Once they opened their purses, they might be expected to keep pouring money into a bottomless pit. Besides, once the donation lists were submitted, what if the smiling tiger wrote down some terrifying figure? Would they then have any choice other than accepting it?
At the same time, there was also a sense of resentment in their hearts— things like this had also happened before, and a few thousand taels were all it would take to make them go away. None of the provincial commissioners had dared to say anything. The Jianghuai region was wealthy. Raising taxes was one thing, but taking action against the local wealthy gentry was simply not done. Yet now this new commissioner shows up, and they were expected to just obediently open their purses and pay up. Are they really going to let themselves be held hostage like this?
All eyes turned toward the representatives of the Liu and Li families. Qiu Yuluo smiled calmly, stood up, and said, “My uncle is bedridden with illness, and my husband is also a bit unwell, which is why we had no choice but to send me out here in public. Naturally, as a woman, I have no say in a matter of this nature, thus, I shall simply follow the lead of all you uncles and elders.”
Everyone cursed inwardly. Now you are saying you will follow our lead? If you really had no say in the matter, then why did you come here at all?
Unexpectedly, after a flicker crossed Qiu Yuluo’s eyes, her gaze circled around Ning Yi and her tone shifted along with it, “But our Li family, as subjects of His Majesty, whenever the empire has need of us, we should naturally do everything in our power to help. Just one word from His Highness, we would certainly not dare to fall behind anyone else.”
She did not mention a word about the “Provincial Commissioner”, but chose to specifically mention Ning Yi. Although Ning Yi was in charge of the river works, and he had indeed been the one who brought up the matter first, but hearing her words at this moment, it felt strange no matter how one thought of it. After all, the one actually responsible for organizing this gathering was the Provincial Administration Commissioner’s yamen.
And her tone…it was solemn on the surface, yet there seemed to carry a hint of flirtation beneath it, enough to remind one of the sort of conversation women and men would exchange while flirting— “As long as you…then I will…”
If the extra words she had added earlier could be interpreted as Madam Li being a sheltered woman who had rattled on out of nervousness because it was her first time meeting someone of imperial blood, then her words now made it quite clear that Madam Li was hardly some naive woman who had never seen the world— the implications of this are rather interesting.
Flirting in public?
For a moment, everyone forgot about the tense business of being asked for money. Their eyes kept darting suggestively toward the seats above. Prince Chu was a notorious womanizer in the capital. These people had close ties with the capital, so how would not know all the stories? It was said that this prince frequented brothels, and enjoyed both men and women. He supposedly did not turn down any beauty that came his way. Judging by the scene before them, his taste had changed? Is he interested in married women now?
Some particularly well-informed among them had even heard vague rumors about the Li family’s only son. Apparently, he has no ability in that region? Could it be that Madam Li, born of a noble family in the capital, already had something going on with Prince Chu before she left the capital? And now that she was all alone in her marital chamber, had she and His Highness rekindled an old flame?
Human nature inherently loves a good gossip. Soon, eyebrows and eyes were communicating with one another animatedly, their expressions filled with the desire to know more.
Feng Zhi Wei lowered her head with a smile and took a sip of wine without even giving Ning Yi a glance.
Ning Yi, however, remained equally composed. Holding his cup, he listened carefully, then smiled, “Madam Li is deeply committed to the greater good. She should serve as a model for the gentry of Jianghuai.”
His reply, like his previous ones, still gave away no real meaning. Whatever was thrown at him, he simply caught, and then set it aside. Leaving no hope that anyone would be able to deduce a definite meaning from his words. Feng Zhi Wei is filled with admiration for him once again— This is the kind of skillful verbal finesse one develops through years of living as an imperial bloodline. The kind of skill that is apparently equally useful when it comes to dealing with women.
Qiu Yuluo, however, seemed completely satisfied with Ning Yi’s reply. Her eyes sparkled as she drained her cup and sat down with a rosy flush spreading across her face. But the Liu family, the richest clan in Jianghuai and the region’s biggest salt merchant, grew anxious upon hearing Ning Yi’s words. After a moment’s thought, their representative said, “Since Your Highness and Marquis Wei have spoken, how could we dare to refuse? It’s just that while our hearts are willing, our means are limited. Your Highness and Marquis Wei, please don’t listen to those ignorant people gossiping about how wealthy the salt merchants are. Only we knew the hardships on the inside.
Every year, we have to pay a hefty sum in salt taxes to the Salt Transport Commissioner’s Office just to obtain our salt licenses. After finally handing over more than half a year’s profits to purchase our allotted quotas, we still have to contend with private salt smugglers causing trouble behind our backs. Now that war has broken out in the south, countless refugees have gathered here. They have flocked to those private salt merchants and started doing this extremely profitable business. Under these circumstances, no matter how large a fortune a clan may possess, it cannot keep up with being emptied time after time. Your Highness, please understand! My Lord, please understand!”
“It sure is,” someone immediately chimed in. It was Master Chen of the Chen clan, the man who had claimed he had gone to the grasslands to sell rice. The Chen family monopolized soybeans, tung oil (a sort of vegetable oil), tea, rice, and other goods in Jiangnan, transporting them to the north and south mountain regions, where they traded them for salt, iron, wheat, cotton, timber, and dried tobacco. They then resold these goods throughout the grasslands, the northwest, and other regions. Their branches could be found all over the country.
Mast Chen furrowed his brow and stroked his goatee. A cunning glint shone from his tiny, beady, triangular eyes as he sighed, “Your Highness, my lord, from the outside, our families may look glamorous, but really, we are just empty shells! Our merchants travel far and wide, passing through one heavily taxed checkpoint after another. What actually ends up in our hands after an entire round trip is barely a fraction of what we received. Then there is trying to feed the whole clan, including all the servants and workers.
Year after year, we can just barely manage to keep the business going on the surface. It’s not that we don’t care about the affairs of the imperial court, but we simply can’t afford being asked to give year after year. Last year, there were the floods in the south, we donated rice, didn’t we? The year before that, there was the snow disaster in the north, and we pledged ten thousand taels of silver. And the year before that…” He counted them off one by one on his fingers. At last, he smacked his lips and sighed, “I am not afraid to say something shameful, but we are already completely broke. Everyone in the Chen clan, from the old to the young, gets meat only once every three days. Absolutely no more than that. I haven’t eaten meat in two days! If you don’t believe me, go ahead and cut open my belly and have a look!” He said with a silly grin.
Feng Zhi Wei shot him a sidelong glance.
This Master Chen of Chen clan, doesn’t rank too high among the Jianghuai prominent clans, but he was one of the most ruthless and miserly of them all. It was said that the Jianghuai provincial government’s filing rooms were piled high with complaints against the Chen family for bullying competitors and monopolizing businesses. Complaints no one had paid any attention to for years.
Not long ago, there was even a complaint accusing this very man of forcibly abducting a commoner’s daughter and causing her death. The Chen family, however, was immensely wealthy. It is said that they had connections in both the legitimate and the criminal world, with a group of reckless thugs under their command. Their underworld influence stretched across the entirety of Jianghuai. As the saying goes, even powerful dragons are no match for snakes in their own territory. The provincial commissioners in the past might not have necessarily cared much about the Chen clan itself, but they were wary of those reckless young thugs. Who knew when one might be watching a play or simply stepping out of the house one day, that some knife-wielding thug might suddenly run up and stab you from behind? Living your days with that sort of anxiousness would hardly be pleasant. And so, despite the Chen clan’s bullying ways in Jianghuai for this many years, no one had ever dared to lay a hand on them.
All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com