Chapter 53: The Public Hall

  Yiling Governor Yu Yan has a share in the Yiling warehouse, and every year he can get a dividend of several hundred taels of silver. He doesn't care about this at all, as he is very clear about the profit level of the Yiling warehouse, which is at least 25,000 taels per month, not including the handling fees for selling shares. At first, he also saw the benefits of making a profit from selling shares, and after careful consideration, he came up with a measure to divide the profits: collecting handling fees when registering with the government office. However, Lin Chunhong didn't buy his account at all, and even cancelled the registration link. From then on, he secretly resented Lin Chunhong's arrogance.

  Apart from this, Lin Chunhong privately handled the disputes and criminal cases in the warehouse, which made him resentful. The Yiling Warehouse had its own set of management rules, and outsiders could not intervene. Normally, merchants would resolve their disputes on their own. Generally speaking, disputes between merchants were an important source of profit for the government, while the warehouse was equivalent to competing with the officials of Yiling Prefecture for profits. Moreover, handling criminal cases directly infringed upon the prefecture's judicial authority, which made Yu Yan, who was sensitive to power struggles, unable to tolerate it.

  Both publicly and privately, Yu Yan has been plotting to overthrow the Yi Ling warehouse. Now that Lin Chunhong has offended Qin Zhuguo, Yu Yan wants to suppress the warehouse's arrogance and put it back under his own control. If he can thoroughly destroy the warehouse and take over himself, that would be an unexpected delight.

  So, after Zhou Shiliang destroyed Ma Chao's lair, Yu Yan quickly ordered the capture of Peng Xin and Zhou Shiliang. When capturing the two, Zhou Shiliang led the guard team to clash with the public officials, but under Peng Xin's repeated persuasion, he was captured and imprisoned in a large prison.

  The anomaly in Yiling was quickly reported to Lin Chunhong, who analyzed from the clues that the source of this matter was Bai Jingzhou and Ma Xiu, and Yu Yan played a role in pushing the waves.

  "Damn it, Yu Yan is getting old and his age is showing, will Qin Liangyu make a big fuss over some trivial matters?" Lin Chunhong directly pointed the spearhead of this anomaly at Yu Yan, as for Bai Jingzhou and Ma Xiao, Lin Chunhong completely ignored them, treating them as dead men.

  "Wang Yi, immediately increase elite personnel in Yiling, what did Yu Yang do, report back to Ma Shan!"

  "Zheng Tiancheng, immediately notify Qin Bangding, take over the Yiling warehouse, and be responsible for all matters of the warehouse!"

  After receiving the order, Lin Chunhong immediately rushed to Yiling to meet Yu Yan. Unexpectedly, Yu Yan spoke in an official tone and refused to communicate with him, leaving Lin Chunhong with a belly full of resentment that he could not vent.

  Lin Chunhong walked out of the provincial government office with a gloomy face and immediately ordered a meeting with key personnel in Yiling. At the meeting, Lin Chunhong set the tone: "Yu Yan wants to fight, let's fight until the sky is dark!"

  Now, Yu Yan had two copies of the indictment in his hands. One was Qin Bang's accusation against Ma Xiu for inciting and organizing others to steal and kidnap, extorting a large amount of ill-gotten wealth from good people. The other was Ma Xiu's accusation against Peng Xin and Zhou Shiliang for privately setting up a public hall, arbitrarily capturing good people, invading their own homes, and looting their property. Each plaintiff had a large pile of evidence and witness testimony placed on Yu Yan's desk. Yu Yan looked at these words with satisfaction, shaking his head repeatedly: This is called dog biting dog, not only to make them bite painfully, but also to make them bleed!

  "With a loud bang... The sound of the water-fire club was mixed with the long cry, and the trial of the two cases officially began. Yu Yan wore official clothes, sat upright, slapped the shock wood, and shouted: "Bring the defendant Zhou Shiliang, Peng Xin to the court!"

  Zhou Shiliang and Peng Xin were escorted into the hall by bailiffs and knelt down in front of Yu Yan.

  "Peng Xin and Zhou Shiliang, you two are accused of privately leading a gang of slaves to capture good citizens and invade homes, plundering property. Do you know your crimes?"

  "Sir, it's a misunderstanding! We saw someone committing theft and, driven by righteous indignation, brought them to the authorities. How can this be considered as arresting innocent civilians? Sir, we have witnesses!" Peng Xin said cautiously.

  "Bring in the witness!"

  Only a group of ordinary people were brought to the public hall, and they all testified that the person caught was indeed a pickpocket. After Peng Xin was put in prison, under Lin Chunhong's order, Qin Bangding did a lot of work behind his back within ten days and found many witnesses.

  Yu Yan said: "Ma Xiu has accused you two of breaking into his home and stealing his property, do you know your crime?"

  "Sir, this is a miscarriage of justice! Ma Xiang is accustomed to kidnapping and extortion, amassing a huge fortune through unjust means. The common people are afraid that Ma Xiang will transfer the wealth, so they had no choice but to bring the person along with them to hand over these ill-gotten gains to the authorities. How can this be considered robbery?" Zhou Shiliang argued.

  Yu Yan's face wore an almost imperceptible smile as he said, "However, the fact remains that you trespassed into someone else's home. The neighbors can all testify to this. What more do you have to say?"

  Zhou Shiliang and Peng Xinbiao were indistinguishable, so they had no choice but to plead guilty.

  Yu Yanting puffed out his chest and tried to make his voice more authoritative: "Peng Xin, Zhou Shiliang, for the crime of trespassing into someone else's home, you are sentenced to wear a cangue for one month!"

  Yu Yan then handled the case of Ma Xiu, who had many cases against him. With Qin Bangding's support, the plaintiffs all bravely testified to Ma Xiu's heinous crimes and Yu Yan sentenced him to exile and military service, confiscating all his property.

  Yu Yan seemed to be biased towards the Yi Ling warehouse, and only sentenced Zhou Shiliang and Peng Xin to wear a cangue for one month. However, he was ruthless with Ma Xiu, directly sentencing him to military exile. There are many tricks here, Yu Yan had long been displeased with Ma Xiu, and now that the evidence is conclusive, being heavily sentenced is a matter of course. But the verdicts against Peng Xin and Zhou Shiliang were like a slap in the face to the Lin family group, directly affecting the reputation and prospects of the Yi Ling warehouse. This subtle point was clearly seen by Lin Chunhong, and then Qin Bangding again accused Bai Jingzhou of harboring criminals, with conclusive evidence, and was directly sentenced by the Huguang Governor to be demoted to a commoner. From then on, Bai Jingzhou lost his title and official position, and there were many ways to deal with him.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, seeing the provincial official slap the warehouse's face had a huge impact on the confidence of merchants and officials in the warehouse. In an instant, the warehouse's stock price plummeted, which further damaged the warehouse's reputation and even led to a sharp decline in goods transactions.

  At one point, bureaucrats and merchants who held warehouse shares were full of complaints, and some impatient ones began to sell their shares.

  In this collision with Yu Yan, Lin Chunhong can be said to have suffered a loss. However, from Yu Yan's words and actions, Lin Chunhong also received a signal: Yu Yan did not want to take things to the extreme, but only to suppress the Yi Ling warehouse and then stop. Lin Chunhong understood that Yu Yan was warning him, in Yiling City he had the final say, and not to treat him as Bao Zhedong!

  As for the decline in stock prices and trading volume, Lin Chunhong is not worried at all. He has sufficient cash on hand and only needs to buy back a portion of shares to resolve all problems. Moreover, there are many people with foresight who look favorably upon the Lin Group. Taking advantage of the falling stock price, wealthy individuals such as Guan Renmei have taken decisive action, using large amounts of cash to purchase shares. Within three days, the stock price has rebounded and even surpassed its level before the Yi Ling anomaly. Everyone's confidence in the warehouse has been restored, and trading volume has also quickly recovered.

  What really made Lin Chunhong feel uneasy was that he found out, apart from the areas along the banks of Zhi River and Qing River which were completely under his control, once the local officials could not be bribed with money, the interests of the Lin Group would not be guaranteed at all. After all, it was still due to insufficient strength or unknown strength that led to Yu Yan's unscrupulous behavior.

  Lin Chunhong thought to himself: It seems that from now on, I'll have to play even bigger. Wait for the opportunity to show off the archers of Datan Fort in front of everyone, and let these bastards weigh their actions before offending me, or they will suffer the consequences!

  After Peng Xin and Zhou Shiliang finished their prison sentence, they tried every means to restore the popularity of the warehouse.

  At this time, the square in front of the warehouse was crowded with people, all stretching their necks to gaze at the stage. The noise and shouting filled the air, it was truly a lively scene. What's going on? It turned out that the warehouse had invited Cui Yu'er, the top courtesan from Chunxiang Tower, and several others to perform a ball game. As soon as the news spread, all the curious people in Yiling City gathered here, eager to catch a glimpse of Cui Yu'er's stunning appearance and impressive ball skills. The crowd was getting impatient, when suddenly a gong sounded, followed by the sound of silk and bamboo instruments. Cui Yu'er and two other women appeared on stage, accompanied by music. Immediately, thunderous applause erupted from below, followed by prolonged clapping. Cui Yu'er wore a green jacket with a slightly darker skirt, her bound feet hidden under the skirt. At that time, the fashion of foot binding was prevalent in the Ming dynasty, especially in the north and Sichuan. Some peasant women also started to bind their feet. However, in places like Huguang, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang, it was mainly upper-class women who bound their feet, while ordinary peasant women generally did not.

  Cui Yuer and the other two women, seeing the crowd's enthusiasm, smiled and gave a thousand blessings to the audience below, which made many young men feel itchy and unbearable, blowing out sharp whistles with their mouths. If there weren't guards standing in front of the stage, they would have rushed onto the stage long ago.

  In a moment, another gong sounded, the silk and bamboo music stopped, and a drumbeat started. The drumbeat was clear and quick, and Cui Yu'er's cuju performance was about to begin!

  Only Cui Yu'er's hands lifted her skirt, and with a beautiful gaze, she signaled to her companions to start. Another woman tossed the shuttlecock with her hand, and Cui Yu'er immediately rushed forward, her jade legs lightly lifting, using the inside of her foot to kick the shuttlecock flying high into the air. The audience below cheered again, and saw Cui Yu'er bend down and move forward, waiting for the ball to fall onto her back, slightly leaning down, and steadily stopping the shuttlecock on her back. In an instant, her body was like a snake slithering through water, shaking off the shuttlecock from her body, and Cui Yu'er stood up straight again, catching the shuttlecock with her chest. For a moment, the shuttlecock slid back and forth on Cui Yu'er's jade body, as if it were stuck to her body. A round of performance only made Cui Yu'er slightly panting, with fragrant sweat seeping out. Cui Yu'er swung her jade leg once, and let out a delicate cry: "Catch!" The shuttlecock flew straight towards another woman, and the shuttlecock danced on this woman's body again.

  The crowd below was so mesmerized that they couldn't help but erupt into thunderous applause. Peng Xin, who was standing behind the stage, was also enchanted. After the warehouse had an accident, he came up with this plan to attract people to the warehouse, turning it into the most popular destination for the people of Yiling, and its reputation spread far and wide, even attracting wealthy people from Jingzhou who specifically came to see Cui Yu'er's performance.

  However, on the seats directly opposite the stage in the tavern, there were two people eating and drinking while watching. Unlike everyone else's cheers, they remained silent. One of them looked for a long time and said, "Is that really her?"

  Another person nodded without hesitation: "It's really her!"

  After finishing their drinks, the two men paid and left the warehouse.