Chapter 5: Solving the case (Thanks to the book friend, the true leader of History)
Shuinan New Street, where Zhang Yue lived, connected to Songxi and Ouning Counties. There were frequent business trips on weekdays, and it was also the only way for pilgrims who went up the mountain to offer incense to Huanghua Temple.
The new street is lined with tiled or thatched two-story houses.
When walking on the street, when you look up, you will see that the eaves and verandas are close to each other, and there is no space. Under your feet are dirty water and garbage from the vegetable and fish vendors. The street is stinky. People only poop every two or three days on weekdays.
When I come here, people on the street often empty the toilets in all directions.
Zhang Yue remembered that his brother Zhang Xu disliked the quarrels and disputes among ordinary people in the streets, the gossip between parents, and even the cries of vendors would disturb his mood of studying. After Zhang Xu entered school, he would rather live and eat in the county school.
Even Zhang Yue, his younger brother, never sees his elder brother except during holidays.
The Zhang family lived on the mountain side of Shuinan New Street. They had two wooden doors outside and were surrounded by bamboo fences. The front of the house faced south. There were some sundries inside the house and a large urn under the eaves.
Buildings that encroach on streets and occupy roads, and are covered with eaves are most likely to catch fire and burn to pieces. Therefore, every household places a large urn in front of the eaves to collect rainwater on weekdays. Jianzhou has a lot of rainy season, and rainwater flows through the eaves.
Pour water into a large urn to make it self-sufficient. Live fish you usually buy can also be raised in the urn.
When Zhang Yue arrived at the door, he couldn't help but be surprised. This house was not like this yesterday.
The Zhang family had been evacuated yesterday, but today I saw that the door that had been kicked in by Zhao Yasi had been repaired. Baozheng and the neighbors came over to help one after another. People were busy inside and outside the house, some added some household items, and some
Also clean the house.
With the Zhang family in trouble, they were the philistine neighbors whom the second brother looked down on most, but they were warm and considerate when the Zhang family was in trouble. The neighbors stepped forward as soon as they saw Zhang Yue coming back.
“Sanlang, look at how tight this quilt is.”
Zhang Yue took a quick look, but he saw a hole in the corner of the quilt and the cotton wool was exposed. He quickly said: "Madam Lin family, we already have this quilt, we don't need too much."
But the other party refused: "Let Da Lang San Lang build an extra layer. It's cold at night. Don't refuse."
“Sister-in-law of the Yu family, I also have clothes.” Zhang Yue declined quickly.
"Sanlang, I am making a suit of clothes. You can change them first. Why are you being polite to me?"
Zhang Yue really didn't like this look, but the other party chased him and sent it to him: "You're welcome, Sanlang will just accept it."
The neighbors on the side all laughed and said: "Don't refuse, we have been neighbors for so many years."
Zhang Yue remembered that his second brother once told him that after he was admitted to the county school and was appreciated by the county magistrate Chen Xiang, all the neighbors and relatives who had been close relatives in the past came forward.
Zhima Da's Chen Renqing repeatedly mentioned that if he was a little impatient, it would be regarded as disrespectful. The other party's tone immediately became sour, and then he made up his words in the public, such as, "If you appreciate it, you will be arrogant."
If you don't make a living, you can be ungrateful'.
After these words reached the ears of his family and second brother, even Zhang's father and Zhang Shi said something about him, so he watched his second brother become an unkind person in the eyes of his neighbors day by day.
But the more Zhang thought about it, the so-called warmth and warmth of human relationships were like this. If he thought about it carefully, it was just a reason for the second brother to escape from marriage, and running away from home was the real reason.
Zhang Yue didn't dare to go home that night, so he decided to eat and sleep at Baozheng's house. Zhang Yue's eyelids trembled after eating, so he stopped reading and went to bed immediately.
Zhang Yue entered the space where he was last night again. He originally planned to review the two articles of Mencius he had memorized yesterday.
But after falling asleep, the scenes of the day played in reverse in my mind like a movie.
Zhang Yue suddenly saw a person following him as he was leaving from Chema Street.
Then when he and Peng Jingyi went to the teahouse, the man looked at the door again. Zhang Yue searched through his memory and found that yes, wasn't this man the clerk of his Yanli shop before?
Why is he following me so secretly?
After breakfast the next day, Baozheng discussed with Zhang Yue: "Back then, Zhao Yasi was in a hurry, and your brother had planned to mortgage this house to Zhao Yasi. Now that he has a month's peace, no matter who is looking for someone to pawn it off, the mortgage will be settled."
Everything sells well.”
Even though there is a single word difference between "forfeiture" and "pawn sale", there is a huge difference.
Qian is a mortgage. The other party uses a sum of money to buy the right to use the house. When the owner is rich, he uses the same money to buy it back. During this period, the buyer is using the house for nothing.
In this way, the buyer does not have to pay rent, and can live in vain except for the loss of interest. The seller can raise a sum of money for turnover, and at the same time the house is still in his own hands. Zhang Yue was moved after hearing this, and still asked: "Didn't the elder brother go to Jianyang to find a house?"
Did your father-in-law help?"
“Although Zhao Asi promised to pay you back the money within a month, if Dalang goes to Jianyang and cannot raise the money, we will sell the house first so that the price will not be too low.”
“According to Baozheng’s opinion, what is the sale value? How much is the pawn value?”
At the beginning, Zhang Yue never understood why the Zhang family was crowded into this small building outside the city. The Zhang family had shops in the city and hundreds of acres of farmland in the countryside. They had to live in a big house of a few square meters or move to the city. But.
After he heard the price others paid for this building, he couldn't help but be stunned.
Such a two-story building cost me 150 guan when I bought it, and it was not a river house near the river. No wonder the house prices in the Song Dynasty were so high that even the mighty Prime Minister Kou Zhun couldn't afford a house in Bian Kyoto.
People call him "the man who builds a tower without a place".
Baozheng smiled and said, "How can I speak freely?"
Zhang Yue had some doubts in his heart and asked: "What does Yi Baozheng mean?"
Baozheng said: "Let's find a buyer first and see the price. As for whether to sell it or not, we have to wait until your elder brother comes back from Jianyang."
Zhang Yue thought to himself that Baozheng had good intentions, and then remembered that he had read the forum knowledge in his previous life, and said: "According to our laws in the Song Dynasty, it is like asking all relatives and neighbors before selling a house, first ask the relatives, and then ask the left
Neighbors."
Baozheng said with a smile: "This is the case for mortgage sales, but you don't need to ask all your relatives and neighbors if you want to pawn sales."
Zhang Yue finally understood.
Selling out is very troublesome. Whether the house is sold or not is not decided by the landlord alone. You have to ask all your relatives and ask them to sign and pledge their approval for the sale. As long as one person disagrees, you cannot sell. Even if all your relatives agree, you still have to ask all the questions.
Neighbors can only sell it to others in the end. Therefore, in the Song Dynasty, it is much more expensive to buy a house than to sell a house.
“It’s better to rent a house.”
Baozheng smiled and said: "That's right! Having said that, most of our neighbors live here on rent."
“Oh?” Zhang Yue didn’t understand.
Baozheng explained: “Most of the houses in our street are properties of the Huanghua Temple on the mountain.”
"The monks of Huanghua Temple are so compassionate that they not only charge very low rental fees for the shops at the foot of the mountain, but also do not press for rent, and even lend them capital to do business."
Zhang Yue nodded. The imperial court exempted temples from taxes, and temples also served as social relief in this era.
Of course, people who live here must also abide by the rules of the temple and provide conveniences. For example, when monks come to rest and drink tea, they must provide help, and shopkeepers on the street are not allowed to sell wine and meat to monks on the mountain. Otherwise, the house will be taken back and the money will be recovered.
capital.
"You can contact Huanghua Temple first, and then go to Fang Ya to sell it. However, the monks of Huanghua Temple always like to rush people into trouble. Besides, I am familiar with the supervisor and deputy temple of Huanghua Temple. I guarantee that you will eat
No loss."
Zhang Yue thought for a while and said, "Brother, go to Jianyang and tell me to obey Baozheng's instructions in everything. This is Baozheng's arrangement."
Having said that, Zhang Yue still borrowed a piece of Korean paper and wrote a house-selling inscription on the door and posted it in front of the house.
The next day, a deputy temple official and a supervisor from Huanghua Temple came down to ask for an estimate of the Zhang family’s building.
He did not lower the price, but offered 120 guan to sell the house, but he could only pay 50 guan for the pawn. Regardless of the pawn sale, the Zhang brothers could continue to live here, as long as they paid monthly
Two hundred yuan of rental money is enough.
Zhang Yue was still very satisfied with the price, but he still haggled as usual. He said that when his family bought it for 150 yuan, Shuinan New Street was not so prosperous.
Nowadays, in addition to living in this house, half of the front yard has been renovated and expanded to serve as a store. Shuinan New Street belongs to Jinguocao City, and merchants do not need to enter the city to do business here, so they are exempt from the residence tax.
After hearing Zhang Yue's words, the deputy temple didn't say much, but agreed and increased the price of the sale to 150 guan. Zhang Yue was overjoyed, but still told the deputy temple that he would have to wait for Zhang Shi to start the construction.
Only when the sun comes back.
Then Baozheng entertained the deputy monastery, and the supervisor ate vegetarian food in Shuinan New Street.
The restaurants in the Song Dynasty were very interesting. The first floor was called the hall, and the second floor was called the mountain. When everyone sat near the pavilion, they could see the scenery of Nanpu River.
In the distance, the green stream gurgled like a mirror, reflecting the mountain scenery. There were more than a dozen bamboo rafts downstream of the stream, and they were swimming upstream.
The boatman took his pennies and tapped them left and right, and parked them at Shuici Wharf. There was a collapsed house here, which could be used to rent out shops and houses in the city walls and store goods for tourists. Before the collapse, a few men with bare arms were pushing a few carts.
Taiping cars repeatedly transport goods back and forth.
The deputy monastery said to Zhang Yue: "Erlang is extremely talented. He can tell ten things after hearing one thing. He is the most intelligent person that the old monk has ever seen in his life. At first, the old monk had intended to send him to Buddhism, but it was a pity that Erlang did not agree. The old monk was very
What a pity!”
This second brother who deceives his younger brother?
Zhang Yue asked: "Master, my second brother is also unlucky! May I ask, master, if a silk merchant surnamed Wu from Huzhou has come to the temple to offer incense recently?"
There are large monk rooms in Huanghua Temple to accommodate pilgrims from far away and sometimes to accommodate homeless believers.
Seeing him asking, the deputy temple said truthfully: "It is true, this Wu Tanyue has suffered many disasters. He has lost a lot of money in business in the past few years. He was going to Fuzhou to sell silk a few days ago. When passing by, the silk goods failed.
"Shao Huo". Since he had no place to stay, he stayed in the monk's room in our monastery for a few days."
“Oh, does this Wu Tanyue still live in the temple?”
“I have to stay for two more days, waiting for a friend to return to Huzhou. How come Zhang Tanyue has any history with this Wu Tanyue?”
It’s more than just old.
Zhang Yue nodded and said with a smile: "My second brother has an old relationship with him. I felt very sad when I heard about this. I wanted to give up the visit. It would be better not to see each other than to fight."
“That’s right, it’s better not to see each other than to argue with each other.”
After the deputy temple left, Baozheng asked: "Sanlang, why are you asking this Wu silk merchant? The Yamen has already sentenced him, do you still want to go to his house to get the money back? Don't cause trouble again, otherwise Zhao Asi Then I’ll have another excuse to deal with you.”
Hearing this, Zhang Yue nodded and said, "Thank you Baozheng for the tip. Yes, there seems to be a clerk in our store who is in his twenties and has a birthmark as big as a copper coin on his right cheek. Does Baozheng remember him?"
This man was exactly what Zhang Yue saw in his dream. He remembered that he was his clerk, but he didn't know his name.
Baozheng smiled and said: "Isn't this Qiao San who lives in Pingbuzhou? I remember that when his parents gave birth to him, they were very lustful. Later, your grandfather felt sorry for him and took a thousand yuan to support him, so that he could live. Come down. Later he became a young man and had no livelihood. It was your uncle who did good deeds and took care of him as a clerk and kept him in the shop."
Zhang Yue suddenly realized that there was still such a feeling.
Baozheng said: "Yes, it happened that Qiao San was there the night the accident happened."
Zhang Yue stood up and said, "Bao Zheng, I'm going out."
“Didn’t your brother tell you before going out to study at home and find a scholar in the future? Why are you running out all day?”
Zhang Yue sighed: "With the situation our family is in, how can we afford to hire a scholar to teach me how to study? I want to go out and see what kind of work I can find."
Cao Baozheng was stunned when he heard this, and then nodded and said: "You are more sensible. If you share more with your elder brother, this obstacle will be over sooner or later. I am happy for you if you have such ambition!"
Zhang Yue smiled, but Baozheng still didn't understand himself.
He has a principle in his life. It's okay to offend me on a daily basis, but if you have received favor from me, you still dare to do this. I will use all means to kill you.
Zhang Yue went out immediately, then crossed Shuinan Bridge and entered the city. First, he followed Baozheng's instructions and went to Qiao San's house.
When he walked to Qiao San's house, Zhang Yue knew that his family's situation was not good, but he still didn't expect it to be this bad. His wife and children were so hungry that they could not walk by the door. From her mouth, he learned that Qiao San's family had no food for a long time. Yesterday, Qiao San finally borrowed some money to buy food on the street, but she didn't come back today.
Zhang Yue knew that there must be something fishy about this matter, so he took some money to buy some food for Qiao San, his wife and children, and then, with their gratitude, he hurried to the teahouse where he met Peng Jingyi yesterday to get the file.
"At the beginning of Guisi in the fifth month, silk merchant Wu Ping and his clerk, porters Zhang Ma, Zhang Yu brothers, and Chen Dang entered the city from the north gate on Tuesday. After inspection by the city gate official Xu Youding, they found a total of six loads of raw silk, and the actual tax was 500
For twelve coins, after entering the city, Wu Ping and his porter Guo Wu stayed in Room A on Tuesday, while the other three porters stayed in Tongbu."
When Zhang Yue saw this, he paused for a moment. The Song Dynasty had a tax of 20 yuan for a thousand yuan. This is 512 yuan, which means that six loads of raw silk is worth more than 200 yuan. This is how it was calculated.
“A fire suddenly broke out in the kitchen stove in the south of the night inn. Wu Ping and his waiter had to escape, but all their belongings and six loads of lake silk were destroyed by the fire.”
The dossier is very simple and there seems to be nothing suspicious about it.
Peng Jingyi said: "Just finish reading, so that you can give up."
Zhang Yue repeatedly tapped the tea table with his fingers and said decisively: "No, the key to overturning the case must fall on Qiao San."
"What?"
Before Peng Jingyi could understand, Zhang Yue had already said: "I already have a plan in mind about this case."
Peng Jingyi laughed loudly, and then said: "I have been classmates with you for many years, but I have never seen that you are capable of this, brother. I turned over and over last night and didn't realize it."
Zhang Yue couldn't tell that Peng Jingyi's words were ironic: "As long as we find Qiao San, we can get to the bottom of things. But once Wu Sishang leaves, it will be too late."
Peng Jingyi said as if he was helping others to the end: "Well, if you don't give up if I don't help you once, then I'll ask my second uncle to help you find Qiao San."
Peng Jingyi immediately took Zhang Yue not to the Yamen, but to the county market.
Hunting is common in the market, but the government cannot help it.
The imperial law only allows the people to close the market for three days on New Year's Day, Winter Solstice and Cold Food Festival, but not on weekdays. However, this market is openly closed and built in the most prosperous place in the county. People with a discerning eye can tell.
When Zhang Yue came to the city, he saw floating sheds set up on both sides of the street, and people gathered in groups in the east and west in front of the stalls.
Zhang Yue took a closer look at the things he had bought, including oils, clothes, tea, wine, porcelain, and even children's toys, fruit candies, etc. There were even fish and vegetables for sale. Anyway, there was a lot to gain.
Peng Jingyi and Zhang Yue came to sell an official wine shop in the market.
Hood the wine grapes in front of the eaves and open the reed curtains, but you can see that the wine shop is full of people.
Several people on the left and right sides of the wall were busy cutting meat and steaming rice. In front of a large wine vat half buried on the ground, one person was busy sifting wine and pouring it into bowls.
Zhang Yue knew that the waiters in the official wine shop were all served by long-name yamen. These long-name yaqian were the sons of first- and second-class households who served as good families. They worked for the government and the surplus of the official wine shop went to the government.
, if there is any loss, you must pay it out of your own pocket.
As for the wine table, a large group of people gathered for a drinking and gambling game, and several low-class prostitutes were drinking and sitting nearby.
Zhang Yue remembered that when Wang Anshi released the young crops money during the reform, the local government noticed this and induced the people to go to the government-run restaurants to disperse the young crops money. As a result, many people lost the young crops money and returned home with nothing.
This is not a forced purchase or sale, but it has always been the hardest to earn money from rich people since ancient times, while it is easier to earn money from poor people.
Peng Jingyi asked Zhang Yue to wait outside and went into the inner room. There were a lot of copper coins and broken silver tablets on the big table in the back. One of the two writers was counting them, and the other was taking notes.
Peng Jingyi knew that at this time every ten days, his second uncle would come to this residence next to the market to check the accounts and sit on the ground to divide the money.
“Second uncle!” Peng Jingyi called him.
Pucheng County Wei Pengcheng said: "Who did you bring here?"
"Second uncle, this is my classmate Zhang Sanlang. He asked me to ask him to find a man named Qiao San from his family. Do you want to help me with this?"
Peng Cheng turned around and said, "You have brought him here, and what are you talking about?"
Peng Jingyi said: "My nephew thinks that this matter involves Zhao Yasi, and my second uncle has always been at odds with him?"
Peng Chengdao: "How dare you get involved in the matter between my second uncle and Zhao Yasi?"
Peng Jingyi lowered his head and said: "Zhang Sanlang promised to take half of the money recovered as filial piety. This is a small effort for you, my second uncle. Isn't it nice to earn this hundred dollars for nothing?"
Peng Cheng took a sip of wine and asked, "It's just a few bucks."
Peng Jingyi said: "What does the second uncle mean?"
Peng Cheng shook his head and said, "There is one most important thing you didn't say."
“Second uncle, nephew is stupid.”
Peng Cheng sneered: "The more you are a classmate in this chapter, shouldn't you help your friends?"
Peng Jingyi.
Peng Chengdao: "I often tell you that as a person, you should not climb into friendship, but you should cherish your fate. Zhao Yasi wanted to marry the Zhang family because of friendship. No matter how good he said on the surface, he had a small and broad mind in it.
"
"But Zhang Sanlang is different. The gang must help. This is cherishing fate. To take a step back and say that when someone is in trouble, we take action. Firstly, in the eyes of outsiders, we are righteous. Secondly, it is better to provide help in times of need than to add icing on the cake. If Zhang Erlang will be the future
When you succeed, Zhang Erlang will look down on you at that time, but Zhang Sanlang will definitely remember you."
Hearing this, Peng Jingyi nodded repeatedly and said: "Second uncle said that he still values Zhang Erlang. I really don't know what he deserves to value as a person who can even escape from marriage."
Peng Cheng said, "What do you know? Second uncle, I believe in Chen Lingjun's judgment of people. Besides, in the past, Erlang was too arrogant to rely on his talent. How can I lower my stature?"
"A few days ago, Zhao Yasi sent his confidants to Fuzhou for an undercover investigation, but so far there has been no news. Zhang Sanlang is right. I am Zhang Erlang. I will never go to Fuzhou at this time. If I want to go, I will go to Bianjing to join Chen Lingjun. Zhao Yasi
So what if my hands and eyes can reach the sky?"
Ps: Thanks to the book friend Shi Shi Shi for becoming the second ally of this book.