In fact, relatively speaking, there were relatively few corrupt officials in the Northern Song Dynasty. This was mainly due to their good welfare.
Secondly, it is very important not to suppress land annexation, because high-ranking officials have many privileges. They can legally purchase a lot of land without paying taxes. It is difficult for ordinary landowners to outplay them.
Finally, business is prosperous and business-minded officials are all wealthy.
Therefore, whether officials in the Northern Song Dynasty had money did not depend on the size of their official positions, but on their business acumen and desire for wealth.
Prime ministers such as Sima Guang, Wang Anshi, Fu Bi, Wen Yanbo, and Zhao Pian didn't actually have much money at home. It wasn't that they didn't know how to make money, but they were not interested in it.
They are not even willing to take advantage of the free advantages given to them by the imperial court.
But Gu Ji, who is in charge of the affairs of Taifu Temple, is really wealthy. In terms of official position, it is not very high. Moreover, Taifu Temple is currently in charge of some sacrificial supplies, and it is not a super oil and water department.
But Gu Ji's family is very rich.
Because his family was originally an official family, and they were engaged in many businesses, such as silk and satin, wine, sugar, grain, etc.
These people are the most opposed to reform, because they have already played through the current system and their interests are derived from it. Of course, they are unwilling to make changes.
At noon that day, a luxurious carriage slowly stopped in front of the gate of Gu Mansion.
The housekeeper immediately came out with two servants and four maids, and carefully helped Gu Ji get out of the carriage.
Upon entering the hall, tea and preserves are readily available.
Gu Ji took a sip of tea and suddenly thought of something, "By the way! Have we got our license plate yet?"
The old man replied: "Currently, the police station has not relaxed the quota. Besides, the young master said he wanted a nice license plate, so I didn't ask about it."
Gu Ji was stunned for a moment, "What's the license plate number?"
The old man replied: "For example, consecutive numbers, such as one, two, three, four, or the same number, such as four threes, four twos. Moreover, the carving process and paint of this beautiful number are different from ordinary license plates. , I also feel that the master's status may be noble, but he cannot be the same as the common people."
Gu Ji nodded slightly, "That's true, but they are still unwilling to relax the quota. Not only did they not give us privileges, but they also allowed those merchants to go ahead of us. It is really disrespectful and unreasonable."
The old man asked cautiously: "Master, do we still want this beautiful name?"
Gu Ji pondered for a moment and said: "Leave this matter to Qing'er. Anyway, this does not prevent us from putting pressure on the Political Affairs Hall."
"Yes, the villain has remembered it."
The old man said again: "By the way, our shop in Embroidery Alley was hit by someone this morning. It happened that the other party was a carriage transporting paint, and a lot of embroidery was lost."
Gu Ji frowned when he heard this, looked at the old man, and said dissatisfiedly: "Just let them handle this little matter by themselves. Do you really need to ask me?"
The old man quickly explained: "But sir, it was the patrolman's carriage that hit our shop."
"Patrol?"
Gu Ji was startled.
The old man nodded.
Gu Ji pondered for a while and asked, "What's the situation now?"
The old man said: "At present, shopkeeper Gu is still negotiating with them at the Inspection Department, and the result is not yet clear."
Gu Ji frowned, "They put up warning signs and traffic regulations everywhere, but now something happened to them. We can't let them go easily."
He stroked his beard and then ordered: "Go and have a look quickly. No matter what the situation is, shopkeeper Gu doesn't agree to it yet."
"yes."
...
Inspection Department of the left compartment.
Since the General Police Station has just been established and is still under construction, it has not yet been officially listed. Therefore, for now, the patrol officers are still in the military patrol shop.
"That's unreasonable!"
Cao Dongdong slammed the table.
Gu Yiyuan, the shopkeeper of Chunfeng Shili, suddenly trembled and said tremblingly: "Yamen, the villain is innocent. It was your carriage that hit the villain's shop."
Cao Dongdong glanced at him and said, "What are you afraid of? I'm not talking about you."
Having said this, he suddenly looked at the trembling patrolman next to him, "How did you drive? You ignored the road and ran to someone else's store. This is a shame for me."
The patrolman said: "I'm sorry, but... you really can't blame me for this. It was a corner, and I happened to encounter a carriage. I couldn't avoid it, so... I bumped into it."
"Are you still making excuses?"
Cao Dongdong glared at him angrily.
The patrolman lowered his head.
Cao Dongdong asked Na Gu Yiyuan again: "How do you want to deal with it?"
Gu Yiyuan said tremblingly: "Yamen...Yameni, you see, I also help people. Now all those good embroideries are ruined. If we don't pay compensation, we can't explain it to the proprietor."
"You still want to pay?"
Cao Dongdong's eyes bulged, his momentum was overwhelming, "This is not a big deal, just apologize."
"ah?"
Everyone in Gu Yiyuan is stupid. You can pay me money or I can apologize to you. "This... I'm afraid this is not acceptable."
"What did you say?"
Cao Dongdong glanced sideways, as if if you say it again, you won't be able to get out of this door.
If it were a serious official, Gu Yiyuan would have dared to say a few words, but this Cao Dongdong was very nervous and moody.
"Ya Nei!"
Zhang Fei on the side suddenly said: "We have to compensate for this money."
Cao Dongdong glanced at him sideways, hesitated for a while, "I'll leave it to you to handle it."
Zhang Fei immediately said to Gu Yiyuan: "Shopkeeper Gu, we can compensate, but it must be based on the cost price, not the market price.
In addition, we must sign a settlement letter, and you must also explain to the outside world that we will compensate you in full, but we will not force you or anything like that. what do you think? "
This is much better than Gu Yiyuan expected. The government destroyed your goods and can compensate you in full. This is really speechless, but he was just about to nod in agreement.
I just heard someone shouting outside: "Is shopkeeper Gu inside?"
Cao Dongdong frowned and said, "Who is it?"
Ma Xiaoyi ran in, "A clerk in his store said he was in a hurry."
Gu Yiyuan's expression changed slightly and said: "Inside the office, I'll go take a look first."
Cao Dongdong nodded and said, "Go ahead."
After Gu Yiyuan left, Cao Dongdong immediately whispered to Zhang Fei: "He really won't agree?"
"Don't worry, he can't make the decision on this matter. It doesn't matter whether he agrees or not."
Zhang Fei chuckled, "The Gu family is not short of this money. Is there anything more worthwhile than using this money to disgust us?"
Cao Dongdong was still a little uneasy. After all, Gu Yiyuan's expression just now made him panic and said: "If the other party agrees, then our work will be in vain."
"Don't worry!" Zhang Fei smiled.
Ma Xiaoyi whispered: "Third brother, why don't we sue directly."
Zhang Fei said: "In that case, it may look like a bully to others. You must not give this impression to the people."
After a while, Gu Yiyuan came to the hall again, cupped his hands towards Cao Dongdong and said, "Yamen, a villain can't decide this matter. You have to go back and ask the proprietor."
Cao Dongdong wondered: "You can't even make the decision on such a trivial matter?"
Gu Yiyuan said sarcastically: "This business does not belong to villains, villains can't make the decision!"
Cao Dongdong waved his hands impatiently and said: "Okay, okay, you go back and discuss it quickly. It's best to give me an answer today, otherwise, I may change my mind."
"Yes Yes Yes."
Gu Yiyuan left the inspection department and went directly to Gu's house instead of going back to the store.
"Replying to the master, Cao Yanei was a little reluctant to pay the money at first, but Zhang San came out and said a few words."
"Zhang San?"
Gu Ji immediately asked: "What did Zhang San say?"
Gu Yiyuan said: "Zhang San said that they had to compensate for the money, but he demanded that the compensation should only be based on the cost price. He also asked us to explain to the outside world that the police station compensated us in full and did not force us."
Gu Ji smiled when he heard this and asked again: "How much did our goods lose?"
Gu Yiyuan said: "All the goods placed under the shed have been destroyed, but the weight is different. If we count them all, there will be about seventy or eighty Guan. But if the other party cares about it, even if they pay sixty Guan, we will not A loss."
Gu Ji asked: "Do you calculate the cost price or the market price?"
"Of course it's the cost price. If it's the market price, you can pay a hundred dollars in compensation."
"Only a hundred dollars?"
Gu Ji frowned and suddenly asked, "Did you hit anyone?"
Gu Yiyuan hurriedly said: "It's really lucky that the guy at the door happened to come inside to help and no one was hit."
"what a pity."
Gu Ji had a look of regret on his face and said: "Go and calculate, if there is too much, you can't let go of any loss. In short, try every means to calculate more money for me."
"Master, this..."
"Don't you understand?"
"Yes...yes, little...little man knows." Gu Yiyuan nodded repeatedly.
Gu Ji looked at him with an uneasy look on his face and couldn't help but frown. He pondered for a while and suddenly said: "You are not good at this. You go to the Li family in Lushi Lane and let them talk. If you lose a penny, I will sue them too." .”
"yes."
After hearing this, Gu Yiyuan breathed a sigh of relief.
"Go and do it quickly."
"I'll take my leave, villain."
After Gu Yiyuan went out, the old man said: "Master, this will make things big."
"I just want to make things worse."
Gu Ji snorted: "How did Zhang San deal with Wang Wenshan and Wang Hong in the past? Didn't he always rely on this lawsuit to make the matter worse and force the court to settle the matter.
Recently, their main police station has established various traffic regulations, but they themselves overturned first. Hum, this time I will treat others with the same treatment as others. "
...
The next day.
Inspection Department.
"Three hundred strings?"
Cao Dongdong slapped the compensation form on the table angrily, "I've never done embroidery before. How can that little thing be worth three hundred coins?"
Ma Xiaoyi helped: "Brother is right, we are going to do embroidery business, what can we do to you? In my opinion, that little bit of embroidery and silk is only worth a few dozen strings."
Gu Yiyuan glanced at Ma Xiaoyi and thought to himself, these dudes really know their stuff!
Li Guozhong said hurriedly: "Please calm down, Yameni, this is not the way to settle the score."
Zhang Fei on the side asked coldly: "How should we calculate it?"
Li Guozhong glanced at Zhang Fei, hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Look, when this car crashed, there was paint everywhere. It will take several days to clean it up. I can't do business these days, so the loss will definitely be too." It’s got to be counted.”
Zhang Fei sneered: "Did this paint spill into the store?"
Gu Yiyuan said: "Although it didn't spill inside the store,...but with the outside looking like that, who would be willing to come in and take a look? It would also hurt the reputation of the store."
"What did you say?"
Cao Dongdong glared angrily.
Gu Yiyuan immediately dared not speak.
Li Guozhong immediately said: "What shopkeeper Gu said is true. Opening the door without cleaning the outside will leave a bad impression on customers. Also, the price cannot be calculated according to the cost price.
Because a lot of it is embroidery, and embroidery takes time, so it must be calculated according to the market price, and these embroidery rights should be sold to your police station. Also, the cleaning fees and the tables where the embroidery is placed are also included in the compensation. "
"boom!"
Cao Dongdong slapped the table, jumped up suddenly, and said with a ferocious expression: "How can this be unreasonable? I have always been the only one who blackmails me. Ahem, you dare to blackmail me. Someone here!"
"Please calm down, Yamenei."
Zhang Fei quickly stood up, stopped Cao Dongdong, and said to Li Guozhong: "It is impossible for us to agree to this condition. The most we can agree to is compensate at the market price."
Ma Xiaoyi jumped on the spot and said excitedly: "Third brother, they bully others too much, how can you agree to them?"
Cao Dongdong also pointed at him angrily, "Zhang San, I didn't expect you to be a rat."
Zhang Fei frowned and whispered: "Please put the overall situation first. If your father knows about this..."
"snort!"
Cao Dongdong turned his head: "Xiao Ma, let's go, it's really embarrassing."
The two left angrily.
Zhang Fei breathed a sigh of relief and said to Li Guozhong: "You have also seen that this is our final condition, and it is impossible to pay even a penny more."
Li Guozhong said very apologetically: "I'm so sorry, I can't lose a penny."
Zhang Fei said: "If we don't agree, what are you going to do?"
Li Guozhong said: "Then we can only appeal."
Zhang Fei sneered, "Appeal? Are you sure you want to do this? I, Zhang San, promise you that after this lawsuit, the final compensation will be the cost price. If I can get an extra penny, I, Zhang San, will never go to court to litigate."
Li Guozhong said sarcastically: "I am also entrusted by others, I'm sorry."
A flash of panic flashed in Zhang Fei's eyes, "Why don't you discuss it with your employer? We are willing to compensate you at the market price. This is already a very good condition."
Li Guozhong thought for a while and said, "Okay, I'll ask."
"Good work."
As soon as Li Guozhong and Gu Yiyuan left, Cao Dongdong and Ma Xiaoyi slipped in again.
"Zhang San, how did we perform just now?" Cao Dongdong said with a look on his face.
"Wow...that's awesome."
Zhang Fei said: "Yamen, I didn't expect that your acting skills have reached the level of perfection."
Ma Xiaoyi said with a smile: "Of course, my brother has to lie to his father and the queen mother. The method must be very good, but it is a pity that I can only lie to my father."
"Ahem!" Cao Dongdong glared at him and quickly changed the subject: "Zhang San, let's take another step back. They won't agree, right?"
Zhang Fei smiled and said: "Just be rest assured. The more we retreat, the less likely they will agree and will definitely bite us to death."
...
Gufu.
"Zhang San is willing to compensate at the market price?" Gu Ji asked slightly happily.
Li Guozhong nodded and said, "Not bad."
Gu Ji stroked his beard and said, "I don't know what means Li Xingshou used to make them willing to take a step back."
Li Guozhong said: "I didn't use any means. In my opinion, they didn't want to make the matter bigger, so they were willing to compromise."
It was just as I expected. Gu Ji suddenly looked at Gu Yiyuan and said, "Shopkeeper Gu, didn't you tell Li Xingshou about my request?"
Li Guozhong said hurriedly: "Shopkeeper Gu has already told me, but Zhang San is not someone to be trifled with. If there is a lawsuit, I estimate that at most the compensation will be the market price, but if the other party performs well, it may be reduced to Cost price, now the other party..."
This person is really ignorant. Would I care about dozens of dollars? As long as the police station's reputation can be tarnished, it doesn't matter if they don't pay any money. Gu Ji waved his hand: "Li Xingshou, please go back and write the petition."
"Okay...okay."
Li Guozhong stood up, bowed his hands and said, "I'll take my leave."
Gu Ji asked Mr. Zhai to wait for him to see him off. After they left, Gu Ji smiled coldly and said, "This time I want to let Zhang San taste the pain of this lawsuit!"
