Chapter 164 Bi Yun’s Wedding

Chapter 164: Bi Yun's Marriage

Chu Ci, dressed in brand-new clothes with two embroidered purses hanging at his waist, came awkwardly to kowtow and offer New Year's greetings to Meng Wan.

Meng Wan accepted this great gift and pulled out a small palm-sized box from his own bosom, handing it to Chu Ci. "Your Uncle Song and Grandma Chang have already given you your New Year's gift money. This one is from me—take it and wear it for fun."

Chu Ci carefully took the box and opened it to reveal a jade safety pendant inside, strung on a black cord that could be hung at the waist. The jade was fairly clear and translucent, not a rare gem even among the capital's wealthy elite, but still worth a hundred silver taels.

He closed the box again and was silent for a long time. He wanted to sign a thank-you to Meng Wan, but stopped halfway and instead said, "I'll keep learning medicine from the Miao people. In the future, I can help you and Uncle Song a lot."

Meng Wan encouraged him, "Alright, keep it up! I'm looking forward to it!"

On New Year's Day, the whole family changed into new clothes, and the estate was decorated with lanterns and streamers. After a day of eating and drinking, starting on the second day, they stayed home to welcome guests.

First to arrive were Song Tingzhou's subordinates: Chief Clerk Qiao, Inspector Huang, the Instructor from the county school, and sneaky Constable Zhang. Most of them brought local specialties, but Constable Zhang came with a cloth bag of gold and silver grains (rice-shaped nuggets), real gold and silver. Despite Heshan's poverty, he could still produce gold and silver, which proved he had been fleecing the people alongside Tong Ping.

Originally, as a newcomer, Song Tingzhou had no evidence of their corruption and couldn't spare the time to deal with Constable Zhang yet. But Zhang insisted on showing up, and just as he had used other reasons to behead Tong Ping, he could now bring down Constable Zhang in the same way.

Meng Wan grabbed a handful of the gold-and-silver-mixed rice, letting the fine grains trickle through his fingers with a rustling sound. He sighed, "In such a small place as Heshan, even a low-ranking constable like Zhang can embezzle so much. In regions like Jiangnan, involving salt, tea, sugar, and so on, it must be even darker. No wonder even a veteran like Third Uncle couldn't make it there."

Song Tingzhou knew his limits. "Noble families stand thick as trees in Jiangnan, and the nation's wealthiest gather. It's indeed not a place for a humble scholar like me, without a powerful clan behind me, to rashly set foot."

"Exactly." Those words struck a chord with Meng Wan. His greatest worry was that Song Tingzhou, influenced by the stories of incorruptible justice, would act recklessly on pure passion.

Meng Wan tossed the gold and silver rice back into the bag. "Only by reaching a high position can you help more people. When we were still commoners without official rank, we could only give a steamed bun to one person. When you first entered officialdom, we could slightly help the common people seek justice. Now that you are a county magistrate, you can protect the people of this land. When the day comes that your official robe turns crimson, that will be the time to truly advocate for the people."

"Rest assured, even if I have to endure for a time, I will never let myself fall into an irredeemable situation." Song Tingzhou's expression was moved; he knew what Meng Wan was worried about.

Meng Wan tilted his head and smiled at him. In fact, every time he said these words to Song Tingzhou, he was also spurring himself on.

Because of his low status as a male consort, many of his actions were restricted, but thanks to Song Tingzhou's care and trust, he was also free.

When Song Tingzhou's status was low, Meng Wan was cautious and tried not to cause trouble. Now that Song Tingzhou had entered officialdom and become a county magistrate, Meng Wan did what he could within the bounds allowed.

Meng Wan was no longer the pitiful little creature who could barely protect himself when he first arrived, without even a proper household registration.

He had suffered hardship. His parents, who had doted on him since childhood, had died in an accident, forcing him to live under someone else's roof at a young age, living by reading people's moods.

After transmigrating, he had almost been sentenced to life and death by a single word, then sold off like an animal to an unknown place.

He had been oppressed by the rich, targeted by villains, seen disgusting things, walked through darkness.

He was not some pampered young master, but a hunter who had weathered countless storms and carved out his own place in the world.

...

Song's close relatives were all in Sanquan Village. On the third day of the new year, Meng Wan began returning gifts to Song Tingzhou's subordinates one by one—after all, they couldn't just take things for free.

The Tao family also came on the third day, led by Tao Jiu and his brothers. They came partly as subordinates bringing New Year's greetings to their superior, and partly as Bi Yun's fiancé bringing gifts to the Song family.

Tao Jiu didn't have much savings to begin with; he had spent it all on this wedding. The things he brought to the Song family today were pooled together by his brothers.

Tao Jiu was quite honest, and his elderly parents had little say over their sons' decisions. The Tao children all had their own plans.

Meng Wan wasn't about to take advantage of them. In return for the Tao family's gifts, he gave them a gift of equal value, as a New Year's gift to Tao's elders.

He had also told Tao Jiu before that after the wedding, Bi Yun would work at the sugar workshop.

With another person earning, wouldn't life be even more prosperous? Tao Jiu would have to be the biggest fool in Hongshan Village to disagree. After all, now not only the villagers of Hongshan and Hongni Villages took pride in working at the sugar workshop, but people from other villages and even the county town were indirectly inquiring how to get into the sugar workshop to earn money.

The status of women and young men had soared dramatically in the two villages. More and more girls and young men were recognizing their own value, gradually gaining a voice, and then influencing others.

—

At the end of the year, all departments in the capital were busy, especially the Ministry of Revenue, because all the land taxes and silver were being transported to the capital. The Ministry officials had to inspect, verify, and register everything one by one.

Even if the local taxes in silver and grain were insufficient and the treasury was in arrears, no one dared to falsify this matter.

The counties would submit their collected grain taxes to the prefectural government, which would gather all the silver and grain from the counties under its jurisdiction and transport them to the Provincial Administration Commission, which would finally send them to the Ministry of Revenue.

If any step went wrong, the highest-ranking official would be the one to be beheaded first, without even being able to shift the blame to a subordinate.

The Minister of Revenue, Kou Wen, was a notorious miser. Every year at the end of the year, when the Ministry checked the grain taxes, he was both gratified and angry—especially regarding Lingnan's accounts. He didn't want to look at them at all; not only did they fail to collect enough silver and grain, but they also owed the court year after year.

"Huh?" The Vice Minister in charge of checking the accounts of Xi Wu Prefecture stared at the ledger with his eyes wide.

Kou Wen asked, "What's wrong? Which prefecture again? Owing silver, or grain?" He was annoyed. If only all the provinces paid taxes as actively as Yangzhou.

The Vice Minister hesitated. "Your Excellency, Lingnan did indeed have a poor harvest this year, but Heshan County under Xi Wu Prefecture... well, it..."

"What about it? Hand it over." Kou Wen snatched the ledger from his hands. After reading a few lines, his eyes widened even more than his subordinate's.

"This... this, this, this! Come, follow me to the granary to see!"

Kou Wen couldn't believe the authenticity of the ledger in his hands. Abandoning a stack of official business, he went to the granary. When he actually faced the piles of sugar, he fell silent.

After a long while, he spoke with difficulty, "...Heshan County... paying taxes with sugar?"

Paying taxes with grain was the norm. Although salt, grain, iron, and sugar were hard commodities, in practice people bartered with salt and grain, but rarely with iron or sugar. The question was, where did Heshan County, a poor place that had two county magistrates in five years, get so much sugar? Damn, that's absolutely insane!

The Vice Minister asked with a troubled face, "Your Excellency, what do we do? Do we accept it or not?"

Kou Wen gritted his teeth. "Not accept? If we don't accept and they have neither grain nor silver, will we let them owe again? Accept it. Convert it at the market price and register it in detail."

This matter was so bizarre that it was the first example since the founding of the dynasty of paying taxes with sugar. Kou Wen reported it completely to the emperor.

"Paying taxes with sugar? Which county magistrate is in Heshan?" The emperor, dressed in casual robes in the imperial study, inquired.

Several princes and first-rank ministers were in the hall. The crown prince didn't hesitate to stand up from his seat. "Father Emperor, the Heshan County Magistrate is Song Tingzhou, a jinshi of the twenty-fifth year of Qisheng."

The emperor tapped lightly on the memorial in front of him. "I have some recollection. Didn't he submit a memorial to open up wasteland earlier this spring? He's a benevolent official who cares for the people." To receive such praise from the emperor was an immense honor. The officials below all silently noted this name, wondering which family he belonged to and whether they could win him over.

Prince Lian, with his handsome and refined features, smiled warmly. "His Highness the Crown Prince is benevolent. To remember such a petty minor official clearly."

The crown prince replied blandly, "The Marquis of Zhongyi, fearing his son might not amount to much, specially sent him to Heshan, where he has yet to return."

The crown prince's words had two meanings: The reason he could answer who the Heshan County Magistrate was was because his own younger brother-in-law was training locally, so paying attention was hardly surprising. A mere county magistrate could hardly compare with the heir of a marquis.

As expected, the emperor's attention shifted to Qin Jiao. "Oh? The Marquis of Zhongyi sent his legitimate son to Lingnan. How generous. What position does he hold?"

The crown prince said humbly, "In reply to Father Emperor, Qin Jiao is unruly and not up to much. He only serves as a minor squad leader."

At this, the emperor fully recalled that he had once assigned two thousand soldiers to Song Tingzhou as local county troops.

"When the Marquis of Zhongyi was young, he was a fierce general of Yu. His son is surely not bad. Serving only as a squad leader is a waste of talent. There's no harm in making him a centurion." A legitimate heir, of such high status, serving only as a squad leader and being commanded by ordinary soldiers was indeed inappropriate.

"Thank you for Your Majesty's grace." The crown prince, acting as his brother-in-law's advocate, bowed in thanks and sat down contentedly.

Prince Lian realized he had handed Qin Jiao a stepping stone. His expression soured, but he forced it down, instantly resuming a gentle countenance. Such behavior showed he was a man of deep cunning.

Then the discussion returned to the topic raised by the Minister of Revenue. After some deliberation, the court officials concluded, "The Heshan County's payment of taxes with sugar is understandable." After all, it was a poor place, and being able to submit something useful was already commendable, since this wretched county had never before paid its grain tax in full. When hit by natural disasters or man-made calamities, it contributed nothing at all. At least this year, it had paid in full. But...

"Magistrate Song of Heshan stated that land reclamation and terrace construction have achieved remarkable results, and the local people no longer suffer from hunger. However, most residents still cannot afford the national taxes. The sugar came from the private workshop run by his husband. To alleviate the tax burden on the locals, part of the sugar was used to offset wages or sold at low prices to other villagers, thereby making up the tax shortfall."

In the end, the core issue was still: the people had little land, and the output from the reclaimed wasteland was not yet comparable to that of fertile fields.

High-ranking officials never directed their attention to the development of small places like Heshan County, but Song Tingzhou's repeated complaints about poverty, combined with the unprecedented sugar-for-tax scheme, once again successfully drew the emperor's attention to Heshan's difficulties.

The emperor pondered for a moment. "It is not a crime for the gentry to purchase land, and curbing this is difficult. This is indeed a predicament for remote, impoverished counties. Do any of you have good ideas?"

He then asked his two grown sons. The second son, Prince Qin, had been content to be aloof since receiving his fief. Now only the fourth son, Crown Prince Wen Zhao, and the fifth son, Prince Lian Wen Xu, were still subtly contending with each other.

One was the legitimate heir born to the empress and had married the eldest legitimate daughter of the Zhongyi Marquis Residence. The other was born to a noble consort and backed by Duke Dingxiang. Both were astute and evenly matched.

Wen Xu pondered for a moment. "Your son believes that it is not a crime for the gentry to purchase land; it is the county magistrate's incompetence. As long as the gentry are kindly admonished and guided through moral education to rent their land to farmers at low prices, the conflict can be alleviated."

Ha! The crown prince sneered inwardly. What kind of solution was that? Better to grab a couple of those who forcibly seized or cheated land and execute them publicly than to use 'kind admonition.' This truly favored the aristocratic families.

"Father, your son has also read Lord Song's memorial. The local gentry purposefully raised rents and suppressed the sugar workshop. The people can barely feed themselves, while the landlords firmly hold onto the land and enslave the people. Kindly admonishing such people is pointless." The crown prince had grand ambitions. He wanted to curb gentry land hoarding with quotas and limits, preventing them from hoarding without restraint. But he could not say this directly. Although officials were prohibited from hoarding land, who among them had not purchased land under clan names? If he spoke out, he would offend half the aristocratic families in the court. Moreover, before several major clans were eradicated, such a move would be nearly impossible.

The emperor read Song Tingzhou's memorial again, then closed it with a snap. The Heshan County Magistrate earnestly requested that the poll tax in Heshan be merged into the land tax, with taxes based on land area rather than people. Thus, the more land one had, the heavier the tax. This would both ease the burden on farmers and curb the gentry's land hoarding, which left the people with no land to cultivate.

This policy was excellent, but needed more thought.

Nevertheless, Song Tingzhou's action had planted a seed of land reform in the emperor's mind, awaiting the right moment for nationwide change.

Now, the emperor looked more and more unfavorably upon the aristocratic families blocking the way.

After much discussion, the matter of Heshan paying taxes with sugar was ultimately left unresolved.

However, because of this incident, the court issued a new law: from then on, prefectures and counties no longer needed to transport grain to the capital but instead converted everything into silver. Nor were they permitted to pay taxes with sugar, salt, or anything else—the Ministry of Revenue would henceforth only accept silver.

——

By February, Heshan had begun to warm up. However, due to the convergence of cold and warm air currents, most days were either overcast or rainy. It was rare for the eighth day to be so clear.

The Song residence was decorated with red lanterns and red paper-cut double happiness characters. According to Heshan custom, the wedding procession took place in the morning. Bi Yun had hardly slept all night; before dawn, he changed into a bright red wedding dress, and the matchmaker helped him bathe and apply makeup.

He wore the headpiece that Meng Wan had prepared for him. Leaning on Huang Ye's arm, he kowtowed to Chang Jinhua, Meng Wan, and Song Tingzhou, who were seated in the main hall.