Chapter 821: Abacus Chapter 821: Abacus Editor: Atlas Studios Lingnan suddenly cald down.
Unlike a few days ago when the governnt went to the countryside to raid the grain seeds, now that they were redistributing the seeds, it appeared peaceful.
However, everyone knew that this was the calm before the storm.
Neither the Prince’s estate nor the Imperial Court was willing to suffer this loss.
The farrs’ grain seeds had been exchanged, and the legendary culprit, Second Master Qin, had disappeared without a trace.
So, who would bear the consequences?
If it was the previous dynasty or any other Imperial Court, the farrs who had their grain seeds replaced might have to swallow this bitter fruit on their own.
This was because the Harvest Grain Store that sold grain seeds was not at fault, and the governnt office was not responsible either.
Since they could not catch “Second Master Qin”, the farrs could only suffer this loss.
Yet now, the Harvest Grain Store and the governnt office had given them new seeds.
Although half of their Dry Rice No.
1 was now replaced with other grain seeds or corn seeds, they were very satisfied.
However, were the Harvest Grain Store and the governnt office going to bear the cost of the second batch of seeds?
No one could possibly incur the loss silently, so the silence at this mont was very unsettling.
Not only the upper-middle class, but even the small rchants and vendors on the streets paid close attention to the Prince’s estate and the governnt office, afraid that they would miss out on any news.
In this almost suffocating atmosphere, the few sheepish gentry felt even worse.
They felt that by the ti this matter blew over, their lifespans would be reduced by at least five years.
It felt way too torturous.
Gentry Wei really regretted agreeing to this back then.
Now that he was on the pirate ship, he couldn’t co down.
Once Prince Rong’s estate found out that they had colluded with outsiders to screw Great Qi over, Prince Rong would definitely tear them into pieces.
Thinking of Qi Haoran’s brutal reputation in West Xia, Gentry Wei’s legs trembled as he sat on the chair.
Gentry Qian looked down on Gentry Wei and said, “What’s done is done.
What’s the use of regretting it now, Brother Wei?
You might as well think of a solution.” “You didn’t say that this matter could be exposed back then!” Gentry Wei snapped angrily.
“When you and Second Master Qin persuaded us then, you said that no one would find out that the seeds were replaced.
When they harvest the rice harvest in autumn, they will only suspect that the problem lies with Dry Rice No.
1 itself.
However, the seeds were discovered to be fake as soon as they germinated.
Once Prince Rong’s estate finds out about this, will we still be able to survive?” Gentry Tan looked at the two of them and deliberated.
“It’s not that bad.
After all, they can’t find evidence.
Moreover, they haven’t linked the matter to us yet…” Gentry Wei sneered.
“How do you know that they haven’t found out?
Maybe they’re just holding it in now.
Evidence?
Hmph, with Prince Rong’s power, do they still need evidence to deal with us?” Everyone panicked at his words.
Seeing that he was stirring up others, Gentry Qian’s expression imdiately darkened.
He sneered and said, “No matter who he is, do you think he dares to arrest us without evidence?
If you’re that afraid, why did you board our ship back then?
Don’t rush forward when you sll the fragrance and cower when you see danger.” “You!” Gentry Wei glared at him with an ugly expression.
“Sll the fragrance?
What fragrance is there now?
The Harvest Grain Store and the governnt office cooperated to transfer a large number of grain seeds together.
Even if they planted the crops ten-odd days later, their yield wouldn’t be much less.
Other than taking the risk to plant the Dry Rice No.
1 in the fields, what else did we obtain?
But do any of us care for those re catties of grains?
What we value is the land, not the seeds!” As soon as these words were spoken, everyone looked at Gentry Qian resentfully.
Gentry Qian was so angry that he fell backward.
He hadn’t forced them to board the ship with a knife, but now that sothing had happened, they were pushing the bla onto him.
But in the hearts of Gentry Wei and the others, Gentry Qian was the leader of this matter.
If sothing happened, who else could they look for but him?
Back then, it was indeed Gentry Qian who brought Second Master Qin to see them.
They agreed that they would help Second Master Qin hide the news and clean up the traces.
And in turn, Second Master Qin would give them 30% of the grain seeds he obtained.
Of course, they had to buy the 30% with money.
But were they eyeing those grain seeds?
No, even if they couldn’t buy enough grain seeds this year, they could have enough from next year and the year after.
What they were truly interested in was the land of those farrs who yielded no harvest!
Should they have zero harvest, when it was ti to collect taxes in the autumn, they would have to sell their land.
This would provide the gentry a good opportunity to buy up their land.
It couldn’t be helped, as the Emperor and Prince Rong of Great Qi were too ruthless.
The Emperor had legislated that every household with more than 200 acres of land was not allowed to convert ownerless wasteland and could only buy it.
Back then, when West Xia wreaked havoc in Lingnan, they lost a lot of land deeds when they fled.
As for the land that had been haphazardly claid during the war and for which the gentry couldn’t make it in ti to sign a contract at the governnt office, it was all distributed by Qi Haoran to the exiled commoners and farrs who had lost their land.
The gentry didn’t spend money to claim the land, but they did spend money to bribe the officials for it.
They had clearly gained a significant amount of assets, but in the blink of an eye, they were thrown back to their original starting point.
How could they take it lying down?
However, Great Qi was not like Great Zhou, and land could not be bought and sold casually.
Originally, they’d wanted to buy so fields at a low price while the new dynasty was established and the order was not stable.
Unexpectedly, although things were chaotic in other aspects, Great Qi was especially strict on land sales.
Even if the seller was willing, if the conditions were not t, they would not receive the approval of the governnt office.
It was useless even if they bribed officials.
Therefore, it hadn’t taken Gentry Qian much to convince them.
If those farrs whose grain seeds had been swapped could not pay taxes during the autumn harvest, they could only sell their land.
And in order to receive taxes, the governnt office would definitely not stop them from forming a contract.
At the thought of these implications, the gentry agreed.
This was because Gentry Qian had rationalized that it was a safe deal since they were only targeting farrs who could not recognize the seeds.
Moreover, the grain seeds looked similar.
Who would have thought that they were fake when they bought them from the grain store?
Even if they were discovered, the governnt office would not be able to find any evidence against them.
This was because they had paid for the grain seeds and could simply claim that they had bought them from a traveling rchant in Jiangnan.
But at this point, Gentry Wei and the others finally felt fear.
If the Prince’s estate found traces, did they really need concrete evidence to hold them accountable?
Or rather, the calmness of the Ju Prefecture these few days made them even more flustered.
After Gentry Wei and Gentry Qian had an argunt, he returned ho angrily and bumped into his butler.
As he took two steps back from the collision, the butler grabbed him in fear and trepidation.
“Are you alright, Master?” “Get lost.” Gentry Wei waved him away and said angrily, “Are you in a hurry to reincarnate?” The butler wiped his sweat and said submissively, “I… I was chasing after soone?” “Who?” Gentry Wei asked casually.
The pale-faced butler carefully looked at Gentry Wei’s face and replied, “Xi Xing.” Gentry Wei was about to turn around and leave, but when he heard this, he froze.
He stared at the butler coldly and asked, “Xi Xing escaped?” “No, no, Xi Xing’s older brother, Xi Le, ca to redeem him with silver.
I wasn’t around at that ti, so they begged Madam.
Madam was soft-hearted and agreed.
Now that Xi Le has left with his younger brother, I was just about to chase after him.”
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