Great Tang Idyll Volume 02 Chapter 126
Shout out to Yaro for commissioning chapters 126 & 127!
Chapter 126 The Assignment Is Not Easy To Complete
The wind blows cold outside the courtyard, and the burning charcoal warms the house. The curtain floats in splendid colors, and the brush hangs on the book.
In an elegantly decorated room, the red charcoal fire kept the cold outside, and the faint incense smell made people feel sleepy.
Magistrate Jia sat on a mat with a small table in front of him, and of course there was tea and snacks. There were also several kinds of fruits and he didn’t know how they were kept fresh. They looked tempting, but it was difficult to tell what they tasted like.
Next to Magistrate Jia were also two small tables. A person sat behind each of the tables, and behind them were the upper part of a chair with armrests.
The three sat there and did not speak for a while, as if they were all waiting for others to speak first. After finishing a pot of tea, Magistrate Jia couldn't bear it any longer, and spoke first, "It is a foregone conclusion that we will punish the Zhang manor. I wonder how do Official Han and Official Yuan plan to divide the Zhang family's belongings?"
Magistrate Jia didn't want to waste too much time. He planned to have a good night's sleep tonight so that he could have a clear mind when he travels tomorrow. Setting out from here, he would be able to reach that place at about noon.
The head of the Han family, Official Han, who also had an honorary official title, glanced at the head of the Yuan family and said, "Official Yuan has contributed a lot this time, so Official Yuan should speak first."
Seeing that neither of them were planning to speak first, Official Yuan pondered for a moment and had to say, "If there is nothing else in the Zhang manor, then there should be at least some money. They made a lot of money from the Little Luo’shui. We should equally split this money among the three families. What do you two think?"
"Okay, I agree. There is indeed a lot of money at their manor. Tomorrow, Magistrate Jia must act quickly, and convict them first. By then, it will be too late for anyone to come. After all, we have made full preparations." Official Han felt that this amount of money did not matter. At most it would be only tens of thousands of strings of coins. The actual useful items were the techniques.
Magistrate Jia was a little reluctant. After he fell into the water, the Zhang family took 13,000 strings of coins away from him. He also spent a lot of money buying 6,000 strings of coins worth of goods from the Zhang family to give it out for free to people. No matter what, he believed that he should be compensated with 19,000 strings of coins, but if he actually said this, the other two families would not be willing to share the remaining benefits. So, he could only say, “I agree too. They should also have a place at Little Luo’shui where they store money. Later, that place will be like their Manor. Official Yuan, talk about the other things. There are also residents from the two manors. Once their master family is doomed, the residents will have to find a new master."
After Magistrate Jia finished speaking, the two fell silent. The two people were thinking about the same problem. They planned to take in these residents, which would increase their manpower by a large amount. However, they feared that the residents would still think about their original master family and cause trouble for them.
The most important thing was that if they took in these residents, they would have to give up other items to Magistrate Jia. This was something that neither of them wanted. The residents were troublesome and will cause them to lose other profits. No matter how they thought about it, it was not worthwhile.
Official Han was not in a hurry. Since Magistrate Jia asked Official Yuan, Official Yuan had to speak first.
Official Yuan cursed inwardly and then said, "These residents are the people of the San’shui County after all. Even if we take them in, they will still have to work in the local area. It is not suitable for Official Han or myself to take them. How about Magistrate Jia keep them for yourself? We will split the items in the warehouse and the livestock and poultry."
Magistrate Jia didn't expect that after pushing this away, it would be pushed back to him. He thought about it and agreed. If the people of the San’shui County did not suffer from any disasters, it was impossible for them to leave here.
However, were the 800 plus people from the two manors comparable to what is in the warehouse? There must be a lot of white fungus and wood fungus in the warehouse. These alone would be worth tens of thousands of strings of coins, right? It was possible that there were even more. There were also over thirty thousand poultries and herds of cattle, sheep and horses.
All of those combined, it seemed that the Magistrate was at a disadvantage. Right, there was also a lot of food. No, he absolutely cannot agree to this. In the end, those people would not belong to him anyway since the manor or the Imperial court would distribute them to other people.
"That's not appropriate. The residents won’t belong to me. Let's put this aside for the time being. The three of us should share everything in the manor equally. Official Yuan, let's talk about the techniques. I plan to take the wharf at Little Luo’shui. Right now, we know that there are three techniques: hatching chicks, increasing food production, and planting fungus."
Magistrate Jia put the affairs about the residents on hold and started talking about the techniques. Official Yuan shook his head, "Not three. There are also techniques for making liang’pi, vegetable oil, chili sauce, and seasonings. There was also a technique for growing vegetables in winter, but they gave away the technique to the higher ups. Ah, right, they gave the technique away.
That technique can be said to benefit the country and the people. It seems that this is very troublesome. It would probably be better to call Magistrate Wen too. After all, this time he will be using his bailiffs. Originally, the plan was to just give him money, but now it seems like giving money only will not work. We could give him one of the techniques and then he can convict the Zhang Manor with another crime. He could say that they harassed the people of Hua‘yuan County.
It was a good opportunity to mention the Han Manor’s burning straw incident. The incident where my manor’s cow got diarrhea can’t be used since my residents willingly took the bait. It’s not a strong argument and we weren’t able to find the person who sold the feed. "
"Yes, I think this can be done. If a technique is given to Magistrate Wen, then he will be able to help us withstand a lot of pressure from above." Official Han agreed with Official Yuan's plan.
It was only now that Magistrate Jia realized that the Zhang Manor did have quite a few techniques, and the money should be re-estimated. Perhaps there were techniques that have not been used. Right, there should be more.
"Also, there are two more, one is the technique for making firecrackers, and the other is the technique for making popped rice. We can disregard the technique for making sugar; that was given to Zhou Xi’hu already. There are so many techniques. There might even be more. We should make it clear now. If there are more new techniques later, it would be hard to divide them."
Hearing Magistrate Jia’s words, Official Yuan and Official Han were both stunned. After thinking about it carefully, it was indeed the case. It was a good thing that they started making a move early on, otherwise if the Zhang Manor was given another two or three years, wouldn’t they be able to fly up into the sky?
"I want the people from the main courtyard of the Zhang and Wang main houses." Official Yuan and Official Han said at the same time.
The two looked at each other and smiled at the same time. They both knew what the other was thinking. The techniques did not appear spontaneously; there must have been someone who came up with them. As long as that someone is captured, then perhaps there will be more techniques. Each one is a hen that lays golden eggs.
After the two of them finished talking, they laughed and then regretted it again. Sure enough, Magistrate Jia was not a fool. He used to be more focused on seeking revenge, but now hearing the words of the two, he also understood what the two of them place importance in.
Reaching this point of the conversation, the three people were not able to continue. Items could be divided, and techniques could be divided, but how could they divide the people? From the given circumstances, it should be that a single person came up with the techniques. Even if all of the techniques were given to other people, one would still gain if they keep this person.
The more Official Yuan thought about it, the more troubled he felt, so he could only say, "Let's put this matter to the side first and discuss it later when Magistrate Wen comes. Hua’yuan County is not like your San’shui County, which has 700 bailiffs. They only have 300, and some of them were recruited temporarily.
There are quite a few residents at the Zhang and Wang families. We must act quickly. If we capture the master family first, the residents would not dare to charge forward. Otherwise, it is possible that the matter would escalate and hundreds of people could die. Then, we will not be able to leave, and Magistrate Jia will have to use a trick to transfer people away.
Once the Zhang and Wang families are arrested, the 700 plus bailiffs would be more manageable. It’s not like they would go to my Hua’yuan County’s prison to find them, would they? That's no different from rebelling. "
"Hua’yuan County’s jail? Why would they be locked up in the Hua’yuan County? If they’re going to be locked up, shouldn’t it be in the San’shui County? There's no reason for bailiffs of the Hua’yuan County to come to San’shui County to arrest people, right?"
Magistrate Jia was thinking about the person who had come up with so many techniques. No matter what, those people cannot be sent to someone else’s place. Later, who can guarantee that these people will not try to find out who that person is first?
Official Yuan naturally knew what Magistrate Jia was thinking. He drank the slightly cold tea and said, "Magistrate Jia is saying that they should be locked in the jail cell of the San’shui County? Which bailiff will guard the jail? You can't even trust Song Yang; you said that he must have colluded with the Zhang family, so that’s why you gave the letter to him. If there is no collusion, then the bailiffs should all be at Little Luo’shui."
Magistrates Jia had trouble answering Official Yuan’s question. He did not believe anyone in the entire San’shui County apart from his own family. Even though Song Yang was always so respectful and obedient, he did make preparations for both possibilities.
Official Han interjected at this time and said, "How about this, once those people are arrested, the three us and Magistrate Wen can escort them to the capital together, and let the people in manor and Young Master Jia handle the rest. Once the bailiffs of the San’shui County no longer have their supporting pillar, they will be easy to control. They will be obedient by the time we send those people to the capital or when we return. What do you think of this?"
"Okay, we will go with Official Han’s plan." Official Yuan agreed.
The Magistrate Jia was a little worried. If something happened at the San’shui County, he should report it to the Prefecture first. He couldn't escort them to the capital directly. He pondered for a moment and gritted his teeth as he spoke,
"Okay, I agree to do this too, but I will ask someone to send a report to the Prefecture. Let’s make a move here first. Later, if the people at the Prefecture ask questions, then we would have something to say."
Seeing that he agreed, the two were relieved at the same time. They were afraid that Magistrate Jia would quit halfway, and then they would have no reason to go over there.
The matters were arranged, and the three of them stopped drinking tea. They went to another hall and asked the servants to bring wine and food, as they planned to enjoy a good meal.
The only concern Magistrate Jia had at this time was his own son. He was afraid that he would not be able to arrive in time, or that something went wrong. Thus, he had to ask Official Yuan to send someone to go meet up with him. He did this so that his son would get some credit too, otherwise he would have no excuses.
*
It was gradually getting dark. Zhang Xia’obao and Wang Juan felt sleepy and wanted to go back to rest. At this moment, three fast horses rushed over from outside and ran directly to Zhang's family’s main house.
Zhang Xiao’bao and Wang Juan were shocked when they saw the speed of the horse and the marks on its body. The horses were horses that ran 800 li a day, and they charged into the house.
As soon as the two entered the courtyard, Housekeeper Zhang relayed what the bailiffs that arrived had said.
"So shameless. Good. This time I don't have to take the initiative to kick people out. Make arrangements, make arrangements immediately." Zhang Xiao’bao was furious after hearing the matter, and decided to deal with Magistrate Jia once in for all.
Finally, I thought you stop translating. Thanks
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