taking advantage of Liu Quan's unpreparedness.

Liu Quan spit on the ground: "It's just a watchdog, what's the air!"

He Shen turned his head and glanced at him, and persuaded him in the usual tone: "Be safe and don't be impatient."

After about a quarter of an hour, the door of Lai's house opened, and Lai Wu took a look at the two of them, then walked towards Heshen with a smile on his face.

"Young master, how fast these days go! I think back then when the villain first met young master, he was still a baby, but now he has grown so big."

He Shen nodded to him, and the two exchanged some pleasantries, then Lai Wu led He Shen into the room, and the table was filled with good dishes in a short time.Lai Wu stood aside, serving dishes for He Shen, and said with a smile: "Young master came in a hurry, and there is no food at home. I think the young master will not like such rough food."

He Shen didn't care what Lai Wu said, just ate and drank enough, rinsed his mouth with tea, and explained to Lai Wu why he came.

"When my father was around, I always mentioned you and said that you were doing things properly. Now that my father passed away suddenly, and the family suffered from this change, all expenses were very tight. It was just when money was urgently needed, so I came to Baoding and wanted to borrow money from you. some silver."

As soon as the words came out, the smile on Lai Wu's face faded a bit: "I don't know how much the young master wants to borrow?"

He Shen stretched out a finger towards him, and Lai Wu raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "Ten taels? It's easy to say, easy to say, I'll let someone fetch it."

Unexpectedly, He Shen shook his head and said firmly, "100 taels."

The smile on Lai Wu's face froze, and he said in a deep voice: "In recent years, there has been a severe drought in Baoding, and the fields have often failed to harvest. Now that the Lord Long Live is touring the south, the people in Baoding also have to donate money and food. The mere few acres of land, often After this conversion, there is not much money left. If the young master wants a small change, Lai Wu can make it up for you, but for the 100 taels, even if you sell me, you still can’t make up this amount.”

After hearing this, He Shen was not as angry as Liu Quan, but just calculated in his heart: when Chang Bao was still alive in the early years, the grains that Lai Wu handed over to his family were often insufficient; , Lai Wu even blatantly reduced the handed-in share to [-]-[-]%.The family was thinking about the old love, so they turned a blind eye, but they didn't expect that now that they were in a hurry to collect tuition fees, Lai Wu would shirk it in every possible way.

He Shen glanced at the triumphant Lai Wu, and knew that this man was a bastard, with a face like a brazen wall.Don't talk nonsense with him anymore, after all, the land deed is in your own hands.He led the furious Liu Quan out of Lai's house, and handed over a lawsuit to Baoding Mansion.

In the courtroom, He Shen bluntly said that the grain turned in by Lai Wu every year is short of a catty or two, and now he clearly has more money, but he is dying.I never thought that the magistrate of Baoding and Lai Wu had already colluded, and they just waited for He Shen to come to the door.Before even hearing the rationale, the magistrate slapped the gavel and accused He Shen of trying to extort money out of nothing in front of the audience.

Liu Quan was trembling with anger, and almost blurted out the word "dog officer", but was stared back by He Shen with sharp eyes.

Until the two left the government office, Liu Quan's expression was still sullen. He Shen took out two copper coins from his bosom, bought two steaming buns, and handed one of them to Liu Quan.

After eating the hot buns, Liu Quan quickly forgot the anger in the courtroom, looked at He Shen anxiously and said, "Master, what should we do, we can't go back empty-handed, it's embarrassing."

He Shen remembered that he was in the government office just now, and Lai Wu said arrogantly to himself: "Young Master, if you are really in a hurry to use the money, why don't you sell the land, the land deed is dead, but the sale is alive."

He Shen knew that in ancient times, selling land meant selling ancestral property.The ancients had a strong sense of ancestors, and selling a house or land is disrespectful to the ancestors, and people will poke their backs and scold them.Lai Wuxuan urged him to sell the land, obviously out of good intentions, and wanted to humiliate Heshen.

But he miscalculated a bit, today's He Shen has changed his core, and he doesn't have those feudal ethics in his mind.In his opinion, selling land is indeed a good way to raise money. As for what others think, he really doesn't care.

After making up his mind, He Shen asked Liu Quan to find the seller.In the early morning of the next day, He Shen had just finished washing up when he saw Lai Wu looking for the inn with a look of hospitality.

Seeing He Shen, he said with a smile on his face: "The young master has figured it out. If you want to sell the land, the villain knows an excellent buyer."

"Oh?" He Shen watched Lai Wu's self-directed and self-acted tricks while having breakfast.

"Young master, do you still remember the magistrate who was in the courtroom yesterday, the Qingtian master Mu Lianzhang of our Baoding mansion."

He Shen sneered, of course he remembered that Baoding parent official who turned black and white and pretended to be public for personal gain.It seems that since he was promoted yesterday, he has been coveting the land in his hands.

"Make a price." He Shen didn't bother to go around with him, took the handkerchief and wiped his hands, waiting for Lai Wu to give the price.

"Sell live for 500 taels. To be honest, Baoding's harvest has not been good these years. This price is still the magistrate..."

"Absolute sale." He Shen interrupted Lai Wu's words.As soon as these words came out, even Liu Quan was stunned.

Liu Quan leaned into He Shen's ear and said softly: "Master, if you are like this, if Madam asks..."

He Shen glanced at him, saw his perplexed face, and said softly: "Madam asked, and said it was my idea. This land is absolutely for sale, 1000 taels."

Shocked by his aura, Lai Wu nodded for a while, and the corners of his mouth raised uncontrollably: "Okay, okay, the young master is really refreshing, so it's settled, 1000 taels, never to be changed, never to be redeemed. "

Lai Wuzhidang Heshen is young and not deeply involved in the world.Urging Heshen to sign the land sale deed, agreeing to rewrite the book the next day, after cutting the money and food, he happily went back to the Yamen to report to the officials and pay taxes.In this way, Lai Wu negotiated a big deal for Mu Lianzhang.

He Shen stood in front of the window of the inn, looking at the blue sky outside the window, and remembered a sentence he had read in a book: "In a city, there are eleven people with land, and nineteen people without land." In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, land annexation was serious At that time, officials and gentry monopolized the land in the countryside, and countless owner farmers became tenant farmers due to heavy taxes and levies.

In the feudal dynasty, everything was low-grade, and only reading was high.Only by studying can you enter the cabinet and worship the prime minister, and you can become a close minister of the emperor.And to continue studying in Xian'an Palace Official School, you need a lot of money.

He Shen understands the rules of this era: he wants to study, he wants to be an official...

On the way back, He Shen was sitting in the carriage, and the master and servant were not as relaxed as they were when they came.Seeing that he didn't speak, Liu Quan suspected that he was worried about his wife's reprimand, so he patted his chest and said, "Master, don't worry, if my wife scolds you, my slave will bear it for you."

He Shen smiled and shook his head. Since he dared to sell the land on his own initiative, he was naturally not afraid of others' words.

As soon as he got home, he didn't even have time to drink a cup of tea, so his wife sent someone to invite He Shen to the main hall for questioning.

As soon as He Shen entered the main hall, he saw not only the wife of the main room, but also several of Chang Bao's side rooms.He kowtowed to the woman sitting in the middle, but his stepwife didn't call out, but asked, "Where are you taking the land deed to Baoding?"

He Shen raised his head, lowered his eyes and replied, "I sold the land."

The stepwife couldn't believe her ears. Originally, the whole family lived on the rent of a few acres of land.Fortunately, he went to Baoding to borrow money and sold the land directly.

"You prodigal son, you are going to piss me off." The step-wife was so angry that she raised her hand to greet He Shen.

Liu Quan stood in front of him, protecting him tightly.He Shen was not intimidated, and said word by word: "Brother Lin and I both have to go to school, and we can't afford the tuition with that little land rent."

Seeing that he still dared to talk back, Mrs. Step got angry again, and if she couldn't hit He Shen, her slap fell on Liu's whole body.With a swipe of the jewelry on his hand, there was a streak of blood on Liu Quan's face.

Seeing that she was getting very angry, a concubine quickly stepped forward to help her, and persuaded in a low voice: "Madam calm down, what Shanbao said is also reasonable, the two brothers have to go to school, and the land rent really cannot afford their tuition fees."

The stepwife sneered and said, "Go to school? Don't even look at where it is, it's a first-class official school. The master has gone and still treats himself as a son-in-law, pointing to others to support him?"

Seeing that He Shen was silent, he pointed at him and said, "Now, while the money is still there, go and redeem the land."

While covering Liu Quan's wound, He Shen replied, "The contract is a death contract, and it will never be sold. I was thinking, 500 taels will be used for tuition expenses for brother Lin and me, and 500 taels will be given to your housekeeper."

The room was silent for a while, even the side room who persuaded the peace, felt that He Shen's move was too ruthless, it was the foundation of the ancestors.

Step-wife clutched her chest, and said in a bitter voice: "Get out of here, don't appear in front of me again, get out of here..." She grabbed the teacup on the table and threw it at He Shen, the hot tea splashed the master and servant all over.

Seeing that the situation was not right, the side room winked at He Shen, slowly calmed down for his stepwife, and persuaded softly: "Shanbao and Brother Lin are both Madam's children, and they will have a bright future in the future. You have to rely on them."

He Shen helped Liu Quan go far away, and heard his stepmother's mean voice from the main hall: "Who dares to count on them, they are evil breeds that even our ancestors don't look down upon."