Who was it?
Wang Fugui whipped his head around and saw Liang Fengyang enter with his men.
Liang Fengyang glanced at Wang Fugui without acknowledging him, then strode toward Gu Zhengchen and cupped his hands with a smile. "Candidate Gu, my elderly father has invited you several times without success. Today, he sent me to invite you personally."
Gu Zhengchen cupped his hands in return.
"This must be your honored mother, Candidate Gu. It was discourteous of me to arrive so abruptly without a visiting card." Liang Fengyang approached the grieving Gu Shi and exchanged a few pleasantries before turning to order his servants, "Well? Bring out the gift!"
A servant hurriedly presented a wooden box.
Liang Fengyang lifted the lid. Ten strings of copper coins lay quietly inside, one containing slightly fewer coins than the others.
Gu Zhengchen narrowed his eyes slightly, inwardly shaken.
If he was not mistaken, the copper coins in that box amounted to precisely nine strings, seven hundred and eighty cash!
Liang Fengyang looked at Gu Zhengchen, a hint of smugness in his eyes.
Gu Zhengchen, oh, Gu Zhengchen. You thought you owed the Wang Family only six strings of cash, but you overlooked the interest on your debt.
You thought yourself clever, victory already in your grasp, and underestimated your opponent's tricks. The result? They turned the tables and plunged you into eternal ruin!
You were still too young to understand the world's treacherous paths and the darkness of human hearts!
Gu Zhengchen shook his head with a bitter smile, his lips stirring as he sighed in admiration. "It seems Elder Liang saw through everything long ago."
Liang Fengyang laughed heartily. "Not everything. At least my father never figured out how you managed to get a sum of money out of Landlord Sun."
Gu Zhengchen smiled helplessly. The little performance of being thrown out by Landlord Sun might have fooled people then, but it could not fool them now.
"Why would the Liang Family help Gu Zhengchen?"
Zhao Yaowen could scarcely believe it.
Gu Zhengchen had little value and could not possibly bring the Liang Family any benefit. Why would someone like Liang Fengyang come in person to help him?
Zhao Ya'er also found it hard to accept. "How could this happen?" she murmured.
Wasn't he just a poor candidate with no future in officialdom? Why would anyone spend so much money to help him?
Could Father have been wrong?
Should I not have forced him to destroy the marriage contract?
An ache rose to the bridge of her nose.
County Magistrate Li Yi was also surprised to see Liang Fengyang come in person. Gu Zhengchen's relationship with the Liang Family was far closer than he had imagined. But when had Gu Zhengchen placed himself under their patronage?
Wang Fugui's face twisted viciously. He had thought six strings of cash would stump Gu Zhengchen, yet the man had produced enough money. He had thought the interest would drive the Gu Family into a desperate corner, only for the Liang Family to appear!
"Master Liang, are you targeting the Wang Family?"
Wang Fugui stared at Liang Fengyang and asked coldly.
Liang Fengyang spat lightly, looking at Wang Fugui with utter indifference. "You must be joking, Master Wang. Bringing a small gift when visiting someone's home is customary. The Liang Family is merely following custom. How is that targeting the Wang Family?"
Wang Fugui secretly gritted his teeth. Who brings copper coins as a visiting gift?
Gu Zhengchen accepted the wooden box and gave Liang Fengyang a grateful look. "Consider this a loan. I will repay it shortly," he said calmly.
Liang Fengyang merely smiled without speaking.
Gu Zhengchen handed the wooden box to Wang Fugui. "Does this settle the debt in full?"
Wang Fugui's eyelids twitched. He reluctantly accepted the box without even asking his bookkeeper to count the money. Through clenched teeth, he said, "Good. Very good! From this day forward, the debt between the Gu Family and the Wang Family is settled! However, Gu Zhengchen, our business may be finished, but yours is not!"
Gu Zhengchen frowned. "What do you mean?"
Wang Fugui snorted, turned sideways, and called toward the crowd, "County Deputy Jin!"
The crowd at the entrance immediately parted.
Gu Zhengchen looked intently and saw a middle-aged man in a green robe striding toward him. A pair of orioles was embroidered on his rank badge, and two blue-clad yamen runners followed behind him.
An eighth-rank county deputy!
Gu Zhengchen immediately understood. He had come over Gu Zhengchen's repudiation of his engagement to Zhao Ya'er.
County Deputy Jin Dache scratched his short, sparse beard and sized up Gu Zhengchen with a chuckle. "Candidate Gu, under the imperial Code of Laws, voluntarily repudiating a marriage contract is punishable by fifty lashes. I am enforcing the law, so I ask for your understanding. Men, find a bench and hold him down!"
Yan Bin looked at Li Yi, blinking in bewilderment. His meaning was clear: Didn't you suppress this matter? Why is someone still disobeying you?
County Magistrate Li Yi had not expected Wang Fugui to persuade the county deputy to bring men here either. With everyone watching, it would be difficult for him to intercede. After all, repudiating a marriage contract violated both social convention and the imperial Code of Laws.
A long bench was brought over. The two yamen runners seized Gu Zhengchen and pressed him down without allowing a word of protest.
One runner held a thorn switch three feet and five inches long. Its thick end measured 2.7 fen in diameter, and its thin end 1.7 fen, with one fen approximately 0.33 centimeters. Gripping the thick end, he aimed the thin end at Gu Zhengchen's buttocks.
Wang Fugui shot the runner a vicious look, signaling him to strike hard! Wang Youcheng cackled. Gu Zhengchen, so you finally met your day of reckoning!
"Wait!"
Gu Zhengchen shouted!
County Deputy Jin Dache stepped forward and addressed Gu Zhengchen, who was pinned to the bench. "Whatever you have to say can wait until after the lashes."
"What if I redeem the punishment?"
Gu Zhengchen stared at County Deputy Jin.
The smile that had just appeared on County Deputy Jin's face froze. He raised a hand, signaling the runners to release Gu Zhengchen, then addressed him as he stood. "You wish to redeem the punishment?"
"That's right!"
Gu Zhengchen had no desire to endure fifty strokes of that thorn switch. It was far worse than a disciplinary ruler. A single strike across the palm with a ruler hurt for ages. Fifty strokes of this thing would probably leave him lying facedown in bed for a month!
If he wanted to avoid a beating, there was only one way: redeeming the punishment!
Redeeming punishment meant paying with money or goods to expiate an offense.
The practice dated back to antiquity. The Book of Documents: Canon of Shun stated, "Metal shall be used to redeem punishment."
Every successive dynasty had maintained a system for redeeming punishments. Everything from the death penalty down to heavy-stick beatings and light lashes could be redeemed.
The amount demanded and the goods used varied from dynasty to dynasty. The Western Han used gold, the Eastern Han used fine silk, and the Sui, Tang, Song, and Ming used copper.
Sima Qian had once considered redeeming his punishment too, but "his family was poor, and his wealth was insufficient to redeem himself." In the end, he suffered castration.
Old Zhu supported the redemption of punishments. In fact, Great Ming's system was far more comprehensive than that of any other dynasty.
In the early Ming, there were chiefly two ways to redeem punishment:
The first was to substitute service for punishment-in effect, performing forced labor.
In less than two years, a large batch of officials would report to Fengyang for reform through labor...
The second was to require payment in metal in exchange for exemption from punishment.
That was simple: money handed over on one side, punishment waived on the other.
Of course, eligibility depended on the offender. People like Old Hu, Old Li, and the one surnamed Lan were not eligible. Even if they had been, they probably would never have had the chance. Their entire families went in hand in hand, their property was confiscated, and nobody remained to redeem them, nor was there any money left to do so...
Under the early Ming Code of Laws, a capital offense required thirty-six taels, an exile offense twenty-four taels, and fifty lashes three taels and five mace.
Since the Liang Family had paid the Gu Family's debt for the time being, Gu Zhengchen still had enough copper coins. Wincing at the expense, he took out three strings and five hundred cash. County Deputy Jin Dache weighed the coins in his hand and nodded with a smile. "Since that is the case, the punishment is waived. Candidate Gu, we cannot always act as we please. Please forgive any offense we have caused. Farewell."
Watching County Deputy Jin and the runners leave, Wang Fugui stamped his feet in fury. That fellow took the money and did nothing!
"We're leaving!"
However unwilling Wang Fugui was, he had no way to remain here any longer.
As Wang Fugui turned to leave, Gu Zhengchen called out in a low voice, "Master Wang, our business is not finished yet. Isn't it rather improper for you to simply walk home like this?"
"Gu Zhengchen, what are you trying to do?"
Wang Fugui turned back angrily.
Gu Zhengchen sat on the long bench and declared, each word ringing like a stone striking the ground, "I want back everything the Gu Family has lost!"
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