Chapter 16: Guo Family Village

  Guo Family Village

  Yao Feng called He Shi-cheng and Wang Chuan-nian, ordering them to send a package wrapped in layers of cloth containing 10,000 taels of silver to Wei Guo-fu's garrison yamen.

  It is said that "one person is private, two people are public". Yao Feng did not dare to send only one person to deliver the silver, in case someone was blinded by greed and abandoned his hometown parents, then Yao Feng would lose a lot.

  Yao Fan anxiously instructed He Shi Cheng: "You two must personally hand this package to Wei Da Ren, do not let anyone else deliver it on your behalf. Also, you are not allowed to open the package and take a look."

  He Shicheng and Wang Chuannian were also honest, He Shicheng stuffed the small package into his arms and took Wang Chuannian to rush to the Shoubei Gate.

  At this time, only Wei Guofu had already gathered thirty or fifty people in the small school field in front of the camp. Wang Chuanyan hurriedly went forward and saluted, saying: "Wei sir, my master has something to give you."

  Wei Guofu knew in his heart that this was Yao Fang's man coming to deliver the silver.

  He silently led the two men into the back hall of the government office, and when he saw the silver notes, he was delighted. He ordered his servants to bring out the silver and rewarded He Shicheng and Wang Chuanyue with one or two taels each.

  Wei Guofu received the silver ticket here and immediately set off with the soldiers of the Guard Battalion, heading straight for the city of Jimen County in the north.

  Why is Wei Guofu so bold?

  It should be known that this guard, looking at it with the seventh-grade Gaozhou judge Sun Maowen and the customs inspector Liu Ziming, is actually a fifth-grade official.

  China has always been a country that values literature and despises martial arts, worshipping scholars. Therefore, military officials have never dared to look down on low-ranking civil officials. However, if they really want to compare, the rank is there. So, Wei Guofu said in theory that as a county magistrate who was a seventh-rank official in the county of Jimen, he could walk sideways.

  Moreover, as the saying goes, "literary and military are different paths", ordinary civil officials can't intervene in the army at all. Even if they encounter a civil official with a higher rank than Wei Guofu, the other party can only stare blankly. Although the Guo family has an old man who is a surveillance commissioner in Jiangxi, that is thousands of miles away in Jiangxi. The Shandong troops under Li Hongzhang, the governor-general of Zhili, would not care about such things at all.

  So Wei Guofu didn't take Yao Fan's errand seriously at all, and he was delighted in his heart all the way, thinking that this ten thousand taels of silver came easily.

  If this matter gets out of hand, as long as you take 2-3 thousand taels of silver to the Procuratorate of Laizhou Prefecture, it will be settled either way.

  Wei Guofu led a hundred soldiers, thirty of whom were his personal guards equipped with bird guns, while the rest were armed with gleaming knives and spears. It was estimated that they didn't bring out the heavy artillery because it was too cumbersome to carry, but marching like this, it looked quite impressive nonetheless.

  A group of people followed Wei Guofu on horseback and arrived at Guo Family Village, more than ten miles north of Qingdao Port.

  In the old house of Guo's family, the current master is Guo Jixiu. His father, Guo Weizhong, was a Jiangxi surveillance censor, and his ancestors had two jinshi degree holders, so they didn't think much of Wei Guofu.

  Kuo Chih-hsiu heard that Wei Kuo-fu had arrived with soldiers and was looking for him to hand over a man, and he immediately jumped up in anger.

  He didn't open the big gate to welcome him either. He climbed up the city wall of his own house from the horse racing slope, holding a deed in his hand and shouting down at Wei Guofu:

  "Lord Wei, go back! What nonsense are you talking about here?! That Su Sanjie is someone I bought with silver and redeemed from the Chunmian Hall. This is a body contract, take a good look!"

  Wei Guofu said, "Although the old man is not very literate, he can still recognize the two characters 'body contract'. Today, the old man has accepted the silver, if this matter cannot be done, wouldn't it become a joke?"

  Wei Guofu rode on horseback, looking up at the neck, shouting towards the five-meter-high wall of the Guo family's mansion: "Guo Jixiu, the betrothal gift for the third sister was paid by my brother Yao Fanxian! There is a receipt from Wang Ma of Chunmiantang here, and the evidence is conclusive.

  Guo Jixiu, everything has a sequence of before and after. My brother paid the deposit first, so this third sister is naturally my brother's woman now. Don't try to quibble with Ben Shoubao, otherwise I will definitely punish you for the crime of abducting a civilian girl!

  "Old man, wait a moment here. If you don't let him go, I'll set fire to this tortoise shell of yours!"

  It is indeed the case that a scholar meets a soldier, and there is no way to reason with him. How much more so when Guo Jixiu was in the wrong? He immediately became red-faced with rage, shouting at the top of his lungs on the city wall:

  "Wei Guofu, don't be so presumptuous! You're just a small guard, how dare you boast about burning down my village? My father is the current Imperial Censor, and with just one letter from me, I'll have you charged with the serious crimes of inciting violence and oppressing local officials! By then, you'll lose your head!"

  But Wei Guofu had been holding back his anger for a long time.

  He, a high-ranking fifth-grade military officer, stood under the scorching sun for half a day, but the Guo family didn't even open the door to offer tea and welcome him. Guo Jixiu, a mere commoner, didn't come to pay his respects, and instead stood on the city wall, shouting at him in a condescending manner. This made Wei Guofu so angry that he said, "If I don't squeeze out your egg yolk today, I'm not a fifth-grade official, and you're not a commoner! From now on, I'll call you 'Big Brother'!"

  Wei Guofu almost yelled out the order: "Come on! Surround the Zhuang's gate for me! Ma Diao, Gou Bao, you two lead a squad of five into the village to find firewood and burn down this den of thieves who dare to hide and abduct civilians' daughters! Rush in and rescue the people!"

  The soldiers' shouts were deafening, the entrance of the village was in chaos, and Guo Jixiu jumped with rage on the city wall.

  "Master, the common people should not fight against the officials. Let's pay back the ransom and hand over that woman. Besides, you have already slept with the third sister, but you haven't formally taken her in as a concubine. Why bother to quarrel with Commander Wei for her sake? If this gets out or if Master finds out, he will blame you for your unseemly behavior."

  Guo Jixiu stomped his foot in anger and cursed, "Damn it! That Yao Fang is a piece of trash! An outsider! He actually incited Wei Guofu to come to my Guo family to stir up trouble! Just wait till another day, I'll fix that blind dog!"

  Wang Huan saw that Guo Jixiu was speaking in such a manner, knowing he had softened, and hastily made arrangements to have the maidservants bring out Su Sanjie from the cellar at the back of the courtyard, opening the side door of the manor, and sending her out through the narrow corridor.

  Wei Guofu laughed loudly and ordered his soldiers to put Su Sanjie on a mule cart, and handed over 1,500 taels of silver tickets to the Guang family's servant in exchange for the deed. Then he clasped his fists and shouted at the city wall: "The Guang family is indeed a big household, haha, if they had been so generous earlier, I wouldn't have wasted so many words."

  Only on the city wall was gone Guo Jixiu's figure, only steward Wang Huan Shui was there making a polite bow.

  Guo Jixiu had already rushed into the cellar in the backyard. His red eyes emitted a frenzied, demonic glow.

  This spacious cellar has eight rooms, including an ice house, a wine cellar and a storage room for winter vegetables. Such a large scale is rare in the north. The cellar is lit with pine oil lamps, which do not make people feel stuffy due to the ventilation.

  The top of the cellar is tightly tied with bluestone and rare cement, the wall still uses bluestone, the filling soil between the stone strips is three-mixed soil, and the ground is paved with bluestone. Because the ground has some seepage, a layer of raised wooden board is also laid on top of the bluestone.

  Kuo Jixiu rushed into the cellar and locked the door, rolled up his sleeves, took down a black leather whip hanging on the wall, grinned at the corner of his mouth but didn't make a sound, exuding a kind of ferocity.

  His gaze was fixed on the woman in this room of the cellar, whose hands and feet were tightly bound to a wooden frame by wet cowhide. In the crackling explosion of the tallow oil lamp, the dim yellow light dyed the woman's flesh orange-yellow.

  Guo Jixiu grasped the end of his braid and vigorously whipped out a black oily leather whip from his hand.

  That whip has some horsehair tied around it, over three feet long and as thick as a child's arm.

  As Guo Jixiu began to vent his anger, he furiously whipped the woman tied to the wooden frame. The woman's mouth was stuffed with a cloth and her voice was muffled by a strip of fabric, only able to let out mournful wails and sobs. Tears streamed down her face. The thick leather whip had been soaked in tung oil and human sweat, its black surface gleaming. After just a few strikes, it was stained with blood. When it struck the woman's snow-white skin, it made a loud cracking sound that echoed through the cellar, sending chills down one's spine!

  Wei Guofu returned triumphantly to the city gate, where he ordered his personal guards to escort San Jie to Yao Fang's shop.

  Wei Guofu himself ran into the backyard of the government office, opened a large red lacquer box from the head of his bed, and counted out the silver notes he had accumulated. He sat on the edge of the bed with his legs crossed, counting and muttering to himself: "I paid 1,500 taels of silver to ransom the Guo family, but I lost a bit of money; next time I'll have to tell Yao Feng about this account..."

  Yao Feng had just returned to the store after sending silver to Wei Guofu in the morning, when He Wannian rushed over in a hurry.

  "Yao brother, I heard you had a falling out with the Guo family?"

  Yao Feng said lightly: "I've already sent for someone with silver, Wei Shoubei has gone to help me fetch the person."

  He Wan Nian persuaded Yao Fandao: "Brother Yao, the old saying goes that it's better to be safe than sorry. The common people should not fight with the officials, especially for us businessmen who value harmony and wealth wherever we go. The Guo family has a deep connection with the officials, and they have been in power for several generations. Why must you, brother, argue with them over a woman?"

  Yao Fan's face turned red with rage: "Is that Guo Jixiu the current head of the Guo family? He can climb on my head and shit today! Tomorrow won't he take my life?! I spent money to find Lord Wei to preside over justice because I didn't want to be trampled to death. This back-and-forth is really a huge loss! If it weren't for being forced, why would I be so stubborn? Brother He, you mustn't think I'm just being petty, I tell you, this matter isn't simple."

  Yao Fan felt that if he didn't make it sound serious enough, He Wannian probably wouldn't take it seriously.

  "Brother He, think about it. Our business just opened and this guy with the surname Guo comes to test my limits, clearly trying to probe my weaknesses. If I show weakness, he'll definitely try to take advantage of me. It's like two armies clashing - we can't afford to lose from the start."

  He Wan Nian hesitated and said in a low voice: "Isn't it for the sake of a woman? Why are you making such a big fuss...?"

  Yao Fan continued to persuade: "He brother, you must learn to see through the surface and look at the essence. If it's just a matter of a woman, why didn't this surname Guo come to me for discussion and ask me to give in? On this matter, being constrained by face is just a superficial phenomenon; his true intention is to make me understand who has the final say here."

  He Wan Nian's eyes lit up, as if he had heard something new and interesting. He muttered to himself: "Look beyond the surface to see the problem, look beyond the phenomenon to see the essence... This makes a lot of sense."