Chapter 595: Misfortune Picks the Suffering, Hemp Rope Breaks at the Thinnest Point

Among the Six Gentlemen of the Courtesan, the one who needs to pay the least price is the Destined Gentleman. These Destined Gentlemen not only don't need to spend money to get close to the courtesan, but they can even make money from the courtesan.

Because the Destined Gentleman has a very high social status, he only needs to use the courtesan to hold some gatherings or go to his own shop to spend money, and he can make money.

The one who spends the most here is the Tribute Gentleman, the "lick-dog" responsible for offering tribute, who is only responsible for paying the bill but often cannot see the courtesan. Being able to get an invitation letter during a poetry gathering is already a very happy thing. These Tribute Gentlemen are often merchants who have become rich overnight, have extremely low social status, and need to use this kind of poetry gathering to climb into the upper class.

And this Japanese way of playing, due to the limitation of scale, didn't make much noise. After opening the seas, it flowed into the Great Ming, and the Great Ming immediately carried forward this thing with intensified efforts.

The reason Qu Hexing wanted to clean up the family gate personally was that this Qu Daocheng was too shameful!

The twelve top courtesans of Songjiang Prefecture were all tools for Qu Daocheng to show off his wealth. The reputation of the prodigal son caused by these fragrant carriages had spread all the way to Nagasaki! Clearly, he could have played with them as a Destined Gentleman, but he insisted on gathering all six gentlemen in one person, and even took on the role of the Tribute Gentleman.

Which powerful and wealthy family would go to be a Tribute Gentleman?

Their Qu family barely reached the level of the monopoly class. Under the Great Ming's official-selection-of-officials system, a new class was being born among the powerful and wealthy families: the monopoly class.

Shanghai County has a total of 64 cotton firms, 50 of which belong to the Qu family. Even the land deed of the County Government Office is held by their Qu family. If it weren't for Yan Shixuan being too strong, the Qu family would still not let go of the land deed. Hundreds of ships are floating on the sea, surrounding a group of women all day long.

Yan Shixuan looked aggrieved and told the Heavenly Messenger that he wanted to surrender but wasn't given a way to survive, looking like a little pitiful person. But could a little pitiful person govern the 800,000-person Shanghai County in an orderly manner? Could a little pitiful person replace everyone inside and outside the County Government Office with his own people? Could a little pitiful person turn his hands into clouds and cover them with rain?

The Hailong Gang disappeared just like that.

In the Qiu Yunniang murder case, Yan Shixuan interrogated clearly and successively killed five people of the Fan family and four people of the Chen family!

In the eyes of the powerful and wealthy families, the process of this case was that the County Magistrate Yan Shixuan was renovating the markets and wanted the land shared by the Fan and Chen families. The Fan and Chen families said "no," and were directly broken into and wiped out by the County Magistrate.

If Qu Hexing hadn't been afraid, would he have voluntarily handed over the land deed? If he didn't hand it over, he would have followed in the footsteps of the Fan and Chen families.

In Qu Hexing's view, this Yan Shixuan was no different from the stone in the latrine—stinky and hard! His methods were ruthless, and he was decisive, doing things without leaving any room for sentiment.

Under the official-selection-of-officials system, their Qu family was a top-tier wealthy family that could compete with the Sun family of Songjiang and the Songjiang Ocean Trading Company.

Qu Daocheng playing with courtesans—even if he built a luxurious wild villa and hid these twelve courtesans in a golden house, Qu Hexing would be too lazy to care about him. But Qu Daocheng was showing off in public. Wasn't this clearly asking for death? Qu Daocheng's behavior was like a big fat pig shouting at the butcher: "Look at me, look at me, I'm fat, I'm so fat I can't stand it myself, you can slaughter me for meat!"

Qu Hexing's worry didn't happen. This King of Hell, Yan Shixuan, seemed to want to wipe out the Hailong Gang even more.

The Hailong Gang, which had been entrenched in Shanghai County for nearly thirty years, vanished overnight, as if it had never existed. As a result, just after the limelight passed, his own grandson came to the top-tier extravagant place with the fragrant carriages of the twelve courtesans, wanting to compete in wealth again!

Qu Hexing was really beating him. With one blow to the head, Qu Daocheng saw that his own grandfather really wanted to take his life and wailed, scurrying backward. But Qu Daocheng, who had been hollowed out by wine and sex, didn't even dodge the blow from Qu Hexing, who was in his sixties. This blow didn't hit his head but hit Qu Daocheng's leg.

"Help! Help!" Qu Daocheng felt the pain and knelt on the ground, crawling forward, but no one around dared to reach out to help. Even those courtesans who had just gotten off the carriages were scared pale and kept hiding backward, fearing they would be implicated!

Qu Hexing raised the wooden stick high again, making a gesture to strike again. It seemed he was truly furious and wouldn't stop until he beat him to death.

"Old Master Qu, show mercy!" Yan Shixuan saw that if he kept beating him like this, he was afraid there would be a human life lawsuit. As a father and mother official, it would be one thing if he didn't see it, but since he saw it, he naturally had to speak up.

When Qu Hexing heard this voice, his brows furrowed, but he quickly relaxed them and said with a full face of smiles, "So it is the 'Venerable Qingtian' Yan. Greetings, 'Venerable Qingtian' Yan. Are you patrolling the streets again?"

Patrolling the streets was Yan Shixuan's way of dealing with the Hailong Gang, which had protection. The clerks of the Six Offices rotated every six days, taking squad leaders and yamen runners to patrol the streets. There were also Shanghai County police inspectors leading archers to swagger through the streets. Any fighting would be taken to the hall for interrogation, and Yan Shixuan himself would also patrol the streets.

Hai Laosi, the big boss of the Hailong Gang, always said when he was drunk: "This Yan Shixuan is more like the big boss than me! He manages everything—he manages this, and he manages that."

Yan Shixuan looked left and right, stood with his hands behind his back, and said calmly, "This cannot cause a human life lawsuit. The leg is almost broken, and it's making such a scene. One would think this Qujiawan really belongs to the Qu family, and not the territory of the Great Ming."

"Magistrate Yan is joking, joking! We'll disperse now. There won't be a human life lawsuit, there won't be!" Qu Hexing's attitude was even somewhat fawning. As soon as he finished speaking, Qu Hexing took his retainers and carried the young master of the Qu family away.

Li Yougong saw that Yan Shixuan was not as pitiful as he claimed to be in the territory of Shanghai County.

Yao Guangqi arrived quickly. Yan Shixuan hosted a banquet to entertain him and, with his private secretary, completed the handover before going to Hangzhou Prefecture. Li Yougong didn't leave but stayed in Shanghai County for several more days, not returning to the capital to report until early March.

"Yan Shixuan handled quite a few cases in Songjiang Prefecture. This servant brought all these case files back. After being compiled into volumes, they can actually be printed for the officials going to serve in the localities. At least when facing these things, they won't be completely in the dark." Li Yougong presented the case files he had organized to the Emperor.

There were many case files. Li Yougong wrote a memorial for the "Shanghai County Government Office Collection," detailing the composition and content of this book.

"If you call it this name, then no one will want to read this book. How about this: change the name to 'Records of Officialdom: From Entry to Power.' If you change the name like this, won't our Great Ming officials flock to it? Won't everyone want a copy?" Zhu Yijun finished reading the memorial, had no dissatisfaction with the content, but did not approve of the title.

The name "Shanghai County Government Office Collection" was somewhat bland.

"Is 'Theory of Contradictions' more fitting for this name?" Li Yougong felt that for this name, "Theory of Contradictions" would be more appropriate.

Zhu Yijun thought about it and said, "The Theory of Contradictions has more theory than practice, while this book has more practice than theory."

The Theory of Contradictions is the guiding principle, while this is a collection of case studies; their natures are different.

"This servant obeys the decree." Li Yougong was silent for a moment and chose to comply. The name the Emperor chose seemed to have more impact. Interestingly, the name the Emperor chose was not "hanging a sheep's head to sell dog meat," but was very fitting for the content—truly very fitting.

Yan Shixuan really achieved power over a region. Qu Hexing lived from the Jiajing years to the twelfth year of Wanli and had experienced all kinds of great storms and waves. This Yan Shixuan was really not easy to deal with.

A "Collection" is a literary style that has existed since the Han Dynasty, which is to organize the official documents between the county government, prefecture government, and the court into volumes for the purpose of compiling county gazetteers. Li Yougong organized these official documents by category.

"This case is quite interesting." Zhu Yijun flipped through the table of contents of the collection, suddenly fixed his eyes, pulled a volume from the heavy case files, and began to read it carefully.

"Your Majesty truly has eyes like torches. It was after this case that Yan Shixuan became the 'Venerable Qingtian' Great Master, and the powerful and wealthy families in Shanghai County became somewhat afraid of Yan Shixuan," Li Yougong said with great conviction.

The Qiu Yunniang case: one copper coin, fifteen human lives.

Qiu Yunniang's original surname was Yun. She was sold to a human trafficker when she was young. The trafficker raised her for two years, discovered that she was growing crooked, and sold her to the Qiu family as a child bride. From then on, she changed her name to Qiu Yunniang.

When Qiu Da was fourteen, this Qiu Yunniang married Qiu Da and gave birth to a son named Qiu Xiaolang. He hadn't entered school or found a teacher to give him a formal name; this kind of name was easy to raise.

After Qiu Yunniang gave birth to Qiu Xiaolang, her health was never very good. Qiu Da was also idle and addicted to gambling, squandering the already meager family property.

One day, Qiu Yunniang felt a bit dizzy. There was no money at home, so she gave six-year-old Qiu Xiaolang a copper coin and told him to buy ginger to boil soup to treat her illness.

Qiu Xiaolang didn't learn anything good but learned to gamble from his father. He gambled with a neighbor's child of the same age. He lost this coin. Qiu Xiaolang wasn't happy about losing and started fighting with the neighbor's child.

Qiu Yunniang heard the noise, went out to see them wrestling. She was already sick and in a bad mood, so she naturally scolded the neighbor's child.

The neighbor's child went home and cried to his mother, saying that Qiu Yunniang scolded people, saying that she told his mother to go out and steal a man to support the family, and wouldn't even let go of a child's coin.

The neighbor child's mother was a famous shrew! She immediately went to the street and started scolding, scolding in such an ugly way that even the ancestors of eighteen generations suffered.

Qiu Yunniang was in the wrong because Qiu Yunniang really did steal a man. The neighbors all knew it clearly.

This Qiu Da was idle and addicted to gambling, not caring about the family business. Qiu Yunniang could only become a secret prostitute. She had some looks, and Qiu Yunniang was taken a fancy to by Squire Chen. Squire Chen liked this kind of married woman; she had little trouble, was obedient as long as he gave her some silver every month, and didn't pester him.

A shrew scolding on the street was a rare form of entertainment at the time. Qiu Da lost money gambling and returned in a bad mood. The fact that he was a cuckold was known to everyone because of the shrew's scolding.

Qiu Da didn't dare to provoke the shrew. He returned home, closed the door, and gave Qiu Yunniang a sound beating.

Qiu Da beat Qiu Yunniang and told her to go find Squire Chen for ten taels of silver. Qiu Da wanted this ten taels of silver to win back his losses!

Qiu Da thought Qiu Yunniang was still in contact with Squire Chen, but actually, Squire Chen and Qiu Yunniang had already broken up. It was mainly because Squire Chen's wife discovered it and made a scene with Squire Chen. Squire Chen gave her three taels of silver, which was considered the end of their affair.

Qiu Yunniang was beaten by her husband, abandoned by her patron, scolded by the shrew, and driven out of the house by her husband. She couldn't go home without ten taels of silver.

Qiu Yunniang was in despair. She couldn't find ten taels of silver. When she was a secret prostitute, one affair was only twenty wen. After she hooked up with Squire Chen, it was considered stable, but it wasn't much. Squire Chen was old. Besides the monthly allowance, he only gave rewards when he visited her. It was less than seven mace of silver a month.

It was a cold winter with miserable wind and rain. Shanghai was already rainy. I don't know since when, but even Shanghai started to snow.

Southern snow is different from northern snow. Southern snow melts the same day it falls, and it is often sleet. It gets colder when it snows, and even colder when it melts. Qiu Yunniang was wearing only a thin shirt, walking aimlessly on the street. Her head tilted, and she fell into a snowdrift.

The patrolling squad leader happened to encounter this Qiu Yunniang and brought the unconscious Qiu Yunniang back to the County Government Office. She was frozen stiff, so they soaked her in hot water and invited a physician from the People's Benefit Pharmacy to treat her overnight. It wasn't until the second half of the night that Qiu Yunniang regained her soul.

The squad leader asked about Qiu Yunniang's background. Qiu Yunniang didn't answer and just cried, crying incessantly.

Yan Shixuan asked about the situation. After two days, Qiu Yunniang's illness improved, and her emotions stabilized, so she told her background. Yan Shixuan thought it was just a husband-and-wife quarrel and didn't think much of it, sending her back to Qiu Da's home.

The neighbor child's mother, the shrew who scolded on the street, heard that the person had returned and stood in front of Qiu Da's door again, scolding with all kinds of filthy language like a clapperboard. This time, Qiu Yunniang's scope of stealing men expanded from Squire Chen to the squad leader, the physician, and Magistrate Yan.

Qiu Da was furious, closed the door in incomparable anger, and gave Qiu Yunniang another beating, telling her to go find money. Qiu Da still wanted to win back his losses.

The snow in Songjiang Prefecture, once it started, wouldn't stop for days. Qiu Yunniang walked on the street, walked and walked, her head tilted, and she fell into the snow.

This time, there was no squad leader. Qiu Yunniang froze to death on a snowy day.

"Scum. This Qiu Da can't live, he can go die!" Zhu Yijun's mouth twitched several times when he saw this. He really couldn't understand how this kind of lazy person survived. Since he was a father and a husband, he had no sense of responsibility. Besides gambling, he just beat his wife and children. If he can't live, he can go die; he's wasting food.

It really is "misfortune picks the suffering, hemp rope breaks at the thinnest point."

Qiu Yunniang was sold by her parents, sold by a trafficker, beaten by her husband, and had no family business. She had to sell her body to make money. Even so, misfortune didn't seem to intend to let her go. Like a joke, the first time she was driven out of the house, she was discovered and saved by the County Government Office's squad leader, but the second time, she didn't have such good luck.

Zhu Yijun grabbed the case files and breathed heavily several times before continuing to read.

This Qiu Yunniang froze to death in front of Squire Chen's restaurant. When the waiter and manager opened the door for business in the morning, they saw a dead person in front of the door and were shocked. Looking closely, it was the old master's mistress.

The affair between Squire Chen and Qiu Yunniang was known to everyone.

Qiu Yunniang had learned some piano, chess, calligraphy, and painting from the trafficker, although not much, but Squire Chen just liked these. Squire Chen's wife at home was a shrew who was illiterate and didn't want to learn. Squire Chen often taught Qiu Yunniang to read and write.

To please Squire Chen, Qiu Yunniang studied desperately. In a year or two, Qiu Yunniang could be considered to have some skills in piano, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

Squire Chen discovered that Qiu Yunniang could be taken out, so he often took Qiu Yunniang to attend poetry gatherings and would take her to the restaurant to eat and drink. It was so blatant that Squire Chen's wife couldn't just do nothing, so she made a scene.

The restaurant's manager and waiters recognized Qiu Yunniang and immediately told Squire Chen.

When Squire Chen saw that Qiu Yunniang was dead, he was not only not sad but very happy, because this Yunniang's corpse was just right for a great use!

Squire Chen and the Fan family were fighting over a piece of land. This land had no deed and was very barren. Before the seas were opened, it was a mudflat that no one wanted, but after the seas were opened, this place became a hot commodity.

The Chen family and the Fan family fought over this land. Squire Chen whispered to his adopted son, doing it this way and that way.

When it was time for conflict again, they were originally fighting with fists and feet, and the retainers of each family were fighting back and forth. In the chaos, no one noticed. Squire Chen suddenly shouted: "The Fan family is heavy-handed and beat someone to death!"

Both sides of the conflict looked, and it was indeed Qiu Yunniang, Squire Chen's favorite mistress, who had been beaten to death. Even the Chen family's retainers didn't know that this corpse was picked up, and they felt sincere anger. They had been arguing for so long, and everyone was holding back, but you Fan family actually beat someone to death. This was a life-and-death struggle!

When the Fan family saw the Chen family getting serious and knowing they were in the wrong, they scattered like birds and beasts and ran back to the Fan mansion.

Squire Chen's plan was that if the Fan family beat someone to death, they were in the wrong, so they should give the land to the Chen family, and this matter wouldn't be reported to the officials. Moreover, Squire Chen had great confidence in the beast Qiu Da; as long as he gave him some silver, Qiu Da wouldn't report it to the officials.

Squire Chen confidently led people to the Fan mansion to reason.

The Fan family's adopted son and several sons were anxious, trying to figure out how to deal with it. Fan Squire couldn't give up that piece of land because it was too valuable. His evil thought arose, and he came up with an evil method: a life for a life.

Fan Squire called in the firewood carrier from his family. As soon as the firewood carrier entered the door, the Fan family son struck him to death with a single blow.

Then Fan Squire, his sons, and adopted sons placed the firewood carrier in front of the inner courtyard door, dismantling the door bolt until it was in a state where it would fall if pushed.

Squire Chen led his retainers and rushed into the Fan mansion. In the excitement, they pushed open the inner door without paying attention to their feet.

Fan Squire's son had already prepared for this. When everyone rushed in, with sticks and clubs, in the extremely chaotic scene, Fan Squire's son took out a gong, beating it while shouting loudly that the Chen family had beaten someone to death.

This made it two lives.

When it reached this point, someone ran to the County Government Office to report the case. When the squad leader heard that someone had died, he led the yamen runners out in full force, arresting everyone and bringing them to the County Government Office for interrogation. The coroners quickly began the autopsy.

If they used local coroners, both Squire Chen and Squire Fan could bribe them. But this outsider coroner was not so easy to bribe. This coroner checked the corpse: Qiu Yunniang froze to death, and the firewood carrier was beaten to death by a wooden stick.

When Yan Shixuan learned that Qiu Yunniang froze to death, he was furious. He thought with his heels and knew that she was nine-tenths likely driven out of the house by her husband and froze to death. Yan Shixuan's reason for anger was also very clear: he should have asked a few more questions at the beginning. Simply sending her back was basically sending her to the underworld!

"I didn't kill Bo Ren, but Bo Ren died because of me."

In this state of mind, Yan Shixuan became ruthless, determined to get to the bottom of this matter. The method of interrogation was the old way: hunger.

Everyone was interrogated in turns, comparing testimonies, not allowed to sleep. After starving for five days, the truth of the case was revealed. Yan Shixuan had prepared torture tools but didn't even need to use them; this bunch of people confessed everything.

The Fan family son who beat the person to death was sentenced to immediate execution by Yan Shixuan, but the others could only be released.

The Fan family son was sentenced to immediate execution, and Fan Squire went crazy. To fight for this land, he fought more and more fiercely with the Chen family, shedding blood several times.

Yan Shixuan asked Fan Squire and Squire Chen to come to the yamen and asked them to take a step back. The land would belong to the yamen, and the silver for the land would be split in half between the two families. This matter ended here.

Neither Fan Squire nor Squire Chen accepted this mediation result. My family's land, my family's silver, why should I split half of it with his family?

Half a month later, because of fighting for water, both sides fought to the death on the field. This time, the Chen family went to plant rice, and the Fan family went to block them. The Fan family lost a son. The Fan family didn't hold back at all when they started fighting. In the conflict, they beat a Chen family member to death.

This time, someone died, but both sides didn't stop. Instead, they fought even more fiercely on the spot! The squad leader received the report and led the yamen runners to arrest all the criminals and bring them to justice.

In an era where people could fight to the death just to fight for water, it was not surprising that someone died for a piece of land worth a lot of money.

The case ended with both the Fan and Chen families suffering heavy losses. Including Fan Squire and Squire Chen, all were on the list for beheading.

Old Master Qu of the Qu family was really scared. In the end, the court didn't spend a cent of silver and got the land. From Qu Hexing's perspective, it was because the Fan and Chen families refused to donate and refused to sell the land to the yamen that they brought about the disaster of extermination. It was also at that time that Qu Hexing voluntarily donated the yamen's land deed.

"One copper coin, Qiu Yunniang, the firewood carrier, four from the Chen family, five from the Fan family—four people died fighting for land, fifteen human lives." Zhu Yijun sighed. If this Qiu Yunniang hadn't scolded the neighbor's child at the beginning, would these things not have happened?

Zhu Yijun thought about it slightly and felt that Qiu Yunniang would still die. With that gambling husband, Qiu Yunniang still couldn't escape her tragic fate.

The people of the Chen and Fan families would still fight to the death for that piece of land even without Qiu Yunniang's death.

"What about this Qiu Da? How is he now?" Zhu Yijun flipped through the case files and didn't see the end of this Qiu Da, which was somewhat unsatisfactory. This kind of person is wasting food for every day he lives longer.

Qiu Da was a murderer, but the Great Ming Law did have provisions that if a wife steals a man outside, the husband can divorce and drive her out, which is also legal.

"Qiu Da owed gambling debts and didn't pay, so he was beaten to death by the debt collectors of the Hailong Gang. It was also because a human life lawsuit occurred that Provincial Governor Shen noticed the Hailong Gang." Li Yougong really went to find out the aftermath.

Qiu Da died. He was beaten many times by the debt collectors. He couldn't pay the money, so he was sold to the wharf to do hard labor. He couldn't do the work well, so he was beaten many times. The sedentary bandits of the Hailong Gang didn't know how to hold back, so they beat Qiu Da to death.

Qiu Xiaolang was also sold by the Hailong Gang, but he was sold to a family that had no sons.

"Deserved." Zhu Yijun naturally wouldn't think the Hailong Gang had any chivalrous heart. Qiu Da could be considered to have met his deserved end.

Li Yougong frowned and said, "Qu Hexing went home and locked up his only grandson, bricking up the doors and windows, leaving only a hole to pass in some food and drink, not letting Qu Daocheng go out."

"However, this servant thinks that the Qu family is also about to be finished. Qu Daocheng knew that acting recklessly would make his grandfather angry, but he still did it, because the silver was given by Qu Daocheng's father. This is not just doting, but Qu Daocheng's father forcing Qu Hexing to submit and acknowledge the three illegitimate children born outside."

"The Qu family has gradually grown to its current scale in Qu Hexing's hands, but his son and grandson are not very good."

"This servant is not talking nonsense. Qu Hexing's son and four grandsons are all addicted to opium. Magistrate Yao Guangqi is already investigating."

"Addicted to opium? Then let Yao Guangqi investigate." Zhu Yijun nodded in approval. Li Yougong dared to say this in front of the Emperor, so he had at least 80% certainty that it was true and not groundless. Zhu Yijun frowned and said, "Courtesan Ranking? Issue an imperial decree to the Songjiang Tax Inspection Court: whoever stirs up this kind of public opinion, the Tax Inspection Court should investigate their family well—see if they have paid enough taxes!"

"By the way, there is also that Xiafei Street. Let the Songjiang Prefecture Tax Inspection Court investigate well and see if they have paid enough taxes."

Doing business is fine, and being more extravagant than him, Zhu Yijun, is not a problem, but doing business without paying taxes is not allowed!

Zhu Yijun was already thinking about how to make a fortune. Raiding a house? Raiding a house is too crude, and it's a one-time deal. Collecting taxes is the right way.

"Order the Ministry of Revenue to make clear regulations on this kind of extravagant items and impose an additional special tax, starting at 30%, with no upper limit. Don't they have money to build? Keep building, build as much as they can!" Zhu Yijun wasn't just talking; he really wanted to impose additional taxes on luxury goods.

The Ministry of Revenue quickly drafted the regulations to impose taxes. There were only two items with a 30% tax, jadeite and jade, while other taxes started at 50%, and Shu brocade and Sichuan satin were added to 100%. The tax increase was quickly passed by the court discussion.

Luxury goods are completely detached from the use value of commodities and only have exchange value, and they also have extremely high emotional value—that is, showing off. The specific collection method is that when leaving that street, the Tax Inspection Court can issue tax tickets, which represent that this item comes from Xiafei Street and is genuine.

Imposing taxes on luxury goods is conducive to the healthy and orderly development of the luxury goods industry.

It can effectively curb excessive consumption. Poor commoners don't need to think about using these things to show off; they can't even afford the taxes. In this way, it can also effectively suppress the trend of competing in extravagance within a small circle.

Excessive consumption of luxury goods far beyond one's financial ability is also part of the trend of competing in extravagance, and the influence is extremely bad. ===== CHAPTER 596 =====