Chapter 308: Boiling Frog in Warm Water
Early the next morning, in the Criminal Law Courts.
"A normal two-story courtyard will do, one that we can move into as soon as possible, and not too remote. It would be best if it's near the northwest of the inner city..."
Lin Delu copied down Sun Shaozong's request one by one on paper, and then carefully confirmed it. Then he patted his chest and said confidently: "Don't worry, sir. With so many people in the Criminal Law Department, we will definitely find a suitable house."
Last night, Sun Chengye, Yu Qian and Sun Chengtian came to my house, but they talked about buying a house.
Needless to say, since Sun Chengye had already decided to stay in the capital to take the exam and was preparing to bring his family to the capital, it would naturally not be appropriate for him to continue living in his cousin's house.
As for Yu Qian, although the details were somewhat vague, it seemed that Shangshu Wang had leaked information that would secretly help him stay in Beijing to hold his post, so Yu Qian also prepared to bring his family over and settle down in the capital.
As for Sun Chengtao...
He has no intention of buying a house in the capital, but he is very likely to move to Sun Chengye's house.
This was also what the question meant. Brother Bianyi and Sun Shaozong symbolically tried to persuade them to stay for a few words, and then asked them in detail about their requirements for buying a house.
The cheap big brothers were mostly on duty outside the city, and most of their subordinates were soldiers. So if they wanted to spy on the situation in the city, it would naturally be more convenient for Sun Shaozong to do so.
So when he arrived at the yamen early this morning, Sun Shaozong called Lin Delu over and briefly repeated his requirements so that the clerks below could pay attention to them.
However, when Lin Delu hurried to the east wing to convey Sun Shaozong's latest "instructions", Cheng Rixing took the opportunity to sneak into the inner room.
"Dong Weng."
Then he said, "Have you heard about Master Bao being scalded?"
Jia Baoyu was burned?
Sun Shaozong hurriedly asked, "When did it happen? Is it serious?"
"I heard that he got burned on the first night of the new year. It wasn't that serious, just that his face was burned by lamp oil. I don't know if it will leave scars."
As Cheng Rixing spoke, an expression of regret and pity appeared on his face.
Sun Shaozong did not feel any pity. On the contrary, he even thought that if Jia Baoyu was really disfigured, it might be great news for Lin Daiyu - at least she would no longer have to worry about this boy flirting with both men and women like a teddy bear.
Of course, I can only think about this in my heart, but it is not easy to say it out loud.
Besides, it would be fine if he didn’t know about this, but now that he already knows about it, he might as well come and visit him.
So Sun Shaozong ordered the servant on duty to go to the Sun Mansion to ask for some nourishing herbs, and prepared to adjourn the office early in the afternoon and visit the Rongguo Mansion.
After taking care of these trivial matters, it was Sun Shaozong's turn to take on the main event that he had been planning for a long time.
"Master Cheng, please ask Judge Fu to come over and tell him that I have something to ask of you."
It is said that money can move people's hearts, especially money without an owner!
According to Sun Shaozong's secret surveillance for several days, Fu Shi was indeed tempted by the Ma family's ownerless wealth. Relying on his position, he took advantage of the chaos to swallow up a lot of Ma family's land before Ma Yingjue and his son had celebrated the seventh day after their death.
Since he couldn't control his greed, he couldn't blame Sun Shaozong for taking advantage of the situation.
However, Cheng Rixing's trip took much longer than expected. By the time he and Fu Shi returned, half an hour had passed.
Especially Fu Shi's face, which showed obvious alienation, was completely different from the friendly expression he had when he first asked for help.
After entering the room, he even bowed and asked in a stern voice, "Master Zhizhong summoned me here, but is there any official business you want to entrust to me?"
Leading the conversation on official business first was a tactic Sun Shaozong had used many times. Naturally, he knew he couldn't follow his lead, so he looked at Fu Shi in surprise and asked curiously, "Court Judge Fu, is there something bothering you? Why is he so serious? He looks nothing like he did that day at the Ma family?"
Hearing Sun Shaozong mention the Ma family, Fu Shi rolled up his sleeves a little uncomfortably, then sneered: "Your Excellency is wrong. I have nothing to worry about. On the contrary, I feel relieved. I just sorted out the business tax with the prefect, and it has increased by 27% compared to last spring!"
He stretched out two fingers and shook them, then exaggeratedly made a seven, his pride evident in his expression.
Still, a 27 percent year-on-year increase is something to be proud of—especially since it was achieved quietly without hurting the market.
Of course, this was mainly due to Jia Yucun's achievement, and Fu Shi was just helping out - and it was precisely because he hoped to share some of the credit from Jia Yucun that he deliberately distanced himself from Sun Shaozong today.
"This is truly a great achievement."
Sun Shaozong praised: "Especially in recent years, the court has been in a tight financial situation and has attached great importance to the commercial tax revenue. I think once the silver is handed over to the Ministry of Revenue, the court will definitely reward us greatly."
Seeing Fu Shi's face becoming more proud, Sun Shaozong suddenly changed the subject: "But the most rare thing is that Fu Tongpan supported the businessmen in the city while also buying a lot of land outside the city. He did not neglect any of the four major occupations, namely, scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans. He is truly a role model for our generation."
Fu Shi’s smug smile suddenly froze!
Then he opened his two triangular eyes wide and asked, "How dare you send someone to investigate..."
"Master Fu!"
Sun Shaozong immediately raised his voice, interrupting his questioning, then pointed to the armchair next to him and said calmly, "How about we sit down and talk?"
Fu Shi's face was swollen like a pig's liver. He gasped and stared at Sun Shaozong for a long time. Then he gritted his teeth and slammed his butt on the chair, saying angrily: "If you have something to say, say it quickly, and if you have to fart, fart quickly!"
Since he had the upper hand in the situation, Sun Shaozong naturally would not care about his words.
He first sat down in the main seat leisurely, and then pretended to take a few sips of tea. It was not until Fu Shi's eyes were so anxious that he was about to spit fire that he put down the teacup and smiled slightly, saying, "I asked Fu Tongpan to come here not for anything else, but because I have something to ask of you."
Fu Shi's eyes widened with anger, and after a long while he managed to squeeze out a word from between his teeth: "Speak!"
Then Sun Shaozong said, "Actually, my nephews from afar have achieved fame and are interested in settling down in the capital."
"Mr. Fu Tong has a wide circle of friends, so I would like to ask you to keep an eye out for a suitable two-courtyard house that we can move into as soon as possible, and not in a remote location. If it is in the northwest of the inner city..."
He kept talking about house-buying indicators, but Fu Shi became more and more confused the more he listened - he went to so much trouble to hold something against him, just to get him to help keep an eye out for houses?
Isn’t this too ridiculous?
Fu Shi thought it would be more reliable if he asked him directly for two houses!
So Fu Shi couldn't help but question: "You...what do you mean by this?"
"how?"
Sun Shaozong asked in confusion: "Hasn't what I said been clear enough? Or is it that Fu Tongpan is unwilling to help with even this little favor?"
"I……"
Fu Shi stared at Sun Shaozong, as if he could figure out what he was up to, but there was no way he could see through Sun Shaozong's calm and composed square face.
Besides, keeping an eye on a house is not really a big deal, especially since it’s just keeping an eye on it and no one is saying that you must help find a house - at most you can just agree to it in person and not do the work behind the scenes.
Thinking of this, Fu Pi nodded and said, "If it's just such a small matter, I won't refuse it!"
After saying that, he couldn't help but ask again: "Besides this, is there nothing else?"
After getting a positive answer, Fu Shi left in a hurry, feeling relieved.
It was not until Sun Shaozong watched him leave the gate of the Criminal Law Department that a sneer appeared on his face.
Although Fu Shi's embezzlement of Ma's land can be considered a handle, it is probably not enough to use it as a basis to force him to completely abandon Jia Yucun and become Sun Shaozong's lackey.
Therefore, Sun Shaozong planned to boil the frog in warm water, first arranging some insignificant things for him, and then gradually...
Boom boom boom boom, boom boom boom boom~!
Suddenly, a dull drumming sound came from the front, and the smile on Sun Shaozong's mouth suddenly fell.
Ever since he was promoted to the position of governor, the drum of complaints about grievances has been heard frequently in the government office - it would be fine if it were a major case, but most of them are civil disputes between people, which is really annoying.
But since someone is beating the drum to complain about his grievances, how can we just ignore it?
Alas~
He sighed and ordered loudly, "Master Cheng, go gather all the people and prepare to start the trial!"
