Chapter 183

Chapter 183

Han Zhang directly found an excuse to take the people to the yamen and lock them up, not because he was overly suspicious.

Rather, in officialdom, maintaining vigilance toward everyone who appears around you is a basic principle for those in office.

Because official positions are like radishes in a pit—just because you don't provoke others doesn't mean they won't come after you.

The reality is that those below want to climb up, so they must first drag down those above!

Not to mention that he had offended so many people in the capital before, and who knows how many pairs of eyes were secretly watching him.

Being cautious in all matters and keeping an extra eye open is never a mistake.

Han Zhang took the prisoners away swiftly, but the Jiang family was already regretting it bitterly. Had they known this was an official master, they wouldn't have argued and cursed with Liu Geer earlier.

What good place was the yamen—the local government office?

It was a place where even the innocent would be flayed alive once inside!

Even Jiang Liu, who had a clear conscience, felt somewhat afraid, since in the eyes of common folk, entering the yamen was hardly different from entering a bandit's den.

But thinking about his current situation, he became resigned again.

After all, things couldn't possibly get worse than they already were. Going to the yamen was fine—at least his grandparents and uncle and aunt would be there with him. No loss!

So, having comforted himself, Jiang Liu was even in the mood to chat with the maid and attendant attending him as if they were old friends.

"May I ask what you two are called? My name is Jiang Liu—Jiang as in river, Liu as in willow—because my mother was too busy working to make it home in time and gave birth to me under the willow tree at the village entrance..."

"Sister Yingxue? Brother Qingzhu? Ah, what beautiful names you have! No wonder you're the maids and attendants of an official's household—even naming has such learning to it..."

Jiang Liu was not only spirited and strong-willed, but also knew how to win people over. Add to that his fresh, likable face, and he quickly won the favor of the maid and attendant attending him.

These servants of the Han family had also witnessed the scene of his family forcing him earlier, and couldn't help but feel pity and sympathy for him.

The maid Yingxue kindly offered a word of advice: "Young lad, don't be afraid. Our master is a good official and would never do anything to oppress the common folk. As long as you truly have a grievance, the master will surely seek justice for you."

"Really?"

Jiang Liu was somewhat doubtful.

What good could these officials possibly be? His cousin had only beaten someone, yet had to pay over three hundred taels of silver—wasn't that just because the beaten person had power and influence?

Many families in their village who had once been well-off had ended up destitute, even becoming tenant slaves, and all of it was tied to the officials at the yamen.

Seeing his expression, the attendant Qingzhu immediately puffed out his chest and added with a sense of pride and honor:

"Of course it's true! Our master treats all his servants with great kindness and gentleness—he's the best official you'll ever find! When you go to the yamen, just speak plainly and don't hide or deceive, and the master will surely handle things fairly."

Seeing how both of them defended their master so loyally, Jiang Liu, though still not quite able to believe it, didn't say anything to dampen the mood. He just threw caution to the wind and said:

"Well, even if no one seeks justice for me, it doesn't matter. Look at me now—my face is ruined, my leg's busted. Even if I go back home, they can't send me to Master Liu's residence anymore. A barefoot man isn't afraid of those wearing shoes!"

He said it with carefree abandon, even revealing a relaxed smile, but it couldn't hide the despair and helplessness of someone at the bottom of society.

Yingxue and Qingzhu were not born into the Han family either. They too had been sold into servitude by their parents because their families couldn't make ends meet, so they could relate completely.

"True enough—a barefoot man isn't afraid of those wearing shoes. Young lad, would you like some candy? I have sesame candy, peanut candy, crispy sugar candy... A few days ago when the young master celebrated his one-month milestone, the master gave us quite a lot. Have a piece to sweeten your mouth?"

The two said no more, took out the celebration candy that the Han household had given to servants during Little Glutton's one-month celebration, and fed it to Jiang Liu.

"Thank you, Sister Yingxue, thank you, Brother Qingzhu." Jiang Liu tasted the sweetness in his mouth and couldn't help but smile: "This candy... it's really sweet. Delicious."

This was the first time he had seen such kind official household servants, so different from the arrogant servants of the powerful families he'd encountered before, who always had their noses in the air.

...

On the other side.

After returning to the carriage, Han Zhang instructed several attendants to go ahead and investigate the Jiang family's affairs.

The Jiang family was nothing more than ordinary farmers. The attendants, under his training and guidance, were now quite capable—in just half a day.

By the time Han Zhang returned to the residence and finished freshening up, information about the Jiang family was laid out for him.

If the subordinates' investigation was correct, encountering the Jiang family on the city's edge was indeed a chance encounter.

According to the investigation, the Jiang family was an ordinary farming household in Jiang Family Village, just outside the prefectural city.

Thanks to generations of hardworking and thrifty ancestors who were good at managing their household, by Jiang Liu's generation, the family had accumulated thirty mu (about five acres) of fertile farmland, making them a fairly well-off family in the village.

But Jiang Liu's grandparents had big ambitions as well.

So, upon discovering that the eldest grandson—the cousin Jiang Liu mentioned—had some intelligence, they steeled themselves and sent the child to a traditional private school.

Although the second and third branches of the Jiang family were somewhat reluctant, with their parents pressuring them and secretly hoping the family would produce a scholar, they eventually accepted the arrangement and scrimped and saved to support him.

But how easy was it for a poor student to study for the imperial exams?

Jiang's cousin only had a bit of cleverness—he wasn't really cut out for scholarship. Now in his twenties, he had just barely passed the Tongsheng exam. Become a Xiucai scholar? No way!

If he had a conscience, he would have given up studying by now and used his Tongsheng status to find work and stop burdening the family.

Unfortunately, although Jiang's grandparents had ambition, they lacked vision and know-how. They only knew their grandson was the family's hope, so they just gave him everything he wanted without knowing how to educate or guide him.

Over time, Jiang's cousin naturally became spoiled rotten.

Knowing full well he couldn't pass the Xiucai exam and that staying in the private school was a waste of time, he still refused to earn his own keep, using the pretense of studying to continue exploiting his uncles, aunts, and cousins to exhaust themselves supporting him.

Among them, Jiang Liu's branch—the second branch—suffered the most because the whole family had gentle and honest temperaments.

Sure enough, Jiang's cousin was out drinking at brothels, got into trouble, and needed to cover his debts.

The eldest branch couldn't bear to sacrifice their own daughters and young lads, so they set their sights on Jiang Liu of the second branch, euphemistically claiming that because Jiang Liu was handsome, Master Liu had taken a fancy to him!

But in reality...

The truth was that Jiang Liu had a lucky birth chart, and Master Liu, being advanced in age, was planning for his funeral and afterlife. He wanted to find a young lady or lad with an auspicious horoscope to be buried with him as a burial sacrifice, to bring him wealth and fortune in the next life.

When the eldest branch couple learned of this, they heartlessly sold out their nephew.

Otherwise, how could an ordinary concubine fetch a bride price of over three hundred taels? Rich people weren't stupid—this was buying a life with money!

Although Jiang Liu's parents didn't know the full details, they suspected something was fishy.

The couple was honest, but they still loved their child. Bound by filial duty, they couldn't defy Jiang's grandparents, so they simply packed him a bag and told him to run to his mother's family home to lay low.

Unfortunately, he was discovered midway, and Jiang's grandparents and the eldest branch couple chased after him, until they crossed paths with Han Zhang's carriage procession...

Han Zhang nodded after listening and asked, "Was there any deliberate design in the altercation between that Jiang cousin and others at the brothel?"

"You, my lord, see everything clearly. Indeed, the Jiang cousin was set up, and the culprit was a relative of Secretary Xu from our own yamen. The aim was the Jiang family's thirty mu (about five acres) of fertile land."

"In fact, such matters are not uncommon in local areas. Many wealthy households, in order to seize farmland, often collude with gambling dens and brothels, setting traps to lure young men of the family into debt and eventually forcing them to repay with their land."

"Those who are luckier become tenant farmers, at the mercy of others; if they fall into cruel hands, they are directly reduced to tenant serfs."

The meaning of tenant farmer and tenant serf is obvious from the terms themselves. Once someone became a tenant serf, they were basically no different from a servant; they were considered the master's private property, could be bought, sold, transferred, or given away, and if they were beaten to death, nobody would care.

This was how land annexation worked in ancient times. The wealthy had countless ways to force the poor to hand over their land, until finally the poor themselves became the private property of the rich.

This is also why many common people, even knowing the difficulty of the imperial examinations, tightened their belts as a family to support one son who could earn a degree and official rank.

Of the four classes—scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants—only real power and influence could guarantee safety and stability.

After the manservant withdrew, Shen Qinglan looked at Han Zhang and sighed, saying, "Husband, this matter... I fear it is not suitable for probing too deeply into. Farmland is the livelihood of the common people and the foundation of the powerful. Almost all the gentry were involved, differing only in whether their methods were gentle or ruthless."

This is also why local magnates often have more say than the local authorities. Because the magnates controlled the very means by which the local people survived.

Even his maternal grandfather's family was no exception, though their methods were not as ruthless as those of the bureaucrats and magnates in Yunyang Prefecture, who didn't hesitate to drive people to the brink of death.

In fact, whether in ancient or modern times, the saying "the rich feast while the poor freeze to death on the streets" has always been a true reflection of reality.

The world was never fair; it was only ever about how much of the resources those at the top were willing to share with those below.

Shen Qinglan grew up in a wealthy household and couldn't fully understand the plight of the poor, but he had a kind heart and still felt compassion.

So in his daily dealings with the maids and page boys around him, as long as they did not err, he was lenient and generous with his rewards and gifts.

At this moment, he said these words not to stop Han Zhang, but because he didn't want Han Zhang to get too deeply involved, stir up the collective interests, and become a target for everyone.

Seeing his husband's worried expression, Han Zhang's stern features softened, and he smiled, saying:

"What you say, my husband, I understand. I also have no intention of opposing the entire gentry class of Yunyang Prefecture, for I am now one of them."

"Water too clear has no fish. They can be greedy, but if they go too far, then I am the one who suffers."

"The people of Yunyang Prefecture are my resources. If this continues, and the people all become servants and private property of these wealthy households, then I, the Lord Prefect, would become nothing but a 'general without an army' holding an empty title."

"This Jiang family matter comes at just the right time. Now that the household affairs are settled, it is time to reclaim power and let these people of Yunyang know who will be in charge here from now on."

Every inch of this land belongs to the emperor. Are these people oppressing the common folk?

No, they are digging at my foundation!