In front of the Yamen of Dali Temple in Guangdong Province, hundreds of members of the Liu family and the housekeeper were tied up in the square.
When Yang Wencai got the news, he and Li Gong were tasting wine.
Carrying gourds of wine, they came to watch the excitement outside the Yamen of Dali Temple.
Yang Wencai said with emotion:
"Zhou Qiniu's attacks are really steady and ruthless.
I also know the Liu family and the housekeeper. They are very proud maritime merchant families.
I went to these two companies to buy a sea-going boat. Not only did they not sell the sea-going boat, they also insulted me verbally.
These two families are so courageous. The people who got into trouble before in Hanzhong were at most making false accounts and evading some taxes.
They didn't want to pay a penny and just sailed out to sea for smuggling.
For the crime of smuggling, if you resist arrest with force, you can easily be sentenced to death.
If you resist arrest without force, the sentence will be frighteningly high and you will be in prison for the rest of your life."
Li Gong said with a smile: "This is my own fault. King Qin is most concerned about tax laws and taxes.
The annual allocations made by the Prince of Qin to local governments are related to local taxes.
This is closely related to the performance of officials. The government is helping people like the tax bureau.
The tax police are very motivated to get the share and credit for solving the case.
The entire yamen is rich and has the best welfare benefits.
The patrol attaches great importance to homicides, and every time a murder occurs, a large number of officers are dispatched.
But their level of enthusiasm is completely incomparable to that of the tax police.
We have a member of the Sichuan Chamber of Commerce. He opens two stores, one of which sells expensive products and the other sells cheap products.
The two stores are open opposite each other, and the cheaper one gets the most sales.
If you pay a large amount of taxes every month, the tax police will suspect that the expensive family has tax problems.
The tax police sent people to this shop to work undercover for two months to find out everything.
They are such a persistent group of people, and it would be really difficult to evade taxes under their noses.
The tax police also have powerful weapons.
The tax department has money and can buy the best equipment.
The force of the tax police is second only to the regular army, and it is stronger than the force of the garrison.
As long as we have definite evidence, we can directly arrest tax evaders."
Yang Wencai, a businessman from the north, is already used to this situation.
Local businessmen in Guangdong saw for the first time the power of the tax police.
Li Shengli looked at his friend's family, and the main members were detained in front of the Yamen of Dali Temple.
These people were imprisoned, and the Liu family and the housekeeper were basically ruined.
The main personnel of the main branch line were wiped out in one fell swoop.
He did not expect that the Shibo Division would be so tough and use thunderous means to directly arrest Liu Sanfeng and others.
Li Shengli predicted that someone in the Liu family's team must have leaked the secret.
Otherwise, their whereabouts would not be known so accurately by the Shipping Department, and they would simply be waiting to catch up.
As soon as Liu Sanfeng went to sea, he was captured by the anti-smuggling team including his men and his boat.
The evidence was conclusive, and Dali Temple directly initiated a speedy trial procedure.
Li Shengli saw a group of officials walking out of the Yamen of Dali Temple.
These officials quickly completed the sentencing of the Liu family and the housekeepers.
Liu Sanfeng and other people who are mainly engaged in smuggling because the amount of smuggling is huge.
Several crimes were punished concurrently, and all were sentenced to more than five hundred years of hard labor and exile in border areas.
The shopkeepers and sailors on the ship were all sentenced to about 20 years of hard labor.
When Li Shengli heard the verdict, he was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat.
The sentence can be anywhere from five to eight hundred years. Do you still have to serve your sentence even if you turn into ashes?
Wei Shuhang saw Li Shengli's doubts. He now works as a minor official in the Guangdong Governor's Office and knows the "Laws of the King of Qin" better.
He explained to Li Shengli: "Brother Li, the "Laws of the King of Qin" promulgated by King Qin only stipulates two types of punishments.
Death penalty and forced labor sentence.
I don’t need to say much about the death penalty, it’s basically execution by firing squad.
Hanging will also be used in places where guns are not available or are not suitable for use.
The prison sentence of reform through labor is different from the punishment of the Ming Dynasty.
The King of Qin believed that criminals could also produce value.
If you want to eat well, drink well, and receive certain treatment in prison, you must work to earn work points.
The more work points you earn, the more you can get a reduced sentence.
The minimum sentence is three months in prison and the maximum sentence is unlimited.
Depending on the severity of the crime committed, the sentence received will vary.
The crime of rebellion can easily last ten to twenty thousand years.
Murder is not punishable by death, and it also starts with a hundred years.
If you commit multiple crimes, their sentences will be added together to get the final sentence.
The purpose of stipulating so many prison terms is mainly to prevent criminals with bad behavior from having their sentences reduced.
Every time the King of Qin granted a pardon, his sentence could be reduced by up to fifty years.
Such serious criminals will not be released through amnesty."
When Li Shengli heard Zhang Shuhang's explanation, he knew that the Liu family was completely finished.
Liu Sanfeng's sentence is eight hundred and twenty-nine years. Even if he is lucky and encounters several amnesties, he will never come out of prison.
Li Shengli asked in confusion: "By doing this, the King of Qin will not be afraid that criminals with too high sentences will lose hope in the future and do something outrageous."
Wei Shuhang said with a smile: "These people deserve what they deserve. If they had not committed a major crime, they would not have been sentenced to so many years.
If they are sentenced to so many years and basically stay in prison for the rest of their lives, they will not harm society.
In prison, it is extremely difficult to live, and it is too easy to die.
Most people want to continue living if they can survive.
If you are really capable, you can commute your sentence on your own."
Wei Shuhang explained so much to Li Shengli just to thank him.
If he hadn't learned from Li Shengli the approximate time and location of the Liu family's departure to sea.
He, a little person, has no way to avenge his father and uncles.
His third uncle owned 90,000 acres of mulberry forests, and he was a great gentry with a lot of land.
Wei Shuhang's mother's family was so prominent that it was impossible for her to marry an unknown scholar.
Before the Wei family, they were also famous merchants in Guangdong.
When they shipped goods four years ago, none of their merchant ships came back.
The Liu family traveling with them didn't miss a single boat.
The Wei family has always suspected that it was the Liu family who was taking advantage of others.
There are rumors in the family that the Liu family has an unclear relationship with a big pirate outside.
The Wei family has no evidence, because the family leader and others were killed in battle, plus they lost a lot of manpower and silver, and they were no longer able to compete with the Liu family.
They kept silent, looking for an opportunity to capture a shopkeeper of the Liu family, and tortured him to make him speak.
It was indeed the Liu family who joined forces with the great pirate Liu Xiang to annex their Wei family's fleet.
Just when the Wei family was looking for an opportunity to take revenge, the Qin army attacked Guangdong. This earth-shaking change interrupted their revenge plan.
Wei Shuhang learned about the approximate time and place when the Liu family went to sea.
The Wei family was also a maritime merchant before and knew all the details of going to sea, so they sent people to keep an eye on the Liu family's movements secretly.
With so many people and materials, it is impossible to mobilize them without leaving any trace.
Wei Shuhang confirmed the Liu family's movements and immediately reported the news to Guangdong Governor Honeysuckle.
Unexpectedly, the Shipping Department was so powerful that not a single ship of the Liu family escaped. All the main characters were sentenced, leaving only some orphans and widows.
"Master, I want you to go home as soon as possible."
Li Shengli saw the housekeeper at home coming to inform him.
"Brother Wei, my father has something to ask me about. Let's get together again when we have time."
"I also have to go back to the Works Office to do some work. Let's get together when we have time."
Li Shengli bid farewell to Wei Shuhang and rushed home in a carriage.
He looked at the steward who was driving the carriage. According to the "Laws of the King of Qin", all the servants in their family had signed new employment contracts.
Belonging to the workers they hired, not the slaves they were before.
"Uncle Fu, you don't have to call me Master, just call me by my name."
"Young Master, Lao...I have been calling you that for more than 20 years, and it is not easy to change my name."
Li Shengli returned home soon and saw the patriarch, who was in poor health, sitting on the main seat.
Several maritime businessmen who had good relations with their family came to their home for a meeting.
This kind of solemn scene had not been encountered in the past few years, but now it happens frequently.
The last time he saw this kind of scene, it was his brother who was in charge and wanted to donate the city of Guangzhou.
"Shengli, you will chair this meeting."
"Okay, uncle."
Li Shengli knew that the patriarch was training him.
This was also due to his brother's relationship. If his brother had not become an official of the Qin Palace, the heir would definitely not have his share.
No matter how talented you are, you can only be a shopkeeper, responsible for a certain aspect of affairs.
Li Shengli quickly stood next to his uncle and said modestly: "Dear uncles and uncles, the main reason why you came to our house today is to see what happened to the Liu family today.
Our Li family will definitely pay taxes on time from now on.
My nephew suggests that everyone pay taxes honestly for the time being and wait for the situation to develop.
My nephew has said before that before we can figure out King Qin's nature, we are in a weak position and we must first abide by the rules set by King Qin.
The King of Qin holds a sword and a spear in his hand and wants to rob our property. It is just a matter of words.
Now the King of Qin is willing to follow the rules. Even if the rules are outrageous, we must abide by them.
Not to mention just paying taxes."
Li Shengli directly stated the Li family's attitude.
He didn't dare to be ambiguous now. Who knew whether these people would leave their door and turn around to report them.
If the Liu family perished so quickly, someone inside must have tipped off the news.
The officials of the Prince of Qin's Palace had just arrived in Guangdong, and without insider guidance, they did not know the details of smuggling at all, so it was extremely difficult to arrest people.
“Paying taxes is easier said than done.
Now my family members, not even the maids at home, dare to touch me.
You have to pay taxes when doing business. Ming Dynasty is such a waste. Why can't it be stronger?
The King of Qin did not respect the teachings of Confucius and Mencius at all, and thought about competing with the people every day.
Alas! It’s so difficult to be a businessman.”
"In this current situation, this is the only way we can do it."
“In the current situation, we can only pay taxes.
The anti-smuggling team of the City Shipping Department is so awesome that I went to the beach to watch it.
Three large warships and dozens of small boats.
Seeing the attitude of Shi Bosi, he would rather kill by mistake than let him go.
As long as they are found to be involved in smuggling, they will be immediately taken away for interrogation.
With our weak bodies, if we go around the squad room, who can withstand the interrogation?
You can't make enough money, and if your family is gone, what's the point of making more money."
“When we go overseas, we earn big money, so we can just let go of small amounts such as business taxes.
It's just that when you go to sea, you have to pay royalties to the pirates and taxes to the government.
It would be easier to accept it if the government wiped out all the pirates.
When the government collects taxes, at least the price must be clearly marked.
If officials want to collect more taxes, we can still resist in various ways.
Those pirates were in a bad mood and increased the amount of membership money at will."
“It would be great if we could do this, and the annual share would be a lot of money.
I am in the tea business. Tea is an agricultural product. The tax on ordinary tea is not high, but the tax on famous tea is high.
If you really don’t need to pay a share, you can just pay taxes.”
"Mother Diurei, the government collects taxes but does not protect us.
We pay taxes so that those officials can eat, drink, and have fun. Just thinking about it makes me so angry."
Li Shengli watched their constant quarrels, but most of them were inclined to pay taxes.
"Dear uncles and nephews, I understand that Guangdong Sea Trading Company is preparing to go to sea on the 5th.
They also prepared a large number of armed merchant ships to escort them.
We can give it a try with Guangdong Sea Trade Company.
Let’s see if their armed merchant ships can protect the waterway.”
"Mother Diurei is just an armed merchant ship. Whose ship is not an armed merchant ship.
It's okay for ships like ours to scare small pirates, but if we encounter big pirates, we'll be a living target.
In order to carry a large amount of cargo, merchant ships have a relatively flat bottom and a relatively high load capacity.
Merchant ships cannot outrun warships, and they are a big target at sea."
Li Shengli cupped his hands and continued: "Uncles, please be patient. The armed merchant ships of the government are different from the armed merchant ships we understand.
The ships used by the anti-smuggling team of the Municipal Shipping Department are what they call armed merchant ships.
Their armed merchant ships cannot carry goods, but only cannons and soldiers."
"What? The government calls warships armed merchant ships.
Such large warships are called armed merchant ships, so how big will the warships used by their navy be?
Could they be the big warships with two masts and two layers of plywood used by the Western Yi people?"
"It may be true that the government drove away the Portuguese in Haojing.
They captured so many Portuguese craftsmen, and among them there should be craftsmen who can make warships.
If these craftsmen fall into the hands of the government, there are many ways to deal with these people and let them build warships."
"In this case, we can give it a try.
For the sake of safety, take out one or two ships first to observe the strength of the government.
They can really protect us at sea, and paying taxes is not bad. At least it is more stable than paying taxes.
The person who is talking about the sea in Guangzhou now is Liu Xiang. He has taken refuge with the Xiyi people and is working as a lackey for Hong Mao.
If one day the red hair is in a bad mood, we will find another dog, and we will have to give the woman money again to establish a new relationship."
Li Shengli cupped his hands and said, "Uncles and uncles have reached an agreement, and I will leave this matter to my nephew.
I'll go to the Guangzhou Governor's Yamen to communicate and wait for the good news about my nephew."
Li Shengli finally felt relieved when he saw that his family's allies had reached a consensus.
These families are all married to each other, and each family is related to them.
If something happens to one family, it could affect them all.
Li Shengli went to the Guangzhou Governor's Yamen to contact him. He went directly to Wei Shuhang to connect him with Yu Fuyun, general manager of the Guangdong Sea Trade Company.
After Li Shengli explained his intention, Yu Fuyun agreed to his request and agreed to go to sea together on May 5th.