Women Wearing Men: The Growth Path of the Bastards of the Aristocratic Family

"A fine of 30 taels of silver?!"

The shopkeeper seemed to have suffered a huge blow, and his expression turned bitter: "Sir, this is a small business. Even for the grain sold to Zheng Yu, I only got ten taels of silver in total. 30 taels of silver is really too much." It’s too much, can you reduce it a little if appropriate?”

For a small shop like him, sometimes the profit in a quarter is only 30 to 30 taels of silver. This time, a one-time fine of [-] taels of silver would mean half a year of work was wasted.

Gu Yunji glanced at him and said lightly: "Do you think this officer's punishment is inappropriate?"

The shopkeeper did not dare to accept these words. He swallowed his saliva and sweat broke out on his forehead: "... I am not questioning you, Sir. The main thing is that the total is only ten taels of silver. A thousand kilograms of grain may seem like a lot, but in fact it is not. It’s not enough for five hundred special forces brothers to eat for a day. I also want to support my family. Whoever I sell to is not selling..."

"What is selling and who is not selling?!"

Gu Yunji's eyes turned cold and he suddenly raised his voice: "You haven't realized what crime you have committed, have you? I told you as soon as I entered the door that we are here to find out the spies who are collaborating with the foreign enemy. What is a foreign enemy? The Japanese pirates who burn, kill, loot and commit all kinds of evil are foreign enemies!"

"What is a spy? People like you who sell the food of this dynasty to the Japanese pirates so that they can fight against the officers and soldiers, and those who hinder the government's resistance to the Japanese are spies!"

These words were like thunder, which made the shopkeeper's mind tremble and he froze in place.

Gu Yunji snorted coldly: "A month ago, His Majesty listed the pirate group to which Gao Shishu belonged as disloyal thieves, and all his co-conspirators were punished as traitors. Zheng Yu, your food seller, was indeed He is a Japanese pirate under Tao Lian, but he has already taken refuge with Gao Shishu!"

"You sold grain in the twelfth lunar month of last year. Coincidentally, it was also the twelfth lunar month of last year that Zheng Yu took refuge with Gao Shishu. Who can prove whether your grain was eaten by Tao Lian's pirates or by Gao Shishu's group of rebels?"

Looking at the shopkeeper's face that instantly turned pale, Gu Yunji continued to calmly break down his psychological defense: "Selling grain and grass to rebels, do you know what your crime is? I think your crime is minor, and I just want you to pay a fine. You don’t even have to go to court, but you’re still not satisfied.”

"Then I would like to ask you, compared with confiscating your home and exterminating your family, asking you to pay a fine of 30 taels of silver is a harsher sentence or a lighter one?"

The shopkeeper's lips trembled, and his throat seemed to be choked. It took him a while to squeeze out the words: "It's light... it's light..."

"I feel relieved too!"

Gu Yunji suddenly changed his color and angrily said: "Compared with the people who were killed by the Japanese pirates, whose families were destroyed and displaced, it is simply too light! 30 taels of silver is nothing! Can they take back their property? Can they save it? Their lives?!”

"As a citizen of Daxia, you don't feel sad and angry when your compatriots are harmed by bandits. You actually dare to help the tyrants and sell food to the Japanese pirates. Doesn't this help them intensify their persecution of our compatriots?"

"You said you are trying to support your family, then ask those people whose wives and children were separated by the Japanese pirates, don't they want to have a happy and happy family? Japanese pirates are certainly hateful, but someone like you is cheating and betraying your compatriots. Humans are even more unforgivable!”

The shopkeeper collapsed on the ground, feeling guilty and regretful, crying uncontrollably.It was then that he woke up from a dream and realized what an unforgivable sin he had committed.Gu Yunji calmed down his anger, calmed down a little, and said slowly: "The government fines you money not only to teach you a lesson, but also to use the money as military expenses to train the army to fight against Japanese pirates. This is helping You atone for your sins.”

The shopkeeper seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw, and a little light shone in his dark eyes. He wiped a few tears randomly, got up, and said repeatedly: "I pay! I pay! Don't say 30 taels of silver, a few more I’ll pay you ten taels too!”

With that said, the shopkeeper took out the box where he kept his money, put it in front of Gu Yunji, and said cautiously: "Sir, this is all the income of my shop this year. I will use it all to pay fines. Do you think it's enough?"

There were estimated to be more than 50 taels of silver in the box. Gu Yunji asked someone to count 30 taels of silver and come out, saying: "The fine is whatever the amount is. These are enough. We don't want the rest. If you really feel regretful, behave honestly from now on." When doing business, stop selling grain to Japanese pirates.”

The shopkeeper hurriedly assured: "This is natural, this is natural. I already regret selling a thousand kilograms of grain to Zheng Yu. How dare I have anything to do with them again? Don't worry, sir, I will never dare again."

After walking out of the grain store, Gu Yunji breathed out gently, took a look at the list of stores, and his expression returned to calm: "Let's go to the next one."

Similar scenes were also played out in many shops in Fucheng.

The previous shopkeeper was considered a person with a relatively high moral sense and was timid, so he was able to hand over the fine willingly.However, in the entire Shaoxing Prefecture, there are more than a hundred shops selling grain, salt, cloth and other goods. There are many more serious crimes than him, and there are many people with lower moral bottom lines than him.

Those people only have interests in their eyes, but Gu Yunji can't make them feel ashamed with just a few words.On the contrary, they will be very dissatisfied with the high fines. Some of them will be arrogant and clamor about how hard they have a good background, and even dare to threaten officials.

Gu Yunji didn't care about this. He had to settle down inside before going abroad. He was determined to prevent the occurrence of treason with the Japanese.Even if those people cannot realize their mistakes and feel guilty, at least they should be made to bleed once and realize the high price to pay for doing so, so that they dare not do it again.

In the evening, the night was dark, and Gu Yunji was still handling official business in the study.

The shops in Fucheng had just been inspected during the day. Judging from the results of the inspection, one-third of the shops were suspected of communicating with Japanese pirates and selling supplies to Japanese pirates. This number is really shocking.

Some people have even established long-term cooperative relationships with Japanese pirates, providing stable supply for several years. However, they are so arrogant that they not only refuse to admit their mistakes, but also refuse to pay fines. They feel that the government is making a fuss out of a molehill and the matter is not that serious.

Some of them, who had particularly strong relations with each other, resorted to some tricks to sue Mei Feng, claiming that Gu Yunji was obstructing their normal operations and falsely accusing them of collaborating with the enemy.If Mei Feng hadn't been Gu Yunji's senior brother, he might have really fallen into trouble here.

The more Gu Yunji read, the angrier he became. Unable to suppress his anger, Gu Yunji slammed the official document in his hand on the table.

At this time, the door of the study room was opened, and a soft and smiling female voice came: "Who is still making our Lord Gu angry so late?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Gu Yunji's anger instantly dissipated, and his eyebrows softened: "Shuhua."